Pride Before the Fall

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< Arcee Posed on Jan 07 09:24PM CST >- In the central communal area of the barracks floor, which is adjacent to each separate barracks 'wing' and close to the lift, Arcee arrives fresh from a long session in the training facility. She's feeling good. She recently helped located an Autobot from the MIA list, she's mastered a few more skills programs...overall, she has a sense of accomplishment and relief that everything's been running without a hitch. ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 09:30PM CST >--- Sky Lynx is present. He usually is. Though, he's off in his own corner of the barracks drinking from his ... bowl. Don't laugh. He'll just sit on you. Hearing the sounds of others moving about, he glances up and looks at Arcee, offering a curt nod of greeting. "Ah, Arcee! Good to see you out and about. We trust all has gone well? Congratulations, by the by. Recovery is always quite a feat." < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 09:34PM CST >- Perhaps Arcee's confidence is a bit misplaced. You know what they say, 'Pride goes before a fall.'
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Now, this isn't usually a place you'd find Prowl about, but today he can be heard berating a fresh recruit in the hallway. As soon as the mech scampers off, he turns his attention toward Lynx and Arcee. He nods briefly toward the larger shuttle, before he faces Arcee with a stern look. "Arcee." he has that look on his face, the one that really does not bode well. The one that probably means you did something he -really- didn't approve of at all. < Arcee Posed on Jan 07 09:37PM CST >- "Hello, Commander Sky Lynx!" Arcee greets cheerfully. Sky Lynx had best enjoy that sunny smile she has for him, because it's not going to remain on her faceplate for very long. "Thank you so much, I was very glad things worked out the way they did."

As Prowl makes his way over, and he looks particularly perturbed, Arcee's smile slowly begins to fade, replaced by an expression of confusion. Why did Prowl look so upset? At /her/? "...Yes, Prowl?" ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 09:41PM CST >--- Sky Lynx nods to the Officer on deck. "Prowl. Good to see you as well." But, it seems that Prowl has other plans for being here than simply being social, and as Arcee gets some attention, the giant mech goes silent for a bit to simply watch on while enjoying his drink. < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 09:49PM CST >- Simply being social isn't a thing that Prowl does. Most of everyone knows that. So yes, he has -reasons- for being here. He folds his arms, still fixing her with that stern glare. "-What- were you thinking?" Clearly she hasn't been paying attention to the notices Prime had to put out regarding the quarantines. "You allowed a -Decepticon- to rescue Safelight alone, without oversight? We have -no idea- what he may have done down there! He could have planted a tracking beacon, or worse yet, explosives!" < Arcee Posed on Jan 07 09:58PM CST >- Arcee stares up at Prowl as he addresses her sternly. "Okay, first of all, I brought rescue equipment /with/ me," she explains, "So it was my plan to go in, acquire Safelight if at all possible, and get out. At no time did I call the Decepticons who showed up; they just suddenly dropped in on me. And let me explain about the fissure field. These weren't canyons, these weren't tunnels, alright? These were FISSURES IN THE GROUND. Very small. In places, shallower than a crawlspace. I was getting faint...FAINT signals, very ambivalent, throughout the area that suggested to me he might be down in a fissure, but even in the event he was there, I wasn't going to be able to get to him. The fissures were only small enough for a mini to pass through. The Decepticon just...did his thing, do you understand? I didn't SEND him down there, he did that on his OWN, and at the time he was the ONLY mech capable of passing into the ground. He...phases through things. Phases straight through solid matter. Now you tell me how I was supposed to PHASE THROUGH THE GROUND to 'oversee' him??" ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 10:06PM CST >--- Sky Lynx just listens as he takes another light sip of his drink. There's little for him to add just yet, as Prowl's had yet to really get his perspective or say in the matter. Turning his attention to the cop, he settles himself down, nudging the 'drinking bowl' aside to focus fully on the conversation. < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 10:13PM CST >- "You -should- have called for additional units. Perhaps someone small enough to reach him." Prowl continues harshly. "That was the first mistake you made, you shouldn't have even -told- them what you were doing there in the first place! You understand that they're the enemy, don't you? You understand that we're at -war- with them, right? Why should you give them -any- information whatsoever?" He sighs, shaking his head. He looks very disappointed. "I thought you were better than this." < Arcee Posed on Jan 07 10:22PM CST >- "I was in Sector 2A, not even inside incorporated Petrex! There is NO WAY anyone short of Blurr, called immediately and able to respond immediately, would have been able to get there as backup. No way. And even IF Blurr showed up? We'd exchange some shots with the Seekers, then guess what? Safelight would be DEAD. Because neither of us would have been able to get to him, and even if I had thrown down one of the hoisting cords, he was in no shape to affix it to himself!" Arcee counters, having none of it. If she's feeling any remorse for her disappointing actions, she has a funny way of showing it. "...Okay, I probably took a chance in telling them why I was there," she concedes. "However! If I said nothing, Safelight would have /remained/ MIA, unretrieved, leaving one LESS mech to patrol, so I think it was worth the risk."

When Prowl begins acting disappointed, Arcee turns irate. "Don't start with me, this wasn't some kind of disaster! I brought home a missing Autobot! I did what I was trained to do! I'm NOT ashamed! You hear me?? I don't care if you're disappointed! You're just saying that to manipulate me anyway! Don't think I haven't figured it out!" ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 10:29PM CST >--- Sky Lynx shifts. Oh, if he could quirk his brow, he certainly would. Things are indeed getting interesting between the two, in spite of the temperature rising to boiling points. His drink is long forgotten, and his gaze shifts once more from Arcee to Prowl. Is there...popcorn anywhere? < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 10:39PM CST >- "You don't know that!" Prowl shoots back. "Petrex is close enough to home, and we always have patrol routes through the polity. Someone could have been in the area. You didn't even -try-, before you went ahead and accepted help from -Decepticons-. And you -don't- know if this was a disaster or not, yet! They could have planted something on him, or inside of him. If that Decepticon could phase through matter, then Primus knows what he could have done to Safelight while he was offline. It was -not- worth the risk. You need to accept the fact that sometimes, we need to recognize that sacrifices must be made, and we need to be able to cut our losses and move on. Allowing him to die out there would have been better than bringing a bomb back to base that is capable of wiping out -all- of us or allowing the Decepticons to leverage us into doing what they want." He makes an exasperated sound, and turns to Sky Lynx. "Don't just sit there, tell her! Prime has his hands full with the Convocation, otherwise he would be here as well, -agreeing- with me." < Arcee Posed on Jan 07 10:45PM CST >- "I didn't ask because it was over before it ever escalated, Prowl, it was over in moments," Arcee counters. "No, I didn't have all the facts, but you don't always have all the facts on the field at your disposal or time to peruse them! Sooo...what you're trying to tell me is...don't bother with those glitches on the MIA list? Let them help themselves? Even if you have a good lead for where they might be?? Why do you even keep an MIA list in the first place, then??? Why even keep track if we don't give a rusty skidplate what happens to field agents? Tch." She paces around frenetically while responding, then frowns deeply, folding her arms across her chestplate defiantly. ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 10:48PM CST >--- Sky Lynx is called into it? Oh dear. He looks at Prowl, then Arcee, then back to Prowl. "You're not going to like my answer." He pulls his engex bowl over to him again and considers his words for a moment. "There are a few ways to look at this, Prowl, and none of them seem to support that Arcee did anything wrong. We have one of our own back. That is the bottom line, and we cannot in any right mind believe that Optimus Prime would disagree with that or even view that negatively." He sighs. "Now, the motives are indeed open to debate and interpretation. It could be that the Decepticons are war-weary. It could be they were trying to glean favor with the Neutrals or for other propaganda. It could be subterfuge and, indeed, there is a bomb, however that would also negate any favor gained from the neutrals for their actions. Those answers will come in time, but none of them can be fixed nor have any bearing on the fact that Arcee got one of ours back home when they would have been in dire straits otherwise." < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 11:02PM CST >- "So you don't even think she did anything wrong in actually -trusting- them? You do realize, she not only told them what she was doing, she -allowed- him to venture down into the chasm to fetch Safelight, meaning she allowed him to be alone with him. He could have killed the original and sent up some kind of decoy for all we know! That is a risk we -cannot- afford to take." Prowl is now also frustated with Sky Lynx. "You of all mechs should know better."

Then he counters Arcee's argument. "That is -not- what I'm saying. Searching for them is indeed something that must be pursued, but there may be situations wherein we will locate them, but it simply is not feasible to retrieve them. The sooner we accept that, the better off we are. We -can't- afford to assign our assets to futile efforts. Not here, not now, not by a long shot. -Understood?" And now it's directed at both of them. < Arcee Posed on Jan 07 11:07PM CST >- Arcee knows there's no winning this argument, but despite her supreme annoyance over this entire situation, inwardly she's very grateful that Sky Lynx seems to see her side of things. At least that gives her bearings...it lets her know that she isn't losing her mind. Did she make a few questionable calls? Certainly, she won't deny that. But she definitely thinks Prowl's just making a huge deal out of nothing at all. Disaster /could/ have happened, but it's over and disaster did /not/ happen, and to her that alone justifies her actions in Petrex.

"Understood," she responds quietly, giving a small glance over to Sky Lynx before looking back toward Prowl again. She wonders if he's going to continue to complain, or if he has more steam to vent. ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 11:07PM CST >--- "And had I been there, things might have been different indeed. However, from what we also heard, she had little say in the matter. The Decepticons did what they wished to do without her input. Any calls for backup would have arrived too late, short of myself mind you, perhaps Blurr as well." Lynx frowns at Prowl. "As far as we can see it, the only thing Arcee may have done wrong is to act as though this war is over and look out for a fellow Cybertronian /as/ a fellow Cybertronian, and with the assistance of another Cybertronian. In fact, you can tell that to Optimus Prime himself to use in front of the Grand Convocation, as I doubt /they/ would even find fault in it. As far as the paranoia that something is wrong with Safelight? That is not Arcee's concern. That is the concern of those who are looking after him and ensuring all is well and as it should be. Do not turn this into something that turns us against one another, Prowl. The Decepticons would be giddy if they heard you." < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 11:17PM CST >- "You're wrong." Prowl replies to Sky Lynx. "Prime has a -deluge- to deal with within the Convocation, thanks to this unwise decision and footage from Expressway surveillance. And of course it is Arcee's concern, because it's -everyone's- concern if he's carrying explosives or other dangerous device. I'm not turning anyone against anyone, Sky Lynx. I'm trying to -protect- our ranks by emphasizing the importance of -not- taking risks that are not worth taking."

But since Arcee has ceased defending herself, he also ends his tirade. "Good. Now, you will not divulge -any- intel of value regarding our activities to the Decepticons, ever again. -That's- an order." ---< Sky Lynx Posed on Jan 07 11:21PM CST >--- "Because recovering one of our own is an unacceptable risk and not worth taking. Understood, Prowl." Lynx will just let that one settle in as he stands and turns to walk away. "Your concerns are noted, however. Now then, if you will excuse me, though, I've other matters to attend to." No, not even he will ask to be dismissed. Nor will he even pause to listen further. He's thump-thumping his way towards the doors built to accomodate his entry and exit to do as a Lynx often will do. < Arcee Posed on Jan 07 11:22PM CST >- Arcee remains silent for now, because...well, anything she says can and will be used against her, knowing her luck. She just nods, because she's fairly sure Prowl isn't going to leave her alone until she gives him some sort of acknowledgement. There's also that feeling that if she /does/ try to say anything else, it will probably come out sounding like screaming, and she'll get to spend a little time meeting the interesting denizens of the Brig. < Prowl Posed on Jan 07 11:28PM CST >- "Yes, precisely. Recovering our own is sometimes a risk not worth taking. There is a line that defines what is within reason. If rescuing one soldier is going to place -everyone- in danger, it simply not worth it." Prowl affirms. Yep, he's a prick. But to him, how could anyone -not- see that? Common sense, really!

He storms off as well, without so much as a farewell. Nope, he's not happy at all. Of course, if it had been anyone else besides Arcee, he probably wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it. But because it was -her-...

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