Verdant looked around the abandoned MECH base and frowned. "Sir, this doesn't look like a human facility where Optimus and his clone were battling. It's in pristine condition."
"As I am aware, this isn't the building. MECH attempted to lure the Autobots out, but not to their main base. That would have been foolish," Ultra Magnus explainsd.
She nodded. "Fowler is positive this is their main base, then?"
"Yes."
Verdant continued crawling forward and reached a small surveillance room. It was exactly where the blueprints Fowler provided said it would be. A small door led to another room, which contained MECH's files.
"I found it," Verdant informed him.
Ultra Magnus sat down in the hallway. "Will you being going gray?"
"No, sir," she shook her helm. "That's never wise in enemy territory."
"Then I would like to discuss something with you as you work."
Verdant slipped a tentacle into the files room and another attached to a surveillance monitor. "Please feel free to, sir."
"We've been in space for some time," Ultra Magnus pointed out. "Alone. Together. I've found it difficult acclimating to this team, especially with the wrecker..."
"Wheeljack?" Verdant asked. "Yes, he doesn't exactly respect the chain of command, but he is a good bot."
Magnus frowned. "I've realized that, but I don't understand how he could simply ignore my orders all the time without regard. It's very annoying and not to mention, dangerous."
She nodded. "There's nothing we can do about it."
"I've considered requesting that Optimus kick him out of the base until he can pull his act together."
Verdant paused. "I think that would make him only more upset."
"Upset?" the commander scoffed. "Wheeljack has been risking lives and disobeying his superiors. I am the one who is upset. He won't listen to me!"
"He shouldn't do that," Verdant agreed.
Ultra Magnus groaned. "I don't think the other Autobots feel the same way. They've been following orders, but never with the same respect that you do. When they think I'm not listening, they complain about it as if I've come to Earth simply to pester them."
"Optimus's command methods are different than yours, but they'll get used to it."
"I worry that it's me who will get used to them and not the other way around."
Verdant sighed. "You just need to remain hopeful, sir."
Ultra Magnus looked at her. "This experience has made me realize how grateful I am that it is you I was marooned in space with."
She smiled softly. "I am glad it was you as well."
▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️
After the conclusion of their mission, the two returned to base and Verdant downloaded MECH's decrypted data to a harddrive for Agent Fowler. Of course, not until after she excluded nearly all the research regarding cybertronian technology.
With it, he should be able to easily find and arrest whatever members of MECH were still on the run and shut down their operation for good. With it came a chilling discovery regarding what happened to MECH's former leader, but there was nothing they could do about it now.
But now that human favors were repaid, she had real Autobot work to do. Verdant pulled her attention to the main computer and settled down in a chair next to Ratchet, who didn't even acknowledge her presence, too busy with his optics two centimeters away from the screen as he examined a formula.
"Verdant!" Wheeljack appeared next to her magically. "Guess who no longer has ice in their chassis?"
"If it's in your spark, it's still in your chassis."
"So you got it, but I don't," Wheeljack grinned.
She sighed. "I'm glad you feel better, Wheeljack."
He tilted his helm. "Are you about to disappear into a computer for another twelve hours?"
"Yes," Verdant frowned at him. "Why?"
"I just want to make sure I'm pranking someone who is unconscious," Wheeljack answered. "Not that you would get revenge if you were online, but still."
"What?" Verdant demanded. "Don't prank me!"
"Well, you spoiled the prank I had planned for Ultra Magnus, so I have to get my revenge."
"Wheeljack," Ratchet looked over at the wrecker in annoyance. "I'm trying to work and Verdant is trying to work. Don't bother us. And more importantly, if you prank her and Ultra Magnus finds out, he will have your hide."
Wheeljack laughed. "Oh, he wants it, but he'll never get it."
Verdant frowned. "Respect for the other Autobots is the only reason Ultra Magnus doesn't have your hide already. If I were you, I'd tread carefully."
"Thank Primus you aren't me," Wheeljack ducked to avoid a flying wrench before walking away. "And regardless of what he tells you, Ultra Magnus doesn't know the first thing about respect."
"He does!"
"Does not!" Wheeljack sang.
Verdant scowled and looked away, returning her attention to the computer in front of her. Ratchet's gaze settled on her and he frowned.
"You don't want Ultra Magnus to punish him?"
"No," Verdant gave Ratchet a weird look. "Generally, I don't tend to wish punishments on anyone."
"Even Wheeljack?"
"Especially Wheeljack," Verdant nodded. "He's got a good spark, he's just too stupid to understand the chain of command."
Ratchet "hmph"ed and turned away. "Maybe you should teach it to him."
Verdant sighed and started attaching her tentacles to the computer. "If only he'd listen."
Her optics turned white and the data started streaming in, but just before they darkened into a dull gray and her frame went limp, she heard Ratchet speak.
"He might be more receptive to you than you realize."
Verdant's optics flickered back online, white now, and she stared at the surface of the table. Wheeljack didn't listen to her at all. She didn't know what Ratchet was thinking.
Frowning, Verdant focused on her data again, pushing thoughts of Wheeljack out of her processor to make way for her assignment. The energon depletion problem wasn't going away anytime soon.
Sinking back into a gray world, Verdant was able to restart her interrupted project.
The information Fowler provided was not rudimentary or amateur. She doubted he had personally put the file together, but rather burrowed a copy from a more environmentally-focused organization. It was extremely detailed.
But, as Verdant searched through it and compared the many factors of energon vein locations and the geography of their locations, she realized there was only one connecting factor.
Optimus insisted that the Earth and Cybertron were connected for reasons he hadn't specified, and Verdant now wished she'd asked him, but the information hadn't seemed important than.
There was a massive correlation between dark energon deposits and Earth's fault lines. Nearly every deposit was within five miles of the edge of a tectonic plate.
This meant that dark energon was beneath the surface of Earth, and only leaked out during movements such as earthquakes, volcanic eruption, the formation of mountains, and other related occurances.
Normal energon didn't share that correlation, or any correlation with the data provided by Fowler. Instead, Verdant took a step back from the minor details and when she compared the energon locations to a globe, she could see a line running diagonally across the planet.
The energon on this planet was not natural. Based on a series of physics equations, Verdant calculated that the energon must have been sent to Earth via tube shuttle one after another, were spaced out relatively evenly over the course of their trip, encountered little resistance that was beyond the skills of anti-Autobot hijacking systems, and hit Earth one after another, separated only by the spinning of the planet.
A few deposits deviated from the course, but Verdant doubted the presence of another chain of deposits, based on their patterns. The random trajectory predictions suggested that they were either sent by Autobots, or a chain of Decepticon transfers were blown up as they left Cybertron's atmosphere.
Verdant knew the energon crystals weren't growing due to Earth conditions, so she figured that those predacon clones Shockwave sent to Earth must have opened some of them and the spilled energon would have eventually decomposed into it's original source matter, which then grew back into the raw form of crystals. Of course, rouge Decepticons or Autobots with energon-detecting software that was updated to search through planets with an atmosphere as thick as Earth's could have been the perpetrators, but she doubted any would have found Earth without their leaders' assistance.
This was good news. It meant Verdant had a rough estimate of where nearly every single energon deposit was, and it meant that if they showed up at one of these locations, there could be an unopened container of pure, unrefined energon, which would be a massive help to the storage vault. Once diluted, on such find could last them a month with heavy blaster usage, and could last the groundbridge a week's worth of energy if they teleported twice per day on average.
Verdant downloaded this data into a file and placed it in her Earth collection before forcing her systems to online. Optics turned from gray, to white, to blue, and she slowly raised her helm up from the desk.
"Good morning," Ratchet greeted.
"Good morning," Verdant replied, checking her internal chronometer as she stood. "Where is Optimus Prime?"
"Here," Optimus appeared beside her, looking rather bored. "Have you found anything useful?"
Verdant smiled. "I've found everything."