Ep 1 - Interchangeable Cogs - Closed

"No," Ratbat said, with the self-assurance of someone who was not just Soundwave's cassette but one of Lord Megatron's direct reports in his own right. "It's in regards to your fighter craft. I thought I'd best inform you personally. Due to the ongoing repairs to the Nemesis we are unable to spare the material or personnel for standard refueling or maintenance - in fact, the fuel situation on the Nemesis is quite critical at the moment, so I've ordered the tanks drained. We've also repurposed most of your spare parts to meet the needs of the repair effort. "

He sent over a few forms in a succinct data transfer. "I'm afraid you'll need to remain aboard at least until the current crisis is resolved and we have the energon to spare to refuel your craft. I'll need some information from you before I can authorize your energon ration and set up your shipboard access permissions."

"We will likely be able to complete the work orders and refuel the craft once the Nemesis repairs are complete," Ratbat said. "In the meantime, I regret the inconvenience."

He waited a beat after Slipstream's statement to determine whether Starscream had overheard that - were they going to have this conversation on the command room threshold? He supposed they were. An internal sigh. Seekers were better at drama than intrigue by a fair margin, but the lack of outraged shrieking at the slight meant he was likely safe.

His voice remained calm. "That type of information would go to me, actually. I manage energon mining operations in local space, Our survey data has never been as complete as I would like, and information on new deposits would be most welcome."

There was a long pause. "Quite," Ratbat said.

He looked almost amused now. "In any case, please get those forms back to my department as soon as possible. You'll likely need to go through a security debrief at some point as well - someone else will get in touch with you about that."

Optics studied her one last moment. "I believe that's everything. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

Ratbat's small data cables managed the tablet well enough, even if it was a bit unwieldy. He weighed her request against his personal annoyance at having his schedule reshuffled by other mechs and reluctantly decided to accompany her. Not afoot, of course - he didn't have feet in this form. And he certainly reserved the option to change his mind about whether this conversation was an efficient use of his time.

He followed her, uploading the information she had provided as he did so. He completely refused to glance nervously at other mechs or otherwise act skulking and suspicious. Being infamously boring and bureaucratic did have its uses. Very few mechs did 'nothing interesting going on here, move along' quite so convincingly as he did.