NaNoWriMo 2012 Victory
Nov. 28th, 2012 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22
Dear Primus. I have never struggled, in all my years of participating in this challenge, to meet the 50K word goal before. But this year, I barely made it. I came through with a round-about total of 53,508 (according to NaNo's validator, my personal count was 50,035). I wish I could say that was all on one fic but no... it's not.
That word count is divided amongst no less than seven pieces. *headdesk* Those seven pieces are War Without End: Prowl, War Without End: Thundercracker, War Without End: Interlude Drift, the flash fiction from Nov 16th, Ovation which is the sequel to Curtain Call, a short, smutty Sideswipe/Ratchet piece I wrote for fuzipenguin, and a smutty, dom/sub Bluestreak/Jazz oneshot I just started writing for tf-rare-pairings.
Luckily, I've finished the bulk of War Without End: Prowl. I've got to go back, finish some scenes, smooth over rough edges, probably add a few scenes, and then ship it off to Azar for fine-tuning, editing, and her additional details that she'll add. :) I'm hoping for a January posting of this but it really depends on her busy schedule.
"Ovation" will be posted in December as soon as I look it over several times for grammatical errors. The Blue/Jazz for tf-rare-pairings is supposed to be up by Sunday so I'm going to put pedal to the metal to get that done in time. I also need to post the last three flash fiction that I've finished.
So. In honor of finishing, I present to you the last snippet of War Without End: Prowl for your squee'ing pleasure. At least, those of you awaiting the story. :) Be warned of the roughest-rough draft and likely errors.
The sound of a human clearing his throat pulls Prowl from his musings. He looks down, identifying the visitor with little surprise.
“You are here for the first draft, I presume?” Prowl asks, watching as Lennox effortlessly climbs several stacks of supplies until he is more or less at optics level. This suggests familiarity, a task that Lennox has done time and time again.
Considering that this is all that remains of Ratchet's medcorner, perhaps Lennox spent more time than he is admitting to in Ratchet's company.
Will rolls his shoulders. “It's not my gig so I guess some lackey will come by soon enough for it.”
“Is there another reason for your visit?”
The colonel makes himself comfortable on the crate. “It's not official. I just wanted to see how you were doing. I don't see you in the field like I do the others.”
Prowl inclines his helm. “I am primarily a tactician. I am not often needed on the frontlines though with our limited personnel, that is likely to change in the future.”
“The future?” Will frowns, drawing up a leg to balance his arm across it. “As in, more battles? But the war's over.”
“There are still Decepticons on this planet. Your latest intel puts the estimates at about thirty.” Prowl turns back toward his assortment of datapads, selecting one on his far left. “My calculations put that number closer to fifty.”
The discrepancies are only because Prowl is taking into account the number of Decepticons that are still hiding on the moon, like Astrotrain is and Blitzwing had been. Surely not all of them had hopped Sentinel's space bridge and others may have arrived as well.
“That's not good.”
Prowl's intakes rattle and he pauses to contemplate the noise. He could probably use a systems flush. He isn't receiving any system-wide errors. To be fair, he hasn't seen a medic since Hoist was killed in that surprise Decepticon bombing.
Their first encounter upon leaving Cybertron had resulted in a full third of Prowl's crew offlining, his medic the first to fall. In retrospect, he should have taken that incident as a sign of the sparkbreak and grief to come.
“By now, they must be desperate for energy,” Prowl finally replies, shuffling his datapads. “It will make them reckless. We should be able to locate them easier.”
“Locate and destroy, you mean.”
“If they will not lay down arms and comply, yes.”
Lennox scratches the side of his nose. “You... uh... haven't been reading all of the reports, have you?”
Will's hesitation gives reason for Prowl to pause and he looks at the human. “I have assimilated the details of every report Prime has given me and those I have found on the servers at this base. Why?”
Will rises to his feet, as though he doesn't wish to say this while sitting down. “Prime's not been giving the Decepticons a chance to surrender. Mearing doesn't want to threaten human lives and he concurs.”
So Blitzwing's execution had not been a fluke? Primus, why are the reports so incomplete. It's as though Prime is trying to hide the truth. Ratchet's “defection”, the burials of the fallen, and now the fate of any located Decepticons.
Prowl has never held much faith in the possibility of Decepticons truly defecting, and he's found it harder and harder over the years to not take the war personally, but to not give them the opportunity... it is a distinctly un-Prime-like choice.
Another tick mark adds itself to the growling list in Prowl's processor, all the ways that Optimus has changed from his past self. All the decisions he's making now that either make no sense or seem counter-productive.
“I see.” Prowl sets his datapad down, flattening his hand on the top of the crate. “What of arriving Decepticons?”
“We have a pretty good defense net now. Unless Prime can positively identify Autobots, Mearing doesn't take any chances.”
A cold chill races down Prowl's backstruts. “Have we suffered any Autobot causalities as a result of this?”
“As far as we know, not yet.”
A small comfort. What if the next arrival, however, is hiding aboard a Decepticon spacecraft or has disguised him or herself as a Decepticon for the sake of survival. What if they are unable to transmit Autobot codes as they enter Earth's atmosphere?
Prowl and Sunstreaker are slagging lucky they hadn't been shot straight out of the sky upon their harried descent.
“I will speak with Optimus,” Prowl says, returning his attention to his datapads. “We are few and cannot afford to lose any one else. Especially not to a mistake that could have been prevented.”
Lennox makes a wordless noise of agreement in his throat. “You'll have to convince Mearing, too.”
Prowl's sensory panels twitch. “I will factor that into my calculations.”
“Might be a good idea, too, to set up some kind of beacon. There are plenty of remote areas in the United States where human casualties would either be at a minimum or nonexistent.”
A beacon. The human has a point. Even if it drew Decepticon and Autobot alike, with the minimized casualties, then Prowl would not have to work so hard to convince Mearing.
“Good suggestion.” Prowl looks at Lennox, acknowledging the assistance. “I shall start searching for an appropriate location immediately.”
Lennox dusts off his hands, approaching the edge of the crate. “Good luck. I'd suggest North Dakota, but honestly, who the frag wants to go there?”
“You are here for the first draft, I presume?” Prowl asks, watching as Lennox effortlessly climbs several stacks of supplies until he is more or less at optics level. This suggests familiarity, a task that Lennox has done time and time again.
Considering that this is all that remains of Ratchet's medcorner, perhaps Lennox spent more time than he is admitting to in Ratchet's company.
Will rolls his shoulders. “It's not my gig so I guess some lackey will come by soon enough for it.”
“Is there another reason for your visit?”
The colonel makes himself comfortable on the crate. “It's not official. I just wanted to see how you were doing. I don't see you in the field like I do the others.”
Prowl inclines his helm. “I am primarily a tactician. I am not often needed on the frontlines though with our limited personnel, that is likely to change in the future.”
“The future?” Will frowns, drawing up a leg to balance his arm across it. “As in, more battles? But the war's over.”
“There are still Decepticons on this planet. Your latest intel puts the estimates at about thirty.” Prowl turns back toward his assortment of datapads, selecting one on his far left. “My calculations put that number closer to fifty.”
The discrepancies are only because Prowl is taking into account the number of Decepticons that are still hiding on the moon, like Astrotrain is and Blitzwing had been. Surely not all of them had hopped Sentinel's space bridge and others may have arrived as well.
“That's not good.”
Prowl's intakes rattle and he pauses to contemplate the noise. He could probably use a systems flush. He isn't receiving any system-wide errors. To be fair, he hasn't seen a medic since Hoist was killed in that surprise Decepticon bombing.
Their first encounter upon leaving Cybertron had resulted in a full third of Prowl's crew offlining, his medic the first to fall. In retrospect, he should have taken that incident as a sign of the sparkbreak and grief to come.
“By now, they must be desperate for energy,” Prowl finally replies, shuffling his datapads. “It will make them reckless. We should be able to locate them easier.”
“Locate and destroy, you mean.”
“If they will not lay down arms and comply, yes.”
Lennox scratches the side of his nose. “You... uh... haven't been reading all of the reports, have you?”
Will's hesitation gives reason for Prowl to pause and he looks at the human. “I have assimilated the details of every report Prime has given me and those I have found on the servers at this base. Why?”
Will rises to his feet, as though he doesn't wish to say this while sitting down. “Prime's not been giving the Decepticons a chance to surrender. Mearing doesn't want to threaten human lives and he concurs.”
So Blitzwing's execution had not been a fluke? Primus, why are the reports so incomplete. It's as though Prime is trying to hide the truth. Ratchet's “defection”, the burials of the fallen, and now the fate of any located Decepticons.
Prowl has never held much faith in the possibility of Decepticons truly defecting, and he's found it harder and harder over the years to not take the war personally, but to not give them the opportunity... it is a distinctly un-Prime-like choice.
Another tick mark adds itself to the growling list in Prowl's processor, all the ways that Optimus has changed from his past self. All the decisions he's making now that either make no sense or seem counter-productive.
“I see.” Prowl sets his datapad down, flattening his hand on the top of the crate. “What of arriving Decepticons?”
“We have a pretty good defense net now. Unless Prime can positively identify Autobots, Mearing doesn't take any chances.”
A cold chill races down Prowl's backstruts. “Have we suffered any Autobot causalities as a result of this?”
“As far as we know, not yet.”
A small comfort. What if the next arrival, however, is hiding aboard a Decepticon spacecraft or has disguised him or herself as a Decepticon for the sake of survival. What if they are unable to transmit Autobot codes as they enter Earth's atmosphere?
Prowl and Sunstreaker are slagging lucky they hadn't been shot straight out of the sky upon their harried descent.
“I will speak with Optimus,” Prowl says, returning his attention to his datapads. “We are few and cannot afford to lose any one else. Especially not to a mistake that could have been prevented.”
Lennox makes a wordless noise of agreement in his throat. “You'll have to convince Mearing, too.”
Prowl's sensory panels twitch. “I will factor that into my calculations.”
“Might be a good idea, too, to set up some kind of beacon. There are plenty of remote areas in the United States where human casualties would either be at a minimum or nonexistent.”
A beacon. The human has a point. Even if it drew Decepticon and Autobot alike, with the minimized casualties, then Prowl would not have to work so hard to convince Mearing.
“Good suggestion.” Prowl looks at Lennox, acknowledging the assistance. “I shall start searching for an appropriate location immediately.”
Lennox dusts off his hands, approaching the edge of the crate. “Good luck. I'd suggest North Dakota, but honestly, who the frag wants to go there?”
a/n: Come January, you'll get to read the rest. I won't post it in increments. I'll post all of Prowl's part up like I did Ratchet's, that way you only have to wait for each character's POV.
I hope you enjoyed! And congratulations and good luck to everyone who participated in NaNo with me!
