Lair of the Stealth Bunnies | home
Industrial Evil
3/30/02
Soundwave transmits to CatsCradle: "CatsCradle, this is Soundwave. I am on Cybertron with a contingent of troops. Megatron requests your presence in Polyhex, and that of any individual not currently occupied."
CatsCradle transmits to Soundwave: " I'll be right there, along with anyone else I can nab on the way"
Soundwave transmits to CatsCradle: "Acknowledged."
CatsCradle transmits to Ravenwing: " busy, or would you like to go on a outing at the Emperor’s request?"
Ravenwing transmits to CatsCradle: "Is one ever *not* busy? But as I've reached a dead end in what I can do for the present, I suppose a change of scenery would be welcome."
CatsCradle transmits to Ravenwing: " they ask that we meet them in Polyhex. I'm on my way"
****
Grand Arcade
Beneath the glazed dome, wan light filters down, dappling the elegant courtyard with shifting degrees of shade and colour. In the centre of this flat, plasteel expanse, a Decepticon insignia has been carefully inlaid in glittering bits of mosaic. This main access area to Valckasta is in far better condition than the outside would have one believe, and shafts and travelators connect this main meeting ground with the rest of the city.
Ravenwing waits at the gate for Valckasta's guest, then inclines her head gracefully. "Ready for this... outing?"
CatsCradle nods. "If my mate can ever dig himself out of the Hall, he'll be along." She shakes her head with amusement. "Talk about the proverbial human child in a candy store..."
Ravenwing snorts softly. "I was much the same in the library on Earth, and I don't have the excuse of being a scholar. Come, then. I'm sure he'll catch up eventually."
****
Avenue of Conquerors <Polyhex>
Walking down this vast space is like being in the metallic ribcage of some great, apocalyptic beast. The Avenue of Conquerors is framed by huge, over-arcing girders through which can be seen glimmers of the distant, overhead stars. Here are images of the dead heroes of times past: statues of gigantic proportions are placed at the base of each strut, dwarfing you with their ponderous implacability. Some of the names here are maybe familiar, others are perhaps unknown and unknowable. The Avenue remains one of the astounding examples of Decepticon architecture. Here, in memoriam, the silent husks of the fallen are kept close to the ultimate Decepticon aesthetic: close to the stars, close to the eternal night, awaiting the grand victory spoken of in eons past.
Ravenwing pauses once inside Polyhex, looking inquiringly to CatsCradle. "Any particular part of Polyhex?"
Ramjet is standing around guarding the statues against graffiti still.
Soundwave transmits to CatsCradle: "Change of orders, CatsCradle. You and your companions are to meet us in the Shadowzone."
CatsCradle grins brightly. "And we've just had a change of plans... We're to go to the Shadowzone.
Ravenwing nods to Ramjet, still on duty, then inquires again, "Are we to be given any clues as to the purpose of all this? Specifically, whether it's business or pleasure."
CatsCradle gives a slight shrug. "I'm assuming it's not a pleasure trip, if most of the Earth contingent is here. The Emperor says come... I do so." She grins brightly at Ramjet. "I was told to bring anyone else along that I could nab."
Ramjet watches the pair wander past and barely acknowledges the nod, watching them like he half expects them to start spraypainting stuff.
Ravenwing shrugs. "Very well." She doesn't really like going into a situation with no information, but... that's the way it is. "Nightwarrens, it is."
*****
Shadowzone
A burnt, coppery wasteland stretches flatly for as far as you can see. Bordering this area are bombed-out ruins, body-shells and clumps of war debris, whose collapsed structures create a maze-like environment, casting pools of shadows that contrast oddly with the halogen glare of the border-lamps. In times past this area was a sealed-off zero zone, containing small pockets of the enemy. When the borders were opened again, the enemy were found in a dormant state, starved of energy. They were shot and recycled and since that time the Shadowzone has been tagged as a notorious deathtrap.
Tempest skulks through the Shadowlands, blades in hands, obviously spoiling for a fight.
Ravenwing gives the area a nice, long look. What a *wonderful* ambush ground this is. She stays in cover almost instinctively, in the shadows that are so familiar to her, and studies the territory for movement. Of which there is plenty a few moments later...
As the Polyhex group arrives, a sentinel team deploys from behind them, circling the area of the energy spike at a distance of several hundred feet. They hover in place a moment, then settle on the ground.
Starscream mutters under his breath as Tempest walks by. "I bet this reminds you of home...."
Soundwave arrives at the point of the mysterious energy readings along with the others. Scanning from flight, the area seems quiet visually, but ... he drops down to the ground and listens carefully.
Tempest says to Starscream, "And what if it does?"
Starscream smirks shadowly. "You would know if this is an ambush, and how the enemy plans on surprising us, of course."
Scorcher stays flying, knowing too well what kind of a deathtrap the Shadowlands are on the ground
Striker glares over at Starscream, "What, don't like the surroundings Screamer?"
Tempest says to Starscream, "Hey, the Autobots are /your/ enemies, and this is /your/ planet, not mine, so don't ask me." The optics glitter. "I'm just looking for...targets of opportunity..." The smile is...rather nasty.
Megatron looks for a favorable place to take down.
CatsCradle steps silently out of the shadows behind Striker and Starscream. "Could be worse, Starscream. Could be a tiny room somewhere..."
Shockwave confers with a sentinel who's configured slightly different from the others, perhaps the group leader.
Starscream gives Striker a snort. "No, Striker, I don't...."
Ravenwing watches and listens with some amusement. Bickering already. Trying to dismiss the distracting noise, she returns her attention to the surroundings. There's *some* reason they've all come here, and it's not for the scenery.
Striker smirks, "Well I do."
Gryphus stays above the land, not trusting it anymore than some with any sense.
Starscream clamps something in his hand and studies the terrain.
Motormaster steps up beside Tempest, looking around as he does with some wariness... he'd rather not stay here too long if that's alright,"Just watch an' make sure you don't mistake any ground vehicle you see fer an Autobot..."
Soundwave approaches the point where Shockwave's sensors detected the center of the energy spike. The ground surface looks undisturbed, but there's a faintly hollow sound to his footfalls as he comes close, as though there's an open space just beneath. A difference in sound quality that probably only he could detect.
Starscream demands "Is the area clear?" as he faces north east.
Tempest glances over at Motormaster and the nasty edge in her voice fades. "I know better than that," She says, but her voice is strangely lacking its sharp edge, as if she is surprised that he doubts her. The optics grow distant. "I pick up on the movement long before the details of the body."
Megatron says, "Soundwave, this entire discussion here may draw attention. Take the opportunity and send out your cassettes to investigate."
Scorcher radios to the rest of the group "Can't see anything unusual, other than that energy thingy over there. No movement that I can scan"
Soundwave notices the ground beneath his feet give way just a little, and quickly steps back. He announces, "Open space detected just below the ground surface. Energy readings emanate from this point."
Gryphus lands by Soundwave and scans it, she seems to always have the tools for any job don't she. "Confirmed. I suggest caution."
Striker glances to Soundwave, "So the ground's hollow? Why not just fly up and blow a hole in it and check it out."
Megatron says, "Can you get more data, Soundwave?"
Shockwave consults a map that appears on the chest display of the sentinel he's talking too. "Interesting. This area isn't very accessible to the normal routes the Autobots prefer."
Motormaster just grins down at her, though it's dampened a bit by the area,"Lighten up, femme. I'm only kidding. 'sides, I only know of one other person as looks much like I do in my altmode, an' I ain't that brightly colored. He'd stand out like a sore thumb here."
Starscream looks back where Soundwave had stepped. "Step back. Let's blast the ground and send one of your cassettes down there."
Scorcher drifts away from the rest of the group, gradually widening her flight pattern
Soundwave says, "Suggest I send an Autoscout to investigate, Commander."
Tempest looks him head to foot and says, "You don't look like Prime." She pauses. "Unless he's got holograms and is cheating."
Gryphus shakes her head. "Why is it the solution to everything with mechs is blowing it up?" this muttered. Sounders probably hears it.
Striker turns to Starscream, "Your intent on gettin' one of the cassettes hurt aren't you?"
Soundwave gives Starscream a look almost of warning. "I am willing to send a non-sentient probe, Air Commander."
Megatron says, "They have chosen new routes for strategical reasons, Shockwave."
Motormaster shrugs,"Which he's done before... Never can tell if he wouldn't do it again." He cranes his head back to look up at Scorcher, radioing,"How's the weather up there, Scorch?"
Starscream meets Soundwave's glare. "I didn't say to send one of your children, now, did I?" Scoffing, he scans the area, almost nervously.
Megatron says, "Starscream, you are not in charge. Soundwave, send the probe."
Scorcher radios back to Motormaster with a happy grin "Cold, thin air, clear skies and home"
Gryphus keeps her scanner on the weak spot, to see if anything changes with the energy spikes.
Starscream bows his head, hiding his checked anger. "Of course, Mighty Megatron."
Ravenwing recalls finding another passage underground in this very area. The Shadowzone seems to be filled with surprises these days. It remains to be seen whether or not this is a pleasant surprise.
Scorcher tries a little looping, just because she can.
Soundwave inclines his head a little, and ejects a nondescript gray cassette, which unfolds into an odd little two-wheeled vehicle with a gripping claw near the front and a panel of sensors along the side. This "autoscout" lingers beside Soundwave, awaiting the command that will direct it.
Swooping down from high altitude, a grey jet closes on Scorcher's tail.
Megatron says, "Ravenwing, investigate the area. Maybe you can discover something else. I want as much information about the environment as possible."
CatsCradle waves her hand to gain attention. "Wouldn't blowing up the area attract the wrong type of attention?"
Striker glances over his shoulder at Cats, "Ya, but it'd be fun though."
Ghost finds herself along on this grand expedition. She simply chooses to watch and learn, wondering what exactly they are looking for, aside from energy anomalies.
Gryphus steps back, though watches her scanner for changes.
Motormaster grins and gives Scorcher a wave at how happy she is to be home... then his optics widen as he sees the grey jet swoop down and head in her direction. Hastily raising his gun and sighting on the new arrival, he radios to Scorcher,"Hey, kid, ya got company. I can't see who they are... might be an Aerialbot. Watch yerself."
Starscream pages: I can work with that...it's cool....just that I was a bit...erm....surprised, but not in a bad way...
CatsCradle mutters, "Well, perhaps.. but I do live around here sometimes, and would rather not have it blown up. Or become an Autobot attraction."
Scorcher pulls out of her latest little stuntflying and notices she has company the moment Motormaster warns her. She yelps and tries to find a safe spot
Tempest is willing to take prey wherever she finds it, as she transforms and takes off to go have a "Word" with Scorcher's pursuer.
Soundwave nods to CatsCradle. "Cutting open the ground surface would be preferable to other options."
Ravenwing virtually disappears, but not through an invisibility field; she simply takes to cover with all the skill she has. Moving through the darkness, among the shadows, she ghosts from wrecked building to wrecked building, watching and listening for any signs of movement, any enemies, any anomalies. She's handicapped by her lack of knowledge of this particular area, but ah well. Not the first time she's gone in blind.
As the ice and frost clears off the jet, it becomes clear who it is. Snowscape zooms along with Scorcher, doing an inverted dive and then righting himself. "Heya Scorch. You checking out this energy thing too? I picked it up from near-orbit."
Starscream lights his engines and hovers above the ground, getting a better layout of the land.
Megatron says, "Soundwave, what have you discovered so far?"
Shockwave seems concerned about Ravenwing moving in alone and confers quietly with the sentinel leader.
Scorcher does a barrelroll when she recognizes her teammate "Snowscape!" she yells "You almost scared the oil out of me, diving down on me like that!"
From in the depths of the Shadowzone, a familiar mostly black figure rises up to the surface of the land, stretching a little as he casts his gaze over the most barren landscape, mind swimming for a moment in the memories of when this place was awash with life, rather then the barren shadowscape that now exist and occasionally substitutes as his home. Still, no time for memories when there's work to be done. A thought later and he shifts into a Trans-am, sensor sweet coming to life along with his engine as he starts a more direct scan of the area, it would seem something has come to life of late here.
Soundwave waits patiently, the autoscout idling at his feet, for an opening to be carved into the ground surface through which he can send the probe.
Motormaster flicks a button on his gun as it becomes obvious the new arrival isn't a hostile, the weapon powering down with a soft hum as he lowers it back to his side. A quiet sigh, almost of regret that it /didn't/ mean trouble, and then he walks over to rejoin the main group.
Tempest doesn't realize that Snowscape is a friendly, and cycles her lasers to zoom in on the target as the yellow razor-edged aircraft screams in on him!
Scorcher pulls up to fly next to Snowscape and begins to chat, as if she has not been away for months and is now flying over potentially hostile territory
Snowscape laughs a little at his fellow Cyberjet. "Hey, what was I supposed to, radio down and let the Bots pick it up? So what's the story?"
Striker watches what's happening above, "Well well, looks like someone's about to get an afterburner full of laserbolts."
Megatron tilts his head, looking questioningly at Striker: "What?"
Tempest would smirk, since Snowscape is obviously not even realizing she's about to shoot him from a distance even /she/ can't miss....
Striker glances up at Megatron then points at Tempest coming up on Snowscape. "Think ya better stop her, Megatron."
Scorcher smiles happily "You should have seen earth. It is . It is really dirty and full of strange tiny creatures, but there is a lot of energon around. And bots of course. Not nearly as nice as home, but still, it begins to grow on you after a while
Megatron looks up, nearly getting a shock!
Gryphus sighs and finds somewhere to sit and review her files as things seem to be oddly weird.
Ravenwing pauses to look at the commotion overheard, but it seems to be well in hand whether the new jet be friend or foe, and she glides onward. Picking a patch of shadows made by a partly-standing wall, she parks herself to listen for a while, at least until the identity of the new jet is verified. She doesn't expect to be readily visible from above, but just in case that's a hostile... No weapons fire just yet, so that's a good sign.
Megatron shouts into his radio. "Tempest, hold fire!
Soundwave reaches down and pulls at the loose, cracked ground panel before him. Definitely will need a weapon or blade of some kind to cut through. He considers his plasma gun, seeing as the others are occupied with the aereobatics.
Motormaster steps up to Soundwave and with a gesture of his hand, his chainsword materializes in his grip,"Need a little help there, Sunshine?"
Megatron says, "Cease attack, this plain belongs to us."
Soundwave says, "That would be most convenient, Motormaster."
Shockwave's has kept half an optic on the aerial events, but the other half on Soundwave's progress. He's about to move over when he sees Motormaster ready to help.
Scorcher never even notices that Tempest is about to blow her teammate up, though he might have, She continues telling him what happened to her after she got assigned to earth. In as great detail as nobody wants to know
Tempest fires off a laser, becoming only gradually aware of a voice in her audios...a second bolt goes wide of Snowscape as she realizes what Megatron is telling her, and she suddenly yanks her nose skyward and pours on her afterburners, trying to get clear of the fight. "Megatron! You've ruined my shot!"
Snowscape says, "Hey! What's the idea there Yellow?!"
CatsCradle watches from her spot perched on a huge chunk of rubble, her chin pillowed on her fists. Oh, sometimes watching the other 'Cons could just be /so/ much fun...
Scorcher tells "And then I pulled out of this dive just before this aerialbot, so he crashed into the mountain. Right into the fireball of my missiles.." she then notices that Snowscape is no longer flying next to her, but is making some evasive maneuvers
Motormaster activates his blade with another buttontap, the serrated diamond teeth that line the blade beginning to rotate at very high speeds, producing a rather distinctive scream-whine. He motions Soundwave out of the way, and once the espionage leader has gotten clear, begins to apply pressure to the spot that needs to be cut.
There's a screeching sound as Motormaster cuts through the reinforced plating.
Tempest circles high overhead. "What's going on?" she demands, keeping an optic out for her prey (is he attacking her? No, he seems to be with Scorcher.)
Divefire engine purrs quietly as his wheels tred over the rough landscape and his scanners start homing in on the energy readings and a great clump of Decepticon signatures, looks like the gang's all here.
Megatron sighs. "Gladly, I have, Tempest..."
Scorcher turns on the spot, loosing quite a bit of altitude in that maneuver, trying to figure out what is going on
Soundwave watches closely, and no sooner is an opening carved that will let the autoscout through, than he directs it down into the dark depths that are becoming visible below. He's aware that Megatron will want information very soon. The scout drops down, activating an antigrav engine, and disappears from view.
Scorcher radios "What.. what happened?"
Tempest replies to Scorcher, "Who the frag is that guy near you?"
Snowscape transforms and hovers in mid-air, glaring at Tempest. He can see the Decepticon symbol on the yellow jet.
Shockwave says quietly, "The Autobots couldn't help but notice the sound of that plating being cut open."
Scorcher gasps and radios "Tempest! You did not try to shoot down Snowscape did you?"
Tempest says, "He's one of ours?"
Scorcher nods "He's a teammate of mine. If you think I got good eyes, wait till you see him in action!"
Soundwave conveys the information coming back to him, "Autoscout reports the area below is flooded with energy signatures. A considerable open space. Directing it to-" he stops, tilts his head a little as though listening. "Autoscout has been destroyed," he says, with practically no change to his tone.
Gryphus blinks at her scanner and hmms.
Motormaster nods to Shockwave,"That's about right... if'n they didn't know we were headed in this direction, they sure as frag do now." He then turns to Soundwave at that last bit of information,"Destroyed? Destroyed how?" He eyes the hole,"Maybe I should widen it a bit and go through myself."
Snowscape says loudly into his radio for Tempest to hear, "Uh, yeah Tempo or whoever. What, you think there are a lot of Bot jets on Cybertron?"
Ravenwing moves to another vantage point, a better-sheltered one, and radios Megatron. "Nothing around that I can see, Commander, but anyone in the vicinity will know that there's company. I'm not saying that there *are* Autobots lurking behind every piece of debris, but if there were... they know we're here."
Scorcher radios to Snowscape "It's ok. she says "She did not really mean to shoot you down" though she sounds as if she's trying to convince herself as much as Snowscape
Tempest snaps back to Snowscape, "Next time you approach a group you should announce that you're coming!"
Ghost shakes her head, remaining close to Soundwave as she tries to sort out the confusion and chaos. The latest arrival gets a curious stare.
Snowscape just shakes his head and transforms back into cyberjet mode.
Soundwave doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the minor squabbles among the jets, though of course he hears and acknowledges every word and radio message.
Scorcher radios to Snowscape "That's Tempest, she is really cool. She is teaching me how to fight"
Shockwave says, "Recommend we go in force Megatron."
Scorcher radios in an afterthought "but she is a bit scary sometimes, and she kind of shoots first and questions the debris"
Tempest, somewhat embarrassed by almost shooting down another Decepticon, decides she doesn’t want to be flying up here any more....
Tempest transforms into her Robot mode.
Tempest lands next to the group of Decepticons on the ground and looks at the hole Motormaster was making.
Motormaster grins at Tempest as she settles down nearby,"An' they call me a troublemaker."
Snowscape replies to Scorcher "Yeah, well, maybe she'll figure out scraps don't talk."
Starscream , his optics narrowed, shoots upward in the sky, taking on a high patrol pattern, searching....
Divefire transmits to CatsCradle: "And what exactly are you all doing out here?"
Soundwave says, "Preliminary readings indicate we can safely land at these coordinates (transmits a set of values to those nearby), though I cannot guarantee the accuracy. I only received a few moments of data."
Motormaster cranes his head around to Ghost, finally saying to Soundwave,"Why not send her? Isn't she supposed ta be some kinda superspy 'r somethin'?"
Ghost's optics glimmer as she asks, "What sort of difficulties would prevent us from landing in our usual physical forms?":
CatsCradle watches still with amusement, speaking softly into her radio.
CatsCradle transmits to Divefire: beats the hell out of me, love... there's some sort of energy reading we're looking into. Whatever it is, it just munched our drone.'.
Scorcher points Snowscape at the red seeker shooting past them "And that's Starscream, the air commander back on earth, and the emperor's second in command. He really does not like me for some reason, and he keeps making me doing droid work because he thinks I am not serious or something"
Tempest says to Motormaster, ruefully, "What did I tell you? I zero in on the motion...and look at appearances later. Like faction sigils."
Soundwave looks from Ghost to Motormaster. "I believe it would be more prudent to go in with more firepower, than to send one individual."
Motormaster grins innocently,"So send both of us." And yes, really now he's just being a pain, because a moment later he offers a real question,"How many folks do you need?" He just chuckles and shakes his head at Tempest thereafter.
Snowscape says back to Scorcher, "Hey, I may spend a lot of time at the poles, but even I know who Starscream is." He says with a teasing edge, "And you *aren't* serious."
Striker says, "Why don't we just all go in at once?"
It is a good thing that Snowscape is flying with Scorcher, because it is unlikely that she notices anything, she is too busy talking to him
Megatron nods. "Soundwave, you, Motormaster, Ghost and I will go down first, the the second group follow with a few asecs delay, the seekers will circle the area for a while before they follow.
Soundwave draws his plasma rifle and nods to Megatron.
Gryphus just watches on quietly.
Tempest doesn't want to circle the area. If Snowscape makes one more wise remark, she'll fire on him again...and really get in trouble.
Ghost looks a bit more alert as her name is mentioned. She says softly, "Just tell me when I need to go and where, 'm.. ready."
Reflector arrives, flying, having arrived late. He radios over to the others, announcing his arrival, and requesting summary of events.
Soundwave steps forward a little as though to put himself in position to shield Megatron from an attack if they encounter it, though he's very unobtrusive about it.
Motormaster spreads his hands,"Maybe I should go first... seein' as I soak up damage better'n most o' you, an' unlike most o' you the mission ain't too hurt if'n I get disabled."
Soundwave transmits a message via radio.
A radio transmission is received by Reflector.
Reflector transmits a message via radio.
A radio transmission is received by Soundwave.
Striker yawns and sits near the hole, "If ya'll find any 'bots let us know."
Soundwave transmits a message via radio.
A radio transmission is received by Reflector.
Reflector transmits a message via radio.
A radio transmission is received by Soundwave.
You can hear bits of Scorcher's talking to Snowscape "... You would not believe what he did..."
Divefire trundles over the broken scenery, moving from one stretch of broken highway to the next as he picks his way through the shadows towards the main bulk of Decepticon signals.
CatsCradle hops off her perch to peer down in the shadows. "Hear any explosions?"
Reflector shrugs, and falls silent, not knowing the full situation going on, so he remains standing in a line, his three selves waiting for instructions.
Scorcher says, while circling the area with Snowscape "... and then I almost lost my wing. It hurt *so* much that I could not see what I was shooting at. But you should have seen that Autobot leader, the air commander really damaged him before he was shot down himself..."
Ravenwing returns from her rounds, finding little of interest other than the fact that this region was made for ambushes, and that she knew already. The first thing she hears... is rather familiar, very very familiar. The sound of Scorcher's voice, talking nonstop. Though she's tempted to slink back to the shadows, she siiiighs and moves back towards the nice hole that Motormaster built.
Reflector looks around the group, silent, awaiting someone to brief him, and for instructions for them all to go underground. He stands in an alert stance, but all three sets of his arms are lost. His heads turn about every now and then to check on the positions of the others aboveground, but he says nothing.
Scorcher says "... Valckasta ... would you belief that? ..."
Divefire idles up finally to the group, and spotting four pairs of legs he recognizes, one pair rather a lot more so then the other pair, slips up behind them, scanner sweeping back and forth. "Why," He inquires, tone as gruff as always when out here, "Are you two staring down a hole." Two referring to Cats and Raven of course.
Skywarp teleports nearby.
CatsCradle says cheerfully, "We're waiting to see if the others all die a horrible screaming death down there."
<Cybertron> Reflector says, "Requesting situation update...."
Ravenwing soothes herself with the reminder that Scorcher is at some distance, or she'd be able to pick up everything she's saying instead of just the sound of her voice. (Neener) She nods politely to the newly-arrived Divefire and stations herself somewhere in the darkness where she's not so easily seen.
Skywarp transforms and grins.
Reflector, not receiving a response to his request for an update, falls silent, and moves to observe at the entrance of the hole, shaking his heads, his arms crossed.
Divefire mutters slightly, front scanner moving back forth a little quicker. "Does anyone else here explosions?"
Scorcher and Snowscape turn to fly another leg of their search pattern, one that brings them quite close to the rest of the cons. "Hey? where did everybody go?" Scorcher asks her teammate. Then they both tense as they pick up pick up some strange sounds
CatsCradle wrinkles her nose. "Well, I did ask earlier if any one did, but no one answered..."
Scorcher lands next to the others "That's weapons fire I think. A lot of it"
Reflector nods, and then looks about, waiting for instructions on how to proceed.
<Cybertron> Reflector says, "Do you wish reinforcements?"
Skywarp says, "We go in and help"
Scorcher shudders at the thought "Think that is necessary?"
Reflector looks over to Skywarp - technically, the Seeker /is/ the highest ranking officer present... "Do we go and assist them without instructions?"
CatsCradle glances over at Scorcher, remembering the last time the jet went underground. "Maybe you should stay here and guard the entrance?"
<Cybertron> Megatron says, "Stay behind, do not come down!"
Scorcher looks gratefully at Cats
Skywarp smiles. "Well do you need a recorded request" and snorts at his radio.
<Cybertron> Skywarp says, "Yes Megatron we'll await here"
<O-Decepticon> Soundwave says, "We'll need the reinforcements, however... :)"
Ravenwing says, "Quarantine situation, mayhaps."
Reflector shrugs, and then says, "Very well, do we follow, Subcommander? You are the ranking officer present..."
Divefire’s engine revs a little on hearing Megs command. "Right, and we all follow orders oh so well." He half mutters, scanning a little deeper into the tunnel
Skywarp seems to dislike the order. "We'll wait for a little while Reflector."
Scorcher takes off again, to join Snowscape who is still circling overhead
CatsCradle peers down the hole again. "Well, if we don't follow... and Megatron is killed down there... it means Starscream rules."
Ravenwing mutters, "Not for long."
Reflector crosses his arms - he is LOATHE in this situation, but he will follow orders from his superior officer, as much as he dislikes them.
Skywarp seems to think. "Ok Cats you go in and check it out first, then radio us!"
Reflector steps forwards, "Subcommander, request permission to accompany CatsCradle - I am a reconnaissance operative, and I believe that I could d assist in this situation."
If you are paying attention, you might notice that Scorcher is no longer chatting away ceaselessly. She is now very businesslike and professional, scanning the area with as great detail as she can manage
Skywarp looks around with a worried face. "How long have they been there by now? "
Skywarp smiles. "Request granted "
Divefire’s pop up headlights suddenly flash on to full beam as his scan comes back to him. "Oh slag... Forget that Skywarp, I'm picking up enough firepower to level a city coming from down there. Either we all go or no one goes."
<Cybertron> Soundwave says, "Megatron - recommend we call for backup. We will not get through these defenses alone."
Skywarp says, "Then we go"
Scorcher radios to Snowscape "That does not sound good."
Skywarp walks towards the others. "Decepticons battle time!"
CatsCradle grumbles under her breath something about a whole 'nother troop stumbling around to attract attention down there, then slips into the darkness, her dark armor melting into the shadows.
****
Defense Level
Just below the rubble and unstable groundplates that arch above, this area reveals a level stretch that must have once been open to the sky. Defense turrets ring the perimeter, still faintly humming with power after untold eons, while the floorspace is littered with Transformer bodies and spare limbs in various states of damage. Patches of old, dry fuel stain the surface - as well as, surprisingly, puddles of still-liquid, faintly-glowing energon. It is as though the automated defenses made short work of any raiders who once came to scavenge here ... though amidst the clutter, something seems to move. Perhaps it's a trick of the light. There also seem to be several shafts leading downward, or damage to the floor structure through which one might descend - provided one can avoid setting off the perimeter defenses.
Those newly arriving in the underground chamber find themselves in the midst of an area filled by flashing laser beams and energy rays.
Soundwave manages to take out at least one of the turrets, but there are others still active.
Tempest listens to Megatron and Motormaster and lets her rage overcome the pain she feels. She knows her laser shooting isn't good enough to do much damage against these defenses. But...maybe she can get under their range to fire...she's just trying to calculate it when one of the turrets falls silent.
Ghost's shots connect, but she didn’t catch the gleam of an unfiring turret before she decided to make her move. Getting knocked heels over head, she lands crouched, pinpoint smoking holes adorning her armoring, optics shading a deep violent shade of violet. Her choice of weapons is limited.
Soundwave is hit by a response shot from another angle, however, and again ducks down behind the scant cover, his armor smoking slightly.
Skywarp walks after CatsCradle as his face gives a worried look. "Decepticons stay alert." then motions further forward.
Reflector transforms into his Camera mode, performing an immediate high intensity scan of the area to determine what is going on, and what the general situation is, as well as the location of all Decepticons and the static defensive emplacements.
Shockwave peers his optic out from behind the rubble he's using as cover and ducks back as the laser shots track him. Then he pops his cannon arm up and fires.
<Cybertron> Megatron says, "Divefire, Skywarp, we need more firepower down here."
<Cybertron> Motormaster says, "Take cover th' minute ya hit metal! They're fraggin' good shots!"
<Cybertron> Skywarp says, "We are present"
Reflector dives to the side as the turret targets him, splitting into his component forms as he goes behind a metal emplacement for cover and he returns fire!
Skywarp looks around to find his leader as he sees a turret,
Tempest looks around for any visible cables or switches on the turrets...targets for her tornado blade.
Skywarp attacks Turrets with laser2, and strikes it!
Turrets attacks Skywarp with Laser, and strikes him!
Motormaster leans around the corner again, wincing through his damage as he opens up with another heavy blast from his cyclone gun, calling to Soundwave,"Could Rumble an' Frenzy shake 'em off their stands?"
Tempest grins as the blade slices through some directional-control cables, crippling one of the turrets, and neatly plucks the blade back out of the air.
Megatron this time this darn laser did not hit him.
Skywarp feels a blast in his right shoulder as he looks at the other Decepticons, he gives an nasty look then takes a closer observation as he spots Megatron and walks towards him. "Skywarp reporting, assistance has arrived"
Shockwave takes an unhurried approach, making sure he's covered when he fires. It may take a while, but he knows this method will work. He moves his cannon arm up out of cover and fires again from memory.
Reflector ducks behind the jagged piece of metal, and the strike from the turret impacts against it, superheating it, and forcing Reflector to back away or possibly melt portions of his armor. He returns the fire again, firing pulses from his lasers at it.
Megatron hisses at Skywarp: "Take cover, you fool!" Actually he is angry at the defenses not at the seeker.
Megatron attacks Turrets with cannon2, and strikes it!
Turrets attacks Megatron with Laser, and strikes him!
Skywarp ducks and takes cover near Megatron. "What is the situation down here Megatron?"
Motormaster drops back behind cover as he sees more of the turrets crumple under the combined fire of the Decepticon force. He reaches down and touches a hand to his abdomen, wincing a bit as it comes away glowing with energon.
Soundwave considers ejecting Rumble to shake up the turrets' aim, but realizes they don't know what lies below, and whether such an act would collapse the area around them. So he unleashes another sonic blast, hoping to disrupt another turret bank.
Shockwave pulls his hand back as the turrets nail it. Clearly he needs to reconsider.
Megatron, distracted by Skywarp, gets another hit. "We are under attack, Skywarp. Does this answer your question?" he hisses.
Scorcher screams as she is unexpectedly hit by something. She quickly drops to the ground, desperately trying to find cover
Tempest calls out, Scorcher, over here!"
The lasers narrowly miss Snowscape as he drops down
Soundwave takes another hit and pulls back. If the current feeding these things could be deactivated somehow, so they could no longer target...
Reflector is struck by the blast, his center unit taking the impact, and being driven back a number of paces, his chest smoking - armor took the brunt of it, but he is taking some feedback damage. He gets up again to fire once more, trying to coordinate his blasts to take out another turret.
Tempest attempts once again to sever some control circuitry.
CatsCradle snarls softly as a stray shot manages to clip her arm. She pauses in the shadows a moment longer, in the vague safety of cover, trying to sort out the situation. All right... turret guns shooting at everyone... fairly easy situation to sort out.
Tempest grins. "Right through the electrical cable connection," she smirks as she snags the round blade out of the air.
Skywarp turns around and aims his rifle and smiles while seeing it get hit.
Shockwave stands up slowly as the guns fall silent. Tempest seems to have cut the control wiring.
Soundwave relaxes just a little as the flashing bolts of energy die out abruptly.
Scorcher hears Tempest but makes no movement with the turrets firing laserbolts so close to her that she can feel them score her back
Ghost's optics narrow as she eyes the turrets looking to see if there is a place behind them that she might be able to get to in order to disable their power feeds or some targeting systems.
Divefire emerges from the tunnel entrance, headlights ablaze and lighting up his obvious path as a laser blasts down along his side, clipping him somewhat and it seems the rest of the force arriving. It seems there based on movement and he's about to give them all the movement they can handle, since this is a nice wide open flat space... And then the turrets just stop. Oh well there goes that heroic moment.
Motormaster listens to the blessed silence as the tornado blade apparently disables the control functions of the turrets. He slowly stands up, shoulders hunched a bit against an expected shot... and when none comes he grins broadly and walks over to Tempest's cover, offering her a hand up.
Scorcher whispers in a somewhat panicky voice "They're done?" without actually looking up
Soundwave tilts his head, listening carefully. Though the immediate area has fallen silent except for the movements of the Decepticons, there is still a faint hum of power coming from deeper below.
CatsCradle melts out of the shadows and nudges Scorcher with her toe. "They're done, kiddo."
Tempest doesn't take the hand, but does get up at his invitation. "I'm all right," she reassures him, and then looks him over. "You took a couple, though."
Shockwave walks over to Scorcher and offers a hand (his only at the moment). "Affirmative Scorcher."
Megatron gets back onto his feet. He doesn't look pleased and a bit out of shape.
Tempest says, "What the frag is this place? An Autobot fortress?”
Reflector gets up, his chest unit smoking, and he looks to the other Decepticons, before putting his lasers down to his side, and walking up to the other Decepticons, and then pausing to look at them, awaiting a situation update.
Skywarp straightens himself up and looks around. "What is this place really for?"
Motormaster looks down at his pockmarked frame, studying the damage for a moment before shrugging a bit and looking back to the yellow Seeker with a grin,"I've taken worse an' kept walkin'... this is nothin'." He then shrugs at her question, wondering the same thing himself... and looking to Soundwave for the answer.
Megatron looks around. "Status report."
Skywarp looks at Megatron. "Fully functional!"
Scorcher slowly gets to her feet, assisted by no less than three others. She stands on her own feet, but looks quite uncomfortable at being trapped underground
Reflector shrugs, and his center unit's chest is smoking, but the damage is primarily on armor, "Minor damage, unit can function at full operational efficiency."
Ghost stands up from behind some shielding, "Functional." she says softly, holstering her pistol.
Shockwave says, "No fatalities in evidence Megatron. Recommend dismantling the turrets before continuing."
Snowscape mutters to Scorcher "Come on Hots, you have been through worse in the Grinder"
Megatron says, "Do what is necessary, Shockwave."
Motormaster winces a bit as he rolls a wounded shoulder,"Maybe we should tote 'em off ta the base back on Earth and set 'em ta workin' fer us there."
CatsCradle gives Scorcher a quick check-over, then glances at Snowscape. "She's claustrophobic and tends to blow things up when she freaks, so keep a close watch on her," she murmurs, then makes her way over to her mate.
Divefire rumbles over to Soundwave's position, most of his attention on the rather curious landscape before them. "So, do we have a small clue as to what we've got ourselves into yet?"
Snowscape winks at CatsCradle
Soundwave tilts his head, listening carefully. Though the immediate area has fallen silent except for the movements of the Decepticons, there is still a faint hum of power coming from deeper below. (repose)
Shockwave goes about methodically removing the turrets from their mounting, each hitting the floor with a loud clank.
Scorcher sits down and hugs her knees
Reflector shrugs, and then falls silent, awaiting instructions from his commanders. "Do we have any ideas what is concealed beneath this facility, or what we are investigating?"
Soundwave moves toward one of the shafts leading downwards, and ejects Laserbeak for an additional set of eyes and sensors. "There is still activity below," he notes. "Unknown as to what this weaponry was defending. Possibly it is an automated system, still active from long ago. Or ... it is being consciously controlled. Impossible to ascertain."
CatsCradle stops next to Divefire, resting her hand on his hood, automatically checking where the turrets tagged him.
Laserbeak perches on Soundwave's shoulder
Soundwave clarifies, "Detecting no movement below. But energy readings are still prominent."
Shockwave says looking at one of the turrets. "These systems do appear to be modern in design. But that is still a window of several million years."
Divefire’s scanner shifts back and forth as he does his best to find out what the heck is going on with this place. Of course he can't actually find anything more then Soundwave, actually less, but still it's worth a try. "I'm fine." He intones across to Cats, though a slight streak of laser fire is evident across his flank.
CatsCradle says cheerfully, "I know you are" and checks anyway.
Megatron clenches his fist. "I am here now and I want to know what is going on on my planet!" He heads downward. "Whoever wants to follow me, follow.
Snowscape pats Scorcher's head, in an attempt to ease her anxiety
Ghost pads slowly over to wards one of the shafts leading downwards, arching a brow curiously as she waits for orders to move or stand down. Wisplets of smoke drift up from faint mars on her frame, but all in all, she seems unscaythed.
Tempest's optics flash. Megatron is carrying some evident damage and he's still going on? Dammit... She darts after him.
Shockwave tosses a circuit board aside and follows Megatron.
****
Production Floor
The great cavernous interior of the building is filled with a zigzag of conveyor belts, assembly lines, and precarious walkways, hovered over by mechanized arms that drip from above like claws waiting to pounce. Along the conveyor belts, rows upon rows of dead-silent, identical forms lie one beside the other - a tremendous sleeping army of seekers, still as death, for indeed they have never known life. In the dimness and silence, faint motes of dust float in the air, giving the entire chamber the eerie feeling of a mass grave.
Megatron looks at Tempest. "If you and the others need repairs, go back. I want to find out what is happening.
Tempest mutters, "I'm not the one of us who needs repairs." Stubbornly she sticks beside him.
Scorcher icks, the gross view actually making her forget that she is actually underground and can not fly away
Shockwave simply scans his optic around the room, taking in the details.
Reflector comes down into the underground, carefully looking around, taking in the deactivated bodies, and then commenting, "This appears to be some sort of manufacturing facility..."
Megatron slowly enters the production area, looking around. "What in Cybertron's name...?"
Tempest slinks towards the jets
Soundwave looks around intently, admonishing Laserbeak to stay close. He notes all of those seeker bodies lying in rows on their conveyor belts, visibly dimly in the low lighting.
Blue bolts of crackling electricity snap around the level, flowing through the dead Seeker bodies on the production floor. The bodies then seem to rise!
These mindless re-animated Seeker zombies amble forwards towards the Decepticons, their black optics blank, their movements staggered and clumsy, like broken puppets with twisted strings. Over and over, they chant only one moaning word "Energon... Energon... Energon..."
CatsCradle squeaks, backpedeling quickly. "Nononono... no more zombies!"
Megatron grumbles. "At least they can speak one word." He raises his cannon.
Laserbeak points his cannons at the Zombies anxiously awaiting a command.
Tempest blinks...its' as if they read her mind, only that was why she was after /them/. Well, they seem about to find out who gets the fuel...the only survivors. She pulls down her longblades from the brackets on her wings.
Motormaster is in a bad mood now, for whatever reason... perhaps the repeated laser blasts he got earlier... so instead of withdrawing in the face of the zombies as a handful of people do he draws his chainsword and just starts walking towards them, activating it as he goes.
Shockwave holds his cannon arm at the ready, prepared to melt down some old parts.
Scorcher looks up and sees the dead seekers come to a semblance of life. She screams and blindly fires two missiles into the advancing zombies
Ghost flips heels over head to land near Megatron, pulling out a sword from behind her back.. "This.. does not look promising." she comments, flipping the blade in her hand and igniting it. She glances at Tempest, who has also drawn blades and offers a grin, "Think we can take'em?' she asks.
Reflector draws out his laser pistols, extremely confused at this point. He waits for the others to open fire, or some sort of instructions, but for now he simply prepares for combat.
Motormaster spins his blade once in his hand... and then gets a rather delightful idea. Why use blades when there are so many better ways of demolishing a great number of them? So, instead, he transforms to his altmode with the usual noises involved... and turns on his headlights, highlighting the front row of living dead and revving his engine a couple of times.
Soundwave's optic band flickers faintly as he lines up his plasma rifle on the nearest approaching seeker. He's now convinced something is controlling this factory externally - either that, or someone has programmed very convincing automatic defenses.
Megatron says, "Fire at will!"
Scorcher quickly backs away from the advancing nightmares
Reflector fires at the Red Jet, blasting out with his three laser pistols as fast as he can!
Laserbeak fires at the nearest aggressor.
Tempest nods to Ghost. They have the advantage of numbers...and minds.
Megatron attacks Green Jet with cannon3, and strikes him!
Green Jet attacks Megatron with kick, and strikes him!
Motormaster picks up speed quickly, once he gets started with a squeal of tires... and doesn't once slow down as he roars towards the group of grey zombies shambling forwards...
Shockwave fires calmly at several of the jet attackers, noticing they don't seem to register pain or let the damage slow them.
Divefire drives down with the rest, not bothering to transform since this mode is so very adaptable to these sort of situations, such as scanning new dungeons, turbo boosting over the Grand Canyon, driving through lava streams and now probably zombie removal. "It's okay Cats." He intones in a slightly calm voice. "This is only a factory full, not a planet full." As his engine revs up and his tires spin against the smooth metal floor for a moment, then launch his car form forward at the would have been seeker force.
Soundwave directs Laserbeak to circle upward and keep moving.
Megatron grumbles something about the damages slowing him down, attacking anew.
Reflector fires another burst at the Red Jet at close range as his three parts spread out to attempt to split up and divert its attention.
Laserbeak flies upward
Scorcher continues to wildly fire her lasers, being a bigger danger to her own side than to the zombies
Ghost moves into a place where she can shadow Tempest, choosing the same target the other femme does, moving in tandem.
Megatron attacks Green Jet with cannon2, and strikes him!
Green Jet has been deactivated from severe damage.
Tempest pounces the yellow jet.
Shockwave gets grabbed by one of the jets from behind, and does his best to shake it off of him.
Reflector fires once again at the Red Jet, moving about to evade it and then blast at it once again.
Ghost swings underhanded at the Yellow Jet as tempest swings high.
Soundwave unleashes another sonic pulse amidst plasma shots, hoping to cut off whatever connection is controlling these bodies.
Zombies go flying everywhere as Motormaster plows through them, various mangled forms scattering like bowling pins and... not getting back up, in spite of what might be expected. Once he's punched his way through the whole group, he transforms back to his robot mode and dusts off various bits of zombie from his form... only to head towards the Red Jets, sword drawn and flashing again.
Tempest hopes she drove the yellow jet right into Ghost's range.
CatsCradle grumbles as Diver apparently decides to imitate Motormaster, "Yeah, but you weren't around for the last batch.” She pops her wrist lasers and begins to fire at the same bunch of zombies her mate is barreling down at.
Snowscape backs up together with Scorcher, trying to keep by her side, and out of her erratic firing
Megatron had enough of this stupid mindless attacker, blasting into smithereens.
While attacking, the zombies suddenly scream with one voice, in unison, a message. This message carries the same echo and tone of the earlier warning from the turrets, magnified in volume by being spoken by a dozen Seeker zombies. They scream "Leave now, Autobot invaders! Leave this place or face the wrath of Codex!" The zombies resume their attack, and their chants of "Energon..."
Soundwave ducks under a punch by one of the seekers that lurches toward him faster than expected for a thing so uncoordinated. He sidesteps quickly, trying to slam the end of his rifle into the back of its helmet.
Shockwave blows the head off the jet body grasping him, then fires on several more.
Scorcher almost shoots Laserbeak out of the sky
Motormaster tosses a salute to CatsCradle as she takes out the group even as his own attack is disrupted by them scrambling all over him and trying to drag him down... he then whirls on the blue group and opens fire with his gun, laser blasts lancing towards them.
Tempest says, "What the...we're not Autobots!"
Soundwave looks up as his rifle connects with the jet's head. "*Autobot* invaders?" The moment of distraction allows the lifeless creature to retaliate by landing a kick on him, and he almost stumbles a little.
Ghost spins through her strike, ducking under the Yellow Jet-zombies attempted grapple. . grabbing a few thin blades from her side, she blinks and peers at Tempest in bafflement, "Either way, they're still attacking us!"
CatsCradle looks confused. "Wait a minute... zombies don't care about Autobots or Decepticons... they just wanna eat."
Reflector fires at the Yellow Jets, attempting to give Ghost fire support, his three selves moving to blast at them, and hopefully distract them from combat, though his hits don't do that much damage.
Tempest's swords rip into the yellow jets.
Motormaster frowns a bit and looks startled, “Autobots? What?" Then the group, not bothered by his laser blasts in the slightest, swarms onto him and necessitates him focusing on the battle again, swinging the butt of his gun around in a great arc to try and clear a space.
Laserbeak attacks Blue Jet with laser1, and strikes him!
Blue Jet attacks Laserbeak with kick, and strikes him!
Oh the bodies! Would neatly sum up the mess as Divefire does his own slightly smaller version of Motormaster's one robot zombie wrecking crew, his car form charging into the group and out of it again, before spin turning around in a cloud of tire smoke and letting rip with a blast of laser fire from his headlights.
Shockwave adopts the strategy of firing several lower powered blasts at each attacker, blowing it apart piece by piece.
Tempest actually seems to be enjoying ripping yellow jets to bits
Reflector continues spreading apart his laser blasts, moving to give each one of his comrades fire support in turn, attempting to blow off parts of each of them, and disable their ability to fight back.
Soundwave sidesteps to get a new angle of fire, and telegraphs a quick message to Laserbeak as he sees the bird swoop down: "Stay out of retaliation range."
Motormaster is dragged down under a great swarming heap of zombies, who proceed to enact a beat down upon him, resulting in a snarl from him,"Get the frag off me, you fraggin' dirty!" He then curses and drops to the floor as they are blasted off of him by Megatron's cannon, some of the blasts barely missing him.
Ghost's optics narrow to slits as she continues to move in tandem with Tempest, determined to aid in taking at least one thing out. The shots from reflector only add to the slight battle confusion as she isn’t certain where they came from. Her energy saber is swung again, crossing in front of her as she lashes out, feinting with that and driving a monomolecular short blade towards the yellow Yet.
Soundwave fires on a group of scattered yellows that are still active.
Tempest's blades swing in scything arcs, her arms covered in zombie fuel, and her optics glittering with a demonic light.
Shockwave's optic flashes as he's kicked from behind, and he turns to blow apart that attacker before continuing forward
Laserbeak slowly straggles skyward noticeably impaired.
Soundwave fires on the mass of uncoordinated robots with another plasma blast that lights up the nearby interior for a moment.
Megatron offers Motormaster his hand to get up again.
Shockwave blasts the head off two more attackers.
Motormaster takes Megatron's hand gratefully and lets the Decepticon leader pull him up... and grumbles as he studies his ichor coated form,"I /hate/ zombies." He then grins at Megatron,"Nice shot, boss."
Some of the yellows lurch forward with a startling agility and kick at Soundwave, their numbers enough to knock him backwards. He lashes out with a kick of his own.
Ghost's form blurs as she kicks backwards, ducking around tempest to try and get the zombie into a scissor position where the two femmes can try to cleave in twain. All of the incoming firepower disconcerts her, and she hopes that she doesn’t become a victem of friendly fire while working.
Yellow Jet attacks Soundwave with Punch, and strikes him!
Reflector fires at the Yellow Jet, blasting away to give fire support for his comrades, attempting to move to disable the Yellow Jets with focused energy blasts, and give his comrades fire support.
Megatron says, "You had enough fun, Motormaster."
Laserbeak slowly begins his descent.
There are too many converging on Soundwave, he can't kick them off him. They start pounding at him, until finally an attack from one of his comrades allows him to break free. The zombie jets fall away and scatter across the ground.
Shockwave finishes twisting the head off one of the yellow attackers and looks around for another target.
Tempest's head swings back and forth...but all she can see near her is Ghost. She looks almost disappointed that there's nothing else to hunt.
Motormaster watches the last of them get blasted down by the fierce and mighty Reflector and just chuckles at Megatron,"No such thing, boss, no such thing." He looks almost... happy. "Shall we continue?"
Ghost skids past the joined target, lashing out with her blade at one of the other shambling mockeries of existence.
Soundwave climbs to his feet again, his plating rather battered and scorched.
CatsCradle darts over to Soundwave; her optics wide and just barely shy of panicked. "These ones aren't virus-ed are they?"
Laserbeak begins to survey the damage to his comrades as well as himself.
Soundwave surveys the fallen, scattered seekers. "I do not believe so, CatsCradle. The energy signatures are entirely different. I am puzzled as to that announcement as well as other factors."
Reflector looks over and then he ponders, "Could they have been under some sort of remote control, much like a Master Computer for Drone units?"
Ghost lets her systems come down from a hyper state, padding towards Tempest and offering the other femme a faint smile, even as she keeps her optics open for any strange movements from other such oddities.
CatsCradle looks vaguely reassured, although she steps carefully through the zombie-parts, trying not to touch any.
Soundwave looks around. "Possibly, Reflector."
Laserbeak scoops up a decapitated zombie head and blasts it to pieces.
Shockwave says, "Did you detect any radio signals Soundwave?"
Motormaster then walks slowly over to Divefire, dusting his hands off as he goes and noting cheerfully,"This is gonna be a pain ta get offa my wheels, I think..."
Megatron frowns. "We need a planetary exterminator squad. There are too many vermin crawling beneath the surface...
Laserbeak says, "I doubt it'll come back online from that."
Scorcher is barely moving now that stopped shooting at anything that moved. She still looks extremely twitchy though
Reflector looks around, and he shunts his weapons back to subspace, "Does anyone have any theories as to what just went on?"
Divefire’s red l.e.d. scanner swishes back and forth to Motormaster, chuckling slightly in agreement. "Well if you will go and crush one entire legion of them all on your own."
Soundwave replies to Shockwave, "I still detect energy readings, but no radio signals."
Reflector looks about, his arms crossed, and he begins looking at the disassembled bodies, scanning them closely, attempting to determine just how they functioned.
The blue lightning flows out of the dead and mangled Seeker corpses, crawling along the walls like a living thing, seeping into the seams of the walls, disappearing.
Motormaster grins at Divefire,"Remind me some time ta come an' swap strategies on the fine art o' runnin' folks over, a'right?" He then turns as the electricity thing occurs... chuckling softly and trailing after the rest.
The frighteningly loud voice reappears, speaking again "Leave now Autobots! Go no further, or face unholy horrors at the command of Codex!"
Tempest watches the electricity flow. Her optics glitter. It’s like something is withdrawing...and the voice suggests that whatever it is is still very much alive.
CatsCradle narrows her optics at the blue flashes. "The last ones didn't do that..."
Laserbeak waddles up to the wall looking into the crack the lightening retreated into curiously.
Scorcher shouts "I'm NOT an Autobot"
Divefire would blink if he could at that occurrence. "Alright, that was odd." He half mutters, making a note to give Moto a file entitled Tao of Crash Combat.
Shockwave says quietly to Soundwave, "Perhaps telepathic contact might be possible?"
Megatron stares at the blue lights. "What is this?
Motormaster heads over to Ghost and Tempest, tilting his head,"You two alright?" He looks at the piles of slashed and stabbed zombie bodies all around them, and just grins again,"I guess so."
CatsCradle stares rather wildly at Shockwave and Soundwave. "Telepathic... with zombies? Ewww... oh, er... the one behind the zombies. Right."
Soundwave observes, "This was clearly once a seeker bodyshell production factory. The automated defenses assume any invaders to be Autobots. If we can reach the central system and disconnect the controls..."
Laserbeak pecks at the crack.
Reflector shrugs, and then he says, "Is there the possibility that this is some sort of malfunctioning computer? It appeared to believe that we were Autobots..."
Soundwave confirms again, "Power is still active below. That is where we must target our efforts."
Tempest says, "I'm still hungry...there's like no fuel in these..." And, no time to eat. But...she's all right. She grins at Motormaster.
Techno hmmms, looking around..
Ghost nods to Motormaster, "Fine. Hoping that this is the easy part."
Megatron says, "We will never solve this puzzle up here."
Soundwave says, "Motormaster. We have need of your chainsaw again.""
Reflector looks around, "What number of times is this now that we have encountered such deactivated shells active without a functioning personality matrice?"
Soundwave crouches down beside Laserbeak, who has found a crack in the floor that could easily be cut open to allow passage.
Snowscape lightly shakes Scorcher to snap her out of her panic. Then he shakes her a bit more strongly when it doesn't seem to work
Ghost eyes her blade, then checks the edge of the shorter blade, putting it back in its sheath at her side.
Motormaster grumbles a bit at Soundwave, though it's not at the need for the weapon,"Chain/sword/, Sounders... I ain't a lumbermech, a'right?" He does draw the requested item, however, then looks questioningly at the Decepticon leaders,"What needs dicin'?"
Megatron shortly glances at Tempest, his expression unreadable, then he focuses his attention on Soundwave. "Any success yet?"
Laserbeak peers into the crack, squaking.
Techno shakes her head, pulling out some items, and turns them on, the begin to hum and whir and click and buzz
Reflector shrugs, and then transforms into his camera mode, performing close-range scans of their body units.
Soundwave doesn't respond to Motor's grumbling, but merely points to the crack in the floor that Laserbeak has detected. "There is clearly another chamber below us, and the original exits have long since fallen into disrepair."
Divefire mutters over the sound of his engine as he trundles up to the digging party. "This is worse then a games of Dungeons and Dragons and the treasure at the end better be a lot better."
Soundwave picks up Laserbeak so he's not in the way of the cutting operation.
Motormaster eyes the wall for a moment, then just nods,"Alright... yer the boss." He activates his blade with its now-familiar sound, and proceeds to begin carving away a nice-sized section of the wall.
[OOC] Megatron patpats his cannon. "Do we need a turbo floor opener?"
Reflector takes a full spectrum analysis of the bodies, and of the parts, before ejecting a small datacube, which he then transforms, and he waits for Soundwave to acknowledge him.
Tempest looks at the floor with interest. "Nice stairs."
Soundwave glances aside at Reflector, and accepts the compressed data with a nod.
Laserbeak anticipates another wave of Zombies beyond the crack, and thus watches anxiously.
Ghost puts her long blade up now, absently dusting at some of the blackflash from her assault on the jets..
Reflector reports over to Soundwave, "Commander, I have a partial analysis of the Seeker shells that just assaulted us - they contained no fuel, and they were electrically controlled by an exterior source, and likely powered by it as well..."
Laserbeak says, "What do you think the consequences of being bit by one of these things would be?"
CatsCradle says tightly, "Get your terminology right, Reflector. They were zombies. Zombies. Icky things that try to eat you, then infect you so you die and then want to eat everyone else." She stomps away. Oh, this is /so/ not a good day....
Megatron is quite impatient. "Work faster! I want to get, whoever is behind this, into my hands!
Soundwave nods, having deduced the same from the data Reflector handed him. "We still have a mystery to solve here."
Tempest shrugs at CatsCradle and says, "Hey, it's not so bad when you're used to it..."
Reflector nods at Soundwave, and then he says, "Were you able to discern the energy readings where they were being fed power from?"
Divefire replies to Cats in a soothing tone. "It's alright, these aren’t the same type of zombies, they can't infect us and make us like them, unless of course that lightning can take control of our bodies to..." Oh dear...
Techno puts on her Velma glasses, and looks for clues..."Jinkies......that’s a lot of spare parts..."
CatsCradle stops to look at Tempest. "It wasn't the eating, so much, as the mindlessness. Living death," she shudders, her fingers going to the faded claw marks on her face.
Megatron decides: "It is enough now, Motormaster."
Megatron ribs away the rest of the metal that is in their way, heading deeper down.
Motormaster looks up, blinking a bit,"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure boss." He then removes the blade from the now-lacerated wall, and follows Megatron.
Ghost drops into a crouch, watching Motormaster cut at the flooring. She blinks as Megatron rips his way through the last part, then shrugs, standing and -adding after the others.
Soundwave looks up over the conveyor belt machinery one more time, then drops downward through the opening Motormaster made.
CatsCradle smacks Diver's hood as she walks by him. "And I heard that. Stop trying to spook me out more."
***
Docking Bay
Judging by the huge sealed doorways along one wall, long-since rusted in place, this must once have been a docking bay where raw materials were delivered. Entire mountains of steel beams and sheetmetal still lie neatly piled nearly to the ceiling - but that is the only sense of order that remains here. The rest of the area is strewn about with more dead Transformers, many of them no longer recognizable as robots, as they have been so badly torn to pieces. Here and there one can glimpse the shredded edge of a red Autobot symbol on the mangled bodies. Everything seems still and silent - and yet, who knows what may lurk behind the mountains of untouched supplies?
Reflector looks around, his expression curious as he takes in their new surroundings.
Shockwave isn't fooled by the seeming lack of activity and keeps his optic scanning.
Laserbeak begins to fly around trying to survey the room... oblivious to the fact he's being watched
Soundwave drops down and finds himself standing amidst shredded robot bodies and limbs. He regards it all with a neutral expression.
Scorcher practically gets dragged along by Snowscape, who is beginning to look less than pleased too
Ghost moves down relatively close to keeping with Tempest. She seems to enjoy sticking near the other femme.
Megatron slowly walks in. "Be ready, beware of ambushes," he orders.
Techno glances around...'wow, and I thought I went through Beakers fast, who ever works here has me beat..."
Laserbeak swoops down coming to rest on Soundwave’s shoulder.
Soundwave notes, "Defenses have been highly effective in the past."
Tempest tries to get used to having Ghost as her shadow. She finds it odd to have someone skulking after her that way...but...makes a note to ask about it later. In the meantime it doesn't hurt to have someone watching her back while she tries to watch Motormaster and Megatron's.
Megatron says, "Soundwave, scan the area."
Reflector transforms into his camera mode, closely scanning the area for any possible ambushes - alerted now, he awaits someone directing his efforts at scanning, and he looks about closely, getting a map of their environs.
Soundwave catches Reflector as he transforms, trying to get an infrared reading on any nearby power sources.
Laserbeak stretches his wings.
Soundwave himself still hears the faint, faint hum of something coming from below, but like the previous room was, all is still and silent at the moment.
The voice returns, speaking to all of you with it's booming volume "You fools! Now see the mighty power of Codex, Autobots!"
Suddenly, the blue lighting, seen before, bursts upwards from the floor, animating the various mangled corpses of dead Autobots. Using some unknown force, the azure electricity slams the parts together in a furious cyclone of dismembered bodies. It forms a roughly humanoid figure, almost a hundred feet tall, whose "head" touches the ceiling of this chamber.
The monstrous amalgam of Autobot bodies shambles forwards with incredible speed for its size, bellowing "DIE AUTOBOTS! DIE!". It rages forward with the fury of an angry god and the momentum of a moving freight train. Lesser mechs would break morale and run in terror at the sight of such a grotesque juggernaut rampaging towards them.
CatsCradle tugs at Motormaster's arm. "Gee, y'know, now would be a really good time for Menasor..."
Laserbeak streaks upwards at this things head.
Tempest looks at the behemoth, trying to figure out what holds its parts together, and if there's any way to pry them apart again.
Shockwave's optic flashes as he decides this would be a good time to let loose with the firepower.
Shockwave transforms into his Cannon mode.
Soundwave's first impulse is to call Laserbeak back into his tape compartment - but that's a parent's instinctive reaction that he dismisses in the next microsecond, knowing Laserbeak is fully capable. If he can only distract the monster so that Laserbeak can get in a good hit from close-up....
Scorcher stumbles backwards and actually trips on some of the debris
Reflector splits apart form his camera mode, his three selves drawing their lasers as they do so, extremely confused by this point - just what sort of entity are they dealing with here?
Divefire floats out of the ceiling entrance just in time to see, well, something really really ugly get together with itself. "Zombies, no fashion sense." He mutters, taking a moment to think which suicidal attack would be best at this point
Shockwave attacks Autobot Zombie with Cannon, and strikes it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Shockwave with punch, but misses him!
Megatron narrows his glowing optics. "We should have taken Devastator with us..." he comments. Suddenly he hesitates... Die Autobots...?
Megatron says, "Hold fire!"
Laserbeak sneaks in closer as apparently the big 'Bot doesn't perceive him as a threat.
Techno scans the creature for a moment, a schematic of it popping up before her....
Shockwave flies backwards, avoiding the massive fist and transforms again.
Reflector is quite confused by this point - what are they to do? He heard the "Die Autobots" part, and looks to Megatron for instructions - do they attack?
Motormaster just snorts at the behemoth,"Frag, is that all this Codex guy has? I've seen better from the Aerialbots." He blinks a bit as someone tugs on his arm, craning his head down to peer at CatsCradle,"Ya know, ya just might be right." He gets a bit of a grin and then turns, searching the Decepticons who tagged along for his team, even as the battle begins with the behemoth... and at Megatron's cry he just motions for the other Stunticons to join him. Nothing wrong with being prepared.
Shockwave's cannon blast seems to have done very little real damage..
Soundwave just barely restrains himself from firing off a blast of plasma as his leader's orders reach him. He looks to Megatron with some surprise.
CatsCradle catches Diver's arm, too, recognizing that expression. "No, you are /not/," she snaps.
Megatron thunders towards the giant. "Who dares to call proud Decepticon warriors by the name of their enemies?"
Laserbeak pulls off his dive run as he hears Megatron's order.
Scorcher does not pay any attention to Megatron's command to hold her fire, though it may be because she trips over something, but she fires a missile straight at the giant's face
Scorcher attacks Autobot Zombie with incendiary_missile, and strikes it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Scorcher with punch, but misses her!
Soundwave calls out, "Commander!" He *really* doesn't think Megatron's move is a good idea.
Laserbeak swings around again gathering momentum.
Megatron whispers: "Stay ready to fire at my command."
Motormaster calls over,"Megatron... just give th' word! Menasor c'n thrash this upstart 'fore he even know what hit 'im!" He then blinks at the explosions, turning to stare at Scorcher with a sigh.
Tempest summons her courage and darts up behind Megatron. If that thing takes a swat at Megatron, at least there will be two of them, and it won't be able to concentrate on both at once.
Reflector whirls about, looking from Megatron to Soundwave in confusion, his laser pistols drawn, but he does not ire them without instructions. His heads swivel about as they try to figure out what is going on.
Techno hmms, "You know...it's just me, but it make sense to me, to try and jam the whatever is like making these thingamajig move around..I mean it's just not natural...so, if whatever is causing this to happen, like losses the ability...that would be a good thing....
The giant zombie's head is engulfed in a fireball for a moment
Divefire looks towards Cats as she grabs a hold of his arm, his optics a little wide. "What?" He replies in a defensive manour. "It's not like I was about to hit the ground and go to full speed, turbo boost at the right moment and try and take its knee joints out."
The behemoth is struck in the face by a missile, and that serves only to anger it further. It raises it's foot high to drop down on Megatron...
CatsCradle's optics widen at the sudden fireball. "Sure you weren't," she murmurs distractedly, patting her mate's hand. "Of course, you weren't."
Laserbeak roars in with a shot to prevent Megatron from becoming mushed.
Reflector draws out his weapons, looking to Megatron for orders to fire as the Zombie attacks!
Megatron acks at a ruined plan... "Fire!" he orders, in an angry grumble.
Laserbeak attacks Autobot Zombie with laser1, but misses it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Laserbeak with kick, but misses him!
Motormaster narrows his optics as the thing tries to stomp Megatron, shaking his head a bit,"That's it... time to show this thing how it's done." He glances back to his team, making sure everyone's ready, and then nods and says calmly,"Merge ta form Menasor." CLANK-CLANK-CLANK!
Laserbeak attacks Autobot Zombie with laser2, but misses it!
Shockwave lets loose with high-powered gamma rays, trying to move in behind the creature.
Tempest splits off from Megatron, moving left as he moves right, and pouncing at the monster's knee joint.
Reflector fires up at the Zombie, and he misses it, and it grabs him with its hand, and he is slowly being crushed by it, his three parts held in its massive grasp!
Scorcher flies through the air as the zombie's counterattack narrowly misses her, but still sends the debris flying everywhere
Laserbeak attacks Autobot Zombie with bite, but misses it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Laserbeak with Punch, and strikes him!
Shockwave moves away from the combat zone as Menasor appears.
Soundwave rushes forward, firing a repeated blast of plasma fire - if only to distract the monster. He rushes past, trying to keep out of the fray, however. He's convinced there's a control center around here somewhere, where all this power is being routed from. If only they could find it.
Tempest sinks her swords into the creature's knee...only to be kicked squarely in the gut and she goes flying across the room, hitting the far wall.
Laserbeak crashes to floor with a thud.
Megatron crashes against the nearest wall. Slowly he's realizes that he /is/ damaged... and darn angry.
Megatron gets back onto his feet.
Moments later, a fist equally as big as the Autobot zombie's own reaches over to try and smash Reflector free of its grasp, booming out,"Fool!" And yes, yes it /is/ Menasor as might be expected... and moments later the other hand comes around, swinging the larger version of Motormaster's own sword.
Soundwave stumbles a little as the ground shakes, as Menasor forms and clashes head-on with the Autobot monstrosity.
Reflector is dropped to the floor with a thump, stunned for several moments,, his internal armor heavily dented, and partially crushed by the force, and he lies there on the floor, trying to reboot himself, before he moves out of the way, and then looks to the other Decepticons for instructions, not wanting to intervene on Menasor's fight.
Laserbeak tries to get himself off the floor but can barely move.
Shockwave holds his fire, not wanting to hit Menasor.
Tempest drags herself to her feet again and watches Menasor do battle.
As the room shakes under the clash of the two titans, Soundwave scans for anything that looks like a path to a control room, or a computer bank. There's nothing visible amidst the mountains of supplies, though some of those piles of sheet metal start to tremble precariously, several beams sliding down and crashing into the floor.
The sword slices into the shambled Autobot zombie, but instead of reeling in pain, the zombie grabs Menasor by the wrist, pulling sword in further and the Stunticon gestalt closer, before letting fly with a fist into the chest of Menasor.
Divefire glances across to his mate and shrugs lightly. "Alright, fine I won't go and get squashed, but maybe I can still do something useful." And despite the gigantic fight going on, he drops to the ground and transforms once more into his mobile sensor array, erm, Trans am mode.
Reflector moves over to Soundwave's side, two of him trying to keep their lasers pointed at the creature, while the third, the center unit, looks to Soundwave for instructions on how he can assist in his search for whatever...
Startled, the Decepticon giant is tugged forward, having not expected the thing to stab itself deeper... and then Menasor is pretty much backhanded soundly into the other wall, blinking his optics once or twice. Okay, so that hurt. Those same optics narrow, and he raises the immense gestalt-cannon that serves as his ranged weaponry, opening fire with a terrible roar.
Megatron watches the Titan's fight.
Laserbeak slowly attempts making his way behind the giant Autobot, plotting a sneak attack while its' distracted .
CatsCradle cringes at the volume of the cannon fire in the enclosed area. "Just remember that," she shouts at Diver. "Getting squashed is not being useful." She pops her lasers again and takes a few pinging shots at the giant zombie... oh, gonna have nightmares about this one... in a somewhat futile effort to distract it.
Laserbeak attacks Autobot Zombie with laser2, and strikes it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Laserbeak with grasp, but misses him!
Laserbeak attacks Autobot Zombie with laser1, but misses it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Laserbeak with kick, and strikes him!
The "head" of the creature is suddenly disintegrated under the force of the cannon's blow. But that matters not, for the zombie is not reliant on its head to survive. Parts then grotesquely begin to shift internally in the creature, and a new head is formed. More disturbing is that this head takes the form of a weapon obviously taken from an Autobot corpse, a missile launcher! With a howling scream, the missiles are fired from the launcher at Menasor.
Soundwave watches Laserbeak circling the huge conglomeration's head, his optic band flickering slightly as the thing reflexively kicks out at him.
Laserbeak thunders downward hits ground with a large boom.
Megatron says, "Soundwave, this thing must be controlled from somewhere, find the controls. The others: fire, get it distracted!"
Soundwave dives forward to catch Laserbeak as he falls, crashing to the ground himself in the process. Debris and dust rain down all around him as the giants clash right nearby.
Laserbeak transforms into his Red Cassette mode.
Megatron attacks Autobot Zombie with cannon3, but misses it!
Autobot Zombie attacks Megatron with kick, but misses him!
Engulfed in a raging fireball produced by the missile storm, Menasor staggers once more, actually dropping to one knee this time and staring at the opposing titan... how do you hurt something that uses having its head blown off to its advantage. Seeing Soundwave trying to perform a rescue, with a moment of presence of mind Menasor struggles to protect him, charging the zombie with shoulder lowered.
Soundwave hurriedly slips Laserbeck back into his chest compartment, and from his unique perspective he notices something torn up from the floor due to the giant robots' battle.
Reflector looks to Soundwave for instructions, and at Megatron's command, he starts scanning the area for any signs of the control center, moving to assist Soundwave, though focusing his efforts on the part of the room that Soundwave is not going over, for added efficiency and speed.
Megatron was faster this time to avoid being kicked again, but also misses the giant.
Scorcher fires her lasers at the giant's eye. Or so she would want to think. Actually she is mostly hitting the walls and the ceiling
Soundwave pushes himself forward, keeping low to avoid the flailing limbs of the monster. He pulls at a loose floorpanel, heedless that the sharp metal edge is cutting into his hand. Here, below, he sees a faint red light....
Megatron says, "Move around, keep it distracted!"
The Autobot amalgam is slammed backwards by Menasor's shoulder block, staggering backwards and falling on its back. Instead of getting up, the creature merely reforms into it's previous shape, and rages towards Menasor in a tackle of it's own.
Shockwave begins firing laser blasts as he gets a clear shot.
Soundwave struggles through the narrow opening, disappearing down through the floor. Almost as an afterthought he calls for backup on the broadband.
<Cybertron> Soundwave says, "Passage downwards detected. Request assistance. I am going in."
<Cybertron> Reflector says, "I am en route, Commander..."
Scorcher and Snowscape have to dive for cover as the giants threaten to step on them.
CatsCradle shoves Diver, car mode and all, towards where Soundwave disappeared. "There. Go. He needs techies." Anything to keep her mate from doing something that would end up in squash-dom.
Divefire scans back and forth as his suspension soaks up some of the bumps and shockwaves of the combat, still his chassis is taking a beating from simply being on the floor. Then his scanners pick up on what could be considered an opening and on hearing Soundwave's command he waists no more time, blasting towards the entrance, which involves driving through the giant Autobot zombies legs, got to do something dangerous and straight down the hole.
Tempest doesn't trust her lasers to not hurt a friendly robot and so darts in to slash with her blades at its feet.
Megatron still fires at the giant to keep it distracted.
A stray shot shatters the metal plate that Scorcher is hiding behind. With a yell she is tossed aside until she slams against the wall
The massive titanic creature brings it's two "hands" up high, ready to crush Menasor under one furious blow.
Megatron order his troops: "Follow Soundwave, Quick!"
Megatron says, "Stunticons, disassemble!"
Unfortunately, what follows makes the situation for those struggling to distract the zombie giant far more severe... as the monstrosity drives Menasor backwards in a countertackle, he loses his balance and is literally /carried/ into the wall with a sound like a thunderclap right overhead... the zombie backs up a bit, leaving Menasor lying in a heap on the ground, and then with a sizzling crackle electrical bolts crawl all over the fallen champion. He struggles to get up... and then the thing brings its crushing blow down, smashing him into the floor. Indeed, they do disassemble.. but its involuntary, the Stunticons left in broken heaps.
Shockwave takes a split second to consider the tactical situation, Menasor's condition, Megatron's orders, his own power level and functional abilities. Then heads down after Soundwave.
Tempest cries out and darts forward, knowing she can't take on the monster herself, and knowing too she has to try.
Megatron says, "Tempest, no! Follow Soundwave!""
Tempest says,"What about the Stunticons?"
The zombie beast looks downwards at Tempest, letting out a snarl before he swiftly kicks out at her with a force likely to send her a few floors upwards.
Scorcher slowly slides down the wall and tries desperately to focus her optics, before an attack she can't see smashes her
Megatron jerks forward to drag Tempest out of the way of the zombie’s kick
Tempest lets Megatron tug her free, though she looks back at the fallen Stunticons with agonized optics.
CatsCradle catches up the dazed Scorcher and pushes her along towards the opening in the floor the others had gone through.
****
Control Center
You are standing in a massive chamber with a vaulted ceiling. The walls are covered in a bizarre red crystalline substance. Light dances off the crystal walls, reflecting in the facets of this strange material. A harmonized humming, hauntingly beautiful, fills the room. In the center of this great chamber is beam of light extending from the ceiling, into what appears to be a Lasercore sitting on a raised dais. The Lasercore ebbs and flows with power, obviously being very much active and alive.
Scorcher lands in an inelegant heap
The red crystalline walls shudder and flash. A beam of red light, not quite a laser blast but something else entirely, fires from the top of the chamber into Divefire, paralyzing him. The voice returns, speaking to all "Identify yourselves."
CatsCradle follows Scorcher in, moving in such a way that suggests Scorcher's inelegant landing was because she pushed her.
Snowscape dives into the room rather hurriedly, his tail smoking from a barely missed laser bolt bigger than the cyberjet himself
Tempest overlooks entirely the beauty and awe of this room. She's single-mindedly looking for whatever she has to destroy to eliminate the zombie and help the Stunticons.
Reflector looks at the sound curiously, awaiting instructions from Soundwave as to how to proceed. HE steps back from the station, and then moves to the back of the crowd, letting Soundwave, Shockwave, and Megatron take over.
Soundwave snaps up his plasma rifle reflexively, before considering that this probably isn't a good idea for Divefire's sake. "Codex, I presume?" he guesses, his reverberating monotone echoing oddly amidst the hum of the power in here. He hears the others arriving behind them, and wonders briefly at the outcome of the battle - but if there are still Decepticons in danger above them, this is their best chance to save them.
The voice acknowledges Soundwave, while holding Divefire hostage "It is. And you are?" There is none of the rage in this voice that there was earlier.
Megatron came down with Tempest, looking the worse for to wear, but still unbroken.
Shockwave's optics glows slightly and he seems ready to take any action required.
CatsCradle lands just in time to see the beam hit her mate, and her optics flare in amethyst rage as she aims her lasers at the lasercore. "Let him go!"
Divefire is basked in a wonderful light... "What the f..." And that's it, he's cut off. Can't move, can't speak, can't do anything...
The walls shudder again as CatsCradle draws a laser, obviously readying another paralyzing blast.
Soundwave looks from Divefire to the pulsing lasercore. "You have misidentified us. Do not harm him, or we will retaliate."
The voice speaks to Soundwave "Identify yourselves."
Reflector looks over at Soundwave questioningly, not drawing his own weapons without instruction, and he remains silent.
Megatron sees Divefire being caught. "What is going on here?" he thunders. He is not impressed by the beauty of the room - he is in a much to awful mood! "Release my warrior!"
Soundwave takes a step back to look over Divefire for any ill effects beyond motionlessness, allowing Megatron at the same time to take the lead in announcing their identity.
The voice then speaks to Megatron "Identify yourself."
Megatron says, "I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. Release my warrior or fear my wreath!"
A second beam of red, paralyzing energy blasts CatsCradle, holding her still and motionless.
Divefire’s frame shakes violently, as if he's trying to transform and can't achieve it at all.
From Lasercore, A third beam, a slightly less opaque red, scans Megatron, seeming to try to confirm his claims.
CatsCradle sees the beam coming and in a split second hesitates a split second too long, torn between firing and throwing up her 'field. The beam envelopes her.
Soundwave calculates his options. At the moment, both Diver and Cats seem undamaged, if inconvenienced. Attempting to break them free of it, he fears, would cause them harm. Until he sees no other option, he's going to wait.
Reflector stays silent, not raising his weapons, or summoning them - he makes no motion to act, merely stands there calmly, a neutral observer.
Megatron rises his cannon, aiming at the core, more a warning, not firing yet. "You try my patience! Release them!"
Tempest growls--the longer they wait here, the more danger the Stunticons are in.
As the beam cascades down and surrounds Cats’ form, the tremors coming off Divefire seem to intensify and suddenly with a roar of shear emotional rage the paralyzing beam shatters as Divefire explodes into his robot form, optics alight with the desire to terminate something with extreme prejudice.
The voice chimes "Decepticon Emperor Megatron Recognized. Commands Released. Awaiting Command, Lord Megatron."
Scorcher mutters "Oh, good. I think it is over. Can I go out now?"
Megatron slowly lowers his cannon. "Deactivate self defense routine.
Reflector watches the ongoing sight with interest - this laser core is a Decepticon?
A deafening series of rumbles is heard from above the chamber, and the voice speaks again "Deactivated. Awaiting Command, Lord Megatron."
Shockwave stands watching, his single glowing optic revealing nothing.
Tempest says, "Leave the Stunticons alone!"
Another semi-transparent beam scans Tempest, and the voice says "Signature Not Recognized. Command Denied."
Megatron says, "Are repair systems available?"
Tempest gives Megatron an agonized look. "It won't listen to me!"
The voice says "Negative, Lord Megatron. All Systems Beyond Telekinetic Defenses Are Offline."
Megatron says, "Reactivate repair systems."
The voice says "Command Denied. Repair Systems Incapacitated Due To Extreme Damage."
CatsCradle gives herself a shake as the beam's effects disappear. Her optics still blaze as she steps to Diver's side, giving him the automatic scan-over for injuries. Then she turns her gaze to the lasercore, wordless and full of rage. Her hand slips into her mate's hand.
Reflector watches the group curiously, and he shakes his head, letting out a quiet sigh, before stepping back to the rear, and letting the others take care of this situation.
Megatron nods. "Understood." He turns to Soundwave. "It looks like we have wait for repairing the Stunticons until we return to Polihex." He turns back to the lasercore: "Report: function, status, history.
"Processing..."
Soundwave regards the Codex lasercore a little warily, as though wondering just want its state of sentience or stability is after all this time. "Suggest we withdraw and attend to our injured, Megatron. I would not necessarily expect safe passage."
Tempest says, "Frag repairs if that zombie thing kills them!" She needs to be sure that the zombie is deactivated. Her fury hides what is very close to despair.
Divefire holds himself off from unplugging the deranged brain after he's looked across and found Cats released from the same beam. He catches her gaze with his own and squeezes her hand a little before asking in a barely restrained voice. "What the blazes is this damn thing and does anyone mind if I unplug it now?"
"Title: Seeker Production Facility Codex. Function: Creation of Seekers for Decepticon Empire. History: Assaulted by Autobot forces approximately 5 million years ago. Facility has been inactive since, damage rendering it inactive. Security systems still functional, but now deactivated. Status: Facility Beyond Repair."
Tempest radios Motormaster, and is greatly relieved to get a response. "The Stunticons are...battered, but alive, and not under attack any more."
Techno says, "Still lots of good parts around here"
Reflector stands back and watches, his arms crossed, and silent. He awaits instructions on how to proceed.
CatsCradle says between clenched jaws, "Does that mean we don't get to kill it?"
Megatron looks at Tempest. "I ordered it to shut off the defenses."
From Lasercore, The red walls suddenly flare with red brilliance, bathing everyone in crimson light. There is a loud tone, before the voice speaks "WARNING: Power Low. Protocols Require Immediate Transfer Of Core Consciousness Codex To Temporary Body, Followed By Self-Destruction of Facility. Beginning Procedure..."
Megatron says, "Retreat!"
CatsCradle protests, "Aw, can't I kill it first? Please?"
Scorcher has been anxiously awaiting that command...
A mechanical claw extends downwards from the ceiling, picking up the lasercore from the dais. The walls flash violently as the core is raised into the ceiling, as the voice warns "Evacuate Facility Immediately."
Shockwave's optic flashes once as he follows Scorcher up.
Megatron says, "Out of here, fast! And take care the Stunticons get out too!"
Soundwave wastes no more time on the laser core, and turns to head out with the others quickly.
Reflector follows after the other Decepticons quickly, heading up and out.
Divefire tugs at Cats hand. "Hopefully it'll get blow up in the explosion dear, c'mon."
CatsCradle lets her mate pull her out. "It better be a nice big explosion then," she grumps.
****
Shadowzone
Scorcher is already flying high overhead
Spinister is standing on the room, speaking with Ravenwing. He pauses as the troops come into view.
Soundwave flies up from the opening Motormaster made in the ground, turning in the air once he's somewhat high above the ground, to make sure everyone has made it out.
Shockwave comes flying up from underground. He radios out "All Decepticons retreat immediately. Potential explosion forthcoming."
Ravenwing promptly takes to the air, glancing to Spinister to make sure he's following suit.
Spinister transforms into his Jetcopter mode.
Spinister takes to the air immediately, following Ravenwing.
Tempest crouches in the wreckage, staying near the injured Stunticons, watching the hole they emerged from.
A black and white Tech-Jet soars upwards from the facility, followed by a huge fireball from a cascading explosion. The ground on top of the facility collapses, and Decepticons standing there will have to use their inherent anti-grav flight to avoid being swallowed up in the destruction.
Divefire burst out of the hole a fraction before the explosion starts to collapse the ground and the entrance. "Damn it if that thing takes out my lab I'm going to hunt down what's left of that laser core and feed it to the Dinobots!" He growls over the sound of his engines blasting him into the skyscape.
Tempest orders some of the others, "Grab the Stunticons and get clear!" She herself tries to lift Motormaster but he's too heavy for her.
Reflector follows along after the other Decepticons, hurrying along as he goes as fast as he can, pushing his antigravs to their highest level to keep up with the pack.
Soundwave is in fact hovering far above ground, but is buffeted by the shockwave (not Shockwave) of the exploding facility below. An entire patch of ground collapses inwards into a crater.
Scorcher. much more confident now she is in the open sky again, sees Tempest struggle with the weight of Motormaster and dives down to help her
Tempest nods gratefully to Scorcher and together they get Motormaster clear.
As far as demolitions go, the destruction of facility is a fairly "clean" explosion, not kicking up much dust or ash, and not damaging the landscape beyond it's own dimensions, so Divefire's lab and the Decepticons around the factory are just fine.
Megatron flies out, followed by an explosion. As he is in quite save air, he searches for his troops. "Damage report!
Spinister flies up, shouting above the explosion, "Soundwave, what happened in there?'
Snowscape follows her closely and grabs Wildrider by a leg and drags him over the ground until he is out of the blast range
Spinister adds, "I am undamaged, Megatron." He looks around for Ravenwing.
CatsCradle leaps into the air, transforming, with energy tendrils wrapping and weaving into a forcefield around her, protecting her from the debris of the explosion, but still buffeted around some by the force of the blast.
Soundwave stabilizes himself in flight, and replies to Spinister cryptically: "Zombies."
Ravenwing is also tosses about a bit by the force of the air movement, but that's merely a momentary inconvenience for anyone capable of flight, and she quickly catches herself and peers back down at the nice hole in the ground. That won't need any sealing off, no.
Reflector nods over at Soundwave, and then he reports, "Moderate damage, unit at acceptable operating efficiency, Commander."
CatsCradle snaps over her radio, "didn't I specifically say on several times, no more zombies? Didn't I? Right along with viruses and giant children..." Her voice fades down to a general grumble.
Tempest seems to be showing an unusual concern for the Stunticons. "We're in need of repairs, but alive at least."
Soundwave picks out the black-and-white jet flying nearby, then looks over the others in their variously scattered positions. "Shockwave, we shall have to request the use of Polyhex's repair bay facilities."
All the Decepticons in range hear a radio message "I am capable of repairing damaged allies." The voice is familiar...
Shockwave nods to Soundwave. "I have already radioed ahead, they are standing by. The sentinels can transport the wounded."
Megatron faces Tempest, nodding. "You will get all repairs you need." Looks up. "Codex?" he asks over radio.
Reflector nods at Soundwave, and then he hovers in the air, awaiting orders and operating instructions. He has taken moderate damage but he is still fully functional.
Tempest hisses, having an eerie feeling...
The black and white Tech-Jet soars through the smoke, and transforms, standing before Megatron.
Spinister flies well above the crater, listening to the babble around him. Zombies..?
Soundwave recognizes the voice, of course. If he has his doubts about allowing the very individual who damaged them to repair them, he does not voice them. He eyes the jetwarrior speculatively. He has yet to determine the true state of mind of this Codex.
Soundwave hovers slowly back down to the ground to stand with Megatron.
CatsCradle transforms and lands gently, her optics still a fiery amethyst.
Scorcher is almost dragged down to the ground as Tempest is momentarily distracted from carrying Motormaster
The unfamiliar black and white mech stands before Megatron "Core Operation Device Experiment, Version 10, Awaiting Command, Lord Megatron."
Divefire slowly hovers back to the ground, taking a general disinterest in the others again as he looks out to the damaged landscape of the Shadowzone. His gaze shifts from the nice new hole in the ground to the outskirts of the land, noting with a slight amount of reassurance that the lands where his other home lies seem to be in same state as before the explosion. "Next time, we don't go chasing white rabbits." He mutters to whomever might listen to his annoyance.
Megatron says, "Soundwave, scan him."
CatsCradle mutters, "sure we will, dear... they'll just be brown rabbits next time, or black ones." Her optics narrow at Codex and she folds her arms, her clawtips drumming against her armor."
Reflector watches silently, not commenting at all on what he has seen, merely hovering in the air observing.
Tempest takes position between Codex and the Stunticons, swords in hands.
Scorcher makes an odd little sound as Tempest lets go of Motormaster completely and his limp weight rapidly drags her to the ground
Shockwave quietly supervises the sentinels in taking the gravely wounded back to Polyhex, keeping half an optic on the new arrival.
Soundwave steps forward a little, his optic band brightening slightly as he focuses on the unknown individual.
Ravenwing isn't as worried about an attack with the amount of firepower present, but still tries to keep a watch for snipers. They *are* rather nice targets hovering in the air like this. She notes Tempest's rather aggressive posture, then catches sight of Motormaster and Scorcher behind her, heading downwards and cuts her thrust to drop down after them. Not in time to catch them, of course, but it's hopefully not that big a drop.
Clunk!
Scorcher says, "ouch"
Spinister stays over head, never keeping still. Megatron has not answered his question (typical!) so he merely watches, trying to work out what happened below ground himself.
Soundwave turns back to Megatron and reports, "The mind is structured in an unusual manner. Such is to be expected considering the rather ... unique ... origin. I do not detect a mental instability, however I am unable to give a complete picture of his thoughts at this point in time."
Soundwave says, "He seems, however, sincere about offering his assistance."
Reflector waits in the air, slightly off-center from the group, still attempting to decipher what has just gone on. He shrugs, and then awaits instructions as to where to go.
CatsCradle says slowly, over the sounds of her claws clicking against amour, "Let me get this straight.... /he's/ the lasercore from below?"
Soundwave nods to CatsCradle. "It is the same mind," he confirms.
Megatron nods. "We will check that closer back at Polyhex.
Tempest snaps, "He hurt them...am I supposed to let him fix them?"
CatsCradle says sweetly, "No, I think killing him is much better."
Soundwave tilts his head a bit and regards Codex. "You did cause the damage to the individuals you see here." It's not so much an accusation as a statement, to see how Codex might respond.
Divefire growls in agreement on hearing the whole train of conversation, looking towards the newest jet in there ranks. "What Tempest said."
Megatron says, "They are going to be fixed by the Polyhex staff, Tempest."
Ravenwing alights beside Scorcher and gives her ex-roommate a nod in greeting, assuming the poor seeker is still functional after... falling for Motormaster. ;)
Codex looks at Soundwave "Damage to my scanning equipment did not allow me to fully identify you beyond being Cybertronians. I have come under many Autobot assaults in the millennia after the Empire... the Empire..." he pauses "..forgot about me. And I could only assume you were hostile, so I attacked with all the abilities at my disposal."
Tempest relaxes a little at Megatron's words, though she still sidles edgily.
Three sentinels help Scorcher out by lifting Motormaster off and flying him off toward Polyhex.
Reflector hovers in the air, waiting with his fellow Decepticons, not commenting on what has gone on at all. Finally, he turns to Megatron. "Instructions, Commander?"
CatsCradle beams at Megatron ferally. "If the Empire has forgotten him, surely it wouldn't matter if I kill him?"
Megatron says, "Well, let's discuss this back home. Shockwave, Divefire, guide our new 'friend' home..."
Scorcher gets to her feet and tries to brush away the oil and other assorted fluids that leaked out of the badly damaged Motormaster
Megatron says, "Back to Polihex!"
Codex says, "I *know* the location of Polyhex."
****
Repair Bay
The place Decepticons seek medical care, the repair bay makes every effort to put the patient at ease. The temperature and lighting are optimized for comfort, and the walls are a neutral grey. There are thirty beds along each wall, all with display panels. Equipment and tools are stored in the wall between beds and diagnostic scanners emerge from under the beds when in use. Off of the main room is a an emergency room to be used when conditions become too crowded. Overall the repair bay appears to visitors as somewhat antiquated but still functional. Most severe injuries can be treated here by a skilled medic.
Codex enters the bay, looking around. He says aloud "A functional place. Too much focus on comfort and not enough on efficiency, but it is adequate."
Soundwave looks Codex over as they all arrive at repair bay. He's a curiosity, certainly. He's aware there are likely to be some tensions yet in this matter, but he will find this a most interesting situation to keep watch on. He hasn't long to dwell on those thoughts, however, since he goes right to work to assist the Polyhex repair team in patching the aftermath of their latest adventure.
Reflector stands to the back of the crowd - the others were more heavily damaged than he was, and he can still continue to operate. Reflector stands silently, mulling over what he has seen.
Soundwave says, "You may find in your current state, Codex, that 'comfort' is not necessarily a drawback."
Tempest slinks into the repair bay.
Codex looks at Soundwave "Comfort is luxury. Luxury is wasteful. Now, I will assist those who require repairs."
Divefire slips in the door, his electro sword still drawn but not powered up and his gaze set firmly on Codex. "Or," he intones in a dark tone to grey jet. "Sit down, shut up, and try not to remind us that you nearly killed us all."
Codex looks at Divefire "That situation was an error, which I will now rectify. Your hostility is unnecessary."
CatsCradle stops in the doorway of the repair bay, looking rather miffed that Codex didn't try to escape to give her an excuse. "Unnecessary?" she snarls. "Shoot at my mate again, and I'll show you how much hostility is necessary."
Gryphus enters med bay to see how everyone is doing.
Tempest takes guard over the Stunticons, crouched on the bunk at Motormaster's feet. She looks like a yellow gargoyle, her sinister gaze glowering at anyone who might approach the wounded Stunticons.
Codex quirks an optical ridge at CatsCradle "If you are referring to the one called Divefire, his damage is minimal, as is your own. And I would repair the damage if you consent."
CatsCradle grins. "Touch me and I'll rip your throat out."
Codex waves his hand dismissively "Your choice."
Divefire smirks ever so slightly at Cats gentle way of putting things.
Codex then looks to Soundwave "You appear to be high in this hierarchy. Your orders?"
Megatron says, "You won't repair anyone, Codex, not this time. I first want to make sure that there are no hidden damages in your systems."
Reflector nods to Gryphus, his armor partially crushed and heavily dented, though he is not heavily damaged.
Soundwave is very aware of the tensions that are likely to get out of hand here, and watches carefully, as he assists the Polyhex repair team in starting work on the Stunticons. "I would suggest, Codex, that although your willingness to assist is admirable, you allow others to take the measure of your nature before you offer your services." He regards the enigma thoughtfully for a moment, about to make a suggestion, although Megatron comes to a different conclusion.
Tempest glances over to CatsCradle. "How cordially expressed," she says facetiously. "You might take the etiquette award away from me yet."
Gryphus moves over to the trio. "How you doing?" she asks with some concern for the fellow researcher.
Codex speaks to Megatron "There is no damage to my core, and any deficiency in my body is merely from age and lack of usage. But your command is acknowledged, Lord Megatron." He walks over to one of the beds, and lays down, saying "When you are satisfied with my loyalty and ability, contact me." He lays perfectly still, not slumbering, but not moving either.
Soundwave says, "You will also find that some individuals are not fond of the repair bay," he concludes instead.
CatsCradle glances at Tempest, almost chuckling in spite of herself. "Not even a few million years in Polyhex can smooth all the streets out of someone."
Tempest grins back, appearing amused. "Then I'll be safe for a long time yet."
Megatron slowly sits down on one of the beds. "Good that this is clear so far..." He glances at Tempest, but then wordlessly looks away again, setting his jaw plates.
Codex suddenly sits up, with a confused look on his faceplate.
Megatron grumbles: "What now, Codex?"
Codex says "What... what is... what is that?" The nature of his complaint seems unclear.
Soundwave looks over from his work on the Stunticons.
Gryphus blinks at the discussion at the other tables.
Megatron sighs deeply. "What?
CatsCradle mutters, "Oh, tell me it's the Vision of Death approaching him."
Codex says, "That... that... smell!"
Divefire glances across to Codex, twirling his sword absently in his hand and smirking slightly. "Funny, I was just thinking that..." He intones across to Cats.
Megatron sniffs. "Smell..?"
Gryphus frowns at Divefire and Cats'.
CatsCradle smirks back at Diver. "Mates tend to think alike after a while."
Soundwave starts to say, "I detect nothing-" then pauses. "You exist in a form that includes a set of sensors you have not experienced before."
Reflector Nods at Gryphus, and he shakes his heads, "We are functioning, the damage is primarily to armor."
Codex looks around befuddled "Just smell in general. I never used to have olfactory sensors. It's a new experience for me..." he smiles.
Gryphus nods to the trio and peers at Codex.
CatsCradle closes her optics briefly. "Great. Another one glitching out and over-sensing things."
Divefire’s face falls and he lets out a slight groan. "Oh please no, not another Slipstream."
CatsCradle wrinkles her nose. "Actually, since this one shot me, too... I was thinking another Snipe..."
Tempest resumes protectively watching over the Stunticons.
Megatron rubs his face, sighing. "Oh, great and one day someone has to explain him the facts of life..." he mutter.
Gryphus frowns at the others. Not too supportive to Codex are they.. well she can fix that later.
Codex looks at both Divefire and CatsCradle "You two, you take things too personally. It was a simple mistake" He looks over at Megatron "Nonsense. I am fully versed in reproductive functions. As I am in the existence of smell. I just didn't experience it before."
Gryphus says, "Ignore them, they and we all in fact need repairs and a good recharge."
Codex nods to Gryphus, smiling "That sounds accurate."
Reflector nods at Gryphus, and then he shrugs, looking to the others, and then falling silent. "How are you doing, Researcher? Were you damaged?"
Gryphus says, "I was lucky and escaped injury. I had time while you were all fighting to work on those Brotherhood of Chaos files ... just cuz I was curious.""
Reflector nods at Gryphus, and then he requests, "Were you able to discover anything of note, then?" As Ghost enters, he nods to her.
CatsCradle smiles at Gryphus. "So you left the battle to have time to research? My, how enterprising."
Ghost pads quietly into medical, optics dimmed in thought, form covered with an accumulation of grime, grit and other sorts of things gathered while underground.
Divefire shakes his head slightly and wordlessly tugs at Cats hand as he shifts out of the door. "Radio me if something comes up." He intones over his shoulder to Tempest before he disappears.
Gryphus looks at Cats. "Information is power CatsCradle." she points out. "I'll share with you what I learned later Reflector."
Reflector nods to Ghost, his own forms partially crushed from the battle, and battered from damage, though it has primarily been taken by armor.
Tempest hisses, but when she sees it's Ghost she settles down again. She's standing guard over the Stunticons at the foot of Motormaster's bunk, crouched there like a yellow gargoyle.
Reflector nods to Gryphus, "Very well then, thank you researcher."
CatsCradle starts to answer back, but erks short as her mate pulls her out of the repair bay.
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