[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Thunderous Quietude [Closed]
Sept 6, 2022 20:56:24 GMT -5
Post by Nokta on Sept 6, 2022 20:56:24 GMT -5
Episode 3 | Week 4 | Day 5
SOUTH AMERICA, ANDES MOUNTAINS - 08:00 LOCAL TIME
Was he abusing the reach of his administrative abilities by recalling the squadron of Vehicons that had been assigned to scout this region for energon that morning? Possibly. Was he getting it done far faster than that squadron would have, given the nature of his new alt mode? Undeniably.
It had been a chance to stretch his legs after centuries of stasis– and more importantly, to test the efficacy of the Earthen alt-mode he’d chosen since arriving here less than a week ago. Being a mech whose Cybertronian alt-mode had been fine-tuned over many millennia to provide specific, reliable performance across a variety of terrain– a change like this would take some getting used to. He’d likely still have to see Flatline or Knock Out for a tune-up at least once in order to return to the levels of performance he was accustomed to– but for now, his new vehicle mode was more than serviceable.
That much was made certain by the fact that, in just under an hour, Nokta had more than half of the energon signatures in the region identified and tagged across a 10-mile swath of tundra. For a while there, it was looking like whoever was in charge of energon rations for the day would be singing his praises by the time he returned.
That is– until he ran into quite the significant obstacle.
The lieutenant stood with his arms crossed, staring up at a towering, nigh vertical rockface that jutted out from the land like a massive dagger. As he approached the base of the massive geological marvel, his small, handheld scanner beeped out a short trill, the screen indicating that the next signature was 130 meters away…straight up.
Nokta sighed, craning his neck to stare at the mountain, unable to even see the top as it disappeared into a misty layer of clouds high above. He could just leave it at that and let the flight-capable Vehicons scour for the rest of the area for the energon– but then that wouldn’t speak to his well-defined brand of soldierly determination, would it?
No, this would still be faster with him on the job– he only needed a separate set of optics.
The mech nodded his helm once as he made up his mind, calling it in. "LT Nokta to bridge, I need air reconnaissance on my position– send me a seeker." His comm-link briefly crackled to life as the Vehicon on the other end delivered a swift 'Yes, sir' and then the mech was in silence once more.
And so he stood there, datapad in hand as he began reviewing the deposits he’d already tagged, a growing sense of disquiet washing over him at the sight of them– each grouping was just as shallow as the last, and they were all spread out in the same narrow, north-easterly pattern. These were not the telltale signs of energon that had been left behind with the intent of being mined out of the planet’s surface later on– the groupings were much more sporadic and far more sparse in amount with each passing deposit. More a trickle than a lump sum– as if they were leading him to something.
"Hrm..," The scout muttered to himself in a haggard warble.
He didn’t know whether that fact should excite him or disturb him yet. But, it spurred him forth nonetheless. All that was left now was to wait and see which seeker command would send to aid him.
Primus knew he only hoped it wasn’t an annoying one.
SOUTH AMERICA, ANDES MOUNTAINS - 08:00 LOCAL TIME
Was he abusing the reach of his administrative abilities by recalling the squadron of Vehicons that had been assigned to scout this region for energon that morning? Possibly. Was he getting it done far faster than that squadron would have, given the nature of his new alt mode? Undeniably.
It had been a chance to stretch his legs after centuries of stasis– and more importantly, to test the efficacy of the Earthen alt-mode he’d chosen since arriving here less than a week ago. Being a mech whose Cybertronian alt-mode had been fine-tuned over many millennia to provide specific, reliable performance across a variety of terrain– a change like this would take some getting used to. He’d likely still have to see Flatline or Knock Out for a tune-up at least once in order to return to the levels of performance he was accustomed to– but for now, his new vehicle mode was more than serviceable.
That much was made certain by the fact that, in just under an hour, Nokta had more than half of the energon signatures in the region identified and tagged across a 10-mile swath of tundra. For a while there, it was looking like whoever was in charge of energon rations for the day would be singing his praises by the time he returned.
That is– until he ran into quite the significant obstacle.
The lieutenant stood with his arms crossed, staring up at a towering, nigh vertical rockface that jutted out from the land like a massive dagger. As he approached the base of the massive geological marvel, his small, handheld scanner beeped out a short trill, the screen indicating that the next signature was 130 meters away…straight up.
Nokta sighed, craning his neck to stare at the mountain, unable to even see the top as it disappeared into a misty layer of clouds high above. He could just leave it at that and let the flight-capable Vehicons scour for the rest of the area for the energon– but then that wouldn’t speak to his well-defined brand of soldierly determination, would it?
No, this would still be faster with him on the job– he only needed a separate set of optics.
The mech nodded his helm once as he made up his mind, calling it in. "LT Nokta to bridge, I need air reconnaissance on my position– send me a seeker." His comm-link briefly crackled to life as the Vehicon on the other end delivered a swift 'Yes, sir' and then the mech was in silence once more.
And so he stood there, datapad in hand as he began reviewing the deposits he’d already tagged, a growing sense of disquiet washing over him at the sight of them– each grouping was just as shallow as the last, and they were all spread out in the same narrow, north-easterly pattern. These were not the telltale signs of energon that had been left behind with the intent of being mined out of the planet’s surface later on– the groupings were much more sporadic and far more sparse in amount with each passing deposit. More a trickle than a lump sum– as if they were leading him to something.
"Hrm..," The scout muttered to himself in a haggard warble.
He didn’t know whether that fact should excite him or disturb him yet. But, it spurred him forth nonetheless. All that was left now was to wait and see which seeker command would send to aid him.
Primus knew he only hoped it wasn’t an annoying one.