"Is everyone here? Good; could you all gather round?" The Maximals all stepped closer to Silverquick, forming a rough half-circle. "I'd just like to say a few things before we blast off. First, please feel free to voice opinions, unless the situation warrants otherwise. I appreciate any ideas and thoughts you may have.
"Second, don't stand on ceremony. It's not necessary to call me sir; except, again, if the situation warrants otherwise. Other than that, I have a duty roster. Viracide, I'd like you to act as first officer; meaning, if I'm not available, talk to him, and he'll act on your needs or bring them to me. Krunch, if you would supervise tactical: weapons, shields and such; Digit, your main duties will be in engineering, but you'll pull time piloting as well. Goldstreak, you'll be the primary pilot, and Jynx, I'd like you to oversee sensor ops. And Velocity," Silverquick said, looking down at the hyperactive little bot, "I'll need you to relay messages through the ship, and assist Jynx.
"There will be three duty shifts of ten megacycles each; everyone will serve one shift on duty and one on standby, and the other megacycles are personal time, for sleeping and such. During your 'standby' shift, you'll be allowed to engage in personal activities, although training and maintenance duties may be assigned. We'll rotate positions somewhat, to allow for practice with possibly unfamiliar systems. If anyone has questions, please go ahead; otherwise, we'll be on our way."
Digit looked at Silverquick, and found herself more at ease than before. Although the aquatic Maximal had not been her first choice, she had to admit he was handling things extremely well. She had forgotten most of her worries at his mentioning "engineering" and "piloting". She had examined both stations the day before, and was very pleased by the excellent workspaces she had found there. With an absent mind, she patted Orb on the head, who seemed to respond very well to that special treatment.
Silverquick stepped over to Snarler, and said quietly, "I'd like to see you in my ready room before we depart, please."
Krunch groaned slightly; he knew that Silverquick would pull rank on him. He also knew it would be senseless to voice his opinion since everything he said would be over-ruled anyway. He busied himself by checking the controls to the meager weapons and the shield generators.
"This is gonna be a long flight!" he said.
—LB, DN, JA
The Predacon takeoff was on schedule and perfectly smooth. As the Maximal ship became visible on the edge of their scanning range, the Predacons slid quickly into position, cloaked beyond the reach of their scanners.
So far, so good.
When Nightfall slipped back into engineering, she remembered the secret place Upgrade had mentioned. The data crystal containing her decoder was buried under the floor, wrapped in a note.
Agent:
If you don't know the SO by now, I shouldn't be writing, but make sure you do a good job disposing of this note when you're through reading. It would be smart to destroy the file decoder as well.
If you read the file, and the mission's not to your liking, I put in an out for you. There's a standard escape pod in the back corner of the cargo hold, in an unmarked crate. It ought to be a fit for you. In the highly unlikely event that you have a problem with the ship, you can still call me at the hangar as long as communications are up.
Take good care of my girl.
She nodded, destroying the note, making sure every trace of it was gone. Then she called up to the bridge, reporting that all of the systems were operating well, and the cloak was in good condition. That should keep them from thinking of her for a while. She hooked her personal computer into the mainframe, and the decoder into her computer. Hopefully she could cover her trail better that way. She made sure she wouldn't set off any alarms topside, and started the decoder.
The program ran its course, and her anticipation built as the status bar slowly climbed. At a hundred percent, the file opened automatically. Nightfall began to read.
"Holy freaking slag..."
Nightfall shook her head, rubbing her temples. She looked over the file again, making sure her optics weren't on the fritz. "Slag slag slag...." She sighed. Gathering her wits, she double-encoded the information in her memory, making sure the encryption was as tight as she could make it. Then she destroyed the file and the decoder, and erased any evidence that there had EVER been a file there, or that she had accessed it.
Then in case anyone was getting curious, she started up a game of holo chess against the computer, making it think she'd played one already. That should throw anyone who noticed and tried to check off of her trail. She hoped they were still busy with their own duties, but Preds could be suprisingly nosy...
—AF, CB
Snarler waited for Silverquick to depart and followed him to his room. What have I done wrong? he thought. Perhaps it is my Predacon Heritage. After all, this is a Maximal expedition and they might not want me...
By the time Snarler had reached the door he was a nervous wreck; this was his first expedition and he was already in trouble. He knocked on the door and wited for the reply.
"Come in."
He opened the door and went inside. "Yes, sir, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, I have a favor to ask you," Silverquick said. "Shut the door, please. As you may have noticed, we have a 'guest' on board: Kitfox. I'd like you to keep an optic sensor on him at all times."
Snarler breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, Sir." Then, realizing what Silverquick had said earlier, he corrected himself: "Silverquick.
"Just one question: are you expecting any trouble from him? Is he likely to try to escape, or merely sabotage the mission? Just so I can pay extra attention to particular details."
"It's damage to himself I'm more worried about," said Silverquick. "He's... let's just say he's a 'unique' individual, and has a rather high opinion of himself. I want you to make sure he knows he's being observed; also, he's to have limited computer access and is not allowed in engineering, under any circumstance, without my express order. And if you can, assist Jynx in familiarizing himself with the basics of the sensors, so he knows what to look for when he's on station." Silverquick stood and pat Snarler on the arm. "I appreciate your help, Snarler. Let's head up to the bridge, shall we?"
—LB, DT
Charmacon connected his datalink cable with his monitor, in order to upload his personal preferences and get a "feeling" for the computer. He raced through the files on board, when suddenly he encountered... a game of holo chess? "Hmmmmm" he thought, "this is the sector Nightfall had just inspected, and called working properly. But here it says she's been playing two games of holo chess in that time?" "Nightfall," he said through the intercom, "as-s-s s-s-soon as-s-s you're finis-s-shed with your 'ins-s-spection', could you report to me?"
Stormclaw sat in his command chair on a raised platform on the bridge. He apparently ignored Charmacon's request, and instead gazed at the stars in front of them. The Predacon commander appraised the situation.
Paradox was at the helm, seemingly enjoying the experience. Stormclaw had been cautious before, but now trusted the insect's capabilities: Paradox made an ace pilot.
To his right, Aspis was scanning over multiple brightly flashing screens. Stormclaw pondered for a while, looking at the snake's form. He knew very little about him as of yet, and the serpent had been too quiet for Stormclaw's sake. Making a mental note to himself about it, the Predacon commander turned his head to the left of the bridge.
Charmacon had turned in his chair, as if expecting something. Stormclaw's eyes became slits, as if that would enable him to extract the reason from his subcommander's head.
"Of course, I'll be up right away." Nightfall responded from the com.
Charmacon became nervous as he saw his commander look at him. Looks like even though he was second in command, that didn't give him any privileges to do anything on his own. "Jus-s-st a minor checkup ques-s-stion, lord S-s-stormclaw, nothing that you need to be concerned about."
At that moment, Nightfall came onto the bridge. "Subcommander?"
"Yes-s-s, Nightfall." He eyed at Stormclaw, as trying to say 'see I have everything in order'? "Would you mind informing me why you think it is-s-s permitted to play a few games-s-s of holo ches-s-s-s, on duty and during an ins-s-spection?"
For a moment, Stormclaw eyed Charmacon, then Nightfall. Then, he lost interest in them, and accessed a data file from his command chair.
"My aplogies, Subcommander. I had finished the inspection, and I was recording readings from the engine and cloak to run through and check for any longer-term fluctuations. Perhaps my processors aren't what they should be, but I can only watch over such readings for so long before my attention wanes and I might miss something. I was recording the readings, and the computer would alert me to any harmful fluctuations. I was attempting to regain some focus by excercising a different part of my mind. If that is inappropriate, I apologize and will not make such an error again."
Hmmmmm... Charmacon thought, this female is a pretty convincing liar.
"Very well," he said. "I'd prefer if you'd keep your incapabilitie-s-s-s to your own time. Don't let it happen again. Dis-s-smis-s-s-sed." He looked at Stormclaw, hoping to see a glimpse of approval. He also made a mental note not to trust Nightfall, and to keep an eye on her.
"Of course, Subcommander." She nodded to him, then to Stormclaw, returning to engineering. Well, at least she'd avoided drawing attention to the real distraction... She got the feeling Charmacon would be keeping a closer eye on her, but that had probably been the most vital time right there... She returned to engineering, initiating the monitoring procedure she'd claimed to be working on before, and settling in for a boring trip.
—MdJ, DN, CB
Kitfox stared at the monitor, internally sighing at the image of stars streaming by. How long had he stared at that sight, and from how many different vantages? Still, he was pleased he'd managed to get so far already. ...and ALMOST unsupervised, to boot.
After the talk from Silverquick, Goldstreak wondered what this journey was going to be like. He couldn't remember how he'd learned to pilot a ship like this, but he knew that he could. Somehow he knew that Kitfox had something to do with his past, but he didn't remember what.
Krunch worked quietly at the controls of the Tactical station. Inside, however, he was screaming! He was to be second-in-command alongside Viracide, but was somehow overlooked by the commander, whom Krunch voted for to break the tie!
Ungrateful exhaust pipe! Here I am again, just the hired muscle! he thought to himself.
While the others brooded, Kitfox turned into the room and watched with passive interest as the cat and the dog debated their own duties.
Jynx bent over towards the chihuahua bot, and said: "looks like we'll be partners, little buddy. Jus' one question, do you know what a 'sensor ops' is?"
The dogbot grinned at Jynx at the mention of the word 'partners.' This Silverquick guy was pretty good at this orders thing. At the catbot's question, however, his ears lowered slightly and a puzzled look replaced his pleased one. "Well...it's uh..working with...I have no idea," he said eventually, with a shrug.
Jynx shrugged. This mission was going to be fun, as it appeared clueless was coupled with helpless. Machines and him just didn't mix. Didn't they have some kind of different occupational therapy for him? He wouldn't mind training/fighting a few rounds with some of these guys here. After all, if they encountered problems, they would need his survival skills, not some novice at a console. "Well now, why don't you be a good little pup and ask Mr. Fish what it is?" Jynx said with a smile.
The Transmetal blinked. "Uh...talk to.." his voice squeaking with fear as he contemplated asking a question of an Authority Figure.
"He went into his room, yah know, pro'lly best not t'ask, eh?" he said, with a quick nervous giggle. Still, it'd be nice if he had any idea what to do for this mission.
"Maybe, uh..Viracide!" the dog yelped. Silverquick had just said to talk to Viracide when he wasn't around—he was first officer, after all. Velocity ran up to Viracide, and immediately beset him with the question.
"What's sensor ops?"
Viracide tapped his head thinking, then he remembered the similar place in the lab that he was raised in. "Sensor ops. Short for sensor operations, basically the controls to the sensors." Viracide preceded to the Sensor Ops. "These are the controls to the scanners and sensors, including long range sensor, short range, life form scanners, etc." Viracide gave a light smile. "Of course the one that I'm used to is the internal scanner that scans the building...or in this case, the ship." Viracide gave a weak laugh, realizing Velocity was lucky Viracide had a lot of experience with sensors. Of course he never operated sensors, but he knew what they were for.
The Transmetal nodded as he listened with ears perked forward, hoping he got all the information. Well, that job didn't sound too hard, especially with another person manning the console. He was pretty good with science and computers, after all.
A miracle happened then; a thought occured to Velocity. If he was to be relaying messages to everyone in the ship, he'd need to be pretty fast. How fast is my vehicle mode? he wondered. There was no time to find out like the present.
"Velocity, vehicle mode," he said, closing his eyes and pointing himself in Jynx's direction. With that command he shifted into beast mode, but a panel also lifted up from his back. The dogbot found himself rising into the air...and suddenly flying forward.
"Beast mode!" Velocity yelped, not wanting to go too far. The panel covered up the jet once again and he crashed to the ground, lying sprawled in a heap at Jynx's feet.
"Ow..."
Kitfox winced. Stupid Autobots were never meant to FLY.
"Wow there little buddy!" Jynx said to Velocity, "Did ya hurt yourself? I guess a few flying lessons would't be a bad idea, ya know!"
The dogbot shook his head to clear it. "I'm...okay," he mumbled to the cat's inquiry. He opened his mouth to ask Jynx just what he was going to tell him, and also to tell him what little he remembered of their mission on this ship, but fell silent as the catbot was beckoned to by...that new guy. Velocity sighed and nodded. At least Jynx would talk to him later—that was something.
Goldstreak snickered and shook his head. That one will be amusing, he thought. Then, glancing at Kitfox, he moved over to the helm and took his place at the controls.
The fox looked down the hall to where he was certain the Maximals' commander was still in conference. Then, he snapped his fingers to get Jynx's attention, and motioned for him to walk over to look at the computer.
"By the way, I need ta talk to ya...." Jynx was interrupted as he noticed Kitfox trying to get his attention. He paused a little. Now, he knew this here Starscream fella was going to do something to him, but not with so many witnesses, right? Besides, mebbe he could take him? "But it'll hafta wait, I guess.." he said to the dogbot, as he walked towards the computer to see what Kitfox had in store for him.
Krunch saw Jynx move over to the researcher. The sergeant recalled the comment from Scanner about their passenger...
...Kitfox is a mute, but he is stubborn and causes trouble nonetheless. He has some artistic frustrations and occasionally attempts to harm himself, so keep a good watch on him.
Just as long as he doesn't try to harm me! Krunch decided.
At Jynx's approach, Kitfox tapped a moment on the monitor, then accessed a word processing program. In clean efficient Maximal lettering, he clicked out:
I merely wanted to express my gratitude. I don't think I would have gotten this far without your help. See me later, and tell me if you've learned anything about the world.
He noticed Krunch eyeing him suspiciously, and added: If we find a way to shake my "supervisors."
Somewhat relieved, Jynx whispered: "Sure thing, big guy."
Meanwhile, Digit had knelt down by Velocity. "Let me see now," she said. "Looks like your gyros are not properly adjusted yet..." She flipped open the panel on the other's back to make the proper modifications.
Velocity gave a "huh?" of surprise as Digit flipped the panel on his back open. Then he mentally shrugged. She must have some repair skill or something. She was an engineer; he supposed that made sense. "Thanks very much fer tryin' to help me, miss," he said politely. "Though, a few of those flyin' lessons Jynx suggested would help," the bot added with a snigger.
Suddenly, Digit let go of her screwdriver. She had just noticed for the first time Velocity's mechafluids were not just ordinary energon. Then, more intruiged by the phenomenon than scared, she looked at the small dog bot and asked, "How long has it been this way for you?"
Velocity blinked. And he blinked even more at her question. "Huh...what way do you mean?" Maybe he didn't know what the question was, or maybe he wasn't used to having pretty girls looking at him.
The femmebot shifted her position so she came to sit in front of Velocity. "By looking at your internal mechanisms I can clearly see your fuel component ratio is non-standard. I don't believe your Transmetal form is the reason for this alternate composition, is it?"
It took a while for Velocity's ears to digest what he was hearing. Despite being used to technobabble himself, it was only relative to his former field of work; drug making. He cocked his head at her in canine curiosity.
"My fuel..ah! Oh, oh, oh, ohhhh!" the dog exclaimed as comprehension dawned. "Right, why my mech's all messed up. Yer right, it isn't because of my Transmetal mode. It's..." Here Velocity paused—was it really right for him to say this? Surely Digit knew already? Was this some sort of feminine game she was playing? If on the off-chance that she didn't know, did he want to be the one to tell her? Was he actually...ashamed of his habit?
His tail tucked between his legs, and his optics scanned the rest of the bridge. They quickly rested on Jynx and Kitfox, staring at one of the consoles.
"Uh, if you'll excuse me, I think Jynx's gettin' a lesson on somethin' I need to know too. We'll talk...later, sometime? Yeah, later's good. Duty calls, you know," he added apologetically. With an abrupt shift into robot mode, he hurried off towards the other group.
Digit still sat on the ground, and watched Velocity as he went to join the others. "Um, all right," she said disappointedly.
Silverquick and Snarler stepped onto the bridge. Silverquick noticed it was rather spacious, which was good, considering the size of two of his crew. The other Maximals were all at their posts, and a glance at a nearby monitor confirmed to Silverquick that they were on course with all systems nominal. Inwardy, he released a long-held breath. It seems we're coming together as a cohesive unit, he thought. Which reminded him...
"Krunch, could I have a cycle or two of your time?" he asked.
"Of course...sir..." said the sergeant, rising from his station. "In private, or can it be said here?"
"In private, please." Silverquick headed back to his ready room.
Hmmm. Good timing, Kitfox thought.
As Snarler stepped up to the bridge, he saw Jynx next to Kitfox.
"Jynx. Come here a sec; I need to show you something," said Snarler, heading over to the sensors and sitting down on one of the chairs.
Kitfox gave a silent harrumph.
When Jynx sat down at the sensors, Snarler began to attempt to show him what the buttons did and how to perform various searches for individuals inside and outside of the Renegade. As Snarler fuddled with the controls, Kitfox impatiently tapped his fingers on the edge of the console. Watching Silverquick leave the bridge, Kitfox wondered if perhaps after a while he would attempt to get a moment of the commander's time, as well.
Seeing what he determined as ineptitude (but then again, who wasn't inept anymore?) from the ex-Predacon at the controls, Kitfox gave Snarler a slight shove aside. Quickly, he performed a location scan for all the crew members, though almost too quickly for Jynx to catch up. Then, still idly working, Kitfox brought up an external scan.
He blinked. Hmmm. Interesting.
And neither of these idiots know what that reading means. Now I really MUST speak with the commander.
—AF, MC, LA, DN, MdJ, BB
"Oh, this ought to be good!" Krunch said to himself, as he followed Silverquick into the Ready-Room. Once inside, he spoke again.
"Okay, what can I do for you....sir?" said the sergeant. There definitely was some difficulty in adding the last word.
"I would like to ask you to draw up a training schedule," said Silverquick. "Some of our crew, myself included, could use it, and if anyone complains, well... I'm sure you can handle it. Also, I'd like you to run emergency drills; combat scenarios and the like. Talk to Digit about engineering drills, then execute whatever you decide. I'd like to be informed of some of the drills, but not all; I need to be on my toes just as much as the rest of the team. Feel free to run them at random, especially at 'inopportune' times. I'm going to rely heavily on your combat experience, Krunch, so if Viracide or I make mistakes, please let me know, and as I mentioned earlier, I value all opinions. Honestly, even though I've had command experience, it still makes me nervous.
"I've asked Snarler to keep an optic sensor on Kitfox; if you could as well I'd appreciate it. I'd like to inspect the ship, so if you would take command for this duty shift?"
"I'll see what I can drum up, sir, but the crew should be able to follow the standard training holos that are available on the ship... I'm not sure if we'll have time for any serious training!" admitted the sergeant.
"And if you want my opinion about that Kitfox character.... I'd just as soon shove him out of the nearest airlock and be done with it!! That 'bot gives me the gyros...sir!" added Krunch. With that, the soldier took his leave and returned to the bridge for his shift.
Shift Command! It figures... he thought.
—JA, LB
While Silverquick was checking up on all the monitors in engineering, he felt a tap on his back. Directly behind him, Kitfox stood. He tapped on a monitor, expectedly, then quickly typed:
This is the only way I can communicate with you right now. Could I have a moment of your time? In private?
"Certainly, Kitfox. My ready room?"
Viracide entered engineering looking for Silverquick. He approached and saw Kitfox. Viracide gave a slight glare. Viracide still had that odd question to ask. But it could wait. He was tired. "Captian, I see I have been placed on the Night-shift command. That means I have to usally sleep in the day. Two things, requesting permission to regenerate, and two, where is my bunk?"
"I believe the quarters were all pre-assigned," Silverquick said. "Your name should be on a panel near the door; I think your cabin was next to mine, on deck two. Go ahead and regenerate; I think Krunch and I can handle things."
Kitfox closed the word processor, and followed Silverquick to his ready room. Here, he calmly sat behind the commander's desk, as if it belonged to him instead. Logging on to the system again, he began to type.
I regret that this is the only way I have to communicate with you. There is an Earth language that uses only the hands, but few Cybertrons ever learn it, and many do not have the hand structures required to "speak" it. If you and I have continued dealings, it might benefit one of your crew members to download the information to understand it.
His hands paused a moment, and he started a new paragraph.
Did anyone explain to you the reason that I cannot speak?
"No, I was not given that information," sighed Silverquick. "It seems a habit with Scanner and his ilk. I was told you were a passenger, not a team member, and that your destination is the Station we're en route for. I don't know why we're playing taxi, but it must be important to somebot."
Kitfox waited until he was certain Silverquick was through speaking.
The Magnaboss, came the typed response. It is he to whom I am ordered to report. Not whomever they told you.
At any rate, he added without pausing, the reason I do not speak is because of a device installed in my throat that holds my voice in check. They've probably told you that I am a masochist, and you need to keep me away from sharp objects. That is not true, but, so far, painful incisions are the only way I know of to remove the device. It may seem outrageous, but you can ask Goldstreak if you do not believe me. I was permitted to speak to him because he is my project.
New paragraph: They haven't told me much about the planet either. I know you have no reason to trust Scanner. Let me assure you the feeling is mutual. But the only reason you have not to trust me is because Scanner told you that you should not. That hardly seems fair.
Kitfox blinked for a moment, then lifted his hands from the keyboard, and gave Silverquick a pathetic look.
"You're right, Kitfox, Scanner's word is not enough reason not to trust you. But having heard what I've heard, I must admit to a certain trepidation about having you on board. At any rate, you will be treated courteously, although you will have to deal with Snarler's continued presence, and I'd ask that you stay clear of engineering at all times. Otherwise, if there's anything you need, please let me know.
"I'm going to finish inspecting the ship, then catch some downtime; I'd suggest you do the same. Before you go, however, you said they didn't tell you 'much' about my team's destination. I'm curious, what did they tell you?"
When the security force explained to me why exactly they wanted my project to be part of the mission, they told me that the world was under quarantine: for either radiation, biotoxin, or a viral infestation, most likely. That admission is consistent with the reinforcement on the walls and shielding of this ship. Also, you may have noticed that several of your teammates were chosen because of their toxin, subtance, damage, or, in your case, radiation resistance. There are several planets quarantined by the Maximals—some of them for purely political reasons, I admit. It's also possible that the Autobots imposed a merely political quarantine, the reason for which has been lost over the centuries.
I'll get to the point, because you are so eager to leave. There is a trader's post about a day's travel from here at this speed, and it is only a degree or so off our original course. It's manned by Predacons, and their quarantine list is different from the Maximals'. They drive a hard bargain, but you might also be able to acquire any equipment that the Maximals denied you. I know they can be stingy when it comes to requisitions. I do not mind if you post a "watch" on me. But I would like to see if there is a surgeon there capable of removing my shackles.
He put his hand to his throat for a moment, pointedly.
I know a lot about history. If we compare the two lists, and the information that the agent gave you, if any, I may be able to tell you quite a bit about this world, even whether this mission is safe, or worth your time. Of course, you will have plenty of time to consider if you aren't willing to alter course right away.
"I'd really have liked to get a hold of those isoboritic chillers," Silverquick mused, half to himself. Then, to Kitfox: "Yes, I had noticed the rather eclectic mix of Cybertrons on this mission, and this ship has enough rad-shielding to survive a type-12 ion storm.
"And yes, I believe this mission is dangerous, in spite of—or maybe because of—what Scanner didn't tell me. But he did tell me it was important, and I found assurance in that if nothing else. I'd like to confer with my command staff about this little 'detour', but I think it may prove fruitful."
Kitfox nodded, and a smile crossed his face. Thank you. I'm sure they will agree to it. This will prove very helpful to me, and, I'm sure, very informative for you as well.
Kitfox rose, nodded once, and proceeded out the door. As his back was turned to the commander, he closed his eyes, and gave a silent sigh at the very thought of being Starscream again.
—AF, LB, BB