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Post by Red Alert on Oct 18, 2012 8:22:33 GMT -5
"Not very." The red and white security officer replied, stepping into the room. He nodded at Wheeljack's explanation of what had happened, taking the mech's still-cheerish tone as a sign that Ironhide was going to be alright. "'Humpty Dumpty,' Wheekjack?" Having been keeping himself to the security room,and only monitoring the security network, it would be an understatement to say that Red Alert was a little behind on the human jargon. "And if this isn't the first time, then it would certainly explain the hatred between Ironhide and Barricade." Even though he knew the truth, he'd promised Ironhide that he'd keep it a secret. It would be Ironhide's choice to tell anyone. That, however, only applied to their history and current relationship. "I am curious, however, as to how Barricade was able to escape the stasis cuffs,as well as remove the lock on his systems..."
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Post by Wheeljack on Oct 18, 2012 15:17:29 GMT -5
Wheeljack shook his head and sighed. "No idea. You'll have to ask Ironhide about that, see if he's got any ideas. You probably know more about it than I do since you've got all the security feeds." he replied, looking at Ironhide thoughtfully, then closing the big mech's chest gently. He then resumed his work on his shredded right side, replacing fluid lines and fixing the hole in the right bellows. "What I'm trying to wrap my processor around is why was he defending Barricade saying he didn't do this to him when we saw him do it and, well, they hate each other, right? I mean, every time they see each other they try to kill each other. I know Ironhide has lethal hatred of Decepticons, but with Barricade the animosity is just savage." He shook his head. "And starving to death on Kaon's streets? What the slag was that all about I wonder?" He looked over at Red Alert then. "Do you think he was delusional from shock or something?" he asked, then returned to the repairs. "By the way, Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again. It's a human children's nursery rhyme about a giant egg being who fell off a wall and broke himself." he added, sending Red Alert a series of images from the nursery rhyme to clarify for him. "Ironhide has a habit of getting himself into more fights than most of us do and gets himself pretty extensively damaged, according to Ratchet's records." he added to make the connection between Ironhide and the odd little rhyme.
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Post by Red Alert on Oct 19, 2012 9:29:39 GMT -5
Red Alert shook his head at the rhyme and the images. "Humans are weird." He concluded, shaking his head. "And I had noticed something, but it made no sense with the records when I looked it up. Barricade's optics were white in color, and Ironhide's were similar, when the two of them are fighting. Wheeljack...how much do you know about the Decepticon's Combat Control? I was still new to the Autobots when it was put into practice."
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Post by Wheeljack on Oct 19, 2012 15:47:04 GMT -5
Wheeljack stopped cold at the mention of the white optics and Combat Control. "Primus..." he whispered, then looked at Red Alert. "Combat Control was an insidious program the Decepticons implemented. No one knows how many controllers there were, but there were thousands who had receiver coding implanted in their neural cores. We barely managed to capture an Autobot who'd been implanted, Ironhide was there too, he led the team that had caught him and brought him back. Ratchet n I tried to help the poor bot n he told us a little of what was going on, then his optics went white and he screamed, then his Spark exploded in his chest. When I tried to scan his neural core to see if I could pull any more information, every neural thread and chip in his net core was fried well beyond recovery." He vented a sigh and shook his head. "Far as any of us knew the project was scrapped n all the controllers were dead, along with the poor bots they controlled. If Barricade's a controller, we got serious problems. Good thing Ironhide's no slouch or we'd be dealing with the business end of his cannons instead of a gaping hole in his side and an escaped prisoner. His unrelenting stubbornness saved him and us." he added and looked at the unconscious mech.
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Post by Red Alert on Oct 20, 2012 8:24:16 GMT -5
Red Alert did his best to suppress a shudder, as well as the rising feeling of a glitch attack, at Wheeljack's explanation. "Yes, we are..." He trailed off, looking at Ironhide with a slight look at annoyance. He made a mental note to speak with Ironhide once the black mech was awake. Red Alert had agreed to keep the nightly conversations between Ironhide and Barricade secret from everyone, including Optimus. The news that Barricade may very well be a Controller, however, was not something that would be kept secret, and Ironhide had better have a good reason for keeping it secret. "Would you let me know when he wakes up, Wheeljack? I need to speak to him."
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Post by Wheeljack on Oct 20, 2012 8:43:20 GMT -5
Wheeljack nodded in response. "Sure, soon as I get this garish damage closed up and his Energon tank pulled out and repaired now that the ventilation bellows and fluid lines are intact." he answered and proceeded to start putting the burly mech's side, and the armor there, back together again. Once that was finished he heaved Ironhide up onto his left side so he can open the rear panel on his right, carefully disconnecting lines before gently easing out the Energon tank, revealing that more than half of one side was shredded or simply gone. "Oh, this'll take a bit..." Wheeljack remarked with a shake of his head.
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Post by Red Alert on Oct 20, 2012 8:48:55 GMT -5
Red Alert nodded, and left the medical bay, returning to his office for the time being. He had a report to fill out now, with this incident. Before he handed it over to Optimus, he'd at least give Ironhide a chance to explain himself. To say Red Alert was unhappy was an understatement. He was shaking when he reached his office and sat down to begin the report. He hoped to have it complete by the time Ironhide was up.
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Post by Wheeljack on Oct 20, 2012 9:14:49 GMT -5
It took Wheeljack nearly three hours to complete all the repairs to Ironhide's torn side, then another hour to patch and buff the pattern of gouges across the big mech's chest. Once he was done, he switched off the sedatives and pain inhibitors, leaving the Energon and fluid feeds intact and flowing to ensure Ironhide's systems are properly replenished after losing so much of it and nearly putting him into fatal shock when Barricade had attacked the Weapons Specialist earlier that day. He sat back then, looking at Ironhide thoughtfully trying to understand his motives around Barricade. With a heavy sigh, he opens a private com to Red Alert. "He'll be waking up soon, I figure you got 20, maybe 30 minutes before he's coherent enough to be his usual belligerent self and insist on leaving." he told Red Alert, still confused about the whole dynamic Ironhide seemed to have woven around himself.
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Post by Red Alert on Oct 21, 2012 7:57:29 GMT -5
Red Alert's head snapped up at Wheeljack's comm. As usual, the Security Officer had been going without recharge in order to perform his duties, and had begun to doze off as he put the finishing touches on his report. <"Thank you, Wheeljack. I'll be there momentarily."> Before he'd even finished the comm, he was up and moving towards the med bay, report in hand, and locking the security room behind him. Within a couple minutes, he was back in the med bay, finding a spot to sit near Ironhide. "Would you mind giving us a little bit of privacy, Wheeljack?" the red and white mech asked, light blue optics looking up to Wheeljack. "There are some things I need to discuss with Ironhide that are between the two of us."
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Post by Wheeljack on Oct 21, 2012 8:09:44 GMT -5
Wheeljack looked at Red Alert curiously for a moment. "I uh, kinda need to monitor his stubborn aft to make sure everything is working properly as he wakes up." he cautioned, finding it odd that Red Alert would seek a private conversation with the Weapons Specialist now, and with what appeared to be a file in hand. He wasn't going to begin to try and reason out the Security Officer's motives, but the blatant secrecy was very strange to Wheeljack none the less.
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Post by Red Alert on Oct 21, 2012 8:16:03 GMT -5
Red Alert 'blinked' a couple of times, the let out a sigh as he pinched his nasal ridge. "Right...I forgot..." Having so rarely been in the med bay, save for when he himself required maintenance, Red Alert had found it hard to remember certain procedures. He vented once more, ready to open a comm line with Ironhide once the black mech was awake enough to speak over one. "Primus, will things ever slow...?" He muttered to himself.
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Post by Wheeljack on Oct 21, 2012 8:30:52 GMT -5
Wheeljack smiled at Red Alert. "There's always hope, Red. It'll just take time, you'll see." he offered softly, then turned his attention to the monitors and to Ironhide as the big mech let out a faint groan, indicating he was beginning to wake up from stasis. Wheeljack remained quiet as he monitored his patient, making sure the repairs were stable and that Ironhide wouldn't need additional medical attention.
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Post by Ironhide on Oct 21, 2012 8:38:28 GMT -5
Ironhide groaned heavily, gradually starting to rise from the darkness of stasis as he laid there in the medical berth. It took a few minutes for his groggy systems to click back on line and soon he was looking up at the ceiling, then with a groan he started to sit up. It was then he realized the life support umbilical was still connected to his interface module and he reached for it with a somewhat stoned sounding snort.
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Post by Red Alert on Oct 21, 2012 8:42:53 GMT -5
"I'm fairly certain Wheeljack doesn't want you yanking those out quite yet, Ironhide." Red Alert spoke up. "Barricade did a number on you, both from what I saw on the system and what Wheeljack saw while repairing you. You're lucky he only went for your side." There was a slight tone of annoyance to Red Alert's words. He was having a hard time suppressing the irritation he felt towards Ironhide at the moment.
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Post by Ironhide on Oct 21, 2012 8:57:57 GMT -5
Ironhide grunted and looked over at Red Alert blankly for a moment, then scowled and looked over at Wheeljack, then back to Red before deciding he'd rather lay down and did so with a grunt. "Ya dunno what yer talkin' bout, Red." he grumbled, still groggy from the sedatives. This time he had the presence of mind not to blurt out what he was thinking, that it wasn't Barricade who had attacked him. He had to protect Barricade, something within him drove him to staunch and unyielding secrecy regarding Barricade, and especially regarding his relationship with the scout, even though Red Alert already knew about it. No one else knew, and no one knew about his link to Combat Control and Ironhide was determined to keep it that way.
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