Coincidences will happen
Stuff happens.
It's an axiom of the universe. Things happen at the worst possible time. The proverbial glass of orange juice falling off the table, the pane of glass being carried across the street right in front of the chase...
Murphy's law is alive.
It's just waiting to trip you up. When the plans look good, everything's going well, you think you've got it made. that's when that snake will loop around your ankles unexpectedly. It knows when you're getting cocky.
Sorry if I sound cynical, but hey, it's been a while.
hr
"Megatron, this is madness!"
"Shut up, Starscream, and load the energon cubes." Megatron snarled at his second-in-command. He'd been willing to entertain objections at first. and there had been plenty, from more reliable sources than Starscream.
But he'd finished with the objections. They needed to get the stolen energon to Cybertron before the Autobots assaulted them again, simple as that.
"But there's an ion storm around Cybertron! We don't know how that will affect the spacebridge. What if we loose the shipment?"
"We won't. And it won't be anymore lost than if the Autobots destroyed it. Now LOAD!" Starscream's eyes narrowed. but he knew better than to disobey that tone of voice, and set to work with a grumble. The other Decepticons were ignoring the byplay, trying to load the energon cubes into the spacebridge and get it over with as quickly as possible.
Soundwave watched the process, thinking and calculating. He'd registered his complaint with Megatron. a short, "plan inadvisable", but Megatron did have a point. Still. he tried to determine the likely effect the ion storm would have on the spacebridge, and quickly concluded there wasn't enough data. No one had ever researched the results of field effects on spacebridge technology before.
He could only hope any problems would be minor.
hr
"There it is." Killroy whispered, staring at the spacebridge intensely.
"Yes, we know. Stop drooling." Rust commented absently, studying the movements of the Autobots around it. The Spacebridge had only minimum security. reaching this point had been very easy. But now. Rust frowned to himself.
He'd never actually used a spacebridge before, but he was well acquainted with them. He'd had the dubious honor of getting a part time job unloading the Hybrid Orchid's spacebridge. It hadn't paid well, but the hours had been flexible enough to accommodate his classes, and he'd only been doing the grunt work, handling things like lumber and grain shipments. Nothing even remotely breakable.
But he'd done it for over two years, and had become depressingly familiar with spacebridge routine. And the routine he was witnessing now was quite clear.
"They're shutting down." He whispered to his conspirators in crime. Foam blinked, or rather a close equivalent. her golden eyes turned black for a brief moment, signaling her surprise.
"You're certain?" She whispered back. Foam knew the technical aspects of the spacebridge far better than Rust, but she'd never actually seen a crew in action. "Why would they be doing that?" It was still quite early in the day. they should be keeping the spacebridge open for hours yet. Rust lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"I don't know, but it's what they're doing." There was a brief silence as they considered that. No one was pleased, not even Kilroy. This meant something was happening, something the Autobots likely knew that they didn't.
On the other hand, it was a bit late to back out.
"Continue with the plan?" Rust made what could have been a command into a question. Foam was more the leader of their small unit than he was, although he was better at small unit tactics and strategy. Foam and Kilroy both nodded, after a moment of thought.
"We can't afford to go back." Foam replied, her voice firm and smooth, eyes burning with resolve. Kilroy just watched Rust, waiting for his orders. In serious situations, he could become unnervingly quiet. Rust wasn't sure he'd ever get used to that change.
"Okay, here's what we'll do."
hr
The Autobot technicians never knew what hit them. One minute, they were prepping the spacebridge for shutdown due to an extreme Ion storm. The next. they were being assaulted in various, non-lethal, but very painful ways. It was a whirlwind of activity, and the spacebridge flared to life quickly, then died again, completing it's shutdown.
There was a long pause as the technicians recovered. As they did, several of them began to gather around the spacebridge..
"Sir, do you see what I see?" One young Autobot finally asked, his voice edged with awe.
"Mmmm." His elder stared at what had been sent to them, scrapping his fingers thoughtfully across his chassis. The screeching noise of metal against metal didn't bother anyone.
"There's so MANY."
"Mmmm."
"Where did they come from?" Another tech wondered out loud, checking the spacebridge controls. "Terra shows no transfer."
"Mmmm." The younger Autobot looked searchingly at his elder. He recognized the signs of deep cognition.
"Sir? What are you thinking?" He asked hesitantly, as his elder continued to gaze at the cascade of energon cubes.
"No shipment records." His voice sounded slightly dreamy. "Dataspin, how long would it take you to jimmy our power outlet records?"
"Uh, not long." The technician in question was also looking at the cubes. "Not long at all. In fact, I bet I could do it right now."
"Yes. Do that." Excitement and greed was slowly stealing over the group as a whole. They were looking at a fortune in energon cubes. A fortune that no one would claim. if no one found out about it. If it were reported, the authorities would no doubt claim it. The crew had no real claim to it, after all.
But then, neither did the authorities. That thought salved the few guilty consciences, as they gathered up the cubes and split them roughly. That, and the thought that they all deserved some recompense for getting beaten into the ground a few moments ago. This would serve.
Soon, the evidence of how spacebridges are affected by Ion storms was neatly cleared away.
Stuff happens.
It's an axiom of the universe. Things happen at the worst possible time. The proverbial glass of orange juice falling off the table, the pane of glass being carried across the street right in front of the chase...
Murphy's law is alive.
It's just waiting to trip you up. When the plans look good, everything's going well, you think you've got it made. that's when that snake will loop around your ankles unexpectedly. It knows when you're getting cocky.
Sorry if I sound cynical, but hey, it's been a while.
hr
"Megatron, this is madness!"
"Shut up, Starscream, and load the energon cubes." Megatron snarled at his second-in-command. He'd been willing to entertain objections at first. and there had been plenty, from more reliable sources than Starscream.
But he'd finished with the objections. They needed to get the stolen energon to Cybertron before the Autobots assaulted them again, simple as that.
"But there's an ion storm around Cybertron! We don't know how that will affect the spacebridge. What if we loose the shipment?"
"We won't. And it won't be anymore lost than if the Autobots destroyed it. Now LOAD!" Starscream's eyes narrowed. but he knew better than to disobey that tone of voice, and set to work with a grumble. The other Decepticons were ignoring the byplay, trying to load the energon cubes into the spacebridge and get it over with as quickly as possible.
Soundwave watched the process, thinking and calculating. He'd registered his complaint with Megatron. a short, "plan inadvisable", but Megatron did have a point. Still. he tried to determine the likely effect the ion storm would have on the spacebridge, and quickly concluded there wasn't enough data. No one had ever researched the results of field effects on spacebridge technology before.
He could only hope any problems would be minor.
hr
"There it is." Killroy whispered, staring at the spacebridge intensely.
"Yes, we know. Stop drooling." Rust commented absently, studying the movements of the Autobots around it. The Spacebridge had only minimum security. reaching this point had been very easy. But now. Rust frowned to himself.
He'd never actually used a spacebridge before, but he was well acquainted with them. He'd had the dubious honor of getting a part time job unloading the Hybrid Orchid's spacebridge. It hadn't paid well, but the hours had been flexible enough to accommodate his classes, and he'd only been doing the grunt work, handling things like lumber and grain shipments. Nothing even remotely breakable.
But he'd done it for over two years, and had become depressingly familiar with spacebridge routine. And the routine he was witnessing now was quite clear.
"They're shutting down." He whispered to his conspirators in crime. Foam blinked, or rather a close equivalent. her golden eyes turned black for a brief moment, signaling her surprise.
"You're certain?" She whispered back. Foam knew the technical aspects of the spacebridge far better than Rust, but she'd never actually seen a crew in action. "Why would they be doing that?" It was still quite early in the day. they should be keeping the spacebridge open for hours yet. Rust lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"I don't know, but it's what they're doing." There was a brief silence as they considered that. No one was pleased, not even Kilroy. This meant something was happening, something the Autobots likely knew that they didn't.
On the other hand, it was a bit late to back out.
"Continue with the plan?" Rust made what could have been a command into a question. Foam was more the leader of their small unit than he was, although he was better at small unit tactics and strategy. Foam and Kilroy both nodded, after a moment of thought.
"We can't afford to go back." Foam replied, her voice firm and smooth, eyes burning with resolve. Kilroy just watched Rust, waiting for his orders. In serious situations, he could become unnervingly quiet. Rust wasn't sure he'd ever get used to that change.
"Okay, here's what we'll do."
hr
The Autobot technicians never knew what hit them. One minute, they were prepping the spacebridge for shutdown due to an extreme Ion storm. The next. they were being assaulted in various, non-lethal, but very painful ways. It was a whirlwind of activity, and the spacebridge flared to life quickly, then died again, completing it's shutdown.
There was a long pause as the technicians recovered. As they did, several of them began to gather around the spacebridge..
"Sir, do you see what I see?" One young Autobot finally asked, his voice edged with awe.
"Mmmm." His elder stared at what had been sent to them, scrapping his fingers thoughtfully across his chassis. The screeching noise of metal against metal didn't bother anyone.
"There's so MANY."
"Mmmm."
"Where did they come from?" Another tech wondered out loud, checking the spacebridge controls. "Terra shows no transfer."
"Mmmm." The younger Autobot looked searchingly at his elder. He recognized the signs of deep cognition.
"Sir? What are you thinking?" He asked hesitantly, as his elder continued to gaze at the cascade of energon cubes.
"No shipment records." His voice sounded slightly dreamy. "Dataspin, how long would it take you to jimmy our power outlet records?"
"Uh, not long." The technician in question was also looking at the cubes. "Not long at all. In fact, I bet I could do it right now."
"Yes. Do that." Excitement and greed was slowly stealing over the group as a whole. They were looking at a fortune in energon cubes. A fortune that no one would claim. if no one found out about it. If it were reported, the authorities would no doubt claim it. The crew had no real claim to it, after all.
But then, neither did the authorities. That thought salved the few guilty consciences, as they gathered up the cubes and split them roughly. That, and the thought that they all deserved some recompense for getting beaten into the ground a few moments ago. This would serve.
Soon, the evidence of how spacebridges are affected by Ion storms was neatly cleared away.