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| - 7/10/2011 08:19 PM Image:Doac jpg.JPG Robustus is on duty in the repair bay this solar cycle. Currently he's going over the inventory in the storage room, so he's not really visible. But you can hear him singing. Yes, that's right. Singing. Nova Black trudges into the repair bay slowly, Skywarp leaning heavily on her. "Come on, you big oaf," she mutters, half-dragging him in with her. As he resists, she grabs at a wing and pulls painfully. "Come *on.* You can't fight or do anything at all if you don't get repaired." Her wings twitch, and the ghost of a smile plays over her scarred black faceplates. Skywarp whines. "It doesn't /hurt/, Nova, I'm sure it's fine. It'll probably start working again any breem now." Ker-clank. He can so walk without help, it's just... really awkward, with one leg locked into place with his knee bent. Robustus hears the med bay doors open and he puts down his data pad to see who just came in, his singing switching over to his usual friendly tenor intonation, "Let me be the judge of that." Nova Black flicks her wings in irritation. "If it doesn't hurt, that's either because you're the worst damn liar in the Decepticon army or because I sliced clean through a major sensor." She pushes him toward a berth, less roughly than she usually would. "Up." Shadow enters from Science Facilities. Skywarp trips, catches himself on the berth, and turns around to glare at Nova. "Do you hear me screaming about it? It /doesn't hurt/." He crosses his arms. Nova Black says, "Heard you the first time." She glares at Skywarp and then turns away, muttering "Maybe I shoulda poked a hole in your *vocalizer* instead."" Robustus glances at the trail of energon on the mech's leg and follows it up, there's a brief sympathetic facial flinch that's quickly replaced by the more professional expression. "I do hope this occurred during sparring for practice and wasn't another fight." he intones. Moving to the side to clean up his hands and forearms before he gets to work. "If it doesn't hurt, then no pain receptor alteration is necessary." the medic points out. He moves over to the mechs side and examines the wound. "Enough you two." he warns softly. Skywarp nods. "Yeah, we were sparring. It was awesome. Nova's pretty good. I would have won if TC hadn't distracted me, though. Doesn't hurt though. My leg just won't move." Nova Black flinches. "No, it wasn't a fight. I don't actually fight with other 'Cons unless they start something. This was just sparring. Tried to warn him he'd get it if he didn't back off, but he's a little... well." Her wings flutter again, this time in obvious amusement. Robustus removes the side piece of armor to access the leak. "Annoyingly persistent?" he asks Nova in a neutral tone. "Mmm have had my fill of those in this med bay." The medic finds the line that is severed cleanly and puts clamps on it to stem the flow. Then he cleans the spilled energon out of the area. Shadow pads slips into the repair facility, and leaps onto a vacant examination table near Robustus (making a soft 'klink' sound), then sits quietly and patiently. Nova Black smirks. "You could say that, doc." Skywarp crosses his arms and looks defiantly sulky. Robustus glances over at the silent entry of Shadow. Offering a slight smile and nod in her direction, then stepping back from Skywarp he looks toward Nova, "My suggestion, do not fall in love for annoying mechs. They present nothing more than spark ache." said in a very serious tone. He moves over to the side to feed out some new hydraulic line from a spool. "So what brings you by Shadow?" he inquires. Nova Black's optics widen, and the gears in her jaw creak as it opens wider than it's meant to. "Fall -- fall in --!" Her engines roar. Skywarp rolls his optics. "Who's talking about love?" Warp's just in it for the 'facing.... Starscream heard that Skywarp got damaged and is on his way to the repair bay. It was probably his mouth that got him damaged and with that, Starscream idly wonders if it was his mouth that got damaged. He comes in and looks around for Skywarp. When he sees the energon on the floor and the medic over by Warp a brief look of concern dances across his face. But it’s gone before anyone could have pinpointed it down perhaps. "What happened, Skywarp" Nova Black says, "Who's talking about any damn thing at all!" She takes a step backward, her wings flaring aggressively." "TC distracted me while Nova and me were sparring." Skywarp says. "Doesn't hurt, though." He says, for the umpteenth time. He snickers at Nova as she gets all fluttery and upset. The tiny mecha-fox inclines her muzzle to look up toward Robustus. "I request inspection for signs of the rust infection, particularly in my paw joints," she intones. "I was unable to return sooner without revealing my presence to enemy intelligence." Robustus vents softly as they both over react to his warning. "Just keep it civil between you two. I've already seen what happens when annoying mechs get under a femme's armor in more ways than one. I don't wish to see it again." he steps toward Skywarp with the new hydraulic line. "Now be still so I can put this in without any issues." He pauses a moment, and says to Shadow, "I'll be with you soon. Just remain where you are Shadow." Thundercracker enters from Science Facilities. Starscream hears the word 'rust' and gives the small mecha-fox a wide berth as he listens to Skywarp, "Thundercracker distracted you? Why are you trying to blame this on Thundercracker?" Skywarp waves to TC, almost elbowing Robustus in the faceplates in the process. "Hi TC. I just told Starscream about how you distracted me." He looks at Starscream. "Cause I would have won the match if he hadn't." Nova Black snorts. "You're the ones gettin' under my armor." She looks over at the newcomer, winces at the word "rust," and moves further away from Shadow. Robustus hisses at Skywarp, "I said /stay still/." That tone was certainly a warning on its own, moving to tweak the mech's exposed wires just to show who's in control here. "Do NOT make sedate you." Shadow quietly watches the Seekers as they converse and Robustus works, paying no heed to those distancing themselves from her. Starscream hears someone walk in and Skywarp greet the other Seeker and he spins to looks at Thundercracker. "Tell me what happened?" he knows if he keeps trying to get the info from Warp he will be there for a few cycles. Skywarp glowers at Robustus. "I /am/ being still, what more do you want?" Still-ish, anyway. He flicks his wings in irritation. Robustus retreats from the exposed wiring to focus on the hydraulic line, splicing it to size then attaching the ends to the original line. It's a relatively quick and simple repair. He places the armor piece back on Skywarp. "Be glad I'm much more patient than Shred." he tells the seeker then walks to check Shadow out, "So let's see the suspicious patch." "My paw joints have felt stiffer than they should, as if there's some friction within them," Shadow says, raising a paw for inspection. "However, I haven't seen any discoloration or flaking indicative of rust. Nevertheless, I thought it warranted further analysis." Nova Black looks over at Starscream. "Sir. 'Warp and I were sparring. He had me pinned, and he'd seen my daggers. I'd tried to hint he might end up feelin' 'em if he didn't let up, but... apparently he doesn't take hints." She chuckles. "I got him in the side when he'd turned to talk to Thundercracker." Her mouth plates twist into a frown. "Didn't quite think I'd got him that bad..." Thundercracker arrived a few minutes ago, but is hovering by the door. He's wary of Robustus -- hello, MEDIC -- and Nova Black is over there too. She's proven she'll stab people with little provocation, and he's still annoyed enough to give her a reason. He's hoping he's still going unnoticed. Skywarp hops off the table as his leg unlocks, shaking his foot. "Slag that was weird. I want a rematch, Nova. And I wasn't 'not letting you up', I was waiting for you to yield." Robustus snaps down his magnifier lens into place over his optics to take a good close look at the joints, humming softly. "Have you been maintaining them with any lubricant?" he inquires of the canid, withdrawing some small tools from his forearm to open the armor around the joints to get a look inside them for issues. "Any pain in your joints as of late?" Nova Black's optics widen. "You want a rematch after I ruined your slagging leg?" Her engines rev. "You're crazier than I thought." She smirks. "And if you think I'm gonna yield just because you're sitting on my wings, you're even crazier than that." Starscream notices TCs off in his own world and looks back at Nova as she explains what happened. "Well finally someone answered me." he huffs and then looks at Skywarp, "You will do no such thing until the repairs settle in on that leg. That is an order." Skywarp rolls his optics. "It's fiiiiiiine, Starscream." The whine is... not quite earsplitting, but almost worthy of Starscream-levels of grating. He grins at Nova. "You just don't think you can beat me twice. And it's all good now, see?" He hops up and down on the previously not-working leg. "All fixed." Robustus doesn't see Thundercracker right away since he's focusing upon Shadow. He prods within the joint with the tool in his fingers, gentle moving it around to check it for defects. He also checks the joints in the toes as well and doesn't like what he is seeing. "Skywarp, no messing around for a full solar cycle. That is your doctor’s orders." the medic intones in that 'don't pull a fast one or else' tone. Nova Black snickers. "Looks like I won't be beating you up again for at least a day. But if you really want another lesson, there is always the other side." She scowls. "Long as the rest of these clowns don't get the wrong idea about me takin' you apart, anyway." "I made one attempt to lubricate them five cycles ago, to no avail. After walking for a long period of time, the joints become warm, then later they become stiff, but without any pain. It's almost as if part of the joint is bending when it becomes too warm and then impedes movement until it cools down, but I'm no machinist," Shadow clarifies. "Of course, I have been walking and running more since my change of function," Shadow adds. "This problem might have been present but gone unnoticed before." Robustus states to Shadow calmly, "I will have to replace the joints completely at the very least. They look a bit too worn to be of much use to you. The warmth certainly contributed to the wearing down. It's an easy enough fix." Luckily for her the medic had stuff on stock for her build and taken the liberty of shrinking it down after her size alteration. "Any other issues I should be aware of before I begin?" he asks. Skywarp glares at Nova with a smirk. "You're so sure you can beat me twice?" Starscream watches Skywarp and Nova verbally spar at this point but doesn’t interrupt. Nova Black twitches her wings. "Never learn, do you?" Shadow inspects the opened-up paw before her. "If you are replacing the joints, would it be simpler to rebuild my paws completely? And if so, would you be amenable to fashioning them somewhat larger? With the extra surface area, I could move more silently, without needing any further alterations." Skywarp smirks at Nova. Nova Black chuckles. Nova Black says, "Thought not. Well, whenever you're *feeling better*, you can let me know so I can sock you. Or stab you again, if it's the only thing that gets through your thick-bolted processor."" Robustus pauses a moment, giving the request careful thought. "I could do that. If anything it would give you more stability." he states, then glances at the group. He huffs out a harsh vent and moves toward the storage room to find replacement paws. He's back relatively quickly, "These should work." While waiting for Skywarp's retort, Nova Black glances over at the others, impressed. "Got some fancy parts in here, don't you Doc?" "I’ll be waiting for my rematch, Nova." Skywarp says. Shadow uses an intact forepaw to rotate one of the replacement paws on the table. "These appear to be much more robust than what I'm currently equipped with," she comments. Starscream continues to watch and listen but decides hes not getting in the middle of this one. But he can't help but snicker. Nova Black snorts. "Already told you, Skywarp. Just let me know when you're ready. Gotta make sure it isn't *too easy* to pound you into scrap, after all." With that, she turns away, watching Shadow's upgrade with interest. Robustus chuckles softly to that comment from Shadow, "Are you complaining?" he asks curiously as he pulls up a stool to sit on. He glances over at the seekers, "Honestly." he huffs, then refocuses on his patient. "So do they meet with your approval?" Robustus answers Nova belatedly, "I have it all Nova Black." "No, not at all. Rugged, robust designs are preferable. Please proceed," Shadow says, looking up at her medic. Nova Black twitches her wings and answers Robustus. "Yeah, looks like it." She whistles. "Heh. Where I come from, the frame I've got now is an upgrade." Robustus inclines his head, snapping the magnifier down into place and picking up the small tools he'll need. He proceeds to remove the left front paw first. I'll rub in some thicker lubricant into these for you that should hold up better than what you may have been using. I'd be happy to give you a container of it for your self-maintenance care." Soon the paw is removed and set aside, he places some lubricant into the exposed section of lower leg strut and rubs it into the hole that will hold the paw into place. The medic states, "I've done a full chassis upgrade to Shred. She's quite happy with it. Perhaps she'll spar with you in the future if you ask her Nova Black." The new paw is slipped into place, the locking bolt installed, wiring and various lines threaded through with extreme care. "One down. Try to see how it works if you would Shadow." Nova Black smirks. "Everyone wants me to beat 'em up. Never thought I'd be popular!" Shadow flexes the ankle joint and alternates splaying/scrunching the paw's digits, then extends and retracts the claws. "It seems weird for it to be suddenly larger, but it seems to function well, and I'm certain I'll be comfortable with it," she says before shifting to present the right paw to Robustus for replacement. Skywarp finishes flexing and stretching out his repaired leg. "I'm going to get a drink, if I can't spar and can't fly because of the slagging rain." He grumbles. Robustus laughs heartily at Nova's bravado. Then intones softly, "Ah but Nova Black my fellow medic is the ex-champion of the gladiatorial games. Retired from there to join the more humble ways of being a medic. She is a vicious fighter and one to be learning from in order to survive the war." He nods toward Shadow, having been watching the movements. "Excellent." he states, getting right to work and repeating the same procedure to it. Skywarp glances at his trine mates. "You guys comin' or not?" He sounds petulant. Nova Black's optics flare. "Ex-champion of the Games? Sounds impressive." Her engines rumble. "But hey, that's gotta be fun to fight against, too." Starscream finally decides to step in and get Warp away from the situation, "Come on let’s get out of there." he says and turns for the door. He nods at Thundercracker, "You too." and with that he heads out expecting his trine mates to follow him. Shadow has nothing to do but silently watch as her refitting progresses, occasionally turning and switching legs. Her optics dim. "Somehow, watching and listening to you work is soothing," she comments after a while. Nova Black chuckles, watching Skywarp leave with Starscream and Thundercracker. She'd been hoping to grab a drink herself after all this commotion, but it can wait. She can always just head back to the barracks and relax, or get some recharge. Robustus mm hmms to Nova Black, "Only one mech bested Shred in the Tron Games, and that was Nitrogear. But he won by benefit of Shred removing her head." Then he pauses and smiles to Shadow, "Ah shall I regail you with a song while I work Shadow?" he asks. Nova Black says, "Well, have to see what happens when we run across each other, then." She heads toward the door. "Thanks for the info."" You say, "Good cycle." Nova Black nods. "Good cycle, doc." she answers with a flick of her wings as she leaves. Nova Black straggle into the Science Facilities -- Polyhex City. Shadow inclines her head up to Robustus, curious. "I was referring to the sound of mechanical parts coming together and being delicately adjusted," she clarifies. "It is almost like white noise. Sounds indicative of maintenance, not loud enough to be distracting, not unpleasant, but familiar and comforting," she elaborates. Thundercracker frowns slightly, but follows the rest of his trine. Robustus ahs softly and continues his work as the seekers leave. "A good thing to enjoy then." he intones softly. He's on to the back paws now, removing each of them in turn. Shadow experimentally flexes the right forepaw, then slumps forward onto her belly. She twitches her audials, continuing to listen to Robustus work. "Will the forepaw digits extend into fingers when I transform, or will that require further customizing?", she thinks to ask. Robustus doesn't even pause at the question, another paw installed along with a good amount of lubrication into the joints. "That will take a small customization, which I can do once these are installed. Do you wish them to extend into fingers then?" he asks back. "Yes, in bipedal mode it would be a hindrance to have short, stubby fingers," Shadow says. "My feet, or rear paws, should be sufficient as-is." She's one of the really rare robots to have 'toes' in robot mode. No need for those to be any longer, especially with the new paws being larger than the old ones. Robustus slips the last paw into place, lubricating it up and leans back to find a few more tools he'll need out of his forearm. He sets them down on the table and takes a moment to wiggle his fingers. Holding the smaller tools are a bit taxing, but he tolerates it well. He inclines his head toward her, "All right then, so shall it be done." he notes, "I will need you to be still and extend each paw toe out as far as you can, hold it there while I remove the tip. Okay?" Shadow transforms to robot mode and sits down in front of Robustus, then extends her right hand toward him, with the 'thumb' digit splayed out. "I appreciate your working on me, as always," she says. "In truth, I find you one of the more pleasant mechs to have in my company." Robustus hrms softly and alters how he was going to approach this, he smiles slightly. "I suppose I am pleasant because I am not a Decepticon at spark like the rest here. I will always be a neutral, even if I am serving as a Decepticon medic." he intones, "I do hope that does not reflect poorly upon me as a mech." The tools are used on each digit, removing the tip of each finger. He scoots the stool over to another table to grab what he'll be needing for the next step. "You perform excellent service for us; your philosophies are your own. I am myself not so obsessed with war, or power, or honor, but seek only private recognition from those above me, that I may know that I am valued and am serving a meaningful purpose," Shadow confesses, after ascertaining that nobody else is within earshot. Robustus ignites a welder torch to life and adjusts the flame, his magnifiers adjusting for his work. He welds in some more metal around the open end of the tip to extend it, but it doesn't go fully around. He picks up one of them to see how it will fit. Then back to some more fine tuning of the metal. He remarks to your candor, "I am sure you will find you way in such a manner as to earn such things. Just be patient." Another check for fit, satisfied he works on installing a part that will allow for the extension of the digit. He switches over to new tools to put the newly adjusted tip back into place. "Okay, I would like you to focus on this digit alone. Access your transformation circuits and command the tip to retract down." "I'm nothing if not patient," Shadow says with a glint in her optics. She then looks down at her hand and concentrates on transforming the one digit, causing the forefinger to retract as expected. "May I attempt to extend the claw when the forefinger is retracted?" Robustus inclines his head, "Yes please. If I did it right, it should flip out without any issues. you can then command the finger to butt against it to keep the claw in place, or retract it slightly in order to allow for free movement of the claw." Shadow concentrates on the single digit once more, and flips the claw out, then practices the minute movement of the forefinger to buttress the claw and then return to its default position. "This is excellent." Robustus watches on intently to be sure there are not hitches to the movement. He smiles and nods, "Very good. I can repeat the process with the rest then." he notes, turning his gaze go the next digit. "You'll need to lubricate that area as well to keep the movement smooth." "I will do so," Shadow promises. "It would be convenient if you have a spare container for the lubricant that will fit in my forearm compartment, so I can perform maintenance while operating on an extended mission away from Polyhex." Robustus thinks a few moments on a possible container that would fit and hms, "I may have such a thing, I'll check storage once I have everything installed and you are happy with them." Second digit done, on to the third! Shadow extends/retracts the forefingers and claws on both of the completed digits a few times before isolating the third digit for Robustus. Robustus gets the third adjusted and installed into place, the repeated efforts going a bit quicker than the last. Soon he's moving on to the fourth one, and then the thumb to complete that hand. "One hand down." he notes with a little smile. Shadow proffers her other hand, while experimenting with the first. She extends/retracts everything fast enough for it to sound like a butterfly knife being twirled. Robustus takes a moment to rub at his own finger, then gets back to work. He does all the digits adjustments first, then the installation of the extensions, then one after the other getting the tips back into place. The mech is just good about his work, though he would be too modest to state such. "Now for the lubricant. Would you like to rub it into your joints?" he asks as he gets up and goes to find the stuff plus a container for Shadow to use. "Yes," Shadow says as she rapidly manipulates the just-finished hand, checking its smooth operation. "The new hardware is definitely a better fit for me. Thank you." Robustus returns with the lubricant and the container he had in mind, "Quite welcome. Glad to be of assistance." he intones, "Here you are, just work this into your joints once every seven full solar cycles and you shouldn't have any further wear issues. I hope this container will be small enough to fit." Shadow accepts the container and checks the fit in her forearm compartment. "It fits fine. With a thin piece of padding material, it shouldn't rattle around," she observes. She puts a dab of lubricant into each of her knuckle joints on one hand, and then repeats the process for the claw-extending servos. Robustus nods to that, "Good." he steps away to clean his hands and tools in some chemical solution. "Other than the wearing, any issues since that shrink ray adjustment?" "No, nothing beyond minor disorientation when I encounter something being twelve times larger than I remember it being for the first time. Shockwave is more intimidating to me now, I will admit." Robustus finishes cleaning up and rubs at his slightly stiff fingers, "It will pass, give it time. Now then Shadow, take care with those new paws and the adjustments. Your body will have to integrate with them for flawless use, which shouldn't take more than half a solar cycle. After that, you should be able to use them in either form without problems." "Thank you, Robustus," Shadow says while working some lubricant into her foot joints. "Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you." Robustus walks over to settle into a chair by the computer, "I'll keep that in mind Shadow." he cracks his knuckle and sighs in relief, that helped. Shadow finishes lubricating and stows the lube container. Once more she tries switching her forefingers with claws, and it happens as quickly as before, but inaudibly. "Perfect," she says before hopping down to the floor. On her way out she pauses briefly by Robustus, looking up towards him, before continuing on her way. Robustus offers a pleasant, "Good cycle." to you, then turns to do some work on the computer. Shadow says, "And to you."
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