Making Headway

Basement Level

The basement of Crystal City isn't really as pretty as the city is topside. It looks like a finished basement that is slightly more sparkly than usual, and that's about the only odd thing about it. There is a spiral staircase leading downward, to the storerooms.

Obvious exits: Up  Down 

"Dangit Roddy, the recon guy's suppose to go first usually!" But Sandstorm just laughs at the young Prime's eagerness as he hops in after him. "I already get the feeling no one's been down here for a while. At least that we know about. So don't be -too- eager to dash ahead guys."

Rodimus Prime lands heavily in the sub-level and straightens up, looking around. "Sorry, Sandstorm," he answers, grinning. "You're right." He attempts to grab the Wrecker and... noogie him. "Here, I'll let you risk tripping the next trap, how's that?"

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Sandstorm with his Noogies (Grab) attack!

Impactor descends from above, hitting his chest lights to bring some light to the area. Eyeing both Prime and Storm, he groans. "Can't either of ya take this a bit seriously? We have no idea what in blue blazes is down here." Done complaining for now, the Wrecker leader moves into the room and scans about. "Nothin' much to this room, looks like a foyer if ya ask me ... a rather peculiar one at that." he adds, giving the room's 'sparkle' some attention.

Hot Spot is the next one to hop into the hole. "Ah, the basement of Crystal City. Haven't been here in a while for what purpose I have forgotten." The Bot lands on the floor and fixes his posture. He takes a lot around the basement, getting used to his surroundings and somewhat recalling certain locations of the basement.

Sandstorm ahahahas as Rodimus gives his head a rub down with his knuckles. "You just make sure nothing stabs me in the back in the meantime!" Pffffs a bit at Impactor as he rights himself. "Oh com'n boss, you know me better than that... But I think you're right. This is probably little more than an entry room."

"I am completely serious!" Rodimus protests, releasing Sandstorm to raise a hand to his chest in protest. "Well. Mostly serious. But being /too/ tense doesn't do us any good, either." He looks around the room and gives a nod. "But you guys are right. The starting point is a little mundane. Well, further down and farther in, then, Sandstorm? Oh, and, uhm, is someone keeping track of this?"

"Storm, switch ta thermal. Keep any eye out fer tha nooks and crannies. Spot, if ya'd be so kind as ta document this shindig ... it'd be appreciated. Prime, if you don't mind; I am technically the most qualified to lead this subterranean expedition?" Impactor gruffs, digging out a stored datapad and turning up the intensity of his flood lights.

"Too intense, too serious, too anything really will get us in trouble here. Just a small mix of each plus a bit of motivation will make the perfect energon cube," Spot replies. He, too, is suspicious of the entry room - it can't be that simple. "Document this whole trip? Sure thing Impactor, but if I somehow get drunk down here, then you better have someone else take care of it," the Protectobot answers, laughing.

"Looks like a staircase going farther down on the other side of the room." Sandstorm points out. "Considering this room is pretty bare on furnishings or hardware, it was either no more than an organizing room... or stripped out of anything valuable." He nods a little to Imp, tapping the side of his head to switch visual wavelengths, then leans over a bit to peer down the stairway.

Whirl crowds in close behind Hot Spot. "What did I miss?" he asks in a loud piercing whisper. "Anything get wrecked yet??"

Rodimus Prime's wide, boyish grin smooths into something more serious and more mature, and he gives a faint nod at Impactor's question. "Sure, Impactor, you got it. Just let me know where you need me." Then the grin regains its youthful quality and takes on a faintly mischevious edge. "I even promise to keep the horseplay to a minimum."

Nodding, Impactor moves towards the staircase. "You take point Prime, Storm yer up next. Our mapmaker will take the middle, and I'll head up tha rear." he grumbles, then adds a small clarification when Whirl pipes up. "Make that Whirl and me. I don't see anythin' too interestin' in this area..." he trails, peering down the staircase.

Rodimus Prime chuckles. "So I get to be the first one down again? Works for me," he says as he approaches the staircase. "Let's keep any /wrecking/ to a minimum, though. We're trying to avoid getting on Omega Supreme's bad side here!" With that, he steps onto the staircase, proceeding certainly but cautiously downward.

Rodimus Prime is sent a different way, as the staircase whirls around!

Whirl huddles close to Impactor. "Right, we'll take up the...uh..." he trails off as Rodimus disappears. "Was that supposed to happen?"

Janitorial Way

These series of tunnels give back access to many of the storm rooms and were probably used to perform janitorial duties in a discreet fashion. Right now, the tunnels look like they could use a janitor! Cleaning tools are strewn about, mops tilting at crazy angles. Grease is streaked on the floor, walls, and even ceiling, and a thin coating of dust covers everything, even the grease.

Obvious exits: Southeast  South   Southwest   Up 

Sandstorm follows Rodimus down the stairs as they wind about to the bottom. "... Yeah, now this looks more like you'd expect after being abandoned for a while." Scuffs at some of the muck on the floor with the heel of his foot. "Looks like a maintenance chamber of some sort... that could use some maintenance. Probably spreads all over beneath the city from here."

Impactor clambers down the staircase, arriving into the throughway ... or what appears to be the 'nexus' of the basement levels. "Whirl, Storm ... see if ya can't mill about in this mess fer anythin' useful. No time fer identifyin', just throw anythin' useful in subspace fer now."

Rodimus Prime gets out of the way of the stairway and looks around. He absently picks up a mop and tosses it aside. "We're supposed to leave Omega anything that'll be useful to day to day running of Crystal City. I'm thinking cleaning supplies just /might/ qualify."

Whirl click-clacks his pincer hands eagerly. "You got it Chief. One dumpster diving, coming right up!" True to his word, he practically dives into the mess, sliding buckets and old bottles around to read the labels, rubbing his fingertips over various grease and dust spots, and overturning anything that'll turn over. He pauses at Rodimus' words, a mop in each of his own hands. "Uh...really? Yeah, I guess you're right." He carefully sets his mops on top of the other. "Kind of small for him though..." he mutters softly.

"Well, I'm guessing he'll direct the city locals to the job," Rodimus shrugs, then considers. He mutters, "Because the Autobots are /not/ becoming Crystal City's new permanent cleaning crew, no matter how much we want on his good side."

"Okay so I'm recording the area, Impactor" Hot Spot states, following the group from behind. Most important job, no doubt. He follows down the staircase and into the next area, scanning around. "Cleaning supplies will qualify, Rodimus, I am certain. We better watch out for them in this Basement." The Bot walks around the area, not going too far from the gorup, recording his surroundings."

Sandstorm chuckles a bit. "They'll need 'em just to clean up this room to clean up the other rooms." Idly he pulls out his combat knife and uses it to pry a half-rusted storage cabinent open. "Bet he could get Junkions to help. Just tell them to keep whatever trash they clean up... oh, hey." He removes a bottle from the cabinent and holds it to shake to his audial a bit to estimate how full it is. "I haven't seen this brand of armor polish in solar cycles."

Scanning around, Impactor dims the lights as to not overpower the already laser light show that is the flickering strobe effect of the room's. "Yeah Spot, mark down these rooms and purpose making note of what exits each contains." he grumbles to the Protectobot, hating having to explain himself on such a mundane ... but important aspect of the operation. Turning south, he shines a light down it's hall. "So fearless leader, what do ya think?"

Hot Spot nods and follows the advice from Impactor. On the datapad, that Spot took out when he gone down the stairs earlier, he makes note of the staircase that the group came down from and notes the entrance/exit on the first floor. "This is fun, actually. I can get used to this all day if I want to," he replies.

"I thought you were the fearless leader on this mission!" Rodimus grins, winking at Impactor. He looks south as well, and shrugs. "Right now, any direction is as good as any other. In the end, we'll need it all covered." He gestures to the tunnel Impactor was looking at. "Let's move on."

Rodimus Prime tries to head south, and then frowns, optics flickering, as he gets to a closed door just inside the shadows. He raps his knuckles on the door and looks back at the others. "Any of you guys able to figure a way past this one?"

Hot Spot writes down the closed door to the south on his datapad. "Closed door.... South of here... Recorded on the map," Spot answers.

Whirl scratches his head, running an optic over the way south. "Sorry Rodimus...but I'm no tech." He turns and looks in the other directions. "Eenie, meenie, miney moe..."

Sandstorm wanders over to peer at the southern door everyone else has gotten so curious about. "Here, let me take a look." Put that knack for close details he has to good use."

Rodimus Prime steps out of the way and nods, watching Sandstorm with interest. "Think you can... I dunno, jimmy the lock or something?"

Impactor scratches his headplate. "Come on Storm, git tha lead out. Quit playin' round and git us through the door."

Hot Spot folds his arms, the datapad in his right hand. "If we can't get through here, then we must find another way."

Machine Shop

The machine shop is full of all sorts of exciting tools, such as lathes, milling machines, and drill presses. They look a bit dated but still in operational order. There are scraps of metal strewn about, as if no one bothered to clean the place before it was forgotten. Overall, it seems to mostly be designed to make parts for dumb machines and is not like a more sophisticated hospital ward for Transformers proper. There is, however, a medical kit attached to one of the walls, in case of injury while operating the heavy equipment.

Obvious exits: South  North 

By the time they suggest jimmingly the lock, Sandstorm already has his knife out and is working on just that. A bit of wiggling around, a few shakes, a little more twisting to get the point in just right to click through the tumblers. "I think I've almost ... yah." The lock finally pops, and he stands up straight to dive it a good ol' kick to finish off to push the door open. "There! For a moment I thought I'd have to take the slaggin' hinges off."

Whirl's lone optic flickers as he takes in the clutter in this room. His claws twitch with barely restrained eagerness. "Requesting permission for further dumpster diving!" he chirps.

Rodimus Prime grins. "Well, removing the hinges works, too!" he says cheerfully, then frowns. "Or would if we didn't use so many sliding doors." He shrugs. He looks around at the room, wandering up to one of the drill presses. "Your ancient ancestors, Impactor?" he asks.

Sandstorm smirks as he spins the knife in his hand, and then tucks it away again. "And they said wanting a knife instead of a sword was foolish," he scoffs to no one in particular. That taken care of, he walks over to inspect one of the workbenches, attempting to brush some dust off of it. "Stuff looks a bit outdated, but not useless."

Hot Spot smiles as he sees the door open. "Good work, Sandstorm. I knew that you can get that bugger open for us!" He pats Sandstorm on the back, proud of his fellow Bot, before entering the room. He records the southern room in the datapad and take notes of the objects present. Spot is hastely writing things down until he finishes up.

"Ya got me Prime." Impactor muses, moving into the room and giving it a quick once over. Making his way about the room, the Wrecker leader turns the brightness up on the flood lights located in his chest cavity. "No dumpster divin', but why don't ya scower about ... make yerself useful."

Aeryn walks up to a workbench and leans over a large, dusty benchtop power tool that caught her attention, looking at it from multiple angles and feeling the texture of the casing. "I wonder what this is for?", she says aloud but softly, to nobody in particular. If it has any cutting surfaces, they're safely retracted.

Whirl moves slowly through the room, toying with a few of the machinery controls. "You know...I bet some of this stuff still works!" He bends in close to peer at a drill bit. "Uh...of you know what you're doing, I mean. No wonder the door was locked.

Rodimus Prime looks back and forth. "Well, we can let Omega know what's down here. So far, I mean... well, it's interesting, but nothing you wouldn't expect to see down here." He grins. "At least this time we don't have to play multiple guess on which way to go."

Sandstorm hmms, picking up press and die and examining it. "Out of date, but nothing looks -broken-," he adds to Whirl's comment, then sets it down as he looks back to the others. "I'm not technician, but looking at this equipment I'd guess this is a maintenance shop or something. For drones and equipment, not other Transformers."

Impactor points to a medical kit hanging just above Whirl's shoulder, on the wall behind him. "Hey one optic wonder, what's that?"

Hot Spot examines the room closely, cautious of the numerious devices present. "We better be careful and not touch anything unless we know for sure what it does. Mostly the machines down here," the Protectobot replies. "I say we are doing well so far down here in this Basement. Our client will be most pleased with our work."

Rodimus Prime can't help but a faint snort of laughter as Hot Spot refers to Omega Supreme as 'our client.' Then he covers his mouth and tries to look innocent.

Whirl follows Impactor's gesture, turning and looking over his own shoulder. "Medical kit...maybe they've had a coupld of on the job accidents in here." He looks at what Aeryn is doing, then walks over. "Uh...maybe we'd better leave that one alone."

"Repair kit, huh?" Rodimus straightens up so he can look over the heads of the others (except, well, Aeryn) at it. "Looks like its sitting at the door to the next room. Try getting it out of the way?"

Sandstorm chuckles a bit. "Useful for the city, but not really anything swag-worthy to keep here," Sandstorm remarks with a snicker. "Time to move on maybe."

Impactor nods and moves towards the Med kit, clearing some cob webs and dust from the surface of it. "Hot Spot, looks like you're up next." he grumbles, not entirely pleased to have to rely so much on other people to gain access to the areas.

Aeryn nods to Whirl, and backs up from the unidentified equipment she was so captivated by. "All right," she reluctantly agrees. "Though everything seems safe since it's all powered off."

Hot Spot turns his head towards Rodimus, his optics staring at the leader. "Well, aren't we working for him? So that would make him our client." He laughs, sort of joining in with Rodimus. Now turning his attention to Impactor's command, Spot replies, "Sure thing, Impactor." The Protectobot goes down on the ground and transforms into his repair bay mode.

Hot Spot hastely sits on the ground and transforms into his Repair Bay mode. There is someone in need of medical attention!

Medical Office

Pulling the medical kit off the wall reveals a small passageway into the wall, into a medical office. It's tiny and not very well stocked. The small space is mostly dominated by crates, which make it even harder to move around in the small room. Some of the crates contain magnifying equipment, others transfusion rigs, and some basic first aid tools. Most of the perishable supplies are expired, their chemicals separated and rank.

Obvious exits: North 

Whirl follows the others in. "Huh," he says to Impactor. "Guess there was more to that medical kit then I thought." He squeezes into the room and examines some of the supplies. "Whew! This stuff's seen better days. Whoever comes down here'd better be careful they don't get any on themselves." That said, Whirl picks up a vial half-full of some unhealthy looking substance off one of the crates. He immediately starts swishing it around, holding it close to his optic to peer at it for any reaction.

"Okay, so I just reach this kit..." Spot talks to himself, reaching the kit with something within his repair bay. Upon taking the kit out, a secret entrance appears from where the kit used to perch on. "Wow, I guess this mode has another use than to aid robots in need," the Bot replies with a laugh.

"Good job, Hot Spot," Rodimus says as he follows the repair bay into the medical office. He frowns at the half-empty and broken vials of expired chemicals as he follows Hot Spot in. He looks down at the floor, then back at Aeryn. "Be careful, Aeryn - you don't want to get any of that stuff on you."

"Probably rigged so only a medic or medical drone.. or bay in your case.. could access it. Good job Spot," Sandstorm returns the shoulder pat he got earlier to the Protectobot as he nudges his way in the doorway, then turns his head to observe the room a bit more closely. "Looks more like a storeroom than an office. Maybe just a side spot in case someone hurt themselves working... huh." Something most of caught his optic as he moves over to inspect one of the stacks of crates. "Hmmm..."

Aeryn ducks her head through the entrance as she slips in after the Autobots. "Ugh, this room is...claustrophobia-inducing," she complains, not quite able to stand completely straight. She pinches her nose too due to the foul chemical odors, and her elbow grazes a stack of crates in the process, sending some dust falling. "And it smells pretty bad in here."

"Alright people, keep your wits about you. Just because it's been a walk in the park so far, don't fall asleep at tha wheel." Impactor cautions, giving some of the chemicals an inquiring glance. Moving farther into the room, the Wrecker leader isn't overly fond of this storage facilities ... cleanliness. "Sandstorm, grab one of those crates while we're down here." he orders, eyeing the one that's disturbingly off alone missing a shipping manifesto. "Prime, if you're satisfied ... I don't suggest we remain here for too long."

Rodimus Prime dips his head. "We seem to have dead-ended down here, and I don't want Aeryn - or any of us, really - exposed to this stuff too long," he agrees with Impactor. "Anything look salvagable back there, Sandstorm?" Whirl moves aside to make room for Impactor. "So wait, Omega didn't have any idea what all was down here? Or how long since somebody's actually used all these facilities?"

"Not just any crate." Sandstorm nudges one out of the way so he can get to the other one. Probably the same one Impactor is eyeing? "Look at this. This one isn't nearly as battered and dusty as the others." Raps on it with his knuckles lightly. "Sealed up tight and clean, too. Whatever is in it, it's likely to not be as... well..." He waves vagely at the rest of the mess, particularly Whirl playing with the bottles of who knows what. "... Some of this stuff looks like it's past its half-life."

Repair Bay  transforms back, looking around. Again, he records it in his datapad and notes the entracne. Also, he describes the objects present within the room. "Indeed it is some sort of a storageroom... chemicals on the ground," Spot says, getting closer to Aeryn, worrying about her health. "I'll stand close to Aeryn and evac her out of here if she should display sudden illness."

Hot Spot transforms back into his robot mode. He's ready for anything now!

"He says the Decepticons lost the maps when they were running the place," Rodimus answers Whirl with a shrug. He heads back to the crate Sandstorm's examining and looks it over, then kneels. "Hmmm. Yeah, we better grab that one. Might be useful." He goes to grab it, lifting it carefully.

Aeryn backs herself up carefully against a wall so as to take up as little space as possible, and also to distance herself from the source of the chemical odors. She looks down to ensure that she doesn't step in any chemical puddles.

Impactor about faces and makes a swift movement for the exit, giving the size altered Aeryn the ever so slightest nod of his chin. "Likewise, let's fallback to the original foyer for now group ... it's not smart to remain here idle."

Sandstorm looks around a bit more. ".. Yeah, I don't see any more secret doors. Unless it's behind one of the stacks of crates, but taking the time to move them all to look... eh, can wait until Omega's people clean up the place." Nods a bit as Rodimus picks up the crate. "Let's take what we found and head back up for now, yeah."

"Might be a good idea to put off checking the other passages for another time," Rodimus says as he heads back the way they came, pausing to let Aeryn exit first. "Some of these doors were kind of tricky, so we should probably take stock of who we have for what."

Hot Spot laughs, "I wouldn't mind moving all of these crates just to find a hidden entrance... then again this place is filled with hazards both for humans and Bots. So it is better we return here cleaned."

Aeryn's breathing rate has increased noticeably. "Getting out of here sounds really good to me right now," she agrees, as the claustrophobia is already starting to get to her. She carefully dips her head and moves past Rodimus, but ends up bumping it on the edge of the entrance anyway. "Owww," she complains, before ducking lower and slipping out.

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===================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/176                    Posted        Author Mapping Crystal City              Mon Apr 26    Rodimus Prime -- Voice only. "Hey, guys. While this isn't exactly top priority given the size business, Omega Supreme's asked us to help him map out the sub-levels of Crystal City. Seems the Decepticons lost the maps when they were running the place. I figure it's to our benefit to do this, because one, it gets us on his good side, and we could /really/ use him back in the war, and two, Crystal City's near enough to Debris that we /probably/ want to know what's down here."

"To get to the sub-levels, find the hatch leading down from Memorial Square, then keep going down until the way splits off in three directions. Impactor, Sandstorm, Whirl, Hot Spot, Aeryn and I were able to map the area directly south from there, but there were two other pathways that need to be checked out. Be careful, though - some of those exits seemed kind of tricky to get past, and particular talents may be called for. We did find one crate down there that looks pretty interesting. I'm setting the crate in Debris medical. I'd appreciate someone figuring out what's in it when they get the chance. Prime, out."

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