I like waking up in the morning. It's like going "Oh look. I'm not dead." and being happy about it.
Title: The Nine Rings of Vos
A Transformers G1 Fanfic
Author: Sanjuno Shori Niko
Summary: Starscream is clever. And Soundwave's got a se~ecret!
Timeline: You can read more of this here!
=/=
(In which the Cassettacons are spied upon.)
“Damn Megatron to the deepest levels of the Pits!” Stuck supervising the command centre, Starscream resigned himself o tedium until Shockwave came to relieve him, “This is Soundwave’s job!”
Skywarp and Thundercracker sent similar feelings of annoyed boredom along their bond. The orns dragged by until Starscream felt like pounding his helm against the command consol. Skywarp had fallen into a light recharge at his station and Thundercracker had the particular glazed look in his optics that meant the voices in his head were being particularly entertaining.
The only good thing about having the same duty shift was that afterwards they could go find something to entertain themselves with as a full trine. And Starscream loved that Megatron was not around to interfere when he felt like rearranging his subordinate’s shifts to his liking. No more working with the Conehead’s for him! Things were far less stressful now that he had control of the duty roster.
“I hope Megatron gets eaten by something especially unpleasant instead of returning to Cybertron.” Starscream growled as he slumped in his seat.
“Hmm.” A dull spike of interest came from Thundercracker as he looked over the security feeds.
= “What is it?” = Starscream asked over the trine link, not interested in the rest of the bridge crew listening in on their conversation. Skywarp lifted his head, looking blearily from Thundercracker to Starscream as he was roused by the activity along their personal comm channel.
= “Look at this.” = Thundercracker replied absently as he gazed intently at the monitor, = “I wonder what’s wrong with him?” =
Curious now, both Starscream and Skywarp tapped into the feed that had Thundercracker so distracted. The scene flickered into existence on their screens just as Ratbat flew headfirst into the wall beside an open door.
Skywarp squeaked as he tried and failed to hold back giggles.
= “Ah, yes. Slapstick comedy never fails to amuse him, does it?” = Starscream exchanged a fond look behind the black Seekers wings.
= “Oh look!” Skywarp leaned forward, optics bright with glee, = “Here come the rest of the midgets!”
Humouring their trinemate, the other two Seekers turned back to their screens in order to watch the rest of the cassettes make their way carefully down the hall. Expanding the view, Starscream recognized the corridor as the one leading to Soundwave’s quarters.
= “They must have just refuelled.” = Thundercracker mused, = “You think they overdid it?” =
= “Can drones even get overcharged?” = Skywarp asked almost before Thundercracker finished speaking.
= “Not usually.” = Starscream murmured back, optics narrowing and wings drawing high as decavorns of oddities and inconsistencies crystallized into a single suspicion.
Sensing Starscream’s sudden mood shift, Skywarp and Thundercracker remained silent. Their gazes flickered from screen to wingleader as Starscream started examining the camera feed in earnest. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw had landed in a heap just inside the open door, and were warbling pitifully as they tried to get up on their pedes. Rumble and Frenzy were stumbling against one another, working together to drag Ratbat into the room and out of the hallway. Ravage was being particularly deliberate in where he placed his feet, and still the quadruped tripped every few steps.
= “Screamer?” = Skywarp asked, curiosity finally getting the better of him, = “What is it? You’re acting funny.” =
= “They aren’t overcharged.” = Starscream muttered, fingers flying over the keys as he pulled records and took sensor readings.
= “And why is that important?” = Skywarp looked sulky, knowing there was something going on but not what it was.
Thundercracker sighed, = “Why do we care anyway? They’re just drones. So why are you stalling out over wither they’re overcharged or not?” =
= “Yeah, what TC said.” = Skywarp said peevishly, pointedly ignoring the screen displaying the now closed door of Soundwave’s quarters.
= “I don’t believe it. I suspected it but I still don’t believe it.” Starscream leaned back from his hunched over position and waved his wingmates over to his station, = “Look at this and tell me if I’m wrong.” =
Thundercracker shrugged when Skywarp shot him a questioning look and stood up, walking over to Starscream. A flash of purple light brought Skywarp to stand by Starscream’s other side and both Seekers leant over Starscream’s shoulders. Skywarp twisted his head from one side to the other and Thundercracker stared blankly at the mess of graphs and data scrolling on Starscream’s monitor.
= “Okay.” = Skywarp said after a moment, = “I don’t get it. What’s all this stuff mean?” =
= “Look here.” = Starscream said with a sigh, = “The cassettes energon intake has been on a steady decline since Soundwave left. All together they’ve hardly ingested half a cube in the last solar cycle.” =
= “So they’re undercharged?” = Thundercracker asked, frowning, = “They don’t look it, and they aren’t acting like it.” =
= “Hey yeah.” = Skywarp leant further over Starscream’s wing, = “The little gluttons never pass up on a chance to eat. Why would they skip out on rations?” =
= “The answer is here and here.” = Starscream was pushed forward under Skywarp’s weight, but was too distracted by his discovery to care. Tapping at the monitor screen to direct his wingmates attention as he explained, = “This shows their energon intake. See how it goes down? This graph has their energy readings from the past vorns worth of security feeds. Notice the spikes? They started right after Megatron dragged Soundwave of on campaign and left the cassettes behind. The tow are linked. Look at how their intake drops after every spike.” =
= “That’s weird.” Skywarp mumbled, staring at the data hard enough he was in danger of going cross-opticked, = “Why’re their energy readings so high when they’re pretty much running on empty?” =
Thundercracker’s frown deepened as he remained silent for the moment, watching Starscream closely before shaking his head, = “So what does it mean? Spell it out for us Screamer.” =
= “Did you ever wonder why Soundwave let the cassettes run free around the base?” = Starscream stood up, forcing Skywarp to get off his wing as he turned to face his wingmates, = “Or why he’s left them activated while he’s not here when it would make more sense to have them in stasis?” =
= “I figured Megatron ordered it to keep an optic on things.” = Thundercracker said with a shrug, but Skywarp was shaking his head.
= “No.” = The teleporter said slowly, = “Screamer’s right. It is weird. How they act and how Soundwave treats ‘em. They talk to each other. Rumble and Frenzy play pranks. Drones don’t do that. They don’t have the creativity or the smarts for it.” =
= “But if they aren’t drones, then what are they?” = Thundercracker grumbled, = “AI?” =
= “No.” = Starscream had a funny smile on his face as he stared into the space between his trinemates, = “I’m not surprised you don’t recognise the signs. We never let it happen in Vos or the Praxus colony, but I’ve seen this before. The Cassettacons are showing all the classic signs of First Stage Upgrade Delay.” =
= “Wait.” = Skywarp squawked, = “Say what?” =
= “I’m saying,” = Starscream looked his shocked wingmates directly in the optics, = “That the cassettes are not drones or mobile AI. They’re sparklings.” =
*Bzzt!*
Thundercracker and Skywarp resorted to blasting white noise as their processors threatened to freeze.
= “It’s incredibly clever really, what he did.” = Starscream mused as he purposely ignored his gaping wingmates, = “Putting them into drone casings should have been fatal. If nothing else the energy of a growing spark should have overloaded the drone shells circuitry and melted their insides. Soundwave must have been able to safely contain their spark growth using his psionic powers. And keeping them so close to his spark casing was probably his means of maintaining their spark stability.” =
= “Unmaker drag me to the Pits!” = Thundercracker shook everything from his pedes to his wingtips, then smacked Skywarp in the head to force a reboot, = “That’s enough to make my CPU crash!” =
= “Ow! What TC said.” = Skywarp grumbled, rubbing the back of his helm and giving Thundercracker a dark look for the blow, = “Are you sure that’s what’s going on? Maybe they’ve just got a virus or something without Soundwave here to monitor them.” =
= “Possible, but I’m nearly certain…” = Starscream muttered to himself for a moment before grabbing his wingmates and dragging them past a confused Shockwave by the vents, = “I know a way to prove it!” =
“Bye Shocky!” Skywarp waved as the Seekers turned the corner.
Shockwave shook his head and took over command of the security grid. At least this made sense. Trying to fathom the depths of Seeker madness was just asking for a crashed CPU.
(Word Count: 1502)
=/=
Wow. That's a slag-load of dialouge...
I'm a bit too tired to be clever tonight, and my cat is demanding my attention. But look! A distraction plot development!
The next few installments will have lots of cassettes-as-sparklings goodness, as well as deeper exploration into sparkling growth and theory. I hope you all enjoy!
XD
A Transformers G1 Fanfic
Author: Sanjuno Shori Niko
Summary: Starscream is clever. And Soundwave's got a se~ecret!
Timeline: You can read more of this here!
=/=
(In which the Cassettacons are spied upon.)
“Damn Megatron to the deepest levels of the Pits!” Stuck supervising the command centre, Starscream resigned himself o tedium until Shockwave came to relieve him, “This is Soundwave’s job!”
Skywarp and Thundercracker sent similar feelings of annoyed boredom along their bond. The orns dragged by until Starscream felt like pounding his helm against the command consol. Skywarp had fallen into a light recharge at his station and Thundercracker had the particular glazed look in his optics that meant the voices in his head were being particularly entertaining.
The only good thing about having the same duty shift was that afterwards they could go find something to entertain themselves with as a full trine. And Starscream loved that Megatron was not around to interfere when he felt like rearranging his subordinate’s shifts to his liking. No more working with the Conehead’s for him! Things were far less stressful now that he had control of the duty roster.
“I hope Megatron gets eaten by something especially unpleasant instead of returning to Cybertron.” Starscream growled as he slumped in his seat.
“Hmm.” A dull spike of interest came from Thundercracker as he looked over the security feeds.
= “What is it?” = Starscream asked over the trine link, not interested in the rest of the bridge crew listening in on their conversation. Skywarp lifted his head, looking blearily from Thundercracker to Starscream as he was roused by the activity along their personal comm channel.
= “Look at this.” = Thundercracker replied absently as he gazed intently at the monitor, = “I wonder what’s wrong with him?” =
Curious now, both Starscream and Skywarp tapped into the feed that had Thundercracker so distracted. The scene flickered into existence on their screens just as Ratbat flew headfirst into the wall beside an open door.
Skywarp squeaked as he tried and failed to hold back giggles.
= “Ah, yes. Slapstick comedy never fails to amuse him, does it?” = Starscream exchanged a fond look behind the black Seekers wings.
= “Oh look!” Skywarp leaned forward, optics bright with glee, = “Here come the rest of the midgets!”
Humouring their trinemate, the other two Seekers turned back to their screens in order to watch the rest of the cassettes make their way carefully down the hall. Expanding the view, Starscream recognized the corridor as the one leading to Soundwave’s quarters.
= “They must have just refuelled.” = Thundercracker mused, = “You think they overdid it?” =
= “Can drones even get overcharged?” = Skywarp asked almost before Thundercracker finished speaking.
= “Not usually.” = Starscream murmured back, optics narrowing and wings drawing high as decavorns of oddities and inconsistencies crystallized into a single suspicion.
Sensing Starscream’s sudden mood shift, Skywarp and Thundercracker remained silent. Their gazes flickered from screen to wingleader as Starscream started examining the camera feed in earnest. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw had landed in a heap just inside the open door, and were warbling pitifully as they tried to get up on their pedes. Rumble and Frenzy were stumbling against one another, working together to drag Ratbat into the room and out of the hallway. Ravage was being particularly deliberate in where he placed his feet, and still the quadruped tripped every few steps.
= “Screamer?” = Skywarp asked, curiosity finally getting the better of him, = “What is it? You’re acting funny.” =
= “They aren’t overcharged.” = Starscream muttered, fingers flying over the keys as he pulled records and took sensor readings.
= “And why is that important?” = Skywarp looked sulky, knowing there was something going on but not what it was.
Thundercracker sighed, = “Why do we care anyway? They’re just drones. So why are you stalling out over wither they’re overcharged or not?” =
= “Yeah, what TC said.” = Skywarp said peevishly, pointedly ignoring the screen displaying the now closed door of Soundwave’s quarters.
= “I don’t believe it. I suspected it but I still don’t believe it.” Starscream leaned back from his hunched over position and waved his wingmates over to his station, = “Look at this and tell me if I’m wrong.” =
Thundercracker shrugged when Skywarp shot him a questioning look and stood up, walking over to Starscream. A flash of purple light brought Skywarp to stand by Starscream’s other side and both Seekers leant over Starscream’s shoulders. Skywarp twisted his head from one side to the other and Thundercracker stared blankly at the mess of graphs and data scrolling on Starscream’s monitor.
= “Okay.” = Skywarp said after a moment, = “I don’t get it. What’s all this stuff mean?” =
= “Look here.” = Starscream said with a sigh, = “The cassettes energon intake has been on a steady decline since Soundwave left. All together they’ve hardly ingested half a cube in the last solar cycle.” =
= “So they’re undercharged?” = Thundercracker asked, frowning, = “They don’t look it, and they aren’t acting like it.” =
= “Hey yeah.” = Skywarp leant further over Starscream’s wing, = “The little gluttons never pass up on a chance to eat. Why would they skip out on rations?” =
= “The answer is here and here.” = Starscream was pushed forward under Skywarp’s weight, but was too distracted by his discovery to care. Tapping at the monitor screen to direct his wingmates attention as he explained, = “This shows their energon intake. See how it goes down? This graph has their energy readings from the past vorns worth of security feeds. Notice the spikes? They started right after Megatron dragged Soundwave of on campaign and left the cassettes behind. The tow are linked. Look at how their intake drops after every spike.” =
= “That’s weird.” Skywarp mumbled, staring at the data hard enough he was in danger of going cross-opticked, = “Why’re their energy readings so high when they’re pretty much running on empty?” =
Thundercracker’s frown deepened as he remained silent for the moment, watching Starscream closely before shaking his head, = “So what does it mean? Spell it out for us Screamer.” =
= “Did you ever wonder why Soundwave let the cassettes run free around the base?” = Starscream stood up, forcing Skywarp to get off his wing as he turned to face his wingmates, = “Or why he’s left them activated while he’s not here when it would make more sense to have them in stasis?” =
= “I figured Megatron ordered it to keep an optic on things.” = Thundercracker said with a shrug, but Skywarp was shaking his head.
= “No.” = The teleporter said slowly, = “Screamer’s right. It is weird. How they act and how Soundwave treats ‘em. They talk to each other. Rumble and Frenzy play pranks. Drones don’t do that. They don’t have the creativity or the smarts for it.” =
= “But if they aren’t drones, then what are they?” = Thundercracker grumbled, = “AI?” =
= “No.” = Starscream had a funny smile on his face as he stared into the space between his trinemates, = “I’m not surprised you don’t recognise the signs. We never let it happen in Vos or the Praxus colony, but I’ve seen this before. The Cassettacons are showing all the classic signs of First Stage Upgrade Delay.” =
= “Wait.” = Skywarp squawked, = “Say what?” =
= “I’m saying,” = Starscream looked his shocked wingmates directly in the optics, = “That the cassettes are not drones or mobile AI. They’re sparklings.” =
*Bzzt!*
Thundercracker and Skywarp resorted to blasting white noise as their processors threatened to freeze.
= “It’s incredibly clever really, what he did.” = Starscream mused as he purposely ignored his gaping wingmates, = “Putting them into drone casings should have been fatal. If nothing else the energy of a growing spark should have overloaded the drone shells circuitry and melted their insides. Soundwave must have been able to safely contain their spark growth using his psionic powers. And keeping them so close to his spark casing was probably his means of maintaining their spark stability.” =
= “Unmaker drag me to the Pits!” = Thundercracker shook everything from his pedes to his wingtips, then smacked Skywarp in the head to force a reboot, = “That’s enough to make my CPU crash!” =
= “Ow! What TC said.” = Skywarp grumbled, rubbing the back of his helm and giving Thundercracker a dark look for the blow, = “Are you sure that’s what’s going on? Maybe they’ve just got a virus or something without Soundwave here to monitor them.” =
= “Possible, but I’m nearly certain…” = Starscream muttered to himself for a moment before grabbing his wingmates and dragging them past a confused Shockwave by the vents, = “I know a way to prove it!” =
“Bye Shocky!” Skywarp waved as the Seekers turned the corner.
Shockwave shook his head and took over command of the security grid. At least this made sense. Trying to fathom the depths of Seeker madness was just asking for a crashed CPU.
(Word Count: 1502)
=/=
Wow. That's a slag-load of dialouge...
I'm a bit too tired to be clever tonight, and my cat is demanding my attention. But look! A distraction plot development!
The next few installments will have lots of cassettes-as-sparklings goodness, as well as deeper exploration into sparkling growth and theory. I hope you all enjoy!
XD