As X-87 moved to apprehend their target they noticed that the J-71 wasn’t running like any other Builder would do. This anomaly concerned X-87 but they weren't going to hesitate and risk letting their target get away after so much time spent finding them. J-71 then threw a cubical object at X-87 - the object they were dragging - what was it? No time to analyze all possibilities, but it is most certainly dangerous - X-87 caught the cube, then threw it up and away, using the reverse thrust to drop back down to the ground for favored maneuverability. When they finally reached the ground J-71 was already - unbelievably - there.

In the time between getting to the spot just in front of where they calculated - correctly - that the War Fighter would make their landing, and the anticipated hostile reaction of said War Fighter, J-71 managed to remove the bolts and screws of three of the 8 limbs and twelve armor plates of the War Fighter and confiscated the two weapons that had come off with the detached parts then began moving toward the calculated drop point of their cube that was sent flying by X-87.

When X-87 had recovered slightly from the shock of a Builder - a Builder! - moving so quickly, they realized the parts that they had assumed were just cut off and realized that they were not in fact cut off but in fact, were disassembled with nary a new scratch created. With their maneuverability and attack power thus severely hindered they would normally eject and wait for the opponent to leave before sending a distress call and waiting for backup to arrive; however, if they did that, they wouldn’t be able to send a proper distress signal on account of the local radiation. With no backup coming this was going to be a battle they had to win. With that decision, they charged at full speed, hoping to get to J-71 before the cube landed.

J-71 was behind the cube as it landed. X-87 anticipated the cube to fly at them again and made a preemptive dodge to their right. The cube, however, did not fly at X-87 but in fact, moved to the left revealing J-71 aiming a cylinder of some kind at X-87. X-87 only had time to register this observation before they saw distortion, then static, then nothing more.

The logical thing was of course to destroy the deactivated War Fighter but J-71 hesitated. It seemed wasteful and inefficient to destroy - that was what the War Fighters did. J-71 decided it would be best to wait for now and learn more about this situation. It seemed clear to J-71 that confrontation confirmed their suspicion that the War Fighters were hunting down all the Builders - even the Builders as elusive as them.

J-71 began collecting the various parts that were attached to the War Fighter unit and the parts dropped on the ground by their earlier fast deconstruction and began placing them in the storage unit they always dragged with them. Unfortunately, three of the bolts and a small spring seemed to have gone missing in the sand. J-71 was not concerned; they could just build more once they were back in one of their laboratories. As J-71 collected the core unit of the War Fighter they noted the letter and numbers on the side of the War Fighters core unit casing: X-87. A good model letter, very efficient.

While carrying X-87 and their disembodied pieces to their laboratory, J-71 quickly found themselves speaking aloud to themselves in an uncharacteristic way. Being slightly disturbed by the sudden outburst they started actively making sure they didn’t start doing it again. However, this made the silence even more agitating than it already was in the first place.

Endless silence, how do the War Fighters do without all the chatter, it’s causing too many thoughts that shouldn’t be here, why is that? No-noise shouldn’t cause thought like this, it should cause the reevaluation of science, not this. This is most inefficient, why not chemistry, construction, part reuse, electricity, radio, plasma, antimatter, astronomy, large scale construct movement? Why don’t they seem to matter anymore? So quiet now.

They quickly found the location of the laboratory. 21,721 ticks just as anticipated due to the delay. They quickly maneuvered themself and their various things inside. Upon closing the door their mechanisms went to work pushing sand over the door effectively hiding the base once more. Once inside J-71 began working on a small EMP device that would effectively cause X-87 to remain inactive while they worked on their plan of what to do next. When they activated the device remotely they found it to be most effective in maintaining the shutdown of any computer-based mechanisms without deleting or corrupting data and then welded it to X-87’s core casing. “Alright, that should keep them for however long I need.” There I go talking aloud again, why do I do that?

J-71 tried to come up with a plan for 15,858 ticks but repeatedly found themselves thinking of the new silence and became slightly more agitated each time they caught themself doing that. Okay, so I will do something else. They began cleaning the metal sands from outside while running the rather noisy matter-to-alloy sequencer in production of various materials for a high-speed carrier craft they had been designing for several years. Considering the new War Fighter threat, this would be an important investment of their time.

After a while of this, J-71 finally had a revelation of what to do. I just have to get this X-87 character on my side. With a War Fighter like that it would most certainly be a challenge for anyone else to destroy me. Decision made, they immediately felt better and started on a program and script for how to get to this goal.