Ep1 - Shockwave's lab - 'Setting Up Shop' - Closed

[Deleted]

Shockwave had arrived on the Nemesis via spacebridge eight days ago, propelled from one of his network of hidden laboratories on Cybertron with stacks of equipment and no way back. The spacebridge under Nemesis control was still early in its construction, so the scientist was to remain at the front line for months to come.

Megatron had granted him the largest of the ship's laboratory spaces, equipped with multiple chambers of scanning suits, stable storage for most chemicals, and equipment ranging from the mundane to the invaluable cream of Decepticon engineering. The laboratory could also be completely sealed from the rest of the ship should a contaminant break out. This was particularly important for Shockwave given the scope of his... imagination.

The Decepticon commander had announced himself a few kliks before arriving lest he interrupt the scientist in the middle of something dangerous or delicate. Shockwave could just as likely have been arranging containers of chemicals to his liking, but better to approach with caution. Upon arrival, the door opened to Megatron's signature and admitted him into the lab.

[Deleted]

Upon arrival to the Nemesis, it had been reassuring for Shockwave to find his liege had kept clearly in mind the two things a scientist requires: space and privacy. Supplies were a luxury, one that could be acquired whenever the appropriate work-force was available (with them or from them); to have them readily available was a valuable touch of efficiency.

He had, out of habit, walked every step of the lab space provided for him, opened every storage space and cabinet, noted every label. He rarely if ever made mistakes, but whoever had previously occupied or stocked such a space may not have been so careful. As he waited for the inevitable input of visitors, he worked on rewiring such things as power conduits, reinforcing insulation and containment seals, and the many other minutiae that he knew his work tended to put stress on.

His liege gave him a full week, as the locals measured time. That alone told Shockwave the overall situation was not too dire; it also told him Lord Megatron had lost none of his usual, formidable drive.

When the door opened, it opened to a brighter lighting than that of the 'Nemesis'' corridors; most of it came from several banks of screens, all of them racing through endless chains of data, repeating the same four symbols in barely different sequences. Shockwave had not taken very long in realizing he now dwelt on (or rather, above) an organic world; it had taken even less time to realize the basic infrastructure of most anything down there could be boiled down to the same four ingredients.

Against a wall stood many sizes of containment units, empty and dark at the moment. Next to them was a vast cryogenic unit with a small collection of sealed vials labeled in Shockwave's own brand of short-hand. For one of the storage lockers he'd repurposed the airlock out of... Primus knew what, something big, and definitely not the Nemesis. But whatever it was, it had a lot of new locks on it, all of them active.

As Lord Megatron entered the lab, Shockwave paused every single screen and turned, framed by snapshots of the DNA of two or three dozen creatures. His field had the vast, glacial calm that was as much of a presence as the mech himself; he hid nothing, and what he desired was painted stark all around him. "Lord Megatron. How may I serve you today?"

[Deleted]

Megatron did not take in the immediate space like a curious sparkling, but absorbed the tidy array of the lab peripherally. His focus was entirely upon the scientist's solid frame, and the heavy stillness that made his field feel like a vacuum.

Where the powerful engineering inside the warlord's modified labor frame was perpetually shifting and flexing, Shockwave's systems had trained themselves to influence the air around him to a minute and unnatural degree. Soundwave was of a similar ilk, and Megatron suspected it was rooted in their predominantly cerebral natures. However where Soundwave's frame lent itself to slumping half-hidden against walls, Shockwave was all mass and subdued power. Standing here, it would feel to any other mech that the laboratory was entirely his domain.

Megatron did not need inquiries as to how he might be served to affirm what he already knew. Shockwave's loyalty was absolute. Likely why Starscream despised him, though the air commander might protest that it was the scientist's deplorable lack of personality that irked him.

"By continuing your good work on a means to destroy the Autobots, Shockwave," Megatron replied, coming to stand a few paces away from the other mech. He glanced about the wall of containment units to indicate the stock at large. "Have you all the necessary resources you require to continue your efforts? Knock Out has been complaining recently about a lack of materials."

[Deleted]

Every word and nuance, every sentence, ever pulse of Lord Megatron's field and every motion, they were all quantified and considered. Shockwave knew the vast majority of Decepticon officers spent too much of their time and effort waiting for the blade in the dark; it was their way, but it was tremendously wasteful.

Megatron did not such things. Oh, the watchfulness was there, always, but he never seemed to let it dominate his time or his thoughts. He wasted nothing on it, for all that it was ever-present. That apparent balance of confidence and unspoken awareness made all the difference between a leader, and an efficient leader. For mechs such as Shockwave, it was a critical variable, always to be considered.

He had never found his liege wanting. But that did not mean he could allow himself to be remiss on his duty of checking on the status of that variable, always. Once he was, again and as ever, satisfied, he gave his full attention to the actual message.

"Knock Out is not incorrect." He turned to one of the consoles, removing the DNA study on the screen and replacing it with two dozen blueprint files, the most developed of the projects that he'd brought with him. Weaponry of one kind or another, these were all projects set to start prototype creation.

"The difference between Cybertron and Earth supplies is vast. This planet has an abundance of materials, but only in their raw, most primitive forms." His one hand ran deftly over the modified keyboard, adding material lists and locations, estimated built times, highlighting potential issues. "Although archaic, local elements can and will be used as power sources to make up for potential energon shortages. Improvement their efficiency has already been achieved, and manufacture has already begun." He overlapped onto the appropriate blueprints the symbol that meant they were actinide-compatible.

"Overall, I will have a supply acquisition plan for your consideration before the end of the next local cycle, limited to that which cannot be manufactured otherwise. Where possible, non-combat locations have been selected so as to avoid an expenditure of martial assets." Shockwave turned to gauge Megatron's response to all that he'd given him, his tone matter-of fact. "The only matter that remains is whether you wish to destroy the Autobots one at a time, or en masse."

[Deleted]

Already Shockwave had results. Already schematics, lists, manufacturing processes and solid projections were in place, and Megatron was not sure if the scientist had even found his quarters yet.

The commander's satisfaction in this state of affairs was only apparent in the shift and pulse of his field. To Starscream it would have appeared as being ignored and snubbed. Shockwave had never needed validation, and was infinitely more attuned to the understated.

"Optimus's team here is small and operating on the defensive." Megatron's tone was not sneering - the Prime was a formidable opponent, even alone. "His presence may mark this planet as the front line of the war, but he himself is doing little to win it. We are here to mine energon and advance our forces, whilst giving Optimus opportunity to pit his meager forces against us in defense of the natives and be slaughtered."

Despite what many thought, Optimus Prime's death would not mark victory for the Decepticons. They would only be truly victorious, the war truly won, when they stood upon Cybertron once again and began to rebuild, unhindered by conflict between two factions of a decimated race. When conflict could be halted through the mere threat of a single blaster, then the war was over.

Peace through tyranny.

They would complete their spacebridge, pour energon into Cybertron's veins, and test the theory that placing a Prime's corpse at the mouth of the core would reignite it.

Shockwave had been concise and sharp in his rundown, and his query about the degree of selectivity his lord wished to exercise in the destruction of his enemies was little more than a pleasant musing point. The scientist did not actually expect an answer, and would continue his nightmarish work towards both ends equally.

Megatron skimmed his optics over the specifics Shockwave had highlighted. "The scope of your vision is, as always, expansive... Do you foresee a requirement for an off-site facility?"

[Deleted]

Had Shockwave known of the idle question his liege was entertaining as they considered the data all over the screens, he would have been forced to admit that he had not left the laboratory since arriving on the Nemesis. He had no intention of leaving, had taken refueling at a console, and it would not be the first time he'd gone without recharge, or finding some minor rest while he stood, sometimes literally, watch over his research.

Away from Cybertron, he found the possibilities for research had been expanded by magnitudes he couldn't yet even quantify by one simple fact:

Earth was not Cybertron. And that made Earth perfectly expendable.

He could conduct experiments upon it that he could have never tried on Cybertron without sentimentalism getting in his way. That one may break a planet in half like a faulty rod, after all, doesn't mean that one will. It means exactly that: that one may.

And such testing would indeed require external sites. Even before he'd come to consider field work with several of his prototypes, Megatron's question was one he'd pondered almost every time yet another component came up that would require materials that the Nemesis' stores couldn't provide in adequate quantities, or any quantities at all. There was only so far one could replace parts and components before one project became an entirely different one.

Shockwave had not, however, completed his risk assessment of the planet outside the Nemesis. Establishing a field site could be done very easily; losing it could be just as simple, as well as expensive, and it could literally have nothing to do with Autobots or even their oddbit organic attachments: the planet's geological and meteorological activity was violent, unpredictable, and entirely outside anyone's current control.

"Unknown, but likely." He highlighted an easy two-thirds of the blueprints, and called up a listing of projects with a more remote possibility of completion, none of which could safely be tested on the Nemesis. He was erring on the side of caution with several of them, as he was fairly certain the warship itself was relatively irreplaceable. His hand moved again over the modified keyboard, adding a map of the small blue planet to the information on the screen. "Several sites look promising, devoid of any Autobot or organic contamination. But I would prefer to conduct on-site scans before making a final decision, when next there is an opportunity, and of course with your permission."

He loathed the very thought of any time lost outside his lab, but he also knew it would be more efficient to do the field assessment himself, at least until he found or trained someone who'd know his preferences in that regard.

[Deleted]

Let it not be said that Shockwave was not conscientious when it came to his apocalyptic projects. Most scientists who credited their work with the potential for cataclysmic destruction could be dismissed as overly paranoid or particularly egotistical.

Megatron did not know of any other scientist whose grasp rarely fell short of his considerable reach as Shockwave's did. The projections were not inflated, and his caution was entirely founded.

Let it not be said that Megatron did not know to encourage the destructive bent of his sentient resources.

"The Nemesis is a warship, finely attuned to combat. It is not a science vessel," Megatron uttered when he was done scrutinising the highlighted data.

He left Shockwave waiting as he made a preliminary review of those sites against already known data, both on and off the record. Satisfied, he met the single optic's impassive stare directly. "Conduct your assessments yourself, Shockwave, and then submit your findings and subsequent requirements. You may come and go from the ship as you require, alone. Notify myself or Soundwave if you wish to take someone to assist."

Shockwave was more than capable of handling himself, and whilst the scientist was only inspecting sites, Megatron needed his personnel elsewhere. The appearance of MECH alongside the rouge attacks by an as-yet unidentified Autobot in recent weeks were issues that needed resolving now. Confident that the scientist would parse as much, the commander turned to leave.

He paused, adding: "You should note that a demilitarized neutral colony has been established on this world. Though they will refuse to supply anything that could be turned into a weapon, you may find them a useful source for more innocuous materials otherwise in short supply. Knock Out has made several beneficial trades at little cost. Typical of Neutral scavengers, they operate on a bartering system. I trust your judgement in what you see fit to trade."

[Deleted]

To his liege's assessment of the 'Nemesis', Shockwave dipped his head the most minute of fractions. He'd believed as much, but he could acknowledge the confirmation from Megatron. The warship was to be considered untouchable and irreplaceable, which was the data he'd been going on with in any case. Megatron's authorization to come and go as he wished was welcomed; it would speed up the site examinations, and it would streamline a process Shockwave himself wished to give the absolute minimum of his time. In rare occasions the scientist did seem to feel an unexplained need for field work, but this was not one such time. Yet.

The Decepticon commander's words, however, conveyed a much stronger sense than pure confidence on Shockwave's responsible time management - it hinted strongly at the fact that troops were needed elsewhere, not collecting potentially idle field data. There was an event afoot, then, a military concern. In a few swift moments Shockwave considered the meager data, accepted the conclusion, and impassively dismissed it; if he had not been asked to provide tools or services to the effort, then it was not for him to waste processor time on it. It would be handled, that is all he needed to know, and he had the freedom of the world below, provided he kept to the discretion needed when among lesser beings. He nodded to his liege. "As you command."

Roaming the chosen sites alone might be better. There would be less time wasted in useless questions and correcting the mistakes of underlings. He would have to see who, if anyone, could be trained to provide some measure of capable help with menial science details. He would have to take time from his current schedule to assemble a few automated data collectors, but that much, at least, the storage of the 'Nemesis' could provide for him.

His attention was neatly sidetracked by Megatron's off-hand remark as to the existence of a DMZ and he straightened up, the most subtle of tidal ripples moving through his field. De-weaponizing limitations did not bother him; he could take tools of peace and do very un-peace-like things with them, well beyond the imaginings of anyone having put such limitations in place. However, one should not aggravate potential trading partners unless necessary.

"I shall use my research trips to acquire adequate barter material, and avoid excessive use of the ship's storage vaults, sir. I would like to see what this 'neutral' settlement has to offer." Shockwave did not believe in so-called neutrality; sooner or later, all such 'neutrals' showed their stripe, usually at the worst possible time in a fight. But he would indulge them, for as long as they were useful. It would also not go amiss, seeing what it might be necessary to take the place out, should its colors run towards the Autobot spectrum. "Or what I may offer them."

Lord Megatron gave every impression that he was done with his visit, and so they could both get back to their very busy schedules, equally satisfied that things were as they should be. Shockwave turned back to the screens, to look through the storage vaults for data collectors that he could quickly adapt to his specifications. Another screen was given over to providing him with all data the warship's logs could give him on the DMZ, and two more were sorting through raw resources he may easily acquire at the selected, deserted locations he'd be visiting.

Truly, the possibilities were satisfyingly endless.

((Annnd we're good?))