Master Test



Horsepower's Machine Shop  Partially tucked away between two of the larger factories of Iacon is a smaller domed building where Horsepower has set up his workshop and garage. It doesn't matter if it's weapons, vehicle modes or Autobots themselves, this is the best place to find the outrigger when you need his mechanical services. The shop looks out of the way and hard to reach. Until one triggers the right node to make the nearby roadway extend a section of itself to transform into an off-ramp.

Contents: Horsepower

Elita One kneels over an array of custom equipment in Horsepower's Machine Shop. A great deal of it has been delicately pieced together, custom made, either by the automated drones in the area or by Elita-One's own hand. She rotates a small cylinder shaped loader inside the large rifle-sized weapon, causing sharp clicks of gears. With a frown, she runs a sensory unit over the piece again. A few moments later, she returns to the console at her side. A large digistruct ray from above scans the weapon, inputting it into the monitor.

Horsepower had taken some time to go down to Retoris and check on the civilians trying to put together some semblence of life and work there. Still had plans to get a proper machine shop set up for them, but things are slow with a lot of supplies going into helping the rebels in Crystal City as well. But that's where he's been, and where he's just coming back from as he trods into the shop. Smirks a bit at seeing the femme commander hard at work. "Keepin' busy, Ah see."

The near omnipresent scowl on her face during this endeavor disappears, as she raises a hand to Horsepower. "Indeed, Horsepower. I have to say this is a bit more difficult than I expected." She gestures to the screen, "I had no notes on Logic Corruption Launcher in the Forge, it must've been out of practical use before even that ancient workshop was deactivated." Elita-One puts a finger on her chin, "I think I have replicated most of it though, if you want to give it a look...Here let me recompile it for your viewing." Expecting Horsepower's answer to be 'of course', Elita lifts the great launcher in both arms, setting it on its sled. Truth is, she's had quite a relaxing and fun time working on these projects, so perhaps she was a bit eager to show off the design. Elita-One slides in the coiled chamber into position, spinning it into the catch, then works the loading slide, making a recognizable ka-chunk sound most Cybertronian weaponry lacked. She puts a hand on her hip, wipes her face free of oil and steps back. With a gesture, she leaves Horsepower to look it over without any looming.

Horsepower raises a brow slightly. "Yeah, it ain't a very common weapon, even when it was in use," replies the inventor in that neutral way instructors do when they're trying not to show either favor or disappointment. "Let's see what ya got." Inside though, he was rather curious to see how this turns out. It wasn't often that he actually tried to teach someone else, seeing as his own methods were somewhat.. non-standard. It was a necessary to be able to make do with what you have. But that's something the femmes were doing under Elita's command for centuries.

The question was, how well had she been able to apply that to this? He gives Elita room to finish, then steps over once she's done to look it over. He hums and hrms a bit to himself, saying nothing as he gives it a thorough examining.

Elita One waits patiently for a few minutes, her hands behind her back. She lets him do his cursory eval for several minutes before speaking up. Either Horsepower was done for the moment or she misjudges a slight shift in his posture to indicate as such. Most likely the latter, either way Elita approaches the console. "It was quite tricky to replicate really, corruption tech isn't used too much, and those that do use it are firstly Cons, and secondly wired specifically for it internally. Compensation and the like. My real issue was finding a way to keep the logic scramblers from sending the ramjets from going haywire..." She shrugs, "I couldn't figure out how it was done initially, so I just had the launcher beam the activation codes to the scrambler in flight. It's not elegant, but it'll do the job."

"And that's the important part." The reply is in the neutral tone again, for a moment making it difficult to gauge his reaction. Until a large hand reachs over to pat the femme on the shoulder as a smile breaks across his features. "Ah'll let ya in on a little secret, ma'am... Ah knew the full info on corruptors wouldn't be available, cuz Ah already looked it up fer one of my own projects. That's -exactly- why Ah gave ya that one to have your go at."

Elita One continues on for a few moments, "The application should work out well enough, microburst transmissions should even affect Shockwave, of cou..." She pauses at your admittance, then blinks once, a hint of surprise on her face. "Well that seems rather..." With a more judging look, she regards Horsepower, "You weren't setting me up, so that means...you had to work out this same sort of solution." She misses the point it seems, then gestures to the rail gun, "Anything like what you came up with? I'm no master at this, but it'll work in the field, and that's an advantage I need."

Horsepower laughs a bit as the point seems to go over the girl in the moment. "No, not settin' up. But Ah -was- testin' how good you were at makin' do... Yeah, havin' to do the same thin' myself helped. But that's also how Ah knew Ah ain't settin' ya up fer something impossible. An' actually." He lets go of the shoulder to walk over to his own workbench, opens a case and pulls out an elongated shaped projectile. "Almost opted fer the same thin', save just focused on the shot itself, since," he reachs up to slide it into the launcher positioned just behind his shoulder in its upright stand-by position. "Ah already got the launcher."

Elita One considers the process a bit further, "So I guess I'm ready to take this onto the field and take that next step." She sighs for a moment, "If it's anything like when I started practicing demo, there's going to be some practical application problems. But...that's the entire point of self-improvement, isn't it?" She laughs softly, motioning to your shoulder mount, "Self Improvement is a bit more literal in your case, though." She nods, a hint of a smile on her face as confidence fills her, "Thanks for all your help here, Horsepower, I couldn't have managed this nearly as well without your insight and support...maybe together we'll find a way to build our way to victory." She clasps his shoulder appreciatively, "....or at least send Shockwave back to the scrapheap."

Horsepower nods his head. "We all learn to work with what we got." He gives the launcher a gentle push to slide it back into storage in his backpack. "An' -that- was the real lesson of all this." Now he sounds downright pleased with the results. "As long as we're pushin' our limits an' comin' up with new ways to get it done, the Cons ain't never gonna get the upper hand on us fer long."

Elita One nods solemnly, "And in doing so we set a proper example for those who follow. Who knows, perhaps with all this about Crystal City, we can take back another part of our home." She adds, "A step closer in being done with this entire war, but...as long as Shockwave has his duty, it'll never rest." She gestures back to the machinery shop, "That's what all this is about to me. As much as interest, and practical enjoyment there is in crafting gear, I know that until I can dispose of him...we'll not get any further towards peace, not for long." She pauses, then lets out a mild laugh, "Well until then, maybe we can turn the tide in the small scale. First Aid showed me firsthand how useful his crystallizer is for removing debris. There's still plenty of things to be done, even without weaponry..."