As Charmacon and Terrorpin entered the bridge, Charmacon saw that Stormclaw had already arrived. Next to him was a large crab-like Predacon, who must be the new addition to the crew. Charmacon would test him later to see just how much Stormclaw valued him. He had no intention of giving up his hard-earned postition as subcommander, even though he feared Stormclaw wasn’t completely pleased about his functioning. But then again, Stormclaw was never completely pleased about anyone's functioning. He also saw Nightfall and Paradox standing there. Paradox looked bruised, and not just his face. He constantly looked at Stormclaw, expecting the Commander to lash out at him. Charmacon figured what might have happened and suppressed a laugh. He was missing Alpengeist and Aspis. But those two usually were to themselves, so it didn’t surprise him.
But first, Charmacon had to face Stormclaw.
"Greetings-s-s, Lord S-s-stormclaw. I hope your negotiations-s-s with Bos-s-s-s Balt fared well? You might be wondering who this-s-s Predacon is-s-s. He is-s-s Terrorpin, and I captured him in the Cargo hold. He was searching the premis-s-ses-s-s and he downloaded quite s-s-some info whils-s-st I was-s-s in an R bath.... now I wonder who was-s-s res-s-spons-s-sible for s-s-security in my abs-s-sence.... He is one of Moltor's-s-s s-s-subordinates-s-s, he claims-s-s, but I thought it was-s-s too ris-s-sky to let him go."
"I see." Stormclaw replied, "And explain to me again what you were doing in an R-bath while my ship was infiltrated by vermin?"
"I had captured a Maximal with the aide of Nightfall. I downloaded information from him regarding their mis-s-s-sion, but s-s-something went wrong and I was-s-s damaged. I will give you a full report on that later."
"Yes, you will. You better have a sound reason for risking jeopardy to our mission. But continue. What exactly is this spy's business on the Whisper? Did you interrogate him?"
"I did.... He claims-s-s to be a free agent, working mainly for his-s-s own benefits-s-s. He was-s-s looking for information to s-s-sell to whoever wanted it."
"Then I presume you have already come to the conclusion we hand him over to Moltor, and tell him of the crime this spy commited?"
"I don't know if that would be wis-s-se.... As-s-s much res-s-spect as-s-s I have for Moltor, I fear he does-s-s have a price...."
"What are you implying here? That Moltor is not respectable?"
"I am implying that he has-s-s his-s-s price. He is-s-s a pirate after all. I s-s-sugges-s-st we keep him. He does-s-s have his-s-s s-s-skills-s-s, and already knows-s-s s-s-something about our mis-s-s-sion. And at the first s-s-sign of him not being a worthwhile addition to our crew, we.... dis-s-spos-s-se of him."
"Let me assure you Commander Moltor has more sense of honor than most Predacons I have met... nobles included. I shall leave the spy your responsibility, Charmacon. I strongly suggest you do not disappoint me."
"I won't, My lord."
Slag. Slag slag slag SLAG. Terrorpin was beginning to dislike Charmacon more with each passing nanoclick. The lizard had sold him out like so much low-grade metal to a Junkion. To the commander, who oddly sported a mammalian beast mode, he was just the Pred who knew too much, and chances were, he'd take the first opportunity to slag him.
But now that he was no longer a secret, there was little that Charmacon had on him. He was a mere lieutenant. He was in the army now. But as soon as the mission to contact Starscream was done, he would probably escape this accursed ship once and for all. Well, after some painful experimentation on that freaking lizard. Yes, revenge would be sweet. But he would make sure that he would be more of a thorn in the side than a pawn.
"I won't make myself a liability to your objective...sir." Terrorpin said, doing some sucking up of his own. "I'm well versed in science and computers, as well as...extraction of knowledge from various sources."
Stormclaw looked at the spy. Then, he slowly walked towards Terrorpin, with powerful but controlled steps. Steps of a predator.
"Is that so?" Stormclaw requested. The Commanders firey optics scanned Terrorpin's red visor for any sign of weakness. After moments, Stormclaw inspected the spy from head to toe, and was at least a bit puzzled by the other's grizzly appearance.
The Commander turned around, and added "We shall converse later, spy." With that, Stormclaw began walking toward his private quarters.
"Subcommander, you have the bridge. Set in pursuit as soon as our prey has a good headstart. I have a feeling they may have found out we are tracking them..." he looked straight at Paradox here, "...but that does not matter. It will be a different hunt from now on, but no less enjoyable."
Nightfall looked up. "One thing Charmacon did discover from the Maximal was the identity of our traitor... A former Decepticon known as Starscream."
"Starscream?" Stormclaw asked. His optics betrayed no further signs of reaction however. "Thank you Nightfall. Now, Predacons, Prepare for departure!"
Then the Commander left the bridge and entered his private chamber.
"I..." Nightfall watched him leave, then shook her head. She followed him to his quarters.
Paradox was a little busy watching the computer make the blade for Nightfall. He knew Stormclaw did not like him. But at least he brought Klaw-hammer with him. Nightfall left, but right after the blade was finished. Paradox took it out of the replicator and examined it. Then he retracted it and held on to it. Then he started mumbling, but it was still loud enough for others to hear. "Oh OK OK OK that's fair, I get slagged by the Commander for trying to get us out of here before the Maximals got away." Paradox took his seat at the pilot console. "And Charma here doesn't get that much slagged for letting someone waltz waltz waltz right into our ship!"
"Hey, Paradox, buddy! What's going on?" Klaw-hammer ignored Terrorpin and the other members of the crew and headed for the seat next to his pilot friend. He had a brief recollection about Terrorpin being some freak-scientist on the Post or something, but other than that, they didn't know each other.
"It's good to be on the crew. I've been itchin' for some real action..." He rubbed his claws together with an evil look on his face.
"I wish I could say the same..." Terrorpin grumbled in response to the gargantuan crustacean.
—DN, MdJ, DW, CB, BB, KCS
His eyes opened, and he blinked. One ragged breath ran through his mouth, down through his throat, and it carried with it only the slightest of sound. ...Sound.
Starscream sat, and cleared his throat. He wanted to do well by his first words, but was eager to test his vocals, so he simply said, "Well, then. ...It works."
He took a glance at the female beside him. She looked exahausted; the difficult and delicate work had drained her. His mind wrestled for a moment to come up with a proper response, finally, he settled on a muttered: "Thank you."
Krunch nodded his approval as he watched Digit perform the surgical procedure. He stood up straight when she finished and the fox began to speak.
Kitfox, or was it Starscream?, slid off the table, and stood, walking with even paces toward the exit, his movements still the movements of a fox. "Still don't believe me, do you?" he asked Krunch. Then, he laughed. "It doesn't matter. When you all provide me with the charts I need, you'll have the answers YOU need."
Stepping in front of the exit, Krunch drew his Plasma Cannon and pointed it directly at Kitfox/Starscream.
"Get back on the table, skid-plate! You're still in custody and I'm still your jailer!" he cautioned as he spoke to the others in the room. "Somebody call Silverquick and tell him that the patient is doing well!"
Velocity perked up, having done nothing more than sit in the corner and suffer shaking hands and drained systems for the past while. It had seemed ages, and he could just see vials of silvery white liquid flashing through his vision. As bad as he felt, Digit looked even worse; now he really wanted to suggest that she get some rest. However, duty called.
"I'll do it!" the gold and silver bot blurted out as he stood up, before dashing down the hallway to get to the bridge and the main com center.
Starscream looked up at the angered Krunch, and responded cooly, not moving from the spot. "Do you plan on shooting me? I'll have you know that as a Decepticon, my rank is Air Commander, and as a MAXIMAL, my rank is Head of Research and Development. Either way, I outrank every member of this pathetic little crew. Unless the MAGNABOSS orders you to pull that trigger, you're liable to be in a good deal of trouble if you try it. And I seriously DOUBT he would, considering that a weapon like that has NO CHANCE of harming me!"
Krunch didn't back down from the idle threat. It figures this skid-plate would try to pull rank on us! he thought.
"The way I see it, exhaust-pipe, if you go off-line, you can't run to the Magnaboss! And if you happen to snuff my spark, then I can't get in trouble! So, I'll take my chances! Besides, I don't need this to slag you!" countered the Maximal as he put his weapon away and clenched his massive fists.
"I'll even let you take the first swing!" Krunch challenged.
Starscream looked affronted for a moment; was he being challenged to a common brawl? "Why? So I can break my fist and you can WRESTLE me back into the brig?!" He gasped a little, as if something had just occured to him. "Oh." A tight, wide grin stretched across his face. "You'd LIKE that, wouldn't you?" He laughed. "A little...wrestling match."
Rage coursed through Krunch's circuits as the insult sunk in. With an unusual swiftness for one so huge, the sergeant grabbed Starscream by his wounded throat and lifted him up so that they looked eye-to-eye. The soldier spoke evenly, but in a threatening tone.
"Listen, you sorry excuse for a slag-pile, I know which way I interface!! But I'm sure you wouldn't be smiling unless you like it that way!! Maybe the rumors about you and Megatron ARE true!! Now, mute it or you're going home in separate boxes!!" said the big dino-bot.
Starscream choked, finding it difficult to maintain his dignity in such a compromised position. Still, his throat strained, he laughed. "One well-placed comment, and—" a croak— "suddenly, I'm Starscream after all!" Another choke, and, "I could tell you things about Megatron they can't print on a TABLOID site. But there's a LADY present." His voice was thick with sarcasm. "Now put me down."
"You aren't worth my fumes!" said Krunch, as he unceremoniously tossed Starscream back onto the operating table. The sargeant then punched the comm console near the door, as he was getting impatient with Velocity.
—AF, JA, LA
The red and black Transmetal had knelt in front of a low table in one of the corners of the room. It appeared to be some kind of altar. On it, a very abstract, black figurine was placed. Stormclaw slowly extended his right arm, by means of exercise. With infinite control, the arm streched, then moved back.
Just as Stormclaw began again, there was a knock on his door. "Commander, may I have a word with you?"
"Nightfall," the Commander observed. "What is it that you want to speak to me about?" The door slid softly open, and the female entered, backlit by the brighter hall.
"I just had more information for you. The Maximals already knew we were following them. They'd found Starscream out and knew he masked a ship. And Alpengeist knew one of their crew as well. I don't think they know who our crew are, but they know we're the ones following them by now. I also did some reasearch on Starscream. He's treacherous, I don't think we can trust him, and from what some of what I've seen says, he's immortal. I found a weapon that could kill him, if you'd like me to leave the specs for you."
Stormclaw stopped his exercise. Slowly, he rose from his seated position, and turned around to face the female Cybertron. Honestly, he had to admit to himself, he was impressed by Nightfall's efforts. She would make a fine Subcommander if she continued to excell like this. But, Stormclaw remembered, she was also female—by definition clever and skilled in manipulation. He would have to be careful with extending power to her. No, for the time being, the lizard would keep his position as second in command.
"Excellent work, Nightfall. I would indeed like to take a look at the weapon's specifications. And Nightfall," Stormclaw added in a sincere and suave voice, as the other started to depart, "I want to talk to you later on as well, to hear of your ambitions, both on this mission, and beyond..."
...to find out what tricks you have up your sleeve, female... Stormclaw thought.
"Dismissed."
Nightfall nodded, leaving the specifications both for the original design and Paradox's modifications, then turned to leave, meeting up with the rest of the crew in the bridge.
—DN, CB
Viracide worked on the bridge readying the scanners. Viracide opened the ship's internal comm. "Hey, Goldstreak, get over here." Viracide shut off the comm link and continued his work. Viracide needed Goldstreak around once more; he guess that he knew everything about this Starscream character. Definitely more then he knew.
Goldstreak walked onto the bridge. He had been on his way up here anyway... or was he leaving the bridge? H e couldn't quite remember. "What's up, little buddy?" he said as he walked over towards Viracide.
Viracide widened one of his optics at the "little buddy" comment, then returned to normal. "Goldstreak, you got to do some scanning, for a Predacon ship. But first I want to hear it from you... is Kitfox Starscream? And who is Starscream anyway?"
Goldstreak looked confused for a minute. Kitfox, Starscream, what in the pit was he going on about? "To tell you the truth, little buddy, Goldstreak has no idea. He only met this Kitfox character about fifteen cycles before he met you and everyone else here." Then remembering what had been taught to the others a few days ago, he went to the terminal where they had learned and did his best to start scanning for another ship.
Velocity then dashed onto the bridge. Paying scant attention, for once, at the conversation going around him, he rushed over to the communications station. The dogbot tried to open up a channel to Silverquick's quarters, but the neccesary buttons seemed to dance out of the way of his questing fingers.
"Slaggit!" Gritting his teeth and taking some deep breaths, he then glared at the console and ever so slowly typed in the buttons.
With a sigh of relief, he got a channel open. "Commander—the patient's fine!" he said, trying to sound upbeat when the only way he could be so was with High-O.
Viracide overheard Velocity's message to the Commander. He was in distress. "Oh, no! I wanted to be there. Krunch and Kitfox alone, this is going to to GREAT. Goldstreak come with me; we may be needed. Who knows what's going on in there?" Viracide ran to the door. It seemed forever before the door automaticlly opened. "I swear I could write a book..." he mumbled to himself.
"There's no need to call my quarters, Velocity," said Silverquick, with a smile on his face, from the center chair of the bridge. I've been here monitoring the situation in medbay, and helping Viracide fix the sensors so we can keep track of our Predacon shadow. But thank you for the situation report; you are performing your duties admirably."
Velocity absorbed the praise, a thing he was unaccustomed to. "Uh..well, you're welcome, boss. I'm just...eh doin', y'know, what I gotta do." He then tried to close off the communication to Silverquick.
Tried being the operative word with the current state of his hands and mind. Silverquick would've heard the following:
"C'mon...turn off, you slagsucking system...I swear, you computers must be women—" before the system was finally deactivated.
Wait a nano; Predacon shadow? Velocity blinked, and checked his own shadow, though not seeing anything unusual in it he shrugged. Unless...he didn't mean /that/ kind of shadow, did he? The dogbot whimpered at the horrible thought.
Goldstreak thought for a moment, then decided to follow Viracide, so he did, calm and collected. "Coming, little buddy."
—BB, MC, LA, LB
Klaw-hammer lounged in the make-shift quarters he had prepared.
"By Primus... It's been one slaggin' day and nothin's happened!! I joined this ship for some fun, and I'm gonna have it!" Klaw-hammer left his room and headed for the command deck. When he arrived, all he saw was Paradox sitting at the pilot's station, letting the ship fly on auto...
"He's no help... I gotta find that guy that picked me, Stormclaw. Yeah, that's it." Klaw-hammer muttered to himself. He walked off and eventually, through elimination, found Stormclaw's quarters.
"Hey, Commander Stormclaw." Klaw-hammer knocked, rather loudly. "Can I talk to you?"
After a few seconds, the door hissed open. Inside, Klaw-hammer saw darkness. Slowly, his optics adjusted, and he noticed a red outline in the shadowy, silent chamber. Light from the corridor danced playfully upon twin blades.
"Klaw-hammer," the Commander stated. He looked at the massive silhouet of his new recruit against the brightness outside his room. "Do you have news for me? And if not, why have you come to my chamber?"
"Actually, sir, it's kind of the opposite of what you just said. I wanna know what this missions about and why we're here. Particularly me. Slaggin' Maxies is my forte, not all this waiting in space." Klaw-hammer crossed his arms and waited to see if his commander would answer... or attack, or whatever. Klaw-hammer certainly wasn't used to asking questions of royalty, or anyone off Kull Tan for that matter.
After a piercing stare, the Predacon Commander made a gesture with his arm.
"Very well, Klaw-hammer, have a seat, and I shall inform you of everything you need to know. Moltor respected you, and for that, I shall trust you."
He waited for the big Cybertron to take place on what seemed to be a very sober platform, a bed perhaps.
"Although I currently see you as a mercenary, and nothing more, I still believe you will operate at higher efficiency if you know more about our mission.
"We find ourselves here in this forgotten quadrant in persuit of a band of Maximal explorers. As you probably found out first hand on the Trading Post, they are not worth their energon—they are complete failures. But we must not underestimate their value, since following them will also lead us to their final destination.
"As of yet, our intelligence has not been able to decern the exact nature of this endpoint, but we shall soon find out ourselves. With luck, we can then eliminate those wretches immediately, and return to our homeworld of Cybertron."
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence in my abilities, commander." Klaw-hammer stated, just a little sarcastically. He continued.
"So, anyway, this is all just about slaggin' those Maxies? Seems really drawn out for just that little thing. You got any speculations as to why they put a bunch of rejects on a mission like this one?"
"Oh yes," the red and black Cybertron responded. "The Maximals' superiors would never think of sacrificing any good men on a mission like this... Our prey's destination, and therefore also ours, is a planet which is potentially hazardous. And before you even think of asking if Predacon High Command regards us as cannon fodder as well—think again. We obviously have an advantage over those wretched Maximals..."
"Thanks for the info, boss. Just doing my best to help the cause of my new ship-mates." Klaw-hammer rose and started to go.
"Oh, and Commander..." Klaw-hammer turned and locked optics with Stormclaw. "I hope to be as good a warrior for you as I was for Moltor."
Klaw-hammer then walked out of the room. That was the highest compliment he could give Stormclaw. He hoped he had gotten that across to his new commander.
"Excellent, Klaw-hammer," came the reply. "I am very pleased to hear that. And rest assured—we shall reach our destination soon enough..."
—KCS, DN
"Krunch to Silverquick, I regretfully report that the operation to remove our guest's vocal inhibitor was a success! What are your orders?" asked the soldier.
"Take Kitfox back to the brig," replied Silverquick. "We'll have a... discussion with him in a few cycles. In the meantime, keep an optic sensor on him at all times."
Krunch snapped off the comm-link without responding. He grumbled as he then spoke to Kitfox/Starscream.
"All right, whoever you are, you heard Silverquick! Let's go! Back to the brig with you!" announced the sergeant.
Just my luck to pull guard duty, too! Krunch inwardly complained. The soldier waited for a reply, hoping that the little 'bot would give him an excuse to be more persuasive.
He would, but not the excuse Krunch was hoping for. "I'm tired of our pointless bickering. If you really want to lock me up..."
Kitfox's red glance shifted to the side, looking at the closed exit to the room. He calculated for a moment. The pupils in his optics dialated slightly, like a predator before a pounce.
"You'll have to catch UP to me FIRST!" Kitfox leaped forward, and over Krunch's shoulders and head, landing on the ground before the door. He counted one-two in the back of his mind, as the auto-opening doors seemed to take forever in his current hyper-quick state, dodged away from the Maximal already heading to grab him, and, leaping into his jet mode, poured on the speed down the hallway.
Krunch landed hard as he dove for the escaping Kitfox. He was slow at times, but at this moment, the dino-bot seemed almost glacial. Sometimes agility was a high price to pay in order to be big and strong. The sergeant slammed his fist on the floor in frustration.
"That hacks it!! When I get my hands on that pip-squeak, he'll wish he was never built!!" vowed the big Maximal. Getting back to his feet, Krunch hit the alarm on the comm panel.
"Attention, all hands, intruder alert!! Intruder alert!!" he announced as he exited the Med-bay and thundered down the hallway in pursuit.
Silverquick heard the alarm go off as Krunch's voice blasted over the comm system. He ran out of the bridge, activating his personal comm. "What's going on, sergeant?" he asked, already fearing the answer. Kitfox...
Viracide made his way out of the bridge, delighted that all was going well, and knowing he would talk with Kitfox soon and know how he located the Predacon ship. Yes, he was doing well. Then he noticed something roaring down the hallway. "What the...?" In an instant Viracide was knocked over by a careening jet.
Starscream transformed, coming to a very graceful landing in his robot mode. He laughed as the other Maximals came thundering towards him from either side. In his distinctly carrying voice, he called out, "Come now, there's no need to apprehend me again. It isn't as if I'm going to sabotage your equipment..." He hop-vaulted over Silverquick as the commander approached, and turned around-about in the hall, landing in an almost combatative stance. "I'm no good to you in the brig, anyway. So let me please explain..." He stood up, and offered Silverquick a handshake, "That I'm very sorry for any trouble I might have caused. I owe you for the help you've given me, and I DO plan to aid you in return."
Viracide stood up, and, with the wind knocked out of him, ran toward Kitfox. "You... run away.. and now you... want to help? Well, start by telling us about this Predacon ship!" Viracide then heard Krunch coming. "Oh no, Goldstreak!" Viracide turned to the other 'bot, just arriving in the hall. We got to keep Krunch from slagging Kitfox before he can explain..."
However, it was too late, as Krunch caught up to the rest as they stood around the evasive little 'bot. Silverquick was between himself and their guest, while Viracide and Goldstreak stood on the opposite side. He hated being last to a gathering. The sergeant could hear the annoying voice, which grated against every audio circuit in his mainframe.
Seeing his opportunity, Krunch reached over Silverquick's shoulder and grabbed Kitfox's outstretched hand. He held on as tightly as he could, exerting more pressure and force than he did on the small construct's throat in the past. The sound of crushing metal could easily be heard.
"GOTCHA!! Now, I want to see you worm your way out of this!! The only help you can offer is by holding still while I take you apart!!" said Krunch, menacingly as Kitfox hung helplessly by his arm from the soldier's massive fist.
Silverquick folded his arms across his chest and glared at Kitfox. "Well, then, I'll take you up on that offer, but talk fast, because I'm not sure I can expect Krunch to stand down, and I have a feeling pulling rank won't help..."
"AAGHK!" Starscream cried out, then, fed up with his predicament, responded, "Fine...FINE!" He kicked a little, but realizing Krunch was not going to let go, continued to speak. "The Magnaboss left me in stasis for centuries! This is my first trip into space since I recieved this body, and it will be over in another day. I don't want to spend my precious little time staring at the walls in the brig. Besides, the BRIG doesn't have access to the computer equipment I'll need to...urgh! ...properly analyze the charts! If you want me to tell you about the other ship, I'll tell you what I know. PLEASE put me down..."
Krunch listened as Kitfox pleaded. Surprisingly, he understood how the wretched 'bot felt. The sergeant was in stasis himself for over 50 years, and it was almost maddening. Only one thing still kept Krunch's grip on his captive.
What if the skid-plate's lying?? the big Maximal thought. Giving in to his Maximal sense of compassion, Krunch lowered Kitfox, but did not release him, looking to Silverquick.
"As much as I hate to admit it, you ARE in charge, so it's your call!" stated the soldier.
"Very well," said Silverquick. "First, you will tell us what you know about our Predacon pursuers, and why we were unable to detect their ship. Then, you will be allowed computer access under my personal supervision. Krunch will be present, and will be closer to you for the remainder of our trip to Cerebros Station than scraplets on a power conduit. If you fail to comply, I will allow Krunch to dismember you, and we will present your parts and my apologies to the commanding officer on Cerebros. Do I make myself PERFECTLY CLEAR?"
"Your threat is entirely EMPTY, as THOSE TWO would likely tell you." Starscream pointed towards Goldstreak and Viracide. He then set his feet back on the ground, and struggled free of Krunch's loosened grasp. He held out his crushed hand as if to inspect it, and before the eyes of the crew, the metal expanded, reformed, then sealed completely, leaving no evidence of the damage Krunch had caused. Starscream looked up at Silverquick, and raised a brow. As Krunch was definitely still within his personal space at the moment, Kitfox then turned to look at him, grinning wryly. "But I don't MIND Krunch's continued...OBSERVATION in the least."
Krunch eyed Kitfox wearily as the smaller Maximal repaired his damaged hand in mere seconds.
Slaggit! That would have been an R&R job for anyone else! thought the soldier. Taking this 'bot apart would be alot harder if he could repair himself at that rate. Then again, Krunch enjoyed a challenge.
The smaller Maximal straightened, and began. "The Predacon ship has been sent by Darkwave, to tail you. The reason you were unable to detect them is because your cloak-piercing scanning equipment was disabled. To be honest, I'm surprised it was installed at all. It's STANDARD, so my guess is the Citadel engineers simply FORGOT they were instructed to remove it. I did not want you to contact them, because you'd soon discover that Darkwave has it in for me. The deception was part of my foolish wish for freedom from those... TYRANTS..." Starscream shook a fist; he was either very serious, or plainly lying. "But, forgive me. I have been caught, so I can re-enable the equipment."
Maybe this skid-plate really IS Starscream! He's not afraid of me, which means either one of two things: He's more powerful than we can possibly imagine...or he's NUTS! But either would still point to Starscream! deduced Krunch. The Maximal recalled the dossiers he had read in the past about the infamous Decepticon...
—JA, LB, BB, AF
At the sound of alarms, the dogbot had winced, but not moved from his seat. Others could deal with whatever was happening better than he could, and the noise had brought upon him a horrible headache.
I need some High-O! But, if I can just last the night, this'll all be over and I won't have to go sneaking through the base like a...criminal.
To distract himself, his hands flew over the keyboard, bringing up charts and readings. Glancing at the scanner readings in the hall of the med-bay, he determined that this was a Kitfox related problem, and moved on to the rest of the base. Another scanning reading in particular interested him.
"Wha—? Jynx! That's...he's out!" the dogbot yapped in surprise, before rubbing a throbbing head. Even the sound of his own voice was painful.
Just then, Kitfox, trailed by a Maximal entourage, entered the bridge. Kitfox, it seemed, though he was almost as small as Velocity, liked to do things BIG, and he'd made sure to gather everyone with him before he began. Jynx, good as new, was with the others. Silverquick and Krunch were both staring at Kitfox very suspiciously, but the fox-bot was paying them no attention. "Out of my way!" he spat at Velocity, using a voice high-pitched and harsh. The voice certainly didn't seem to belong to Kitfox's body, but it belonged to his mannerisms.
Velocity whimpered lowly as his head throbbed some more, but hurried out of the way to give Kitfox his desired room. He then amused himself with picturing Kitfox's head falling off at an inopportune moment.
Kitfox stepped up to the computer console, and began to type. Now freed from his silent imprisonment, he did not go about his work without narration. "First of all..." He clicked a few keystrokes. "THERE. Scanning is fully operational. You're WELCOME." He pointed to the Predacon ship, a small purple blip following Renegade at a careful distance. "THOSE are our traveling companions." He traced a finger across the screen, and points to another blip, a Maximal symbol outlined in white. "And THAT is our destination. We haven't got a lot of time, so... the charts?"
Viracide noticed he was closer, so he provided access to the starcharts for Kitfox. Kitfox began to work diligently, typing and talking. "We know that the planet is quarantined by BOTH races, and we haven't been told WHY. SO, all I need to DO is compare the Predacon quarantine chart with the Maximal chart." The two galatic images overlayed, and only the matches were left displayed. "RULE out any planets that have been explored in the past hundred years..." A few of the highlighted star systems vanished, and Kitfox frowned. "Still too many matches! Zoom in on current quadrant!" At least twenty worlds were highlighted in the ship's current galatic quadrant. "CURSE you, 'Magnaboss!' You WOULD make this difficult, wouldn't you?!" Kitfox grumbled to himself, and began furiously typing, trying to narrow his search. "Scanning for proximity to Cerebros station," he muttered. He zoomed in...and in... and looked at the map again. He blinked. "Of COURSE! Of course; I've been so blind!" He spun around. "Maximal Cerebros Fortress. Cerebros...Maximal...Fortress. Cerebros Fortress..."
He was met with a row of blank stares. "Well, WHAT are you all, IDIOTS?!"
Viracide thought for a moment and smiled as he figured it out, "I know it's a big brain fortress right? A 'Cerebro' is part of a biological brain, right?" Viracide started to expand on this idea, letting his imagination run wild. "A fortress made entirely of brains. And there's this evil Predacon who has a removable brain too! And his primary attack is shooting his brains at us..."
Velocity had no idea what was going on, other than that Predacons were somehow involved. Frankly, the chihuahua didn't care about that fact, or anything else Kitfox was saying. His head felt like it was being squeezed between a vice, his hands wouldn't stop shaking, and the cold claminess of his gut only seemed to spread. Forgetting for the moment that he liked Viracide (or that Viracide outranked him!) the dogbot shot him a quick glare.
"Maybe you should use your brains?" he snapped.
"Boys, boys, there's no need to BICKER!" Kitfox interjected, quite pleased that his insult had caused dissent. "Cerebros...Fortress... MAXIMUS. One of the Autobots'—" he said this word with a disdainful spit— "finest. Naturally, the fort nicknamed for him would be somewhere near his final resting place..." Kitfox pointed to a planet on the map. "HERE. Planet Nebulos."
Viracide was quite surpized that Velocity said something like that, but perhaps he did go a little too far. It was no fault of his he knew very little about Autobot history. Viracide just pretended that Velocity did insult him and looked directly at the charts. "And the Magnaboss is waiting for you there, right, Kitfox? And that Predacon ship is going to follow us there."
Krunch listened to everything that was going on, but he knew that Nebulos was not one of their sheduled stops. He leaned over and whispered to Silverquick.
"I thought you wanted this skid-plate back in the brig? He's acting more like he's in charge! It's your call!" stated the soldier.
"He irritates me as well, Krunch," said Silverquick sotto voce, "but it seems that his imagined command is loosening his whining tongue. Let him continue thinking he's in charge; the more we get out of him, the happier I'll be. But don't worry, I've got my optics on him." At the last comment, a fraction of laser energy danced across Silverquick's optics menacingly. Also, Silverquick's delphine brain was working overtime, making sure that Kitfox didn't pull a fast one while accessing the main computer. "As soon as we get to Cerebros Station, it will be my pleasure to have you escort our guest off the ship in any manner you desire."
Viracide was quite surprised that Velocity said something like that, but perhaps he did go a little too far. It was no fault of his he knew very little about Autobot history. Viracide just pretended that Velocity did insult him and looked directly at the charts. "And the Magnaboss is waiting for you there, right Kitfox? And that Predacon ship is going to follow us there."
Kitfox laughed. "The Magnaboss? In dangerous territory? Ha! Why do you think he's sending all of YOU?" Kitfox explained, authoritatively, "The Magnaboss is waiting at Cerebros station to chew me out and to monitor you all before the mission. And you can BET he's come ALONE."
Velocity felt somewhat annoyed at Viracide's reaction—though if he was actually mad at Viracide or himself, he couldn't tell. However, he felt his anger would be more positively directed to someone else. Giving Kitfox another glare, he then spoke up, though with his ears lowered so as not to make his voice sound too loud. He was beginning to wish he'd been programmed with an audio-dampener instead of an enhancer.
"Eh, I thought the bots on the Cerebros Station...or the Maxie Fortress or whatever we're callin' it now...weren't they s'posda be telling us where we were gonna be goin' next? What's screechy here doin' their job for?"
"Of course you're going to the station," Kitfox answered. "The 'boss wouldn't miss his oppurtunity to keep his EYE on you." Kitfox pointed to the center of his own forehead.
Krunch grew frustrated with all the political discussion. He just wanted to slag something and Kitfox wasn't doing anything to promote that activity. Letting out an audible sigh, the soldier went back to his Tactical console and proceeded to run yet another simulation against the Predacon ship.
—LA, AF, JA, LB, BB