Terrorpin sighed and kicked at a loose bolt with his clawed foot. This was beyond boredom, and yet at the same time, so exciting. He was on a Maximal fortress. On this fortess was information. Terrorpin loved information. So why was he standing around like a Dinobot in a tarpit?
He watched silently as Stormclaw left with Charmacon and Klaw-hammer. They wouldn't be the only ones with interesting tasks ahead of him. The snake, bug, bear, and fuzor could stand by and wait for these priveledged three to gain altered information and again alter it for their own benifit, but he wanted it directly. What he needed, however, was a reliable source of knowledge.
And then, a funny thought struck him. Well, there was that thought about reattaching Charmacon's head to a maintainence bot and shooting at it with a plasma bazooka, but there was another one too!
He needed to find Starscream....
The snake watched as Terrorpin began to walk off. Aspis followed him for a few seconds, before walking up behind him. "You know, if you want to wander off, we can conveniently forget you exist."
Terrorpin turned around. His cold, crimson visor met the smug serpentine eyes of the TM2 snake. Aspis, was it? He stood there silently for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly he was trying to say. Forget he existed? Pfft, yeah right. These bots were Predacons. Predacons never left loose ends...
"What're you up to, slinky?"
Aspis shook his head, then shifted his gaze off to the side. "Well, since I'm following YOU, I guess the question you should ask is what are YOU up to..." He turned his head back to the turtle. "Stinky."
The Transmetal II turtle growled in frustration and irritation. Why did this bot always show up when least needed??
"The question I should ask?" he mused, playing off the other Predacon's verbal mistake, "I already know what I'm up to. And since I'm not even a member of your slagging crew, I don't think I owe you an explanation as to what that is."
Aspis shrugged. "Fine, whatever." He walks past Terrorpin, down the corridor. "But you realize we're probably the only way you're getting off this station, don't you? So..." He let the statement hang in the air for a few moments of uncomfortable silence until it was obvious he wasn't going to continue.
Terrorpin's visor narrowed into what could pass for a scowl. He wasn't sure how these Maximals would react to his extended prescence, and leaning toward amity would be foolish.
He turned to face Aspis as he walked. "Tell me, Aspis. How much do you trust your commander? How much of the spoonful of information he'll feed to you and the others about the Maximals and the mission—if he does AT ALL—will be legitamate? I, for one, know his type. He's a stingy retrorat who makes sure he's the one with the most vital information. That information is the key to keeping his troops alive and he knows this. If they want to survive, they HAVE to trust him. YOU have to trust him. Me? I have no such desire to rely upon him. I want information—even more than what this station's slagging commander is telling the Maximals."
He crossed his arms and glared at the asp, waiting another few moments, and spoke in a low, hushed tone... "You know what I'm up to now. What do you plan on doing about it, Tough 'Con?"
Aspis took a few seconds to stare at the angry turtle in front of him. Annoying, rude, yes, but... He could get to like him.
"What I'm going to do is go with you. Because, you see, I want the same things you do. I can get most of what my commander isn't telling us on my own, but..." He shrugs and averts his gaze. "An outside opinion never helps."
"And besides..." He grinned evilly. "Without someone along, how are you gonna know when we're leaving?" He lifts up his arm and taps his wrist, showing his built-in radio.
Terrorpin would've smirked... if he had a mouth. But a small chuckle would do. He knew in the back of his mind that there was a chance Aspis would turn on him, and if that happened, he could be...dealt with.
"Alright, so we're two Predacons on a Maximal base looking for information. We have 3 choices: Ask, hack, or find that Starscream character. The first one is out. Your suggestion?"
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, seeing as how all the Maximals just went THAT way..." He jerked his thumb off in the direction they all went...and froze. There was a camera, up on the wall, not even trying to hide, just...there. Someone could see them. And if someone could see them, someone could be watching them. And if someone was WATCHING them, then...SLAG! Aspis realized he was staring.
He lowered his voice and spoke quickly and quietly to Terrorpin. "I suggest we move somewhere a bit less comfortable. There's a camera over there pointed right at us, and they might be listening, too." The he raised his voice back to normal level. "So, how about we check out the mess hall?" He hoped Terrorpin got the reference to a group.
Terrorpin cursed inwardly and frequently. He had just said all THAT in front of Maximal security officers... Slag. Slag slag. Slag slag slag slag SLAG!!
"Lead the way.." Terrorpin said casually as he followed Aspis.
Aspis nodded, then turned on his heel and walked back down the way they had come, then made a left and was on his way to the mess hall. At least, he HOPED that was where they were going to end up.
A quiet rumble grew quickly into a loud chatter as they neared the hall. At the door, the few tables near them fell into a tense silence, then shrugged it off and went on with whatever conversations that had been interrupted. The snake staked out a table smack in the center of the room and sat down, motioning for the tawdry, tedious terrapin to sit across from him.
Tawdry? Tedious? He shook away the torpid train of thought.
"Well, then..." He spoke quietly, his head low, but not too suspicious. "Now that we've got a crowd around us, we can do a little talking. Any ideas on how to hack into their system?"
"Any idea on how to HACK?" Terrorpin went into a snickering fit. Did he know how to hack...
"Well," he coughed and leaned forward, "It should be quite simple, even if security protocols are tougher for Maximals than Predacons..Stingy slaggin' skiddplates.. Anyway, what we need is a terminal with the least amount of firewall protection possible. This'll give us more information at less time. It's possible to do it from any terminal, but it'd take longer. A lot longer. And if you and me are caught standing around an output terminal like a pair of Sharkticons over a Dinobot corpse, the Maximals'll catch on sooner or later. Therefore, it has to be short and sweet, in an inconspicuous location. All we need to do now is find that location..."
Aspis shook his head. This bot was missing the obvious point! "No, that's not what I'm worried about. I mean..." He scoffed. "I could hack into this system. It's THEM I'm worried about." He pointed surrptitiously to the guards to show what he meant.
He leaned forward for a second and spoke very quietly. "What we need is to figure out how to get past them." He sat back upright, so as not to draw unwanted attention. "And judging by the way we met on our ship, that isn't your strong suit."
Terrorpin blinked. One word came to mind..
"D'oh."
He sighed and looked at the snake. "OK, so we need to get a few watchdogs back in the kennel. Too bad we can't just reprogram 'em as maintainence bots... I need some target practice.."
Something in that struck a chord in Aspis somewhere. Then he smacked himself on the forehead. DUH! Reprogram them? "Duh! Why do that when we can just—" He realized his voice was loud and lowered it, leaning forward again. "Why do that when I can just make them forget we're even there?"
Then he leans back and speaks up again before Terrorpin can open his mouth. "Well...that might not work either... I'm not sure if I can do that without them noticing it or thinking something's going on, or maybe they can forget that too?" Blast, why couldn't he have had some real life experience to train himself in his powers?
The turtle, so involved in what was being said, nearly jumped out of his shell... Instead, he just fell out of his seat.
Barricade trudged down the hall toward the meeting room, with dozens of thoughts a nanoclick. That was really the Magnaboss? What is he? Is he a Maximal? Retired Predacon? Something else? Slag, all these questions were starting to make his processor overheat. Guarding was something Barricade was good at, deducing wasn't. Still, the desire to learn about the situation remained and he continued on. And then he heard voices nearby. Hmmm, no voices I recognize, he thought. I gotta see this. He turned in the direction of the voices. They were obviously trying to keep quiet, so he tip-toed as best he could to the source, stopping just behind the corner and peeked around.
He frowned at what he saw. It was two of the Preds that had come in earlier. A snake and a turtle, both of the TM2 generation, he noted. They looked like they were arguing. Weren't they supposed to be in the other meeting room? Oh well, may as well see if they need something, he thought as he walked in their direction. "Can I help you gentlemen?"
Terrorpin stared at the sizable Glyptadon blankly, then realized he was one of the guards. His face betrayed hints of confusion, curiousity, and a hint of suspicion. Terrorpin's visor narrowed, giving the illusion of a smile beneath his faceplate.
"Eheh... Hello sir. No no no, we're OK. Aren't we?" he said, looking toward his slithery companion.
Aspis looked from Terrorpin to the guard that had just spoken, and then back again. He coughed and then spoke, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Well, we were wondering if you could give us a key right into your computer system?" Then he shook his head and almost glared a hole through Barricade. "What do you think? Thank you, but we're fine on our own."
What are you doing? said a little voice in Aspis' head. He's not being prejudiced, he just wants to help! This was the little voice that Aspis usually told to take a flying leap off a cliff. But it was right for once.
"All right, look, sorry for being rude. But we really are fine on our own. Thanks for your concern." He smiled, hoping to soften his prior remarks.
Barricade frowned for a split second before picking up his slight smile. "Well then, if that's that, then I guess I'll leave you two to your sight-seeing. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
No sooner had he turned his back and walked away than the frown reappeared and more questions surfaced. The snake's words had troubled him. A key to their computer system? That snake must've been just irritated. Still, would Jax really let a couple of Predacons roam the station without supervision? "That does it," he said to himself. "I'll supervise them myself, but discreetly." He turned back and quietly snuck back to the the two's position.
Terrorpin had just gotten into his seat when he saw a questioning and annoyed, yet slightly unnerved look on Aspis' face. He turned back to his side, and looked behind him. Great. he thought. And he just won't go away...
He turned all the way around and faced the approaching Maximal guard. He looked like he was trying to seem inconspicuous, but he was failing miserably. Since when did anyone see something that big coming toward them and not notice? Besides, he seemed slightly less amiable than their first brief encounter. Terrorpin hoped that someone upstairs hadn't filled him in on what had been said between him and his hissing homeboy earlier.
"Something the matter....sir?" he inquired.
This time it was Barricade's turn to jump. "Oh, uh..... nothing's wrong. Just...um... checking one last time to see if you were all right. Umm...I guess i'll be going now," he said, as he quickly hurried away. As soon as he thought he was out of earshot, he swore to himself. "Slag, I knew I should've tried the stealth training before. Well, I guess I'd better report to the General." He started walking back to where the meeting room was supposed to be, his composure already beginning to surface again.
Krunch rounded a corner and saw Barricade heading back to the meeting room. He picked up his pace and caught up with him.
"Just the 'bot I've been looking for!! I'm Sergeant Krunch from the Maximal ship Renegade! Mind if I ask you a few questions about our passenger, Kitfox?" asked the ultra-sized Maximal.
Ready to pounce with his powers, Aspis was taken aback by the sudden appearance of a Maximal...it was one of the ones he was on the ship. Slag! And he was already out in the open. He tried as best as he could to walk by unnoticed, whistling a little.
WHISTLING?! He cut himself off and kept his head down, making it around the corner and not looking back. Slag slag SLAG! One little surprise and suddenly he panicks. He sighed and leaned his head against the wall, taking a few moments to get his bearings.
It was about that time that Terrorpin did what he did best. He snickered. And snickered some more. He barely managed to stop himself before it reached a chuckle. He knew that any cover they had was blown, and if they wanted to get the guard's "cooperation," they'd have to force it, and probably violently. So he staggered up to Aspis and patted him on the back.
"There there, buddy. You'll learn to hiss one of these days.." he snickered. "Now let's go wet that Primus-awful whistle of yours with an energon drink, eh?"
As he led the serpent back toward the mess hall, he could only pray that suspicion levels weren't above the "I see 2 stupid cons making fools of themselves" mark..
Barricade silently watched the two preds walk past him. Yep, definitely something with those two. Oh sure, they'd just like me to think that whistling meant nothing, he thought to himself. He quickly turned his attention back and up to the more imposing figure standing before him. Barricade snapped a quick salute and then responded. "No problem, sir, ask away."
Krunch was about to speak to Barricade when he spied two unfamiliar 'bots go by.
Hmmm, I see 2 stupid 'cons making fools of themselves! he thought briefly, then turned his attention to the other soldier.
Terrorsaur's first instinct was to backhand the tortoise. But then, that was the old, antisocial Aspis. One of the reasons he consented to go on this voyage was because he wanted to break out of his shell, and not be such a taciturn, moody individual.
Instead, he just punched Terrorpin companionably on the shoulder and smiled. "Silence, fool. Come on, let's see if we can search more for something a bit legal first." He turned and started walking. "No sense in attracting more attention than I already have." His hearty laughter echoed down the halls.
"I just wanted your take on our guest, Kitfox. I think he knows a lot more than he's leading us to believe! He enjoys dropping hints as to what he's up to and I was wondering if the skid-plate mentioned anything while you escorted him to the Magnaboss?" inquired the sergeant.
—DW, KH, GD, JA
"Darn Darn Darn it! Where is everyone?! I want to go back to the ship! Maybe the Maximals are looting it!" Paradox had then realized he had been lost for quite sometime. He knew that Stormclaw just may not like the aspect that he got seperated from a group. Paradox was in luck, though, as he saw Aspis and Terrorpin walk by. Paradox looked around him and started to follow the two from behind, pretending he had always been with them. "So, uh, going to get a drink huh huh huh, guys? Well, I don't drink before flying, oh never never never mind. Gambling is always fun. But I don't think they gamble on Maximal stations..."
Terrorpin started, then turned back toward the new voice. He almost didn't recognize it, but once the bug had stuttered, he knew for sure.
"Paradox." he stated. Great. So much for espionage. Can't he be a nice bug and see we're trying to be sneaky?! Good Gears...
"Gambling is a waste of time and effort. If you want something that badly, either buy or take it. Don't be dominated by a game." Terrorpin knew the bug probably wouldn't take his advice, but it was worth it. Besides, right now, he felt like getting drunk. Very drunk. And he had the money for it, too. He'd be straight off his rocker in no time flat.
"Sure Sure Sure, I never said was dominated!" Paradox was offended that Terrorpin thought he was a gamblholic. Paradox swung his head over as he saw something. "Wait, is is is that a slot machine?"
Nightfall shook her head. The commander had told them to be careful, and stay together. So of course they wandered off by themselves and plotted in front of the security cameras... "Boys..." she said, stepping out of the shadows, "don't make me spank you."
"Spank?" Paradox thought for a moment, but knowing where it could lead stopped. Paradox knew 'getting lost' wouldn't be a good excuse, so he spoke up. "When when when I saw that they got seperated from us, I went ahead and look look looked for them. To keep them out of trouble and such such such." Paradox actually didn't want to babysit them and watch them get drunk, so he moved away from them and closer to Nightfall.
She nodded. "And what about you two?"
The snake hesitated for a nano, trying to think of an answer to the question. Then he came up with a perfect one. "Spank us, eh?"
His optics shot open. What the PIT just came from his mouth?! It just goes to show where his mind was... He hastened haphazardly to remedy his prior comment. "Uh, that is, we were just going to find a...a TANK!" No no NO! Stupid stupid!
"I mean...uh, a tank-ARD. Of something to drink. I...WE figured this may be the last break for a while, so we were going to spend it well. Right, Terrorpin?"
Nightfall shook her head. "How you got on this mission, I'll never know. But considering what we've seen of the Maximal crew, I think we're going to get along just fine with them..."
The turtle's head was beginning to hurt...
"Yeah... er... eheh.. Right." he agreed. Good Gears! Had Aspis already had his energon?! All he could do is sigh and stand to the side. His plans were ruined now. Damn fuzor and her pet bug... Did he look like he needed a babysitter?
—BB, CB, KH, DW
Snarler stood up as the others left and looked at Jax, "So were all alone now, what did you want to see me about?" he said.
"Go ahead and have a seat," Jax insisted. But before Snarler could even comply, he was confronted with: "Starscream?!"
"And what about him?" Snarler asked. "I think that he should be allowed to come with us. After all, it's not as if he has any reason to betray us, and besides, I think he will come in handy. His knowledge of the Great War and what we potentially could be up against is far superior to my knowledge."
Snarler then opened up his arms, in a way that suggested that he could be trusted. "Look, at the end of the day Starscream has obviously been brought here for a reason, and judging by its remoteness I sencerly doubt that it was a surprise birthday bash. As such, if he betrays us on this mission then Krunch will most likely take care of him, and if he doesn't, then I think it would somewhat prove that he is a changed robot. Either way everyone is happy." looking up at the camera as he finished his speech.
After he was certain Snarler had finished speaking, Jax looked up at the camera, as if he was asking it a silent question. Then, he turned back to Snarler. "That was a good speech, but...I'm afraid you've lost me. Are you saying that...that 'bot you ferried here with you is Starscream?"
"You don't know about our passenger? But, surely the Magnaboss would allow one of your status to know these facts. I'm sure there must have been a misunderstanding. I mean, even Jynx knows about this, and he isn't really the most reliable person to give clasified security to. If you want, I would gladly wait here whilst you go up and see what news there is on Starscream. I'm sure he could help you," Snarler said, pointing to the cameras. "Or if you want, I could come and talk to him with you. We could get this sorted inno time," taking a step towards the door as he finished.
Jax stuttered. "You want to—that is—you to—to talk to—" He coughed. Then, he stood up to stop Snarler from leaving. "I'm sorry, soldier, but I'm afraid you don't have the security clearance required to speak personally to the Magnaboss. If you need for me to mediate, I..." Jax blinked, and stood at attention. He turned stiffly to address the wall-mounted camera.
"Sir! Sir?"
The camera made no visible response, but he continued. "Requesting permission for personal conference..." The last word was audibly tight in his throat, as if he was bracing himself for response and just now remembering who he was adressing... "SIR."
A long pause. Maybe he didn't hear? Then, with a coldness like the chill of space, a response over a wall-mounted intercom. "Unnecessary. Inform the Maximal that the answer to his request is: no. My decision is final. I will not be moved."
"Bah, humbug," said Snarler, obviously showing his frustration at Shockwave's response. It was time to use all the knowledge he had against the Decepticon. "I supose what he says must go," said Snarler, "but surely it would be more logical to take Kitfox with us. After all we have everything to gain and nothing to lose. In fact the only reason to keep him would be personal vendetta, and that would be a most illogical thing to think, wouldn't it?" he said to Jax.
Jax was about to form a response, but he was interrupted.
"Your attempt to appeal to me is transparent," Shockwave, so disembodied and represented, replied. "Your use of the word 'logic' is illogical. You are not aware of the potential factors that will be altered by Starscream's presence. You have already been given all the information your part of this mission requires. Predacon, you are not providing me with the respect my station deserves. You will stand at attention, as your Maximal comrade does. Even as his knees grow weak."
Bugger, he called my bluff, Snarler silently thought. Oh well...it was worth a try...but what did he mean by 'all the information your part of this mission requires?' He would have to store that, and tell either Krunch or Silverquick: probably Krunch. Snarler then stood to attention and requested permission to go back to his comrades.
"Granted," Shockwave said.
"Thank you," said Snarler, and with that, he left the room and went off to find anyone on his team. After walking about for a bit, he bumped into Krunch and Baricade.
"Hey guys. How's things? Listen Krunch, I need to tell you something." And then, looking at Baricade... "In private."
Slagging Peace-pipe's been throwing wrenches in my gears since we let home and now he wants to make nice with the warmonger? Something must be up! thought the Maximal. Krunch turned back to Barricade and addressed the soldier.
"As you were! Thanks for nothing!" said Krunch with a bit of annoyance. He then turned nis full attention to Snarler.
"Ok, peace-pipe, what's on your processor? Having trouble converting the locals?" he asked sarcastically.
Snarler lead Krunch back to the Renegade. The pair entered the ship through the elevator to the bridge. The moment Snarler was sure the bridge was secure, he turned to Krunch and began explaining what had happened. With General Jaxtrin, and with Shockwave.
"I don't like the feeling of this, Krunch," said Snarler. "I get the impression we are merely pawns, to be disposed of as seen fit."
Krunch had heard this before. He had heard it time and again from his superiors just before taking on a mission. As a soldier, he knew that he was expendable, it was expected of him. He enjoyed the look on his superior's faces when he always came back in one piece.
But the sergeant heard this recently from Kitfox. Maybe, the skid-plate was telling the truth. Krunch shook his head as he replied.
"Welcome to reality, peace-pipe! Being expendable is a feeling you get used to after a while! But what makes you think that we can do something about it?" he asked.
"Well, as we are now, I don't think we can. But I suspect that Kitfox knows something about this mission: something that the Magnaboss doesn't want us to know. We need to talk to him for a bit, and try and find out what he knows," said Snarler. He took in the full gravity of what he was suggesting: namely breaking into a Maximal base and robotknapping probably the most highly secured prisoner on this station.
Krunch thought for a moment before he answered.
"We're not going to get anything out of that skid-plate that we don't already know, besides he'll love playing head games with a peace-pipe like you! There's no way we're going to get near him anyway!" Krunch said.
Krunch was about to tell Snarler something else, something that he had heard from Kitfox earlier, but decided to mute it.
I'm not tipping my hand just yet! he thought.
—AF, DT, JA
Barricade nodded at the request of the unknown Maximal, whom he only recognized as being another passenger aboard The Renegade. Before leaving, he turned to Krunch. "Sorry we couldn't get better acquainted, sergeant. Maybe next time I'll be able to answer your questions."
Barricade turned on his heel and walked toward the meeting room, hoping the general would still be there. "Now it's time to get my questions answered." he quietly said to himself. Before opening the door and stepping into the room.
Jax was still attendant, shutting down the room's projection equipment. He looked up as the doors slid open, and saw Barricade there. He nodded. "How are the Predacons faring, soldier? No concerns, I hope?"
Barricade made a quick salute before answering. " Only my suspicions sir, but aside from that, no concerns to report." As he said this, he winked at the general and silently motioned to the camera, then to the doorway, hoping the general would be able to clue in that Barricade wished to talk to him...away from the camera's piercing gaze.
Jax did indeed pick up on the gesture. However...he wasn't sure if there was a place where the two could go and not be seen. But being HEARD might be a different matter... He thought about it for a moment, then, smoothly said, "Well, then our work here is done. I'm offduty until that ship heads off, so why don't you and I stop off in the club and wind down?"
"Yes sir." answered Barricade, turning and leading the way to the club while throwing one last, nervous glance at the camera.
—GD, AF