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At The Edge

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Post by jesatanus Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:51 pm

Far from Earth, colonies had been developing. The areas far from the center of the galaxy was a quiet stretch of space. The Autobot Empire was a slow-moving tide, starting after the destruction of the Matrix of Conquest. Autobots had returned to Cybertron en masse, to celebrate a new era, of peace.
Soon, Autobots took to the skies again, with their human allies. They began to colonize the stars, and incorporate other peoples into their empire. Closer to the center of Autobot space, where policy was made, considerations were made to help keep their hold over rimworlds. Autobots are assigned to each planet, as leading members of the colonies, for example. All Autobots are required to maintain military capability, and remain armed.
At the edges of Autobot space it is easy to forget, for short lived humans, that their incorporation was not always altogether peaceful. Tarnath, situated 35,000 light years away from Earth, along the outer edge of the Perseus arm, was a terraforming project still early in process.

As Redstreak exited the shuttle, a dark green Autobot approached, followed by two humans in exosuits. As the small Autobot reached him, he stretched his hand for a shake, and introduced himself.
"Welcome! Name's Mudflap. You must be Redstreak, here to take up border patrol duty? Welcome to Tarnath! These two are John, Human representative of the colony, and Liam, Chief of Terraforming. Can I offer you a tour of the facility?"
He gestured behind him at the large building they had come to call home.
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Post by Scratch Fri Jul 07, 2017 10:46 pm

Redstreak's expression as he got off the shuttle was clearly non-plussed, but he did his best to let his lack of excitement show. He slung his small bag of belongings over his shoulder, knicknacks from a past life, and made his way down the ramp of the shuttle.

"Mudflap, hm." He glanced at the humans. "Yes. That would do well." He looked off into the distance and found it hard to relate this little hole of hell to anything else. "Nice little place you seem to have here." He plastered the most genuine fake smile he could muster. "Lead the way."

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Post by jesatanus Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:19 pm

Mudflap nodded and waved the group along, turning toward the compound.
"Right. This way, then."
He started walking slowly, and the two humans had to transform their exo suits to keep up.
"Time to get you acquainted to your new home. It may not have the hustle of city life, but it'll keep you busy, for sure. We're leaving the main port, and most of our work is either oriented around self - sufficiency or terraforming. The humans have their hydroponics to work on, we have our garages to play in."

He chuckled to himself.
Liam spoke from behind Mudflap.,
"The terraforming itself takes place in a facility to the east of here, you should really check it out sometime. "
The complex they were about to enter was tall enough for four floors, standard Autobot size. Bubble windows dotted the surface.
As they reached it, Mudflap opened the door and motioned Redstreak into the atrium.
"This is the atrium. From it, we can access all of the main sections of the colony. Any questions so far? "
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Post by Scratch Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:04 pm

Red wondered whether if these things were actually wondrous to Mudflap. "I'll be sure to find the time to make my way there. I'm sure it's quite a sight." He plastered on that fake smile and followed. "Is there a lot of conflict here? I heard the border worlds were troublesome. What sort of things do we expect to encounter here?"

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Post by jesatanus Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:28 pm

Mudflap chuckled and turned to face Redstreak.
"No, not so much conflict here. This particular arm of the galaxy is rather quiet. Still, orders are orders. This has been a conflict free zone for a while, with the neighboring planets being uninhabitable. Border zones are hot, but we're on the rim of the Perseus arm. Past here there isn't much but space. This isn't just near the border of Empire space, it's damn near the border of the galaxy. There are a few hundred humans, and one Autobot Tech here. There is one other colony on this planet, directly opposite our planetary position, also for terraforming purposes."

Liam and John took the opportunity to transform their exosuits back to a comfortable upright position.
Liam decided to clarify,
"Terraforming is a global process. A planet can't be terraformed piece by piece, but it can be changed gradually as a whole. We are slowly building our facilities here, to start amplifying the terraforming process. Once the terraforming process has gone far enough, sections of the planet will be cordoned off for the purpose of cyberforming, which can be done section at a time."

Mudflap interjected, "Most of the patrol duty involves keeping the peace, and making sure the laws of the Empire are upheld. Think of it as a deputy job. Wild-west style, but without the oxygen. The biggest perk is the immense energon reserve this planet has. You'll never go hungry again.
Now, where would you like this tour to go next, hmm?"
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Post by Scratch Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:39 pm

"Well, I suppose there are perks to every situation." He said again, mostly to himself than anyone else. "I assume that's why this planet is important enough to terraform, the energon deposits?"

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Post by jesatanus Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:39 pm

Mudflap nodded and closed the door behind the group.
"Precisely. This entire solar system is loaded with the stuff. This planet is just to be the first of the lot terraformed, to serve as a base for the area. "
He began walking towards a table and chairs. Four of the chairs around the massive table were sized to an Autobot, while the humans had to take a small set of stairs to reach theirs.
" The end goal is to turn this into a sizeable establishment. Eventually a major base of operations for expanding the Empire even out of the galaxy! The stuff is kind of hush - hush for now, in case we run into any issues. An Autobot could withstand the travel time to the next galaxy, but it might be more difficult for a human."
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Post by Scratch Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:31 pm

Redstreak settled into his chair and for once things didn't seem as grim as they had looked. There was the chance for potential here, especially with what Mudflap had related to him. "Well, seems like this planet has the chance for a lot of potential to expand the empire. How's the political situation here? Seems like there would be the chance for a lot of gain here."

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Post by jesatanus Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:29 am

Mudflap leaned back in his chair and grinned.
"My boy, we are the political climate. This region is mostly virgin. Our primary goal is to make this area habitable for humans and establish hierarchical control of the location. This planet will be terraformed, and the next planet out will be cyberformed. After completion of that, a space bridge will be constructed between the two worlds."
He leaned forward in his chair.
"There is potential here indeed, lad. Much potential. First, we are testing our accelerated atmosphere creation techniques. First runs begin tomorrow. You're on security detail for now, but may be called on if you're needed. "
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Post by Scratch Sun Sep 10, 2017 10:39 pm

Redstreak grinned widely, he couldn't hide the good vibes from these latest revelations. "Well," he patted Mudflap on the back. "I thought life here was going to be dull and boring. Seems like this place will be ripe with excitement, soon enough."

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Post by jesatanus Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:15 pm

Mudflap nodded.
"Aye, lad, but it will take time. First, we see how these trial runs go. Terraforming is a time consuming process, but the primes have gifted us with experimental technology, the full scope of which even I am uncertain of, until tomorrow, but I suspect we're going to have to cool our heels a while before we get to roll around in energon and parties. Now, I have some paperwork to attend to. Hail me if you need anything, but feel free to explore your new home in the meantime."
He stood at the table and gave a light-hearted salute.
"Don't get too lost out there, there aren't that many landmarks."
And with that, mudflap about faced and walked off in the direction of the Autobot hab facility.

Liam looked up at Redstreak from his location on the raised platform.
"I, too, should go. I have much to do in order to set up for tomorrow's big test! Good Bye!"
And with that he jumped off the platform and bolted to the man-door, his exosuit transforming upon his exit, and peeling off in the direction of the terraforming facility.

This left Redstreak alone with John, the human representative, who looked up at him.
"Well, they forgot to show you the important shit. I'll show you how to get the good stuff. Follow me, I'll show you the mess, then your quarters."
John stood, hopped off the platform, and began to walk to an unmarked man-door next to a garage door.
"This way."
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Post by Scratch Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:48 pm

RedStreak returned the gesture and watched his hosts depart. Then he finally looked down at john and raised an eyebrow at his comment and language. "Well, in that case, lead the way." He rose and followed him.

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Post by jesatanus Fri Dec 01, 2017 6:41 pm

John passed through the door leading from the atrium to the mess hall.
As Redstreak approached the garage door, he heard the telltale buzz of the door opening due to his proximity; one half sliding up while the other half slid down.
Through the door Redstreak could see rows of tables like the ones in the atrium, with mounted human sized tables on top of autobot sized ones.
To one side was an array of human sized tables, and to the other side was an array of autobot sized ones without the human sized mounts.
At the end of the room were two bars, one large enough to serve autobot and the other smaller, both manned by mechanized drones.

John looked up at Redstreak.
"Until terraforming is complete the Empire is providing us our meals. Three rations per day. Give the drone your data and get your lot. Pick a table and I'll meet you there. "
And with that, John marched off in the direction of the human sized bar and left Redstreak to his own devices. Human food definitely took longer to prepare than an energon smoothie.
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Post by Scratch Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:14 pm

Redstreak randomly picked a table and sat down. Humans were interesting fragile creatures to him. They needed protecting; especially on such a potentially hostile world. He looked around and let out a soft sigh. This was a strange place and he found himself wondering if it wasn't going to be the start of his redemption or the place where he would find his end.

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Post by jesatanus Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:46 pm

John climbed the ramp to the edge of the table designed for humans, and set down his tray. Something white and lumpy was covered in a thick brown sludge, and Redstreak's optic sensors could pick up a mashed up root-vegetable covered in a compound made of animal grease and starchy grain powder. On the side, a stacked pile of food, with too many ingredients stacked on it to pick apart, as most of it was obscured within a shell of some sort, made primarily of baked ground wheat, egg, and dissipated alcohol possibly caused as a byproduct of some mold.

Humans were indeed strange, and fascinating creatures.

"Burger and mashed potatoes. Gravy. Damn, but I can't argue with the choice of rations."
He picked up the burger carefully, trying not to lose any of the fillings.

"Listen, Redstreak. What we have here may not be very glamorous, but it's what we've been stuck with. Terraforming is an art unto itself, so I've been told, and this colony has a lot of promise. The Empire plans on making this into a monstrous hub..."
He took a bite of his burger, and chewed thoughtfully for a moment, before swallowing.
"But we're a hell of a long way from Cybertron. We're a hell of a long way from Earth, too. We run this show, for now. We have an advantage here, if you know what I mean. Roots in the community, as it were. What do you make of that?"
He sized Redstreak up, what was visible above the table, and took another bite of his Burger.
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Post by Scratch Sun May 06, 2018 2:23 pm

Redstreak absently gently poked the tray with his finger. "I don't know what you humans see in that stuff." He said with an almost disgusted tone.

"The potential for a lot of gain is clear." He said as he turned to look out into the distance. "However, this all depends on the terraforming. What are the reports of the progress with that?"

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Post by jesatanus Wed May 16, 2018 3:15 pm

John grinned as he swallowed a mouthful of his burger.
"You wouldn't see it, would you? You'd have to be able to taste. Analogously, our sensors can give us pleasure stimuli. This burger I'm eating is both nourishing and damn tasty."
He put his burger down, and picked up his fork, to dig into his mashed potatoes.
"Terraforming technically hasn't started yet. We'd been setting up our living space, first. It's nice to work in reasonable comfort, after all. After that, we set up the equipment. Tomorrow, we begin the process of atmosphere creation. Mass manufactories have been set up which can be converted for various stages, and for the creation of building modules. This produces a massive amount of greenhouse gases. Once we have run this for a while, and created a blank template city, we power up the city by using archaic dirty power. To put it simply, we're going to burn shit. A lot of it."

He chuckled, and shoveled a forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth, contemplating the process.

"I suppose it would be prudent to note that this will create an atmosphere. This planet has gravity, but no atmosphere to speak of. Once there is sufficient carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the next step will take place. Artificial seeding of the planet. One of the template constructs is a seed distribution engine. It is designed to extract hydrogen and oxygen from the atmosphere, and distribute it, along with a packet of seeds and spores, to various locations. It begins nearest us, and expands its range exponentially as oxygen in the atmosphere increases. All in all, there should be breathable air occurring out-of-doors within a year. This process will, in itself, produce bodies of water on Tarnath. All things considered, by that point, we should be a thriving colony."
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Post by Scratch Sat Jul 21, 2018 2:37 pm

While John spoke about the process of terraforming, which was rather interesting in a way, all Redstreak could think about was the disgusting process in which humans survived. The consumption of organic matter seemed so.....alien. It wasn't something natural to him. Refined energon was different than consuming organic matter. It was so much....cleaner.

"And how long will this entire process take?" He leaned slightly back in his seat and glanced around. "Will any of you humans still be alive to see the fruits of your labor?"

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Post by jesatanus Mon Jul 23, 2018 10:13 am

John nodded, the last of his burger going down his gullet. He wiped his mouth on a napkin and took a swig of his water.
"Yes, The rest of the procedure should only take a few weeks. After that, it's a matter of creating infrastructure to support more colonists. You are, really, our chief of security from this point on. As colonists enter, we are the leadership for the people as they enter, in charge of integration and keeping them safe. That's the part that will take a while. We have the technology, what with the modified cyberforming procedures we have, to create infrastructure for many new people and autobots, but it's not that simple. We have to create a stable living space. Colonists will be coming in groups of ten humans for every two autobots, bi-weekly, for the first year in order to begin a process of creating a self-sufficient colony. After that, we hit the testing period and things slow down a bit. We'll have a small village-sized unit here, and once we know it can support another influx, we'll double. We'll grow to a city within a few years. Metropolis within a few more. The Empire wants this to be huge, so they're throwing everything we really ask for at us. Within reason, of course."
John placed his empty plate on a tray sized pad at the corner of his table, and it dropped into the surface. Automated waste removal system. John stood, and replaced the clear head plate of his exosuit.
"If you're ready, I can show you to your quarters. Tomorrow I'll give you a tour of the compound and the area."
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Post by Scratch Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:24 pm

Redstreak nodded. "That would be a good idea." He looked towards the door absentmindedly. "Are there any specific threats I should know about?"

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Post by jesatanus Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:27 pm

John shook his head.
"None. As an Autobot, you don't require oxygen in the same way that we humans do. We require it to live, you need it to communicate without a comm link. Aside from that, there's no real fear of zipping off into space or anything, as long as you follow procedure. For now, you're mostly just a security sentinel. Enjoy the ride, I guess. That being said, you are also tasked with assisting in any way that you can. This may involve some outside work that would otherwise be more hazardous for humans until terraforming is further on."
John nodded his head and dropped a datachip onto the table.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll meet you at zero-seven-thirty, to head to the terraforming facility. Here are the directions to your chambers. For now it's got nothing more than an access terminal, but after the initiation of the terraforming device tomorrow, I'll show you to requisitions."
John walked down the table stairs and exited the cafeteria. It was definitely getting late, and it had been a busy day, what with arrival planetside and the somewhat impromptu tour.
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Post by Scratch Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:17 pm

Redstreak nodded. "The not breathing thing does tend to help." He smirked down at John. "Just the same I'd like to know the layout of the area, just in case." He took the directions and decided that the next thing he would do is wander aimlessly around the terraforming facitity just to get a feel for the lay out.

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Post by jesatanus Tue Apr 28, 2020 11:51 am

The next morning, the signal came to Redstreak to meet at specific coordinates.
John rapped at the door, a brief moment after the notification pinged on the information and news screen inset in the wall of the habitation unit assigned to Redstreak.
The notification said to meet at the Terraforming facility in thirty minutes.
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Post by Scratch Tue May 05, 2020 11:08 pm

Redstreak acknowledged the message and prepared himself for the day ahead.

Without missing a beat, he left his quarters and headed to the meeting point at the terraforming facility.

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Post by jesatanus Wed May 06, 2020 7:15 am

The meeting facility was a small dome, large enough for the two autobots and humans to mill about comfortably, if they wanted to. This had been necessary for the earlier stages of preparation, but it wasn't needed now. They were here for the flip of a switch.
The dome contained within it one large, four sided tower. Each side had a screen and keyboard, two autopsies sized for humans, two for autobots.
Liam stood in front of John, Mudflap, and Redstreak, and cleared his throat.
"Gentlemen, it's the big day. The terminal is designed for four simultaneous code inputs in order to start the cyberforming process. When it begins, hundreds of cables, we'll call them ley lines, will branch out and encircle the world. These lines will expand, and convert local material into cybernetic constructs. Domain similar to an autobots native cybertron will be given potential, but not form. Not just yet. Here's the fun part. "
He took a deep breath, and continued.
"Along the edges of these cyber platforms are bio-seed pods. Once the cyberforming lines are down, they will start to spread the mosses and lichens that are most likely to take hold. It will be marvelous.
The input code is simple, but simultaneous. All four of us need to enter within the same second, or it doesn't work. Fail safe, of course. "
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