Rebecca Hb. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beckyh2112) wrote2008-01-29 06:47 pm
beckyh2112) wrote2008-01-29 06:47 pm
Entry tags:
[TF: Ani Fic] Conduct Unbecoming
Title: Conduct Unbecoming
Characters: Elita One, Ultra Magnus
Word Count: 1026
Rating: PG
Summary: Ultra Magnus disciplines one of his Academy trainers for an affair with a student of hers.
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Any other mech, he thought but did not say, would not have had the courage to lift the glossy photograph off of his desk. Not when it so luridly showed her with the young cadet in her arms, leaving very little to the imagination as to what they were up to.
Ultra Magnus, however, was the last mech to ever deny Elita One's bravery and daring. She had been one of his direct subordinates during the latter part of the war, and he had served beside her for decades before Alpha Trion's horrible death had elevated him to his current position.
Like far too many veterans of the war, she should have been a public hero. But, like Kup and Ironhide, her actions were carefully glossed over by the history files, her records locked under a security clearance too specialized for few besides him to look at. The dark days of the war didn't need to poison the new generation with glory-lust and stupidity masquerading as bravery. Nor did they need to know of what had happened to the Nebulons or how the future would proceed without the Allspark.
"Nice shot," she commented as she propped one leg against the edge of his desk and leaned her ornate stool back onto two legs. "Could make some nice posters from that. Lot of young mechs would go for it."
Ultra Magnus gave her a stern glare. Her worn voice and time-dulled colors, once-bright whites now faded to ivory and once-brilliant pinks now soft and dusky, attested to her age and experience. She knew better. She knew her behavior was unacceptable. Even if she was behaving like a junior officer in his prescence.
No, he corrected himself. She was behaving like Elita One. A junior officer would never dare to behave as insolently as she did.
"You are well aware, Elita, that your affair with this cadet properly calls for a court martial." He reached for a set of holo-cubes in his inbox and set them out on his desktop.
"But due to my service, you're not going to do that, are you?" Elita let the stool settle back on all four of its legs, an intensely expectant expression on her face. "So what are you going to do to me, Magnus?"
Ultra Magnus activated one of the cubes with a tap. It projected a jagged landscape of barren, red rock into the air between the two Transformers. A dim red sun hung off to the far side, and the crispness of the stars implied that this place had no planetary atmosphere. "There have been reports of Decepticons skulking near Charr."
He moved to the next one. This cube projected a bustling metropolis of a city, filled with all sorts of different aliens. "Our ambassador on Pequod will need a new security chief very soon."
"Finally," he said as he activated the remaining holo-cube, and it projected the image of a dimly-lit park. The plants seemed to be wilting, and the alien playground equipment seems dilapidated. "Some sort of mysterious blight has affected Pz-Zazz. There are rumors of the Decepticons, but they're barely whispers. Certainly not enough to send a full team after."
"Smelt, you're not trying at all to be subtle here." Elita rocked forward on her stool and jabbed her hand through the holo-projection of Pz-Zazz. "If I'm going to go out-system chasing Decepticons, I'm not taking a team. Just my life on the line. No others."
"Very well. Your new assignment will be processed and officially posted in the next three days. Until then, I would prefer you to concentrate on settling your affairs with the Academy and selecting a successor rather than teaching."
She nodded. "All right."
"Dismissed."
She didn't move as he deactivated each holo-cube and set them into his outbox. Nor did she move when he turned deliberately to one of his monitor screens to read the multitude of reports that he needed to be aware of.
"Elita," he said warningly after he had finished the third report. "You're still here."
"What are you going to do to Optimus?" She drew her leg back from his desk and hooked her ankle over a rail on the stool, before crossing her legs.
He didn't answer her right away, preferring to study the way she held herself. There was something in her voice, in her mannerisms that he had not seen in a very long time...
Was she nervous?
For the boy?
"I am not going to do anything to the cadet, Elita," Ultra Magnus said calmly as he picked up the photograph on his desk and fed it into the incinerator. "He is a young mech who has been taken advantage of by someone he should have been able to trust. He has done nothing wrong."
She mimicked the sound of a backfiring engine with her vocoder. Much quieter than an actual backfire, and it wouldn't bring his guards running. So she did still have some good judgement in her systems somewhere. "As long as you hold to that, Magnus..."
He remained uncertain on whether she had meant for that lingering edge of threat in her voice or not as Elita One walked out of his office.
Then he turned to his monitor and entered a few commands to bring up the cadet's record. A quick scan gave him the impression of a promising young soldier, intelligent, mentally flexible, and with potential as an officer.
And yet...
There had to be a flaw. The cadet had carried on an affair with one of his trainers, despite knowing what he did was against regulations. That kind of thinking could poison a mech if encouraged.
He inserted a note into the cadet's file, instructing all of his trainers to push him to the uttermost without let-up.
The Academy was the forge of Cybertron's great warriors. Whatever flaw this Optimus possessed must be hammered out before graduation. If the cadet failed, Ultra Magnus would know that the flaw was too great, and that the cadet couldn't be trusted with any post of importance. If he succeeded...
Well, Ultra Magnus would burn that bridge when he came to it.
End
Characters: Elita One, Ultra Magnus
Word Count: 1026
Rating: PG
Summary: Ultra Magnus disciplines one of his Academy trainers for an affair with a student of hers.
---
Any other mech, he thought but did not say, would not have had the courage to lift the glossy photograph off of his desk. Not when it so luridly showed her with the young cadet in her arms, leaving very little to the imagination as to what they were up to.
Ultra Magnus, however, was the last mech to ever deny Elita One's bravery and daring. She had been one of his direct subordinates during the latter part of the war, and he had served beside her for decades before Alpha Trion's horrible death had elevated him to his current position.
Like far too many veterans of the war, she should have been a public hero. But, like Kup and Ironhide, her actions were carefully glossed over by the history files, her records locked under a security clearance too specialized for few besides him to look at. The dark days of the war didn't need to poison the new generation with glory-lust and stupidity masquerading as bravery. Nor did they need to know of what had happened to the Nebulons or how the future would proceed without the Allspark.
"Nice shot," she commented as she propped one leg against the edge of his desk and leaned her ornate stool back onto two legs. "Could make some nice posters from that. Lot of young mechs would go for it."
Ultra Magnus gave her a stern glare. Her worn voice and time-dulled colors, once-bright whites now faded to ivory and once-brilliant pinks now soft and dusky, attested to her age and experience. She knew better. She knew her behavior was unacceptable. Even if she was behaving like a junior officer in his prescence.
No, he corrected himself. She was behaving like Elita One. A junior officer would never dare to behave as insolently as she did.
"You are well aware, Elita, that your affair with this cadet properly calls for a court martial." He reached for a set of holo-cubes in his inbox and set them out on his desktop.
"But due to my service, you're not going to do that, are you?" Elita let the stool settle back on all four of its legs, an intensely expectant expression on her face. "So what are you going to do to me, Magnus?"
Ultra Magnus activated one of the cubes with a tap. It projected a jagged landscape of barren, red rock into the air between the two Transformers. A dim red sun hung off to the far side, and the crispness of the stars implied that this place had no planetary atmosphere. "There have been reports of Decepticons skulking near Charr."
He moved to the next one. This cube projected a bustling metropolis of a city, filled with all sorts of different aliens. "Our ambassador on Pequod will need a new security chief very soon."
"Finally," he said as he activated the remaining holo-cube, and it projected the image of a dimly-lit park. The plants seemed to be wilting, and the alien playground equipment seems dilapidated. "Some sort of mysterious blight has affected Pz-Zazz. There are rumors of the Decepticons, but they're barely whispers. Certainly not enough to send a full team after."
"Smelt, you're not trying at all to be subtle here." Elita rocked forward on her stool and jabbed her hand through the holo-projection of Pz-Zazz. "If I'm going to go out-system chasing Decepticons, I'm not taking a team. Just my life on the line. No others."
"Very well. Your new assignment will be processed and officially posted in the next three days. Until then, I would prefer you to concentrate on settling your affairs with the Academy and selecting a successor rather than teaching."
She nodded. "All right."
"Dismissed."
She didn't move as he deactivated each holo-cube and set them into his outbox. Nor did she move when he turned deliberately to one of his monitor screens to read the multitude of reports that he needed to be aware of.
"Elita," he said warningly after he had finished the third report. "You're still here."
"What are you going to do to Optimus?" She drew her leg back from his desk and hooked her ankle over a rail on the stool, before crossing her legs.
He didn't answer her right away, preferring to study the way she held herself. There was something in her voice, in her mannerisms that he had not seen in a very long time...
Was she nervous?
For the boy?
"I am not going to do anything to the cadet, Elita," Ultra Magnus said calmly as he picked up the photograph on his desk and fed it into the incinerator. "He is a young mech who has been taken advantage of by someone he should have been able to trust. He has done nothing wrong."
She mimicked the sound of a backfiring engine with her vocoder. Much quieter than an actual backfire, and it wouldn't bring his guards running. So she did still have some good judgement in her systems somewhere. "As long as you hold to that, Magnus..."
He remained uncertain on whether she had meant for that lingering edge of threat in her voice or not as Elita One walked out of his office.
Then he turned to his monitor and entered a few commands to bring up the cadet's record. A quick scan gave him the impression of a promising young soldier, intelligent, mentally flexible, and with potential as an officer.
And yet...
There had to be a flaw. The cadet had carried on an affair with one of his trainers, despite knowing what he did was against regulations. That kind of thinking could poison a mech if encouraged.
He inserted a note into the cadet's file, instructing all of his trainers to push him to the uttermost without let-up.
The Academy was the forge of Cybertron's great warriors. Whatever flaw this Optimus possessed must be hammered out before graduation. If the cadet failed, Ultra Magnus would know that the flaw was too great, and that the cadet couldn't be trusted with any post of importance. If he succeeded...
Well, Ultra Magnus would burn that bridge when he came to it.
End
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I must admit, her being an Academy trainer was inspired by Tai's lovely Animated Kup design (http://tai-suke.deviantart.com/art/TF-Animated-Kup-74174034).
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I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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Slag! I feel so dirty thinking about it. (Wink!)
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*headtilts* What do you mean?
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I'm intrigued by your characterization of Elita. She comes across as rough, tough and overconfident, and - amid true-life stories of teachers and clergy having relations with their students and young parishioners - as one who has abused her power. Yet there's still a shadow of the Optimus/Elita we all remember - your Elita wants to be sure nothing will happen to Optimus and is willing to accept a humiliating reassignment without appeal as long as she has that assurance, reminiscent of G1 Elita who was willing to give her own Spark to save her beloved.
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Cross-posting from the 'spark myself...
I'm glad the love affair aspect came across. I was a bit worried that using Ultra Magnus as the point-of-view character wouldn't get across that Optimus and Elita really are in love. (Because as much as I like writing Elita rough, tough, and overconfident, I couldn't stomach her if it wasn't a love affair.) Part of her overconfidence does come from believing she hasn't done anything wrong because they're in love.
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I enjoyed both the chacterization of Magnus, who is the very Magnus of this universe, as well as of Elita - she fits to this world, and yet as newsy891 said above there are still hints to the old rekationship between Optimus and Elita (the few things we know from the canon about them...). And you give an excellent, believable reason for the problems Optimus has later.
Somehow I really hope, that "end" does not mean that you will not return to this worls and those ideas. I think there is more that can be told :)
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I do actually plan to write at least a couple more stories with Ani Elita. I'm just not sure when I'll get to writing them, as I've got another contest fic and some challenge fics to write for February.
On the other hand, that gives me more time to watch Ani and see how the characters behave there. Maybe glean some more knowledge of what it was like back on Cybertron. (I really love writing fics about Cybertron's culture and society, so it shows up a lot in my fics.)
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Some insight into life on Cybertron itself in the Ani-universe would be great. Unfortunately the (very) short Episode summaries so far do not look like much of the story will be taking place on Cybertron, but at least they might introduce some further interesting characters *hopes* The less they tell us, the more is left for good ff writers to find out themselves ;)
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So far, the most we've gotten of Cybertron has been from the pilot, and Ratchet's flashbacks to the Great War in "Thrill of the Hunt". Which, honestly, is slightly more than we ever got in G1 'toon. Seeing as G1 'toon Cybertron mostly seemed to have been a) scenery, except b) where Optimus Prime and the Constructicons had tragic backstories.
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I'm thinking of writing a fic that would take place before this story about their actual affair, but that will probably come after I polish off some G1 stories first.
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I've been hearing the "Mrs. Robinson" comparison a lot since I started talking about this idea. Maybe I ought to watch that movie.
Glad you liked it!
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I also approve of the Kup design you linked to, although I am a little worried about the relatively sane dimensions of his chin. :D
('In my day, we didn't need no slaggin' fancy chins....')
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Elita One was way fun to write. Am planning to do another fic with her where I actually, oh, describe what she looks like.
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Elita was fun to write. Someday, in a future fic, she will get to pull out her guns. ^__^
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I'm glad you liked the fic! There may be more in the future; I've got ideas for both a prequel and a sequel to this fic.
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Hooray! I think this is a good idea - and not something I've seen in TF fandom yet... so I'm interested to see what you'll do with it.
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Last Kiss Good Night (http://beckyh2112.livejournal.com/118265.html) is an Optimus/Elita fic I wrote for G1 that takes place very shortly before the Ark launches. Mostly an excuse for sauciness.
Weirdly enough, Animated is the first TF series where I'm leaning more towards het than slash. /random factoid
Also, I totally need to make Animated icons.
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A lot going on in there. Well done.
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