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| - Message: 3/12 Posted Author Distress Signal Jun 22 2010 Hammerstrike Occasional static had occasionally been heard over the Autobot broadband. However, finally a broken transmission makes it through. The message is garbled and there is audio distortion. However, it is paired with a distress signal which is finally strong enough to be tracked to their coordinates. The source is coming from 2.0.2. or in that general vicinity. OOC: Reminder that the TP for the Search for Hammerstrike will be held this Wednesday, June the 23rd. ==================================================================== A hiss. A hum. A tentative whir and beep, and then static. Alone and stranded, the form that loosely qualifies as a transformer lies prostrate on uneven ground, one hand reaching out in front of him in futility. It had been a while since his distress signal had gone through. It had been a while... or had it? Had it really made it? There is an almost plaintive whir and then silence. It had been this way for a time, wavering in and out of consciousness, as the acrid fumes hissed about him, eating away at his form, like the slow digestion of the bowls of some large transorganic. Already his vermilion paint had been stripped away, and the metal underneath rusted and matte, ready to flake off at the slightest abrasion. Just a little longer... just a little longer... The growl of an engine echoes down one passageway. A whole ROW of headlights illuminates the tunnel a short distance away as Ultra Magnus, called from his duties of the City, is drawn further into the bowels of Cybertron. With him perhaps are several other Transformers, although the young lieutenant had insisted o coming himself. "Keep your optics peeled... " he rumbles out of the sound of his engine as he continued along "It shouldn’t be too far. " Shark hovers alongside Ultra Magnus, scanners going full tilt as they move through the tunnels. This area that they were coming to now was well known for getting folks lost within them. Anyone any sense would either avoid it or have a really good plan set in place if they truly wanted to tackle it. "Might have to walk it if that signal is in the maze itself." he notes, "I got a way to mark our path if need be. Best to be safe than sorry down here." Hyperblast's turbines kick up whorls in the obnoxious mist of these tunnels. It was a small space, low to the ground, and the hover ship couldn't say he liked it. No, really, he couldn't -- in the interest of not stirring up trouble, he'd choked his vocalizer to a near-whisper. It was being held under a weak software lock, theoretically to be unlocked once he could think of something other than how irritating the diluted acids were against his fan-blades. He'd volunteered to search, not complain. And he was looking as best as he could, sensor module sweeping from side to side in a well-learned pattern, as he trails behind and above the brass. So far, nothing. Just a little... longer. After a moment of verging on the brink of offline, a surge of willpower kicks the systems back on, and Hammerstrike's grimy optics flicker. His fingers twitch. His systems choke noisily on the vapors, the sounds echoing off of the walls, spreading out, and seeming to come from several directions at once. "Hrnn... A good idea Shark. We do not want to be lost at all." Finally Ultra Magnus slows "Did you hear that? Shark, try to trace it... " he sends out a transmission <> Shark slows down and transforms, producing his pistol in a free hand. He marks the wall and direction, he nods, "Working on triangulation now sir." he replies, adding his radar and sonar pings to the scanner arrays to give him an idea of the layout of the maze and any object within it." Hyperblast echoes the idea of transforming, at least so that the hum from his engines don't disrupt the audio that they were finally picking up. He lands rather gingerly, testing the ground before he shuts his engines down, like he expects it to rot under him. There's a little burst of static from his vocalizer before he speaks, "Unless you're expecting trouble, sirs, it would make sense to split up and share sensor data. We might be able to get a fix faster." Ultra Magnus groans to a halt with a shriek of brakes. Then in a flurry of parts, the white red and blue mech transforms... his cargo area packed away tightly into subspace with a flicker. "Yes, but we could also be split up permanently and have to find more than one mech." notes the CC to Hyperblast "But keep the idea in mind." Shark hmms as the information he's getting fills his neural net, his optics offline so he can visualize what he is 'seeing' easier. "Think I got a lock." he announces, optics coming back online. "It's not a bad idea really, but we'd all have to use a different mark on the walls so we don't confuse each other up." he moves straight ahead and stops at a juncture where the maze continues straight and goes off to the right. Hyperblast turns his torso to look at Magnus. "I doubt that. There are no pitfalls I can see here, it would just be a matter of tracing a precise map..." he drifts off as Shark gets a trail. "...But you're right. We should avoid it if possible. Shark?" "Let’s keep the idea in mind then. Shark, lead on." Ultra Magnus commands, gesturing and turning to follow Shark, his own huge cannon-rifle drawn and ready for anything. His blue optics flicker as he glances about "Do you have the rear, Hyperblast?" Shark turns toward the right juncture, sending out a couple of pings and 'listening' to the echo. "This way." he announces, putting a mark with direction and head on down that direction. He walks for a distance then there's a left and right juncture. He pings the right side, listens, then does the left. He puts a mark on the wall and heads to the left. "Have the rear?" Hyperblast mumbles... "I am scanning for activity in the rear. No movement." The tall mech is making no haste in his stride, consistent with a thorough scan. "Do you know what we are precisely looking for?" Is that... is that truly.... there is another flicker from the mech's optics, and his hand clenched before releasing again. However, the rust forbids much more movement than that. There is another sputter and then a highly distorted voice calls out in a loud, moaning sound. After a few such unpleasant noises, the voice finally finds words. Yes. Words. "I am... I am here..." however, even those words are garbled further by the echo, compliments of the acoustics. "Not what, but WHO. There it is again." notes Ultra Magnus, following shark. His steps accelerate with some anxiety, armor holding up better than others' in the acid fumes. "We shouldn’t be too far I think." Shark continues pinging at each juncture as we head deeper into the maze, always marking the wall so we can retrace our steps on the way out of here. Of course the deeper you go in the maze, the thicker the acidic fumes are going to get. "Better notify Jade and Ratchet that we'll more than likely have a patient with acid damage, that way they are prepared when we arrive in med bay." the young mech states. Hyperblast takes a moment to observe one of the scratches Shark leaves on the wall, pitted as it already is. "Isn't it easier to rely on on-board navigation to trace your steps? Or just keep going up?" Perhaps he's too thick-skinned to realize how easily a mech can be brought down here. His optics jerk forward to the continued sound of wailing in the halls. Wordlessly, he turns around, taking short steps backward to keep up with the group, and takes a long look. They could've already passed whoever placed that distress call, so if he had the back... He was at a disadvantage, though, being more optically than audially inclined. At least they had Shark. It is certain. There are voices. Hammerstrike isn't sure exactly where they are coming from, but they are there. They are real. Unless... unless they aren't. Are they echoes of his own piteous cries? No, they sounded nothing like his agonized wailing. They must be real. Hammerstrike turns on his radio again, but does not speak into it. That takes too much energy. Something so simple, so exhausting on his pittance of resources. And thus, he just lends the aid of constant static to further aid in being found. "I'll take care of it. You find this mech." note Ultra Magnus, tapping his comm. He glances behind him, to check on Hyperblast. Shark hurries as quickly as is feasible, having to stop and ping, listen, and mark before moving on to the next juncture. This mech is sure deep in here, no wonder he got into trouble. Finally a ping comes up with a secondary echo and he grins, "Finally." Leading the way, just having to ping one more time to confirm, then he lays optics on the prone form of Hammerstrike. "Slag." he mutters at the state of the mech as he puts his pistol away and approaches. He looks at the width of maze and hmms, "Think you can fit your vehicle form in here sir?" he asks Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus strides in after Shark, his face flickering a moment. Nausea? It was hard to tell. He glanced back the way they came and nods "I think so. IT may be tight in places... I will have to face out though. Hyperblast, stand beside if you can... Hyperblast had no intention of lingering, given this place's reputation. The wall of dull gray is right there, in the process of turning back around, then taking a few steps to catch back up. He stops in his tracks a little, looking over the damage. One hand scratches at Hyperblast's forehead uneasily. "He's ... one persistent mech," he whispers. "Do you know him?" He stares a couple moments more, then looks over at Ultra Magnus, stepping aside. "I can lift him too, if you think that's safe. Your call." There is a pause. By now Hammerstrike's optics had gone offline just to keep the radio signal going, to make himself found. However, when his audial receivers detected footsteps close by his radio turns off. He tries to see, but there is too much grime and buildup, rendering the mech blind. He gives one futile twitch of his fingers and a low moan just as a way of saying 'I'm still alive' and then the hulking mass of rust goes quiet. No more static. No choking or whirring or humming. No moans or wails. In relief, the mech had finally surrendered to a loss of consciousness, holding onto the faith that he would wake up again somewhere safe. Shark gestures to Hyperblast, "Help me get him aboard Ultra Magnus." he states, moving to the mechs' right side, "We'll have to be careful, armor looks in really bad shape.. could fall off on us as we lift so be ready for sudden shifts." he's already crouching down next to Hammerstrike, "We'll getcha outta here, just hang in there." a shake of his head to the question, "Don't know him. Might be a new recruit." The huge Commander transforms "Climb in with him. I'll haul us all out. You two make sure he stays in one piece." he notes as his engines rumble to a growling rev. Hyperblast nods to Shark, talking softly to himself as his triple-jointed arms find the most structurally sound parts of Hammerstrike's extant chassis and slowly lifts, waiting for Shark to synchronize the movement. He didn't have an answer to his question -- maybe he had a bit to learn about non-combat field operations. Maybe? No, of course he did. But it would still linger on his mind, annoy him. When he moves to load the inactive mech aboard Ultra Magnus, he takes one distracted look aside ... "That fits?" Before folding his wings flat above him. Huh. So it did. At least if they got lost it'd be in style. Hammerstrike is dead weight, small fragments of his armor flaking off, but thankfully nothing major falling off or outright disintegrating at Hyperblast's touch. Shark slides his hands under the mechs' torso, waiting for Hyperblast to take his side. "Sounds like a plan to me sir." said to Ultra Magnus. "On go. Ready, set, go." then he lifts his side, figuring that Hyperblast will go as he does so the lift is even. Then moving over to board Ultra Magnus. Once they are both aboard and the mech is set down, he calls out, "Roll for it." The door shuts, and Ultra Magnus swings into gear instantly as he starts to rumble through the tunnels, taking as many short cuts as he could "Shark, see if you can get some energon into him." Ultra Magnus cruises into the building complex that held the hospital of the Autobots. He radios on ahead 'Ratchet, where will we meet you?" Ratchet clicks his radio, "Iacon med bay, I'm all set up here." Shark reaches into his subspace and finds a few energon goodies, he slips them into the mechs mouth and hopes for the best as Ultra Magnus retraces the markings back out of the maze then onwards towards Iacon. Ultra Magnus radios back "Which building? Intensive care or emergency?" Ratchet radios, "Emergency." Ultra Magnus rumbles that way with the others. He comes through the roundabout, stopping so his rear ramp is by the doors into the emergency halls. Hammerstrike remains unresponsive, but will at least wake up with a pleasant taste in his mouth. One of Hyperblast's long arms hangs onto a support overhead, unsure how he feels about traveling in a vehicle that isn't, uh, him. He observes Shark improvising an energon transfer, then after a while, remarks, "I see your modifications for water can be used overland." Ratchet opens the doors and props them open, then strides over to spray something on the mech's armor. It's a neutralizer for the acid to prevent it from acting any further on the armor at least. Then he heads on back into the ER. Shark looks to Hyperblast, "Okay we'll do the lift like before. On go. Ready, set, go." lifting up and stepping carefully out of Ultra Magnus. He nods to Hyperblast, "Yeah comes in handy that way." he replies, following the medic inside. Hyperblast unhooks his arms and has about as little coordination trouble as he did last lift. "Ratchet." He nods to the medic ... takes a moment to sort through his tabs on Autobot personnel in his onboard database. "Worse circumstances to meet you under. How bad is it?" Ratchet states, "All of you will need to use this neutralizer on yourselves." handing a container that looks like a fancy spray can over to Shark, "Do your exteriors first, then internals, and be thorough about it. Then make sure you get a wash afterward." he proceeds to remove armor off of the acidically damaged Hammerstrike, spraying that neutralizer as he exposes parts. "It's bad." Shark takes the can and nods, "Would go easier if we spray each other I think, make sure nothing is missed." he notes, looking toward Ultra Magnus and Hyperblast, "Rank first eh?" he asks with a little grin. The corroded form is lifted much easier, this time shavings and flakes of rusted metal not falling off during transport. Furthermore, the stiffness from the rust keeps limbs from dragging down or wobbling. Although, there is a distinct grinding, creaking noise heard. The mech remains unresponsive as it continues to have the acids that permeated his form neutralized, and probably for the best. "Yes. Rank first." Hyperblast steps out of the way of Magnus, no intent of taking the top of the queue. "If we brought in an acid cloud with us, I don't see it," he observes Hammerstrike, "But I'm supposing better this than dealing with a new paintjob. Go on, Shark." In reality, it /was/ irritating his engines a bit, but he wasn't giving it any more thought than one would give the scent of gasoline hanging over a gas station. His turbines turn again parallel to his back, like they usually stand. Ratchet gets all of Hammerstrike's armor off, coating all his parts with the neutralizer. This settled he proceeds to hook up a energon feed to keep him powered up and then hooks up the life signs machine so he can keep tabs on the patient's vitals. "Got him here just in time." He states as he activates a couple of the medical drones, "You access specs on this mech and you get the parts we'll need based on the specs." The two roll off to do their assigned tasks as he starts inspecting the parts themselves to see if anything is salvageable. Shark gets to spraying Ultra Magnus's armor, "Mech's lucky it's Ratchet working on him and not Jade.. she'd probably end up stuffing his neural net next to Lonestar's or something." he notes snarkily. He makes sure he gets every little bit of Magnus and nods to Hyperblast, "Now you get your external while Magnus opens up his panels." he states. It truly is a wonder that the mech has any signs of life at all, as the acid was well on its way to eating his internal systems, leaving only the very bare minimum close to being salvageable. Hyperblast tilts his head in its enclosure. "You outrank me, Shark. Give that here." He could easily snatch it, but he just motions for the can of neutralizer with a hand right in front of Shark instead. "I know the name Jade," he chortles, "Do I want to know more?" Ratchet shakes his head a bit, the drones bring up the specs and begin bringing in parts. The medic begins to remove a part at a time. Replacing with a new part as he goes. New wiring as well as energon and lubrication lines will have to be run through too. Won't be a quick fix, that's for sure. Shark hmms, "I could radio up Lifeline or Torque, get you some help there Ratchet." he states, already cuing up his radio to do so. He hmms at Hyperblast's words and shrugs, "After you, I insist." already working to spray the mech down. "Don't let her fix you, nuff said." stated matter of factly. Hyperblast huffs, then droops his wings so Shark can reach them. "Noted. The idea is not to need it, but you know how much good that does me. All the sleeping battlefields on Cybertron to survey, and I pick the one with a feral Cybertronian in it, mm?" He makes note of the names Lifeline and Torque under his breath. "Been spending too much time on a slagged hobby," he mutters. Ratchet orders the drones, "You get some wiring measured out and prepped. You measure out some energon and lubrication lines." he listens to the steady sound of the machine that indicates life signs on Hammerstrike. "If you can get hold of either of them Shark it would be appreciated." Shark radios out to Lifeline first as he finishes spraying down Hyperblast. "Okay now you spray down my exterior." handing over the spray can over to the larger mech. He tries Lifeline several times, no response. So he tries Torque next, same results. "Huh. No luck reaching them doc." a chuckle to Hyperblast, "Ah yeah, she's not one to mess with either." then a hmm, "Hobby?" At least the embarrassment of being out of the know would be delayed for him. Hyperblast spins the can in his hands, looking over it for any obvious warnings quickly. Then he sets to work over Shark's armor, work simplified by the other mech's hydro dynamically-molded plating. "Hobby." He's silent a tic. "Oh. I borrowed a great number of ancient Cybertronian texts from Crystal City," He moves around to get another side of the mech, "Working on some amount of fluency in the language, any one of its subsets. If you can really call such a thing fluency." Now he mumbles, more to himself, but still audible. "Not sure you can define fluency without an audience, like saying you're fluent at yourself..." Shark continues to work on Hammerstrike, tending to the most vital parts first and working his way through from there. He glances up at the specs on the computer now and again, just to check the placement if a part is too corroded to really tell which end is up. The drones busily measure out wiring and lines, setting them on a nearby table for the medic so he can tackle that project. "Hmm, wonder where Jade is.. " he murmurs, sighing a bit. Ratchet continues to work on Hammerstrike, tending to the most vital parts first and working his way through from there. He glances up at the specs on the computer now and again, just to check the placement if a part is too corroded to really tell which end is up. The drones busily measure out wiring and lines, setting them on a nearby table for the medic so he can tackle that project. "Hmm, wonder where Jade is.. " he murmurs, sighing a bit. Shark stands still as Hyperblast sprays the neutralizer on him. He listens quietly as the bigger mech talks about language, hmming softly. "We could have used you when we went to a water planet. Actually, still may need you for that... we could head back to that world and try some sort of trade with them, but we'd need someone that can speak their language and understand it." he states, "Sounds interesting though." "Does it." Hyperblast finishes as well as he knows and holds the spray-can at his side for now. "They all say that. Not that that's a problem." Even he felt he was letting himself go in that regard, pursuing the language for its own sake, not for the sake of Cybertron. He couldn't help himself. "What kind of society do you mean? Feudal, more advanced? I'd presume the latter, if we've got some reason to trade." He glances over at Ultra Magnus and, realizing his lapse, moves off to take a second pass with the neutralizing agent over the vehicle. "An off-planet jaunt would be a nice change of pace," Hyperblast hums. Ratchet reaches for wiring or lines as he starts the process of replacing what wiring and lines that the new parts will need. He only put in a handful of parts so far, but these are the most vital to keeping Hammerstrike alive. "Drone alpha assist me. Drone beta monitor life signs and energon drip." he intones, the drones move into place. Alpha assisting the medic with wiring and line placement. Shark hmms, "Advanced enough, they had a city under the water." he replies, working on taking his armor off so his internals can get sprayed down while Hyperblast is getting Ultra Magnus. "The scientists have recordings of them talking to me, may give you a starting place at least. You good at translating on the fly at all?" Hyperblast is taking his time. "Really that interested?" His tone is both mistrusting and excited. The silhouette of his wings dips suddenly as he trips over something. Quite possibly his own feet. "I do pretty well. Well enough to tell you that it's easy to hear something and make a couple educated guesses what it means. And well enough to tell you it's easier to blurt out something that's not going to need any education or guessing to sound bad. That's the hard part." He peers over the roof of the carrier-type vehicle. "Let me at those recordings if you can. I'll take anything I can get to clear my processor." With Ratchet getting assistance now, the wiring and energon lines get put in quicker which will improve Hammerstrike's survivability. The beta drone gets a new container of energon ready to add to the drip that is feeding the mech energon at a steady pace. "Someone activate drone Omega, I could use another set of hands in here." he requests. Shark finishes removing what he can reach on himself, he nods over to Ratchet. "Sure thing doc." he moves over to Omega drone and activates it then steps back over to where Hyperblast is with the neutralizer. "Okay spray down my internals Hyperblast." he smiles to the mech, "All things in their own time, you heard the doc, neutralizers first, then a wash down, after that you can get your hands on the recordings." The scans show a spike in neural activity, as Hammerstrike finally stirs. There is a pause, and then another spike, and finally a distorted voice finally says "Red....roll... I...." before trailing off again. Hyperblast looks at the drone puttering off and, very briefly, wonders about his own skill set. But his determination quells that quickly enough, with little more than a silence and slight flinch of the wings easily overlooked. "I had no meaning to buzz off and entertain myself with letters right away, Shark. No rush." He stands from a slight crouch he'd entered to get under one of Magnus' side panels, glances over Shark's frame rather curiously (or perturbedly, hard to say with the mask) for a moment, then sets to neutralizin'. The strained voice freezes him a moment to turn and glance at the injured mech, then he resumes. Ratchet nods his thanks to Shark, "Drone Omega assist me please." he orders, stepping off to the side slightly to allow it room. With three pairs of hands the work goes quicker. He can start removing and putting in another handful of parts into the unconscious mech. Beta drone switches out the energon containers smoothly and adjusts the drip speed. Omega and Alpha are doing just the line and wiring now. The medic makes sure the mechs pain receptors are off as he stirs. "Lie still please." Shark idly wonders if Ultra Magnus decided to take a nap as he's been very quiet since he backed up to the ER. "Good point." he agrees with Hyperblast. Though he notes the glance of his framework, "What?" he asks. Being a triple changer, you would definitely notice the underlying framework to allow for a third transformation. The mech is silent again for a moment. He seems to take the instructions well, and remains very still. After another long pause the vocoder starts up again. "I can... can not feel... are you... what..." a few disoriented words are produced. The stillness ends there, though, as whatever portions that are still connected tense up for a moment before releasing again. "Where am I?" Ratchet has the next handful of parts in place by now, the drones busily hook in new wiring and lines to them. Leaving the medic free to start on smaller parts like control boards for weapons, sensory boards, transformation cog, cooling system board, energon conversion network... and so on. "You are in Iacon getting repaired. Please lie still." Hyperblast hadn't put much thought to Magnus' silence. He'd be tired after towing that much weight too. Air resistance or not. He shakes his head, an oddly energetic motion for him, considering the small range of motion. "Nothing. Here." He couldn't decide whether to be scholarly interested or quiet for his own good. But his vocalizer makes the decision for him as he finishes coating the frame and passes the can to Shark. "Sorry, sir. You have a lot of ... er. Frame. Goes with the water territory, yes?" His attention is again distracted. Shark nods a bit to Hyperblast as he takes the spray can from him, "Off with that armor there Hyperblast, gotta get those internals done on you." he states. A little chuckle, "Yeah, I guess you could say that it goes with being a triple changer." "Iacon? Praise Primus!" the mech says with absolute relief. After a short pause he then says "Sorry... I shall be still." The mech obediently remains very still, reveling at the small miracle that he is alive and safe. He remains patient, letting the medic and drones work on him. Ratchet smiles a bit to that, "Yes, Iacon." he replies patiently. "It's quite all right." he assures the mech as he works on parts replacements, the drones still hard at work with lines and wiring. Hammerstrike will probably notice the new hardware being accessed by his neural net. Ultra Magnus returns after he'd been rinsed off and disappeared "Sorry. I took care of the paperwork. How is the patient? " he asked quickly. Hyperblast grunts a muted unease about the entire situation, but ponders it. "May as well get this over with." The wing-casings of his turbines completely separate from the turbofans themselves, followed by the rest of the bulky plates in the same top-down fashion. His height is revealed as the result of atypical wiriness more than any particular bulk on his design's part. And he doesn't appear to have any intention of removing his veil. "Well, at least he's on our side," he says. "Magnus? He's online. Maybe someone should get his name?" The last sentence is mumbled like he's afraid he's missed something. Shark smiles a bit to the mech chatting up the doc, waiting on Hyperblast to strip down so he can get his internals neutralized. "Oh there you are sir, was wondering if you were all right." he grins a bit, "Seems to be talking now, sir." Once Hyperblast has his stuff off he proceeds to spray away. As his new hardware is wired in, it is difficult for him to continue to be still. However, he patiently waits for the medic to tell him when it is okay to move again. However, thus far it would seem he has not been barred from speaking, and so he continues to at least do that. "I am sorry to have put you through this trouble of recovering and repairing me." Hearing other voices, Hammerstrike fights his impulse to try and turn to glance around. "I acted foolishly, and this has been my punishment." "There is no trouble at all. You are an ally, and the Autobots are friends to any who need it. " replies Ultra Magnus, rather parroting words spoken to him as he wave a hand "You've leaned for next time. Just be more careful." Ratchet is still hard at work replacing the boards and such, the drones following behind with wiring and lines. Now for the touchy bits..neural net and laser core, he dreads what he may find there. Hyperblast turns in place. "Rusting half to death isn't an equitable punishment for anything," he says, in a deeper, more serious tone. "Who are you? What can you tell us?" He eyes Shark, now free to move his neck, even if the scales of his veil complain about it. Shark makes sure to get Hyperblast's wing internals as he gets the mech's back and the back of his arms and legs. "Glad Jade isn't in here, think she'd faint with all us mechs all stripped down." he muses in a humored tone, a playful smile upon his lips. "Nearly done Hyperblast, there's more of you to cover than me." Hammerstrike seems to be functioning, at least mentally, quite well for someone in his circumstances. he is quiet for a spell after hearing Magnus' reassurances. He then hears the other voices. He had pushed them to the background, but as his mind becomes more and more clear, more stimulus are allowing themselves to process. His optics flicker online, glowing blue. "It is a kindness to say such words. As for who I am, I am Hammerstrike, a trainee from Iahex. I must have been corroded beyond recognition." Of course, Hammerstrike does not find any of the voices familiar, and thus whether he were recognizable or not becomes a moot point. Ratchet removes a neural chip at a time, examining each one for any bad acid wear. If they are okay he can leave them until he patient is stable. New neural chips can wait in that case. "Can you access your diagnostics for me and let me know if I missed anything?" Hyperblast chortles. "Oh, so /that's/ why? A medic is not much good if they're so easily bothered...?" He'd hardly noticed the stinging in his turbines until it was gone, and kneels slightly so the work can be finished. "How'd you get stranded down there?" Ultra Magnus nods at that "Hammerstrike. The name rings a faint bell. And you WERE terribly corroded. When you are up and running I'll want a full report on what happened." Shark finishes and sets the can off to the side, "Okay we should get our armor back on and head off to the showers to get the activator off and clean out any acid that may have been missed." he states to Hyperblast. Already working to pick up his armor and putting it back into place. Hot Rod walks on by through the halls and hears voices coming from in here. He sticks his head in to have a peek. But then he sees Ultra Magnus and continues walking pretending like he didn't see anything or hopefully they didn't see him. But then he lets out a sigh and returns to the repair bay and walks in with a wave of his hand, "Hey guys.. what’s going on?" he looks at everyone then to Ultra Magnus, "Oh hello sir, have you met our newest recruit.. Arcee yet?" he snaps a finger, "I'm not sure where she is at the moment but I'm sure I can arrange a meeting." but then he points his finger at the gigantic mech, 'But don't you get any ideas.. she's my girlfriend." Ratchet finishes checking the net chips and now is giving the laser core and the spark within a thorough looking over. The drones are finishing up placing in the wiring and lines that needed replacing. All that remains now is tending to the rusty joints, doing something about the armor.. yeah that'd about do it for repairs then. Hyperblast seems like he has some kind of magnetization system installed in his armor, given the speed he reinstalls it with. Just in time, too, he gives Hot Rod a very unnerved look, stepping into the background as he ... uh ... speaks. His optics dart from side to side, then toward Shark. "Yeah, I'll be heading that way, I think." He gives his turbines one quick spin to make sure there's no issue, then plods out of the scene. Hammerstrike is quiet for a moment, assessing the questions coming at him from all directions. He decides first and foremost to tackle the task of running diagnostics. It takes a moment before his optics gleam. "Everything seems to be running correctly. You are very thorough, and I am grateful for it," he says to Ratchet. He then pauses. There was the matter of explaining what had brought him to such a sorry state, and there is an audible sighing noise followed by a silence, permeated with his discomfort. "I was searching for a close friend of mine, and was led to believe that he was last seen near there. I allowed concern to override any rationality and was soon lost and then immobilized. I did not reckon that the fumes would work so fast." Shark eyes Hot Rod, "Would you drop the jealous boyfriend routine already, it's getting old." he snorts, snapping another portion of his armor into place. Hot Rod blinks and looks around for whoever is talking to him, "What? Hey, you mind your own business!! Can I help it if everyone wants to hook up with my femme?!" then he looks over to Hyperblast, "What the slag happened to you?" Ratchet smiles to Hammerstrike, "Thank you for saying so." Each joint getting a healthy dose of derusting agent to help free them up. He manually manipulates each joint to help the agent to penetrate deeper. Shark gets the last bit of armor on, "Oh right, like I want to be brigged for trying to hook up with your lady? Please Hot Rod, I know better than that.. in fact everyone in this room knows better. Now if you'll excuse me I've a shower to take." Ultra Magnus glances to Hot Rod "... No I haven't seen the new recruit, but her name is familiar to me. Arcee, formerly neutral survivor, quite capable and likely to go forwards in ranks quite quickly." he states simply. Then he looks at Shark and Hot Rod "You two both stop it. Nobody will be brigged for stealing anyone's 'lady'. She is her own femme, and is owned by nobody, understood, Hot Rod?" Hammerstrike allows a bit of a hiss and then a sigh to escape as his joints are removed of rust. "You are welcome." He listens to the chatter going on in the background, a little perplexed at the tone of it. However, he reserves comments to himself, as it is scarcely his own business. His mind is wandering to more pertinent and distressing thoughts, bringing up silent dread at the likelihood that his friend is no more. However, he sees no call to audible lament on that prospect, or even to worry out loud. Ratchet nods, working from joint to joint, working them until they move smoothly. "I'll grease up your joints once the deruster does it's work, then all I have to do is put on your armor and you are pretty much good to go Hammerstrike." Shark nods to Ultra Magnus, "Yes sir." then heads out the door to tend to that shower! Arcee is in the repair bay for some reason. Maybe because Hot Rod's here? Hammerstrike relaxes as the joints become more and more articulate. However, they still grin a little bit, or whine a little there. Hammerstrike is very quiet for a moment later, before saying in a quiet, low voice. "It will be a relief to be mobile again. I do not know how long I was stranded." Ratchet hmms, "It was long enough to put you in the condition you were in Hammerstrike." the medic intones, finishing manipulating each joint so the deruster fully penetrates them. He moves to put the armor back into place on the mech's frame now. Ultra Magnus glances to Hot Rod "... No I haven't seen the new recruit, but her name is familiar to me. Arcee, formerly neutral survivor, quite capable and likely to go forwards in ranks quite quickly." he states simply. Then he looks at Shark and Hot Rod "You two both stop it. Nobody will be brigged for stealing anyone's 'lady'. She is her own femme, and is owned by nobody, understood, Hot Rod?" Hot Rod looks at Ultra Magnus, "What..? Yeah that’s her!" he pauses then, "Hey.. now wait a minute, she IS my girlfriend!" he blinks and makes a sour face, "I forgot why I came in here.. oh yeah, I was supposed to meet Arcee.. oh man.. I'm so late!!" and with that he dashes out the door and transforms to get to wherever he's going to faster. Ratchet shakes his head a bit at the display, "Someone needs to talk to that mech about how a mech of his rank should be acting." he murmurs, snapping Hammerstrike's armor into place and tack welding it in place as necessary. Ultra Magnus nods "Yes, before he loses the rank." he notes, and then glances "Ah, speak of the femme, she's right here.' he notes with a smile to Arcee "He is not bothering you too much, is he?" Arcee blushes. "No, he's not," she says to Ultra Magnus, "Poor thing, I think he's left his processor somewhere else. I think I'll let him go find it." "Quite possible." remarks Ultra Magnus, looking to the patient and Ratchet again, and then back "He just seems overly protective of a young femme who survived on her own for a long time. Some ladies would find it offensive that he simplifies them." Hammerstrike continues to keep comments to himself about the other mech he was hearing in the background. Instead he continues to remain patiently still, although eager to be moving again as the completion of his repairs are nigh. Once his armor is welded on makes a content sound, but waits for Ratchet to actually tell him it is all finished before he dares to move. Ratchet mms hmms, "My thoughts exactly." working busily away on Hammerstrike until all his armor is back into place. He picks up the grease gun and applies liberal amounts to each of the mechs joints. "Move your joints to work that in please." Hammerstrike decides his first movement will be a nod. He then systematically begins to move all of his joints in a top-down method. Once he is done flexing what vaguely constitute as an ankle, he frowns a little. "I do not suppose anyone has heard nor seen of a mech named Redroll." Arcee chuckles. "I think it's cute, how he acts," she says, "He doesn't mean any harm." She goes over to a cabinet to pick up some polish. Ratchet watches Hammerstrike rotate each joint, nodding a bit to himself, then moves around to turn his pain receptors back on. "I've not heard of him. Sit up and do a full rotation of your arms, then slowly get off the table and take a few steps for me." "Very well. So long as you are okay with that. He abuses his rank sometimes." notes Ultra Magnus. "We'll be assigning you to a unit soon as well don’t worry." Shark pokes his head back in after taking his shower. "Ah I see he's done. Man doc you are quick." he notes, "Hey Arcee, I just saw Hot Rod running to go find you. You got to talk to him about the whole jealous boyfriend stuff, it’s really annoying. I mean who's even tried?" "I know that Whirl would try if he knew, just to bother Hot Rod." notes Ultra Magnus Hammerstrike inclines his head. Then he is still a moment as the full experience of sensation comes back to him. After a moment he nods again and sits up. As instructed he rotates his arm. There is a faint grimace as he does so and a click-click pop can be heard. However, the second rotation is more silent. He glances around at all in the med bay before getting to his feet and taking a few careful steps, his arms out just in case his balance should fail, or his legs do not hold true. He hobbles and teeters a little, but manages to take a few steps. Ultra Magnus reaches out to offer Hammerstrike a hand if he needed it, showing a kinder side as he watched the mech take a few steps. Ratchet observes each movement, smiling to see his patient all patched up and about ready to go. "We'll have to repaint your armor, Hammerstrike, otherwise you are going to be on restricted duty a few cycles." "Oh, I'll talk to him about it later. Why, what's he been doing?" Arcee asks. Shark watches the mech take his steps and then looks back to Arcee, "Oh just accusing everyone of wanting to hook up with you." Ultra Magnus responds "He threatens every mech he comes to not 'steal' you, as though you were some objectified prize." "Well, I guess he feels a bit insecure," Arcee says, "It's not like there's any lack of other options, but I guess he's afraid everybody will find me as desirable as he does." Ratchet chuckles a bit to that, "No offense Arcee but he needs to grow up." Hammerstrike glances over to Ultra Magnus, then his optics trail down to the eager arms to help him balance and assist. He is silent for a moment before he draws his optics up again to give a level gaze to him. He nods his head with a soft 'thank you.' He rolls his massive shoulders one more time, and looks down at himself. "Yes... I would barely recognize myself this way," he says, not seeing the usual emboldening vermilion paint shining up at him. He then look up. "Restrictive duty is to be expected, sir. And..." he turns to look towards Ultra Magnus again. "Once I have collected my thoughts I shall have that report ready for you." Ultra Magnus nods at Hammerstrike "Excellent. Rest up, I look forwards to it." he states, and then smiles at Ratchet, agreeing. Shark crosses his arms over his chest, "You said it doc. I wouldn't go after Arcee cuz of him alone. Don't need that sort of neural ache thanks." Ratchet nods to Hammerstrike, "I'll check for the paint in the store room, just need to know what colors you want." he states. Hammerstrike gives another incline of his head to Ultra Magnus and follows it with a 'Sir'. He then sweeps his gaze to the others in the room, now that he has full mobility of his neck and function of his optics. His blue optics rest upon Arcee for a moment, and he offers her a polite nod before he then peers at Shark. He also gives a gesture of acknowledgement before he returns his attention to Ratchet. "Vermilion and White are my colors." Ratchet nods to Hammerstrike, "I'll get those out and we'll get you painted up in no time." then heads off to the store room to find the colors and spray gun to do the work, plus the heaters to help the paint to dry. Lifeline stalks into repair depot at a FAST walk, two security guards trying to keep up with her (and only kind of succeeding). She was notified that the Autobots were in dire need of repair assistance immediately, so she made the trip from Cubicron as fast as she could. But, as she looks around, it's clear that she arrived just a bit too late. Figures. Shark nods to Hammerstrike then glances over as Lifeline arrives. "Oh I guess you got my radio call after all doc. Sorry about not updating you." he offers with an apologetic tone. Focusing on Lifeline, Ultra Magnus nods politely. He blinks at Shark, and then looks back "We'll compensate for your trip of course. Shark, ensure it is done so yes?" Ultra Magnus says, "Never mind, I'll do it myself actually." Arcee finishes polishing herself and looks at the time. "I guess I should go find Hot Rod now," she says, "Or help him find his processor." She grins and waves to all. "See you later." Shark nods, "Later Arcee." Ratchet returns with the paint, spray gun, and heaters. "Okay Hammerstrike step over here in the paint booth. What parts of you were vermillion?" he asks. Lifeline looks at each Autobot briefly, her attention staying on Shark a bit longer. She doesn't seem angry at any individual in particular, just perhaps a bit irritated at the situation in general. She returns Ultra Magnus's polite nod and steps over toward Ratchet to offer a bit of assistance. Ratchet nods over to Lifeline, "Good cycle Lifeline." he offers to the other medic, priming the spray gun with the vermillion paint. "Just in time for the paint job. Would you like the honors?" he asks. You say, "Since your here Lifeline, am I cleared from medical status?" Hammerstrike had silently followed Ratchet as he went to where the paint was stored and retrieved it. He had gone silent, and his mind raced to s distant place. He doesn't hear Ratchet when he first asked about where to paint. However, eventually his processor apprised him of what was being asked and there was a subtle jerk of his head as he came to attention. He began to explain what colors went where when he realized another femme had entered. He regards her with a curt nod of his head and then finally answers Ratchet's question. Lifeline shakes her head no to Ratchet. "I think it's better if I just help." She won't admit it, but she has little to no reason to practice the cosmetic side of repairs -- no one in Cubicron could afford it even if they felt like bothering. Then she looks at Shark with a 'you've GOT to be kidding' expression. "Of course. Days ago." Ratchet nods to Lifeline and listens to what Hammerstrike has to say about what parts need to be painted vermillion but gets no reply, "Hammerstrike? What parts are being painted this color?" finally getting a reply and proceeding to lay down the first coat. Shark grins. "Great. Thanks. I'll get out of the way. Later!" he waves and departs. Lifeline waves after Shark then turns back to help Ratchet with the paint job on Hammerstrike. Hammerstrike says not a word to either Lifeline nor Ratchet while he is painted, although he does take the opportunity to study Lifeline. He does note the lack of an Autobot symbol, but this does not cause him distress. She appears to be trusted by the others, and thus he is inclined to also trust her. Ratchet gets the vermillion painted on Hammerstrike and moves the heat lamps over to get his paint dry quicker. This gives him time to clean out the vermillion from the sprayer. Lifeline studies the vermillion mech in return. It seems the thing to do. She helps Ratchet clean the paint sprayer, bringing over a clean sprayer instead of bothering to take the time to clean the current one out. She can clean it while Ratchet keeps with the Van Gogh impersonation. Ratchet smiles to Lifeline, "Ah you found it, I was looking for that." he notes with a chuckle, priming the new spray gun with the white. The heaters are pushed out of the way so the white can get sprayed on. Once done the heaters are pushed back in. "That will do it, paint just needs to fully dry and you can get a recharge cycle in Hammerstrike." Hammerstrike :inclines his head cautiously, as if a suddenly movement might cause the paint somehow to drip or smear despite it being of the sprayed variety, and crying quickly under the heat lamps. "I thank you," he intones. This isn't an attempt to be rude or sound insincere, but the mech, nearing the end of his repairs, had mentally exhausted himself. Shark nods, "You are very welcome." he does a touch test and hmms, "Looks like its dry. Got to love this new quick drying paint." he muses, "Go get that recharge Hammerstrike, I'm sure you'll need it." he glances to Lifeline, "Thanks for the assist." Ratchet nods, "You are very welcome." he does a touch test and hmms, "Looks like its dry. Got to love this new quick drying paint." he muses, "Go get that recharge Hammerstrike, I'm sure you'll need it." he glances to Lifeline, "Thanks for the assist." Lifeline works on cleaning the paint sprayer. "I noticed them the other day when I was here," she explains to Ratchet. "And you're welcome."
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