Rebuilding Invictus

Darkmount - Landing Platform
The thin and bitter winds of Cybertron howl around the tower, a vivid reminder of the eight hundred meters distance between this platform and the ground.

The landing platform is the busiest single part of Darkmount, with continual air traffic in and out under the watchful eyes of the particle cannon turrets and their crews. Simple in concept, the platform is little more than a massive section of the tower wall which hinges down to become a flat plane suitable for landing anything from a Seeker to a shuttlecraft. The interior edge opens directly into the cavernous atrium of the fortress.

Shockwave stands on the open-air landing platform amidsts a flurry of activity. Polyhex is really coming alive again with Cybertron's slow rebirth. Decepticon techies are working around the clock to prep the Titanus for action, and Shockwave is doing what Shockwave does best: Ordering people around. "Ensure the port thruster is brought up to speed. I will accept no less than a point zero zero zero three imbalance ratio. You, fasten the dorsal laser emitter. Incompetence breeds destruction." Not destruction for the ship, mind, but for the guy doing the repairs.

A very distinct buzzing can be heard even above the noise of general busyness. Of course the buzzing belongs to none other than Buzzkill because, really, how many Decepticons buzz like that? The giant honey bee transforms and lands behind Shockwave in robot mode before quickly taking a knee in a respectful and possibly kiss-ass bow. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

From out of one of the mass of work, Venom emerges. He's carrying a part that's about half the size of his torso, and looks to be in decent enough condition. A little bit of grease, but otherwise functional. It's shaped somewhat like a Coca-Cola bottle, spherical and bulbous at one end, but narrowing at the other. With his hands full, he manages a curt nod to Shockwave, "Commander," as he continues floating towards Darkmount.

Shockwave continues to survey the work that's being done on the Heavy Cruiser. By all accounts it seems to be going along quite efficiently, without all the bickering and delays usually associated with the Decepticons... doing anything whatsoever. Still, Shockwave does not appear entirely satisfied. As Buzzkill makes her arrival, the cyclops turns away from the ship and towards her. "My injuries persist from my battle at The Hague, Buzzkill. The third backup relay in my shoulder has malfunctioned. See to it."

When Venom also appears, he chooses now to discuss matters pertaining to the Insecticons. Two of 'em are already here. "Venom, Buzzkill, what have you been told about the newly discovered asteroid field out in the rim?"

Rather than cease his movements, Venom continues to float, but alters his course so that he circumnavigates the cycloptic military operations commander, "I have a passing familiarity with your report, however, as none of my Insecticons are particularly suited to space exploration, I have not given it significant thought." He grips the part that he was carrying, holding it by the narrow end, and raising his arm to accommodate its bulk. "I thought this the realm of Scourge and his henchmen?" He also nods, softly to Buzzkill, making sure to keep an optic on that Insecticon. They cannot be trusted.

"Of course, Commander," Buzzkill replies, standing up straight and pulling out that handy toolbox of hers from that bizarre place we call subspace pockets. Good thing she carries it around with her everywhere, you never know when some tall, purple, authority type will hit you up for repairs. She moves around to Shockwave's shoulder, prying a plate of armor open with what is essentially a crowbar so she can get in and make the necessary repairs.

"I have not heard anything about the asteroid field outside of your initial report on the subject, sir," Buzzkill says as she begins work on Shockwave's shoulder.

There's still the sound of workers hammering, welding, and rearming the Titanus in the background. Shockwave seems unsurprised at either Insecticon's answer. He gestures towards the ship with his gun arm since Buzzkill is busy working over the other shoulder. "This field, classified R1R-F1B by Logistics, may be one of the most important finds of this decade. It is a field surrounding an energy maelstrom that plays havoc with sensors and navigation."

Shockwave's shoulder is pretty wrecked. Apocryphacius, Talia, and Perceptor really did a number on him. "While the Olympics occupied our forces, I have been overseeing the refit of the Titanus. It will be our base of operations in that sector, though even with its modifications it is too large to travel deep within the field. *That* is where we will be relying on Aerospace and the Sweeps. Patrolling the area is not where I need the Insecticons' attention. We are not the first to be interested in claiming its resources; many other races have tried with varying degrees of success and disasters. Alien empires, criminal elements, and other nuisances. Neutralizing those distractions is where I need your Insecticons."

Venom does not like space, he doesn't trust it, he can't control it, and in that way, it's a lot like his fellow Insecticons. It's also a good thing that Venom has a visor and a face guard. If he had the capacity for facial expression, he'd be looking very confused right now. Instead, it shows by a dramatic pause. He then turns, to gauge the other vessels. He knows he'll never be given the Conquest II, but the Invictus, despite its present state, may hold promise. Looking at Buzzkill, who's hard at work, then back at the shuttles, "Well Buzzkill, what do you think of that one over there. Do you think it's salvageable?" He is of course, issuing a challenge in his own way. He likes a challenge.

Buzzkill listens intently to Shockwave's words as she repairs the damage done to his shoulder. She's gotta admit, this is some pretty impressive work. If she knew it was a tentacle monster, some lame human, and a giant nerd, she would be most disappointed but she doesn't so it's okay.

"When do you expect the Titanus to be ready?" Buzzkill inquires, digging deep into Shockwave's shoulders with all sorts of pointy, sinister-looking tools. Honestly, after all that truce bullshit with the Olympics, she's ready to get back into ruthlessly beating inferior creatures for science or whatever it is she justifies her actions with.

At Venom's question, she doesn't even bother looking up from her work before responding. "Everything is salvageable. There's no reason to ever waste anything."

"The Titanus will depart Darkmount within six hundred thousand astroseconds," Shockwave replies. About a week. Shockwave turns his head towards the Invictus, which sets off to the side like a neglected redheaded step child compared to golden boy Titanus, which is getting all the attention. "My technicians began refitting the Invictus before deciding it was not worth the effort or resources. The shuttle's corruption is ingrained in its systems now." Shockwave waves his gun hand dismissively, "Take it."

All right, free ship for the Insecticons. Too bad Buzzkill's probably going to be the one to fix it. Just kidding, she loves that kind of tedious, thankless work; it's exactly the sort of thing she was made to do. "Your generosity is much appreciated, sir."

Speaking of tedious, thankless work, the repairs to Shockwave's shoulder are coming along well. Though she would never admit it in fear of sounding like some kind of weirdo, Buzzkill always enjoys working on Shockwave as his advanced technology gives her a welcome challenge.

Venom scratches his chin, contemplating Buzzkill's words, and Shockwave's 'gift' of the vessel. "Buzzkill, unless the Commander has need of you, after you are finished there, I want you to locate the other insections." He may not be a Construction, or a Sweep, but he does have two things going for him. He just happens to be one the smartest and most technically gifted Decepticons. "I may require a Construction advisor, Scavenger, perhaps." It's a calculated thought. If there's one Construction that Shockwave would be willing to lend him, it'd probably be the somewhat inept Scavenger. But, being a psychologist, Venom expects he could properly motivate and keep the wandering Construction on the task at hand. "When do you need it certified in order for it to take part in your plans?" Another look at it, a sigh, "We shall need, all hands on deck, I believe the term is. Chop Shop, Barrage, and Ransack are on an extended mission. I may be forced to recall them, and have them join Scorn, Fever, Monitor, Blight, Shade, Infest, Fighterfly, Melee, Nightmare, Sever, Macabre, Deadeye, and Shothole on this assignment." Quite the collection of Insecticons, too bad he never has any clue where most of the little buggers are!

"Generosity?" Shockwave asks, surprised. "You misunderstand. This is not a-gift-. This is an -investment-. One that I expect a return on." Shockwave is a pretty good patient, as he holds still well and his systems are well laid out. The only downside is that a lot of it is old school design, and the price for failure is pretty high. Shockwave does not interfere as Venom starts rearranging his soldiers in order to get them all ready to actually do something. Nor does he mind him grabbing the Constructicons; it's Scrapper that Venom might have to worry about. "Our operation will begin within the week, Venom, however *your* work can begin now. Research who else has made the trek to R1B-F1R. Learn their weaknesses. Determine how to play them against one another. Prepare how best to eliminate them."

Venom idly makes a comment regarding Buzzkill's repair efforts, "A little higher there to ensure that the fauxian connectors are synchronised. You . . . may be too young to remember the nuances of these parts." They really are a pain in the aft to fix, he'd offer to rebuild Shockwave, if he weren't certain that any rebuild Shockwave would approve of would give him the power to usurp Galvatron's throne. It's best not to get involved in such things. "As you wish, Commander." He's not sure what information will turn up, but he'll do his duty, duties he self corrects, as he now has a ship to restore as well. "If there is nothing else?" Then, looking up at Buzzkill again, he says, "Have any Insecticon, or available builder, report to me aboard the Invictus."

Locating the other Insecticons is going to be quite the task seeing as how Buzzkill hasn't met (or even heard of) most of the soldiers Venom lists off. Worst comes to the worst she just repaints a few guys in purple and black and passes them off as the missing Insecticons. At Venom's comment on her repair work, Buzzkill can only do her best to bite her tongue lest she say something she might regret later though she does take his advice into account. She would be stupid not to take an opportunity to better her technique no matter how offended she gets.

"Repairs complete," she says after a few moments of complete silence, replacing the shoulder panel and welding it back in place before packing up her tools and putting them away.

Shockwave would need one hell of a rebuild to be able to seriously threaten Galvatron. At any rate, the Decepticon Leader has been pretty good at his job of late. Who knows, maybe the madness he suffered in that plasma bath has finally healed? Shockwave doesn't crave leadership for its own sake, but only when he believes he's one most suitable for the job. It's just that Shockwave has a pretty high opinion of himself, so Galvatron has to be at the top of his game to beat that.

Once Buzzkill announces that the repairs are complete, Shockwave lowers his arm, rotating the shoulder. Its gears purr like a kitten getting a belly rub. "Satisfactory," Shockwave emits. He looks back to the Titanus and the Invictus. It's really clear which is the best ship and which is the castoff, but who knows--maybe Venom and Buzzkill will be able to turn nothing into something.

Venom's already heading off towards the Invictus. It needs a lot a work, that's for sure. He places a hand on it, and a dead body falls off. Clearly, the body wasn't attached too securely. So he begins doing the only thing that comes to mind, he starts trying to laser the bodies off the hull, to be eaten by the Insecticons and turned into building materials. But first he wants to get a look at the thing sans jury-rigging.

Laserbeak swoops into the bay, connecting the dots of agitation within the base. He watches the Con forces start trying to salvage the scrap. It wasn't worth it...perhaps his optics weren't picking up something? His eyes gleam as he scans the piece of slag, but makes no move to help assist in the endeavor. Hopefully Shockwave hasn't noticed him up here. Ugh, manual labor...

A small transport leaves the Titanus. A few moment later, it lands on the platform. Its ramp is soon lowered allowing Onslaught to set foot on the landing platform. The Combaticon commander just completed an inspection of the ship to make sure everything is proceeding on schedule.

Standing ontop of the ship, Venom seems to be having some trouble dislodging the poor hapless soul, who came to know life as a piece of the hull. He's had to dissect the bot, removing an arm, leg, part of the lower torso, but the upper torso seems to be stuck, and is resisting being removed. After a few minutes of concentrated effort, coming at it from a number of sides, he simply transforms, and begins to eat. Yeah, Insecticons can be disgusting, but they're very efficient.

Laserbeak zooms in on some of the rubble falling off the corpse Venom is playing with. An optic sensor is recognized! With a muted rush of power, Laserbeak lights on the floor next to it, snapping it up before Venom does. He may not be Insecticon, but he appreciates a good innard as much as any bird.

Shockwave returns his attention to the Titanus. Covered in Decepticon technicians who are all too scared of making a mistake to even LOOK like they might, the refit to the Heavy Cruiser is coming along nicely. The ship is surrounding by scaffolding, turning the Darkmount Landing Platform into a temporary shipyard. It is in stark contrast to the number of people that are working on the Invictus. For such a large, threatening ship it can almost pull off the Littlest Hobo look. Upon spying the Combaticon Commander, Shockwave steps in his direction. "Your findings?"

Onslaught salutes Shockwave...you know military protocol and all. He glances back towards the ship before replying, "Everything seems to be proceeding on schedule so far. They are almost done with the special modifications but I am concerned with the ammunition supplies. We are investing a lot into this operation but right now the Titanus is vulnerable if engaged but Autobot forces."

Consuming a Cybertronian who does not fight back takes surprisingly little time. The corrosive acids break down the material inside the Giant Cicada's body. Flying down towards the platform, he then begins to regurgitate what looks like a titanium alloy girder, which may have a number of uses. Once that is done, he begins to spew out a liquid metal, which hardens shortly after contacting the air. He repeats this step a few times. And then adding to the girder and the sheet metal, he creates some kind of electrical wire. Fascinating creatures, Insecticons, aren't they. Once he's finished, he will transform back into his robot mode and point to Laserbeak, "See what you can do about getting more of the carcasses off the hull." He then points to some Seekers and other gumbies lollygagging about, "You three, begin a ship wide inspection, starting it the reactor."

Laserbeak looks up at Venom for about four seconds, then hovers up about three feet, his boosters going off for a microburst. He perches on one of the metal spikes, then nibbles at another bit of choice noms, pointedly ignoring the Insecticon. By the way his back straightens, he's possibly? quite amused by his actions....either that or he's a bird.

"The likelihood of the Autobots attacking Polyhex are slim," Shockwave replies. Little does he know. "Even slimmer that they would reach Darkmount." Shockwave steps over to the edge of the landing platform. It is, lets remember, eight hundred metres above the ground. All of Polyhex can be seen from up here. The Warrens and the Cyberswamp Tower can even be seen from here. "See to it that the city watch is increased so long as the Titanus is here, Onslaught," he says.

A wall explodes because Bonecrusher drives through it, dozer style. "LISTEN UP! I've got REQUESTED PARTS AND EQUIPMENT coming through, yeeeeeeeah...had to move this wall, had to get it out OF. THE. WAAAAA-aaaaayyyy so we could be a little more efficient, yeeeeyah..."

Venom raises an arm to bat away some debris from the wall that flies his way, and manages to time it right so that it heads straight for the impudent birdbot, “Ah, yes, the supplies.” In truth, he hasn’t requested any supplies, but maybe Bonecrusher will mistakenly put them near the Invictus, one can always hope, can’t they. He begins lasering off some more carcases from the shuttle’s hull.

Onslaught nods at Shockwave, "It will be done. But I'm more concerned about the possibilities of Titanus being attacked once it's launched. I now our main purpose is to harvest ressources but I'm willing to bet the Autobots will try to interfere. But I agree with you. An attack on Polyhex would be highly illogical...not to mention they would need tons of ressources. A large assault can't be concealed...there would be signs."

 Commander Venom says, "Inseticons, your presence is required on the Darkmount Landing Platform. Scrapper, if you can spare any Constructicons, their expertise would be highly benefitial."

Laserbeak 's eyes blink as he registers the command. NOW he starts assisting, and his little known aspect that he was named for comes into play. A thin red welding laser generates from his optics, enemating a shrill whine, it deftly slicing the corpse in front of him off the ship. He takes to the air again, hovering forward systematically.

And what sort of psychopath would sneak a /small/ raiding party into Polyhex? Shockwave holds his hand and gun behind his back as he surveys Polyhex from above. There are thousands of glittering lights below and in the skies. He hasn't seen the city thrive this much since well over four million years ago. "I am expecting it, Onslaught," Shockwave emits. "The Autobots know of this mineral field just as we do. They are aware of its potential to turn this conflict."

Meanwhile a lead techie from the Titanus runs up to Bonecrusher, careful to avoid getting in front of the lime green buzzdozin' machine. "Hey, hey, whoa! We needed that wall!" He might be a bit worried that the orderly repairs are going to get less orderly all of a sudden.

Onslaught steps off the platform to join Shockwave and gets a better view of Polyhex, "Then we must be ready. I'll order Swindle to fill the Titanus' armories... and I'll order Blast Off to watch him to make sure he doesn't sell the ship in the process." The combaticon is well aware of the mineral field and he's not one to give up such a military asset.

Pleased that finally Laserbeak is giving him some assistance, that someone other than Cons he can’t remember the name of are helping, Venom starts to look more closely at some rust-like coating on the hull. Transforming a hand into a power sander, he begins to try and sand it down, curious to see what’s beneath it, and testing its structural integrity. After a moment’s work, he transforms the power sander back into a hand, and instead begins to cut the panel out with a welding torch. Hearing Onslaught, he stops his welding for a moment, “Onslaught, after Swindle’s done with the Titanus, can you direct him to assist with the Invictus?”

Komatsu D575A Superdozer  transforms and gets in the lead technician's face. "Then maybe you shouldn'ta put it in such a stupid place, you got me?" He thumps at the insignia on his chest. "CONSTRUCTICON. Remember?" Shaking a little, Bonecrusher salutes Shockwave as a procession of drones begin pushing supplies in hovercarts through the newly made door.

Bonecrusher stops destroying everything long enough to be a robot. This was getting him nowhere. A near invisible beam targets several weak junctures of these rods sticking out, moments before his autocannons open fire in a burst of energy. He turns back to look towards the leadership of this enclave. They weren't watching. He hops up on top of the shuttle, lighting on a bent wire. THEN the pipes he shot at finally groan and collapse in a pile. Taking the moment to preen, it's quite clear he's done his part.

"Good. The Titanus leaves within the week," Shockwave replies. At the sounds of commotion behind him, Shockwave turns away from the technological vista and back to where the two ships are undergoing repairs. Bonecrusher salutes him, but Shockwave eyes the hole in the wall. The techie sputters at the greeny. "But... but..." he gestures at the wall. He gestures at the Constructicon. He gestures at the wall. "C'mon!" He finally sighs, "Fine, I'll fix the blasted wall..."

Shockwave meanwhile asides to Onslaught, "Consider the Invictus a distinctly low priority item."

Onslaught stares at Venom for a few seconds. He finally nods at Shockwave's comment before replying to Venom, "He has other priorities for the moment...this...ship... You should see with Carjack if he can assigns someone to help you."

Bonecrusher snorts at the technician. "That's what I thought..." He then beelines for the unusuable materials from the ship heading for the scrap pile and starts breaking pieces down. "Didn't want to have to say it LOUDER and then bust some heads..." As he breaks things, the Constructicon calms down. He's like a cat making muffins or something.

When Venom sees what Bonecrusher is up to, destroying the parts he had so carefully laid out, trying to salvage them, he raises his hands and stands in front of the Constructicon, anti-gravity system and transformation at the ready, in case he needs it, and shouts, “No, no, no, these aren’t scrap! This is for the repair job!” Then, thinking like a manipulative Con, “Of course, Hook said you probably wouldn’t be up to the task of salvaging this bucket of bolts.”

Bonecrusher stares at Venom for a long moment, ripping a burned out motherboard in half thoughtfully. "Hook said that?" He tenses up for a moment. "Well, that makes sense, yeeeah...I do a lot of things but salvage usually ain't one...I mostly break things and then beat things up, you dig? So that was a fair thing to say..."

Venom sighs, “Well, that’s good of you. The Empire needs strong warriors such as yourself, but this happens to be a work site. We’re trying to restore this vessel to its former glory. You want to wreck stuff, then start there.” He points to the hull. “There are carcasses affixed to the hull, which need to be removed before we can repair it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself.”

Shockwave has faith that Carjack will only do anything if it turns out to be important. He gave the Insecticons the Invictus mostly on a whim. It was either that or put in the effort to have it taken to a junkyard. He wonders how Venom's sucking up with Bonecrusher is going to go, but he suspects it won't be well. For now, Shockwave is content watching the Titanus receive its refit and making sure nobody screws it up.

Bonecrusher stares at Venom for a really long time. Like, an uncomfortably long time. "I don't like punks telling me to do punk things..." He starts to huff, clearly unhappy. And then there's another long, tense pause. "Especially not bugs telling me what to break and not break..." He steps forward, getting in Venom's face. "So I'll tell you what's gonna happen right now, yeeeahhh.... Right this innnstant." He cracks his knuckles. "I'm gonna go scrap those bodies." He shrugs. "Because it sounds like a fun way to apply myself, yeeeeah." He looks around, and glares at Venom again. "But not because you told me to. You're just lucky that the thing you told me to do was a thing that I saw and was like 'Bonecrusher would really enjoy that, yeeeahhhhh' you got it?" And then he stomps towards the area of the hull with the most dead things stuck to it.

During one the semi-frequent supply shuttle, a bandaged and battered Decepticon steps out of the shuttle. The repairs on his frame seem hurried and slapdash as the Magenta Decepticon makes his way towards a small gathering of Decepticons. "Misfire reporting as ordered, sir...sirs?" He looks confused for a moment. "Sirs." He stats again. Aimless oddly is missing.

Onslaught gets back on the platform doing his best to ignore Bonecrusher and Venom's bickering. He goes to a terminal, which is placed near the door leading to the base, and proceed to transmit his instruction to his fellow Combaticons.

Venom sees a transformation code blinking at the top left of his visor, ready to engage it at a moment’s notice. It begins to flash brighter when Bonecrusher gets in his face. But he does not back down, or shrink away, he just lets the bully have his say, and when he’s done, agreeing with Venom’s original goal, the Insecticon breathes a sigh of relief. He turns to Shockwave, giving him a nod, suggesting that it can be done, it’s just not easy.

It doesn't take long after Onslaught's transmission before Swindle drives out onto the landing platforms, towing a trailer of assorted ammo crates behind him. See, having a wheeled ground-based mode -does- have its uses. You know how long it would take to shove this stuff in a shuttle-con just to have them lug it around?

Misfire begins to look around the area, he continues to make his way towards Venom. "So...uh, I think I was assigned to your medical care? But this doesn't like a hospital..." The familiar roar of a certain Jeeps engine, makes Misfire shiver as he stands in place.

Venom is busy at work removing panels, corpses, and otherwise trying to tidy up the ship he’s inherited, so when Misfire approaches him, he has a cutting torch in hand. "Medical care,” he asks, curious about that, probably some accident of orders, "Oh, yes, medical care. You’re to work on the shuttle, as an advisor. We need to know what to keep and what to discard. You are familiar with space flight, are you not?"

Military Gunnery Jeep  emits a snicker from somewhere within his chassis as he pulls up and parks. "Onslaught, you of all mechs should know that I, however sneaky and greedy I may be, pride myself on efficiency." There's probably a little display panel in the jeep's dash somewhere flashing when he talks, considering how often Swindle actually -has- passengers compared to most Decepticons.

Misfire looks at Venom, nervously. "Uh...I mean, the basics. I took Astronavigation and Basic Shuttle Maintence 101 about 2,678. I am pretty sure I pulled a C- once...Of course the professor got killed, but it counted....I think."

Onslaught grins behind his faceplate, "I expect no less of you. I reckon you understand that the Titanus is your top priority until it launches."

Venom isn’t like this, but for now it seems to be the best he has. “Just, help out the Seekers inside. They should be getting close to finishing their survey. Misfire, I’m counting on you to sort this out. I know you can do this.” He also emits a soft hum, a specific frequency that he’s found helps stir Cybertronian circuits.

There's a dull click as the hitch unlocks, and Swindle stands up into robot mode. "Speaking of! How are we looking for mining equipment? I can probably dig some more of that up too if need be." And send the bill to Scrapper, of course." Idly he unlocks his scatterblaster from his arm and mag-locks it across his back instead, so its out of the way as he grabs a smaller container and lifts it off the trailer.

Misfire smiles lopsidedly. "Really Venom? Primus that is swell!" The hum seems to stir something inside Misfire, the fibers of competency? Self-Respect? Misfire begins to move to meet with the Seekers. He gives them a friendly wave as he looks over the data pad. "Oh yeah! Ok...I see what is going on here. Yeah, I can handle this..." He looks over the data pad. "Yeah...the manifolds, need fluxing." The Seekers shrug at Misfire as they saunter off.

Onslaught shrugs, "I guess we could use more mining equipments but I didn't pay much attention to that. You'll have to see with Scrapper or Carjack."

Venom leaves Misfire to the inside of the ship while he heads over to Onslaught, as Shockwave seems preoccupied. “Athough early in the assessment, the Invictus does not seem to be as bad off as once thought. Much of the damage appears to be cosmetic, aesthetic really. I believe whoever originally inventoried the damage was put off by the manner in which the repairs were made.” Meanwhile, the Seekers seem to be ignoring Misfire, or at least trying to. They’ve done their job, they don’t need someone going around telling them how to do it now. Earlier would have been fine, but the report is in his hands.

Venom leaves Misfire to the inside of the ship while he heads over to Onslaught, as Shockwave seems preoccupied. "Athough early in the assessment, the Invictus does not seem to be as bad off as once thought. Much of the damage appears to be cosmetic, aesthetic really. I believe whoever originally inventoried the damage was put off by the manner in which the repairs were made." Meanwhile, the Seekers seem to be ignoring Misfire, or at least trying to. They've done their job, they don't need someone going around telling them how to do it now. Earlier would have been fine, but the report is in his hands.

Misfire looks over the report, studying it for a long moment, he pushes off a clearing where he can put down the report. He then pulls out the Decepticon Field Manual, comparing how a shuttle should be stocked. "Heya, guys? According to this, the Crew should be stationed on the inside...not bolted to the outside. Hehehehhe...What a funny typo." The Seekers try to stifle their laughs. "As for the howling in the ship, probably someone used a laptop on this older model. Unshielded wires...Haunted isn't the right word..."

"Sounds like a Constructicon's job to me... There's always one around, you should ask him." Onslaught glances around to make sure every is ok before adding, "One last thing..." he gestures towards the Invictus, "... you have no time for this understood? Even if the insecticon ask you for help. Titanus first. Now that I made that clear...I'm going to the command center. Radio me if you need me." The combaticon commander then heads for the door.

Shockwave has, in case anyone is looking for him, boarded the Titanus to see how the internal work is doing. This means everyone is allowed to be big jerks to one another.

Swindle ehs, turning his head just enough to glance over his shoulder. "Didn't know we still had that one." Turns back to ask if that includes selling the other pilots Sky Lynx Insurance to go with the Dinobot Insurance, but by then Onslaught has stalked off. Ehs and shrugs, then grabs the front of the trailer and pushes it closer to the Titanus. "Orrrr I can just let the autoloaders take care of this."

A little while later, Venom will approach Swindle while no one seems to be looking, and start up a conversation, “I noticed that you have mining equipment for the Titanus. To think, must be tough for you to operate with such a big ship, so many Decepticons looking over each and every resource it finds.”

Misfire continues make comparisons between the standard shuttle specs and this shuttle. He shrugs slightly, as he begins to start with the basic shuffling of items. Sure some of the repairs need to be done by skill crews, but there is plant of grunt work, Misfire being a grunt performs these tasks, while whistling. "You know, this isn't too bad...Open Space. A shuttle full of cargo..." He offers this up to himself. "No Aimless."

Swindle pauses a moment to tap on his comm and radio whoever is working in the cockpit of the Titanus, and a few clicks later a compartment opens to lower a shaft with a conveyor lift down to the tarmack. "Much easier." Now Swindle just has to push the containers off the trailer and let the lift do the rest.

As some point Venom comes over to chat. Fortunately multi-tasking is one of the scammer's many skills. "This is a priority faction mission, Venom." Another munitions crate slides onto the autoloader. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Misfire comes across the ripped apart supply cabinets. "Hmmmm...Probably safety locks. Those things are really annoying." He lets out a chuckle as he sees deep gouges in a cabinet door, that oddly look like they were made by fingers. Misfire places the doors. "This was some shoddy craftsmanship." He moves to some filler and begins to work out the gouges, basic carpentry work really.

Venom nods, “I’m sure you don’t. But, if you are curious, I’m sure that arrangements could be made. When you have the time, you know where you can find me.” And he begins heading back to the construction site, but not before he makes an entry into the logs.

Swindle rolls his optics a moment, but the expression is hidden behind pushing another crate onto the lift. Why does everyone assume he's going to try and make some deal on the side?

Not that they may or may not be wrong, mind you...

Misfire admires the entirely average work he does on the door, a smile forms on his face as he goes back to mount it in place. "One down, 29 more to go!" He moves to the next door, which has a large dent in the shape of a face. "That's funny, this blemish looks like a screaming face." He shrugs as he moves to repair the door.

With the exterior well on the way to being prepped for the repairs, Venom decides to take a look inside the vessel. He hasn’t actually set foot in it yet, but he did get an upload of the Seekers’ report. Once inside, he finds Misfire, “Nice work on the doors,” he says, finding them satisfactory, but trying to build the confidence of the beleaguered targetmaster.

Misfire flashes Venom a broad smile. "Heya Venom! The report is on that table over there, I think I have fixed a lot of the typos on it. Some real strange stuff, I think it is a Seeker joke or something." He shrugs. "There is some technical work, I am not rated to do, but I can handle this grunt work."

Swindle gets the last ammo crate off his trailer and onto the loader. Hops down and leans back against the trailer's side, pulling out a datapad to go over a checklist of what he stocked, so he knows what to refill his own stores of later.

Venom approves, “Excellent, splendid. Keep up the good work.” He moves over to look at the changes, nodding, finding many of the changes laughable, but he is able to resist that temptation. He has quite a bit of technical skill, and starts to work on those systems, doing them on a priority basis. The first step is to restore power to the ship, and that has to be done in engineering.

Methodically moving from supply cabinet to supply cabinet, Misfire continues to make his minor repairs. Near the last one, he bends over and finds a served servo, still attached to a finger. "I swear, some people never clean after themselves." He throws it into a trash bin as he moves for a large Broom. He begins sweeping up the ship.

Swindle was just pondering what to go take care of next when a crash from inside the ship causes him to cringe. A gumbie shouts out, "Ignore that! It totally was -not- a crate falling over and spilling thankfully non-explosive shells all over the ammo room!" "Idiot! You weren't suppose to say that part!" a second yells back.

Swindle sighs, shaking his head in a palm briefly. "Good help is so hard to pay off these days." Heads up into the Titanus proper to make sure the goods get put away -properly- before something detonates inside the load chambers or such

Venom makes his way to the engine room, and does some quick fixes here and there. He cannibalises one to fix another, more important system. The less important systems will be tended to, later. For now, he has to get power going through this ship. Probably a good half hour, maybe longer goes by, but eventually the Invictus seems to light up. Even it’s running lights, on the exterior of the ship light up, illuminating the Landing Platform. Its engine rumbles, low and guttural. It needs tweaking, but it’s operational. Throughout the Invictus, panels come to life, beeping and chirping.

Continuing to make his way around the ship, Misfire continues to clean up the messes he comes across. He emits a steady whistle as he feels oddly inspired this cycle, as if all his circuits are humming. "Man...these fluids are hard to get out...I swear, cleaning cleans are not what they use to be..." He lets out a sigh as he continues to work. Finally, he comes across the lounge area. "Now...we're talking..." He puts aside his cleaning supplies and begins to remount the seats, fine tune the springs. If there is one thing Misfire knows...it is comfort.