“That they are,” Defender replied. “Let’s see, we have a few cyborgs, some Cybertronian mercenaries, and a traitor to your order. The latter is in dire need of medical attention, having been severely injured by another member of our party. While we have skilled medics here, this Knight’s structure and systems are beyond their skill. We hope that you will be able to repair her, at least to such a state as to endure interrogation.”
He grinned.
“The Primes should be able to give you a better briefing. We also picked up some intel on the leader of these terrorists. Seems he wants to find whatever we’re looking for- whatever Sentinel hid long ago.”
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“Well, if you say so…” Salvage says, and he shakes Roadgrind’s hand. “Welcome to the party, Roadgrind. How do you feel about desert planets?”
“I have every faith that you won’t let him have it,” Repentia replies warmly. “We shall not delay you further.”
Turning to the four Knights beside her, she utters a command in Ancient Cybertronian. With a nod, they stride out of the hangar toward the medical bay, while Repentia remains among our heroes. They pass Seraphicon and Honeycomb, acknowledging the former by briefly bowing their heads to show respect for the old hero.
“Nothing worth having ever comes easy, right?” Liege offers weakly. “At least the quintessons won’t be following us.”
“I gotcha,” Spotwelder says, beginning to do just that. “We’ll have this thing running at peak performance before we reach Lacuna, mark my words.”
Back on Astrum, Lathe watches from the observation deck of a corvette as soldiers of the planetary militia sweep the ruins of Liege Maximo’s island home. Immense cutting lasers break apart the wreckage of the quintesson ship to be covertly transported to a facility within the ring-world’s superstructure; there the remains will be studied, and a thorough report will be sent to the rest of the cybertronian worlds. This is a chance to learn just how the quintessons had evolved since their last war with the Milky Way all those eons ago, and Lathe fears that she has but precious time to act on it.
A persistent current of shame had been running through her circuits since Axis Prime and Seraphicon had told her of the attack: the quintessons had slipped through Astrum’s planetary defenses entirely unnoticed, and as she had honored Axis Prime’s wish for secrecy, her people remained entirely unaware of the impending threat. She had failed here, and she had been incredibly fortunate that the cost of that failure had not been more dire, thanks to the intervention of this new crop of vigilantes. But she would not depend on them to save the day again, off on their quest as they were.
The next time the quintessons come to Astrum, my people will be ready, Lathe vows. Many a monster’s hide broke beneath the Forge of Solus Prime in the old days; so it shall be again, if our foes insist on challenging her descendants.
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At that, Roadgrind’s smile diminished a little to a wry grin.
“Can’t say they’re my favorite, I’m afraid. Sand gets into my tires and makes me itchy, itchy, itchy.” Then his cheeky smirk returned.
“At least there’s enough space to drive around.”
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Seraphicon gives a polite nod/bow of his head to the Knights as they passed, “you guys need a hand?” He asks, “I’m sure we could help out, if you like.”
————————————
Firestorm and Dark soon rejoin as Firestorm clambers out of the chest cavity a few minutes later and look over the terminal, “how’s it looking on the engines, Spotwelder?” They ask, their voices synchronized, almost like echoes or layers in one sound.
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Kitai stepped out from shadows, his wings trailing like an old garment, his heavy footfalls thudding against the metal surface of the cold floor.
He approached Repentia, and held out the chip.
“I believe you are the one to give this to?”
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“Yeah, not a big fan, either,” Salvage confesses, “but it sounds like that’s our next stop, soon as the Knights take these bad guys off our hands.”
“If that is your wish,” one of the Knights- a green-and-yellow man with parts suggesting some kind of chimera-like beast mode- replies. The four Knights proceed to the medical bay, inviting Seraphicon to join them.
Within Excalibur II’s medical bay, the quintesson prisoners have been repaired and made ready for transport. Armed guards stand around Hammer, Anvil, and the combiners that make up Chaingang, while Erinyix has been placed in a stasis pod that hovers above the ground. The dead bodies gathered for study have been prepared for transport as well, for the benefit of the scientists on Primogenitum’s surface. The Knights certainly wouldn’t mind extra hands to ensure that the transfer goes smoothly, and the team’s new medic might benefit from having a look at the ship’s sickbay (@ProfSrlojohn).
Spotwelder’s fingers extend and split apart into dozens of tiny manipulators and tools to work with more precision within the guts of the transtector. These appendages sweep over the body’s engines, swiftly re-opening the secondary fuel-lines as Firestorm requested.
“Almost… got it!” Spotwelder says, as sparks briefly fly out from the mechanisms. His tools coalesce back into his hands, and he gives the Headmaster a thumbs-up. (@BlackBeltGamer98)
Repentia takes the chip between a thumb and index finger, and peers at it curiously. “That may depend,” she says to Kitai. “What would you have me do with it?”
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“Are you capable of accessing the files upon it?”
He cocks his head to the side.
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( OOC: @BlackBeltGamer98 if he’s interested)
The Doctor approaches the knights, His markings identifying him as a bodyshaper. “Pardon me gentlemen, I’m a recent addition to this fine vessel, and I’m looking to make myself useful. Any way i can help you?”
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Seraphicon gives him a polite nod in greeting.
( OOC: @ValkyriePrimal , Seraphicon would’ve invited Honeycomb to follow if she was wanting to.)
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Repentia shakes her head. “Not I,” she says, “However, I know those who can. They could have the contents of this device decrypted by the time your vessel returns from your voyage.”
Noting Hauler’s bodyshaper markings, the Knights look to the ship’s chief medical officer, Moreyn. “Do the prisoners require treatment?” the green one asks.
Moreyn gestures to the stasis pod housing Erinyix, the fallen Knight. “This one here is gravely wounded, but she’s been thoroughly augmented with quintesson tech,” he explains. “We were hoping that your order’s doctors would be better equipped to repair her. We also recovered biotech that could be worth studying.”
Through the pod’s transparent lid, Hauler can see that Erinyix has biomechanical components that have been badly mutilated and burned. Her armor plating is also thoroughly shredded, and a holographic panel on the side of the pod indicates that her energon levels are dangerously low.
The other prisoners are in much better shape, guarded closely and showing no sign that they intend to attempt an escape.
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“Then this is indeed for you to keep.” His three eyes narrowed.
“But I warn you, what you may find on that chip will no doubt be harrowing. Furthermore, there are others like that one. You will find them inside their heads.” He said, his voice filled with a cautionary tone.
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“I’m a Bodyshaper by trade, I work on unique and unusual constructions on the regular, let me look at her.” The doctor said, “I just finished putting a cybertronian implant on a human, i can’t imagine this can be any more different. If not, I’m sure one of you fine Knights can assist me in dealing with the Quintesson peculiarities, yes?”
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“My order was the first line of defense for the galaxy in the first two Quintesson Wars- we are familiar with the horrors that the enemy can inflict,” Repentia assures Kitai. “And I would do all that is within my power to keep those horrors from visiting the galaxy again- a sentiment I suspect you share, as well. If there is anything on this device that can aid us in that goal, my people will find it.”
“None of us four are experts in that field, I’m afraid,” another one of the four Knights- red and gold, with a large engine block forming much of her abdomen- says, shaking her head. “We are but warriors- our knowledge of quintessons is mostly limited to their tactics and weaponry.”
“The stasis pod is the only thing keeping her alive at the moment,” Moreyn warns. “I wouldn’t remove her until she’s in a position to receive adequate care.”
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“Now, I do not know of that. But, still. Take heed, Please.”
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“Not ideal, but I’ll see what i can do to stablize her at least. perhaps then she can be left to heal on her own.” He replied, setting his mobile workstation down, and opening it. He flipped a switch, and let it’s auto-diagnostic system work, scanning the patient and giving basic diagnoses on the subject’s symptoms and presumable causes. “While that runs, I need a supply of the highest enrichment of Energon you can find, and see if we have a supply of food suitable for organics. There’s no way for us to know which she’ll need to heal.”
(OOC: I’ll let you determine the scan results)
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Repentia nods her head. “And to you, friend,” she says. “Take care.”
Lifting her head to address the other people in the hangar, she says, “I wish you luck all in the battles to come. Primus is with you in your quest, and we, the servants of his chosen, will fight at your side against the quintessons as we did in the Golden Age.”
Hauler’s auto-diagnostic system identifies Erinyix’s wounds as combat injuries sustained from multiple weapons, along with chemical burns rendering her transformation mechanisms inoperable. The device also shows Hauler that much of her internal structure has been replaced with quintesson biotechnology, as Moreyn had said. Before entering stasis, the biotech seemed to have been trying to draw from Erinyix’s low energon reserves to regenerate itself.
Moreyn procures a canister of energon from a cache elsewhere in the medical bay and gives it to Hauler. “Something inside her consumed the energon I gave her earlier before her body could route it to her self-repair systems,” he tells Hauler. “Part of her augmentations, I suspect- though clearly not at all beneficial to her survival.”
While he works, three of the four Knights escort the other prisoners and the bodies of the slain quintessons to Excalibur II’s hangar, where they are taken aboard the Knights’ ship.
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“Ah, excellent, we won’t need organic food.” The Doctor stopped to read the container. 85% purity, too energized still. “I’m going to need to dilute it. Too much energy too fast will shock the system and could lead to nerve and brain module damage” He explained, before going to his pack and drawing a hose from it. He attached his hose the canister, then attached a second much smaller tube to the canister, and inserted it into the Patient’s energon ducts. “now when i say go, i need to to turn off the stasis field, and I’ll turn on the pump. With any luck, the biotech should be able to heal her faster than the energon will leak from her system. On three.” he then begins to count down
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Moreyn briefly goes away from the stasis pod to dilute the energon as Hauler requested, before returning in time to man the controls to the stasis pod. At Hauler’s command, he will open the pod just long enough for Hauler to perform the transfusion.
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On three Hauler started the pump and hoped for the best, the external energon pump should be capable of keeping the energon flowing. While slow at first, the body began to heal, picking up speed as more and more of the body’s natural process takes over.
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Erinyix stirs slightly as the influx of energon nearly rouses her from stasis lock. Her biotech components can be seen rippling as they drink up the energon, and scab-like formations start to appear over their wounds. The holo-panel on the side of the stasis pod reports that the integrity of her spark strengthens somewhat.
When Hauler finishes the infusion, Moreyn quickly re-activates the stasis pod. “That may well give her a fighting chance,” he says. “Thank you.”
“I imagine hers is an interesting tale,” the muscle car Knight muses. “I hope she will live, if only that I might hear it.”
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