Series: The Ghost Unit
Title: Benevolence(#33)
Setting: IDW Transformers, inspired by the "What's Wrong with a Little Destruction" 'verse by ajremix.
Note: Many thanks to rexlapinii and ajremix for beta-ing!
Summary: Salvo indulges in his favorite hobby. Protecting the universe from his team, one brawl at a time.

Benevolence
"Hear reason, or she'll make you feel her."
~ Benjamin Franklin

Hitting station or base mess halls was always something of a return home for Salvo - inasmuch as it meant going back home to lord it over the peons while showing off the brand new artillery he'd been upgraded with, anyway. It was gorgeous, beautiful artillery. It deserved to have the peons drool over it. (Only, not literally. Because, ew.) Still, some things didn't change and though he'd been warned not to give himself away and to at least try to keep a low profile, no one had said that he couldn't enjoy himself on his off time now and then.

And right now, that meant mingling with some of the grunts milling about the mess hall, each settling in after a day's work or preparing to head out, some of them station permanents and others just transients from whatever ship was currently at dock.

The snippets of conversation were the same ones he heard in any military (or civilian) mess hall. The daily gossip of the local inhabitants, whatever profession they may have, the tawdry rumors surrounding this or that bot, the complaints of the dissatisfied and the familiar ribbing between friends, the latter being his favorite type of conversation to listen in on.

"Yeah, I'd have fun with that," was the one comment that stood out from the others, suddenly, and Salvo leaned back from the table he'd appropriated to pay closer attention, the tone one he knew ( and had used himself) far too well.

"You'd have fun with anything, slagger!" was the mocking retort, to the general amusement of the onlookers.

"Shut yer voice box. Sure, she ain't exactly the sweetest little bit I've ever seen, pretty drab and all, but hey - how often do you get to see a femme these days anyway?" The laughter was raucous and unpleasant - again, nothing Salvo himself hadn't indulged in many a time before. Of course... it was a little different now. They were talking about one of his teammates. The thought rolled around for a while, making its merry way towards the only possibly outcome he could think of. With a blissful smile Salvo rose to his feet, and picked up his table casually.

The resulting crash from the table swooping down to sideswipe the other mech brought a brief lull to the mess hall's usual hubbub. This lasted for all of a few nano-kliks before all discussions resumed as usual, due to the fact that the fight had been stopped before it even seriously started, the mech currently sporting a table as a new addition to his armor having been knocked clean offline in the process.

"Are you out of your processors?!" The other mechs scrambled up from where they'd been thrown, some seeing to their companion, most keeping an eye on him being far more concerned for their own personal welfare than anyone else's. Salvo sneered at the latter.

"Naw, just doing you a favor." Salvo gave them all a dismissive look, enjoying himself. He was looking out for a teammate and had gotten to kick someone's aft, in the bargain. It really had been a good idea to check out the mess hall. "See, the way I look at it, I beat your buddy up and teach him proper manners, I'm actually doing him - and you all - a favor. So you should thank me!" Beaming at the sorry lot of soldiers alternating between helping their companion up or glaring at him in some pitiful attempt at intimidation, Salvo decided that the entire lot was a lost cause and a waste of time. Right up until one of them, frowning slightly, finally got some sort of thinking done with whatever he possessed that passed as processors.

"Wait... how is it that you beating us up is you doing us a favor?"

"Keeps you from getting taught the error of your disrespectful ways by my SIC instead, is what." After watching that thought percolate through their dim little cranial units until comprehension slowly settled in, Salvo grinned genially. "Yeah. That'd be the femme you were trash talking just now."

Seeing a distinct lack of desire to argue further from his interlocutors Salvo released the unfortunate bot he'd been keeping pinned to the ground with a single foot and turned around, heading back for the general docking area. He hummed tunelessly to himself the entire way.

All in a day's fun, he thought contentedly.

"Hey!" Salvo kept walking towards their shuttle, ignoring the talk of the dock workers going on around him. "Did you see that sweet lookin' black and blue medbot, earlier?"

With a slight smile, the tank paused in mid-step and boosted his audios to make sure no one was talking in any untoward way about his teammate. And if they were, well - someone had to protect the unwary from Deadline as well, after all.

"Eh, I dunno. He kinda shot down everyone who get anywhere near 'em with a single look. At once. It was pretty impressive, actually."

"Ha! Be worth it, I think! Betcha there's a lot of heat under all that frost!"

Laughter echoed among the dockworkers. None of them spotted Salvo unhurriedly strolling in their direction, still smiling as he hefted a newly acquired cargo crate under one massive arm.

Current Mood: amused