Could have gone a lot worse....

[actuallyselfish]

After the battle in Paradigm City, the Sol Machine known as ShelLancer trudges it's way back into the hanger bay, docks in a gantry, and powers down

A weary figure in mechanic's overalls clambers out of the cockpit, and after a bit of flailing, descends on one of the cherry picker platforms.

"What the heck was I thinking?" Dido groans, slumping down onto a bench. "I panicked, made stupid calls. And that Decepticon leader thinks I'm a turtle ninja transformer now...!"

She smiles. "...but Hot Damn, I saved some lives out there! Not bad, Dido. Not bad at–"

She looks up at ShelLancer...and finally notices the major damage it's taken: melted armor, broken off spikes, and an endless amount of scratches and dents. All of which needs to be fixed.



"–AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Comments

[actuallyselfish]

"Bite me." Dido says, face ensconced between her knees. "You're saying mean nasty ninja words and I'm not going to listen to them..."

She tries to ignore you for a little bit, then groans.

"Truly, I've become what I hate."

[tiger_ken]

Never knew 'paint work' was part of the exclusive ninja vocabulary.

But how'd you feel out there? I only just got covered on what happened - didn't even realise you guys had gone.

[actuallyselfish]

"It was, as always, a humbling experience." Dido sighed. "Got shaken around, picked up some bruises."

She brushes at her wild, frayed hair. "The static from ShelLancer's Lance Shock made me go poofy for a bit too. All in all, I hope I don't have to sortie again any time soon."

She hesitates. "And yet..."

[tiger_ken]

Yet you're already thinking for the next time, right?

It was the same when I got in ScarleTi- no, a genoace the first time. You can rationalise all you want, but once you've done some good...

[actuallyselfish]

Dido hesitates...then lets out a forced chuckle.

"Ha Ha! Ken, I'm flattered, but the world saving gig ain't my thing!"

She shrugs. "Sure, I'll fight to keep friends I like from dying, and maybe I enjoyed unscrewing the asses of those Decepticon trashheads...but I'm far too lazy to put in the effort to become a hero of justice!"

[tiger_ken]

Then put in the effort to be part of the team, perhaps? Just a thought. I mean, Mizuki punched me for thinking I could take the weight of everything solo...

[actuallyselfish]

"Well, to be fair," Dido says. ", you were going overboard with the push-ups."

She blinks. "Speaking of which, have you any progress with your Ki Training? You know–"

She makes a circular motion with her hands. "The Hadoken stuff?"

[tiger_ken]

Nothing... solid, yet. But I'm getting... feelings. Weird ones. Like I'll know if someone is passing by my room...

[actuallyselfish]

"Ooooooh!" Dido says. "You should try some blindfold training!"

[tiger_ken]

What, like in those old kung fu movies? Don't get me started on how-

[Ken pauses, and blinks. Actually...]

...that could work.

[actuallyselfish]

"Actually, I was thinking Star Wars," Dido admits. "But yeah! Maybe you could sit in on my training with Hetepheres, wear a blindfold, and practice sensing the Gebian's Ki!"

Dido pauses in thought. "Huh. Do aliens even have Ki? Do your Ninja texts say anything about alien Ki Power Levels?"

[tiger_ken]

...thats a good question. I mean, the scrolls obviously don't say anything on it, but, well...

Ki is supposed to be the energy of living things. But in the case of my clans, it seemed to have a particular link to sol energy - that lf our personal star. So... I guess... maybe? But like it'd be a different kind of ki? Like... if ours is orange, there's would be... purple.

[actuallyselfish]

"This is something we should experiment with!" Dido says snapping her fingers.

"We'll train up your Ki sense, then use it to check out the Ki of all the aliens we have on staff!"

Dido strokes her chin. "I wonder...would the Autobots, as living robots, have Ki?"

[tiger_ken]

This plan...

[Why does he feel it'll go wrong somewhere? As for the autobots...]

Well... With them, I'd say so. Of some kind, maybe not even ki per se. Its just... well, they have a concept of the afterlife, and Optimus even carries a piece of it around with him.