dustbunny105

It it Already Wednesday and that means it's WIP WEDNESDAY!!

Haven't done the game in a hot minute but I'd like to lean into it this year to see if it helps my writing goals at all. Except I think I want to try actually posting on Wednesdays. Y'know, since it's in the name and all. I obviously haven't asked for any prompts, so I hit the button on a random word generator until it gave me something I could find in my drafts.

"Speaking of the Predacons," Botanica put in, her foliage fluttering a bit as it did when she wanted the floor; she reached over Transmutate to press a few keys and the holographic readout changed to show a rough approximation of the Darksyde and the land on which she had made her temporary home and a handful of blinking dots that represented the crew. "From what we've been able to gather in what limited surveillance we've been able to arrange, they've been making progress toward harvesting raw energon."

"Which is bad news for us," Rhinox added, remaining in his seat but passing a datapad to Botanica, who hooked it in and pulled up the report alongside the Darksyde display. "We used up a lot of our stock in the battle alone and lost more when we crashed. Then there are the numerous uses of the CR chambers, draining us further."

Botanica's hands both went to Transmutate's shoulders, fingers dancing across their surfaces in a silent reassurance. To the meeting at large, she said, "And then, of course, are the shields. While we still have a decent stock saved up-- the beauty of a long-term journey-- our projections show that it won't sustain us for more than a megacycle at our current rate. We have no way of knowing how much the Predacons still have stockpiled from their own stores," here she inclined her head to Dinobot, who had not thought to take stock before he confronted Megatron and was ousted, "and, just as unfortunately, no information on how much they've been able to mine."

"So, we need to get started on mining operations ourselves, is what you're saying," Optimus said, picking up a datapad of his own and pulling up a copy of the report to better peruse it. "Something we're fortunately equipped to do."

"But not something we have a lot of time or mechpower to devote to, less fortunately," Botanica said even as she inclined her head in agreement. "The Axalon is in a sorry state indeed, and sorrier for Tarantulas's visit."

"This is all the more reason to strike out on the offensive," Dinobot argued, spinning his chair back to the table and leaning forward over it with his claws digging in to the edges. "If we destroy the Preadcons now, while they're still regrouping and gathering their supplies, we will have no worry of being caught out ourselves."

Rattrap chewed ever more violently at his paws, tail lashing, as close as he was going to come to admitting out loud that he agreed with Dinobot's assessment. Optimus chose to ignore this second vote, since they all knew it wasn't going to be spoken.

"Setting aside the fact that I'm not about to sign off on destroying anyone," he said, looking firmly at Dinobot, "what you suggest is strategically unsound. As Botanica has already said, we don't know what sort of defenses the Predacons have managed to mount or what resources they've already managed to gather. Even if we were to launch an offense, we could not do it now."

"You worry too much about losing your pawns while the enemy king sits safe on his throne," Dinobot growled, consciously adding the right modifiers to his glyphs to be certain that the metaphor was understood. He knew he'd chosen correctly because the look Optimus gave him became even more deeply disapproving and the looks from everyone else were more dirty.

Not that he'd expected less from Rattrap regardless.

"We have a very slim numbers advantage at the moment, Dinobot, and I would think that, if nothing else, you might understand the wisdom in maintaining it." Optimus stood, taking advantage of Dinobot's helm being below his when the ex-Predacon in question was seated. "Far more importantly, I have no intention of sacrificing anyone, certainly not to a battle that I have no reason to believe we could win or even gain anything from. I will remind you again that you signed up for this team, whatever your reasons, and that is not how we operate."

"Hey, now, boss monkey," Rattrap quipped, "no need to be so dismissive of other cultures! If scissor maw over there wants a sacrifice so bad, ehhh, go on and let 'im make it, huh?"

Dinobot snarled, leaning across the table; Rattrap's hackles raised and teeth bared in response but he held his place when he felt Rhinox shift to stand behind him.

"Enough," Optimus snapped, pinning Rattrap with a Look. Then, turning to Dinobot, he added, "If you're going to react that way to such a suggestion, perhaps you should put a little more thought in before bringing up a similar one yourself." Then, to everyone, "Now, anything further to report?"

Now that's posted, the floor is open for prompts for next week! I don't think right off that I've had any new friends here since the last time I did this but just in case, I'll go over the rules again. They are very simple! Give me a word-- or a few words-- and I'll search my drafts. If I find any of the prompt words, I'll post an excerpt that includes them. If I don't, I have to write something new using the same prompt or prompts.

And since we're already here-- tell me what you're working on! Writing, crafting, home projects, etc!