Zepar looks at Shadowraker and lifts up the upgrade for her to inspect. She curiously examines it by looking at it from several angels and lightly pecking at it.
Eventually, she seems to give an approving screech to Zepar and returns to her storage mode.
The Angelicon walks to Sprocket and asks, “Can I ask where Grommet is?” He brings out Shadowraker, “She would like an upgrade.”
From the other end of the lab, Grommet holds up a hand.
“I’m right here,” he sighs. “As usual…”
“Is something wrong?” Zepar asks, sitting down next to Grommet.
Garand and Epsilon examine the relics they had helped to collect, Epsilon seeming happy with his new missile systems.
“Oh no, nothing,” Grommet says, waving his hand dismissively. “Merely a remark on the lack of interest the crew has shown in my field. Augmented mechanimal companions must be falling out of fashion; I may need to find a new profession, hahah…”
Garand finds a flamethrower attachment for his arm cannon, which could also be used in his alternate mode.
Garand looks around to see if anyone was going to claim it and then proceeds to install it after logging the device and his use of it.
Zepar nods, “To be honest, Shadowraker has been a very valuable companion to me, we wouldn’t have found the vault to quickly if she hadn’t helped.” He said, causing the Cryo-condor to come out and land gently on Grommet’s shoulder to try to cheer him up.
Grommet pats the cryo-condor on the back, smiling faintly.
“It would be a nice change of pace to apply my expertise elsewhere, perhaps,” he muses. “Maybe when the war’s over, I can be a veterinarian. Fixing these creatures up instead of mounting guns on them; a little variety, I think.”
“Your kind treatment of animals would be a great boon to that field.” Zeapr said as he lifted up the mod for Shadowraker, “Think you could try installing this on her? She seems to be interested in it.”
Shadowraker gives Grommet a look that would basically translate as “Please? it looks like fun.”
Grommet’s telescoping eye narrows, examining the mod in detail.
“Hmmm… it looks… old,” he remarks. “I may have to enlist Sprocket’s help in-”
“Uh, I’m sorry, what was that?” Sprocket calls from across the lab, interrupting the Decepticon biologist.
“I heard that right, right? You need my help with something?” he asks wryly. Grommet sighs.
“Yes, I just might,” he says resignedly. “This mod Zepar wants installed on his cryo-condor looks Ancient in nature, and that’s more your area- as you’ve reminded me countless times.”
“She seems interested in having it installed.” He said.
“Well, what is it?” Sprocket says, setting a triangular bauble atop a pile of miscellaneous artifacts and hurrying over.
“Antimatter gun? Time dilator? Phase displacement chip?”
Zepar points to a few key components, “Judging by these parts, I’d wager it’s some kind of cryogenic freezing ray.” He said.
“Freeze ray,” Sprocket repeats. “Nice. Underrated, those are.”
“Yup, cryo-weaponry is often an unexpected and underestimated tool.” Zepar said, recalling how a few Angelicons did find their inherent element of surprise to be most useful; an advanced race of robotic entities…and yet, a freeze ray can be as devastating as a Null Ray if you land a shot in a critical spot.
“Right then, let’s have a look…” Sprocket says, clearing some space at one of Grommets workstations. He gingerly move the small insecticon colony aside, not wanting to incur their wrath inadvertently. Grommet prepares a small operating bed for Shadowraker in the meantime.
Shadowraker seems excited by all this and Zepar’s comments. She cooperates but is still clearly exicted about the upgrade.
Sprocket takes the freeze ray from Zepar and begins examining it, scribbling notes a holo-pad that he calls up beside him as he works.
“Seems functional,” he says optimistically. Ancient cybertronian technology once again demonstrated its remarkable ability to withstand the test of time.
Grommet peers over his shoulder. “Dumb it down for me, if you please,” he says. “What goes where?”
Sprocket begins to point out the various attachment points on the mod, including port meant to interface with Shadowraker’s targeting systems. Grommet nods as he takes it in. With Sprocket providing direction, he could get the freeze ray installed fairly quickly.
Zepar begins working on carefully installing the Energon repair ray onto his CLUTCH Drone in the meantime.
As stasis is induced, Shadowraker gives Zepar a look and he gives a kind nod to her before everything went black for her as she dreamed of hunting proto-rats(?) in an open plain on Cybertron with a flock of other Cryo-condors.
Grommet removes Shadowraker’s current armaments from her back, setting them aside before calling Sprocket over to help him attach the freeze ray.
“Alright, now you’re gonna wanna attach the red coupling to- the red one, I said!”
“They’re both red, confound it!”
“Okay, the thinner one then! Hook the thinner red one to her spinal column, just beneath the ‘occipital node’, whatever that is.”
“The silver-green protrusion at the rear of the brain module- it’s basic cybertronian anatomy.”
“You think I remember any of that?! It’s been thirty thousand years since I hatched, man.”
“Oh, for the love of…”
The bickering gradually subsided as the two fell into a rhythm, with Sprocket providing direction on how to assemble the weapon while Grommet integrated it into Shadowraker’s body. A short while later, the procedure is complete.
Zepar stands up after finishing the modifications to his Drone and walks up to the scientists, “How is she?” He asks once they’re done.
Shadowraker remained sleeping peacefully.
“She’s still in stasis,” Grommet says as he deactivates the mechanism in the bed keeping her comatose. “Perhaps she’ll be a little sore for a short time, but otherwise I believe the procedure was a success.”
“She’ll be an interesting case study,” Sprocket chimes in. “Cryo-condors weren’t around in the Golden Age, apparently. Can’t say for sure how this’ll work out.”