An Ominous Sign

You head down the ramp that was reviled by the large doors opening into the darkness below. Now vanishing into the darkness, the doors close shut behind you.

Sky Lynx's Lair Coming in down the large ramp from outside, you enter into a cavernous room, cylindrical in shape and dimly lit by panel lighting along the ceiling's perimeter. The west wall is occupied by a massive, three dimensional holographic display of various star charts and astral cartography. If one looked carefully, they might see well known points marked out and highlighted in gold rings. The controls for this star-chart are readily visible, comprised of a large console better suited for Sky Lynx than most other Cybertronians. The eastern part of the room slopes down gently into a depression, the barren nature of which indicates it is a resting spot for the large Autobot. Several basic accomodations have been placed here, but are truly sparse.

Of course, displayed in magnificent prominence along the wall opposite of the ramp resides a glorious rendition of the Autobot insignia, carefully traced in silver and colored in bold, blood red tones with a gold backing.

Contents:

Rewind

Sky Lynx

Mini-Lynx

Sky Lynx is in his lair, the computers and other such systems that occupy a majority of the floorspace projecting holograms of a galaxy on one side, the spiral arms slowly drifting in a circle while readouts on projected star positions and the accompanying dates litter the air. Another system also has a projected image of a planet with several points marked off. The truly space-savvy might recognize it as Uberion, and the locations have small exploded views zoomed in on several structures that are, simply put, ruins.

But the centerpiece is what appears to be a glowing orb. Or, rather, another hologram of the glowing orb. Several points of light dance across the surface and, with enough attention paid, someone would also notice that each change on the globe also corresponds to a change on the galactic-scale map... Seems the Lynx is charting something. Though, what that is remains unclear.

Arcee arrives through the smaller entrance, carrying a datapad with her. "Hello! Sorry if I'm a bit late." She stares curiously at the orb, and the surrounding star chart. "So what's going on?"

Sky Lynx looks up at Arcee and nods. "Arcee! Wonderful to see you. You seem to be in good spirits of late." He turns his attention to the charts. "As you know, I do think of myself as an explorer of sorts. I enjoy traveling where I can, as time permits, looking for possible opportunities to extend Autobot influence abroad, and to search for relics that may have dire impacts on our current conflict." He frowns... "Unfortunately, it is the latter that brings you here."

He steps over to the image of Uberion, his tail snaking over to the computer to alter the image to zoom in on a particular set of ruins. "I've not had a chance to go by Candios yes, and I do apologize, but my focus has been on this particular gem." The image zooms in further to show a myriad of hieroglyphs and wall paintings.

Rewind is here, though he's a bit distracted. For one, he keeps looking around at all the neat things in the room. Two, he's running through a lot of internal data, trying to find the helpful stuff in time to use it. "Hi!" he waves, then goes back to accessing and organizing. He's tapping away, looking at the charts and trying to get it all prepped and ready.

"Hmm, what gem would this be, then?" Arcee asks Sky Lynx, venturing further inside until she finally spots the tiny form of Rewind at work. "Oh, hi Rewind!"

Sky Lynx looks over the various pictures illustrating...things. "From what I surmise, the orb you see depicted over there was taken from scans I performed on an object within these ruins. From what I have gathered thus far, it appears be both a key, and a map which leads to a device nestled in deep-space that was hidden for unknown reasons. Or, initially unknown. The device in question is, from what I have read and deciphered with Rewind's assistance, capable of reformatting, or altering the programming of, certain object. I wish I knew which objects it was capable of interfacing with, but I do not."

He lets the images rotate for a while as he lets that sink in. "It should also be noted, the Decepticons do know of this. Blast Off was present for the discovery, but if I know him, the secret will not remain such for long. I wished to confirm my concerns about the object specifically before bringing them forth, and my findings appear conclusive that this could be a very dangerous object in the wrong hands."

OOC: This happened in Return To Uberion:

"Wow. And...these are obviously ruins, I suppose the civilization that abandoned this site must have been quite advanced and had some *good* reason to leave this equipment behind. Perhaps we can make some sort of protective structure to encase it. Keep it under lock or forcefield."

Sky Lynx shakes his head slowly. "This device is only the key. The important piece is the device nestled in the heart of some galaxy, from what I gather. I would love nothing more than to see this locked away and forgotten, but I know it will not be." He brings up the image of Candios. "Moreover, I think it may be something we can use to fix this mess..." He sighs and shakes his head again with a grunt. "But, again, I stress the true danger lies in the fact the Decepticons know of both pieces, and I do fear they will take it upon themselves to seek this out."

Rewind grins under his faceplate at Arcee. "Good to see you! It's been too long." The tape-bot continues sifting through images, assisting Sky Lynx's needs. "Sky Lynx is right. What information we have indicates something powerful- something that affects core programming or reformating... something like that. The translations are difficult, but it seems to indicate something of that nature. We've got these maps, and the ability to get to that star system. We just need a team to get together, prepare for a journey, and go. And with Decepticons around, they may need to expect company." He nod to Arcee. "Yes, I'd recommend sending a team to secure that area..."

"Alright, then. This is...above my particular level of responsibility, but what I *can* do is bring it to the attention of Jazz, Elita and Fort Max. I think they'll agree that we need to get this done as soon as possible." Arcee takes some notes on her datapad. "Now, what makes you believe that whatever this machine is, that it can fix what's going wrong in the Candios system?"

Sky Lynx studies the object for a moment. "I don't. But I hope it can." He looks back at the various maps, falling silent for a few moments longer. "Because I have no idea what else can at this point."

"With everything happening regarding The DJD, I really do want this to take some sort of precedence," Arcee says. She has this mental vision of Jazz just waving her off, putting this dead last on the agenda because it doesn't seem immediately dangerous.

Sky Lynx hmms. "Tell Jazz... at its greatest potential output, the Decepticons could acquire a means of reprogramming the DJD, Cybertron, and the entirety of the Autobot forces to fall in line with their agenda. If that does not spur him into action, then I will have more than a few choice words for him."

Arcee smirks. "Thank you, I think that may be the...motivator I'm seeking," she says. "I was thinking along those lines, too, unfortunately. It's a hypothetical situation, but a *terrifying* one."

Sky Lynx downloads the massive flood of data into an encrypted datapad, which ejects for Arcee to take. "I'll give you what I have currently, and will add to it as I can. I should like to leave this to you, for the most part, though, while I turn my attention to the military efforts and Candios more than I have been able to. Are you fine with that?"

Rewind looks up at Sky Lynx's and Arcee's words. Of course, his helmet-mounted camera is recording all this. "Yes. That would be... bad. And by bad I mean like... Unicron was bad." He goes back to sorting through the data.

"Certainly. Considering what could be at stake, I think we ought to keep a watch on that entire situation. And Rewind's absolutely right, while The DJD may be giving the Decepticons some immediate grief, they may be desperate enough to turn to this device to solve their current crisis," Arcee notes.

Sky Lynx straightens up. "Wonderful! You've my thanks." He looks back at the starcharts that are busy populating data and frowns. "Getting there is no easy task, but I should have multiple possible windows of opportunity that will see us there." He looks over the computers again. "I can make these systems available for your needs as well, if you so need them."

"Sure." Arcee looks like she's...trying to keep up with all of the information. "Sorry I've been less-than-available for discussion recently, my personal life kind of...imploded, and took my professional life along with it. But it's all been cleared up now. By the way, I no longer have an office assistant."

Sky Lynx hmms? "Well, if you have any candidates from my department, do let me know." He takes another pause and, for the most part, looks absolutely exhausted from the efforts that had gone into putting this together. "As for the problems... we all get them. Good to have you back on your feet."

Rewind looks over at Arcee. "I'm... sorry, Arcee." He says quietly, then goes back to his charts, not sure what else to say. He hates that Arcee got hurt, but this isn't really the time or place to go into that.

"I may not be feline, but I do try to land on my feet when I'm dropped," Arcee chuckles. She does seem to be doing okay, she's definitely tuned in and focused. "Don't worry, guys. We're going to get this addressed. It's happening."

"I've the utmost faith in you, Arcee. I'm not worried about this at all." Lynx looks at Rewind. "I will also need to keep Rewind for a bit longer, just long enough to swing by Candios, if that is alright."

Rewind smiles under his faceplate and nods to Arcee. And a thought occurs to him, "Arcee, anytime you need an assistant, if you can't find another one, well.... I *am* in intelligence already, and just let me know if there's some way I can help." To Sky Lynx he nods. "That would be great!! That's going to be one heckuva travel log, let me tell you!"

"Sure, sure...looks like you guys are super busy on this, and that's fine. *If* you end up finding anything different in the Candios system when you go out there...let me know right away. Especially if you see any evidence of the Decepticons having returned there since we noticed the instabilities." Arcee says. She glances to Rewind, and begins smiling. "You're my permanent assistant, didn't you know that? By the way...if you can encrypt a few terabytes of computer files for me, and store them in the permanently classified drive...you'll be my hero. Springer's back, and he's a little bit...upset. Just a wee bit. I don't want anyone in particular to get broken. If you get my drift."

Sky Lynx says, "Well, that is all I have for you, Arcee. Thank you for stopping by. I wish you nothing but the best in your ventures." He looks back at the systems around him. "As for me... I've work to do."

Rewind beams. "Oh! Heh, I do now." He listens, and nods. "Oh. Ye-aaah, I guess so. Sure, I have nearly infinent storage so... won't be a problem." He pauses. "How's it... been? I know Springer has been away for awhile..."

"He brought me some flowers," Arcee tells Rewind before she heads out, and that smile says it all. Arcee just has a really soft spot for that green Wrecker guy...

"I'll leave you guys to your work."