Never Did Run Smooth, Ch. 16
Countdown continues toward something exciting happening. Not much longer, for reals.
- - - - -
"It's finished."
Optimus turned away from the balcony in surprise. "Already?" It's only been six days!
Rhinox raised one of his heavy brows. "You said a week, didn't you?"
"To be honest, I would've been satisfied if it had taken twice as long." Optimus shook his head and clapped a hand on the tech's shoulder. "Nice work."
"Hm. Don't give me all the credit. Rattrap and Dinobot are running final diagnostics as we speak."
Primal blinked. "I thought Dinobot was out on patrol?"
Rhinox shrugged. "Maybe he got bored. Just as well -- we needed the extra hand."
"You could have just asked me." If you were having trouble meeting the deadline, why didn't you say so?
"You were busy enough. I didn't want to give you anything more to worry about."
That answers that question. Optimus appreciated the intent, but it still bothered him when his crew didn't give him honest feedback. He'd say that much for Rattrap: the little fleabag would flat-out tell him when one of his insane plans was going down the recycler. "Thanks for the consideration, old friend, but you should learn to notify me when I'm asking something impossible."
Rhinox considered this, then acknowledged it with a slight nod. "If you ever do, I'll let you know. Anyway, it's done. Where are we going to set it up?"
Primal turned to look back out over the plain. "I've been thinking about that. It needs to be close to the Axalon, so we can retrieve the pods quickly before the Predacons can beat us to it."
The engineer nodded. "But not so close that it drops on our heads. Or brings the Predacons through our front door. You know, as soon as we start broadcasting, they'll be on us like flies."
"I know. Believe me, it's been on my mind." Optimus sighed heavily, then straightened his shoulders. "I've scouted around. I think our best bet will be one of the plateaus to the west. It's a direct line of travel from the Axalon's entrance, and it's wide open, with no mountains for the pods to smash into. It's not the best place to hide, and we'll be pretty conspicuous, but it's on high ground. At least we'll spot the Preds coming."
Rhinox nodded. "Hopefully, we'll only need to establish direct contact with a single pod. I can relay the coordinates from there to the other pods in orbit. That way, we don't need line of sight on the ground to contact them all." There was a long, hanging pause before the inevitable dash of pessimism. "If it doesn't work, the first pod will likely just crash. Near the base if we're lucky, and if we're not--"
"We'll worry about that if it happens," said Primal firmly, and the engineer fell silent. Optimus had spent much of the last week thinking over everything that could go wrong with this plan. He didn't need a reality check from anyone else. "We have to think positive, and try for the best-case scenario. Pit, any results will be better than we would've had not doing anything." Provided we don't get any Maximals killed trying to pull this off.
"Point made. Well, when do you want us to set it up?"
Primal thought for a minute. "How quickly can you finish work on it?"
"We've done all we can indoors. The final assembly has to take place outside. Shouldn't take more than a couple megacycles, if I still have Rattrap and Dinobot helping."
"We'll need them on-site, anyway." Optimus nodded. "All right. Sunset's in an hour... we should probably try to get this done under cover of darkness. I don't like evenings, the Predacons are too active then. We'll try after midnight."
"Tonight?"
"I don't see why not. Do you?"
Rhinox shook his head. "We're ready to go. Sooner we try this out, the less we all have to wait for something to go wrong."
Primal couldn't help but wince. "Do you always have to be so cheerful?"
"Sorry." He really did look abashed, and Primal reminded himself that Rhinox was just trying to be a good advisor, not an overwhelming drag. "I should get back to engineering, anyhow. My gloom and doom are needed elsewhere."
The commander raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. We really need you to counter Rattrap's buoyant optimism and Dinobot's blithe spirits."
He almost had to laugh at the look on Rhinox's face. Must've been a fun week for him. I can only imagine what those two have been like to work with.
- - - - -
"You got your wires crossed, Leatherlips."
"Hmh. Said the pot to the kettle."
"No, smart-aft, I mean that literally." Rattrap reached past him, batting Dinobot's long fingers fussily out of the way to reach delicately into the tangle of wiring. "Sheesh, what a mess. Glad I caught this when I did. Rhinox woulda had a fit if we'd fried this thing as soon as we turned it on."
"Well, we wouldn't want THAT, would we?" Dinobot drew back to let him work; this was more the rat's area of expertise, and anyway, he was the only one who insisted on being so picky. The whole thing should work fine as it was -- in fact, in Dinobot's opinion, the last day or so of tweaking and fine-tuning had been largely unnecessary -- but that was techs for you. "Good enough" was never good enough for them. As an all-around survival expert, Dinobot could wire together just about anything he might need that wasn't insanely complicated, up to and including explosives. But it wasn't anywhere near his favorite chore.
From within the multicolored snarl of cabling, Rattrap gave a humorless chuckle. "No, trust me, you wouldn't. He don't get angry real often, but it's reeeeeally not pretty when he does. An' if I'm the one who screwed up... Yeesh."
Pretending not to be too interested, the warrior idly tested a couple of seams on their latest creation, making sure the bolts and welds were secure. "What you consider 'not pretty' is probably civil by Predacon standards. I doubt that Rhinox would be a match for me."
There was a moment of silence, broken only by rustling and tinkering. Dinobot had almost figured he'd dropped the subject when Rattrap spoke softly, barely audible to the Predacon. "Do me a favor an' don't ever try to find out, okay? I don't wanna be near either of ya when that happens."
The seriousness was almost chilling, coming from him. Dinobot curled a hand into a fist and studied it for a few seconds before changing the subject. "This will work. I have no doubt of that. The hard part will be keeping Predacons away from it."
Rattrap emerged, dusting himself off, and grabbed a scanner to run one more quick diagnostic. "Yeah, they'll prob'ly pull out all the stops on this one. We pissed them off good blowin' up their tower, not to mention stealin' the idea."
"Both of which were your doing."
"Tch, yeah. Really hope Megs doesn't figure that one out."
The raptor gave him a pointed look. "Most likely, he already has." They were alone, so he allowed a bit of concern to rise in his voice and expression. "You should remain at the base, just in case. Megatron's grudges are as dangerous as they are petty."
Rattrap smiled at him, a lopsided smirk that conveyed nonchalance he probably wasn't really feeling. "Believe me, I'd love to. But y'know Optimus -- he's gonna want my ass on the line. All the technical expertise we can get, an' all." He shrugged. "'Sides, this was my crazy idea. Might as well see it through. I know heroism an' self-sacrifice ain't my usual scene, but hey -- I gotta break character sometimes."
Dinobot was suddenly, painfully aware of how he felt about this mech. He forced himself to look away as the disarming smile grew wider. I should have listened to myself. This is going to drive me mad. "You're a fool," he growled over his shoulder, "and you choose the worst possible times to display courage."
"Yeah, but that's one o' the things you love me for." Soft, barely audible footsteps moved a few paces closer. "You do, don't ya? That's why you're worryin' so much."
It wasn't, perhaps, the most tactful way to broach the subject, but it was direct and straightforward, as Dinobot preferred. Much to his dismay, the warrior found he couldn't answer it in kind. In part because it was a subject he knew very little of, though he had read a great deal, all of it confusing.
He opened his mouth, closed it. "I." He shook his head. "I need to clear my head. I have spent too much time in here with... all of you." He hadn't meant to insult, but it was too late to retract the statement; at worst Rattrap would think it was a remark about his smell.
The spy didn't get upset, just nodded. "Too soon. Gotcha." Then, as if it were any normal conversation, "Well, go out an' get some air, then. Surprised you stuck around as long as you did. 'Preciate it, though -- this wouldn't a' gone so fast without you."
"No need to thank me. I'm doing my job." The warrior transformed and stalked out. "If anyone else needs me," he said over his shoulder, "I'll be in communicator range."
"Right," Rattrap muttered. Once he was alone, he allowed himself a sigh. Second time lately I've chased you outta the base. I gotta learn to be less forward.
"Where's he going?" rumbled a deeper voice. Rhinox must have bumped into Dinobot on the way back to engineering. "You two didn't have another fight, did you?"
The spy gave the tech his best You WOUND me, sir expression. "He just got tired o' the close quarters, I guess. What, it's my fault the broodin' lizard can't stand to be around anybody else?" Amazing, he noted inwardly, how easy it was to muster up the old bluster and insults... as if he still meant them.
"Well, as long as he doesn't go far. We'll need him soon." Rhinox dropped his voice slightly, as if wary of Predacons listening in. "Optimus wants it set up before dawn. The longer we wait, the more likely we lose our element of surprise."
"Lost cause, if y'ask me. The Preds've prob'ly already figured out what we're up to." Rattrap had fallen back into a pessimistic mood.
"Maybe." Rhinox shrugged; he was used to the rat's discouraging attitude. "Anyway, if you've finished those diagnostics, better go get some rest." That was Rhinox-speak for, Let me look over our work one last time and make sure nobody screwed up before we try this thing in the field. He always had to complete his final anal-retentive ritual in solitude -- which was fine by Rattrap, really.
The spy threw up his hands dramatically. "If I'm finally given permission t'leave this workhouse, count me outta here!" He tossed the diagnostic scanner he'd been fiddling with to Rhinox, then was gone before the tech could reprimand him for throwing around things that couldn't be easily replaced.
- - - - - -
For almost an hour now the Axalon had been in the shadow of the surrounding mountains. Dinobot couldn't see the sun where he stood, but its slanted rays still colored the western sky. The last of the day's heat was rising from the ground, shimmering in his infrared vision. He listened to the normal bird calls and animal chatter of the evening for a moment, to make sure that nothing in the area had disturbed them. When he was satisfied, he went for a walk.
Below the edge of the cliff only yards from where he'd stood, a small crevice looked out on the roaring gorge at the base of the falls. The crack was narrow and deep, just wide enough to hide a small signature dampener and a very bored, very impatient Predacon.
Undetected, Blackarachnia sighed. She'd been posted here for the better part of a week, stealing away only twice to report back to base, refuel and rest. Her task was simple enough: Wait. Wait until the Maximals finally set out on whatever mission they'd been preparing for all this time. Then contact Megatron as soon as they'd left.
It wasn't a bad assignment, really. Certainly easier than Scorponok and Terrorsaur having to provide distractions, making occasional spying runs into Maximal territory so they could get caught and booted out, luring the enemy into a false sense of security. That was an old, old trick of Megatron's that the Maximals still didn't seem to have caught on to. They hadn't even bothered to look around just outside the base itself. Once she'd settled in here, Blackarachnia was all but invisible, even to the local wildlife. Easiest job she'd had in ages.
It was also the most boring one she'd had in ages. Quite frankly, she couldn't wait for it to end. She'd rather be shooting someone, or hunting, or even helping Tarantulas with one of his disturbing projects. She really hoped the Maximals put their brilliant plans into action soon.
From the valley below came a screeching chorus as the local troop of vervet monkeys protested Dinobot's presence. At least after dark those noisy hairballs fell silent, along with most of the birds. Of course, then the hyenas and lions started up. And the crickets. Just listening to them singing was making Blackarachnia hungry.
Any time now, Primal. My morbid curiosity aside, I don't really enjoy spying on you all that much, so let's get it over with, shall we? And if Megatron's wrong and you're not up to something big, I'm going to kill him.
- - - - -
"It's finished."
Optimus turned away from the balcony in surprise. "Already?" It's only been six days!
Rhinox raised one of his heavy brows. "You said a week, didn't you?"
"To be honest, I would've been satisfied if it had taken twice as long." Optimus shook his head and clapped a hand on the tech's shoulder. "Nice work."
"Hm. Don't give me all the credit. Rattrap and Dinobot are running final diagnostics as we speak."
Primal blinked. "I thought Dinobot was out on patrol?"
Rhinox shrugged. "Maybe he got bored. Just as well -- we needed the extra hand."
"You could have just asked me." If you were having trouble meeting the deadline, why didn't you say so?
"You were busy enough. I didn't want to give you anything more to worry about."
That answers that question. Optimus appreciated the intent, but it still bothered him when his crew didn't give him honest feedback. He'd say that much for Rattrap: the little fleabag would flat-out tell him when one of his insane plans was going down the recycler. "Thanks for the consideration, old friend, but you should learn to notify me when I'm asking something impossible."
Rhinox considered this, then acknowledged it with a slight nod. "If you ever do, I'll let you know. Anyway, it's done. Where are we going to set it up?"
Primal turned to look back out over the plain. "I've been thinking about that. It needs to be close to the Axalon, so we can retrieve the pods quickly before the Predacons can beat us to it."
The engineer nodded. "But not so close that it drops on our heads. Or brings the Predacons through our front door. You know, as soon as we start broadcasting, they'll be on us like flies."
"I know. Believe me, it's been on my mind." Optimus sighed heavily, then straightened his shoulders. "I've scouted around. I think our best bet will be one of the plateaus to the west. It's a direct line of travel from the Axalon's entrance, and it's wide open, with no mountains for the pods to smash into. It's not the best place to hide, and we'll be pretty conspicuous, but it's on high ground. At least we'll spot the Preds coming."
Rhinox nodded. "Hopefully, we'll only need to establish direct contact with a single pod. I can relay the coordinates from there to the other pods in orbit. That way, we don't need line of sight on the ground to contact them all." There was a long, hanging pause before the inevitable dash of pessimism. "If it doesn't work, the first pod will likely just crash. Near the base if we're lucky, and if we're not--"
"We'll worry about that if it happens," said Primal firmly, and the engineer fell silent. Optimus had spent much of the last week thinking over everything that could go wrong with this plan. He didn't need a reality check from anyone else. "We have to think positive, and try for the best-case scenario. Pit, any results will be better than we would've had not doing anything." Provided we don't get any Maximals killed trying to pull this off.
"Point made. Well, when do you want us to set it up?"
Primal thought for a minute. "How quickly can you finish work on it?"
"We've done all we can indoors. The final assembly has to take place outside. Shouldn't take more than a couple megacycles, if I still have Rattrap and Dinobot helping."
"We'll need them on-site, anyway." Optimus nodded. "All right. Sunset's in an hour... we should probably try to get this done under cover of darkness. I don't like evenings, the Predacons are too active then. We'll try after midnight."
"Tonight?"
"I don't see why not. Do you?"
Rhinox shook his head. "We're ready to go. Sooner we try this out, the less we all have to wait for something to go wrong."
Primal couldn't help but wince. "Do you always have to be so cheerful?"
"Sorry." He really did look abashed, and Primal reminded himself that Rhinox was just trying to be a good advisor, not an overwhelming drag. "I should get back to engineering, anyhow. My gloom and doom are needed elsewhere."
The commander raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. We really need you to counter Rattrap's buoyant optimism and Dinobot's blithe spirits."
He almost had to laugh at the look on Rhinox's face. Must've been a fun week for him. I can only imagine what those two have been like to work with.
- - - - -
"You got your wires crossed, Leatherlips."
"Hmh. Said the pot to the kettle."
"No, smart-aft, I mean that literally." Rattrap reached past him, batting Dinobot's long fingers fussily out of the way to reach delicately into the tangle of wiring. "Sheesh, what a mess. Glad I caught this when I did. Rhinox woulda had a fit if we'd fried this thing as soon as we turned it on."
"Well, we wouldn't want THAT, would we?" Dinobot drew back to let him work; this was more the rat's area of expertise, and anyway, he was the only one who insisted on being so picky. The whole thing should work fine as it was -- in fact, in Dinobot's opinion, the last day or so of tweaking and fine-tuning had been largely unnecessary -- but that was techs for you. "Good enough" was never good enough for them. As an all-around survival expert, Dinobot could wire together just about anything he might need that wasn't insanely complicated, up to and including explosives. But it wasn't anywhere near his favorite chore.
From within the multicolored snarl of cabling, Rattrap gave a humorless chuckle. "No, trust me, you wouldn't. He don't get angry real often, but it's reeeeeally not pretty when he does. An' if I'm the one who screwed up... Yeesh."
Pretending not to be too interested, the warrior idly tested a couple of seams on their latest creation, making sure the bolts and welds were secure. "What you consider 'not pretty' is probably civil by Predacon standards. I doubt that Rhinox would be a match for me."
There was a moment of silence, broken only by rustling and tinkering. Dinobot had almost figured he'd dropped the subject when Rattrap spoke softly, barely audible to the Predacon. "Do me a favor an' don't ever try to find out, okay? I don't wanna be near either of ya when that happens."
The seriousness was almost chilling, coming from him. Dinobot curled a hand into a fist and studied it for a few seconds before changing the subject. "This will work. I have no doubt of that. The hard part will be keeping Predacons away from it."
Rattrap emerged, dusting himself off, and grabbed a scanner to run one more quick diagnostic. "Yeah, they'll prob'ly pull out all the stops on this one. We pissed them off good blowin' up their tower, not to mention stealin' the idea."
"Both of which were your doing."
"Tch, yeah. Really hope Megs doesn't figure that one out."
The raptor gave him a pointed look. "Most likely, he already has." They were alone, so he allowed a bit of concern to rise in his voice and expression. "You should remain at the base, just in case. Megatron's grudges are as dangerous as they are petty."
Rattrap smiled at him, a lopsided smirk that conveyed nonchalance he probably wasn't really feeling. "Believe me, I'd love to. But y'know Optimus -- he's gonna want my ass on the line. All the technical expertise we can get, an' all." He shrugged. "'Sides, this was my crazy idea. Might as well see it through. I know heroism an' self-sacrifice ain't my usual scene, but hey -- I gotta break character sometimes."
Dinobot was suddenly, painfully aware of how he felt about this mech. He forced himself to look away as the disarming smile grew wider. I should have listened to myself. This is going to drive me mad. "You're a fool," he growled over his shoulder, "and you choose the worst possible times to display courage."
"Yeah, but that's one o' the things you love me for." Soft, barely audible footsteps moved a few paces closer. "You do, don't ya? That's why you're worryin' so much."
It wasn't, perhaps, the most tactful way to broach the subject, but it was direct and straightforward, as Dinobot preferred. Much to his dismay, the warrior found he couldn't answer it in kind. In part because it was a subject he knew very little of, though he had read a great deal, all of it confusing.
He opened his mouth, closed it. "I." He shook his head. "I need to clear my head. I have spent too much time in here with... all of you." He hadn't meant to insult, but it was too late to retract the statement; at worst Rattrap would think it was a remark about his smell.
The spy didn't get upset, just nodded. "Too soon. Gotcha." Then, as if it were any normal conversation, "Well, go out an' get some air, then. Surprised you stuck around as long as you did. 'Preciate it, though -- this wouldn't a' gone so fast without you."
"No need to thank me. I'm doing my job." The warrior transformed and stalked out. "If anyone else needs me," he said over his shoulder, "I'll be in communicator range."
"Right," Rattrap muttered. Once he was alone, he allowed himself a sigh. Second time lately I've chased you outta the base. I gotta learn to be less forward.
"Where's he going?" rumbled a deeper voice. Rhinox must have bumped into Dinobot on the way back to engineering. "You two didn't have another fight, did you?"
The spy gave the tech his best You WOUND me, sir expression. "He just got tired o' the close quarters, I guess. What, it's my fault the broodin' lizard can't stand to be around anybody else?" Amazing, he noted inwardly, how easy it was to muster up the old bluster and insults... as if he still meant them.
"Well, as long as he doesn't go far. We'll need him soon." Rhinox dropped his voice slightly, as if wary of Predacons listening in. "Optimus wants it set up before dawn. The longer we wait, the more likely we lose our element of surprise."
"Lost cause, if y'ask me. The Preds've prob'ly already figured out what we're up to." Rattrap had fallen back into a pessimistic mood.
"Maybe." Rhinox shrugged; he was used to the rat's discouraging attitude. "Anyway, if you've finished those diagnostics, better go get some rest." That was Rhinox-speak for, Let me look over our work one last time and make sure nobody screwed up before we try this thing in the field. He always had to complete his final anal-retentive ritual in solitude -- which was fine by Rattrap, really.
The spy threw up his hands dramatically. "If I'm finally given permission t'leave this workhouse, count me outta here!" He tossed the diagnostic scanner he'd been fiddling with to Rhinox, then was gone before the tech could reprimand him for throwing around things that couldn't be easily replaced.
- - - - - -
For almost an hour now the Axalon had been in the shadow of the surrounding mountains. Dinobot couldn't see the sun where he stood, but its slanted rays still colored the western sky. The last of the day's heat was rising from the ground, shimmering in his infrared vision. He listened to the normal bird calls and animal chatter of the evening for a moment, to make sure that nothing in the area had disturbed them. When he was satisfied, he went for a walk.
Below the edge of the cliff only yards from where he'd stood, a small crevice looked out on the roaring gorge at the base of the falls. The crack was narrow and deep, just wide enough to hide a small signature dampener and a very bored, very impatient Predacon.
Undetected, Blackarachnia sighed. She'd been posted here for the better part of a week, stealing away only twice to report back to base, refuel and rest. Her task was simple enough: Wait. Wait until the Maximals finally set out on whatever mission they'd been preparing for all this time. Then contact Megatron as soon as they'd left.
It wasn't a bad assignment, really. Certainly easier than Scorponok and Terrorsaur having to provide distractions, making occasional spying runs into Maximal territory so they could get caught and booted out, luring the enemy into a false sense of security. That was an old, old trick of Megatron's that the Maximals still didn't seem to have caught on to. They hadn't even bothered to look around just outside the base itself. Once she'd settled in here, Blackarachnia was all but invisible, even to the local wildlife. Easiest job she'd had in ages.
It was also the most boring one she'd had in ages. Quite frankly, she couldn't wait for it to end. She'd rather be shooting someone, or hunting, or even helping Tarantulas with one of his disturbing projects. She really hoped the Maximals put their brilliant plans into action soon.
From the valley below came a screeching chorus as the local troop of vervet monkeys protested Dinobot's presence. At least after dark those noisy hairballs fell silent, along with most of the birds. Of course, then the hyenas and lions started up. And the crickets. Just listening to them singing was making Blackarachnia hungry.
Any time now, Primal. My morbid curiosity aside, I don't really enjoy spying on you all that much, so let's get it over with, shall we? And if Megatron's wrong and you're not up to something big, I'm going to kill him.