Stern Algorithm

Savage Beast Wars

Can we assume the ship controls are back online?

Savage Beast Wars

Septishock

"If you're willing to discuss terms, then you are not so illogical as I thought, Predacon," Septishock replied, mistaking Wingwraith's demand for surrender as a desire for compromise and negotiation. "Very well, state your..." Septishock stopped suddenly as he no longer heard himself on the intercom. Looking back at his console, he noticed that all systems were unresponsive. Did the Predacons sabotage the ship before he could? He doubted they could work so fast and disable so many systems simultaneously; they so far had not demonstrated that level of competence, their only advantage having been the element of surprise.

"Slag..." Septishock cursed as he turned away from his console and aimed his gun-arm towards the door. With no way to carry on the discussion (and no way to carry out his threat of jettisoning their fuel), it seemed he was forced to resort to violence, though the aberrant nature of the ship's malfunction still troubled him.

Septishock had an unusual form when it came to Cybertronians. He had developed a penchant for self-modification, and in preparation of this mission, replaced his entire forearm with a beam weapon, knowing full-well that combat was going to be a factor. He had also deemed long ago that a 'face' was an unnecessary luxury, and replaced his own with a simple voicebox and a sophisticated scanner that looked like a single, recessed cyclopic eye taking up most of his head. Some of his fellows found it unsettling, but he only wanted to improve his function by modifying his form.

Savage Beast Wars

Was Septishock bluffing?

Hider

Savage Beast Wars

Septishock

Septishock's single eye twitched in annoyance. The ruckus had not yet been taken care of, and if blowing up the door was the next plan, then it certainly was not de-escalating either. Of course, he couldn't really blame anyone for ineptitude as the Predacons had successfully cut off their metaphorical head, leaving them to flounder without leadership. Furthermore, the others, at least, were trying; Septishock had not yet lifted a finger to help. Wordlessly, Septishock began soft-hacking the ship, first by letting it know that the captain had died, and then quickly subverting himself, as a science officer, into a leadership position with levels of command and access that normally exceeded his station. They were in disarray, and someone had to take control. Keeping his eye on the sensor readouts, his sole point if interest, Septishock routed control of the ship's reactors as well as the intercom system to his console.

"This is Science Officer Septishock speaking," his voice reverberated throughout the ship through the many emergency communication speakers, "Predacons, please state your demands and we will consider them. Your current violence is disruptive to my concentration, so I ask that you desist. I am currently poised to jettison the ships energon fuel reserves. Doing so will leave us all stranded in space, sentenced to drift aimlessly for an indefinite period of time, during which we will probably all kill each other until not a single one of us remains. I am sure this is a fate neither of us wants. Though our mission was to find the missing Maximal ship, doing so would inevitably give us clues as to the location of this so-called, 'Megatron', who I assume you are looking for. But we have reached our destination and the trail has run cold. So if you don't settle down and allow me to scan for our mutual objectives, we may never end up finding what we want."

Savage Beast Wars

Nice! Good on you for supporting an independent artist! God knows they need all the help they can get nowadays what with the advent of AI.

Savage Beast Wars

Does this ship have a captain?

Savage Beast Wars

OK, post has been edited.

Savage Beast Wars

Ok, I'll edit it so that you won't need to change anything. septishock will be looking for "energy signatures" and "plasma trails" and such.

Savage Beast Wars

Ok, I assumed the last known coordinates would be near the orbit of the eventual planet, because if a ship is disabled and not in the vicinity of a gravity well, it will drift for a very long time. Does this mean we're approaching a wormhole?

Savage Beast Wars

Hint: If push comes to shove, Septishock will threaten to sabotage the ship's controls, jeopardizing all their lives. An extreme version of "If you don't stop fighting, I will turn this car around".