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Post by Victoria Raines on Jan 30, 2009 21:35:18 GMT -5
Takes place on Day 19 (Small Plots Day 3)
If Shockwave had his druthers, dealing with Hellbender's cargo would have been first priority. But there had been his own repairs, first, and then the repairing of others.
But now there was time. Shockwave had made time. It occurs to him, as he waits for Hellbender to arrive, that he doesn't believe he let Starscream know about these samples. Such an oversight.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 30, 2009 22:50:39 GMT -5
Hellbender has been busy himself--on much the same thing. As one of the few substantially undamaged Decepticons who was also extremely strong, not in command and could follow directions ("Put Misfire here, and Spinister there"), he got the job of hauling badly damaged bodies around for repair. His full ore-bins annoyed him a bit, but Hellbender hesitated to nag Lord Shockwave about it. His impatience was not a good logical reason for interrupting the Lord of Logic in his tasks.
Finally he received the order to report. Hellbender, in robot mode--he's been in robot mode almost continuously since they returned--firmly presses the 'open' button on Shockwave's door; as it slides open, he says, "Reporting as ordered, sir."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jan 31, 2009 10:31:20 GMT -5
Nagging Shockwave would not have gone over well. A pity more people do not also exercise such caution.
"Thank you." He waves Hellbender further into the lab. "If you could kindly purge your bins, I would like to have a look at the samples you collected." If Shockwave is lucky, there may also be bits of that odd organic-looking thing mixed in as well. But that is not his primary concern.
Once Hellbender is out of the doorway, Shockwave will lock the door to his lab. He does not wish to be disturbed. He looks back at Hellbender, one headfin tilted slightly back.
"For the duration of this meeting, you have permission to speak as freely as you feel comfortable."
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 31, 2009 16:23:08 GMT -5
"Yes, sir." Hellbender nods, then transforms back into his worm mode. Once again, he is tightly coiled up in Shockwave's labs.
He rolls, bringing the #1 ore bin's unloading hatch to the top, where Shockwave can easily reach it, and opens the hatch. "Ah, sorry sir. If Ah purge out the exhaust, it gets ground pretty fine. Ah had to dump the first load when that there plant creature did her hoodoo on me, so there's a lot of soot to contaminate it there, too. Might be best to unload it directly."
"About anything in particular, sir?" Hellbender asks. Shockwave would not have said such a thing unless there was something he wanted to know about.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 1, 2009 10:54:33 GMT -5
"This will be fine," Shockwave answers, as he begins removing the samples. He is not special or gifted as some, so the rocks are just that to him. Nothing special, yet the plant witch had seemed so convinced.... Ah, well. He knows better than most what makes up his planet, and knows what to test for to make positive identification.
He does not answer Hellbender until the removal is complete. "For now, about any concerns or worries you may have, including those that do not pertain directly to yourself."
Shockwave selects one chunk and takes it over to a table already covered with a vast array of equipment. Time to play Name that Rock!
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Feb 1, 2009 20:15:50 GMT -5
Once Shockwave finishes emptying the ore samples from Hellbender's bins, the worm transforms into a robot again. He works his neck joint for a few seconds, rotating it from side to side.
"Well, suh... Ah report to you, and Ah'm assigned to Sky-Byte's command. Ah sure hope he's with you, sir, if, ah... the chain-of-command gets chaotic, so to speak. Ah really don't like havin' conflicting orders--makes mah CPU ache, sir." And by orders, Hellbender really means loyalties.
There's more, but he settled with Blitzwing. For now. He hopes.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 1, 2009 23:06:38 GMT -5
"Ah, but you are a Decepticon warrior, Hellbender. Finding one's way through a stream of conflicting orders from commanders with differing agendas is one of our great rites of passage," Shockwave says a bit dryly.
"You may sit if you wish," he adds, as he starts by taking a small scraping off one of the rocks and examining it under a scope. Now is the time when having a Perceptor about would make things much easier.
"As for Sky-Byte...he will listen to whomever is strongest and who best coddles his delusions of grandeur. However, he and Scourge stand opposed, for the most part, so I can not say for sure that the shark 'stands with me'."
Did Shockwave just imply that he had Scourge on his side? Why yes, yes he did.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Feb 2, 2009 19:47:13 GMT -5
"Yes, sir. Ah dunno, that kind of decision has always been a bit above my paygrade. You--the other you--sent me to work under other commanders for special missions and such-like, but it were strictly TDY." Hellbender paces slowly, placing each foot carefully as he wanders from one wall to another, very different from the quick, nervous pacing of a certain Seeker.
"Ah ain't heard of nothin' that would put you and Sky-Byte in conflict, and Ah hope he lines up with you--he's got some good qualities. Remembers his troops ain't expendable, out here. He's a smart one, too, though he's got his blind spots."
He glances over towards the workbench. "Them there samples tasted like Cybertron metal--well, like Omega Supreme, anyway."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 3, 2009 10:24:43 GMT -5
Shockwave looks up from his work.
"Yes, I would prefer not to be in conflict with Sky-Byte. He is...extremely useful, what with his underwater-slash-underground mode, and for the part is capable, in a way that many are not."
If he had a face, Shockwave would be frowning at Hellbender's comment on the rocks' taste. It is not what Shockwave wishes to hear. A narrowing of his optic light will have to suffice, that, and a barely audible, "Impossible," will have to suffice.
"What did your mining worm sensors and the like tell you about the composition of the rock, other than that it tasted familiar?"
He bends back to his work, transferring the scraping to a small, liquid-filled tube and placing that inside another device.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Feb 3, 2009 18:42:32 GMT -5
"Well, sir, it's pretty much metal, for all that it looks like rock. Pretty corroded and combusted as well, Ah think. It's either been out somewhere a long, long time or...." Hellbender trails off. He doesn't like where his thoughts are going.
"Anyway, the composition is, " and Hellbender proceeds to list off the identifiable (to Gillanese mining sensors) metals and metallic salts. The alloys are not immediately identifiable, though the dominant constituent metal is--someone will have to do further analysis to get the exact composition and proportions.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 4, 2009 12:14:00 GMT -5
"Hrm." Shockwave is not liking where his thoughts are going either. What Hellbender tells him, and what his preliminary tests are telling him confirms exactly what Shockwave wishes to disprove.
But this simply can not be! For a moment, Shockwave's memory returns to that disturbing new broadcast. If his tests prove out, then their place will not be here, despite Starscream's insistence that they stay here and "discover their purpose."
Shockwave continues to work for a few more minutes, then asks, "How do you feel the situation with the alternates was handled."
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Feb 4, 2009 19:48:47 GMT -5
Hellbender stops pacing and stands very still, considering his master's question. "Well, did a fairly good job of letting the alternates take the brunt of fighting the Autobots, so our forces were still intact when the time came to dump them. Good riddance to bad rubbish."
"Ah think with all the extra players, some of us took our own Autobots too lightly--seems like our worst casualties were to those plain old traditional Autobots we had all along. Ah reported that Optimus Prime was a greenhorn, but he still did a number on Misfire. Dead End got blasted by one of the Junkions, Duskwing got mangled by Override1 and Ah'm not sure how Skystrike got dismembered." Hellbender looks thoughtfully at Shockwave. The big purple gunformer had left the battleground with more than trivial damage, and Hellbender was pretty sure it had been all Autobots in that area--but he's too discreet to comment.
"Did seem to be a bit conflicting about who was in charge at times," Hellbender mentions offhandedly. ---- 1 Assuming Duskwing has been picked up by this point
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 5, 2009 10:50:03 GMT -5
"Ummm, hmmm,"Shockwave mutters, not at all happy with the results he is getting from his tests. "Lack of real-time combat experience does not always mean that an individual lacks training and ability. I admit to being quite curious as to what, exactly, prompted you to classify that Prime as 'green as grass'."
"My own interaction with the young Prime indicated he was exactly that- young, but able, and as foolishly heroic as any other Optimus one might encounter." No, Shockwave has not made an entry into the database. He will not, as he has nothing to add which has not already been said. "He also does not seem to understand what he deals with. Almost as if the word 'ruthless' is not a part of his world. But he will learn."
"As for command," the gunfomer says, leaning back in his chair and fixing Hellbender with that impassive yellow stare, "I apologize for the confusion, but I do not sit back and wait for another to lead when time is of the essence. I do not risk myself and mine needlessly or with impunity. I will not allow another's ego and delusions of grandeur to bring us to ruin. I have tried, I will admit, to compromise, to swallow my own pride, so to speak, as I have no wish to splinter our forces, to sow chaos and dissent. But Starscream lacks vision."
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Feb 5, 2009 21:08:46 GMT -5
"Well..." Hellbender has more to think about. "It were a bit of a snap judgement. Somethin' about the way he carried himself--a lot of bravado, but Ah got the impression he weren't used to bein' in a firefight like that one. Or fightin' us 'Cons very much. Like you said, sir, Ah don't think he's used to 'ruthless'--and he ain't ruthless like the 'Bots we got back home. Didn't pop Misfire when he was down, and I heard him tryin' to talk Misfire's little gun critters into surrendering. Seriously, not something a Wrecker would do, for example."
"Well, it's Starscream. Not much more Ah can say about that." Hellbender shrugs; he's too young to remember the Emirate of Vos.
He strolls over to peer at Shockwave's tests. "Lord Shockwave, is there something wrong with those samples?"
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Post by Victoria Raines on Feb 6, 2009 9:23:37 GMT -5
Not all Wreckers are so ruthless, he thinks, A good thing, in my opinion. Thought, but not voiced, and Shockwave for a moment is taken by how horribly wearing playing these games really is. Too many years of peace, of all towing his party line, and the gunformer fears he has grown too complacent, is not quite ruthless enough now to hold these mismatched Deceptions together. But such thoughts are fleeting, and his body does not betray him.
"The samples are fine," he says, "Though I fear that screeching thing may have been correct. Preliminary examination is proving her out." Shockwave cannot quite say aloud that these really are chunks of a Cybertron. He keeps his gaze fixed on Hellbender. "A fact which will not leave this room until I decide to share it. Understood?"
"I do not think we shall be tarrying much longer upon this world, however."
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