Reflecting

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Triumph&gt;

The interior of the shuttle is very roomy. There is a highly technical cockpit that seats numerous bots at various stations, and a huge cargo area for additional troops or equipment.

This vessel requires Space-Pilot to use. Syntax: DO &lt;command&gt;   - IE. do east, do +profile, do attack scourge=laser. l/o            - Looks outside.

Contents:

Windshear Dreadwind

Blight has arrived.

A few centuries ago, the entire crew of a ship passing through this region committed suicide. The reason is unknown today, but what /is/ remembered is that they were carrying a large supply of advanced fuels at the time, but because the region of space is normally so rough, it hasn't been passable for over one thousand years.

According to the space charts, it should be navigatable today, and all that fuel, plus other treasures only hinted at in the stories, are ripe for the taking.

Fusion has arrived.

Dreadwind is sat slumped at the advanced warning station of the ship his job is still defence even if he now heads up Aerospace as a despised and pathetic figurehead. He stares at the screen whether he's actually paying it any true attention is open to debate but he's definately not moving at the moment, still at least he's in a chair.

Windshear has been ordered to take a team and check out this region of space in search of something. A ship, a ship of legends and he knows the story. Its fairly common knowledge in the space ways he survived as a pirate and free agent for some time. Seems ironic that now hes out with a team to look for it. Silently the Seeker flies the 'Triumph' wondering idely who in the slag named it that anyway. And also hes half listening to Dreadwinds lamanting about existance in general. It brings a grin to his face every now and then but he says nothing. Well he woudlnt anyway, Dreads his CO now and he wants to show respect. Windshear checks the sensors and comments in his usual damaged voice synth rasp, "We have officially entered the area, Dreadwind."

Catechism is hanging out in the back of the ship, near the drop doors. She's space-hardened in both modes, and they'll probably need someone to do an EVA to take a rope out to the derelict if the old ship is too busted for docking. Catechism is mildly nervous about the mass suicide - she's been on a lot of BAD old derelicts, but... she has a job to do. Also, mass suicides are more cheerful than her boss.

Blight is in insect mode, attaenae moving. He was recruited because of his ability to consume anything to convert to energon. He figures if worst came to be, he can have a derelict to munch on between meals. He scurries up towards Windshear and Dreadwind and just twitches an attaenae out at them. "Are we there yet?" He calls out.

Fusion sits at one of the control stations, casting irritated looks back towards Dreadwind when he thinks nobody's looking. When Windshear announces their arrival it earns him a dirty look as well. "This part of the system is rumored to be hazardous in the extreme," he comments solemnly. "We're may be the first sentients to come through here in hundreds of years." He pauses for a bit, then adds brightly, "Okay, so what's next?"

The region is indeed rough-going, even if it's navigatable. Windshear and Fusion will have a difficult time steering, but eventually, there's a blip on the distant sensors. The blip... reads as Decepticon.

The ship in the story was alien, not Cybertronian. Curious.

Windshear smirks and then glances at the bug, "I just said we had ... nevermind..." he looks back at Fusion, "You have no idea the 'stories' about this region of space. True or false its all based on some fact Im sure." he throws a glance at Dreadwind, "Orders, sir?"

Dreadwind sighs heavily but doesn't turn to look at the annoyingly cheerful pilot and crew, "Great, it won't be long now then. Soon this agonisingly uneventful journey here will erupt in a disgustingly bright flare of activity as we race to our painful demise on this undoubtedly cursed ship. A ship that causes such exquisite suffering that death is your only release at least for those of you that are fortunate enough to die. We may well be the first here in a long time but what of those that have been here all along awaiting our return, they shall be oh so hungry..." He droops in his chair some more, "And there it is there is no turning back now... we shall attempt to dock and salvage the vessel and contents fail and our vessel shall join the other in this dark forgotten area."

Catechism hears the blip and stalks over to loom behind Windshear and Fusion, to look at what they've found. She's anxious to get outside! Travel has become so dull for her, when she's now getting used to being faster on her own than the shuttle carrying her! Catechism tilts her head to one side. Decepticon shuttle? She swore she heard it was an alien shuttle. Oh well. Facts get screwed up; history is a muddle. She knows that all too well. "Docking, eh? Well, lemme know if you need EVA." Catechism rubs her hands together eagerly.

"Forget about them, I am oh so hungry now!" Blight half screeches to Dreadwind. He then nods a bug head to Windshear. "Sorry. Stupid autobot damaged my left attaenae a while back, still glitches." He says to the decepticon before scurrying to Fusion. "What's next is we feed." He says as he shrinks down, trying to land ontop of fusion for a free ride.

Windshear just sits and stares in wonder at his commanders comments. "That was beautiful sir -- and sure you know there will be a figh--" the ship pitches suddenly and she spins back around to work the controls. "uhm... " he doesnt finish his sentance as he gets the Triumph back level again. Then reading the sensors he mms, "Im picking up Decepticon signature -- vessel..." he changes course towards it and brings the weapons online.

Fusion peers at the viewscreen, then takes a surreptitious look at a small side screen that shows the status of the Triumph itself. He says conversationally, "You know, it's nice to know that Decepticon spaceship design hasn't had to change much in the intervening years." He compares the viewscreen to the status screen again. "In fact, I'd say the design hasn't changed at all. Our ships are almost identical! Well, except that Triumph is dead in space."

Dreadwind shakes his head at Blight's comment, "A hunger that calls you ever onwards, to more pain, insecticons have such simple needs and yet even they are forced to act, to suffer needlessly." Dreadwind is shaken from his chair and lies dejectedly on the floor, "We're hit aren't we, caught in the terrible energies that rule this place, Catechism will no coubt escape to tell of the terrors forever scarred by it but it will be too late for us, we will be stuck...forever. Do what you wish Catechism, it doesn't matter nothing does."

Windshear looks at Fusion and then leans over abruptly to look at the vewscreen Fusion is looking at, "Yes that is -- hang on... the stories of this ship dont have it thst design." he frowns and works the sensors a bit to take a more detailed reading of what they are coming up on.

Fusion turns his head back ever so slightly in Dreadwind's direction, though he doesn't look directly that way. "Well then," he comments after a bit. "Shall we continue?" He pores over readings and controls again. "I believe we can dock, but there's no response from automated connection systems so we may have to..." he trails off, casts another not-glance over his shoulder and then continues. "We won't be able to hook up." He says, speaking more clearly and slowly than before. "We'll have to be careful moving between our ship and that one."

Dreadwind draws on his infinitesimally small amount of effort and slowly, achingly pulls himself to his feet and stares at the somewhat excited Decepticons, "You don't see it do you. The reason that the ship isn't what you expected is because it is ours, warped and changed but it is our future and our past."

Catechism just happens to be behind Windshear when he spins around and leans, and upwing Seekers being upwing Seekers - she gets smacked by his wings! Catechism shouts, "Ow! Hey, watch where you're putting those things. Coulda put a girl's optic out with those pointy bits." She gestures, frowning, and then puts her hands on her hips. This is why she keeps her wings /down/. (That is a lie - she was just built with down wings.) Catechism grins at Dreadwind and crows, "Oh yes, flexible orders! Love it, sir. Nnn...not loving the doppleganger floating out there. Were these shapeshifting aliens in the story, by any chance? Like, the kind that assume your shape and then tear off your armour and wander around, wearing you as a disguise?"

"Who cares what it should or should not be, I am hungry." Blight whines as he scurries off of the decepticon's head and enlarges, listening to the others. "If it is our future, then let me eat it. Shame to let such a ship go to waste." He says as he hears Catechism. "If you are to be the only survivor, I am definatly going to be hiding inside you."

Catechism stares at Blight, and she mutters, in mild horror, "...sure this ain't the future now? Because I feel violated already." Creepy bootleg. Maybe if she douses herself in robo-Raid, that'll keep out the Americons, other cassetticons, Autobots, Galvatrons, and Insecticons. Guh, thinking about it, she's trucked around a lot of random junk.

Windshear hears Catechisms comments and realizes that, yes, his wing did smack into something when he leaned over. He looks at Fusion but gives a quick glance toward Cate before he addresses Fusion, "Ive got a lot of realestate back there, mam..." he pauses a second then, "Apoligies." he looks at her face briefly to see if he dented it then brings his attention back at Fusion. "Noted we can't dock and careful indeed." he looks at the ship as they draw closer. "Dreadwind, this.. isnt... right... for all you knwo it could be as you say." he says nothing else and works on bringing the ship they are in closer to its derelict twin.

Dreadwind sighs and stares at the floor, "No Blight, Catechism won't survive, she'll just be allowed to continue to exist a shattered tortured remnant of what she once was." Dreadwind neither notices or cares about the wing bash incident, though he can feel the smile from Catechism burning his frame as surely as if it was a photon blast. "I doubt it Windshear, it will be far far worse..."

Windshear shrugs, "Then we have more fun, Dread..." he glances at Fusion and smirks.

Blight just groans. "Wonderful. Why is it there is never a race of creatures or beings who just want to feed hungry Insecticons?" He screeches out sounding annoyed as he skitters towards Windshear and Fusion, looking at the monitors with red insectlike optics. "So, it looks like us?"

While docking isn't quite possible, it should be easy enough to move from one ship to the other.

Provided you watch your steps.

Windshear nods. "And it shouldnt..." he keys in some commands, "We are docked as we can be." he prepares to get up but suddenly pauses and looks behind him..."just checking." he mutters and gets up and stops in front of Dreadwind. "Ready?"

Catechism snorts mulishly, "I've been shattered before, you know. Multiple times. But hey, I get put back together, as long as the Empire needs my services, and they gotta deed of sale on my skidplate, so that's gonna be a slagging long time." She heads off toward the breach, eager to be off their own shuttle, between the hungry, hungry caterpillar there and Mr. Sunshine. If she can, she just slips out right now.

Dreadwind turns and starts to trudge to where will eventually be the exit/boarding ramp to jump the void to the other ship and he'll still be the last one there. "It may look like us but it isn't, not yet anyway, we have much to endure before that is where we are, such a long time to endure... You misunderstand Catechism these wounds will be carried in the one place that can never truely be repaired."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Catechism says, "...okay, cargo bay looks /just/ like the Triumph's cargo bay. No slavering space monsters. Yet."

As the Decepticons leave the Triumph they enter into... what looks like the Triumph. Again. Specifically, the back cargo hold of the Triumph.

Windshear watches Dreadwind get up and follow Cate and takes that as his answer. Without another word he follows his commanders out.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Dreadwind says, "Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they won't torture you mercilessly."

Combat: Rodimus Prime compares his Agility to 10: Success!

Blight follows along with them, not wanting them to get the food without him being present. When they leave, they seem to enter the same place. "Okay...can I start munching on some of these walls now?" He asks curiously.

Combat: Catechism compares her Agility to 80: Failure :(

Dreadwind eventually gets to the door and starts to drift across to the second ship almost as ponderously as he walks but there is something of a serene grace to his motionless movement through the small section of freezing eternal darkness.

Catechism trips. This is unusual, because despite the fact that she just got thwacked in the face by Windshear, she honestly isn't clumsy. She frowns and stares at the floor. There's nothing, when she looks, but when she scuffs her foot along the deck plates, the deckplate feels missing. She mutters, "All right, that's blasted peculiar." That said, she moves deeper into the shuttle, anyway. It's not trying to kill her yet!

Combat: Windshear compares his Agility to 80: Failure :(

Windshear catches his left afterburner on whatever Catechism tripped over on the /other/ cargo bay and suddenly finds himself spawled on the floor. His canopy clangs on the floor and after a moment of floundering gets up on his hands and knees (seriously.. put an upwing seeker on their back or stomach and its like a turtle tipped over... &gt;_&gt;) and looks back toward his feet. "What?" he doesnt see anything but he felt something there, he tripped over it. He looks back at the rest and gets to his feet, still frowning.

Dreadwind finally drifts across and enters the cargo bay coming to a stop just inside, his dim optics scan the area but finds that the ship itself isn't the monster that will come for him or it's just waiting until he is further inside. "You can eat Blight but then do you really know that this is edible? It is likely tainted by something and poisonous, you will die slowly as you feel your insides slowly being dissolved by that which you hoped to consume."

Combat: Blight compares his Agility to 50: Success!

Blight stops as he skitters right there. He raises a clawed hand and rubs it against the air. "Interesting, there is a wall here." He says as he skitters along, claw running along it as he moves.

Combat: Fusion compares his Strength to 70: Failure :(

Fusion is one of the last ones across. He must have been...er...locking up the Triumph after everybody deshuttled. But he catches up quickly to the others, hustling along until he stops as well, right next to Blight. "Oof! Yes, it does feel like a wall."

Blight continues to move along the wall and screeches happily. "AHA! Found a door." He says as he tries to open the door. If it refuses to open he will handle it the insecticon way. He then looks to the others to see how they are doing.

Dreadwind makes the effort to move his optics to look at Blight, "A wall constructed so as to seem it is a cargo bay here when in fact this is nothing more than a capture cell made to hold us all until our hosts are ready to start their tortures on us or worse... it's a way to keep the slavering creatures locked away within and we are about to open the door and unleash them on ourselves and the universe."

Catechism grits her dental plates and insists, "Unleashing horrors is good for the universe. It'll run out of horrors eventually." She keeps on trying to press forward, despite mysterious invisible walls and missing floors.

Windshear listens to Dreadwind for a moment then shakes his head, "Who says we can't defeat them with our Decepticon might then, Dread?" not waiting for an answer he turns to head in another direction and abruptly walks facefirst into something that isnt there. He stumbles back holding his nose. "Thad hurdd." he stammers and reaches a hand out to feel what he just walked into. After a few moments he says, "There is a wall here, not on the cargo bay on the real Triumph..." leave it to him to state the obvious.

Fusion looks over with interest. "That is interesting. What is real and what is illusion? Are we even on the 'other' Triumph? Or are we actually still in 'our' Triumph, the victims of some optics-altering effect that is making us think we've left our ship and we're actually stumbling around a different vessel?"

The Decepticons can /see/ the end of the cargo bay. The door leading from that to the forward cabin is the same on this ship as it is on the Triumph. At least, it looks to be that way. However, Blight's 'door' is in the way.

Windshear wrinkles his nose, "I cant tell you that invisible wall is real..." he feels his way around the wall half expecting it to go to the other wall but it doesnt. When the Seeker finds the end of it he steps around it and looks back almost as if trying to see the wall he knows no one can see. "Few breems of this and I can see why some would off themselves." he rasps and gingerly heads for the exit door, or tries to.

Dreadwind sighs as the inepticons continue to flail about not that he's actually much help just standing there watching, "There is no good, no evil there is only the pain that we must all endure crushing though its weight may be as it settles on our broken backs. There would perhaps be some wisdom in marking the wall out somehow, not that it will help us in the long run, it just means we shall meet our ends all the sooner for our efforts."

Windshear pauses, "Mark the wall?" he brings up am arm cannon and mentally sets it for low and fires at the wall hoping to leave a scorch mark. Hey if it bounces back it wont bother him. Soemtimes high pain tolorance can be a good thing. He fires half expecting it to bounce back but he doesnt move.

"'Mass suicide' sounds like typical summary text," Fusion comments, following after Windshear. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if most of the rumored crew actually shot each other. Murder, suicide..." he shrugs.

Blight tries to go through the door and see what was on the other side. "We established there is a wall from you lot crashing into it. Now lets push on, I am getting more hungry." He says as he skitters forth.

Combat: Windshear strikes Fusion with his Grab attack!

Fusion examines the smoldering hole in his chest and nods sagely. "Knowledge is such a double-edged energo-sword..."

Dreadwind shakes his head at Fusion, "You'd be surprised how often the fragile mind is shattered and the only logical step left to the broken suffering being is to remove themselves from existence... i've seen it so many times..."

Windshear looks like a dear caught in headlights for a moment when he sees where his shot went. Then he bursts out laughing. "And know you know what my laser feels like haha..." he turns back toward the door and cautiously tries to head toward it.

Catechism glances back and grimaces as Windshear shoots Fusion, providing support for Fusion's theory. "...okay. Nonlethal marking methods, next time. Eeesh. nonya carry any, oh, /markers/ on you?"

Attempts to open the visible door in the back of the cargo bay fail... because it doesn't appear to actually exist! The Decepticons can walk directly through it if they want.

Windshear decides to not pay attention to everyone else as hes more interested in what is and isnt visible in front of him. he heads closer to the door but with ihs next step the tip of his foot hits something invivible. Its enough to knock him a bit off balance even though he was expecting something like that to happen. Instinctively he puts his hands out to brace himself and catches a lever where there should be nothing and then his way is clear and he steps foward again, "That was strange." he rasps and looks back toward the rest. "I just walked through something -- a door?" he glances around, "But everything looks the same."

Dreadwind sighs as Windshear decides to hand out a quick start to the greater suffering that lies ahead, "Already we start to attack ourselves what ever lies ahead will undoubtedly tear our sanity into shreds, slowly stripping us away till nothing is left except the final craving for release." He watches Blight's progress as he seems to be the only one getting anywhere, which probably means he'll be killed instantly, his suffering shortened unlike the rest of them.

Blight continues to skitter on ahead, trying to find some food. He moves his attaenae about and just decides to try and munch on the floor to see if it was real or not.

Blight continues to skitter on ahead, trying to find some food. He moves his attaenae about and just decides to try and munch on the floor to see if it was real or not.

He then looks up to Windshear. "Want me to begin eating everything in sight, present company excluded of course. After all, may find something." He says to the decepticon.

Fusion follows Windshear's lead through the invisible door and then makes his way towards the visible one at the back of the cargo bay. He reaches for this door to open it and instead walks through. Maybe?

When Fusion goes through the visible door, he walks... right back into the pilot's cabin of the Triumph! Everything appears exactly as the Decepticons left it.

Windshear watches Fusion follow him and then toward the real door, open it and step inside. He looks back at Blight, "Follow us - Dreadwind this way..." he then mutters under his breath so to speak, "I hope.." and he follows Fusion.

Dreadwind sees that Blight has succumbed to the temptation of the ginger-metal house and starts to eat, he's quite unhappy to wait and let all the other Decepticons stumble blindly forwards he knows he can't escape what is to come, so he'll follow, eventually. "They never listen, no matter how sensible the warnings, how terrible the dangers it all falls on non-functional audio receptors."

"Ah. Well. Back to Cybertron then, I suppose." Fusion sits down in the same pilot's seat he was in before (or is it...?). He takes a moment to look over the controls, and then swivels around halfway, twisting at the neck and torso as well to look behind him. "Do we /really/ need to submit a report about this operation...?"

Fusion will probably have a hard time sittind down, as the chair isn't actually solid. :O

Fusion actually falls right through the chair. Seated on the floor of the shuttle, he carefully reaches out to feel for the controls, the co-pilot's chair, anything else that seems to be there.

Fusion's hand finds a wall.

Blight snickers at Fusion. "Nice chair eh?" He asks as he moves his claws ahead to try and feel the controls. "I suggest spraying the area with some sort of liquid. See if this illusion can lie then." He says calmly. "Fraid the only liquid I got is my chemical." He says.

Windshear came in just in time to watch Fusion bust his aft. He chuckles but his homor is short lived as he looks around the room. "I ... I think this vessel is in between planes of reality..." he glances at Catechism, "What do you think?"

For a fraction of a moment, everything flickers. Suddenly, the ship that the Decepticons are on looks nothing like the Triumph, but an ancient, abandoned alien vessel. Then, just as quickly, it's back to looking like the inside of a Decepticon shuttle. One thing they can probably determin, however: that other ship that they got a brief vision of seems to have walls in the spots where they feel them, rather than where they see them.

Dreadwind follows after the others that have gone ahead, this all feels wrong somehow, being back where they started or rather where they may never have left, it can mean only one thing this is a trap designed to break the mind to twist and twist till the remnants are knotted so tightly that reality is unreal. "Twisted, a copy but false, a blank, a poor facsimilie designed to draw us in, confuse and then... then they will come for us when we can't see them when we turn on ourselves..." Dreadwind's slowly trudges to where his station was and something catches on his foot but does not impede him, whatever it was it gives in to his gloomy foot and movess away, he looks down at nothing. "Invisible items underfoot, walls where they shouldn't be doors that don't exist, great it's mind parasites."

Windshear notices the flickering and before he can focus on the images its gone. Quickly he plays it back though his internal viewer and repeats it several times, slowing it down eventually, "The ship we seek is here." he says suddenly. "And out ships image is superimposed over it." Again one can suppose hes stating the obvious, "We are not on our ship but the one we seek." he suddenly looks at Catechism, "Power, energy has to be causing this facade. If we can find the powersource and disable it we can see the real ship."

Catechism shrugs and replies to Windshear, "Uh... well, we could be between planes of reality. We could also be in an illusion. We could be hallucinating. Or something else. I dunno. Space gets weird. I'm kinda seeing why the original crew offed themselves, though."

Dreadwind has no real idea of how or why this mirage is being created but it still depresses him, "As if life is hard enough already now we have to contend with a ship that is haunted by our own shuttle. That will only work Windshear if it is a created phenomenon and not a direct attack of our minds. Of course if it is created and we get close, whoever set this up wil no doubt eliminate the threat and they won't even see it coming. We can't win."

"Is it because they starved themselves to death, since thats what you all are doing to me." Blight grumbles as he tries to munch on the flood, grinding insect teeth against the floor as if to find what was there.

Windshear says, "Even if it is an illusion its taking an energy source to maintain it. It was broken just a moment ago for a second. Even if its something doing it mentally, we have to break their concentration or disrupt the powersource..." he starts scanning the room looking for an energy sources, any vital readings of anything besides them that might be there."

When Windshear looks around, he sees the Triumph. :(

Blight hmms as he munches on the floor. "This tastes old..." He says as he begins to walk along as he munches, then hmms as he sprays a jet of his chemical, the horrific stench, out away from everyone to see if it catches onto any hidden walls.

Blight makes invisible walls very stinky. Invisibly so.

The Decepticons can now navigate the ship by smell.

Windshear is picking up nothing but the Triumph and then a horrific odar hits his olifactory sensors and he snaps a look at Blight, "Must you!?" he waves he hand around and then looks back at blight, "Wait.. keep eating...but eat toward engineering. If our ship is superumposed on this one exactly what looks like our engineering will be this ships engineering and perhaps we will hit the powersource..."

"If I keep eating, I will go to outside the ship." He says as he continues to keep munching and stops at the exit, screeching softly as his food is now gone. he then sprays outside the ship to see if it was really space or part of the ship. "So, since you lot are supposed to be smarter then an insecticon, where to now?" He calls back to them as he glares out at space.

Catechism does not want to navigate by smell! She's not a dog! She inquires, "And what if this ship isn't laid out like ours?"

Dreadwind can't argue the point that Windshear brings up, well he can he just can't be bothered to. Instead he just stops standing stock still almost as if paralysed by something unseen, staring intently in one direction he tries to unfocus on what he thinks sees but instead of actually helping he starts to slip, losing his tenuous grasp on the edge of darkness.

Windshear's optics flash read briefly and he thinks for a moment, "Fine then.... if we cant stop it from here maybe we can stop if from the Triumph. Move the Triumph away from this ship and then what do you think we will get?" he asks no one in particular.

Whatever the Decepticons intend to do, they may want to do it soon. The reported 'safe' period for this area of space is limited.

An annoying whine starts up in his head as Dreadwind starts to lose all motivation in this pointless effort of a mission, the whine grows louder and clearer. Finally it becomes the small but agitated voice of Hi-Test cajoling him on pushing incessantly, till finally Dreadwind gives up or rather stops giving up and speaks out loud apparently to himself, "Fine i'll do it, just stop pestering me, it won't make any difference anyway." Dreadwind leans forwards and grasps nothing, hefting the air he starts an even slower trudge back retracing his own footsteps out.

The ship... both the illusionary one and the real one beneath it, rumbles.

Windshear looks around, "I think its time we leave. Rare fuel or no -- even if its still here and I have a reason to believe its not, or not much is left, I think we need to get out of here." an idea comes to mind then but he doesnt say anything. At this point hes more interested in just getting out of there.

Windshear looks around, "I think its time we leave. Rare fuel or no -- even if its still here and I have a reason to believe its not, or not much is left, I think we need to get out of here." an idea comes to mind then but he doesnt say anything. At this point hes more interested in just getting out of there.

Catechism offers, not helpfully, "I could just blow up everything, and we could toss the scrap in our cargo bay for salvage." She does demolitions as a hobby. She hasn't blown herself up for months, so she thinks she's doing well.

Dreadwind feels the rumble or more likely shudder of the ships beneath his feet as he heads back to the exit, the annoying voice in his head now jabbers concernedly about destabilisation. "All things end, even this place, this phantom hulk, it may return but we will likely never see it. Whatever fuels this place will fail one day, like everything else even the stars will fail and finally there will be darkness for us all and final oblivion."

Blight grumbles. "I still say I should eat this place." He grumbles as he follows along, not wanting to be left behind should they leave without him. He then flutters, shrinks and tries to land on Catechism's cone, for a free ride.

Catechism does not appreciate her new helmet decoration and scowls, crossing her arms against her chest.

A second time, the illusion flickers out and reality flickers in, and the ship rumbles again, but things quickly stabalize. The Decepticons should be able to make it back to their ship... but they might trip through invisible holes on the way!

Windshear shrugs as he follows the rest toward what is hopefully the exit, "Anyway, whos to say that the fuel is the cause of this you know.... doubt wed want it anyway. I mean if it was that good why wasnt it reinvented?"

Once Dreadwind gets back to the Triumph - the real Triumph - he finds that his hands are full of a rather heavy storage crate.

Windshear shrugs as he follows the rest toward what is hopefully the exit, "Anyway, whos to say that the fuel is the cause of this you know.... doubt wed want it anyway. I mean if it was that good why wasnt it reinvented?"

Blight looks down at Catechism. "Wanna be left behind because you are carrying me?" He says down to her. "Go already!" He screeches out as he smacks her cone with an insecticon claw as if trying to get her to giddyup.

Dreadwind follows his own footsteps back so avoids any of the holes that he avoided on his away in, not that he saw any, all the while he continues his moanalogue, "It wasn't reinvented because they all died with the secret, exustence doesn't like it when things become too easy suffering decreases and it cannot abide that." Dreadwind jumps back across the void and into the original Triumph and sighs dejectedly as he realises that he of all people actually succeeded at salvaging something. This is of course terrible news as it means he'll be suffering all the more for his success further down the line, maybe not today or tomorrow but soon.

For a moment, reality flickers again, and the real Triumph looks like an abandoned alien derelict! But then things return to normal. There's a crackling and a shuddering that suggests things are starting to come apart at the seams, however.

Combat: Catechism misses Blight with her Grab attack!

Windshear gets back onto the real Triumph and settles into the pilots seat. "Hurry up everyone, this is looking weirder and weirder." he glances back at Dread, "Well then if all who knew how to make it died, then thats probably why."

Catechism tries to grab Blight off her cone and throw him away. She's rather frustrated with him. However, she fails. So she just trudges off to the Triumph, instead, commenting brightly, "No one got tentacled. I call that a win."

For a moment, Dreadwind looks like Windshear! Then it goes back to normal.

If Windshear checks the scanners, he might notice that these weird illusions seem to corrospond to an increase in activity of energy fields around the ships.

Windshear stares at Dreadwind for a second. Naaa he didnt see what he thought he just saw. Then he turns back to the controls and monitors at his station and notices the influx of energy readings. "Ok.. lets go now!" he says seriously and urgently and without waiting to hear if anyones strapped in he hits the engines and turns the Triumph away from its odd mirror of itself.

Dreadwind is unconcerned for the safety of the other Decepticons after all their fates are likely entwined for this endeavour, he carries the salvage and sets it down to one side. He looks it over and sighs heavily, "Typical, all that effort and danger for what? To come away with exactly what we were looking for, this can only end badly, very badly... we're going to explode on landing i just know it..."

"Hey, when we report this to Galvatron, can we say you guys failed him and not me?" Blight calls as he flies off from Catechism's attempted grab, not wanting to be in her iron fist. He transforms to his larger size and flies towards the rest of them.

Dreadwind sighs and looks at Blight, "We weren't that lucky..."

Windshear looks at Blight, "Who says you didnt fail him too? Did you come away with anything? No..."

Space is getting harder and harder to navigate, and as it does, more and more things and people end up looking like other things and people.

But to anyone looking in the crate that Dreadwind is leaning over, they might be able to tell one thing: they did find what they were looking for.

Combat: Windshear compares his Intelligence to 71: Success!

Windshear notices images are not what they seem and things are starting to look like other things then back as what they are and then back as something else. He glances at the star charts and concentrates for a moment to make sure what hes looking at it real and not an illusion. "This is going to be one tricky ride back to Cybertron." he mutters to himself and wonders just how the rest are dealing with this visual confusion.

But eventually you all make it back safely, because Rodimus's player is getting sleepy. :(

Catechism considers for a long moment, and finally, she sits down on the floor and says calmly, "I'm turning off my optics." She's turned off her audios before during a fight. Why not?

Combat: Blight compares his Intelligence to 50: Failure :(

Dreadwind barely notices all the odd changes that occur around him as he stares mournfully into his container. Why him?Why does he always continue onwards when all he wants is to be free from suffering? Why does existence keep him alive and allow so many others to fall at the hands of enemies and those that fight alongside him?

Combat: Dreadwind compares his Intelligence to 80: Success!

"I came away with some energon from eating some old metal. What did you do other then spend energon?" He asks the seeker teasingly before moving over a console, of course in insect mode, meaning he wasnt the best at the controls. "So what is going on out there..." He asks.

Windshear feels the ship tilt suddenly and pushes the bug out of the way, "Get away from that!" he gets the ship back straight and looks at blight, "What did I come away with?" he shrugs, "Not a clue other then knowing you need to stay away from the helm..."

Dreadwind sighs and steps away from his container that he salvaged, "It's terrible, i found what we were looking for, another success for the 'Commander' of Aerospace, i'm going to be stuck doing things forever i just know it and no one even cares..."

And they all lived miserably ever after. :(

Windshear looks back at Dreadwind. "So we did get it.. and now everythings warping around here.. I think its that fuel..."

Dreadwind shakes his head, "No that's far too easy, it'll be the regional phenomena trying to hold us back the fuel itself will be something far more dangerous. It will push our suffering to new untold heights."

Windshear shrugs, "But if it explodes, if its as volatile as we think, we wont feel a thing.." he snickers and checks the monitors to make sure they are still on course and doing ok.

Dreadwind slumps against the wall of the shuttle, "Those that die won't feel a thing, but knowing my luck i'll juts end up hideaously maimed but alive, i'll feel circuits sputter melt and die but i won't be allowed relief, not even for a moment, i never am."