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Post by Hook on Sept 8, 2008 17:37:14 GMT -5
Semi-private. Please ask me before joining. Takes place on Day 13.
The indulgence of a private laboratory meant Hook could do certain things. Reverse-engineer devices without interference. Stash damaged giant worms in stasis-lock while the necessary support devices were created for repairs.
Lock the door.
After considerable effort, Hellbender has been moved onto a working platform. Brilliant spotlights shine down upon him. The Constructicon engineer himself is also beset with new lights - two resting along the outside of each arm, two mounted on each shoulder. Elbow-deep in someone's mechanics for a transformation rebuild is not the time to have the light blocked by his own body.
The necessary materials have all been gathered, Hook has retrieved and refurbished the arm-gun he retrieved from Hellbender's original body, and the plans for what he is going to do glitter with promise in his head.
Hook flexes his hands, then reaches into Hellbender and reconnects the wires to bring the mining worm back to consciousness. "Wake up. I have work to do."
---
All current and future manhandling of Hellbender done in this thread by player permission.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 8, 2008 20:19:26 GMT -5
Consciousness returned in sections as Hellbender's primary and secondary CPUs came up to full speed and synchronized. The last thing he remembered was Shockwave stabilizing his systems and preparing him for transport....
Now... systems warnings still blinked at him, warning him of sensors and functions still offline. Hook's voice impinged on his audials.
"Hellbender online," the Decepticon mining worm finally reported, his voice reverberating hollowly.
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Post by Hook on Sept 10, 2008 15:03:37 GMT -5
Hellbender hasn't been repaired past Shockwave's stabilization, either, except for forcing his armor back into smoothness.
Hook noted the slight reverbation with annoyance. If that didn't straighten itself out soon, he would have to go in and fix it manually. Turning Hellbender out with even the slightest defect would reflect poorly on his engineer.
"Good. Inform me if you feel undue amounts of pain where I am not working or unusual sensations where I am working."
Why, no, Hook did not mention he would disable Hellbender's sensor nets. Nor are any of them currently disabled.
"Demonstrate the full extent of movement you are capable of while still in this damaged condition."
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 10, 2008 17:27:51 GMT -5
Hellbender listened attentively, fighting the urge to roll his head around to bring his best sensors to bear--he could hear Hook well enough, and Hook might not appreciate the mining worm thrashing about just yet.
"Mah upper-right quadrant sensors are down completely, suh. Ah b'lieve Shockwave turned down my tactile nets when he were workin' on me. It don't feel like he turn them back up," Hellbender replied, the Astrotrain-like reverberation gone now that his CPUs were fully synchronized.
At Hook's order, Hellbender stopped fighting the urge to roll and did just that, pointing his best working sensors in Hook's direction. He attempted to coil, but flopped convulsively instead. After a couple more attempts to coil and slither that resulted in him flopping like a beached fish--possibly nearer to Hook and important equipment than the latter might like, Hellbender managed a worm-like wriggle. He simply could not coil and thrust forward without the balance of his body there to anchor his forebody.
"It's all wrong for slithering--Ah got no back end to balance me!" Hellbender said, exasperated.
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Post by Hook on Sept 13, 2008 0:51:13 GMT -5
"Stop moving," Hook orders as he alights onto Hellbender's surface. He walks along the mining worm, deliberately not using his lifters to take some of his weight off the metal. If Hellbender's armor is damaged enough for his weight to have an impact, Hook wants to know.
When he reaches the upper-right quadrant, the Constructicon opens an access panel and briefly fiddles with the wires until he reactivates Hellbender's sensor-net in that quadrant. "Status?"
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 13, 2008 9:22:41 GMT -5
Hellbender froze. Only at the very stern did Hook's footing shift under him, where the last several frames were warped and twisted into distorted pretzel-rings.
One small cluster of alarms changed from red to yellow to green. "That's better, sir. Ah can pick you up on that quadrant now. Might be a few other connections loose. Ah did batter Omega with my head purty hard."
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Post by Hook on Sept 13, 2008 13:18:55 GMT -5
Hellbender's body had never been designed to transform. It had not even been designed to house an intelligence. By Cybertronian standards, it's a crippled body, and most sensible engineers would have simply built Hellbender a new body from scratch rather than attempt to modify this one to transform.
Most sensible engineers wouldn't react well to the distinct lack of resources available in this situation. What Hook considers the best answer to Hellbender's problem in an ideal situation is simply impossible here, because this situation is so far from ideal.
Hook stood and padded to the fore of Hellbender's body, standing just behind the monstrous cutting heads of the mining worm. "Your entire sensor net needs to be up and running for this."
Another access panel is opened, and Hook attaches a diagnostic tool to one of the sensor lines available there. A few loose connections, but not dangerously so.
Hook removes the diagnostic tool from the sensor line and reattaches it to another bit. A few commands are entered, and suddenly, Hellbender should find himself paralyzed.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 13, 2008 13:54:17 GMT -5
Hellbender's blind, flightless body was an ill-fit in general for the former fighter-bomber Midnight, but better than the headless, burned-out shell that Midnight's own body had been.
Hook's words penetrated his awareness. Slag! He means this is going to hurt but good for the duration! Resolve: he was a Decepticon warrior. He would not whine or complain.
The paralysis took him by surprise. "Hey! Was that supposed to happen?"
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Post by Hook on Sept 13, 2008 15:00:27 GMT -5
"Yes." Giving explanations is for other people.
Hook pulls out his lightsword from subspace and ignites it. The blade hums audibly, full of energy and lethality.
The Constructicon knows precisely how deep Hellbender's armor goes. His sword goes no deeper as he sets about slicing the mining worm open from stem to stern.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 13, 2008 16:04:01 GMT -5
Hellbender could not thrash or churn his rotors as the searing pain of having his body sliced open inched its way down his back. Meter by meter, each tactile and damage sensor went off with its warning of armor-breach, damage, violated pressure integrity--pain. Perhaps what the Transformer felt was not quite what a human would feel, but the basics were the same: pain, the profoundly negative perception of damage sensed, and the compulsion to stop whatever it is before worse damage is done.
Hellbender couldn't move. He couldn't get away from it, he couldn't turn and crush the puny thing doing so much damage to him. He could scream--but he didn't. He wouldn't.
Why did his sensor nets have to be online? He couldn't remember doing anything to offend Hook, but Hook had been more... careful when transplanting him the first time. Were there politics involved? Hellbender knew so little of his fellow Decepticons, self-exiled as he had been to the depths of the mines. Still, Hook seemed rational, like Shockwave, and Hellbender had been obedient and prompt in following his orders digging out the base. The mining worm could think of no reason why the Constructicon should take out anything on him.
It must be necessary. He would trust that Hook knew what he was doing, and that Hellbender was too valuable to discard. Shockwave thought him valuable, so he must be. But did Shockwave know Hook was working on him?
Hook was monitoring him. He'd know if Hellbender used his radio, know that the worm's trust was shaky--and that might give him cause to take umbridge. Better to show trust.
Still... "Hook, Ah'm gettin' flooded by surface armor alarms. If somethin' else crops up, I ain't going to see it to report it to you."
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Post by Hook on Sept 17, 2008 20:32:06 GMT -5
The pain is rather necessary. Being made from an alien piece of technology from a culture that Hook only knows via taking apart their equipment, Hellbender cannot be expected to respond in ways that Hook is familiar with. He needs the feedback from active sensors to know if the mining worm is responding correctly to the changes.
"Filter surface damage reports to a lower level of importance, then, so you're not consciously reading them."
Hook stands on the battered end of Hellbender's body and looks back down the length of the worm. Plans for the new transformation scheme overlay his visual field as he judges where, exactly, the armor needs to be further cut open.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 17, 2008 20:53:30 GMT -5
Midnight had been built as an experimental subject, designed to adapt rapidly to new systems and add-ons. That had saved his sanity when he had to adapt to the mining worm's body. He had not been happy, but he had been functional. The sky had been taken from him, but he had mastered an entirely alien control and sensor network and made it part of him.
He still longed for the sky.
Hellbender probably did not respond in ways Hook was familiar with--but he didn't know that. He'd subsumed the alien controls into his own functions and no longer noticed that they were alien.
"Yes, sir." Right, it was the obvious thing to do... though that wasn't quite why he'd mentioned it. Of course, Hook's answer probably wasn't quite what it seemed, either... Had he just told Midnight to ignore the pain, because it wasn't going to change?
If the pain hadn't been quite so distracting, he'd have thought of filtering by type himself. Damn, he was acting like a rookie--or an Autobot!
Hellbender wondered what Hook had in mind, but wasn't sure he should ask. Shockwave would sometimes explain the logic of his modifications and tests on Midnight, but did not invite random questions.
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Post by Hook on Sept 18, 2008 18:22:07 GMT -5
Hook works in silence, cutting open Hellbender's armor along lines and angles that both fit with his ultimate plan and make it easier to peel the mining worm out of his protective shell.
Once Hellbender has been opened up enough to work in, Hook flits off of the mining worm to collect both an auxiliary life-support device (just in case) and enough metal scrap to start building Hellbender's new robot-mode joint-system.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Sept 18, 2008 21:09:39 GMT -5
"Ah, Hook, sir? Ah done figured out this here is a bit more than a simple repair, but Ah've been kind of out of it since the battle, so Ah missed any planning y'all did," Hellbender said, speaking after a long period of silence.
"What all do you plan to do to me?"
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Post by Hook on Sept 22, 2008 13:18:50 GMT -5
"I am re-engineering you to transform."
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