| abstract
| - Goa wonders if he can hook into Polyhex' security system from here. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Snoop Software and succeeds by 18! The total roll was 18. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Intelligence Stat and succeeds by 6! The total roll was 5. Goa projects a tapping noise from his vocalizer. "Hey Slipster, do you think Starscream will mind if I set him to every guard shift on Trypticon?" Slipstream has just come into the Repair Bay when you ask that, "I think he's already out there every shift Goa." Goa says, "No, I mean exclusively. Like here I have him on the graveyard shift three times. Three Starscreams." Slipstream shakes her head a bit, "Then we would be down guards and that would displease Megatron." "Aww." There's some activity over the network link as he seems to move to another file. "Any news from the front, comrade?" Slipstream says, "Shred is over at Trypticon talking to Starscream and apparently fixing his thruster issue. She said some armor was ordered for the beast." "So not really. Got it." A long pause with intermittent link activity, then a somewhat hushed tone -- "Hey... down in front." Goa's optic peers over at the bay door. Slipstream nods, "Nothing else to report, it's been very quiet." then she moves to see what he's talking about. Megatron strides in through the door and rasps, "I understand there is an issue with Goa. It has piqued my interest." he moves over to Goa's chassis and examines the internals, "I want a full accounting of where this came from and how it came into being, anything pertinent. Do you understand Goa?" he looks toward the life pod now. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Intelligence Stat and fails by 7! The total roll was 18. Goa would lower an optic lid if he had one, so he just resorts to narrowing the aperture -- in fact, his tone seems downright irritated, though it bears a warble of fear. "So who told you?" Slipstream salutes Lord Megatron, watching on quietly. Megatron gets a ghost of a smile upon his lips, then rasps, "I make it my business to know what is going on with my troops, Goa. I saw the requisition for parts for you with the statement why they were needed. Now, answer me. Where did these crystals come from, how did they come into being?" "They may as well have come from the pit, 'cause that's where they're going." Goa's slightly more confident tone makes it unclear whether he's being sarcastic or if he has that little regard for his chassis. "They're the same slag Firestorm has." The data link picks back up as if he has no intention to elaborate further. Slipstream frowns at Goa's tone, shaking her head a little. Megatron takes two strides and leans over the life pod. "Goa, do not test my patience." he warns, laying a hand on the life pod. The arm attached to said hand has that cannon upon it, and it seems to be pointed straight toward Goa's neural net. "Explain to me the nature of these crystals and I may spare you further boredom sitting in there." "... of course, Lord Megatron." The voice is squawkier -- sounds like Goa's shaking in his proverbial boots again. His processor churns with activity, be it to locate data or pare down what he actually intends to say... "They are from an organic planet surveyed by a Decepticon ship, which I joined the crew of about 2500 vorns ago. There was a gravitational distortion -- be it from the energon or the binary star -- that grounded the ship. It is incompatible with transformers as fuel. I am not ... completely sure why I survived." Slipstream watches on nervously. Megatron's fingers tap against the life pod as he listens to Goa, then he rasps. "That is a good start, Goa. Do continue by telling me how it is you came to have these crystals within your chassis." Goa thinks a click further before continuing. "My memory has large corrupted bands. I think I installed them there as a last-resort power source." The glow of his spark practically shies away from the tapping. "It didn't work for the others." Slipstream looks a bit relieved as Goa begins to cooperate. Megatron's fingers continue to drum against the life pod as he gazes down at the neural net. "So you are saying the crystals affected your systems as well as those that were with you on the mission and somehow only you managed to figure out a way to survive to get off planet? This still does not tell me how the crystals got there to begin with Goa." "I told you. I think I put them there." Goa sounds a touch defeated. "... it didn't just not work. It killed them. Cracked their processors, then their frames." Now, defeated and panicked ... "Didn't affect me so much. I adjusted. I think it's the interior shielding I have, or something ... I used to be an energon tech..." Slipstream keeps out of sight and out of mind as she stands there quietly. Mostly in at ease position until she is excused. Megatron's fingers stop that tapping as he narrows his optics a smidge and rasps, "I see. Perhaps you were lucky, Goa. However, it does not answer my question about the crystals and you keep evading it like it is some sort of big secret." "... perhaps." Goa calms down just a twinge. "They're activated by other energy signatures. Seeking. Always radiate a little, though. Managed to encase them, make them dormant, but it took a hundred false starts. Power up the engine and," He makes a weird click-boom sound effect, "magnetized and zapping away." Slipstream has her optics locked on that hand on the pod. Megatron shifts his hand off the life pod slowly, his other hand rubbing at his chin. "Interesting." he pauses, optics looking down on the neural net with not a hint of expression upon his face. "And they were created by what? The energon your mission was to extract? Or was it some other factor the planet itself had that you were unaware of at the time?" Goa vocalizes an exhale of relief, but tenses right back up as the questioning resumes. "The energon /was/ the crystal. That must've been the reading that they went after, right, kaput, into the ground." Slipstream visibly relaxes a hint as that hand moves off the life pod. Megatron moves his hand off his chin, rasping, "That wasn't too hard now was it Goa?" he asks, just a hint of a smile creeping upon his lips. "I am satisfied with your explanation." he looks to Slipstream, "His parts have arrived and are awaiting pick up at the launch pad, go get them and return them here." Goa looks up to see if he should be unnerved or not. Megatron's expression is a resounding 'yes'. "... If you're okay, I'm okay, but I don't think this is the first time you've encountered it," he says with just the /slightest/ edge of suspicion. "I want to know more about Firestorm. Without spending solid cycles skulking through the databanks." Slipstream salutes, "Yes Lord Megatron." then runs out of here quickly to do just that! Megatron gets an unreadable expression as he looks at the crystals, really studying them carefully. "You have been in the data banks looking for an answer for Firestorm? Why?" +Roll: Goa rolls against his Intelligence Stat and succeeds by 6! The total roll was 5. "As I said, it's the same material. I need to know where it came from, how it got here, who betrayed it to the Autobots -- or whoever is responsible for her condition." The suspicion has melted into Goa's background pitch, but is now overwhelmed by an odd ring of ... righteousness. "How it got under my olfactory ridge." Slipstream has by now reached the launch pad since she ran the entire way and is looking for the box or boxes with the parts for Goa. Megatron turns from Goa's chassis to regard the neural net in the life pod. Then he moves over to the computer to look up the files that only he has access to so best be paying close attention there Goa. Goa watches the Emperor with his own vision and the high-resolution security cameras of the bay, careful eye both on him and what information he can see... invisibly, a little surprised by the positive response. Slipstream having found the box of Goa's parts is now on her back to medical bay. Megatron searches through the files, looking for the reports from 2500 vorns ago. Eventually up pops up a rescue ship file and report with attachments to other reports. A soft hmm as he looks through those as well. There seems to be a file about the recovery of the energon that caused the crystals, samples of the crystals themselves, reports on what was found in each and the implications of them. There's another file on preliminary experiments, nothing indicating them being on subjects of course. Goa reads along. "Firestorm implicated you in her rescue." A little glare from the aperture of his optic. "Who did you rescue her from, Megatron?" Slipstream walks into the repair bay with the box of parts, setting them on a med table. "The parts as requested, Lord Megatron." she says, giving a curious look to what he is looking through. What /has/ Goa been up to while she was away... Megatron pauses a moment, "Thank you Slipstream." he rasps. Then he turns from the terminal to focus his gaze upon the neural net within the life pod. "Ah yes, that was an interesting rescue to say the least. You are curiously involved in Firestorm's affairs Goa." Goa makes a little huff over the comm. "You could say that." His voice is surprisingly soft, free of the snark it usually carries -- but that returns posthaste. "Are you surprised? So who was it?" Slipstream inclines her head to her Lord and stays at ease nearby. Frowning a bit at Goa. Psykeout walks through the door, his optics flickering softly. Without a word, he goes to the corner and leans, still unaware of his leader's presence and simply wants to watch the affairs happening before him. Megatron intones, "If you were searching through the data banks as you willingly admitted to already Goa, I think you already know the answer to that." he looks straight at the aperture that helps the neural net see the room and its occupants. "But since you obviously will not give up until you press me into punishing you severely for your tone and persistence in poking your processor into my affairs...” he pauses a moment to acknowledge Psykeout, "... then I shall humor you with the answer. I rescued her from an underground Autobot facility that was experimenting on unwilling Cybertronians." +Roll: Goa rolls against his Courage Stat and succeeds by 5! The total roll was 7. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Intelligence Stat and fails by 5! The total roll was 16. "And the facility was destroyed, of course? Who ran it?" Goa continues, not noticeably fazed by the threat, indeed sounding only more desperate for knowledge -- returning the stare. "I extend my spark felt... thanks for acknowledging the request, Lord Megatron... but I have a duty to this. The Cybertronians responsible have to pay for what they've done." Slipstream glances over to the newcomer to the medical bay, studying him a few moments as Goa gets his answer that will hopefully be enough for the grounder. Psykeout waves a hand as he notices Slipstream looking at him, but continues to stay silent. Megatron's lips curl up into a smile, then he chuckles darkly, "Of course it was destroyed. Why would I allow that to continue Goa. They were taking away potential Decepticons with their experiment." a pause as he states, "Ah Goa, you are going to be disappointed then. Those that ran it were dealt with long ago. There is no one to seek vengeance upon." Slipstream nods to Psykeout as he waves toward her, but she remains respectfully silent as this all plays out. Megatron certainly seems to be humoring Goa. Psykeout laces his fingers together underneath his chin and watches with intent interest. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Snoop Software and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 28. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Snoop Software and succeeds by 19! The total roll was 17. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Snoop Software and succeeds by 6! The total roll was 30. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Intelligence Stat and fails by 5! The total roll was 16. "... except the Autobots themselves, you mean?" Goa's data uplink blitzes with activity for some time before he speaks -- the mech isn't particularly good at multitasking, it would seem, particularly not under the stress attempting to snap sensitive files out from under a superior's nose. Megatron chuckles to that reply, "Except the Autobots themselves, Goa." he agrees, then looking to Psykeout, "Welcome back, Psykeout, I trust that you can deal with the removal of energon crystals from Goa's chassis and replace them with the new parts that are here?" a knowing smile upon his lips. Psykeout arches an optic ridge, "It shouldn't be a problem at all, Lord Megatron." Slipstream hmms softly, but continues to stand there quietly, but having edged closer to the life pod. Psykeout arches an optic ridge, "It shouldn't be a problem at all, Lord Megatron." He takes a few steps towards Goa, still keeping an eye on the other Decepticons in the room. Not one to trust easily, he remembers the times that he has been turned upon in the past. Only Megatron holds his unyielding trust. He steps over to a table and begins to choose the tools necessary for the job. Goa sits silent, distracted, mulling over what he's learned, folding and refolding trying to see what does and doesn't add up. It takes him a few clicks to notice Psykeout at all, and he does a bit of a double take when he realizes what he's doing. Megatron inclines his head to the medic, "Excellent." then he peers toward Slipstream, "I trust that Shred is looking in on Trypticon with Starscream?" he inquires. Obviously it seems he has dismissed Goa as the neural net has fallen silent. Firestorm had previously set herself into recharge mode upon one of the medical tables at the far end of the repair room while a medic bot ran a routine checkup to make sure everything was on the up and up. Glowing wing lines soon began to pulse brighter from their dimmed state as she came out of stasis, those crimson optics fluttering their lenses to bring their hue back to full glow. The femme took a few moments to look around the room drowsily as annoying pangs of Goa's feelings buzzed in her head. Slipstream nods to Megatron, "Yes my Lord, they are there right now. All is progressing as well as can be expected and Shred stated that armor was being shipped in for the beast." Goa swings his vision around to locate Firestorm the instant she comes online ... which may look peculiar, as that is before she starts moving. "You alright, si... Storm?" Psykeout gathers the tools and walks over to the table where Goa lays. Without a word, takes the screws out that are holding the chest armor in place. A laser scalpel suddenly appears in his hand and hangs just above the opening... Megatron smiles, "Excellent. When you go on shift again make sure that..." he pauses as he peers at what Psykeout is doing, "You may want to read the findings on the crystal before you start cutting things out, Psykeout." Firestorm swung herself upright before moving to stand and make her way to the group. With a light smirk to Goa she'd reply, "Yeah. Just needed a checkup...you?" The femme eyed Psykeout warily as he hovered over Goa with surgical tools in hand, at least until Slipstream and Megatron finally caught her attention. She nodded to Slip, then straightened her posture and saluted their leader. "Good cycle, Lord Megatron." Slipstream nods to her Lord, "I was going to check over the trap placement that Goa began my Lord." she looks over at Firestorm as she seems to be stirring. "I'm doing... alright." Even a rudimentary link would prove this a blatant lie. Goa adds, "I'll be even better when I'm on my feet again." Megatron looks toward Firestorm and rasps, "Good cycle Firestorm." then he nods to Slipstream, "Excellent, make sure you make a report once it is completed Slipstream." then regarding Goa he states, "Once you are on your feet, Goa, you will report to me for that delayed training." Psykeout's optics flick between Goa and Megatron, with the scalpel hanging just above the crystallization. Arching an optic ridge, he looks towards one of the gumbies and motions for him to come over. Psykeout points towards the crystallized attachment on Goa's chest cavity and awaits the response. "It's combustible, sir." Psykeout nods and stands up straight, pondering the possibilities and then looks to Megatron, "Lord Megatron, I fear that this is going to take a bit longer than I originally expected. I don't want Goa to die by my hand, so I have to make sure nothing goes wrong." Goa blinks over in Psykeout's direction again, glowing with concern. "Well /that/ sounds safe," he says, rolling his single eye. "I could've told you that. You have to use an inert edge." He zooms in for a better look on the surgery itself. "... please tell me they're not directly powering the systems." Psykeout narrows his optics to mere slits, "You're quite right, Goa." He looks up to Megatron, "Lord Megatron. Permission to remove his head from his armor, in order to make sure that the crystallization doesn't cause him to have an...erm...untimely death." Firestorm was a little surprised she hadn't been assigned something specific yet by Megatron, though it wasn't like she was complaining. "Goa, if Lord Megatron put this mech in charge of fixing you, then I'm pretty sure you're in good servos. I wouldn't give someone sass when they're fiddling with your insides, if I were you." The femme smirked to the 'bed-ridden' Goa as Psykeout went over the damage. Slipstream salutes, "I will do so Lord Megatron." a curious glance given to Psykeout. Megatron intones to Psykeout, "That is why I said to read over the reports so you may remove them safely." then a nod, "Do what you feel is necessary and I wish a full report when you are done. The rest of you, shouldn't you be recharging or on guard duty?" he inquires, looking at Firestorm and Slipstream specifically. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Intelligence Stat and succeeds by 4! The total roll was 7. Goa looks between Psykeout and his own body. "... sorry, Firestorm. You and the Emperor both know I'm not really good at getting info across eloquently." He pauses looking at the medic, then says with just the merest hiccup of cynicism, "Do what you need to do... But isn't my neural net safe over here? I'm not sure I follow, sir." Psykeout's optics open wide, a smirk teasing on the corners of his lips, "Lord Megatron, I appreciate your concern for my safety. I do think that the removal of his head from the rest of his frame will be the best option, given the fact that there is the possibility that he could explode at any time. There are numerous, erm, expendable medics in the area that can perform tests," He pauses for a moment, tapping his chin, "Worst case scenario, we can just carry his head around in a box." Slipstream smiles, "I will retire to recharge soon my Lord." she assures him. Psykeout looks down to Goa and waves his hand, "You are injured, Goa. Your neural network isn't working correctly. Please be still and stop talking." Megatron inclines his head, "If you will all excuse me, I require a recharge myself." Firestorm nodded to Megatron, "Of course, my Lord. My guard duty should be scheduled soon." She gave another salute as he left to recharge, the femme sighing softly once he exited and leaned against a table to relax. "How long do you think it'll take to fix him, Doc?" Slipstream visibly relaxes not that Megatron is gone. "I swear Goa I thought he was going to smoke you with that cannon..." she mutters to the life pod, sounding a bit annoyed at him. Psykeout is just about to cut off Goa's head, when one of the other medics come over and whispers something in Psykeout's aural receiver. Psykeout's scalpel hangs just above the mech's neck, when he snaps his attention up to Goa, "Why didn't you tell me that your spark wasn't in your head, you miserable excuse for a machine? I ought to cut you up and feed you to the electrogators." Standing up straight, he hovers over the opening in Goa's chest cavity and if one listens closely enough, they could hear the words barely audible, "No guts...no glory..." The scalpel hanging just above the crystallized interior... +Roll: Psykeout rolls against his Repair Software and succeeds by 48! The total roll was 5. Slipstream smiles a bit at that comment from the medic. "Shred saw to that before she had to go back out to Trypticon. I would have told you, but Megatron had everyone's attention." Goa repetitively twinges a little in his camera focus with muted clicks, less frequently so once Psyke decides against cutting up his throat. "I figured it would be obvious when my voice was coming from somewhere else." He glances over at Slipstream's audible displeasure, but quickly returns to the medic. "And when I wasn't smirking. Electrogators? What's your name, sir?" Psykeout makes no comment towards Slipstream, but looks up to Goa, "Is your neural circuitry messed up as well, Goa? You know that I am well-versed in psychology and would be able to help you overcome whatever problems seem to be plaguing you. This constant attacking towards the comrades who have no other desire than to help you, is probably *not* the best thing for you to do." Without taking his optics off of Goa's own, he makes a quick slice with the scalpel and tosses the metal towards a mech standing in the corner. Seconds later, the mech blew up, but only a minor explosion that leaves a few scorch marks on the wall. Leaning into Goa, "Make another wise-aft remark and my precision won't be as good." Slipstream watches on, looking a bit surprised by the medic’s statement. Best watch herself around that one. Goa tracks that flying debris, aperture wincing slightly when it, well, explodes. He makes a backfiring, clearing noise with his vocalizer. "... certainly, sir. For the sake of the seekers present, I may take you up on that offer." The pod falls silent again, as Goa is distracted mulling again-- though he pauses a click to add, "May I ask the name of the medic responsible for my repairs?" Firestorm's optics widen a bit as she watched the medic slice out some of Goa and toss it at a medbot, making it explode. A hand moved to rub nervously at her spark chamber. With a soft huff she'd lean over to pat the stasis pod gently, a smile hiding her concern as she stated, "You just behave, alright? Don't need you blown to bits on purpose, mm? I'll be on guard duty if anyone needs me." She nodded to Psykeout and move out of the room, giving Slip a pat on the shoulder on her way out. Psykeout ignores Goa as he continues to work, keeping the length of the scalpel long enough to cut, but short enough to stay where he wants it. Much like a skilled surgeon, Psykeout continues to work on the chassis, cutting out the crystals and depositing them inside of a bucket being held by another one of the gumby medics. He continues to work, as the crystals seem to becoming more unstable. Without a moment's hesitation, Psykeout looks to the medic and points towards the door, "Get out. NOW." The medic scampers out the door and a few seconds later, there is a rather loud explosion. A few moments later, the medic returns and shrugs, "Trash took it." Psykeout crosses his arms over his chest and looks to Goa once again, "I think you are as good as I can get you...for now. I think that I have removed most of the crystallization. If there is any more growth or any other problems, feel free to let me know," He pauses for a moment longer and narrows his optics again, "My name...is Psykeout." Slipstream nods to Firestorm as she leaves and stands to watch over the proceedings. "You'll be the first," Goa says, punctuating in an all-too-nervous laugh. "Good to meet a medic that can get to it, Psykeout. Who wants to crack this pod and do the honors?" The installed neural net begins to power down for removal. Psykeout stands up straight and nods to Slipstream, "I believe you can handle it from here? There are other things that I must attend to. I heard a scream coming from my office on my way up here. It must be a...experiment gone wrong." Slipstream shakes her head, "I'm no medic." she replies. Psykeout looks Slipstream up and down, then chuckles softly. Not a normal chuckle as you would hear from anything on this planet. It's almost like a dying cat with its claws dug deep into a chalkboard, screaming for a quick death. He motions to Goa and shrugs, "The derogatory comments that were made were rather unnecessary. I think that some more time sitting inside of that pod will do him some good. Maybe he'll learn some humility. Either that, or when he goes to recharge, I'll just start experimenting on him," He looks over his shoulder towards Goa, "How'd you like that? Go to recharge and wake up with your arm where your head is. I think I could have fun doing something like that..." Without waiting for a response, he moves towards the door to leave. Slipstream watches the medic leave and says, "Well that was interesting." Goa chooses, in an uncanny stroke of wisdom, /not/ too loose the first reply he thinks of. The temptation fully leaves him only when Psykeout has sauntered out. He cancels his own shutdown, blinking back to attention. "It's not that hard, Slips. Just take the laser core, don't drop it, and lower it open-side-up into the chest until it catches and locks in." He confirms that his chassis is, indeed, in a condition that would permit a simple installation. "... I might have to spend time reading up like this more often. It's kind of scary, me learning things, I know." +Roll: Slipstream rolls against her Agility Stat and succeeds by 9! The total roll was 7. Slipstream considers the instructions, "Okay I'll try." she says, "But you still need to have new parts." "Legs I can't use are better than no legs. I can just sit offline if something's really broken. And then you'll be free of my radio chatter," Goa chuckles. Slipstream nods and moves to open the life pod, "Okay let's get this over with before I change my mind." Goa quickly powers down, silently hoping that his body -- and Slipstream's aptitude, for that matter -- was still functional. Short, energon-guzzling, and ground-bound as it may be, he was getting to sort of _miss_ the thing. Slipstream disconnects the neural net from the life pod, carefully extracting it and carrying it over to the open chest of Goa's chassis. She makes sure the open side is up and inserts it into the open cavity where it locks into place. Goa hears the dull buzz in his antennae first. Slag... he forgot how he'd tuned that out, and how nice it'd been to be away from it from a while. Ah, well. No tradeoff is perfect... His optics glowed back to life next, though it takes a couple more clicks for them to reset, auto-balance and gain any meaningful focus on whatever happened to be above. The rest of his systems click and whirr back online on their own time, motor functions apparently quite low in the priorities. "Chest hurts," Goa wheezes through half-shot vocals. One of his arms uncoordinatedly moves to close the armor over it back up. Slipstream is watching on closely as the optics come on she knows she put his net in there right. She moves to push a drone over to help with the pain issue. Goa turns his head aside, slowly, following no specific sound over the ringing in his audials, but rather where he knew Slipstream was before. "Thanks... Slippy," he slurs, as the drone gets to work deactivating the relevant receptors. "I mean it. Thank Firey too, for me, when you see 'er. For not getting me slagged." Slipstream smiles to Goa, "No problem, I have to look out for you." she says simply, "And I will when I go on guard duty."
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