The laboratory, at first glance, didn't seem too bad of a place. Then random sparks of electricity made things such as scattered equipment, ill- or un-cleaned instruments, a noticeable stench, mostly describably as the odor of a stagnant pond, and several unknown experiments (failed or success depends upon one's own view) painfully apparent. These things seemed to add both insult and injury to the already disasterous Predacon ship. The occupant, though, was even worse.
He was definitely not likely to win any beauty contests, a fact apparent even taking a quick glance at him in the den of sparking light and dim darkness. His Transmetal II form was covered in a gnarled, partially metallic shell set on his back. His body was adorned with various shades of almost spikey green scales and circuitry, along with the rare smooth metallic surface visible only on select chestplates and shell sections. His face was just a single red visor and a faceplate, but if he had a face, the most warped, sadistic grin ever on the visage of a transformer would be decidedly present.
"Oh, what's the matter...?" he cooed mockingly at the creature he had strapped to a tabletop. It wasn't anything he himself could identify, just a cat-sized rodent from a planet he had visited recently. "Don't you want what Uncle Terrorpin has for you? It's a nice.. big.. needle!" he squealed excitedly, pulling out an oversized IV needle filled with a strange purple liquid.
The creature, like a horrified human child at the doctor's office, shrieked and redoubled its futile escape efforts.
"Now now, we mustn't have any of that.." he snickered as he injected some of the formula into the terrified being. "This will make you stronger.. faster...and—" he was cut off as the creature literally exploded out of the restrainsts into a mess of red liquid and white bone. "...annnd a really big greasespot on my walls. Bwahahahahaha!!"
Suddenly, above his laughter, the crazed heard Predacon footsteps. What? he thought. 'No one ever comes back here... As he turned around, the sight of the coming Cybertron was even more of a surprise. "Much less a Maximal." he heard himself whisper. Even more surprising to him was the Maximal's appearance. A clean, sleek, almost wet-looking Transmetal dolphin, on this garbage dump. Well... he thought, turning fully around, here comes company. I must make him feel very... at home, the final thought ending in a snicker.
Silverquick took in the ramshackle laboratory with a glance, his optics lingering on the Transmetal II that obviously called it his own. He noticed the various experiments, successful and otherwise, and shuddered internally. The other side of the mirror, he thought. There but for the grace of Primus... it's like my evil twin.
"Commander Moltor suggested I might be able to find some scientific equipment here," said Silverquick. "Perhaps you can help me? I'm LCDR Silverquick, of the Maximal ship Renegade."
Terrorpin snickered to himself once more. "Scientific equipment, he told you?" Who does that Moltor think he is.. setting me up as a used equipment salesman? he thought smugly. Well if it's a used equipment salesman he makes me... then that's what I'll be! And he snickered once more as he wiped some rodent blood off his face, then gestured to his latest experiment. "Don't mind Mickey. He falls all to pieces when company comes! Hehehehehe!"
"Now, where was I... Ah yes, equipment." he said, making his way to his messier, yet blood stainless lab table where he kept his instruments. "I'll see what I can scare up to let you use.. But keep in mind, everything has a price tag here. And no, I don't accept concubines as pay. Although that might prove interesting.. Hehehehe..." He stood before his selection of unsterilized instruments like a proud papa, waiting for Silverquick to make a selection, still fiddling with his IV needle and idly wondering what affect it would have on the Maximal Lieutenant Commander.
"I can pay with high-grade energon," said Silverquick, keeping a wary optic sensor on the needle in the Predacon's hand. "I need several isoboritic chillers, at least five, and a spark extractor, preferably mark III or higher."
The Transmetal II turtle's brow furrowed slightly at the Maximal's request. He wasn't quite sure if he had that many isobiritic chillers, but he knew there was a spark extractor laying around somewhere. He carelessly tossed the IV needle behind him and began searching through his instruments. It was times like this that he almost regretted his sloppy nature. But he knew it was impossible to think about cleaning when a new experiment beckoned to him.
Finding a pair of chillers and setting them aside, Terrorpin decided to learn a little bit more about his...guest. Every bit of information he could collect would be useful in some way or another, and he wouldn't let factional prejudices hender him. Besides, the combination of the items he requested had caught the Predacon's interest. Perhaps this Maximal was (though he hardly looked it) into Terrorpin's field of expertise as well.
"So.." he began, still searching his junk pile, "what exactly do you need these items for anyway?"
"The chillers are excellent for preserving samples, be it matter or... energy," Silverquick answered. "As for the spark extractor, well, they're handy to have around." Silverquick pointed to a contraption against the wall, an odd-shaped device with many tubes and hoses and a particular yellow glow. "Is that a beta-ionic transducer? It looks operational... how did you compensate for the phase variances at peak transitional power flow?"
Terrorpin pulled out a couple of more chillers and a spark extractor, which a quick glance told him was a mark V, and turned his attention toward the transducer. It had been a while since he had spoken with another scientist and lept at the chance to rant on about his profession.
"Simple. The phases only needed to be timed and 'fed,' if you will, at the proper times. Once I figured out the power flow required for each phase at any given time, it was only a matter of rewiring the outfeed and intake conduits and adding an extra surge every cycle or so. It helps to keep the ions from rebonding into different elements," he said, walking over and patting his machine proudly.
Silverquick's face brightened at Terrorpin's comments. "I didn't think to add a surge," he said. "My transducer kept melting its ion drivers." He laughed at the thought; the last time he'd fiddled with his experiment, one of the ion drivers had melted through five floors, while the other one took off and was, as far as he knew, still orbiting Cybertron.
Silverquick looked around the lab again. Considering what he had to work with, this Terrorpin had done remarkably well. He considered himself lucky to (usually) be able to work with cutting-edge Maximal technology.
"I can offer ten energon cubes," said Silverquick. "Premium quality..."
The Transmetal II stopped for a moment in thought, deciding if his equipment was really worth that. Not exactly... he thought. And this is this only place in Kull Tan that has any decent scientific equipment. Hmm...
"Your proposition is accepted," he said as he grabbed a fifth isoboritic chiller from the storage shelf on his wall and ejected the specimen, an ameobic blob-looking thing, into the waste chute. "However, there are no refunds, and I guarantee nothing. Risk what you will..." he added with a snicker. He then placed his collective merchandise in a small row on the table between himself and the Maximal.
Silverquick retrieved his portable computer, and ordered a cargo drone from the Renegade to bring the energon, as well as a handheld datapad—completely blank, of course. As a scientist, Silverquick knew that Terrorpin would appreciate the memory cache and computing power of the Maximal device; it was the Maximal in him that made sure it was a new datapad, never used, so that the Predacon couldn't get any information he wasn't meant to have.
"There's a drone on the way with the energon," said Silverquick. "Tell me, how did a scientist like yourself end up on this post?"
Terrorpin then stopped snickering. The past wasn't exactly one of his favorite conversation topics. In his four stellar cycles of existance, he had learned much in science and more in Cybertronian psychology. One element of that was that Maximal and Predacon alike were quick to judge and slow to give any semblance of understanding. It was why he had never accepted himself fully into Predacon ranks. His faction was so divided within itself between military and striving to better than the Maximals that it had lost its will, if it had ever had any, to consider a life away from slagging the Pit out of anything that disagreed with it. Terrorpin considered himself an agreeable bot. Well, most of the time. He hated things being kept from him. Authority and peer alike could be very stingy with knowledge, which is what taught him to do the same. No for the sake of itself, but just for the cause of accquiring what he loved most and laughing at the idiots who failed to stop him. This philosophy also influenced his outlook on pain. The higher-ups in social and political classes relished seeing that he had gotten as much pain as they could give him for daring to know more than he should. Now he would be the one watching others writhe in pain and begging for help.
As he looked at Silverquick, he couldn't help wondering what the Maximal's motives were. No one just appeared out of nowhere and traded energon for scientific equipment and started up a two-sided conversation. At least, no one that he had ever met. Inside him, a war raged on. One part screamed for him to hurt Silverquick as quickly as possible, just for whatever the dolphin might do to him in the future. Another part said that he could be a useful ally. And still another part of himself snickered at the fact that a few measely words from a Maximal had caused him to do all this thinking.
Going against his better judgement, he began to speak. "Let's just say that I found this as a nice place to operate under my own ethics...away from the bigots of Cybertron's scientific division. Let's also say there's a Predacon exploration vessel out there that assumes me dead."
From the way Terrorpin stopped his snickering, Silverquick knew he'd accidentally hit a raw circuit, and that the Predacon's response was a polite way of saying 'none of your business'. "I understand," Silverquick said. "It's just... well, it's rare to encounter scientists these days, despite the 'all are one' sentiments running rampant across Cybertron, and one of your obvious caliber. I've been working on that transducer for megacycles, and in a nanoclick you solved my problems, so I was just trying to be friendly. I didn't mean to rub High-O into an open wound."
"Open wound? Nonsense. The details of my travels are just drawn out and overly boring. However, you are right about scientists of any calibur. The government seems to send a most daunting sneer toward the gaining of knowledge by individulals not in it's circle.. 'All are one' my rear shell plate. It's why I set up shop on Kull Tan. Rest assured, only a handful of Predacons know of my existance in this post." he said. "And while we're in the business of solving problems... maybe you could help me with a certain formula..."
"If it won't take too long," Silverquick said. "I'm leaving in a few megacycles." A smile crossed his faceplate, and he chuckled. "And as long as it doesn't involve that monster needle you had..."
And after 10 nanocycles of exploring the various flaws behind Terrorpin's formula, success was finally met. The two scientists chatted excitedly between themselves, proud that it was now what a high-grade steroid formula with poison resistance, which the Predacon had meant it to be in the first place. A main flaw, which Silverquick eagarly pointed out, was its use on a purely organic being when it was to be used on biomechanical only. More specifically, those of Cybertron origin. The grade of energon Terrorpin had used was lethal at the least to carbon-based life forms.
Though the Transmetal II turtle was slightly disappointed by not being able to test it on a live subject, taking a sample of his own mech fluid and having it enhanced correctly by the formula was satisfying enough. In the middle of their discussion on how energon bonded to DNA, a noise attracted the Predacon's attention toward an energon-laden cargo drone stopping at the entrance to the lab.
"Your Igor, I assume?" Terrorpin snickered, turning toward the drone.
"Ah, the drone. Ten premium grade energon cubes, and here," said Silverquick, handing Terrorpin the datapad, "a little something extra. It's got two gigaquads of memory, and more processing power than probably anything you'll come across here on Kull Tan." Silverquick unloaded the energon, placing his newly-acquired items on the drone for transport back to the Renegade, then he tapped the formula components into his own personal computer. ~This could come in handy,~ he thought.
"When I get back from my mission, I'd like to look you up," he said, "providing I'm still welcome on Kull Tan, or at least tolerated."
"Hmm.. these will provide a signifigant amount of power.." he said, and then looked at the datapad, to Silverquick, and finally to his formula. "I don't accept handouts." He turned round and grabbed two beakers: one with the formula in it, and one empty. He carefully measured out half and gave it to the Maximal. "Here. If it will come in handy, you won't have to waste time mixing up more. It's a decent compensation for your datapad, which'll help with more of my research.
"Speaking of which, is that the purpose of this... 'mission' you're on?"
"Exploration, what else?" Silverquick chuckled, putting the beakers into the drone with the other equipment. "Maximal High Command, they love their exploration missions. I've got a rather eclectic crew, but I suppose with no war to fight, not officially anyway, there's no shortage of 'volunteers.' Stopping here at Kull Tan wasn't planned, but has proven quite fruitful. We'll make it to Cerebros Station with plenty of time, though."
Though his face expressionless, Terrorpin smirked inwardly. How long has it been since I last went exploring? he asked himself silently. Not recently, that's for sure... And with a crew full of "Eclectic" Maximals, I'm sure to find a hard time if I ask to go.. But this has me interested. Especially with Cerebros station. I must find a way off of Kull Tan...
"Good luck on your journey... what was your name again?"
"Silverquick," he said. "And thanks. I hope to see you again sometime." With that, Silverquick turned and headed back towards the Renegade, cargo drone dutifully in tow. I have nothing else to do here, really, he thought, but I'll give the crew another megacycle before recalling them and getting underway.
—Danny Wells, LB
All of the injured pirates were placed in proper repair cycle, and the Predacon butterfly—Royalle was her name, and less-than-subtile flirting and flattery seemed to be her occupation—was extremely apologetic to Stormclaw about the interruption. After the last of the injured was assessed, Royalle lead Stormclaw through the body of the station, past the bars, and into a dim hallway near the back. At the end of the blue-lit tunnel was a set of double doors, and Royalle calmly entered a passcode that opened the doors wide.
Stormclaw's optics instinctively focussed on the panel, and his audios tried to pick up any signs of the keys pressed. A microcycle later, the Predacon Commander realized he was not on Kull Tan for stealthy information gathering, and continued into the next chamber.
The room within was lit brightly, a flood of yellow and white, and a pile of purlioned energon sat, unsorted, unstacked, upon the floor. The backdrop was curtains, in royal purple and gold. A few Predacon pirates, amphibian and reptile, were busily sorting new bounty: energon from equipment. At the back of the room, a great golden Predacon sat on a pile of magenta and odd-matched pillows. Judging from his webbed feet and his obvious girth, he was a form of toad.
Royalle stepped daintily forward, and made her announcement. "Lord Stormclaw of Dark Dragon, Boss Balt of Kull Tan Post."
The seated Predacon straightened himself, and croaked out: "Clear the way!" Immediately, several of the pirates stepped aside, allowing Stormclaw to pass. "You do Kull Tan honor with your visit," the Thief Boss began, though it was painfully obvious that he wasn't accustomed to formalities. "What, may I ask, is the occasion?"
"Boss Balt, in the name of House Dark Dragon, I bring you greetings, and thank you for your hospitality."
Stormclaw pauzed for a moment, effectively swallowing a not too flattering remark about the Trading Post's appearance. It was not that Stormclaw wasn't used to dealing with back alleys and those lurking in the shadows, it was, simply put, a revulsion for these wretched beings that had allowed themselves to fall, and taint the Predacon name. The Commander's optics became slits as he continued, analysing the Thief Boss's character in the process.
"Know that our visit shall be brief. We have matters of our own to attend to, and shall be on our way shortly. But please," Stormclaw spoke to Boss Balt, as he found himself a place to sit, "tell me of the accomplishments of your Trading Post in recent times."
Little did Boss Balt know that this was Stormclaw's way of offering the other a chance at redemption, a chance to prove he was more than a low-life crime boss without any honorable deeds to be proud of...
The Boss chuckled, Stormclaw's seriousness not effecting his demeanor. "Oh, ho! A checkup from High Command, is THAT what this is? So FAR, our greatest accomplishment was not allowing United Cybertron to catch up with our business. I suppose it was high time it made the attempt." He pointed at Royalle. "Fetch drinks for our guest, and be sure the girls are on time..."
The female bowed out and turned to leave. As Royalle slipped out, she crossed paths with commander Moltor, her head passing across his red-armored waist. The commander nodded to the Boss, who introduced him to Stormclaw. "Commander, why don't you tell the Lord a bit about our business?"
"Our business involves putting Maximal wealth back in Predacon hands. Think of it as profit-sharing." He looks away. "Our latest raid did not go according to plan. We underestimated their readiness. However, so far, they seem to be integrating without incident."
"Integrating?" the Boss questioned. One of the other pirates spat.
"Integrating."
"You don't know anything about these Maximals, do you, Lord?" asked Balt.
Stormclaw reclined in his seat.
"About these particular Maximals? No," he spoke, slowly. "Our sensors indicated a commotion outside your Trading Post, Boss Balt, and therefor, I decided to investigate."
The red and black Transmetal Predacon pauzed, allowing the other time to think about the idea his own commander had caused this visit by messing up the raid. Before he could answer, however, Stormclaw spoke again.
"Maximals are pathetic fools. They pride themselves on their so called honor, and integrity. Plain lies." He leaned forward, towards the Thief Boss. "You and I may have our own distinct ways of dealing with the Maximals, Balt, but our mentality is the same. I suggest you keep your optics open during their presence here on the station. Before you know it, they have infected your crew with their 'noble' ideas."
Stormclaw moved back into his seat again, eyes squinting, awaiting Boss Balt's response.
The boss slapped his knee, and let out another laugh. "Not much fear of that!"
"Some of them are not so noble," Moltor interjected. He took a seat next to Stormclaw. "Some of them are lunatics. I have an official report."
"You and your official reports! We'll have it later!" the Boss insisted. "For now, strike up the music..." he pointed to another Predacon pirate, who raced off rather sloppily out a back door, "and let's discuss better community relations between Dragon territory and MINE. If you didn't come from High Command for this checkup, how is your relationship with the...non-traditional government? Hm?"
"I am a warrior, not a politician," Stormclaw pointed out. "Still, I am also my Master's agent. Highlord Serascar values his domain highly . Every day, battles are fought with neighbouring regions, to secure Dark Dragon's hold on a part of Cybertron. It is a war in which Predacons fight amongst eachother. That is not how it should be, but alas, the Maximals are in control of the planet now..."
Stormclaw seemed to lost in thought for a few moments, then looked up at Moltor. There was something about the Post Commander that intruiged Stormclaw. Maybe it was his pragmatic look on things.
"Boss Balt, please tell me, how many men do you have here? And how well trained are they? I am asking you this so that I may inform my Master of what exactly you might be offering to Dark Dragon, if a cooperation were to happen..."
"As your ship scanners would honestly report to you, we are only about a hundred strong." The Boss's fingers flipped a little; he felt he needed to cover a mistake. "But we are VERY trained."
"Trained rabblerousers," Moltor interjected.
"Trained THIEVES." At that moment, the blare of guitar burst in over the ship's intercom. "...and we do like to have our fun on occasion." Balt flagged down one of the pirates, who tossed him a blazing energon cube and a straw. The Boss chipped away at the crystal coating for a moment.
"If it pleased the Lord, I could easily round up some of our stronger warriors," Moltor offered.
"That would be much appreciated, Commander Moltor. But as I said, we won't be abusing your Boss's hospitality for very long. I am ready to inspect your men in, say, a megacycle?" Stormclaw proposed.
"As you request." The pirate commander left, and the double-doors shut behind him.
Balt made a chip at last in the energon cube, and, driving the straw through, slurped noisily on the contents. Another pirate tossed a similar cube in Stormclaw's direction. Balt opened his froggish mouth wide again, and continued his questioning. "You see, Stormclaw... many of us have lost a bit of contact with Cybertron...and, SOME of us..." he pointed, with no subtilty, at the closed doors, "have reasons we can't go back. I'm sure we can come up with a profitable arrangement between our two organizations, if you care to indulge..."
—AF, DN
Jynx awoke in the R-chamber. This time he remembered not to stand up too quickly, so he wouldn't fall over immediately. A light flashed next to him, indicating his R session wasn't over completely. He tried his left arm, which was re-attached, and it didn't move very well yet. He looked at his right, and noticed the chamber next to him still activated. Digit was still in her repair session, and was still unconscious. Poor girl... he thought. They got her pretty bad! Well I've had it with doin' nuthin in this here R cell, I'm moving out!
He stepped out of the chamber, and the light next to it started flashing. He turned it off. He tried transforming into his beast mode, but even the slightest notion of movement for his left arm made him scream out in pain. It may not be such a bad idea to finish that up... later.
He started walking around in the ship, took some energon from the ship's supply, and suddenly heard some voices coming form the brig. One was Viracide, and the other... Starscream? What was going on? He walked towards Starscream's cell. "So, what's goin' on here?" he asked.
Viracide stopped as he heard Jynx come in.
Viracide looked at him, almost lost for words. "Jynx, you're out early..." Viracide then remembered he did have some authority. "Me? I'm just interrogating the prisoner. Jynx, I'm glad you're out anyway. I need someone to buy some pirate star-charts."
"Sure thing, Pal! Jus' give me some trade goods an' I'll be on my way. I'll manage to scrounge up sumthin' here and there. These folks look like the types I used to deal with, so no probies!"
"By the way," Jynx added, "it looks like yer interrogation is more like an irritation to Starscream... How ya doin', ya traitor?" he asked the fox.
"I've been better..." Starscream croaked. "But I've been WORSE."
"Heh, I bet you have! Well I'm gonna go look for those Star Charts. Catch ya later, Viracide!"
"Go pick up some energon chips on you way out. A star-chart should be no more then that." Viracide gave a slight wave to Jynx as the cat left. "Jynx, be careful out there."
The fact that Jynx knew to call him Starscream reminded Viracide of something. "Uh, Starscream, why did you have him kidnap Digit a while ago?"
"Kidnap?" Starscream had been left in the dark as to exactly how Jynx had integrated with the group. He sputtered. "That certainly wasn't MY idea."
Viracide thought for another moment, "So you were directly involved with getting both Goldstreak and Jynx on this crew, and also you succeeded in getting passage yourself to Magnaboss. Very clever. I have one last question. What is our mission objective?"
Starscream smiled. Then, he laughed. He laughed, and laughed, until he felt his throat begin to choke shut, and his wild laughter ended in a gasp and a thick swallow.
"Scanner has already been honest with you about YOUR mission objective, my friend. It is the objective of the cloaked Predacon ship you must worry about now."
Starscream's tone grew both hoarse and smug. "Find me a competant surgeon. Restore my voice. If you deliver me to the Magnaboss in this condition, I will tell you NOTHING more." He withdrew his hand from his neck, and his desperate throat finally closed off into one solid panel.
—MdJ, BB, AF
"So, Paradox. How we doing over here?" Klaw-hammer tapped his friend on the shoulder, then glared at the mantis, as if to say 'You better be playing him right.'
Paradox frowned as the mantis said "GO FISH!" Paradox grumbled, it was his last card. Paradox picked up the card on the top of the deck.
"Wa HA HA HA! I got my card! Wo Hooo! I win! I win!" Paradox celebrated as he moved all the energon chips to his side. He turned over to Klaw-hammer and gave him the thumbs up. "Got about ten chips on that one."
The dealer rolled his optics. "We're starting him off...SMALL."
As he walked under the main arch, Snarler also noticed Velocity and Krunch integrating with the Predacons. Wonder what they want in a place like this, he thought. Arriving at the gambling table, he started to talk to a nearby Predacon.
"So where is a Predacon to find a real challenge here; who's the best chess player on the station?"
The Predacons surrounding, their hands full of cards, all burst into laughter.
"Oh, that's a good one!" said a beetle, setting down a radium-tainted mug and exaggeratedly wiping a tear from his optic. "That's the second-best joke I've heard all day!"
"We have a poker setup, if you're interested in mind games," said the dealer, reshuffling his deck with his two hands, and redealing to his customers with mantis-pinchers resting lower on his torso. You'll probably find it the finer art."
Paradox fumbled his drink and almost spilled it; it was one of those Maximals, RIGHT NEXT to him! "Ya Ya Ya we're playing poker right now; I have enough chips now due to that Go-Fish game. Sit down; I'll lend you a few chips if you need some." Paradox gave a feindish smile; Stormclaw would be pleased. He made contact with one of the Maximals without even trying! Now to get something from him...
Klaw-hammer looked at the newcomer to the bar. He had gotten a good laugh out of this guy asking for a game of chess, but now he looked over him again. He hadn't seen a Pred on the base with that particular beast form before, and he knew most of the bigger guys.
He saw that Paradox was speaking to the stego, so he pulled the mantis over to the side.
"If he joins the card game, keep an eye on him..." Klaw-hammer said quietly. The Mantis nodded, and the two of them split up. The Mantis returned to the table and Klaw-hammer sat down next to Paradox, making a show out of counting up the chips they had already won.
"Way to go, Paradox. Nice job..."
"Thanks," said Snarler, and took a few more, out of a need to keep his Predacon cover secret rather than a need for chips. "Tell you what...Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
"My name name name is Paradox, greatest Predacon pilot in the universe!"
"Yes, Paradox. I'll play you for these chips. If I win I get to keep them. If you win I'll give you a drop of Energon. Sound fair?" asked Snarler of the Predacon.
"Sure sure sure, sounds fair to me..." Paradox gave another smile, anything to keep that Maximal there. He looked over at Klaw-hammer; he did not look happy. Paradox wished he could tell his new poker buddy that this was part of the mission, but he couldn't. "Okay, Dealer, we're ready."
Feeling a little fed up with the "hard core" gamers he found at the store, Aspis made a hurried exit. Nothing interested him too much in the store, so the worst that could happen outside the door is more boredom, eh?
As it was, boredom didn't hit Aspis. After a few appraising glances from some very attractive females, and even a pass or two, the snake happened to walk across the card game of Paradox. He stands back, not trying to escape view but not calling attention to himself, and watches. Strategy games, after all, were a favorite hobby for Aspis, and all the better with interesting stakes.
The dealer passed out the cards, his extra limbs flying as he dealt. He collected his own hand up in his fingers, and tossed his first glowing chip in with a pincher-claw. The Mantis layed two cards to each of the players and after the first round turned over three in the middle: the ace of spades, 5 of diamonds and 8 of hearts. With the five cards currently in play, Snarler had at best two pair, and looking up at Paradox he could see that he probably had a better hand than the Predacon.
Klaw-hammer watched the dealer, looking for signs of possible good or bad hands being dealt. He noticed Snarler looking at Paradox strangely as he looked at his hand.
Hmm... That Dino sure seems interested in Paradox... He just seems a little off to me. First, he comes in here looking for a chess game, now he looks like he's trying to interpret Paradox's hand... Oh well. Klaw-hammer would keep an eye on his new partner's assets for as long as he could. Besides, he liked the little bug. He'd laughed at Klaw-hammer's jokes.
As Klaw-hammer continued to watch the game with interest, he noticed a newcomer to the watches. A snake Pred who seemed semi-interested in watching Paradox, as well. Klaw-hammer began to wonder what he'd gotten himself into with befriending Paradox, but he wasn't one to abandon a partner.
Paradox looked at his cards, "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I fold...no, never mind I don't. No wait." Paradox was even confusing himself, but he thought that it would be no loss if the Maximal won. Because if he did, he would be in good spirits, and then...WHAMO! He looked over at Klaw-hammer. Paradox couln't tell one way or another how he was doing. Paradox focused on his own cards. "Ya, I'm in in in."
Klaw-hammer looked over Paradox's shoulder at his cards. His hand wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. But, he wouldn't put it past Paradox being dealt a good card from his friend the dealer. Klaw-hammer looked up at the dealer and winked, then nodded at Paradox. It helped to have been in here before, he knew all the signals.
"Good choice, Paradox. Just play the cards in your hand and we'll see what comes up."
Paradox looked at the card the dealer delt him. GULP! It was a good card! Now I might win, but I wanted the Maximal to win! Then Paradox noticed Klaw-hammer's strange behavior before he was delt the card. Paradox thought it might be worth a try. Paradox winked at the dealer and nodded at the Maximal. The Dealer didn't notice. So Paradox did it again and again. Wink, Nod, Wink, Nod. In short, he looked like a fool.
Klaw-hammer stared at Paradox, noting that he was impersonating the same moves Klaw-hammer had just done...
Okay, so he wants the big guy to win... I suppose it's understandable, he is sorta intimidating. Klaw-hammer looked at Paradox, who was still going on and then looked at the dealer. When he managed to catch his eye, he nodded at the Stego. The dealer gave him a strange look, but proceeded to deal a well-placed card into Snarler's hand. This table wasn't known for cheaters...save by personal request...
—KCS, AF, DT, BB, KH
As Jynx left the spaceship, he looked around at the inside of the Trading Post, and took a deep breath. Yugh, artificial air! How can these Preds live in such an environment? I hope the air on our desination smells a whole lot better... Oh well, let's look for those Charts.
Unknown to Jynx, he was being trailed by Charmacon and Nightfall, who had tracked his exit from the ship. They saw Jynx look around, seeming very uncomfortable.
"How about that one?" said Charmacon, as he nodded towards the catbot.
Nightfall nodded, looking him over. "He'll do. At least he's kind of cute..." She winked, then sauntered over to the catbot. "Hello there. Are you lost?"
"Nah, not really, cute stuff. Jus' lookin' for a place to buy me some star charts. Ya think ya could help me out?"
Nightfall smiled. "I think I might be able to help you. Or at least convince some of the locals to talk to you..." She ran a finger down his chest, smiling. "I can be quite persuasive."
"I notice that, yeah." Jynx subtily pushed her away. "But like, what do you have to gain from helpin' me? A Pred walking up to a Maximal offerin' help is kinda rare these days, ya know."
Nightfall shrugged. "What do I get for not helping you? And you're cuter than most of the bugs and critters around here..." She smiled at the cat bot again. "Besides you're the most interesting thing to show up on my doorstep for cycles... Maybe you'll be...exciting."
"Heh. Well, sweetie, I can see that hanging around with bugs can get a bit... boring! Ok, I'll let you help me out, for now at least!"
Nightfall slipped next to him and slid her arm though his. "Goody. So, what's a cute cat like you doing in a place like this?"
"Well, it was either this or a Maximal security camp," Jynx said, "So it was kinda a tough choice ya know." He winked. "But I bet the good food made me choose this here trip to Primus knows where to do Primus knows what. Say, how about those star charts, or do you have other plans?"
Nightfall smiled. "Oooohh... I'm quite creative if you were...interested." She leaned closer to him. "But I'll be sure to help you with those charts too..."
Charmacon observed Nightfall wrapping the Maximal around her finger. She IS really good at this. That information might come in handy later... He saw the two of them leaving together. He himself walked into a shadow, looked if no one saw him, and cloaked himself. He clung to a wall, and followed Nightfall as she led Jynx towards a secluded area....
—MdJ, CB
Fangkiss' room was down a dark hall on the side. Not large, it was barely furnished, containing only a chest of drawers and a small computer-table. The floor was covered in a pile of pillows, red crushed velvet, with gold thread tassels. Their covers were worn and threadbare, as were the curtains hanging on the back wall. The air was heavy with a cheap perfume, the scent laced with cybervenom and altered fuel.
Emerald threw open the top drawer in the gunmetal chest, and awed, as she always did, at the mysterious contents. Silver and white equipment, much cleaner than the room itself, sat on one side of a divider, and, on the other, neatly stacked clean energon cubes, and several containers of colored powders. Emerald pulled a small burner out of the drawer, and set it on top of the chest. "Ummm... I don't know how to use any of this stuff. But you do, right?" she asked, looking back at Vel.
Mysterious those contents may have been to Emerald, but certainly not to Velocity. He rushed towards them like old friends and started laying out the equipment on the small table.
"Sure, 'course I do—been workin' with this stuff for two years," the Transmetal prattled cheerfully as he set up, inspected the equipment and fiddled with it. "Man, she's got a lotta good stuff in here, considerin' this ain't a real lab and all. This her hobby or somethin'? Never asked her name...or yours, either. Pretty dumb of me, eh? Mine's Velocity." He chortled, half knowing what he was saying as he cleaned out the top drawer.
"Emerald." She blinked a moment, and muttered, then sunk down onto the pillowed floor. "But my name's not important. Go ahead, get started."
After setting out all the needed equipment and seven energon cubes he was allotted, Velocity then began rummaging through the drawers to search for other needed components. Scanning the labeled bottles and flasks, he took out the ones he needed and set them haphazardly about the small table. He frowned as he noted that some of the more complicated elements were missing—nothing he couldn't deal with using some creative mixing, but an annoyance nonetheless. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be close enough. The dogbot prayed that his hands wouldn't start shaking too much.
Taking a deep breath, Velocity willed his hands to be still. It was only a second's meditation, however, and he soon plunged headfirst into his work.
Velocity was soon lost in his work. The sounds of bubbling, sizzling and hissing filled the musty air, and the scents in the room were overpowered by the oily stench of High-O. Velocity drank in the smell.
Checking with his internal computer, he realized it had been a good thirty cycles despite his skills. All that mixing of different elements had taken its toll, as had his shaking hands. How long had Silverquick said they'd be here? He hoped the ship hadn't left. At least the rest of the High-O batches wouldn't take that long, now that he had the first one.
"Done!" Velocity chimed brightly.
He turned to Emerald and grinned as he grabbed the still-warm flask. "Bottoms up," he said, raising the flask in an exuberant toast, before downing a mouthful. Needs some more oil... Velocity evaluated his efforts. And pure radium instead of what I cobbled together. All in all, good work, though.
Velocity was about to pass the rest to Emerald when he paused. He wasn't actually a drug-dealer anymore - should he get an innocent girl like her hooked on High-O? His ears lowered and he looked at her guiltily.
"Eh...you sure you want this?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Once it grabs yah, it don't let go easily, y'know? You got my word on that." He shifted his weight nervously, while desperately hoping Emerald didn't have a huge gun hidden on that gorgeous body of hers.
Emerald rose to her feet again, looking at Velocity curiously. "I like to hope I'm the same way," she said. She reached out and snatched the vial, and downed the contents.
For a moment, she blinked, and gave Velocity a strange look. "Sooo...when does it happen?"
Velocity was able to ignore his morals and snicker at her dirty joke. In fact, he was even able to banish whatever qualms he had. If she hadn't gotten the Enercrack from him, she would have gotten it from her friend. There was nothing he could do about it now. Whatever happened was out of his control—and entirely not his fault.
"It'll work pretty soon," Velocity assured her. "That wasn't a whole batch, so it'll take a bit longer. There'll be a rush at first. You'll wanna take on the world after that. Or maybe just take me, eh?" he winked at her as he cackled at his own dirty joke. And it was a joke—as if any girl would ever want him, even if he wasn't busy!
"She got somethin' to type with? Datapad, maybe? I'll need tah write out the formula some time." As he talked he turned back to his work, measuring, heating, pouring and mixing energon, liquids and the powdered radion that served as the substitute for pure radium. That bit of High-O he'd had only increased his urgency.
Velocity needed more of it, and soon.
Emerald opened up a drawer in Fangkiss' computer table, and showed Velocity where she hid her datascreen. She looked at the Maximal again, watching him concentrate. "You don't seem to realize what I do for a living. I'm just trying to figure out if what you just gave me counts as 'payment.' If it does, you own me for a megacycle at least." She reached out, and stopped his fiercely-working hands with one of her own. "You might not want to waste it."
Velocity looked over at Emerald and grinned, his tail wagging and his fuel-pump doing a quick drum beat in his chest. He appreciated the attention—quite a bit—but he was more concerned with drug-making. In his limited experience, what Emerald was offering was only good when he had some energy to burn. Right now he didn't have any to waste.
Emerald inspected him, mistaking his urgency for nervousness. "I hear things about Maximals. You aren't one of those guys that's going to want to write me after, are you?" She put a hand under his face, and turned it to look at hers. Her violet eyes had an unusual sparkle. "I feel pretty healthy right now. Isn't this stuff supposed to be bad for you?"
Velocity gave a whooping laugh. "Write you? That's a good one. Pit, what would I say? And High-O ain't bad; y'hear all these horror stories, but all it does is help. It's only bad for yah if you can't get it when you need it. You might learn that soon enough...or not," he added, with a shrug. Though High-O was more addictive than most Cybertronian drugs, not everyone got hooked on the first try.
"Believe me, though, you do look quite healthy," Velocity said with a broad leer as he checked her out, needing to crane his neck to peer up at her bright optics. She had energy to burn off, even if he didn't...
He slid a hand free from Emerald's grasp. It traveled gently up her arm as the dogbot took a step towards her—before he realized that his hand was shaking more than it had been before.
"Look at this," he said with a weak grin, holding his shivering hand up to her. "You think it'd be much fun like this? I should get back to work," he muttered, turning his gaze and hands back to the computer table.
"I'll, eh, try tah finish quick..." Velocity added, glancing back at Emerald. He hoped she wasn't too offended, but he figured that she wouldn't be if she knew how to do her job, which she certainly seemed to.
The dragonfly sat down again, watching. The Maximal didn't really appeal to her in a primal sense, but the IDEA of a Maximal did. She found his desperation very intriguing. She'd always been told that Maximals were opulent and successful, clean and calm. But Velocity displayed an aura she was accustomed to among members of her own race: he'd been needy, he'd been hunted, and he'd been lost. Why couldn't one of the RICH Maximals have wanted me?
Still, the Predacon girl felt it difficult to feel saddened when her internal systems were so energized. The superfuel wasn't effecting her processor, just her body; it made her fuel-pump race and her limbs tingle, and her functionality was reading a hundred percent. A hundred and ten, she thought. If you could afford to fuel up with this every day...
She watched as Velocity nearly dropped a beaker, catching it again in his fumbling grasp. Of course, if you CAN'T... Emerald pondered for a moment what Fangkiss had called this material: a Decepticon rocket fuel? From what little she DID know about the other femme's business, this kind of "enhancing" substance, super-efficient, was a Maximal invention. But then again, there'd been a development...were those races supposed to be the same now? Were all races the same?
Looking at Velocity again, Emerald came to her own conclusion. We are the same.
—AF, LA
In beast mode, Skitterbug crawled, low-bellied under the bar. He squinted again. Yes, that was Alpengiest he saw...ordering a drink for...
"One of the Maximals," he muttered softly. Yes, he could very well have been. Though a dinosaur, he hadn't come on board with the Predacon crew, and both of the enormous 'bots were far too clean to have been staying on Kull Tan for long.
He didn't dare get too close, not just yet. There might be information exchanged here. Maximal, Predacon, or whichever, the ankylosaur's voice carried. Since he was making an effort to avoid Klaw-hammer anyway, hiding a place where he might hear some news might be to Skitterbug's advantage...
When they reached the bar, Krunch sat on a stool that hopefully would support his girth. It groaned slightly as he sat but held together. When the bartender came around, the soldier barked at him.
"WheelJack Daniels for my buddy and me! And not that watered down prohibition fuel!" the Maximal ordered. The bartender poured two shots for Krunch and Alpengeist, then turned to leave.
"Leave the bottle!" Krunch warned. The bartender shrugged and left the bottle on the counter. The sargeant raised his glass to propose a toast.
"To Captain Rancid, May he reach the Matrix a cycle before the Pit knows he's gone!" he said.
"Captain Rancid," Alpengeist replied, hoisting his glass, knocking it against Krunch's, and shooting the contents. "Whoo, that's good!" He looked over at Krunch. "It's been too long, Lizardbreath. What with a unified Cybertron, we oughta be seein' each other more often!" Alpengeist paused to fill, empty, and refill his glass. "Ya know, we oughta go into business for ourselves, put a unit together. I hear there's plenty of action out here on the Fringe. We could call up Glitch, Wingthing, Wormicus... I bet they'd bust a gasket at the chance." He slugged his drink, then reached for the only mildly stale pretzels.
—AF, LB, JA