Double Wave Team-Up

Summary: (January 2028) Shockwave and Soundwave commiserate about the hive aliens while they fine-tune a nervous bomber's systems.

IHQ Laboratory

''Enterable only through the airlock that connects this room to the Med Bay, the laboratory is filled with all means of scanning and testing equipment. The room is large and has a catwalk-like floor that forms an open upper level, allowing for more room to be used for experiments. Both the upper and lower levels have shelves filled with equipment lining the walls, and tables all around are littered with burners and containers ready to be used. As this lab is new, not much of it has been used yet, but it would seem that it is already destined to be cluttered.''

With nothing as complicated as a SUN to dictate time, the hours and minutes pass in the Imperial Headquarters with nothing to mark their passage. And it never sits well with Fusillade. There's a faint internal chime as she checks her chronometer, again. Frowning a bit to herself, she rests forearms on the railing of the catwalk, gazing over some of the larger, more easily ogled projects sprawled out in the bays below. The floodlights and the spray of welding equipment glints off her bowed head, as she continues to ruminate the recent activities of the new commander in chief.

Soundwave is currently on the lower floor of the facility, operating on what seems to be a new kind of Autoscout. Sparks illuminate his expressionless face as he gingerly welds parts together inside the machine. He honestly could've done this back on Earth, but he felt like a brief trip back to Cybertron for a while. But all the while he listens carefully for whomever may be in the room at the time...

Shockwave has always appreciated the steady, monotonous pace of the artificial time system here on Cybertron. The internal chronometer has always been a more satisfying method of marking time than the crude, simplistic method of observing the position of the nearest star. Back on Cybertron for the first time in several months, Shockwave calmly steps through the hallways of Imperial Headquarters. The facility has seen better days, what with many troopers now down on Earth rather than on Cybertron, but Shockwave does not appear to mind. On the lower level, Shockwave steps in with a Seeker gumby at his side, conducting a routine inspection tour to make sure the capital of the Empire is running properly.

Fusillade, by the time she gets a full glimpse of the latest orbital weapons delivery platform, begins to glance ahead to the next bay. The clack of her feet on the catwalk grille halts abruptly once she recognizes Soundwave's blocky form. And then, Shockwave looms below. With a hissed out 'smelt' under her intake, she glances back along the long, narrow path back to the main repair bay. The urge to withdraw is strong, before she purses her lips, and instead, gingerly seats herself on the edge of the walkway, leaning forward a bit to catch any snippets of conversation between the two technically inclined mechs that might possibly arise.

Soundwave looks over his left shoulder at the purple cyclops entering the laboratory just now. Whether he feels as apprehensive about his arrival as Fusillade does is impossible to determine just by looking at him. "Greetings, Commander Shockwave," he intones simply. He glances over at the gumby, and tries to recall if he has any blackmail material on him--maybe a carelessly worded conversation here or there. His gaze returns to Shockwave as he says, "Situation on Cybertron is stable due to primary battleground being located on Earth. This means fewer interruptions for my work." He gestures towards the incomplete Autoscout.

There's the sound of a hushed conversation below the catwalk on the first floor between Shockwave, the gumby Seeker's he's with, and several of the nurses and medics that happen to be on duty. Since there hasn't been much fighting on Cybertron of late, the medical bays are somewhat more quiet. Fusillade might be able to overhear what is ultimately a dull conversation. How are things up here? Just fine. Status of all the medical beds? Ninety eight percent capacity; one was discovered to be malfunctioning during a routine check. How long until it is operational? About four million astroseconds. Fusillade may have to struggle to stay awake.

The conversation is broken up however as Soundwave enters. Shockwave turns towards his fellow 'wave. "Greetings, Soundwave," he replies. "What exactly -is- your work up here lately?" he asks as he peers at the Autoscout. It's always a good idea to know what someone like Soundwave is up to.

Soundwave assumes a stiff posture as he addresses Shockwave. "I am completing a new version of my Autoscout. In addition, I performed maintenance and upgrades upon several of our Cybertron-based personnel." Did someone say, "upgrades?" Yes, and it was Soundwave who said it. Clearly. He glances at the Seeker again, who starts to cringe slightly under his gaze. Yes... he could've sworn he recognized that guy from somewhere...

Fusillade inclines her head slightly, pressing one cheek to the nearest post on the catwalk upon which she perches, dangling legs over the edge. She squints some at the 'waves below. After a long moment, she purses hematite lips, before pulling out a padd and sending along a priority bump to her own pending refits to the cue. A few seconds may pass before the message flops into Shockwave's inbox. There's a muffled snerk from above the two at the mention of upgrades, before a disparaging, "Freak show," escapes Fusillade.

Shockwave saw the work as it was being carried out on Catechism. His optic pulses with each word of his reply for Soundwave, "When you are unavailable I require your assistance in researching the xenomorph that Scourge and his team brought back from their recon mission. I have done a preliminary analysis on the living specimen. We've found ways of keeping it alive by feeding it a variety of energy rich elements, however my attempts to learn more about its origins my speaking with our off world contacts have failed." Shockwave suddenly pauses as he receives a priority bump concerning a certain refit. Suddenly guessing the situation, Shockwave glances upwards, peering at Fusillade on the catwalk.

Soundwave replies, "As you command, Shockwave. I have doubts that the xenomorphs can be controlled, but I shall contribute to this research." He knows that Shockwave has similar concerns. As for the priority bump, well, Soundwave detects the flow of data from Fusillade's datapad, to the main computer, and back to Shockwave. He glances upwards at the insolent bomber. Oh, he'd upgrade her all right. Make her a garbage scow. Teeheehee.

Fusillade straightens up on her spot on the catwalk, and kicks her double-thrustered heels in the air when Shockwave finally deigns to glance upward. Her thumbs flex a bit, and she smirks, before texting down, {Well, it's not like I can get that kind of change done without someone finding out about it anyway. It'd be a better use of energon. And doesn't consume munitions. And don't tell me you're seriously looking at using those things. Just shrink its cell to one cubic human foot, and be done with it. I swear, it's like Scourge is the only that likes the idea.} Upon catching Soundwave's glance, she pauses... hestitating... before baring pointed teeth and sending, anyway.

Shockwave continues to peer up at Fusillade. He doesn't reply to the text message, but does say to Soundwave, "Concerning your work on personnel upgrade, we shall take care of one right now." To the gumby nurse he had been chatting to, he drones, "Prepare medical bed eight for upgrade procedures. Energy and response time system specifications." The gumby shrugs and salutes, "Yes sir," he says.

Finally looking away from Fusillade, Shockwave states both for her and Soundwave's benefit, "I agree. It may be impossible to control the creatures. If this is the case then we will recommend to Scourge that we exterminate the species. In doing so we may even enlist the assistance of the Autobots if we cannot do it ourselves." Shockwave would prefer the Bots get hurt as well by them, but worries that they might have some kind of annoying ethical reasons for not wanting to wipe them out.

Fusillade doesn't waste time looking coy -- for more than a second. Stowing the pad, she straightens, and slips off the catwalk proper, descending to settle a reasonable distance within both Soundwave's and Shockwave's plain sight, hands folded in front of her. "We shouldn't require the Autobots' assistance," she states simply, but otherwise holding her tongue.

Soundwave glances over at Shockwave. Inwardly he's groaning. The big guy is going to make HIM suffer the indignity of upgrading this wretch, who was a party in threatening Geo? Yes, she might not have done the threatening herself, but she should've stopped Sixshot anyway. "As you wish," he intones, and stands by medical bay eight. Then, continuing the discussion from earlier, he says, "Scourge is... proud. He may not listen to logical arguments against his plan." He glances at Fusillade, and says, "Negative. The Autobots would foolishly agree to help us in the spirit of 'cooperation.' Their navet would make them an asset."

Shockwave barely cares about what happens to Geo. Geo should be able to take care of herself. The DCI Commander isn't going to let foolishness like 'family' get in the way of the soldiers working together. Even as he steps over to medical bed eight, Shockwave replies first to Soundwave. "Yes... 'proud.'" Proud of course is just a code-word for 'a moron' in this case. But nevertheless, Shockwave isn't about to move against Scourge for something that is ultimately relatively simple and minor. Reaching the medical bed, he gestures Fusillade towards it. A monitor on the side of the repair bed scrolls with the details of the pending upgrades, which Soundwave can read if he needs it. "We will concern ourselves with the Autobots once we determine what course of action is required against the aliens," he says. Frankly the Autobots could roll either way on this.

Fusillade sidles toward the designated area, glancing again at the shadows and recesses of the of the bay, perhaps to see whether or not she can spy any tell-tale curves of wings rustling about. She doesn't dally for long, though, and seats herself on the edge of the counter, leaning back slightly as she tries to fathom the exact nature of the changes that will be made. "The Autobots would be more tunnel-inclined," she concedges to Soundwave.

Soundwave reads the monitor for several moments. Doesn't look like these upgrades will be anywhere near as challenging as Catechism's upgrade. Yes, he'd love to use this opportunity as an excuse to mutilate Fusillade into some kind of unrecognizable monster that even the Terrorcons would avoid, but... he probably wouldn't get away with it with such simple upgrades to perform. And so, while reviewing the request, he states, "First, I shall increase the power output of your energy weapons. Bring forth any energy weapons you may have in subspace at this time."

Shockwave is brought the tools needed by the gumby nurse, who brings over not just the fine, delicate instruments for surgery, but also the more heavy duty equipment for removing large chunks of Fusillade's body and replacing it with new systems. "While Soundwave concerns himself with the energy weapons, I will be increasing your reflex response time. Hold still." Shockwave opens up a panel in Fusillade's chest and begins doing work with a small sonic screwdriver. After several moments, he switches off Fusillade's pain receptors. Her body will begin to feel numb.

Idly dragging fingertalons along the edges of one wingblade while she awaits instruction, Fusillade flicks lenses over her optics at the request. Sagging a bit in resignation, the length of her right thigh pops open, dispensing her disruptor into her palm. Pulling the charge cells out of the grip, she hands over the Desert Eagle styled weapon, lips pursed. "That's all you're getting," she remarks, even as Shockwave invades. There's a faint quiver of apprehension, but motion soon leaves her form, and she turns her head with a sluggish, languid turn to follow Shockwave's path.

Soundwave looks at the small weapon dubiously as he holds it in his hand. That can't be the only energy weapon she has, can it? Eh... In any case, he sets it down on the table, and begins to disassemble it. It is soon reduced to scattered parts, and Soundwave picks out the components that REALLY matter: The focusing crystal that emits the beam and the energy capacitor. Simply by replacing these parts with more sophisticated components, he can make the gun slightly more powerful.

After placing these older parts into a recycle bin, he stomps over to a parts cabinet and soon returns with slightly better ones. The new focusing crystal is somewhat blue in color, and a little larger, but still capable of fitting inside the gun. A few minutes later, and Fusillade's gun is reassembled, packing a little more heat. Easy. Maybe too easy. Though Soundwave does find it curious that she modeled her sidearm after a human weapon... Possible fascination with Earth culture? He may want to look into it.

Shockwave deftly - for a guy with only one hand - opens up a second panel with the sonic screwdriver and runs a brief scan on her current motor reflex relay systems. He doesn't comment on the energy weapon situation Soundwave has found himself in, however. If Fusillade doesn't want to give him everything to upgrade than so be it. It'll be her loss. Or her gain if Soundwave is plotting against her, anyway. Either way! Shockwave sets the screwdriver aside. Fusillade's entire chest area, including the cockpit and the white section just to the right of it, has been opened up, exposing circuitry and wires. A lot of what she already has can be overclocked, but not without several changes to some of her subsystems. If he tried overclocking her reflexes without those being replaced, her head might explode, and that'd be counterproductive. To Soundwave, he idly comments, "Concerning the xenomorph, its construction is remarkable. They are maining robotic, yet are not suseptable to electromagnetic pulses to any degree. Strangely, it appears to fear fire, although I cannot see why heat would harm them any more than anything else would."

Interest crosses Fusillade's features at Soundwave's dismantling of the weapon. Not too bad! It stirs a distinct desire to perhaps take up more of those energy-based weapons. That fuzzy interest wanes as Shockwave continues to work on her systems, the wiring and circuitry sizzling a bit as the Commander tweaks. There's one or two systems that appear pushed to the edge of specs already, perhaps dangerously so. Underneath the housing for that set of CPUs lies the glossy white, convoluted surface of a slender rotary carriage, several of its slots depleted. Further back in the recesses though, some ver high-yield, likely unauthorized warheads are visible -- remnants from her first attempt to destroy the Hive plane.

Soundwave puts a hand to the side of his head as he radios some gumbies back in Inventory to drag out some parts. He's going to build some all-new bombs for Fusillade, bombs with even greater destructive potential. While he waits for the parts to arrive, he pulls out his datapad and studies the weapons data on the femme. He has to admit that he's impressed by the sheer amount of ordinance she can carry... Nonetheless, he had an idea.

Two gumbies arrive, pushing forward several carts with empty bomb shells and crates labeled "EXPLOSIVE--HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE" and they quickly depart. Soundwave examines the bomb shells... slightly thinner shells than Fusillade's standard bombs. They're supposedly just as strong as the other bombs, due to using a different alloy, but Soundwave knows that it doesn't make much more a difference. To Shockwave, he replies, "If they are somehow modeled after organic creatures, the fear of fire may have been programmed into them by whomever created them, in order to closely match the behavior patterns of organics."

Upgrading a Transformer is sometimes like upgrading a computer. A lot of it is very module - a fact that's very useful both when repairing a Transformer and when installing new components. "The relay's coolant systems will require upgrading in order to handle the increase in systems speed," Shockwave tells the Seeker nurse as he again pokes around with the sonic screwdriver, checking out the glossy rotary carriage and depleted slots. Behind those, he notes the presence of several warheads. "Soundwave, when you're done, these will need to be examined," he drones, since Sounders is the one handling the weapons.

Regarding the creatures, the Decepticon Commander asks the obvious question, "Why would someone program a killing machine with an organic weakness that it does not need? It seems too erratic to be useful as a method of controlling them, and too likely to interfere with their work on a battlefield with numerous explosions." Battlefields tend to be fiery displays, after all. "Assuming these were constructed for war, of course."

"Ooooh, presents!" Fusillade chirps out to Soundwave at the construction of the warheads. "Are you going to make a store of them to add to the armory?" she queries to Soundwave. She gingerly eases back onto the table, waiting until Shockwave is turned aside to pluck up some other instrument or another before reclining. She even goes so far as to clasp her glossy black hands behind her helm, humming a bit to herself from time to time. At the mention of examination, she gives an exasperated growl to herself. "I was doing to drop those in the IHQ stores while here," she offers. She opines, whether the two mechs desire it or not, "Well, that's another limitation on them, then. It's a waste of time. Might as well try to get the moon dragons or whatever they're called to work for us too."

Soundwave then states something that could easily be taken in the wrong way, if you know what I mean. "Once you have finished, I shall have her transform and submit to an inspection of the contents of her bomb bays. This will be necessary regardless, if I am to increase her destructive power." He then gets to work on the bombs, integrating the explosive compounds into the warheads. Again unlike the previous bombs, the new bombs use a compound that is not entirely stable. It's usually safe under most conditions, but EXTREME heat and/or electricity might--might!--set them off. It's all the price of warfare really... and ticking off Soundwave, coincidentally.

"I shall have the quartermasters provide you with sufficient replacement munitions," Soundwave tells Fusillade. "As for the weapons you refer to, I wish to look at them first." He'd smirk if he had a face. And as for Shockwave, the tape deck replies to him, "It is possible that these creatures were an experiment to create a robotic ecosystem, with these xenomorphs serving as predators. However, if my hypothesis is correct, the experiment has clearly failed, and whomever created these creatures has probably been destroyed by them."

Shockwave takes what Soundwave says to mean exactly what he says. While he's aware that Soundwave may hold some sort of grudge against Fusillade for being mean to his Cassetticon, he is fully confident that Soundwave will behave while he is here, at least. The gun on his left arm ensures this to be the case. And afterwards, when Shockwave is gone? No longer his concern, really. Acknowledging the comment with a nod, Shockwave carefully dislodges what looks like a tiny circuit board from Fusillade's chest, to the right of the cockpit area. Fusillade may feel her movement becoming sluggish and difficult to control, as her systems are forced to rely on the much less efficient backup integrated reflex relay. Shockwave holds the circuit board up, peering at it analytically. Still good. It'll make a fine donation to some other, lesser Decepticon.

To Soundwave, Shockwave admits, "It is possible," he doesn't sound too convinced, however. Being created as a war machine seems far more likely to him. If there is one thing this universe has an abundant amount of, it's technology designed to kill things. Certainly beats the artificial ecosystem trade.

Fusillade has no clue! And probably wouldn't until someone more weapons-savvy had a look at those munitions. As Shockwave continues to groom through the relays wedged between the deployment launchers and the rotary carriage itself, Fusillade responds, "Yeah, the main bay can't be accessed in this mode." Her voice trails off, a bit distant, as the component is plucked out by Shockwave. By this point, she's mostly speaking to the choir when it comes describing her systems. Some inner preservation system quails at the notion of the two 'waves working in tandem; the same voice also echoes relief that the vaunted EMUX systems thus far have remained free of their scrutiny.

Soundwave puts his hand to the side of his head, transmitting more orders, and soon there are several more gumbies scrambling in, assisting Soundwave in assembling the bombs. Apparently the tape-deck got impatient with trying to put 84 all-new general purpose bombs together. Soon, a vertical rack is filled with the new munitions, and Soundwave transmits an order for cluster bombs to be brought to him. He wonders if he's going to run out of room for the bloody things!

"There are no visible weapons systems other than organic-styled claws and teeth," Soundwave tells the other 'wave, so as to support his theory. "I believe they would possess ranged weaponry, much like our own, if they were truly designed for war." Soundwave glances briefly at Fusillade as he waits for the cluster munitions to arrive. Is she... uncomfortable at being opened up like that? He wonders what that might mean... aside from modesty, of course.

Shockwave hands the old circuit board to the nurse, who hands him a much improved one. This is some of the latest, and won't even get to be tapped until the rest of the relay circuitry has been overclocked. Shockwave begins installing the circuit board back into her chest, manipulating the sonic screwdriver in order to secure it. That he's able to both hold it in place /and/ weld it with the screwdriver at the same time with only one hand merely proves what a supreme badass Shockwave really is. Replying to Soundwave, he says, "Their blood is highly acidic. It is possible they are able to use this as an offensive ranged weapon. Or perhaps it was merely not cost effective to give a horde of robots ranged guns. Their teeth and their claws are capable of dealing a remarkable amount of damage."

Fusillade has always been used to seeing weapons stored in pyramid shaped piles, or encapsulated within dispensers, so the mounting pile as it stretches to the ceiling is, for her, rather inspiring. And a tad awe-inspiring. But mostly giddiness-inducing. "That actually looks pretty good... and... you're not done... yet?" There's some delay to her raising her hand to her mouth to cut off words that have long left her lips. "Mmmph. Issat some of those splitting cases? I picked up some black market goods back on Monacus during the Olympics. Flechettes, nasty little things." She rambles a bit, and it's about that time that Shockwave encounters a minor snag with some of the filing that had been done on some of the infrastructure. "Their tails have pretty dense blades in them," she offers in response to Shockwave's commentary about the xenomorphs, but regrettably, the moment's passed.

Soundwave lifts up a single bomb from one of the carts, and examines it. He doesn't recall asking for this one. Ah well. "Affirmative. Flechette munitions. More effective against organics," he says, almost dismissively. "These, as you may have noticed--" He gestures to another cart loaded with empty bombs. "--are cluster bombs and are more effective against Autobots and the EDC." Soundwave then realizes he's starting to say, "The Autobots AND the EDC" a lot these days. Maybe too much.

While the cluster munitions have the new explosive compound stuffed into them by the gumbies, Soundwave says to Shockwave, "I have not heard of this capability. While it is unlikely they can spit acid very far, we must find out if they possess this ability. A dissection would determine the truth."

"Or speaking with those troopers that have met with these aliens during previous encounters," Shockwave reminds Soundwave. Apparently he has already done so, and this is how he knows about the acid blood trick. Shockwave turns quiet as he hits a minor little problem. He examines where the new circuit board has been added to the infrastructure, carefully making sure that everything is as it is. A quick scan indicates that it is not, however. "We shall need an entire new unit for this relay, it seems," Shockwave tells the Seeker nurse. The issue with the filing could cause major issues for Fusillade in the future, otherwise.

Fusillade mm-hmms to Soundwave, almost conversationally. She could be much sassier, a lot louder, but between random components being pulled out and trying to behave, she doesn't feel terribly motivated. "Maybe explosive armor-piercing... but yeah. mining roads worked pretty well, nyeh heh heh." She smiles thinly at the idea, before asking Shockwave, "Dare... I ask? Oh, there's no telling." She flicks optics off briefly, and as the refit continues. Better tracking, mm? I'll be glad for it. Would be a waste of these weapons that Soundwave is working so hard on. Tell me when I need to transform so I can offload the main bays." She sounds terribly sad.

Soundwave is soon brought a smaller stack of bombs... but only in number. These monsters are huge, and judging from the guidance fins located on the rear and near the front, they appear to be precision-guided bombs. Soundwave works on these personally, carefully placing the new explosive into the fat mid-section of the bombs, and then integrating the other components, like the control circuits, batteries, and transceivers. A complex device, meant only to blow itself up. At least the idea is that what it's blowing up will have been much more expensive. "Yes, we shall have a store of cluster mines available to you. Perhaps we shall a mission to make use of them." Cluster mines with slightly less reliable triggering mechanisms, naturally. The tape deck of pure evil glances back at Shockwave, feeling annoyed that he implied that they did not know if the Xenomorphs could spit acid, only to wait until AFTER Soundwave suggested investigating it to suddenly inform him that they did know about that ability from asking their warriors, and possibly implying that he is stupid for not doing the same. Why, that's something Soundwave would do! Bastard. "A dissection may nonetheless prove enlightening," he says.

Shockwave answers Fusillade's half question merely by raising his hand slightly, silently telling her not to disrupt him as he skillfully works to replace the entire reflex relay unit. This means of course he needs to take out the circuit board he just installed so he can install it on the new reflex relay unit, and then put /that/ back into Fusillade's chest. So much for what started out as an easy task. Shockwave silently works for several minutes to this end, and it isn't until he finishes removing the old relay that he replies to the comments that were directed his way. "Better tracking and better reflexes," he tells Fusillade. "Your hand-and-optic coordination should be increased. Do not transform until I am done the work here." To Soundwave, Shockwave drones, "You should check with Scourge. I believe we have an alien corpse. You are our foremost scientist, Soundwave. If anyone is capable of learning everything possible about these creatures, it is you."

"That looks so pretty," Fusillade comments absently as she struggles to register some comprehension for the benefit of the 'waves. However, she begins to think better of what is coming out of her trap, and then simply nods to Shockwave as he indicates her to halt, conveying her compliance and understanding of the systems upgrades.

Soundwave steps back and half-admires, half-scowls at the enormous stacks of bombs he's built up. Hm. Maybe he should getting them carted off to Earth... yes, good idea. He gestures to some gumbies, and they begin the process of loading the new bombs back onto carts. The cluster, flechette, and guided bombs are all transported out of the lab and towards the spacebridge to be placed in Earth armories. "These general purpose bombs shall be loaded first. Later, you may utilize the other types as necessary."

Soundwave's wounded pride is reassured by being called "our foremost scientist." His vast knowledge is one of the many reasons why some powerful Decepticons, even if they wanted to kill him, could not. He's just too valuable to lose. "It shall be interesting to examine these creatures and see if there are correlations between robotic and organic lifeforms. They appear to reproduce in a manner similar to organic parasites, at the least."

Shockwave, after working for quite some time, finally manages to install the new reflex relay unit into Fusillade. From there it is a simple procedure to slowly overclock the rest of her nervous system to a point where her new systems can handle it without causing her head to explode (don't laugh. It could happen to you!). After the job is done, Shockwave stands, closing off the two panels that he opened. Soundwave can turn her pain receptors back on once he's done everything he needs to. Peering at the tape Con, Shockwave states, "You shall get your chance, then. You have full access to both the living creature and the corpses. I'll be expecting your report on the matter, as well as a recommendation whether we will be able to control them."

Desiring to cooperate for now, Fusillade nods. "Your expertise is a boon to the Empire, mechs," she compliments, after they're done with her innards. She gingerly slips off the table, before unholstering the gun again and levelling it on one of the bottom tiers of the bomb racks. "Hnn, the alignment... feels right, at least," she remarks, before standing down and stowing the weapon. "I'll be in one of the shuttle bays," she remarks over one shoulder, before pacing that way. Once she gets to a spot with ample free space, she unfolds.

Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a Terran B-1B Lancer, ready for flight!

Soundwave leans his head forward slightly, his face instantly looking more sinister. "Increased performance shall be expected after this upgrade," he intones, possibly as a warning. He presses the button on his shoulder and spits out a olive drab gumby tape. "Mule, eject. Replace and resupply." The tape unfolds into a humanoid looking mech, not an actual mule, who looks kind of beaten up and grumpy. "Awright, awright, geeze...," he grumbles, stepping under the bomber. "Okay, lady, getcher bomb bays open an' I'll get this done right quick." Funny how these guys know exactly what to do despite such vague commands. As for Soundwave, he nods back to his purple colleague (of sorts). Of course, since Soundwave absolutely despises the Sweeps and especially Scourge, his report will likely be negative regardless of his findings.

"Well I certainly hope so too, Soundwave, wouldn't want you two to have wasted hours of my time," rings out from the bomber as she rocks backward on her main landing gear, her belly far enough from the ground to give most tapes and minicons enough clearance so they wouldn't have to duck. The perforated baffle drops, before the echoing ratchet of the carriage rotating within the bay presents the offending weapons. There's a flick of nose canards, before she mutters, "They shoulda let me go."

Shockwave's job is more or less done, and so he spends the time while Fusillade is in her bomber mode to run a series of tests on the new reflexes systems. "Your new relay unit seems to be functioning within standard parameters," he tells her, peering down at the scanner for the information. "I suggest running yourself through a standard gauntlet of physical tests to ensure that the upgrades have been successful." Shockwave peers at the ejected mule and steps to the side so as not to get in its way. Just how many of those little monsters does Soundwave even /have/?

"The targetting in robot mode seemed more intuitive," Fusillade responds to Shockwave while the tape continues to offload. "I'll start in the holo arena, of course, and possibly try some proving runs in the Pacific outside New Crystal City once I get back." She awaits Soundwave's methodical ire.

Mule gets to work on unloading Fusillade's old bombs, working fairly efficiently and getting them all nice and stacked on empty bomb rack off to the side. But all the while his joints creak and he constantly grumbles about his bad back. "Need a new transfixermater," he grumbles, although he has no idea what's talking about. Several moments later, he finishes up, but once he sees the rack of new bombs he sighs in exasperation. "Never fraggin' ends... always the same... load it out, load it back in... why couldna I be a cat bot or somthin'?" And several moments afterwards, Mule has loaded up all the new bombs.

As for the daddy, Soundwave inspects the two suspicious bombs, holding one under his arm while he holds the other out in front of him. "Tactical hydrogen bombs," he announces. "These munitions shall be placed back in the radiological weapons bay, and security codes changed." As for his tapes, Soundwave has never willingly volunteered how many he has. Makes people nervous about confronting him.

Shockwave nods back to Fusillade, accepting this training regimen. He peers down at Mule, definitely curious what a transfixermater may be. He doesn't bother asking, though, as he calculates that the odds are 95% in favour of the answer being stupid. As Soundwave puts the finishing touches on the munitions and examines what Fusillade has, Shockwave spends his time putting everything away in a nice and ordered fashion.

B-1B Lancer snaps one of the servos controlling the bomb bay door when Mule is half way back to the pile, before she hunkers back down at the verdict on the high-yield weapons. "Awwww, man." Buzzkill of the evening! To their relief, she doesn't prove to be too much trouble for the rest of the evening.

Soundwave orders, "Mule, return." "But I jest got out--" Mule is about to say, until Soundwave cuts him off with, "RETURN!" And so, after he pops his tape deck open again, Mule transforms and slides in. While he keeps a nuke under each arm, Soundwave glares at Fusillade again, saying, "These are dangerous weapons. You should not have been given access to them. However, as that incident was resolved by Shockwave, I shall not pursue disciplinary action of my own. But do not attempt to use these weapons without authorization again." And without so much as a goodbye, he takes his lethal cargo with him as he begins to step out of the laboratory.

"What's HE gonna do with them, then? Sit on them?" Fusillade asks of Shockwave regarding Soundwave.

Shockwave is sadly at the other end of the laboratory at this point, working on other things. It's up to Soundwave to answer this little joke.

Soundwave is, fortunately, not stupid enough to run off with either of the nukes, which is something Starscream would probably do. Good thing he's dead. He leaves the laboratory and eventually places them back where they belong. Some time he'll return and complete the new Autoscout, but that'll be a while from now and not as interesting.

--End--