doc_ratchet ([info]doc_ratchet) wrote,
@ 2006-12-06 20:30:00
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Current location:Metroplex - MedBay

The MedBay is quiet when First Aid and his pair of helpers emerge cautiously from the IsoWard cell they had been recharging in. A brief look around reveals Auspex quietly meditating by herself, a pair of strange Seekers wearing Autobot symbols recharging in a curriously huddled ball in one of the other empty cells, Jetstorm's empty cell, and Ratchet, curiously stretched out on the berth where Wheeljack's rebuild is scheduled for.

Obviously the younger medic missed something while he and his staff were recharging. He isn't however, about to awaken Ratchet to ask, as this is the first real rest the CMO has gotten since arriving. First Aid isn't sure why he isn't resting in the office, but he's not going to bother wandering over that way to look, just to assauge his curiosity, and risk disturbing the older medic.

Seeing that the repairs on Rodimus, and Galvatron were essentially finished, First Aid and his staff start repairs on Cyclonus and Scourge. Best to get the Unicronians done first while everyone is relatively fresh enough to still figure their way through the unfamiliar schematics. That will save the more familiar work of Cureall and Wheelie for when their processors need the break from all the alieness of Unicronian design.

Across the bay, just in front of the door to the office, Ratchet twitches imperceptibly as a rough dream plagues his offline CPU.




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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-04 07:36 am UTC (link)
"Yes," Starscream says, shifting back to the console he's been working at. He waves Jetstorm over.

"These are very preliminary, of course-- worked them up after I got stuck on the input stage circuitry. I took their original functions and modernized the designs." He glances at the various heads, and hands a data stick to Jetstorm.

"Here's a copy to study. I retained the Cybertronian elements, of course--high-performance engines, weaponry, combiner connections--and upgraded the Earth alt modes. Air Raid, F-22; Fireflight, Tornado IDS; Skydive, F-22; Slingshot, F-35 Marine variant. Modern stealth technology. Oh, and I added aerospike alternate modes to the engines, for space ops--like I have. Comments welcome. Insults not."

The red and silver Seeker cycles air through his intakes. "The tricky part of this whole rebuild is going to be figuring out what the slag you did to your brothers and reversing it so we can put their sparks back in their lasercores where they belong. You do not want to keep anything that important in your head!"

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-05 12:27 am UTC (link)
Skyfire, who is considering the easiest way to remove the sword from the wall, looks over at Starscream as one comment catches his audials.

"'Comments welcome. Insults not.'" he quotes with a bemused expression. "I haven't heard that in a very long time."

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-05 03:09 am UTC (link)
"Combiner connections won't be necessary," Jetstorm says as he extricates himself from between Skyfire and Ratchet. He accepts the datastick from Starscream and plugs it into his arm, his and his brothers' optics dimming briefly as they absorb the information.

Then their optics flare sharply at Starscream's last few sentences.

[Slingshot] "Wha-at?"

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-05 03:34 am UTC (link)
Starscream's optics brighten slightly.

"That's one opinion, Jetstorm. I'm collecting comments and feedback from all five of you." He tilts his head slightly. "Let me know if you are interested in some design mods."

Starscream's gaze jumps to Slingshot's head at the Aerialcron's exclamation. "What is 'what'?"

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-11 01:46 am UTC (link)
[Air Raid] "The designs look good. Real fast, real maneuverable."

[Skydive] *oddly* "That's an... interesting transformation scheme there, Starscream."

Jetstorm made a static-sound with his vocalizer. "What do you mean, their sparks are in their heads?"

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-11 05:25 am UTC (link)
Starscream looks pleased at Air Raid's comment.

He then looks at Skydive's head and says drily, "I didn't think you wanted to be called 'conehead' for the rest of your natural existance, which is the other transformation scheme I'm very familiar with. Both are solid and reliable morphs that are guaranteed not to send your repair tech into gibbering despair when he has to fix you. I have no idea what was in the energon someone--" At this he glances over at Ratchet, "was drinking when they came up with your original transformation scheme, but it must have been good."

Starscream leans back and looks at Jetstorm. "I could mean, 'their sparks are in their heads', but perhaps that's too subtle."

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[info]doc_ratchet
2007-01-11 05:30 am UTC (link)
The only response from the CMO as he works is a gesture he picked up from Sparkplug a long time ago that involves a single-finger salute.

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-11 05:43 am UTC (link)
"Yes," Jetstorm grits out, trying to keep a rein on his temper, since he knows that very little of it is actually raised by Starscream. "Or perhaps you could elaborate on what you said there instead of acting like you don't understand basic English idiom."

[Slingshot] *sardonically* "I'm starting to see why Megs hit him so much."

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-11 06:08 am UTC (link)
Starscream smirks at Ratchet's rather familiar gesture--he tossed one like it at Megatron's back enough times--and stares evenly at Jetstorm.

"Their sparks are in their heads. Period. Not in the lasercores you apparently installed somewhere else. I'm curious as to how you managed that. Without killing them, at that. I'm even more curious to know if you can reverse that, because an armored lasercore really is a better place for a spark than embedded somewhere in the cerebral circuitry. You'd think they were squishies, with that kind of setup!"

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-11 06:18 am UTC (link)
"... I see."

The emotional storm surrounding Jetstorm just sort of fades away as a whole new bit of information tilts his worldview oddly out of place.

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[info]primus_seeress
2007-01-11 07:36 am UTC (link)
*Auspex remains very subdued, watching Jetstorm's and his brothers' emotions carefully. She does nod, and adds her own observation in a quiet voice* It is most likely, since your brothers can apparently survive even when seperated from you. The only other possibility is that you've set up some sort of metaphysical web to link them with their lasercores, though I've never heard of such thing... but the method in which you five subsist is already a wonder to me. *she knows this is worth discussing, but she hates to even tread near the subject of his brothers' state*

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-11 06:34 pm UTC (link)
Starscream looks at Jetstorm and Auspex curiously. He smiles. "Well. I'll let you work that one out for a bit."

He glances at Skydive's head.

"Seriously, Skydive, if that transformation scheme is not suitable, I need to know now, so I can make any revisions. Transforms are not the sort of thing you want to hack up at the last minute." The red and silver Seeker's tone is not apologetic, no, not in the least, but it is much milder, with no trace of the previous sarcasm.

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-11 10:15 pm UTC (link)
Jetstorm tucks his legs under himself and 'kneels' in mid-air. There's a sense that he doesn't particularly want to move right now.

[Skydive] "It's just... different."

[Air Raid] "Be a good way to seperate use from the local Aerialbots, though, and with the truce, it's not like we need to worry about not having a Deceptijet profile."

[Fireflight] *quietly* "Are you going to get re-Autobranded, Jetstorm?"

Jetstorm wobbles slightly. "I... Hadn't considered that."

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[info]strataseeker
2007-01-12 01:16 am UTC (link)
Strata glances up at Air Raid from where she is half listening as she works.

"Truce shouldn't matter. We made it through okay," she replies with a nod towards Photon and a shrug. She turns her attention up to Jetstorm thoughtfully.

"It's a symbol. One that means more to some than to others. To some, it's the end-all, be-all definition of who they are. To others? It's just a pretty patch of red or purple paint. But in the end? It's still just a symbol you wear on the outside. YOU define what you are, and having or not having a particular splash of paint on the outside shouldn't affect that. And, trust me... That brand? Doesn't always buy you courtesy amongst others who wear the same one."

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-12 01:48 am UTC (link)
Slingshot says what's on all the Aerialcrons' minds, only more bluntly than the others would have. "Yeah, and how many friendly fire 'accidents' did you two have?"

Strata's comments on the Autobrand makes all of them angrily unamused.

[Air Raid] *clips his words* "We know exactly what the Autobrand is worth. After all if it weren't for Starscream, we'd have traded it in for the Deceptisigil."

[Skydive] "You think symbols aren't worth anything? We never got a Rite of the Autobrand, and we knew what that meant about us."

[Fireflight] *simply* "We made our choice. We're Autobots. We could have been Decepticons, but we're not."

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[info]strataseeker
2007-01-12 01:51 am UTC (link)
Neither twin seems too phased by their anger or their comments. Strata turns a mild look on Fireflight.

"Same here," is her simple reply.

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[info]doc_ratchet
2007-01-12 02:11 am UTC (link)
Ratchet doesn't even bother looking up from the weld he is doing as he adds, "I never got it, either, Skydive." Unspoken, but as obvious and clear as if he'd said the words aloud, "And I dare anyone to question my loyalty."

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-12 04:34 am UTC (link)
"This is all very interesting," Starscream said in a tone that implied the opposite, "but what sigil you paint on your wings has nothing to do with the underlying design."

He stands up and flexes his wings slightly.

"I'm going to take a bit of a break while you lot figure out what you actually want. I really need to ask Perceptor about some of the input and output stage wave functions before I move much further on that, either. Toodles!"

With that, he saunters toward the exit, looking expectantly at Ratchet.

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[info]doc_ratchet
2007-01-12 07:34 pm UTC (link)
Ratchet finishes the weld he is working on, partly to keep it neat and strong - the CMO is a perfectionist when it comes to his work - and partly out of a satisfyingly perverse need to irritate the Air Commander just a little by making him wait. The CMO wasn't even at Prime's beck and call when he was working, and it would do well for certain mechs to understand that.

And he's feeling just a wee bit ornery.

Weld finished, he glances up at Starscream with a quirked up optical ridge and heads over to cycle the Seeker out.

"Anyone else stymied and need a break?"

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[info]0ut_of_sight
2007-01-12 07:46 pm UTC (link)
*has been quietly continuing his work on the shell refabrication and pretending that he's not paying much attention to the discussion on sigils. He looks up at Ratchet's question and directs a querying look at both the twins. He thinks he'll be okay staying for the moment, but if the two of them wanted to leave he'd probably go with them rather than being stuck in the Medbay while the other Seekers were out flying or whatever*

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[info]strataseeker
2007-01-12 07:56 pm UTC (link)
"I'm good," Strata replies without looking up as she continues working.

Photon is even less verbose; engrossed in something on her console, she doesn't even register Ratchet's question until Strata finally glances up and tosses a smallish piece of scrap at her. The bit of metal bounces off of the dark twin's wing with a soft clang, prompting her to wave a hand in an annoyed, negative fashion without even looking up before clearly tuning out the rest of the bay again.

"Photon's good, too," Strata sighs. "Thanks anyway."

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[info]0ut_of_sight
2007-01-12 07:59 pm UTC (link)
*that settles it then*

*to Ratchet:* Fine here too.

*goes back to work*

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[info]doc_ratchet
2007-01-12 08:02 pm UTC (link)
"Fair 'nuff," Ratchet replies, inputting the commands to turn Starscream loose on an unsuspecting Autobot City again. "We're starting to run a little low on parts, so do try to keep yourself in one piece, if you please."

Ratchet was definitely feeling a little ornery, and no one was safe.

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[info]attair_al_fada
2007-01-12 08:17 pm UTC (link)
(( Starscream goes flying to a private place to think. He gets more than he bargained for. He may be a touch weirder than usual when he gets back. ))

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[info]blackwingdove
2007-01-13 12:08 am UTC (link)
Jetstorm air-skates over to 'his' iso-cell, the data-stick that Starscream handed him still in his arm. He pauses outside of the cell and taps a few commands into the isolation field controls. Nothing immediately happens.

He steps into the isolation ward, and a low-level field snaps up behind him. He ignores it, settling in to think.

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