Master of Blasting

Planet Lightning

Despite the name, Planet Lightning doesn't actually seem to have the sort of turbulent weather system that would cause a lot of lightning. One might wonder why it was called that. Maybe the inhabitants thought the name was cool. In any case, the planet seems to be very similar in climate to Earth, but perhaps just a bit more arid with more land masses. Under the surface, though, things are somewhat different...

Despite the name, Planet Lightning doesn't actually seem to have the sort of turbulent weather system that would cause a lot of lightning. One might wonder why it was called that. Maybe the inhabitants thought the name was cool. In any case, the planet seems to be very similar in climate to Earth, but perhaps just a bit more arid with more land masses. Under the surface, though, things are somewhat different...

Planet Lightning. It's not quite what you might be expecting. In fact, from the viewport of the EDC shuttle Prometh... uh, Prometheon, it looks like a fairly average life-supporting world. Standing behind the two pilots at the moment is General Franklin Cross, watching the ship approach with his arms crossed. "We received a tip about this planet from one of our extraterrestrial sources," Cross explains, for some reason waiting til now to provide exposition. "Apparently, locked beneath the surface of that planet is a trove of technological treasures from a long dead alien civilization. However... all who have tried to access those treasures have never returned."

He turns around to address anyone else who may be riding with him. "Regardless, we aren't letting that stop us. We're going to set foot on that planet and we're going to see what we come up with. Any questions before we drop?"

Lars Daalgard has arrived.

Scattershot leaps to the air and transforms into battlecruiser mode. Lasers! Missiles! Cannons!

First Aid is in with his friends in the EDC shuttle Prometheon. The ship can accomodate exo-suits, and so First Aid is relatively comfortable. The Protectobot looks up as General returns to the back with the others. He raises a hand at the mention of questions.

Lars dismounts from his Centurion.

Lars Daalgard, among the UN soldiers, raises his hand as well.

Franklin Cross sees First Aid raising his hand first. "Yes?" he says, pointing at Lars Daalgard. Uh, well, he'll get to First Aid in a moment, right?...

First Aid keeps his hand up patiently.

+POT Laserbeak is now observing.

Autobot Battlecruiser hangs back from the EDC shuttle, flying as escort to the ship. He's receiving transmission from the EDC bridge via First Aid, however, and can hear everything that's going on. < < Watch yer six and remember yer manners, FA. > > It's mostly a joke. First Aid causing problems is about as likely as Terrorcons not being worthless and stupid.

"Generals, if the Autobot attempt to prevents us from recoverings the objective, what are our order?" asks Daalgard, who is at least considerate enough to give First Aid a 'nothing personal' sort of shrug.

"I'm sure that won't be an issue." He turns towards First Aid, raising a brow at him. "If it is an issue, however, well, Rodimus Prime may have to start packing his bags, if you know what I mean. Now. What was *your* question, First Aid?"

Franklin Cross said that.

You can tell because he doesn't sound fake-Norwegian.

Thousands of kilometers behind Scattershot, a small Decepticon shuttle emerges from hyperspace. Sleek, sexy, and purple.. the large insignia on the front bay window points it out as such. The craft slows it's speed considerably, hanging back for the meantime.

Inside the craft, Backfire is pacing just outside the bridge. "Gah, kicked me out did they? Obviously JEALOUS!" he fumes.

Apparently trying to jettison some weight thirteen times in transit is grounds for bridge removal.

+POT Laserbeak is no longer observing.

Although he glances over at Lars in surprise at the question, he doesn't react to Cross's reply. Once he's addressed, he lowers his hand. "This might not be the best time, but I figure it's best to organize now rather than during the mission. I've been texting Specialist Holland and Lieutenant Leighton back at Earth during the trip over here-" The EDCers may recognize the names as being a part of their engineering corp, "-and we came up with some great ideas for the new base. Holland had a breakthrough on one of the tougher technical problems we were facing. Once we're back on Earth we're going to go out for some wings and energon to talk about it and celebrate. Want to come with?"

"It wasn't like I was trying to throw someone like GALVATRON off!" Backfire whines to no one in particular.

Laserbeak remains where he is at the moment, within the shuttle's console, using his receptors to pick up bits of traffic in the area, but more importantly trying to keep out of sight. The traffic that was made out so far was not so incriminating, nor was it informative, but once the crew landed, that's when the bird gets to do his work.

Mindwipe's wing flicker in excitement as he turns to the viewscreen, then he freezes at the sight of the planet ahead of them, caught up short by the entirely mundane weather systems evident. His wings droop as he half-heartedly runs long-range analyses on the planet, looking quite dejected. After all, there's nothing like a good lightning storm for some nice mad science.

Franklin Cross reacts to the offer dispassionately. "Unfortunately, my status means that I cannot fraternize with my subordinates, so I will have to decline." He puts his fingers to his earpiece, listening for a moment. "Alright, we'll be getting ready to drop in thirty seconds." The ship begins to shake as it enters the upper layers of the atmosphere. "Let's move out!"

Climbing into his tank, Cross waits until the shuttle has reached standard deployment altitude. The back hatch opens and the pilot reports, "We are green for drop!"

"You heard the man!" Cross transmits. "All units disembark!" And Cross's tank backs out into the open air, free-falling for several moments before its jump jets activate, allowing to land on the ground with only a minor bounce.

"I understand," First Aid replies. "We'll see if we can't get something more formal set up in the future." As the topic shifts to the upcoming drop, First Aid steps up the hatch, pressing his hand against the ceiling to steady himself against the violent shaking the Prometheon is experiencing. As he gets the order, First Aid leaps out, activating an anti-grav parachute part way down. His landing is relatively hard, but Aid rolls with it. The chute behind him automatically retracts. "Everyone alright?" the doctor calls out, looking around to make sure everyone made the jump successfully.

Lars Daalgard hustles to his walker, which the crew already have warmed up, and climbs into the commander's cupola, taking a few moments to make sure everything is locked, powered, sealed and loaded. After the lighter craft and infantry are deployed, the shuttle glides low to let the heavy armor slide out the back. It lands with a boom on its four shock-absorbing legs and slowly rises back up, sensors scanning the skyline.

Lars climbs up and takes command of his Centurion.

Apocryphacius is busily getting a rapid biochemical analysis suite ready in the back, where he is more or less bungeed down. He does not fit in most chairs well. The Quintesson mutters to himself, "Wanders off to an alien planet from where no one has ever come back? More like, 'Pick up some weird alien disease and spread it to everyone on Earth'. Not on my watch!"

He packs his analysis kit away, undoes the bungees, and makes his jump via the five parachutes of darkness. Parachuting's not exactly his favourite thing in the world, but he's done it before, and he'll do it again.

Autobot Battlecruiser transforms as he touches down near First Aid, giving him a nod. The big mech scans the area, watching Cross for a moment before taking out a datapad and tapping a few notes.

Creeping ever closer, the smaller Decepticon shuttle seeks cover and concealment as it approaches drop off altitude away from the EDC and Autobots. The captain of the craft booms over the loudspeaker system, < < Decepticons fit for duty, deploy planetside. We will be retaking cruising altitude in approximately sixty astroseconds. > >

One of the bridge's aids come up to the captain, whispering something into his audio receptor. < < Oh, yes.. this means you Backfire. > >

Already ahead of the captain, the Seeker simpleton takes the lift to the docking bay deck and awaits his turn to plummet down planetside. "This shall be a GLORIOUS victory for the EMPIRE." he smiles, exiting the craft.

Laserbeak ejects from the console, turning into his bird form. His dark red eyes gleamed as he studied his....team here. Murder and mayhem awaited. Laserbeak shuddered, mimicking the flicking motions of any true bird. He takes flight, exiting the craft. Outside he ducks down low into the terrain, behind anything that could disrupt radar. Standard procedure when exploring the unknown was scanning. After that moment, then the infiltration could begin. He claps his beak together twice in anticipation. Then the vulture would be among the carcasses...

Mindwipe's attention is wrested from his disappointment by the captain's voice over the intercom. Wait, we have a captain? Grumbling to himself, he stirs, and heads down to the disembarkation point. Still, he tries to cheer himself up, there may be occasion to resurrect someone at some point. Maybe Laserbeak...

Scattershot unfolds into his hulk of a robot mode and lights an energon cigar he stole from Kup.

The surface of the planet is deceptively serene! "I'm fine," Cross reports, his tank rolling along. "Now, according to our informant, there should be an entrance.... here. Follow me!" And exhibiting either fearless leadership or careless stupidity, Cross is the first one to roll through a cave entrance carved into the side of a mountain. And soon after he's inside, there's the sound of cannon fire and flashes of light from within!

Meanwhile, while the surface seemed bland enough to everyone else, Mindwipe sees something that no one else can! It begins as a floating pair of eyes, fixed on Mindwipe. They grow closer and closer, then a face materializes, formed out of coruscating electricity. "HOR GERROM ZEL GAVVA NAK PRAN!" it roars as it floats steadily closer.

Centurion II MBW advances more slowly towards the cave. "Contacts, Commander?" he asks laconically through the radio.

First Aid exchanges nods with Scattershot before rushing off after Cross. "Hold on, sir, if you want we can try to scan for..." but he trails off as the General is already inside. The Protectobot jogs after him, but breaks into a sprint upon hearing the cannon fire. Oh crap! First Aid rushes into the cave, photon pistol drawn in anticipation of whatever caused Cross to start firing.

"Sheeit. First Aid! Slow up!" Scattershot takes off after the rescue bot, assault rifle sub spacing in. He moves into the cave, weapon ready, stepping past the medic. "Less running into caves with strangers, please."

Apocryphacius wonders what recklessness General Cross is going to attempt today. Aside from the whole 'exploring a hostile alien planet with a bad reputation' part. He follows along with the convoy, trying to get a read on the chemical and biological composition of the atmosphere with his analysis kit. Any evil prions floating around in the air, just waiting to force people to misfold their proteins and die horribly?

Then he hears cannon fire. Maybe they will all just die of /being shot/, not alien diseases. So with a different tentacle, he draws his puny sidearm.

The shots of some unknown combat ring in Laserbeak's receptors. It wasn't one of his, and unless Backfire was...no, Backfire was well within range still. Something else was attacking. Laserbeak chortles with the prospect of filming dying mechs or even humans by some other force, without even being discovered. He zooms in upon a ridge, perching just behind the crest, his telescopic eyes zooming in, the entire scene being recorded for future evaluation by Soundwave. His eyes flicker. A Quintesson. Yes, that was right, there was sketchy information about that, a Quintesson involved with the EDC. Surely anything involving him would be worth capturing. The bird hesitated, if he would capture....no, that was a stupid thought, and stupid thoughts lead to scrapped mechs. Best to do his work, and do it silently. He almost chuckled, always watching.

Backfire hits the ground running towards the EDC personell and the Autobots along for the ride, the sound of laser fire reaching him mid-sprint. "Forward fellow Decepticons, to VIC-TO-RY!!" Screeching to a halt, he looks backwards. "Laserbeak, cease your shadowy fluttering. You're not RATBAT, you know!"

Mindwipe hits the ground smoothly, and breaks into a run... for all of about 5 seconds, then... Mindwipe pauses and frowns slightly as he sees... /something/ in the distance. Something that closes the miles with incredible speed. Mindwipe gasps as the vision coalesces into a face, and Vorath falls silent, sharing this incomparable sight as Mindwipe collapses to his knees.&r

"It's... beautiful..." they say in a shared breath. climbing to his feet, he stares in wonder at the ephemeral visage, his body quivering as if he were being buffetted by unseen winds. "We hear you, we /hear/ you, please, help us understand!" He cries out, his arms and wings spread wide, his face beaming up at the image he doesn't realise only he can see. Right about now, he must look kinda crazy to his allies. More than normal, that is.

< < Confirmed, >  > Cross replies calmly. < < They appear to be automatons of some kind. > > And indeed, upon stepping into the cave, there can be seen strange robots of some sort, all of which have a slumped posture. They move slowly, but can suddenly leap up and try to stomp on anything that draws close. One such robot tries to stomp on Cross's tank in exactly that way, but he manages to jump away, filling the creature up with autocannon rounds until it's blasted apart. < < These ones are fairly slow, however. Not terribly threatening. > > But that's not the only enemy here--small, semispherical drones buzz by overhead, dropping explosives down onto the unwary!

The cavern they're in seems to be some sort of expansive underground forest, with massive trees growing from the ground. How they're doing so without the benefit of sunlight is a bit of a mystery. There's no evil prions, but the air does have a fairly high level of radiation that could be hazardous to an unshielded human.

The electric visage floats in front of Mindwipe as if appraising him. Then, it finally speaks in a language Mindwipe can understand. "YOU WILL PROTECT OUR RESTING PLACE. GO FORTH, AND DESTROY THE DEFILERS! DO THIS, AND YOU MAY BE REWARDED..."

First Aid bursts into the cave along with Scattershot. "Automatons?" He watches as Cross outmaneuves a stomping creature and blows it apart. The doctor nudges Scattershot, "I'm going to see if I can get to those remains and find out what we're fighting against. Maybe there's some way we can shut this down without it turning into an even bigger fi- ack, look out!" First Aid shoves Scattershot away as the spherical drones drop a load of bombs right where the two Autobots were standing!

Fusillade has left.

Centurion II MBW takes up a defensive position at the entrance of the cave, regular EDC troops fanning out around it while the powered suits with their hardshell armor go inside to assist Cross in the radioactive cavern.

Combat: Centurion II MBW sets its defense level to Guarded.

Scattershot is back on his feet quickly, trigger squeezed. "Whatever you say, First Aid! Do yer thing!" Multiple drones are hit, the light from Scattershot's rifle blasts casting a glow across his cigar chomping face, which looks awesome. If one were paying attention, they're notice Scattershot's fire was concentrated completely on covering First Aid: Cross can take care of himself. Or better yet, he couldn't.

Apocryphacius is pretty concerned by this whole 'shoot first and ask question later' ethic they have going on. They just invaded someone else's planet without any invitation, and now they are wrecking someone else's stuff. Said stuff attacked first yes, but if Apocryphacius broke into someone's house and the guard dog attacked him, he would have to say that the guard dog was in the right, there.

Oh, and Decepticons are right outside?

/Lovely/.

But there are bombs falling from the ceiling, too? Apcryphacius tries to snag one of the bomb drones out of the air to study how the bombs are made. Hopefulyl if he grabs a drone, the bombs in it aren't armed until it drops them?

If the vulturebot could frown, he would've. Backfire not only chose to be as overt as possible, but specifically called him out. He may have to die, and that would be something Laserbeak would enjoy recording, but...he was a hard metal body between him and the others. Taking flight again, Laserbeak flies closer to the entrance, intent on gathering as much data as possible about the site. If the Autobots claimed it, Galvatron would want to know what secrets it held. If they were repelled, then it would make a prime target for the Decepticons to systematically overwhelm and analyze.

Mindwipe nods rapidly, "Of course, we shall drive the heretics from this site!" Casting a searing glare at his fellow Decepticons, he cries out and waves them forwards. "The voice of the dead demands we protect the sanctity of their grave!" Regardless of their response, he charges towards the caves like a bat out of hell. So much for the 'stealth' option.

"I get it, you hear me." Backfire replies, obviously ignorant to the creepy pair of floaty eyes that Mindwipe is talking to. "Understand what? I thought you were smart, what's the glitch??" The Seeker is actually pausing just outside the EDC perimeter, staring quizically back at the Headmaster.

"Voice of the dead.. grave? Oh, slag no.. not on my watch!" Backfire shouts, rushing to intercept Mindwipe on his way. "Tell Starscream he has to stay DEAD, there's only room enough for ONE screwup in AEROSPACE!!"

Combat: Backfire misses Mindwipe with his Grab attack!

The drones get pretty close to bombing the two Autobots but Scattershot's accurate... well, okay, *volume* of fire is more than enough to shred them before they get to do any serious harm. General Cross isn't so lucky, as a bomb nears his tank, rocking it before Cross rips apart the drone responsible with bullets. Inside, Cross watches on an MFD as Scattershot doesn't seem terribly concerned about covering him. "Alright then," Cross says, eyes narrowed.

First Aid's examination reveals the robot "brains" aren't sophisticated enough to allow for intelligent thought, and yet, there appears to be some sort of override mechanism in them that would allow it to be controlled remotely. However, it doesn't seem to operate by any known transmission method he'd be familiar with. Apocryphacius does snag a drone, and it wriggles angrily in his tentacles. It doesn't seem to want to drop bombs so close to the ground, so he seems to be safe for now. But it appears that the drone's supply of bombs is merely limited. Maybe the things simply pull off to reload after depleting them?

Then something odd happens. There's a crackle of energy around the drone, and it starts talking! "WHY HAVE YOU DEFILED OUR TOMB?"

"Ignore it," Cross says, surveying the cavern. He notices a large underground lake, and some sort of retracted bridge that might have allowed them to get across. "Hm. I'm not sure I could traverse that full distance with my jump jets. What if...." he trails off, then rolls up to a pile of destroyed drones. "Men, get over here, I have a job for you." Some of the hardsuited troops approach, and Cross radios instructions to them. The troops then use some laser cutters to open up the internal mechanisms of the drones, revealing what look like thruster mechanisms. The hubcaps over the wheels on Cross's tank open up like irises, and they spit out the jump jets within. Cross's men then shove the alien thrusters in their place, and after some ratcheting sounds, Cross's tank hops up and begins to hover. "Excellent, as I thought. The alien jump jets are more advanced. I should be able to easily traverse that lake now." He hovers across the water, and, nudging a button with his turret, a massive bridge spreads across the lake, permitting everyone access. Yes, he upgraded himself just like that.

"GOOD, GOOD..." the electric face says before it vanishes, apparently pleased. And the troops of the EDC try heroically to keep the Decepticons from getting in with concentrated gunfire, but Lance is the only one present who has a chance of beating them. Then again, the Decepticons may just beat themselves.

First Aid hits the dirt as a bomb explodes overhead, crawling the rest of the way to the automaton that Cross first annihilated. It doesn't take the doctor long to confirm that the mindless robots are just that. Whew, one bullet dodged. As the drone suddenly /speaks/, First Aid jolts. "H-ey... wait, lets talk about this! We thought this place was deserted... General!" he calls out to Cross, jogging towards the man even as he performs the world's quickest jump jet transplant. By the he gets there, the General has already floated across and extended the bridge. "General, these drones are don't have any minds of their own, but they're being controlled externally. Whatever's controlling them still might be alive. How about we see if we can resolve this peacefully?" he asks as he reaches the edge of the lake.

Apocryphacius pries at the angry little drone, trying to better understand what makes it tick. Is the tech like anything he would have seen before anywhere?

Then the General tells him to ignore the drone, which is talking to him. One face looks at General Cross, his leader, whom he ought to obey. One face looks at the drone. It's... it's... not like General Cross is asking him to napalm a village, is he? Just ignore the drone. That has a completely legitimate point about breaking and entering. Just ignore it. That was an order.

With a whimper, the Quintesson visibly droops, and he hovers on over to the retracted bridge, the drone held tightly in one pair of tentacles, another extended to see if he can get the bridge working again.

Apocryphacius transforms into his Apocryphacius < Darkness Face > mode.

Mindwipe draws in his wings and ducks under Backfire's attempts to intercept him, thrusting a hand into the others' face "/I/ am a /scientist!/ What in the name of Straxus is wrong with Backfire that he can't understand!? Mindwipe sweeps an arm forwards, "The Autobots cannot be permitted to trespass upon sanctified soil, the /Terrans/ violate it with their mere proximity!" Raising his blaster, he fires burst after burst at the defenders as he charges.

As Mindwipe flies through his arms and around him, Backfire "Ooomph!"s and hits the ground sprawling. Getting up on his haunches, the Seeker scratches the side of his flattop'd head. "And I though I had a few screws loose, ah well."

Flying right after Mindwipe, Backfire follows suit and fires off some blasts. "Yes, death to the infidels!!"

Combat. Very well, the vulture decides, but the choice prey will be stalked first. Let the others rush forwards and catch laser fire. Behind the others, Laserbeak swoops into the shadows, gliding almost completely noiseless. With the new battle starting, it was an optimum time to find a spot to scout...and wait. Either way, there was a delicious amount of information to garner. His eyes go to the Quintesson, the Quint is investigating the technology. Perhaps there was a databank of some kind. Yes, that would do well. Laserbeak scours the strange tomb for an information download of some sort. If not...well, there was always a few Bots to melt.

Inside the Centurion the driver settles the crab-tank back on its legs, laser blasts cracking into the alien soil around it. Lars taps the gunner on the shoulder and instructs him in Norwegian to lay down smoke and switch to LIDAR. He opens a channel to the other EDC and informs them that the enemy has been engaged as the defenders' guns rattle and pop in response to the hissing lasers of the enemy, and smoke canisters arc through the air from the Centurion's tubes to conceal the defenders' positions.

Combat: Centurion II MBW strikes Mindwipe with its Smoke Grenades Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Mindwipe's Accuracy. (Blinded)

Combat: Centurion II MBW strikes Backfire with its Smoke Grenades Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Backfire's Accuracy. (Blinded)

Franklin Cross replies to First Aid, travelling deeper into the cavern through a tunnel, "It is deserted. I see no signs of intelligent life, here, and the fact that the drone spoke is proof of nothing. They have robot toys on Earth you can have conversations with, but they're still only toys and no one would ever mistake them for a living thing."

"FOOL," the drone says, "WE ARE THE LIGHTNING BEINGS. WE HAVE TRANSCENDED THE FRAILTIES OF MORTALITY, AWAITING OUR TIME OF ASCENSION! AND WE KNOW YOU, QUINTESSON. ONCE YOU THOUGHT US DESTROYED, BUT WE HAVE MERELY BIDED OUR TIME. PERHAPS NOW IT IS TIME FOR VENGEANCE!" The drone is fairly advanced robotic technology, but depending on how familiar with Quintesson history he is, he might not be able to recognize it.

"Ah, what have we here?" Cross says as he emerges into a rocky cavern. He rolls to a stop by a robotic warrior, apparently deactivated, boasting a drill-tipped spear. Cross sends some more instructions to his men, and before long they've cut the drill off of the spear. The drill is then attached into an open port on the front of his tank. "Hm... high energy emissions... this way." And just like that, Cross begins using his drill to bore a hole right through the wall!

Inside, Laserbeak doesn't exactly find a computer. However, there does appear to be a side cavern in here. Inside, an ornate, robotic warrior is kneeling, holding in its outstretched hands a large technological device of unknown purpose. Oh, look, there's a cassette-size slot on the side. Probably a few ports for SD devices, too, but nevermind that.

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Apocryphacius < Darkness Face > is pretty unfamiliar with Quintesson history. For the most part, he has only heard secondhand stories from other people. The way he learned Quintesson technology was /taking it apart/. What he has heard is mostly stories about his people being abjectly awful in every way. Apocryphacius has to ask, "Uhm. Did my relatives do terrible things to you, too?" One of his faces looks over at First Aid nervously, mostly because First Aid happens to be there. General Cross is reeeeeally being reckless here.

First Aid sticks close Cross as he reaches the deactivated robot. Although uneasy of the situation, the Protectobot is still wired to safeguard their allies. Occasionally First Aid glances behind them, hearing the sounds of battle as EDC troopers skirmish with the Decepticons. Argh, First Aid thinks, I should be back there! "Look, sir, maybe we should consider turning back now," Aid says, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the drill. "We can fight off the Decepticons and then slowly dismantle the rest of this place at our leisure." Aid already knows what the answer is goign to be, and he gives Apocryphacius a worred look.

Ah-hah! What elusive prize did the skulker find this time? Smoke barred his systems not, no, his senses were far too advanced to be bothered. If anything it provided a proper screen for his flight. Right now the only real concerns were time and the drone guards, assuming they had enough sense to sweep the area for added parties. Laserbeak made a mental note to keep a flight plan ready for immediate disembark if necessary.&r&t The strange ornate figure was examined swiftly, it did not appear hostile, but caution overtook the vulture nevertheless for a moment. He chose to seize the moment, transforming into his cassette tape, fitting himself snug into the info-banks. Ahh, there was all sorts of bounties within now, it would take some time to seize it all, or at least all he could muster, then came the discretionary points of deciding what was more necessary than not. The battle would suffice long enough, either against the drones or against the Cons that he'd have his time, his victory, and a discreet exit. None of them would know.

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Hit with a canister upside the head, it actually drops into Backfire's open hands. "What the.. haha, hey Mindwipe!" he exclaims, holding it up. "Look, a DUD!" Then it activates, quickly concealing the Seeker in smoke. After minutes of coughing, Backfire attempts to fly -with- the smoke canister and through the line of EDC dudes guarding the entrance.

"Hahaha, how's this for SUBTERFUGE???" Backfire smiles, as the canister spills out more smoke.

Mindwipe raises an arm to block his optics as the gas canisters erupt. Coughing, he beats his wings, fanning the gas away from him. Ploughing through the clouds, he stumbles near the centre of the EDC's defensive line, laser bolts searing through the clouds around him. Stretching out an arm, he slowly draws his other hand along his forearm, scouring gouges that begin to well up with energon. Casting his arm in a semi-circle in front of him, he sprays droplets of energon into the fog. With a muttered curse, he throws a hand in front of himself and something... odd, happens. The fog spirals upon itself, small flames alight from no recognisable source, and a ripple seems to stretch outwards. But did it actually bother anyone?

Combat: Mindwipe strikes Centurion II MBW with his Dark Science attack!

Planet Lightning(#10982Ten)

Despite the name, Planet Lightning doesn't actually seem to have the sort of turbulent weather system that would cause a lot of lightning. One might wonder why it was called that. Maybe the inhabitants thought the name was cool. In any case, the planet seems to be very similar in climate to Earth, but perhaps just a bit more arid with more land masses. Under the surface, though, things are somewhat different...

Contents:

Centurion II MBW

Backfire

Mindwipe

First Aid

Apocryphacius < Darkness Face >

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The gunner of the Centurion exclaims in alarm as something rushes out of the smoke, darkness spreading towards the EDC! The men take cover, and Daalgard quickly instructs the loader to power up the active defenses. Whatever that is that's battering at the hull, hopefully it can be turned aside with gravitational repulsors.

Combat: Centurion II MBW creates a forcefield shielding itself from damage.

"DO YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE LIGHTNING WARS, AS YOUR BRETHREN CALL THEM?" the drone says. "IT WAS A TITANIC CONFLICT WHICH STRETCHED ACROSS THE GALAXY. BILLIONS DIED AND ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEMS WERE EXTINGUISHED LIKE CANDLES IN THE DARKNESS. IT DOES NOT MATTER, EVEN NOW YOU FOOLISHLY APPROACH OUR ULTIMATE GUARDIAN!"

Cross eventually bores through the rock, emerging into a room full of statues, or what appear to be statues. All of them holding what look like a variety of alien weapons out in front of them. "Hm," Cross says, traveling between them, and sounding almost like he's shopping. "There, that one. Help me with this one, men," His men clamber up onto one of the statues, plucking two missiles from the hands of the statue holding it. "No, First Aid, too late to turn back now," Cross says as his men reapproach. This time a hatch opens in the back of the tank, and the soldiers place the missiles into the open hatch, where mechanical arms grab them and pull them inside the tank. "Besides, we have to get the choicest bits of technology before they get a chance to."

And yet, one of the statues is starting to rumble as it slowly comes to life...

More drones have appeared in the cavern Backfire enters, but for some reason they ignore the Decepticon! Unless he does something stupid. Then they'll stop leaving him alone.

First Aid pops out into the room with the statues. He strolls down the rows of them, looking up at their terrifying weapons with obvious trepidation. "But why not? Nothing in this place has been able to withstand us so far. There's humans back there, sir, in mortal danger against the Decepticons." He watches, frowning inwardly as Cross starts snatching weapons like he's on a shopping spree. "Come on, lets head back and see if we can't-" First Aid suddenly jolts as one of the statues rumbles. "Sir, look out!" Aid pushes the EDC leader aside in order to quickly place himself between him and the statue.

"No," Apocryphacius says honestly, "'Nothing' is about the sum total of what I know of my brethren. You could tell me that they temporarily destroyed the colour purple and then put it back, and I would have to admit it /could/ be true. Anyway, to answer your earlier question, I'm here because I'm here." He has heard human soldiers saying that! It seems appropriate to the situation.

As First Aid risks himself for General Cross, Apocryphacius steeples a pair of tentacles.

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Tumbling into the cavern, still immersed in smoke from the cannister in hand, Backfire hits the ground rolling.. right into a conveniently illustrated hole! "NOOoooooooooooooooooo, you'll pay for this Quintesson!" he shouts out, regardless if Apocryphacius can hear.. or cares.

BACKFIRE detaches his head and tosses it at you. As you cradle the decapitated Seeker's cranium, it laughs maniacally shouting: "YOUR RP HAS FURTHERED MY GOAL OF BEING A GLORY TO THE EMPIRE!!!" and burps up a +nom. Quick, toss it back before his idiotic ways rub off on you!

Backfire has left.

Mindwipe continues to push onwards, actually sheltered by the obscuring smoke, although he gets a little confused as to where the EDC defensive line actually is... Did, did he just pass it? With a high-pitched whine, he gets thrown forwards by a repulsive gravity field. Tumbling end over end, he climbs to his feet, shaking slightly, to stare at the sight of Cross and his intruders' desecration. Raising a shaky arm, he coughs as he points at Cross. "Unhand that! It does not belong to you..."

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"They're fighting men, and they know the risks," Cross says evenly as he watches an MFD as it displays "Weapon Integration: 31% complete." Yes, even now his tank is hacking into the strange alien device, attempting to determine what method of communication it will respond to, overriding security protocols, and ultimately slaving it to the tank's computers. And then his tank suddenly heaves as First Aid shoves it out of the way! "What--"

But it's just in time, as a giant, shield-bearing statue rises up, cracking an energy whip right where Cross used to be. However, it may strike First Aid instead! Apocryphacius will notice that the drone stops talking, reverting to its earlier, mindless self. And the statue itself crackles with energy and begins to speak! "THE QUINTESSONS TRIED MANY STRANGE THINGS WITH THEIR FOUL SCIENCES. BUT THEIR ERA OF DOMINATION IS AT AN END AND THEIR TRICKS WILL NOT SAVE THEM THIS TIME. EVEN NOW OUR WORLDS ARE REACTIVATING AND PREPARING TO BRING A GLORIOUS NEW AGE! FIRST WE WILL DESTROY THE QUINTESSONS, AND THEN WE WILL DESTROY THEIR CREATIONS, ONE BY ONE!" It cracks that whip at First Aid again! Mindwipe arrives, and the being turns towards him. "AH, YOU, THE SEER! KILL THEM, AND SOME OF THESE TREASURES WILL BE YOURS!"

"I don't think so!" Cross says. "In fact, these weapons are now EDC property--and so are you, Mindwipe!" He turns his turret towards the Headmaster and peppers him with machine gun rounds!

Combat: Franklin Cross strikes Mindwipe with his Pchoo Pchoo (Pistol) attack!

There's a sharp hiss that fills the cavern as the energy whip slashes through First Aid, cleaving a gash that starts at his shoulder and makes it midway to his abdomen. The edges of the gash flare up with the same glow that surrounds the whip before turning into smoldering embers. With the statue looming up over him, First Aid brings his good arm up, taking aim with his photon pistol. The second quick slash puts an end to that, though, slicing through the weapon and severing it in two. The black metal of the pistol clatters on the ground uselessly as First Aid desperately rolls away from the monster. Dropping the remains of his gun, First Aid clenches his fist and powers a surgical laser burst through it at the statue, trying to ward it off.

The troops outside the cave put their heads back up, looking around for where the Decepticons went. It looks like one of them is out of commission... the mysterious one has disappeared! Maybe he went inside the cave? It's all terribly mysterious.

Combat: Centurion II MBW takes extra time to steady itself. [Pass]

Apocryphacius < Darkness Face > thinks something along the lines of 'darn' to himself when the drone goes dead and the statue comes alive. He would have liked to take the drone aside and perhaps apologise a bit, something weak like, 'Sorry for desecrating your tomb, but I am in the EDC, and they do not pay me to think on my own and my boss is apparently Napoleon; sorry, Space Egypt'.

However, the world is saved from this inept apology because Apocryphacius is not going to apologise to the statue where General Cross might hear, especially when it is attacking them. He just stammers, "I - I - I think you have misunderstood the situation. I do not serve the Quintesson Empire. We are an, ah, exploration party - " and his faces start to switch up on him, back and forth, as his thoughts race. 'More like an exploitation party,' he thinks, but despite his misgivings, he tries to wing the drone at the statue to try to take some of the heat off First Aid and General Cross.

Apocryphacius < Darkness Face > transforms into his Apocryphacius < Death Face > mode.

"First Aid! Down!" Scattershot, who's been here this whole time, steps in front of the medic, firing off a few rounds at the statue. "Slag it, coming here was a mistake!" Weird mystic stuff. Ugh. Give the Technobot a room full of Decepticons to mow through over this.

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"Arrogance!" Cries Mindwipe, surging towards the human. "You world lies far from here, thief!" Before the Decepticon actually reaches Cross, he transforms, his Bat form carrying onwards while Vorath flips over Cross' head. "We are not property," Mindewipe's bat form drawls as he stares at Cross, "begone from this place, creature!" Vorath lands on his feet on the cavern floor and waves an arm dismissively at First Aid. "Get your people out of here, Autobot!"

Mindwipe folds up into a giant bat, while his head unfolds into the scientist, Vorath.

Combat: Giant Bat < Mindwipe > strikes Franklin Cross with his Sub-Optic Radiation attack!

Combat: You took 0 damage.

Combat: You can't seem to think straight...

Unfortunately, First Aid's laser blast is deflected off of the shield, and the robotic guardian stomps forward, clamping a boot down heavily on the Protectobot's chest, raising its whip up to deliver the death blow to the Protectobot. Then a drone bounces off its arm, knocking its arm to the side, and the whip cracks down just shy of First Aid's face! "WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE DOING, AND YOU SHALL DIE FOR IT!"

"I disagree, Scattershot, coming here was a brilliant idea," Cross says. "The technology in this cavern is ancient, but it beats what we have. In fact, I don't think this is a mausoleum at all. These things aren't even really dead. No, this is a weapons stockpile, for that ascension they're babbling about. That's why it's so heavily defended." He ponders rubbing the Autobots' naivete in their faces, buuuut, he elects not to, for now. And besides, he made the mistake of looking into Mindwipe's optics through his viewport. "I... uhhh...." His hands seem to move on their own, his turret moving about. He thinks he's shooting at Mindwipe with his Autocannon... but is he?

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Meanwhile, the statue staggers back from Scattershot's acidic hail, its shield not stopping all of the rounds. It staggers, forced off of the Protectobot it could have killed, internal components appearing under the melting armor.

Franklin Cross hops into his jump tank!

Combat: Jump Tank < Franklin Cross > 's 20mm HE Autocannon attack on Giant Bat < Mindwipe > goes wild!

Combat: Jump Tank < Franklin Cross > misses Centurion II MBW with his 20mm HE Autocannon attack!

Combat: Used up 1 Autocannon Ammo. 1 remain.

Centurion II MBW turns around and enters the cave, picking its way carefully along the smoother paths, and just as it comes around a corner a burst of shells deflects off of the sloped hull and blasts chunks out of the wall beside it. Lars tells his driver to steady on, and the gunner to pick up the target again with the chaingun. It looks like it's doing something to the Commander, and that's not good.

Combat: Centurion II MBW sets its defense level to Aggressive.

First Aid had the down part already, and Scattershot's acid rounds are a sight for sore optics as it tears through the statue's shield and staggers back. The doctor's white faceplate has a dark streak across it from where the energy whip cracked mere inches away. Reaching up with his good hand, First Aid manages to get himself into a sitting position, cradling his wounded arm. "I think," he says, "That you're right, Scattershot."

Combat: Centurion II MBW strikes Giant Bat < Mindwipe > with its Flanking Maneuver attack!

Apocryphacius < Death Face > protests, "You don't know what I'm doing because /I/ don't know what I'm doing!" That retort sounded better in his head. "I am simply following orders!" That really does not sound any better when he is the one saying it. He tries to hover closer to First Aid and get out of the way of the fight, peering at the doctor's injured arm. After some hesitation, Apocryphacius offers, "I could fix that for you."

Combat: Apocryphacius < Death Face > runs a diagnostic check on First Aid

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Scattershot stares for a moment as Franklin opens fire on his own people, kneeling beside First Aid. "The hell is going on here, First?" He looks up as Mindwipe addresses them before getting blasted by EDC fire. "Screw loose humans and dead robots...You ever miss Unicron, big guy?" He gives First Aid a wink and nods to Apocryphacius as the Quint starts working on First Aid, then stands, walking towards the giant zombie robot statue. And then he phases in a hammer.

A giant, bad ass murderizing warhammer.

First Aid has left.

First Aid has arrived.

Giant Bat < Mindwipe > 's bat laughs as cannonshells soar straight past him, only to find himself reeling as chaingun fire tears into his torso. With several powerful sweeps of his wings, the Bat flits around to the other side of Cross from the Centurion, where he meets and recombines with Vorath. Rising up into his robot mode, Mindwipe levels his blaster at the Centurion and opens fire. "Leave, damn you!"

The bat unfolds into a body, and Vorath folds up into the head of Mindwipe.

Combat: Mindwipe strikes Centurion II MBW with his Viper Pistol attack!

Combat: Centurion II MBW's forcefield absorbs Mindwipe's attack.

"Unnngh---NO!" Cross yells out as he realizes who his target really is! But he breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees that the Centurion's armor is easily able to resist his autocannon rounds. "Sorry about that, Captain. The damn Decepticon did something to my head." There's a tone from his console, and Cross looks down at his MFD, which reads: "Weapon Integration Complete. Weapon identified as Image Recognition Missile. Highly accurate and resistant to counter-measures." Cross smiles. "Well, Sophia, let's test it out, shall we?"

His tank's turret turns around, and he taps a button to the left of the MFD, bringing up an odd targeting interface. Alien sigils give way to instructions translated into Spanish. Cross raises a brow at that, but he's got a good grasp of various languages so it doesn't throw him off. Soon, he's bracketing the statue, and the targeting system reports, "LOCKED." And at last Cross depresses a button on his joystick which literally had no function until he integrated the missile system into his tank, and a missile streaks out to the statue. The statue intercepts it with his shield, but at the price of having his shield knocked away.

And now the guardian stands, defenseless save for its whip. "IT MATTERS NOT, QUINTESSON! THE RESULT WILL BE THE SAME!" The statue charges Scattershot, whip cracking!

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Scattershot picks up the pace approaching the statue when it loses it's shield. "Well now...let's see how easy you break." He comes back with the hammer and lunges forward, swinging wide towards the beast's midsection, hammer gaining speed with a mighty Thor strike!

Apocryphacius < Death Face > politely does not point out that they would not have the lightning aliens on their backs if they had not invaded Planet Lightning first. He also politely does not point out that Cross is talking about using Apocryphacius's whole species as a distraction to save his own skin. He politely does not point out that they are acting like Decepticons, here, what with the invading alien planets, ignoring what the natives have to say, and taking their stuff. There are so many things he is politely not saying! Apocryphacius just hopes that maybe First Aid trying to save General Cross will mellow Cross out a bit. The man does not seem to value life at all. Clearly, he does not value alien life, but Apocryphacius is also concerned that Cross does not value his own life, given how reckless the General is.

Instead, Apocryphacius quietly does his best to patch up First Aid, particularly that wounded arm and to make sure there are no slow internal leaks, trying to stay out of the fighting and use cover as best he can.

Apocryphacius < Death Face > transforms into his Apocryphacius < Judgement Face > mode.

The crab tank rocks back under the impact of the viper pistol, but the grav-repulsors redirect most of the penetrative force so that the shot only scores a gouge along the turret glacis instead of doing serious damage. Glancing at the flashing lights the loader is warning him about, Cpt. Daalgard marks the target for the gunner and orders that the main gun be prepared. With a loud clanging sound the Centurion drives its recoil anchors into the floor of the cave complex to clamp itself down against the torque of its off-center cannon, which spits a tongue of flame with a resounding boom as soon as the nimble Decepticon crosses the gunner's sights!

Combat: Centurion II MBW sets its defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Centurion II MBW misses Mindwipe with its Rheinmetall 120mm Gun attack!

First Aid similarly does not point out that Cross is a dumbass (tl;dr of Apoc's thoughts). He does not, however, think that this is going to soften Cross's opinion at all, but it won't stop the Protectobot from trying his best. Magnus, Hardhead, Sideswipe and the others have got the threatening angle down, but First Aid wants to make sure the path of friendliness is covered as well. As the Quintesson patches up the arm and shoulder, First Aid reaches out with his good hand to give him a pat. "Thank you."

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Mindwipe leaps into the air, throwing himself into a roll to avoid the Centurions' return fire. Coming to his feet, he seeks cover by placing himself between the EDC and their precious bodily flui- err, precious leader Cross.

Combat: Mindwipe takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

As it turns out, the thing is pretty easy to break, or at least it is when it's being hit by that much force. Its torso caves in as its body is lifted off the ground by the tremendous impact. Its head weakly lifts up to look at Scatterhot, its fingers reaching for his face. "THIS DOES NOT END... HERE..." And the light leaves the statue's eyes as whatever had been inhabiting it departs for who knows where, and the statue is now completely dead. Then the entire cavern begins to shake and rumble!

"Blast, that must be some sort of self-destruct!" Cross says. "Men, grab what you can and let's get out of here!" The hard-suited troops grab a few more odd-looking alien artifacts--occasionally giving them odd looks as they don't always understand what they are--and begin hustling it out of there! Cross follows behind them, covering them. Then Mindwipe puts himself in his way! "Decepticon... I will go THROUGH YOU if I have to!" And the drill pops out on his tank and he guns his engines hard!

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Combat: Jump Tank < Franklin Cross > misses Mindwipe with his Just a DRILL (Ram) attack!

Centurion II MBW unclamps itself from the shaking ground and tromps back outside, hardsuit troops jogging past it in long power-assisted bounds.

Combat: Centurion II MBW sets its defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Centurion II MBW takes extra time to steady itself. [Pass]

Apocryphacius < Judgement Face > accepts the pat indifferently. He deems, "You will live," and then he remembers something, and he slowly, deliberately shifts faces, "but I would like to keep you under observation, after we get out of this place. Make sure your repairs are /perfect/ in a sterile situation." Something about what he is saying seems forced. Despite his curiousity about the tech, he does not try to grab any more, despite his orders. Instead, he just tries to escort his 'patient' out of the collapsing cavern, offering his support if needed.

Apocryphacius < Judgement Face > transforms into his Apocryphacius mode.

First Aid gets Apocryphacius's help up to his feet, but he doesn't use the Quintesson's support anymore than he has to. "Hold on, I'm... going..." First Aid's legs slide together. "...to.." his right arm snaps into his torso, but his left sparks and spasms, unable to properly lock into place with the gash causing everything to misalign. The Protectobot falls forward onto three wheels, with his front driver's side tire not touching the ground right. "Come on...!" he tells Apocryphacius, not finishing his previous sentence. He rolls forward after Cross and the EDC forces.

First Aid folds down into Ambulance mode.

Scattershot watches the statue hit the ground with some degree of satisfaction...and then the shaking starts. "Sounds over to me." His hammer vanishes into subspace, and turns towards the escaping party, striding after them, casually pointing a blaster towards Mindwipe. "You seem to be getting along with these things, Decepticon. Might as well stay down here." A volley of laser fire erupts towards the bat.

Combat: Scattershot misses Mindwipe with his Full-Auto attack!

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Mindwipe spins as the expected attack comes from the completely opposite direction. Transforming swiftly, his Bat aspect beats at the air, throwing itself backwards as it tries to lock optics onto Cross once more. "Suffer for this!" He hisses, images cascading across his optics, trying to implant long-term nightmares into the human. Vorath drops to the ground and rolls, the transformation inadvertantly dodging Scattershot's attack, before glancing wildly about at the shaking cavern. "Oh boy."

Mindwipe folds up into a giant bat, while his head unfolds into the scientist, Vorath.

Combat: Giant Bat < Mindwipe > misses Jump Tank < Franklin Cross > with his Sub-Optic Radiation attack!

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Combat: Jump Tank < Franklin Cross > begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Ambulance < First Aid > and Giant Bat < Mindwipe >

Jump Tank < Franklin Cross >, however, learned from his last harrowing experience, and manages to avoid looking directly at the Decepticon. "I've had enough of your mind games, Decepticon. If you like the dead so much, though, stick around, I'm sure they'll enjoy the company." And he speeds out of the cavern!

After a while he's outside, and Cross has popped the hatch on his tank, watching the mountain collapse in the distance. "Job well done, men," he tells his EDC troops. "We got the technology without any serious casualties. I'd call this mission a rousing success." An alien frog jumps up beside him onto the tank. "Ribbit," it goes. Cross slaps it off.

Apocryphacius can't quite keeps his Light face active, despite trying really hard, and sinks into his Darkness face. He winces over First Aid's trouble transforming, but that should give him a good excuse to try to finish First Aid's repairs, right? Maybe in the Autobot medical wards, where they'll have all the necessary parts to fix Autobots. When he makes it out to hear Cross's end of mission speech, he tries again to compose himself, but the best he can do is be quiet.

Apocryphacius transforms into his Apocryphacius < Wrath Face > mode.

Apocryphacius < Wrath Face > transforms into his Apocryphacius < Death Face > mode.

Apocryphacius < Death Face > transforms into his Apocryphacius < Darkness Face > mode.

Ambulance < First Aid > slowly rolls alongside Cross's tank like a vehicle that's just trying to make it to the mechanic's for an overhaul. Transforming really was the best way for him to get here, but the trip has taken a toll on him. "...yeah, thanks."

Scattershot strides next to First Aid, a blaster in either hand. He's clearly waiting for the EDC to turn on them. "How you holding up, First Aid?" He asks quietly as Cross gives his celebration speech...

"I've had worse," First Aid replies, even though this doesn't really answer the question.

Giant Bat < Mindwipe > 's bat form reaches out after the humans and laughs maniacally, his voice echoing throughout the caverns as he roars. "Run, creature, to no avail! The dead are /always/ with you, one step behind! Hahahaha - huh?" This last is to Vorath, who is glaring at him. A moment of silence passes betweeen them before the Bat subsides, grumbling.

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

Group: EDC

Title: AAR: Planet Lightning

--

For once the Autobots can read one of Cross's posts! He appears on board some sort of space ship, staring down at the camera. "Good news, soldiers. After we received word of alien artifacts buried in alien mausoleum on Planet Lightning, I arrived there with some of my men, including Apocryphacius and Captain Daalgard, and some of the Autobots, comprised of First Aid and Scattershot. And it turns out that the tip was right. Underneath the surface of the planet was a hidden alien complex, which was heavily defended by robotic drones, some of which appeared to come alive, as if possessed by an outside force. That may be the case, but that's a matter of speculation. What mattered is that the technologies we found in there are superior to our own. Within, I discovered new thrusters for my jump tank, a drill, and a new type of Image Recognition missiles. As my Jump Tank is designed to rapidly integrate new technologies into itself, it took only a matter of moments to install most of these devices, though the missiles were harder to crack.

"Unfortunately, we were not unopposed. The Decepticons followed us there and apparently were trying to defend the tomb, or what was supposedly a tomb. One of them, Misfire especially, appeared to be going insane at our work, even though it wasn't a Decepticon tomb of any sort. He forced me into firing at Captain Daalgard, and for once I'm glad to see my shells deflecting harmlessly off of a target's armor, because I don't think I could forgive myself if I killed him, even coerced as I was. The aliens also appeared to activate a statue, which was actually a robotic warrior. It gave the Autobots some trouble but we managed to destroy it regardless. Once it went down, the facility began to collapse, so we grabbed what we could before we left.

"I'd call this mission a rousing success. There were no serious casualties and we retrieved many spectacular new technologies, some of which we aren't even sure what they are just yet. The aliens, these "Lightning Beings," who don't seem to exactly be dead in the first place, claimed that they would reactivate their forces, but they seemed more concerned with destroying the Quintessons, one of our other enemies, so I don't think we have much to worry about, there. Anyway. Once again, good work to everyone." The transmission ends.

(OOC: Laserbeak was also there but Cross had no idea.)

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

================================= Decepticon =================================

Message: 2/76                     Posted        Author

Report on Planet Lightning        Thu Aug 09    Laserbeak

--


 * LASERBEAK REPORT FOR DECEPTICON HIGH COMMAND**********




 * WARNING: DOCUMENTS SECURED BY ORDERS OF SOUNDWAVE*******



REPORT ON PLANET LIGHTNING ASSESSMENT AND COMBAT



REPORT ON PLANET LIGHTNING ASSESSMENT AND COMBAT PLANET LIGHTNING WAS APPROACHED AT 08:12:23, IN PURSUIT OF AUTOBOT/EDC SCOUTING PARTY. IDENTIFIED TARGETS: SCATTERSHOT. FIRST AID. EDC LEADER FRANKLIN CROSS. OTHER HUMAN QUARRY. QUINTESSON ALSO NOTED. NAME UNKNOWN. AUTOBOT/EDC COLLABORATION INVESTIGATED FACILITY.

DECEPTICON FORCES: BACKFIRE/MINDWIPE

DECEPTICON FORCES CHOSE TO INSTANTLY MOVE TO ENGAGE. AUTOBOT/EDC ENCOUNTED AUTOMATED SENTRY SYSTEMS IN FACILITY. MINDWIPE SCREAMED INCOHERENTLY SEVERAL TIMES.

***FOOTAGE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST***

BACKFIRE AND MINDWIPE ENGAGED WITH EACH OTHER. DRONES ATTACKED EDC.

OF HIGHEST NOTE: ALIEN FACILITY RECOGNIZED QUINTESSONS AS 'RIVALS'. ALIEN TECH SEEMS TO BE ****MUTABLE****

********FOOTAGE********

The hubcaps over the wheels on Cross's tank open up like irises, and they spit out the jump jets within. Cross's men then shove the alien thrusters in their place, and after some ratcheting sounds, Cross's tank hops up and begins to hover. "Excellent, as I thought. The alien jump jets are more advanced. I should be able to easily traverse that lake now."

*****END FOOTAGE*******

DECEPTICON FORCES WERE ENSHROUDED IN SMOKE GRENADES. UNDER COVER OF COMBAT, SUFFICIENT DATA WAS DOWNLOADED. TECHNICAL READOUTS WILL FOLLOW. ESCAPE FOLLOWED AFTER SUCCESSFUL INFILTRATION.

*************FOUR TURNS WORTH OF DATA FOLLOWS SUIT**************

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