01 ⚡ voice - un:starscream;

[vosseeker]

[ You'd be forgiven for thinking that this world had sent Starscream away, considering he hasn't been present in Anchor for a good while. Not down in the public park, not in the vehicle bays, not even poking around engineering. No word of a departure, no expected return.

And yet here he is! Spending an obscenely long time in the garage decontamination showers, until the systems check finally says he's free of dangerous radiation levels. Sadly, it seems Anchor is not yet free of him. ]

In all your little scurrying about and exploring this place, tell me someone has come across excavation equipment. Specifically rock drills and cutters. For that matter, are there any hauling carts? Mag-grav would be best, I'm not carrying this all back by hand. I'm not a mining drone.

Further, I require the following items:

[ He lists off about a dozen parts, which individually aren't that special, but combined sound an awful lot like he's building a distillation tank. ]

Finally, I have high fidelity scans of planetary areas outside the colony. In exchange for assistance with extracting my located resources, I will share them with the rest of you.

Comments

[vosseeker]

We would not have to bore, there is a crevasse. The bottom is approximately 600 meters down, so the equipment would only need to be safely lowered. I am not expecting to locate large-scale mining vehicles in Anchor - it is more likely to find portable ones.

Once at the bottom of the crevasse, some 1800 meters in a direction 7.64 degrees off magnetic north, the crevasse broadens into a cavern riddled with energon veins.

[ Among other things... ]

[superposition]

"Portable" is relative. We're not all eight meters tall, keep in mind.

[ He hmms to himself, running the numbers in his head. There's some mining equipment he's seen in storage - not much is in usable condition, but he can fix that. If they're going half a kilometer up and down, flight's the only viable option - and there are two unfinished aircraft in the vehicle bay, conveniently enough. Mod one of those for heavy lifting, and they're set. ]

It's feasible, from a technical standpoint. I think we could get something running in ... two weeks, at the outside.

[ He is almost definitely underestimating that timeframe, for the record. Since, you know, his usual turnaround is like 10 seconds, and he still hasn't quite got the hang of accounting for the borked powers. ]

However: where, exactly, are you planning to refine and store this stuff? Can it even be handled safely?

[vosseeker]

I expect to carry my share of the task.

[ Two weeks... not as soon as Starscream had hoped. As a flight frame, he naturally burned through energon faster than ground based mechs. Between not having had anything to eat since his arrival, and the extensive flights he'd needed to search outside the colony for the energon in the first place, his tanks were nearly dry. There's audible tension in his tone when he replies. ]

... I see. Let's hope for something a little more inside then, shall we?

[ It takes more of an effort than it should, to focus on Qubit's questions. ]

For storage: it's most stable in its crystal form, but that takes up much more room than as a refined liquid. However, I don't have any containment cubes or crates here, which are the preferred method for storing refined energon with its reactivity at a minimum. It would make more precautionary sense to only refine as much as I need at a time and consume it immediately.

As for where... somewhere with space enough to fit and a preferable lack of idiots underfoot.

[superposition]

[ Yeah, it's possible Qubit would treat this with a little more urgency if he knew Starscream was already running on fumes. Then again, in his mind, Starscream parses less as a lifeform in dire need of food, more as a machine running low on fuel. Obviously he'd prefer to refuel sooner than later, but it's not like it's a matter of life and death. Machines don't "starve to death", that would be ludicrous.

And in that context, the impatience rubs him the wrong way, a bit. But he decides not to get hung up on it this time, partly because he's fairly sure that's just the guy's winning personality.

Anyway, energon! ]

Refining it piecemeal's a good idea in the short term, but we may want to maintain some extra stock in case of equipment issues. Cryo-storage might be an option, if it'd help. Do you have specs for the cubes? Send them my way and I'll see what I can do.

[ Which just leaves the matter of location... but logically, there's only one place that meets all their criteria. ]

We'll stage in the R&D sector, then. Plenty of unused space, and the outdoor wing is large enough for you to stand comfortably. In fact... [ He taps his finger idly on something. ] If you're still in need of accommodation, you're welcome to clear out a workshop on that side. Might be a little cozy by your standards, but a door is a door.

[ Plus, the only people to get underfoot will be the geniuses! Everyone wins. Bonus: it makes it easier for Qubit to keep an eye on him, since he's still not quiiiite convinced it's wise to trust a guy who introduced himself as a "Decepticon." ]

[vosseeker]

[ Whereas Starscream assumes that any delay is simply a result of him not yet accumulating enough goodwill among the Anchorites to warrant urgency. Being under Megatron's command does not do wonders for one's skewed sense of merit. ]

I will send you a file regarding cubes, but refining for immediate use needs to take priority over storage. If it cannot be done here, I will assemble a power core and take the distillation unit out to the crevasse and use it on site.

[ Look, he's really hungry. Qubit's offer to get him settled in the R&D sector is interpreted not as a gesture of kindness, but as a proposal meant to be bartered for. ]

In exchange for?

[superposition]

[ Hm. Making it portable will be tricky, they might have to do it in real small batches. But if anyone can make it work, it's Qubit. ]

Nothing in particular. Consider it a favor, how's that?

[ A favor which may, of course, be called in at some point... ]

[vosseeker]

[ Owing an unspecified favour is never ideal (unless Starscream is the one getting to call it in) but he does acknowledge there are limited options at this point. ]

I'll consider it.