Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssse?

"For the last time, I said NO"!

Luma folded her ears down as far as she could manage with a pounding headache and tried to curl into an even tighter ball. She briefly considered snapping herself into a ball that it would at least shock Rayla enough to quiet her, but with the cadet in question pulling at first her left forepaw and then her tail, she couldn't risk it for fear of crushing her.

Though, come to think of it, crushing her would shut her up as well.

Rainy days were Luma's favourite kind of day, bonus if it was a rainy night. She was a fairly senior Exobot and her joints now needed a tad more grease than before, but she still made it a point to set a good example for the newly recruited Exobots who were first starting out. Of course, it meant giving in every now and then to ease any tension they had from dealing with other Exobots of her generation who were none but lazy rustbuckets and wastes of fuel and lube, whose only noise was heard when they complained about how young 'bots these days were too spoiled, too weak, were nothing but delicate snowflakes, blah blah blah. Luma took every one of those boomer comments and quashed it firmly under her steel-plated claws every time they echoed out. If those so-called tough boomers thought they could do their own jobs that their *also* so-called snowflake predecessors could not, then they could very well get off their afts and do it instead of sitting in their cozy corners gathering rust like a old screw in a junkyard. Luma was an old 'bot, but she was an old 'bot with standards as solid and shiny as her still sturdy spine. If she was truly going to retire, then she was going to retire knowing her work would still be done up to standard by her predecessors, which meant busting her aft out to show them the ropes and ensure they at least knew what to do in case they accidentally fragged up along the way. If it was tiring, then so be it. No one said training new recruits wasn't easy, but that wasn't an excuse to shirk it.

Unfortunately, that also meant having to accept the fact that, even an attempt to nap peacefully when it was a cold, rainy afternoon would be disturbed periodically if scrap went down somewhere.

Rayla was no cadet Luma had ever encountered before, but that didn't make her attempt to wake her up any less annoying than it already was. And it didn't help that the cadet wasn't exactly talkative...which meant it was straight to tugging instead.

"The rules are clear enough", she grunted for the umpteenth time that hour, hoping-to no effect-that the cadet would take the message and leave. "Only senior and intermediate cadets are allowed on these missions. Juniors and unranked cadets have to stay put".

This isn't about showing off!

"Then"?

Kassim! He's in trouble! Rayla looked like she wanted to mouth those words, but her mental 'yell' was loud enough that it just made Luma's headache way more intense. He forgot to bring something along and now he's in danger!

"Just tell the captain and he'll send a team out to give whatever the hell it is he forgot back to him", Luma grunted, then lay back down again. "Now shoo, vamoose. I've got a pounding headache and I need a nap".

She hoped that would get through the young cadet, and it did...but not for long.

Lumaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

"WHAT"!? this time, Luma actually roared, flicking her tail up so fast it was a miracle Rayla didn't get flung into the wall nearby. Seething from her headache and her own grogginess, she dangled the girl in front of her face. "I already said, leave me alone and"-

Don't you care about what happens to anyone here!? Rayla asked, a note of anxiety colouring her mental voice.

"I work for Morgan and that's that"! Luma growled, hard enough to curdle milk. "If you want to sneak out by yourself, go ahead and don't get me involved. I'm too old to be running after arrogant cadets who only care about their own pride and not their overall reputation, and if you wake me up one more time, I will"-

So you're willing to let someone die just because you won't help? Rayla asked.

Few words could ever calm Luma when she was high on her own anger, but 'die' or anything synonymous with it carried a heavy enough note that, no matter how angry she was, she would immediately calm down the moment she heard it, as she did now.

"Someone is...going to die"? Luma asked in a significantly calmer voice. She was still pissed, but she knew better than to shout now.

Kassim. He will die if he doesn't get a Gamow bag, Rayla clarified, allowing the felinoid Exobot to set her down. He's not breathing right, and he forgot to bring it with him on this mission. Anisa reminded him, but he assured her there was no need, and I've got reason to believe it was important.

Upon hearing those words, Luma felt as if the bottom of her tanks had just dropped out, and despite her nagging headache and lingering tiredness, she couldn't help but feel a sense of overwhelming dread curling in her spark. Kassim's constant struggle with CF was a constant roulette of touch and go, with his attacks becoming worse in colder weather. He was usually a bit more cautious when prepping for a mission, making sure he brought along a Gamow bag/oxygen tank, a scarf or jacket, nutrient solutions and his inflatable vest everytime. Had he skipped out the former, assuming there weren't any left?

Naturally, Luma wanted to go, to head out into the surf with Rayla on this ad hoc yet very important mission. She didn't want to admit that she actually cared about the welfare of the cadets here, but that didn't mean she didn't care at all. Of course, maybe Austin was a jerk, but Kassim was a decent chap, and losing him would mean losing a friend for life...

Just as Luma was about to ask Rayla what she planned to do, she turned to see that the cadet was gone.

"Ray"? she called out, sniffing here and there in an effort to pick up her scent, which wasn't at all strong. She was about to contemplate reporting the matter to Morgan when she heard a rotor going off in the distance.

Spikes raised, Luma ran up to the upper decks to see a small carrier ship speeding away from the Triton. Even with the rain pouring down and the distance between the ships, Luma could make out the unmistakable brown and shamrock green of Rayla's bodysuit, along with the silhouettes of Winona, Turbo and Kingsley. No doubt they had agreed to Rayla's plan earlier.

Mentally facepalming as she forgot her headache and lethargy at this point, Luma padded back into the carrier and threw a couple of items into a lightweight bag. This was going to be one heck of a mission, if Rayla and the rest lived long enough to see it through.