Hands-On

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/130                    Posted        Author Intercepted Signals               Mon Jan 05    Red Alert -- Text message.

"On Friday, unusual transmission were picked up on the Decepticon frequency, originating from the general area of Cybertron. Play attached sound file for a recording. Further analysis has been inconclusive - I have been unable to either confirm or deny whether the voice recorded is, in fact, Galvatron." Yes. Red Alert is immediately jumping to conclusions. He's Red Alert. It's what he does. "I have, however, been able to determine that their point of origin was not just Cybertron, but, specifically, the Magnaron region."

"At this point, I'm handing this over to Intelligence, but will be on hand to assist should they need me. This could be anything from a foolish prank to a trap - so assume it's a trap. That is all."

Attached files: Two heavily distorted and staticy sound recordings. "NNNNYYYYAAAAAAAA" and "UUUUIIIII SSSSTTTIIIIEEEEUUUULLLLAAAAA FFFFFF" can be picked out from the background noise.

=
=================================================================

Magnaron

Millions of years ago, Magnaron was the biggest intersection on Cybertron, which gave it serious strategic value, and because of that, nowhere else on Cybertron has seen so much fighting. Over the years, Magnaron was transformed from an intersection into a blast crater, a lake of toxic waste, a deep abyss from one of Unicron's pincers, and a lake full of Quintessa's water, a memento of the Quintessons' attempt to retake Cybertron.

This, its latest incarnation, is the result of the structural stresses of the recent move to the Alpha Centauri system. The abyss, the lake, are no more, sealed by the compression of the crust. Instead, a huge but shallow depression marks the location of some of the fiercest conflicts on Cybertron.

Obvious exits: North &lt;N&gt; leads to Northern Highway. South &lt;S&gt; leads to Southern Highway. East &lt;E&gt; leads to New Cybertron Highway &lt;Far West&gt;. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Old Maintenance Center.

Fly &lt;Up&gt;

Red Alert has arrived.

Operations turned the matter of Magnaron over to Intelligence, and so Intelligence is out here, in the form of a blue Porsche with red flames. Nightbeat seems to be lacking his Autobot symbol today. The lake and abyss are gone, leaving Nightbeat with just dry shallows to drive, but he has to wonder - did he need bring a shovel, here?

Fire Chief's Car is wearing /his/ Autobot symbol as he rolls along behind Nightbeat, his radio running at periodic intervals. Turned it over to Intelligence... but then, Red is fairly intelligent, too, for all he's got a wild imagination. "I suppose it should suprise no one that Magnaron's geography was dramatically altered. /Again/."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; turned in his badge to... Kup, who probably didn't pick it up and got blasted into another reality. If Nightbeat is lucky, his badge is in a locker, with his guns. If Nightbeat is unlucky, his badge and guns are in some weird reality, having adventures without him. He grouses, "Y'know, it's been a real long time since I did any real legwork," or wheelwork, as the case may be.

It's a pretty good bet that Kup doesn't have Nightbeat's badge, all things considered.

"Well, then, you're about due, aren't you?" Red Alert replies, almost cheerfully as he runs another radar scan. Then he reports, "Not detecting anything out of the ordinary." A moment's silence, then he adds suspiciously, worriedly, "It's too quiet."

Red Alert sweeps the area.

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; agrees easily, "Oh yeah." He was grousing because he /hasn't/ been doing much legwork, not grousing that he has to. Nightbeat likes to get out and about on the job, rather than being buried under a pile of paperwork. However, in the meantime, his much-vaunted powers of observation have suffered somewhat, as evinced by how, as he drives along at a good clip, he ends up hitting a ridge in the road and wiping out.

The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat!

Fire Chief's Car pulls to a stop and transforms in the more traditional manner. He frowns at the ridge in the road, then frowns at Nightbeat, then frowns at the ridge in the road, then summons his rifle and aims it at Nightbeat. "Who are you, and what have you done with the real Nightbeat?" he demands.

Nightbeat /smells/ like the Nightbeat that Red Alert let out of the cell - a bit dusty. He holds up his hands and protests, "Sweetheart, put that thing down before you hurt somebody," read: Nightbeat, "with it. I /am/ the real Nightbeat! Just... got a new engine in, that's all."

"Taking advantage of my absense to sneak upgrades in without going through the proper channels, no doubt," Red Alert snorts as he returns his rifle to subspace. He did know about the engine upgrade, of course. But he listens more carefully than he lets on to the answer, either way.

Nightbeat protests, "Nuh-uh! I was... a Reaver at the time." Nightbeat facepalms. Oh yeah, that is just the best excuse ever. Good one, Nightbeat. "Look, Scrapper did the actual swap job. If it was up to me, I woulda been taken apart three times over to make sure I wasn't bugged, but that Andi Lassiter and Solstice got sent in to check me over, and I /guess/ they signed off, since you let me out." Another good one, Nightbeat. A human and a potential kid Reaver. Right.

Red Alert shakes his head, tilts it back, half-closes his optic covers, and murmurs something about security procedures going to the Pit every time he takes one little step outside of reality. Then, louder, he says, "Very well. I'll sign you up for another full check-up. A bigger worry is that Scrapper currently knows you inside and out... better than any of our medics, I'd say." He snorts, then starts to sniff around. "Who knows? Maybe he'll talk that crazy she-scientist into cloning you and not me. Speaking of your time as a Reaver, though..." He pauses and looks back. "Why hasn't Ultra Magnus returned?"

Nightbeat is not thrilled by how Scrapper has intimate knowledge of his internals. He is probably less thrilled than Red Alert is. It made sense at the time! Nightbeat pauses and stares up at Red Alert, recalling... then, he blinks a few times and says, "Oh. If I had to make an educated guess - and this guess is very educated, I tell you, - it would be because he's locked up in a coffin in the Dead Universe."

Red Alert's optics open wide and he stops moving entirely, staring off at nothing. He remains completely silent for a moment, then starts, "I... but... oh, Primus... my senses weren't... I never knew..." then he spins on Nightbeat and shouts, "/WHY WASN'T THIS MENTIONED SOONER?!/"

Nightbeat cringes at the shouting, which is rather painful to his sensitive hearing, and rubs the side of his head, before venturing, "Uh... you and Kup were off in crazy land, so I guess the debriefing slipped through the cracks? I mean, I kinda figured that you guys had pumped Steeltread for information and were on it, y'know?" He shrugs.

That would require Steeltread actually existing.

Handwave!

Red Alert sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Right. Right. Well, for whatever /stupid/ reason it hasn't been addressed, it's going to be addressed now." Red Alert will write a report on it and forward it up to Kup!

Nightbeat scratches the side of his head and asks, "Well, wheredya wanna start?" He is, clearly, assuming that Red Alert just intends to question him out here, with the potential of some broken knees being included.

"What are you talking about?" Red Alert snaps. "I turned the matter over to Intelligence. /I'm/ just here to assist." Silly Red Alert, assuming that Nightbeat is talking about the reason they came out there!

Nightbeat stares at Red Alert and points out, "I can't debrief myself! Whaddya want, Foxfire to do it?" He starts walking around Magnaron, resuming the search for clues. He isn't very efficient in using his enhanced senses, though. Seems like he needs to walk right up to things and poke them, rather than looking at them from afar.

Red Alert seems to be scanning the area in a notably more efficient manner, his optics constantly sweeping from here to there, movement mostly to accomodate his sense of smell instead. "I'm not going to debrief you out here in the middle of everywhere, anyway! I was talking about the investigation." He pauses to watch Nightbeat work, a thoughtful frown touching his expression.

Nightbeat could just talk really, really quietly. Red Alert could hear him! However, Nightbeat doesn't point that out, though, because debriefings are boring. He does comment casually, however, "Oh yeah. Never did figure out who the heir of Straxus was, but The Fallen wanted us to kill him. Guess the point is moot now." He kneels down at a crack in the metal land, magnifying glass out.

"What, you mean it wasn't Galvatron?" Red Alert asks, faintly confused. He continues to watch Nightbeat work, frown deepening. "This will sound /very/ odd coming from me, but don't you think you verify a bit too much?"

Nightbeat looks vaguely irritated and points out, "The Fallen coulda just said 'Galvatron', yannow? I don't think assuming that Galvatron and the Heir of Straxus to be one and the same is that great an idea. I mean, they could be. You got proof?" He sticks his head down in the crack, squinting at something. Hmm, just a bit of torn tyre. "And what do you mean, verify too much?"

"His sort is /always/ given to riddle-speak," Red Alert points out. Then he concedes, "But... you do have a point." His optics narrow as he considers the implications. Then he shakes it off and looks down at Nightbeat. "I... well... you... you don't really know /how/ to best use your senses, do you? Did you get them installed /on/ the prison planet or something?"

Nightbeat is feeling rather offended by that accusation, Red Alert! He glowers and growls, "You've seen my medical history! I was built with these. An' what wrong with how I use them?" He did, however, spend a few million years on a mind-numbing prison planet with nothing but Sudoku to keep him sharp. If Nightbeat was ever a good scout, he forgot it all there.

"I mean..." Red Alert starts, then cuts off, frustrated, as he looks for the words. "Look. Just /how/ far away can you see things? And yet you have to get right up next to /everything/. /And/ pull out that magnifying glass!"

It is a detective thing! Why just listen to mooks from five miles away when Nightbeat can waltz into the bar and get beat up by thugs? Nightbeat murmurs, "Eagles ain't got nothing on me, baby - and hey! I had to be sure. What if this was an /important/ scrap of tyre?" He crosses his arms, magnifying glass still in hand, and sulks. "Do I tell you how to do your job?" Probably yes. Shut up.

"Quite often," Red Alert answers as he goes back to scanning the area. He shrugs. "And that's a good point. But... are you just saying it because I'm correcting you, or was there really something about that bit of tire that needed further investigation?" The problem is, this is Red Alert. He's apt to assume there really /was/ something wrong with the tire.

It seems that Red Alert and Nightbeat aren't the only mechs scouting about. If you can call a tape a mech, anyway. Foxfire skulks about in the area, ears constantly twitching as he tries to pick up any familiar scents. Preferably he won't find the one belonging to Galvatron. At the sound of voices, he ducks behind some nearby rubble and peeks out at the two.

Nightbeat deadpans, "Well, Red Alert, I can /hear/ Foxfire." Thing is, if Nightbeat was really being efficient about his enhanced senses, he would have seen Foxfire coming even sooner than that. Then, he shrugs and waves a hand. "Nah. It's just a piece of tyre."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch roars, "What the FRAG is goin on?!?!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Ow...no yelling, please...what are you going on about?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "I--CAN'T--FLY!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Are you damaged?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "I supposed you think this is comical?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Of course not. I was merely asking."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Talazia Keldahoff says, "only if you were not Serious, Quickswitch."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "...All systems functional..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "My energon is at 82%%. ..Why can't I fly?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Talazia Keldahoff says, "Lemme suit up and take a look. What's yer position?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "I would recommend you check in with a repair technician rather than harrassing the entire channel."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "Mexico."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "Of course, Red Alert. Just alarmed a little, that's all."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert sighs. "I suppose it's pointless to mention that you've just announced both your location and the fact that you aren't functioning normally on an unsecure channel."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Yeah. My poor audios hurt from the yelling."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "FRAGGIN--"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "That's what I'm talking about!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "BRING IT--!!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Silverbolt says, "I'm on my way for backup"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "Bah--I'll take em ALL ON!!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Talazia Keldahoff says, "no need for that, Switch."

"Foxfire?" Red Alert asks. Then he lifts his nose in the air and sniffs. He moves over a ways, and sniffs again. Then he 'ahs' softly. Then he winces as Quickswitch begins shouting over the common frequency... and, once more, informational awareness goes out the blasted window. "Really!" he mutters.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "Hey--!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Master Quickswitch, would you like me to see if I can repair you?"

Foxfire flicks his ears and steps out into view. "Was wondering where you guys'd gone...." He winces and paws at an ear. "I do wish people would stop *shouting over the broadband*..." He bounds over to the others. "Need help, guys?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "Er, uh, nah--No thanks, Dee-Kal. I'm fine. Just having a slight--"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "PROBLEM!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "..ohprimus.."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Stop yelling!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Tou getting your robo-prostate checked, Quickswitch?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "If you let us help, we can remove the problem while it is .. slight."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Or at least, fix it for you."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Silverbolt says, "At this rate, I won't need radar, I'll just follow the audio."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "I'm a Sixchanger, not one of you patchwork Junks."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Be quiet, Sideswipe."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Auto-Junk Dee-Kal chuckles! "Oh, poor Quicksmurf. TOo proud for my help?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "Getting my /what/ checked, now?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Hey, this guy's a pain in the aft, it's poetic justice if he's feeling one in his."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "A prostate is something...err...male mammals have...or something...yeah. Uh, I need to read up on it."

Nightbeat clamps his hands over his audios and curses softly, something about Impactor not beating Quickswitch enough when Quickswitch was factory-fresh. Nightbeat explains, "See, Red Alert picked up on a lead out here in Magnaron, so he called in Intelligence to have a little look-see - but he objects to /how/ I take my look-sees."

Red Alert shrugs and looks towards the sky. Suns. So strange. "Look, if you want to get right up next to what you're looking at when you should have all the details picked out from a mile away, don't let me stop you."

Foxfire sits up on his haunches and nods. "Red, I don't think it matters how Nightbeat does things, as long as he gets the job done, right?" He sniffs the air. "So what kind of lead did you get?"

Nightbeat drawls to Foxfire, "There was a report about, but you probably missed it because you were reading the report about the report." Then, he snaps at Red Alert and points at a metal outcropping. "Okay, fine! What should I be seeing there?

Foxfire sighs quietly, hoping he hasn't just walked into a heated argument. "Oh, yeah, the report. I remember now." He lowers his ears. "And those attached files...I really hate to say it, but that did sound like Galvatron." He's really regretting trying to state Galvatron's survival as "impossible". Maybe he can make it up to Red later.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "A prostate is a chemical generation unit. It has something to do with maintaining male health and integrity." She h'ms. "Apparently humie mechs and femmes would look identical if not for specific chemicals and compounds."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Uh, yeah. What she said."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "... Humans don't have mechanoids. They're organic."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Men and women, then. Males and females."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "It's all good."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Moving on."

Red Alert the outcropping for a moment, studies it. "Jagged, but it all reflects in the same way as the rest of the area. From the way the shadows hit..." he pauses, and gestures to the right end. "There's a hole there. /That/ might merrit closer investigation."

Nightbeat sometimes wishes that he could just ear off his head and stomp on it to get these radio conversations out of his head. Alas, he is not so lucky. He squints at the outcropping, since he probably would have just wandered right up to it. He hmphs and points at a patch of road. "Oh yeah? What about that?"

Foxfire perks. "A hole? Hang on." He scurries over to the hole that Red indicated and peers into it. It's just big enough for him to go down, and in fact resembles a turbofox burrow. "Be right back..." He disappears into it.

Red Alert glances over at the road. "Lubricant leak, from the looks of things. It's the right color and reflectivity for DX-Y-Sixty." Then his optics flicker as Foxfire disappears down the hole.

Red Alert studies Nightbeat. "You're /seeing/ these things, you're just not processing the patterns right." He narrows his optics and leans forward. "I thought you were all about patterns."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "...You send a HUMAN to me, when you have your brightest mind tinkering after his OWN pet projects?!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "...Where is Perceptor!!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Don't diss humans, Quickswitch."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "... You volunteered the information to the human while asking for her aid, Quickswitch."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "I think he's teaching Solstice about the mecha-birds and the turbo-foxes."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Shut it, Sides."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "I very much doubg that, Sideswipe."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Hey, do you want the girl learning about these things on the streets?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Or worse yet, from me?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Just...just be quiet, Lambo Boy."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "My doc was pretty cool.. and the nurses were cute. This guy had it going on."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "'ey, the Marionette Palace is the best place to learn that kind of thing."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, very very quietly, "she seems to have assigned me as her instructor," then, louder, "She can learn about Cybertronian wildlife from instructional tapes easily enough, anyway."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Hehe... Knew she had a thing for Lambors."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I don't think that's quite what Sideswipe meant, Red."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "...I hate this channel"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Tapes are boring anyway! Nightbeat's right, you need 'hands-on' learning experiences!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "And you're suggesting she should receive such from her creator?"

Nightbeat protests, "I am /great/ with patterns. There's-" he glances around and starts to take a few steps north when he stops himself, squinting, "Huh. Just light reflecting oddly off a gas pocket. Nothing important. But I'm hands-on, see? Gotta get in close, in the thick of things."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "What are you people goin' on about? I can't get a break without you people yammerin'."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Doesn't need to, apparently. She has you to teach her the 'ins' and 'outs' of being a Autobot."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Who are you calling boring?!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Video, Foxy, not Casette."

After a minute or so, Foxfire pokes his head out of the hole. "Not much down there. Some gross water, though." He climbs out and shakes a few drops off himself.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "...Oh."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Carry on, then."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert brightly, "Ah! Kup! Are you well?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup sounds terrible. "I'm great."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "That's a Mech, bottle it all up, Kup. Don't take no scrap offa nobody!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Kup, Kup! Uh, get some energon or something.  It'll make you feel better!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "Ah, good to hear. I'm on a mission currently, but when I return, I'll have another report to compile, sir."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Uh, right... about that. Hm. I'd tell you it's a waste of time, but ehhhh... you know what? This time, on the off-chance it bears fruit, I'll leave you to it."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "We'll bring you back a souvenir!"

Red Alert nods to Foxfire, making a face. "Be careful about that stuff. Remember that strange liquid the Quintessons had in he- oh, Foxfire, you stink now." He sighs, then turns to Nightbeat. "I can understand that, but if you've got a wide area to search, you can't be hands-on with /everything,/ can you?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "... Sir. I've got a lead on one of our missing."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Oh, like /slag/ you do. All you did was ask me!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Eh?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "You shouldn't have /waited/ to be asked, idiot! He's probably on FIRE by now!"

Foxfire sticks his metallic tongue out at Red. "*You* try exploring turbofox-sized holes and not pick up a scent or two!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "SHADDUP! Who's the missing guy, and what's the lead? Ehm, and encrypt this thing if you don't feel safe blabberin' it where the cons might hear."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert has encrypted this channel.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "No one told me you hadn't recovered him already! Excuse me for thinking that you might be /competent/. - Ultra Magnus. He's in Hell."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Guys, stop fighting!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "Kup, Ultra Magnus is still in Hell. Erm. The Dead Universe. Vector Z's realm. At least, according to the /Reaver/. Who /knew/ I was in another dimension when anyone would be getting recovered."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "For once, I agree with the turbo-animal."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "You guys had Steeltread. You could have asked him!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I do have a name, Quickswitch..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "What!? Do we got anyway of gettin' in there? We have to pull him out at all costs!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Yeah, yeah. You just dive into the pool by the sycamore tree in the Temple of the Fifth on Alkor Zephyr in the Medusa Cascade."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "I don't know if the path I took out of there is still open or not, sir. But, erm... that would be it."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "I even know where the coffin is. I... I just had no idea it contained... I didn't have my senses then!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Well, what're we waiting for? We need to try and go there!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Seriously? That's it? Well, then, that's what we're going to do. Uh, is there still gonna be anybody in there? All this dimension hopping crap makes my head spin."

Nightbeat really wants to just haul off and sock Red Alert in the face. Oh, Mr. High-And-Mighty, 'I have a lead'. Mr. 'I can see patterns'. He crosses his arms and glowers mightily, pointing out, "Oh, hey. There's a keyhole satellite up there. Right next to the cloud shaped like /your face/."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Uh... could be hordes of transorganic dragons, spiders, and sandworms."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Lovely... Well, if I get eaten by a dragon, feel free to claim my video games for yourselves."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Red Alert says, "There were also huge armies of robots of a build similar to the Fallen, but without the flames. I'm not sure how active they'd be without Vector Zeta supporting them."

Red Alert was /trying/ to refrain from revealing sensitive details on an open frequency. But nooooooooo. No one ever respects /that/ and allows him to /keep/ things vague. It's always, 'Can you be more specific, Red Alert?' Like everyone on both sides doesn't know the identies of the Reavers and can't derive more from those names. He crosses his own arms and glowers back. "Well, see?" he shouts angrily. "Very good! That's exactly what I was trying to get you to do!" His words are very much at odds with his tone.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "So.. when are we busting Big Blue out?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Soon, I hope!"

Fed up by now, Foxfire darts back to the others and gets between them. He sits up on his haunches again and holds up his paws. "Both of you, settle down! Arguing like this isn't getting us anywhere! We're not going to find Magnus with you two at each other's throats!"

Nightbeat isn't going to just let Red Alert waltz into his life and steal his collar! That, and Red Alert called him a Reaver! On the Autobot frequency! He starts to snarl, "I've had it up to about here with you -" when Foxfire's words give him some pause. He sighs and grumbles, "Right."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sideswipe says, "Ooh, I'll get the popcorn."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Yeah. ASAP."

"We're not /here/ to look for Ultra Magnus, anyway. We're /here/ to look for some sort of source for those radio signals," Red Alert snaps. Then he looks towards the sky, sighs, and shakes his head. "Which I'm not picking up right now, anyway."

Foxfire folds his front legs. Which must look pretty weird. "My case still rests. We won't accomplish *anything* if you two keep arguing. Now are you going to work together, or am I gonna have to separate you two?"

Nightbeat was made to be hassled by Fire Cars. Lacking Siren, Red Alert will just have to fill that Fire Car-shaped gap in Nightbeat's life. "I can do that for you, Foxfire." He transforms back into car mode, keeping up the search for clues, but he's a lot more efficient about it - he zips only close enough to something to check it out before moving on. No slow examination.

Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll.

"I'm not so sure about that," Red Alert answers Foxfire. "Sometimes arguing gets people thinking in the right direction." He transforms, opens his door, then closes it again. Then he calls to Nightbeat, "Nightbeat! How accute is your sense of smell?"

Foxfire sighs quietly and shakes his head. "If you say so..." He finally drops back down to all fours. "Should I hitch a ride with one of you?"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; continues a kind of 'hit and run' driving style, only with scouting rather than shooting. He gripes, "Not very. If you want a bloodhound, look in the mirror." Despite being a detective, he doesn't see where Red Alert is going with that question.

"In that case," Red Alert responds, sounding too cheerful, "May I suggest that Foxfire ride with you?" To Foxfire, he adds, "He's faster than I am, anyway."

Foxfire facepaws at Red. "Oh, I get it. It's 'cause I got that icky water on me, right?" He rolls his optics and heads over to Nightbeat.

Fire Chief's Car admits, "Well, yes. But he needs an identifier, anyway, since, for some reason, he's running around without a sigil."

Foxfire waves a dismissive paw. "Yeah, yeah, I got'cha."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; complains bitterly, "It's, 'Nightbeat, you shouldn't be getting all these unauthorised upgrades,' one minute and, 'Foxfire, go ride in Nightbeat, he's faster,' the next! I see your game, Red Alert. I see your game." He adds, "And I turned in my badge when I surrendered to Kup." He slows to a stop and pops open a door for Foxfire.

Someone is telling Red Alert that he's onto him. This is... something of a reversal. "What game? I may not approve of the method with which you got it, but since you /do/ have it, it shouldn't be ignored. And you really shouldn't be running around without a proper sigil. I guess we'll have to get /that/ taken care of with your debrief and medical check."

Foxfire just rolls his optics again and hops into Nightbeat.

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; cries out, triumphant, "Your game of, 'pass the stinky fox off to Nightbeat on the tissue-flimsy excuse that Nightbeat is faster.'" He closes the door after Foxfire hops inside him and opines, "I figured my badge has gone wherever my guns have gotten off to."

"Oh, that game," Red Alert responds as he starts up, driving alongside Nightbeat (unless Nightbeat is driving too fast for him. :. "Oh, I'm not even denying that one. But... you may need a new badge and new guns, Nightbeat. I'm not sure Kup had them in that reverse reality."

Foxfire makes himself comfortable in Nightbeat's passenger seat. "Can I have a gun?"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; goes SLOW so that Red Alert can keep up with him. Isn't he swell? Of course, 'slow' is something like 150 MPH. Nightbeat groans, "My weapons are all custom! Infrared scope on the plasma blaster... slaggit... last time I surrender to Kup, then!"

Red Alert vanishes out of reality.

Red Alert has left.