Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Trion Hangar

Highcall nodded as Warhaul instructed him on the work he would be assisting the technician with, "Understood, I will do this to the best of my abilities."

The engiineer opened the panel, taking a scanner and placing it along the numerous wires in the same manner that Warhaul had done. As impressive as the ship seemed from the outside, Highcall had to admit that the inside looked to be an even greater technological achievement. It was then that Warhaul suggested that some of the mechs at work would possibly want to hear about the Covenant of Primus. Highcall sighed, believing that the technician was merely joking.

"No, I'd say most bots on this station have already heard more from me about Primus than they wanted.", Highcall admitted with a sense of shame, "Kick Off spoke to me while I was in his custody, and it's finally occured to me....."

Highcall hesitated to say more. He hardly knew Warhaul, but truth be told he hardly knew any bot on the station, even after being stationed there for the last 10 vorns. He had annoyed, bored, or infuriated everyone with his seemingly nonstop reciting of scripture and public, unwanted sermons. Quite honestly this was the first time he had gone this long talking to anyone without going into a diatribe about Primus' teachings. But then, maybe it wasn't because it was about the Lord of Light. Maybe it was just his constant talking in general. Whatever the reason he had plenty on his mind, but he realized that it wouldn't be appropriate to bring his personal problems onto this mech

"I'm sorry, I should just stay focused- OH!", Highcall exclaimed as the scanner gave a small beep, "I'm detecting a .15% phase variance in the energy flow.....", the engineer punched in a few keys on the scanner for further details, "Cable 323G, leads to the secondary thruster regulators, isolating......"

Highcall went to the side of the scanner and pulled out a small, wand-like device that acted as an extension. Running it along the cable he had mentioned, he detected the exact section of wiring where the variance was occuring and what was causing it.

"There's a microscopic crack in the lining.", Highcall informed, "It's small enough that it shouldn't need to be replaced, though. A silicon-based sealant should do the trick."

Without saying another word the engineer reached for Warhaul's toolkit, and grabbed a pistol-shaped tool with a pointed tip and several small buttons on the side. After pressing a series of those buttons he aimed at the cable that he had been scanning, and carefully fired a very thin, clear substance onto it, followed by a short burst of heat to quckly harden it. After putting the sealing tool back he reactivated the scanner, then nodded in approval.

"Energy flow back to it's consistent level.", he said with a small hint of pride in his tone. It had been a long time since he last remembered accomplishing anything at work without stopping to pray out loud.

"Maybe if I'd thought less of Primus, and focussed more on my assignments....", the engineer said as he moved onto the next section, "I would have been assigned to this ship in the first place.", he sighed.


Large Scale Training Facility

Whatever hesitating thoughts Sludge had about Grindcore dwindled as the construction-bot started praising the infamous Wreckers, arguing that the Autobot commando unit was superior to the Dinobots. Obviously Sludge could not disagree more.

"Dinobots are strongest team! Dinobots are toughest team!", the mechanical apatasaurus bellowed, "Me Sludge not even know any Wrecker's names! Uh, though me Sludge not know most Autobots names.....", he added as an afterthought.

Before long things started to escalate as Slag took some of his frustrations out on the construction bot. The jungle warrior finally transformed back to his robot mode so he could possibly stop the flamethrower- not out of any concern for Grindcore, but because it went against Grimlock's earlier order about not harming any Autobots yet.

Then the Dinobot commander finally gave the okay, provided that neither bot use any weapons or alternate modes. With that order given, Sludge decided to simply stand back and enjoy the beating he was sure Grindcore would get, as Snarl gave his own opinion on the fight, then asked Sludge about whether the Dinobot flamethrower would follow the rules layed out by their commander.

"Me Sludge think Slag should obey Grimlock's orders.", the jungle warrior replied with, "But me Sludge not stupid. Me Sludge think builder-bot will be melted into slag if he not give up soon."

Though Sludge chuckled to himself as he watched Grindcore get just what he deserved for disrespecting the Dinobots, occasionally he worried as he kept remembering Grimlock's orders when they first arrived at the station. His worries increased as he watched Slag take total control of the fight, hitting and tossing Grindcore around like a maintenance bot, then putting him in a bear hug that looked like it would break the construction bot in half.

"Um, me Sludge think Wrecker-wannabe should quit now, or us Dinobots get in trouble.", he quietly said to the other Dinobots.

(OOC: Attack on Slag agreed to with Ember.)


Large Scale Training Facility

Grindcore had expected his fist to connect with Slag’s jaw, but that did not happen. Perhaps “expected” was not the right word. No, “hoped” was a better word to use, but unfortunately that hope was quickly dashed away when the flamethrower easily caught the construction worker’s fist in midair before then twisting Grindcore’s arm around into a painful angle. The yellow mech had little time to react as Slag pulled him closer and delivered a powerful punch directly into his faceplate. The impact from this single hit alone sent the Wrecker reject’s processor into a tizzy, so much so that the heavy lifter barely registered the follow-up comments not to mention the Dinobot’s roundhouse kick that sent him flying across the room once more.

Grindcore lay in a heap on the floor of the training facility as he tried to regain his bearings so that a proper counter-attack could be, at the very least, attempted. The construction-bot’s HUD flickered as he felt Slag drag him up to his feet before the flamethrower wrapped both arms around the heavy lifter's midsection, trapping him in a crushing bear hug. Too bad this was not the type of hug one received from a long time friend. Instead, it was meant to break a mech’s will to continue fighting or to break him in half, whichever happened first.

In this case, Slag clearly wanted Grindcore to admit that he was defeated and nothing more than a mere service drone. The heavy lifter had been told by many others in the past that he would never amount to anything, that the Wreckers were just a pipe dream that would never come to fruition for him. It was a waste of his time to even try out for the team, and ‘Core had taken what those mechs said to spark, at least until Erector had reassured him that his dream could still come true if the construction worker just put his processor to it.

“No,” Grindcore uttered in a low, guttural tone as he felt the crushing power of Slag’s arms wrapped around his waist. His cranium had cleared some, enough to know that he would not recite the words that the flamethrower was demanding. “No, Slag. You’re the service drone!” With those words spoken, the heavy lifter threw a hard headbutt straight into Slag’s faceplate. ‘Core followed that first one up with two more, both striking the Dinobot mid forehead. Thankfully, the trio of hits had been enough to cause the horned beast-former to finally release his grip. As a result, the construction-bot fell back and away from his opponent, landing hard on his aft section with a loud grunt.

I’ve got to get back up! I've got to get up now! Grindcore thought to himself as he tried to pull his bulky form into a sitting position. Between the initial punch from Slag and then the three headbutts of his own doing, the heavy lifter’s cranial unit was metaphorically spinning out of control. Get up, ‘Core, get up you lazy-good-for-nothing! There’s no time for rest. That Slagger won’t stay confused for long. You’ve got to strike him now while he’s still dazed.

Grindcore’s internal pep talk succeeded in getting him slowly back up to his feet. He glared directly over at Slag, who now appeared fuzzy and distorted, an obvious indication that the heavy lifter’s vision had been affected by the many blows to the cranium. At least he knew where his adversary was and that’s all ‘Core would need to finally end this little sparing session. Letting out a roaring battle cry that echoed throughout the entire training room, Grindcore charged at Slag, stumbling a bit as he went but maintaining a strong forward momentum nevertheless. His intent was to tackle the flamethrower to the floor where he would then finish the Wrecker-hater off once and for all.
_________

“Obey orders? That boring,” Snarl replied to Sludge with a chuckle. “But me also agree that builder-bot will be melted down if him upset Slag too much. It inevitable outcome. Heh.” Having said his peace, the Desert Warrior returned his attention to the fight at hand, not wanting to miss a single astrosecond. As he expected, Slag easily deflected Grindcore’s sloppily thrown punch before the flamethrower then delivered a successful one of his own. A roundhouse kick followed which propelled the construction bot across the training facility like a limp human rag doll. It seemed as though the fight was coming to a quick end as Slag placed the heavy lifter into a powerful bear hug, something that seemingly made Sludge more than a little nervous.

“Relax, Sludge!” Snarl responded to his worried comrade while not taking his optics off of Grindcore’s well-deserved aft-beating. “We not get in trouble. What anyone gonna do to us? Nothing, that’s what! Besides, fight over now. Slag has...” The solar-powered Dinobot’s words were cut short when the heavy lifter proved to be anything but a quitter, delivering three hard headbutts to the flamethrower’s faceplate that forced him to let go of the hard-headed ship builder. A disoriented Grindcore then took a few moments to regain his footing before letting loose a battle cry that was laughable at best before charging at Slag in a haphazard manner.

“Impressive,” Snarl admitted with a groan. “Builder bot have some cast iron ball bearings. Too bad him about to lose them.” The Desert Warrior knew that Slag was not down or out, not by any means. Grindcore was definitely in a confused state of mind as his staggering charge clearly indicated. The cycle's entertainment was almost over and soon Snarl would need to find something else to keep himself occupied. Maybe there were some other suicidal mechs around the station that wanted a Dinobot to kick their afts, too. Probably not, but one could always hope.

((OOC: Grindcore’s beating agreed upon by SmokescreenGT))

Large Scale Training Facility

“What was that? No?!” Slag squeezed a little tighter. "Wrong answer, runt!" The response he got did give Slag a very small sense of satisfaction. Not only didn't Grindcore wind up cowering in the corner like the pathetic piece of slag he was, but he was actually willing to continue getting humiliated. Well, if a beating was what he wanted then a beating was what he’d get. Slag had every confidence that this little exercise would end decidedly in his favor. Just the way it should be.

“You should quit while I’m ahea…” Slag ground out just as he was delivered a vicious headbutt right into his faceplate. The first was quickly followed by two more successive hits. The sudden impact caused the flamethrower to drop the smaller bot where he landed on his aft. At the same time Slag staggered backward with one large hand covering his faceplate.

Now at a sizable distance from his target, the Dinobot lowered his hand to reveal a split lip where a small amount of energon tricked down his chin and landed in droplets on the floor at his feet. And the glass covering his left optic sported a thin crack. It was fine, and Slag could still see, but it only succeeded in making the lumbering mech even angrier with his prey. Oh, he was going to pay for that, pay dearly. “You’re dead! You. Are. SO DEAD!” He ground out.

Slag’s optics burned with hot rage as he began to stalk forward. Grindcore, too, began to advance only his movements were staggered and unsteady…that was perfect. The crazed battle cry didn’t even faze the large Dinobot as his gate quickly turned into a full on charge.

Grindcore kept his body low which indicated he was going to attempt a tackle, the key word was attempt. There was no way the Autobot would even make it that far. As he drew in closer to the other charging bot, Slag drew back his right fist and, once in range, sent it careening down and into the side of Grindcore’s head causing his neck to crane to the right at an ungodly angle.

The construction bot nearly lost his balance; stumbling the rest of the way off to the right. He kept his feet under him, however, but his HUD sent several warnings indicating that his equilibrium functions were in need of re-calibration. The yellow mech overrode them but he had no time to formulate a retaliating move; Slag was already looming over him a deep frown etched, equally as deep, on his faceplate. “I hope you made peace with your sorry existence, because your life as you know is OVER!” With his last word Slag set to work sending punch after punch into the face, head and abdomen of Grindcore.

Each blow was harder than the preceding and were flowed by a series of vicious swear words in several Cybertronian dialects. Every strike had elicited pained grunts and groans from the yellow mech, but Slag refused to let up.

Finally Grindcore went down hard, his body crashing to the floor in an energon covered heap. Slag loomed overhead as the defeated bot tried to drag himself away and out of the larger mech’s reach. “I told you before, you’re not Wrecker material. And you’re still not Autobot material. You’re nothing.” Slag all but growled out with a hateful sneer. To emphasize his point the flamethrower sent a hard kick to Grindcore’s chin knocking him flat on his back. “Pathetic loser.” was the Dinobot’s final loathsome grumble to the downed construction bot before stepping beside Grimlock. “Let’s get the frag outta here.” He growled out without even looking at his Commander.

Large Scale Training Facility

Grindcore never made the tackle on his intended target, not even close. What he made was a crunching sound when Slag delivered an immense blow to the side of his cranial unit that sent his HUD into a craze of functional warnings. The construction worker’s equilibrium had already been off from the prior hits to the head, but now it was far and away worse. ‘Core managed to stand his ground, however, stumbling off to the right a bit. He had no chance to regroup or respond with any kind of counterattack before the flamethrower began shouting at him, which was quickly followed up with a torrent of closed-fist punches to every place imaginable on the shipbuilder’s frame.

After a while of hit after hit, blow after blow, Grindcore became numb to the pain as that region of his processor simply shut down to prevent any further or permanent trauma. Regardless, the damage had been done and the heavy lifter finally went down hard on Slag’s final blow to his chest armor. Hitting the ground hard, ‘Core just laid in a heap with energon seeping from several orifices across his framework, but mostly from his faceplate. He didn’t even try to get up as his strength was almost completely gone. His HUD’s warnings said as much and it was impossible for him to ignore now. Only a low groan escaped from the yellow mech’s vocals as he heard Slag’s taunts become renewed once more.

”You’re not Wrecker material. And you’re still not Autobot material. You’re nothing. Pathetic loser.”

Those were the words that rang through Grindcore’s damaged cranium, and they hurt even more now than they ever had before. The construction bot had come in here and faced off against Slag in order to prove to himself and others that he was a capable warrior that was worthy of the Wreckers. Unfortunately, the only thing ‘Core proved was just how worthless he really was and always would be. There was no denying it now. Even Erector couldn’t argue with him again or make him feel better. The only thing that would stop the pain now was another drink or two of high grade.

First, though, Grindcore needed to rest and regain his equilibrium and overall strength. Perhaps a trip down to the medical bay would be a good idea once he could stand again. The heavy lifter quickly put that thought right out of his mind, knowing that all kinds of questions would then be asked by the medical staff with answers that he didn’t want to give or admit to. No, ‘Core would just remain where he was, a crumpled heap on the floor of the training room until the Dinobots had left. Then, once he was alone, he would slowly get back to his feet, clean himself up and head down to the Energon Bar, a place where he really belonged and could refill his tanks with what he had just lost and then some.
_________

Snarl watched with a broad smile spread across his faceplate as an enraged Slag unleashed hell on the hapless construction worker. The hits came fast and furious, knocking Grindcore around like a mere training drone. The flamethrower wasn’t playing around anymore, that much was very clear now. That last headbutt had been the final straw that broke the Triceratops’ back so to speak. The end came swiftly as the yellow mech hit the ground hard and remained there with no visible attempt to get back up.

“Stay down, for own good, worker-bot,” Snarl said as a pissed off Slag demanded that they leave now. Even though it had been fun watching Grindcore get put in his place, it was now time for them to leave the scene of the crime. “Slag right,” Snarl agreed as he looked over at the Dinobot Commander. “Us should get going before anybody come in here and find us with beat up Wrecker-lover. Us not want that kind of attention.”

The solar-powered mech walked towards the doorway and stood on the opposite side of his leader from where Slag was positioned. Snarl was sure that Grimlock would agree with his logic, such as it was. The only problem now was finding something else that would keep the Dinobots out of trouble. Perhaps it was now time to see the Trion first hand and start learning some of the tech stuff they needed to know before they could finally steal it.

“Maybe time us get to doing what we came here to do. Stop fooling around. Me want to get back to fighting ‘Cons, not drones and not other Autobots.” Snarl’s words were chosen carefully as to not reveal any specific details in ear shot of Grindcore, whose audio receptors were likely still functioning to a certain degree even if the rest of him wasn’t. “How about it, Grimlock?

Trion Hangar

Warhaul just nodded as Highcall talked about how fed up the other mechs on the station were with all his Primus talk. At another time, Warhaul might've thrown some fuel on that fire, but he was nowhere near as overtanked as he had been back at the bar. No need to provoke a bad reaction out of someone that was proving to be more useful than he would've originally guessed.

Warhaul looked over at Highcall's indication of the phase variance. Almost as quickly as he had discovered it, Highcall had accordingly fixed the problem.

Not too shabby, Warhaul thought.

"That's what you wanted, eh? Working here?" Warhaul asked in reference to Highcall's last musings. He moved over a little so that he could check another of the assigned panels that needed signed off on this shift. "Can't fault ya for that. This ship's a beaut. You really think it's all your prosel--proselytiming--tyzing, whatever, that kept you from being assigned here? That wouldn't look good on your bosses, I wouldn't think. You're obviously pretty handy with sealant, heh. What do ya think of the boss guys anyway? Solid mechs? The Autobot cause still doing you right, overall?"

Large Scale Training Facility

Grimlock watched the battle unfold in front of him. Grindcore wasn’t as totally hopeless as Slag made him out to be as he caught the Dinobot off guard initially. It was short lived however, as the element of surprise wore off and no amount of spunk or determination was a match for Slag’s raw strength and vast experience, not to mention brutality. The Dinobot leader wasn’t particularly happy about that last part. He was fine with whatever brutality Slag wanted to dish out against Decepticons, but not Autobot, not even a foolish and cocky one, deserved that kind of treatment.

“That enough Slag, you win this fight, no need to gloat. Maybe me gloat over next time me beat you in sparring match, see how you like it.” He gave the Dinobot a shove before walking over to the crumpled form of Grindcore. “Not every Autobot made to be Wrecker or Dinobot, that not mean they not needed at all.” Grimlock then walked past the fallen Autobot, motioning for the Dinobots to follow him. “Come Dinobots, we done here.”

The Dinobot leader strolled out of the facility. He had hoped to have an actual discussion with the Dinobots in private there, but that was scrapped the instant Grindcore had arrived. He would just have to settle for a communications frequency and hope nobody was listening in. >>”Dinobots, this the plan. Me going to get us tour of Trion. While on board we learn as much as we can about ship. Swoop, me counting on you to learn how to pilot. Slag, you work on weapons, Snarl, you and Sludge check out whatever other systems you can, engines, sensors. Me not looking for you to be experts, but we need to be able to fly it back to Earth on our own.”<<

>>”Somehow we need to get other Autobots off ship. Might have to fake accident or, if there not many on board, we can just throw them off. No one make a move against fellow Autobots unless I order it though! We not here to fight other Autobots, we here to get weapon to help win war against Decepticons.”<<

Large Scale Training Facility

After he watched Grimlock chastise Slag for gloating too much over his win against Grindcore, Snarl followed the Dinobot Commander out of the training facility where new orders were given. Finally, a plan was in place that would hopefully lead to them stealing the Trion once they had learned everything that they could about the new warship. While Swoop would be the pilot, as always, and Slag focused on the weapons systems, Snarl was charged with learning all that he could about the engines and sensors along with anything else that was of importance.

Unfortunately, Sludge was also tasked with the same job as Snarl even though his brain module was only the size of a lug nut. Then again, perhaps that was the reason why the Desert Warrior was paired up with the mechanical apatosaurus. It wasn’t to slow Snarl down in accomplishing his task. It was to help Sludge learn something and ultimately keep an optic on him. The plated Dinobot didn’t like the idea of having to proto-sit his own comrade, but if that’s what it took to perform his duty then so be it.

>>“Sure thing, Grimlock, no problem. Me learn whatever me can about ship,”<< Snarl responded to his leader over the same shared comm line. >>”Me also think we just can’t throw ‘Bots off ship this time. There likely be too many. We need to divert their attention. Accident sound like good idea. Me might be able to come up with something maybe on another ship. Most would leave Trion to deal with it. Not sure what or how yet. Either way, me promise not to attack fellow ‘Bots. Much rather fight ‘Cons anyway.”<<

Snarl then turned to face the Jungle Warrior who was loitering nearby. >>”Sludge, once we get to Trion, stay close to me. Don’t wander off. You and me got important job to do, so just follow my lead and you’ll be fine. Got it?”<< The solar-powered mech patted his fellow Dinobot on the shoulder plate before returning his attention to Grimlock. >>”Lead way, boss-bot. Can’t wait to get this over with and get back to fighting Decepticons.”<<
_________

Once the Dinobots had left the training facility, Grindcore managed to roll over onto his front and push himself up into a crawling position. He then slowly crept his way over to the nearest wall where he somehow found the strength to turn around and sit up against the cold steel of the bulkhead. Letting out a deep sigh, he remembered Grimlock’s last words to him. They were in stark contrast to his flame-throwing subordinate and were intended to reassure the construction worker that he was still needed in the overall Autobot war effort even if he wasn’t Wrecker or Dinobot material. That brought little comfort to Grindcore as he lay back against the wall with little to no energy left to fight or do anything else.

“How fraggin’ pathetic am I?” Grindcore muttered under his breath as the faux battlefield began to disappear now that the previous users were gone from the facility. An empty, lifeless chamber was all that was left behind, much like the heavy lifter, himself. Empty, lifeless and utterly pathetic. There were simply no words of encouragement that could lift Grindcore out of his funk. Only one thing could bring any amount of ease to both the emotional and physical pain that the construction-bot now felt.

Reaching down with one hand, Grindcore opened a hip compartment and pulled out a small metal flask that was filled with the best high grade the station had to offer. He always kept some on hand just in case he needed a little pick-me-up during a long day at work. Sometimes he just had a bad cycle or two and the purple liquid was the only thing that make him feel better. This situation was definitely one of those times when he needed a strong dose of high grade energon. At the very least, it would give him enough strength to get his internal repair systems going so that he could eventually make his way down to the energon bar and fill up properly.

Grindcore then pried open the flask with his first two actuators and quickly downed the energon in only a few gulps. Immediately, he felt a difference as his systems reacted well to the arrival of the high grade. It was like an old friend coming home after many cycles of being away at the front lines. Tossing the empty container aside, the heavy lifter took a deep intake of air as he enjoyed the feeling of euphoria that now consumed his body. Soon, he’d be strong enough to stand and then to walk. Once that was a reality, he’d be overfilling his fuel tanks for the rest of the cycle and beyond. Dinobots and Erector be damned.

((OOC: In order to move things along I’ll be NPCing Sludge and Swoop a bit))

Outside the Large Scale Training Facility

Slag followed Grimlock out of the training facility and settled in beside the Dinobot Commander. He listened halfheartedly while the t-rex explained just what they would be doing over their internal communications frequency. The plan was solid but the flamethrower could care less. All he wanted was to get on the ship and head out to kill some ‘Cons. After all he’d only be truly happy if he had a hand full of Decepticon internals gripped in his actuators. The thought of such carnage actually brought a hopeful smile to his face, albeit a very small smile.

>>“I don’t care what we have to do to get the frag out of here just as long as we’re off this pit sooner rather than later!”<< His voice was laced with venom and anger.

The fierce fighter grew quiet as he took in exactly what his assignment would be. Weapons systems. Perfect. Very befitting. >>“Weapons are good. I can do weapons.”<< The final portion of Grimlock’s communique was something Slag had absolutely no interest in hearing. If it were up to Slag he’d take out anyone who was standing in the way of their mission…Autobot, Decepticon it didn’t’ matter. Someone in his way, they’d cease to function. Plain and simple. >>“I ain’t making no promises, boss. You want a mission with no casualties…an impossibility with me around.”<< The flamethrower chuckled out loud. >>“But for the sake of possibly ripping into the ‘Cons, I’ll try to hold back. And I do mean try.”<<
____

Through the communications frequency Sludge simply listened. He took in all of what Grimlock was ordering and understood most of it. At least the parts pertaining to him being paired with Snarl and not hurting any of the Autobots. He was also relieved when their Commander mentioned that he wasn’t looking for them to be experts in their work, but to learn just enough to get things rolling. Easier said than done.

>>”Got it. Work with Snarl. Look at sensors. Don’t kill Autobots.”<< With that mental and link spoken list Sludge offered his teammates a nod.

He turned his attention to the solar powered warrior when Snarl sent a message meant for him. >>”Okay. Stay by you. Not wander anywhere without your say so. Got it.”<< As they pressed on toward their destination the dim Dinobot kept repeating the orders over and over in his mind hopefully making it easier to commit them to memory. Time would tell if it would work.
____

As with his teammates, Swoop listened closely to their orders and nodded in understanding. He’d be the pilot, no surprise there. Of course the Trion would obviously be a much more complicated vessel to maneuver so learning as much as he could would be the best chance the group would have in order to fly out of there quickly. >>“I’ll do what I can. Hopefully the ship will be similar to others I’ve flown.”<< He gave a slight shrug. >>“Suppose we’ll all find out, won’t we?”<<

Trion – Weapons Array

Skyfall hadn’t been back from his stint in Goldrush’s place long when he’d been called to the Trion for yet another weapons systems check. The engineer begrudgingly left his drink of high grade and haltingly walked out. “Figures no one else could do this.” He grumbled. “Of course if the boss wanted it done right the first time he should have just given me the job in the first place.” Through twisting and near endless corridors Skyfall finally made it into the battery where he could gain access to the terminal that supported the weapons systems.

“Alright, girl, let’s see what the problem could be.” The red mech flexed all of his actuators before he went to work punching keys in precise sequence. Maybe if he finished this slag fast enough he’d be able to head back to the bar and finish up that last drink.

Trion – Medibay

Finally, after several joors both Pharma and Ambulon had directed the last of the medical bay’s drones into the facility with the stacks of crates that contained the equipment needed for any medical emergencies and non-emergencies. There were surgery apparatuses, tools, and medicines. And each and every one had to be categorized and logged. Unfortunately for the ward director that meant the job fell to him.

Pharma was a particular CMO. Not only did he hate ‘Cons but he also hated a disorganized medical bay. ‘Everything in its place and lives are saved’, was probably his motto Ambulon had thought. So, instead of drawing the ire of the flier the former Decepticon decided to dismiss the drones to other parts of the bay and take on the arduous task of working thought the supplies himself.

While Ambulon had taken on the work required to store and set up the medical facility, Pharma took the opportunity of quiet and solitude to transfer the medical files of the entire Autobot army. There was a chance the Trion could come upon any one of their own and having a complete medical history on them could be the difference between life and death.

The CMO took a quick glance up and out through the transparent window of his office at the ward director. An annoyed groan escaped his vocalizer as he stood up and stalked out to the main part of the bay. “No! Ambulon you know better than that!” He said while snapping up the datapad from his subordinate’s hands. “I’ve already designated that closet as the chemical supply location. It’s directly across from the operating theater and therefore in the easiest to reach location.”

Ambulon crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow ridge. “Really? Come on Pharma does it really matter if the chemicals are stored here or just several feet over there? What’s the difference?” The CMO leaned down and stared directly into the other doctor’s optics. “The difference is time, Ambulon. Storing them here will save us .04 seconds therefore giving the patient that much more of a chance to survive!”

Both mechs were silent for a moment before Ambulon lowered his hands to his sides, raised his optics to the ceiling and sighed heavily. “Fine. I’ll pack what I put away back up and move it.” He stepped into the closet mumbling something about having an easier time with the mechs he was forced to combine with. At that Pharma off-lined his optics and tossed his head back. “Alright. I’ll give you a hand. But in the future please follow my directions. It’ll save us both time and aggravation.”

Corridors

Grimlock moved silently through the shipyards, pleased to hear the various affirmatives from the other Dinobots. He knew they weren’t all too enthusiastic about what was to come, but they were all looking forward to the end result. If the Trion was half as powerful as all of the secrecy and talk about it made it seem then it was going to be one heck of a ship. What better crew then he and his Dinobots then to bring it into the thick of the fighting as soon as possible?

Now they just had to wade through all of the talking, deceit, politics and trickery to get to that point. Grimlock was capable of at least some of that, but capable was a long way from being ‘good’ at it. They were probably going to need a bit of luck on their side as well. Of course they had been fairly lucky to get this far, seeing as how not so long ago they had been deactivated and buried on some worthless mudball of a planet.

The Dinobot commander gave a mental sigh. It was time to get this over with. >>”Dinobots, get refueled while me arrange for tour of Trion. Shouldn’t take too long so hurry.”<<

*

Command Center

Countdown had been engrossed in some paperwork when he was startled out of his focused state by a message from Grimlock of all mechs. Personally he had hoped not to hear from the Dinobot leader again, at least not until their ship was prepared and ready to leave. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Dinobots, but they did have a reputation as rules breakers. Hopefully their absence from the ranks had allowed that bad habit to fade away.

>>”Countdown, me and Dinobots want to tour new ship Trion before launch. Best way to get caught up on new tech is to see it in purpose. Dinobots also get bored quickly, seeing new warship make them not bored for a while longer. A not bored Dinobot is a happy Dinobot.”<<

The Autobot commander considered Grimlock’s words. While he wasn’t threatening anything he was implying that keeping the Dinobots occupied would be a good thing. They weren’t exactly the types who would be happy sitting down and reading news reports or technical schematics, assuming all of them could even read. From what he had seen they had already been to the bar and a training room, so they weren’t liable to go back to either anytime soon. If having them look around the Trion kept them busy and peaceful it might just be worth the risk to have them on board. Of course if things got difficult on the Trion then everything could go straight to the pit.

Countdown looked up from his console at Cloudburst who was busy at his station. “Cloudburst, how would you feel about giving the Dinobots a tour of the Trion? I’m sure Cosmos would do it if I asked, but I think he’s been put through the Dinobot wringer enough for now. You also probably know more about the ship then he does and, well, your stature might be a bit more impressive to Grimlock and his men. I think they would listen to you, or at least listen to you more then they would Cosmos. Showing them the ship will hopefully keep them out of trouble for a little while longer, giving us time to get their ship fixed and send them back to the front lines. I’m sure all of us, Dinobots included, will feel better once they are out of here and back in the thick of fighting. So, what do you say, are you up for it?”

Trion Hangar

Warhaul and Highcall had been making steady progress on their section of the wing. On his, really, but who was counting? He'd be able to clock out early at this rate and head back to the bar for another recharge.

"Yeah, nice," Warhaul said, looking over at Highcall's work before getting to his feet.

Now maybe I get this poor glitch to look like he took down the Trion and I'll still be around to take out whatever they build next, heh. Pit, I won't even be a field agent any more after this. I'll get promoted to intelligence command after this. Meetings with Soundwave and Shockwave. Megatron. The works.

Warhaul produced a small chip and handed it to Highcall. He couldn't bring it with him to the facility when he got assigned here. He'd had to manufacture it on-site from scratch to match the specifications of the equipment that the Autobots were using on whatever vehicle or weapon they were building.

"Now, that needs to get installed on the bridge. It'll amplify the sensor array on this wing of the ship so the bridge officers don't have to, y'know, work as hard I guess. Keep 'er flying straight. Maybe we get a drink after this, eh?"

Highcall looked at him and nodded.

"Hm, not a drink. But I would enjoy the opportunity to converse again in a more stable setting."
___

Command Center

Countdown had pretty much stretched out at his station. His optics occasionally scanned from one hardscreen to another. Then he'd bring up a holoscreen, look at it for an astrosecond or two and deactivate it again. Another cycle, another shanix.

"Hahah, the Dinobots on the Trion. Yeah, that'd be funny," Cloudburst said, flipping through a fresh holoscreen with some femmes talking to one another in a corridor. He then stopped and swiveled around in his seat to face Countdown. "Wait. You serious?"

Cloudburst appeared to think about the idea a moment more before shrugging.

"I mean yeah, sure. I can show the big boys around the big 'T'," Cloudburst said, smiling. "I suppose we need to test out the quality of the metal we chose for that beauty in the first place, huh? If it can handle Dinobot gerth, we should be golden."

Cloudburst got up from his chair and headed over to the doors.

"Tell 'em I'll meet 'em in the hangar."