The Secrets of Subaqua One

Wed Nov 7, 2033

North Korean Island

The once desert island off the coast of North Korea has been transformed over the past year and now boasts an office building with meticulously cared for landscaping and vivid colors of floral life. The remainder and majority of the island is taken up with a landing field and the accompanying buildings required to keep aircraft safe and flying.

Contents:

Elita One

Velum

Scattershot

Hubcap

Repugnus

EDC Headquarters - &lt;North Korea&gt;

Office Building

Obvious exits: Out &lt;O&gt; leads to North Pacific - North Asian Coast. Northeast &lt;NE&gt; leads to Landing Strip. Ferry &lt;S&gt; leads to P'yongyang.

Amber MacKenzie has arrived.

Marissa Faireborn has arrived.

First Aid has arrived.

Weeks ago, the hacker Noah Wolfe used his reinstated position in the EDC to hack into their files and uncover secrets. Files on Franklin Cross were amazingly well protected, rivaling even the best Autobot and Decepticon computer security, but Wolfe was skilled enough to discover the existence of a secret underwater base off the shore of Korea. And, using his ingenuity, he placed tracking devices on shuttles bound for this secret base to discover its location. Having done so, this information found its way back to Marissa Faireborn.

However, there's one complication: If the coordinates Noah found are correct, this secret base is *underwater.* How can Marissa Faireborn and the Autobots infiltrate an underwater base, especially one likely to be heavily defended from attack?

And more importantly, what will they find if they get inside?

Elsewhere in the base, inside a bland laboratory that has hastily been painted black and had its lights replaced with candles on account of the being therein having had a mental breakdown that involves the colour white being 'too neon', there is a Quintesson named Apocryphacius, who is intently at work on analyzing a set of calculations. The accidents with the random-walk teleportation provided him with a lot of data, though the picture would be more complete if he knew /where/ Backblast, Motormaster, and Sandstorm ended up. In any case, the teleportation accident caught attention, so Apocryphacius was sat down here to work on his random-walk teleportation until it is no longer random-walk. He is blissfully unaware of any approaching party.

Climbing up into her large exo suit, Velum straps in, fires it up, and is ready to fight

Marissa Faireborn had been hoping for an opportunity to get back into the action, so to speak. This seemed to be the best time to do it. With her article off to the newspapers to start stirring up some ripples she insisted First Aid take her with when they left to go search out this base. She wasn't going to be left behind. She hadn't had a chance to check in with Scattershot yet to see if he'd found her an Exo-suit yet. This was her biggest concern of the whole thing...getting down there and not being able to get back up in case all hell broke loose because she had nothing she could get into to provide her air. She poked First AId, "I hope you're air tight in case we have to bail for some reason....Unless Scattershot found me an Exo-suit or something."

The mini-sub flutters through the water without much activity, coming from a spacefaring race that has more than one incident with solar winds and magnetic storms, the vehicle is well prepared for the deep. At the helm, is the skipper Elita-One, who has been rather quiet in transit, only having voiced her thoughts a few times of late. Surely the rest of the team enjoys the respite. The searchlights used for the expedition are low-light, and infra-red when possible, but mostly, sonar does the job for it, with one small incident pre-arrival involving a large tangle of seaweed. Elita-One looks over to the side, asking back to Hubcap, "Sonar checked out, I think we found it. Good work..."

Hubcap nods. "Locking on to the designated objective, suppressing sonar pings to prevent alerting the enemy. Active alerts on emergency channels only, we are running passive."

Scattershot stands further in the back, loading guns. It's a calming ritual for the Technobot, and one that's very much needed with everyone that's happened in recent days. Cross turning the humans against them and teaming with the Quintessons, Bottlethrottle apparently acting without orders in torture and maybe shooting at Scattershot with an EDC rocket launcher...Things ain't good. Twin laser pistols subspace away as he holsters them to his sides and he turns his attention to his rifle, checking the sights... Pointing them at Repugnus for a moment. He lowers the rifle, scowling. The Monsterbot has been off the deep end more than usual lately, and even First Aid has been acting eradic. He slings the rifle over his shoulder, looking up as Elita announces their approach. "Place look busy?"

Amber MacKenzie misses the days when she could requisition an EDC spacesuit (unarmored working type) and bounce around on Mars. No specialty suits for her today, but it's a calculted risk she's willing to take. So, dressed in a nondescript unisex uniform, she patiently waits to solve a mystery, one that could answer some burning questions. This facility may prove to be the origin of Franklin Cross himself... or so she suspects.

Exosuit &lt;Velum&gt; is thankful to still have her exo, still able to help the Bots in more physical situations instead of sitting behind due to her size. Currently the watertight suit cruises along beside the Bot's sub, a simple set of propellors easily slapped on earlier now allowing her to glide easily through the water.

Unfortunately, she doesn't possess the same tracking equipment as the sub, so they simply goes off their information while sticking close. A soft snort comes over the comm before Velum finally speaks, "I really don't know why you won't let me visit Cross. I mean, I'll only punch him a little."

First Aid has calmed down somewhat, at least visibly, from the panic-inducing nature of the past 24 hours. The Protectobot had been on edge ever since the arrest of Franklin Cross, but now that they have an actual objective before them, finds he's able to focus on that and not on phoning Streetwise every ten minutes to ask him if the UN has nuked Metroplex yet. Aid is seated in the sub, reading an online version of a certain newspaper article, when the author pokes him. "I am airtight... but lets go with the exo-suit just in case. I hope you don't, but I'm afraid the best one we could find is something of an antique." Bubble helmets were all the rage in 2005. That and reflective white jumpsuits and hoverboards. It was an odd time.

Repugnus exists on the sub in poster form. He's in monster mode, grinning up at a damaged Decepticon dangling above him on a ledge. Beneath that is the caption, "Hang in there, baby!"

"I'm really hoping that Cross is being fingerprinted, retinal-scanned, DNA sampled and so on while he's your guest," Amber idly comments. "The guy is a cipher, and we have nothing in the records on him. For all we know, he's an escapee from Subaqua 1. Now's the time to nail down just who he is."

The base lurking underwater, from any indication, appears to be huge. Easily as big as the EDC base in P'yonyang. But unlike underwater facilities seen in popular fiction, there's no giant, transparent dome, here--this is a grim-looking structure, made of metal alloys and designed for pragmatism, not looks. And the fact that it's underwater is perhaps even more incredible than anything else. Currently, three small submarines are patrolling about the base, quietly orbiting it, and no doubt listening very intently for any sign that the base may be approached.

There are several docking bays for submarines as well, but the base is large enough that it may be be possible to "improvise" an entrance.

Marissa Faireborn looks at the suit that he pointed to and smirks, "You say the nicest things. And at least that's one I'm quite familiar with since that was some of the first suits I used. She goes over to it and grins, "Just like old times." And with that, she begins to climb into it. She looks over at Scattershot, "Did you think to bring something for Amber?" she says, hoping he did. She spaced the fact that Amber didn't have a suit of her own. Her mind still got a little glitched now and then...side effects perhaps of the virus...perhaps.

Once suited up, she looked at First Aid, then pulled her firearm, checked it and then nodded. "I believe I'm ready."

Elita One taps the display, "I have sonar on three patrol subs. We don't want trouble this close." She frowns in thought, "Anything extra we can do for this part, Hubcap?" She keeps the sub on its slow, low course, if it were in standard routes, there would be communication at work, and given how secret the base is, bluffing would be nearly impossible. "I didn't expect the base to be quite this size, a lot of time and effort went here, I think our only real course of action is to slip past the patrols quietly, get into dock...and..well if we force open the dock door it is going to probably set of alarms. Maybe we can reroute it externally."

Once Marissa is suited up, First Aid heads over to the forward window, eying the EDC base. "I see 'em," he says, pointing at where the three subs are circling about. "We're going to have a hard time getting in there stealthily." Oh ho ho, 'stealthily'. He nods with Elita. "If we get in close though I think our sub's boarding claw can carve a way in." It includes a sealed tunnel to prevent flooding the place. As for an exo for Amber, that winds up being whatever's convenient for her.

Hubcap taps the side of his head thoughtfully. "We could drop a modified sensor bouy. A few minutes and a little code and they zero in on it rather than us. Doesn't give us much time, but ..."

Amber MacKenzie nods. "It may be enough if we move fast."

Marissa Faireborn looks at the screen and out the window, "Well, if we weren't blaring pink..." she says with a smirk, "I'd say skim along the ocean floor and become part of it till we get to the base. We'd be part of the ocean floor to their sonar...but if they are also using visual, I think we'd stick out like a sore thumb."

Grimlock has arrived.

Elita One almost smirks, "And here I've been told that pink is quite hard to see in darkness for humans." She nods to Hubcap, "It's a good enough try that it should buy us some time, do what you can, Hubcap."

Exosuit &lt;Velum&gt; rubs her chin a little while looking at the highlighted subs on her holoscreen, hmming softly to herself. "Hrm.. Part of us could break off to create a diversion, then you others can slip on in, and we'd join up later. Though I don't recommend just attacking. Better to incapacitate whoever comes after us."

First Aid looks to Elita and Scattershot expectingly. They're the ones in charge.

Scattershot walks across the chamber to the front with Elita. "Grimlock and I could put on a little show nearby, keep 'em busy...Hubcap's sensor plan sounds good, too." He grins. "Or we could just offer up a dead Deepticon as a present or something. They seem to be pretty big on that." He glances down at Elita. "You're the legendary Cybertronian terrorist. Ah trust your call."

No change in the base, or the subs' patrols.

Hubcap blinks, and looks at Marissa, then nods. "Yes, yes! Kick up subsurface residue to cloud optical observation, then drop a sonar-active bouy as a distraction!" With that, he turns to his control panel, 'cause those things can do everything, these days, and tinkers. "Okay, ready to launch on your mark, Elita!"

"Hnf." Grimlock looms towards the back of the room, trying not to step on anybody smaller than him (read: everybody). "Why us need be careful? Me Grimlock say us just bust in front door! That plan always work." he nods, and then looks the sensor screen over again. "Also, get him Seaspray. Him tough."

Marissa Faireborn looks up at Grimlock, "Because...," she says with a look that plainly says she's not keen on him being around, "...if we make too much fuss or noise getting in, it alerts the whole base and instead of dealing with one or two guards or people, we're dealing with some of the deadliest villans on earth, all at once, and all of their weapons and security systems."

Meanwhile, in Autobot City, Seaspray sits alone in his dark room. "We never have underwater missions." He sighs, and feeds his fish.

Finback drums his fingers and practises his 'disgruntled' expression.

Plotting a zig-zag course among the seabed, Elita purses her lips. "I'm not convinced everyone aboard is a scoundrel and worthy of smashing anyway, Grimlock." She motions to the map, "Hubcap, this is going to be a good location here for the bouy, same spot caused some false positives for us earlier too. Can you rig it to short out or self destruct when they get close? I'm a bit busy still." She points to the main screen, "Then while the sub is investigating...assuming these two move to either assist or cover that area, we have about...17 decicycles to slip to here...and...here. When we get in close, we'll still have to use an airlock, but it should work. They've got some large lock areas, probably for freight. That's what'll work. Make it happen."

"Aye aye, Elita!" First Aid says. "I'll monitor the subs for any change in their behavior." The Protectobot slips behind one of the control stations, watching to make sure the subs don't fire up their weapons or engines without the heroes knowing about it.

Grimlock hmms, and gives a little discontent rumble. "Me Grimlock bet me could smash all thems anyway, but if it be SNEAKY MISSION, then me Grimlock be sneaky. Me good at that." He nods, and surveys the sensors again, noting the subs' planned routes. "Hnn. What if we go when them am there?" he asks, pointing to a spot on the sensors. "That part when them am furthest apart." He says, opting for a tactical approach now that 'smash everything' is off the table (for now)

Hubcap nods to Elita. "I can do that. In fact... " He pauses thoughtfully, and computes a few trajectories before he continues, "If we swing around for a moment, I could time another launch to lead them away once-" He hits a button, launching bouy 1 "/this/ one blows."

Scattershot nods as Elita lays out her plan, and turns to walk back to the airlock. "Let's look sharp, people. Elita, you and Miss Faireborne are on point Hubcap and First Aid are next with Amber and Velum. Grimlock and I will bring up the rear, using our library voices unless things get hairy."

The sensors of the submarine will register a spike of energy - a lot of neutrinos, in fact. Anyone ever looked at the readings associated with the use of those crystals used in the cybercidic disintegrators?

Something is going down inside. Is it something they want to allow to continue?

What will the cost be if they don't stop it?

Elita One nods, "Swinging about. Trigger it under Grimlock's directions." She shifts to the side, causing the sub to slant for a few moments, "Alright, now we've just got a waiting game to...." She frowns again, seriously it's her default expression today. "Sensor readings are huge up ahead. They're using those crystals again, but since I don't see any cannons to open fire, its probably not defense related. First Aid, can you lock that reading down? We need to pay a visit there."

"Whoa, energy spike!" First Aid exclaims. "I can't tell for sure but they might be about to fire a weapon we can't see. Evasive maneuvers!" He glances over at Elita One, "We need to get in there ASAP. I've got the location pinpointed down to within 30 astrometers."

"Oh, neat! Trigger distracting thing...now!" he says- and then he piles out the airlock, bravely leading the way! He hits the sea floor, and starts tromping across it, staying low- the nice thing about being so far underwater is...well, it's dark. Dark enough for even someone as big as Grimlock to give a try at being sneaky! And so, he creeps towards the underwater base, briefly crouching behind a mound of coral.

Scattershot sort of stares at Grimlock as the Dinobot deactivates the airlock to exit the sub. "Grimlock? Ah don't think..." And then he sort of trails off when First Aid announces the energy spike. "Let's get there yesterday, Autobots, come on!"

Inside the facility, the door to Apocryphacius's lab slides open and a man stands there, identifiable only by his silhouette. But Apocryphacius should be quite familiar with THAT even from his brief encounters with him... "What's going on in here?" the man says. "We've got a massive energy spike from the lab--" He pauses, glancing off to the side as someone seems to call him. "...damn, now we've got some sort of disturbance outside! What's going on here? More Quintesson treachery? Answer me!"

Hubcap glances over his shoulder at Grimlock, then shrugs and fires bouy 2, after all, it only needs to be in range to receive bouy 1's self-destruct alert. If Grimlock gets himself blown up ... not Hubcap's fault.

While that's all going on, two of the subs from the base break away to investigate the "disturbance." The last one remains, still orbiting the faciility.

Elita One starts gunning the sub in its plotted course, "So far so good on this end." She veers around a coral reef. "Alright the sub just got lighter, please tell me Grimlock did not just cannonball onto the ocean floor." She deadpans the words, "This is just great. Does anyone actually listen to anyone?" She laughs softly, shaking her head. "No matter, let's hit this thing." It wouldn't take too much for the minisub to outmaneuver the one patrol left, and then to the target airdock. "Bots, remember what we might be up against. Destroy weapons when we can, but I'm not sold all these EDCers need damaged. Use discretion."

Apocryphacius &lt;Judgement Face&gt; openly cringes, his faces shifting around to a more conciliatory expression. General Cross is remarkably nice and reasonable, when one gets to know him. This man who stands before Apocryphacius now is... so very not. The Quintesson renders an extremely respectful salute, and he explains, "Sir, I have cracked it. One-ended teleportation."

He drops a full coffee mug. Before the mug can hit the floor, he taps a few keys on some equipment attached to one of those partially extra-dimensional crystals, and a portal opens up, whisks the coffee mug away, and the mug lands, instead, safely on a small end-table.

There is another neutrino spike that anyone looking at a sensing device will notice.

Apocryphacius &lt;Judgement Face&gt; transforms into his Apocryphacius mode.

Amber MacKenzie points out, "I'm not sure that even most of the people there are EDCers, at least not the real EDC. This was a top secret facility into which the governments of the world dumped its worst criminals. I suspect it's been either taken over by the prisoners, or... someone else took over. Whoever that someone else is, I believe they're behind Cross and recruiting from Subaqua 1."

"Uh," First Aid hesitates, "I /would/ tell you that Grimlock did not just cannonball to the ocean floor, but my Creation Factory programmed the inability to lie into my lasercore." The Protectobot literally holds onto his seat as Elita One guns it, charging towards the airdock. Once in range, First Aid pulls the lever, causing the sub's boarding claw to lash out at the side of the undersea base to carve its way through the outer airlock doors! The claw includes an airtight sleeve to allow people to travel into the base without flooding everyone.

Amber MacKenzie adds, "I was given an example of one of the prisoners here. A man who recruited children as suicide bombers."

The man glares at the Quintesson from inside the doorway, only the whites of his visible from how the shadows are playing across his body. "...I see. Alright then. We'll have to take the risk. Use the device, and pull our man back over here. I am not done with him yet. And Quintesson?..." He slowly draws a knife from his belt. "...this had better work, or I'm having *calamari* for dinner tonight."

Meanwhile, as the second buoy goes off, the two other subs, just having finished looking into the first one, putter off to check off the second. The diversions are proving remarkably effective!

Hubcap waits for the THNK/HSS on the airdock connecting, then he releases the straps on his seat. Standing, he opens a hatch and removes a SCUBA harness, which he quickly puts on, just in case. "Bouy 2 just activated, we are low on time."

Marissa Faireborn remains upright, holding onto something as the subs moves about this way and that. She's grown quiet as she watches Bots go about their business deploying buoy and disappearing into airlocks to make noise. Now is not the time for her to get in the way, and her time will come when they finally dock.

Scattershot watches the claw gouge into the wall and the sleeve deploy. "We're in, folks. Elita, Ms. Faireborne, you're leading the way, the rest of you fall into formation as discussed. And double time- ya'll heard Hubcap. He watches intently as the lock opens, revealing their entrance...

Elita One bolts out of her seat, summoning her pistols, which digistruct into her hands, then enters ahead of the group. Any cameras, any sensors she sees are to be zapped quickly. A pro at her craft, that of the more intricate forms of warfare, Elita starts checking proper angles for opponents. The EDC themselves...well, she'll cross that bridge when she comes to them. "First Aid, did you get a lock on that? I need directions, start navigation for us."

Grimlock tromps over the seafloor- and he glances up as he sees the Autobot sub bangbangbanging on the side of the place. "Huh." He says, "Me Grimlock thought this was be sneaky." This comes out a little bubbled and glubby, but still. And so, Grimlock opts for a more...direct approach- he activates his antigravs to help him swim- and he soon comes up alongside the closest, lone guard-sub- and he soon brings out his Energo-Sword, attempting to stab the sub through the hull! A nice, long gash is what he shoots for, knowing the subsequent flooding will likely be bad for the sub's continued operation. This done, he heads for the base proper, not wanting to miss out on the fun!

First Aid, for not the first time, wishes Streetwise was here. He's a million times better at this tracking business than First Aid, but the doctor does his best as he follows after Elita One, Autobot tricorder in hand. "Got it!" he exclaims to the femme. He waves the tricorder upwards, "I have a perfect lock on its location, Elita. It's just a couple stories up." First Aid immediately starts looking for an elevator or stairwell that might lead up.

Amber MacKenzie falls back with Hubcap and First Aid, as ordered. She grimaces to herself, hoping there's use for a sneak in this operation, lest she become a potential hostage instead. Her hand drops to the pistol in a pocket. In fact, she brought along a spare in another pocket. Amber MacKenzie, the great warrior. That warrants a snicker as she hurries to keep up with the faster-moving Autobots, pistol in hand.

The entrance leads to a larger, interior air lock, which was obviously meant to be flooded in the event of a submarine coming or going from the base. However, as the base apparently was not expecting visitors, the side of the airlock leading in is wide open, and it's only half-flooded. The rest of the hangar looks very much like the submarine hangar the EDC is using, and a visiting sub could pull in to get serviced by the machinery hanging above or simply offload its crew onto the walkways nearby.

While Elita does succeed in taking down the first few security devices that she's uncovered so far, the Autobots' entrance is not unnoticed. Two men in black armor, as well as a technician, hustle across the walkways to check out the breach. "Holy--" the technician exclaims, unaware that he's standing right behind a large elevator for transporting freight... and is big enough for Transformers.

Meanwhile, the first sub begins sinking form Grimlock's blow, but didn't have far to go. Submarines have ejection seats right? Right? Er... Anyway, its partner notices what happened, and soon the other submarine begins chasing Grimlock, firing a swarm of mini-torpedoes at him! This could hurt!

Marissa Faireborn pulls her gun and follows right behind Elita One. She moves swiftly in Elita's shadow, catching anything low. Even though she's been 'out of it' for months now, she steps back into the roll and her knowledge and training as if it were a second skin, instinct...

Apocryphacius picks up the coffee mug and downs its contents. Then he sets the coffee mug down next to a collection of other coffee mugs. No two of them match. Several of them appear to be weaponized. Apocryphacius shuts off his optics for a moment. General Cross is a bad person, he has slowly become aware. A war criminal, if the footage of Triggerhappy's torture is accurate.

But he's a bad person who has always treated Apocryphacius fairly, and he's a captive of the Autobots, who could, even now, be taking rusty machetes to Cross and dumping a cart of salt on him. Apocryphacius shudders to even think about it.

Even if General Cross is a criminal, Apocryphacius cannot justify leaving him with the Autobots. That would not be justice. Apocryphacius checks his calculations again and dials in the coordinates, and then he double and triple-checks his math. One wrong digit, and he could strand General Cross in an extra-dimensional space full of thorned tentacle. Can Apocryphacius justify taking that risk?

The man in the shadows. The one who isn't done with Cross. Maybe all he wants is for General Cross to now die in a battle with Shockwave. For Sophia II to accidentally on purpose malfunction at a critical time. That would be a good way to get rid of General Cross. It would make him look like a hero. Then they could set up a new puppet-General. Is bringing General Cross back /here/ justified?

But Apocryphacius looks down at the machete-scars on his tentacles, and he decides that, simply, he cannot leave General Cross with the Autobots. It just would not be right.

The Quintesson checks his calculations a fourth time and slots in a larger crystal into his apparatus. He pulls a lever. Electricity sparks and arcs.

In the black-painted laboratory, everything goes white.

They have company now.

'*Thoom!* The torpedoes detonate around Grimlock, sending him staggering backwards! He growls and staggers backwards, unused to fighting in such conditions. Should have brought Seaspray. He grunts, and then watches the final torpedo streak in- at which point Grimlock snatches the projectile out of the water and throws it clumsily back at his attackers! THis done, Grimlock makes for the seabase...that's where the INTERESTING stuff will be!

Elita One 's battle pistols answer the black-armored EDC agents, the blasts almost harmless, if it weren't for the flaring ability of the weapons, dazzling the area before her for a few brief seconds as she makes her way past them. "Disruptors, Mechs!" She hits the elevator call button as she skids to a stop past the armored sentries. She looks down to the technician for a brief moment, "You might want to vacate, there's power spikes in here, call for evacuation, help us save lives."

First Aid moves away from the Autobot submarine, sliding the tricorder back into a hip compartment. As two soldiers rush along the walkways, First Aid just looks in their direction. "Excuse us, we're just here to right a few wrongs." First Aid vaults past them, aware that they might take a shot at him but taking no action to defend himself against them. Upon reaching the freighter elevator, he looks down at the technician. "If you don't mind, sir, we're going to have to commandeer this elevator." He motions for the man to step aside so First Aid can enter. Suddenly, First Aid's tricorder beeps loudly, even with its hip compartment. Aid grabs it again. "Another power spike!" He looks to the ceiling, "Just what are they doing up there?"

Scattershot watches the crew engage the armored guards, keeping his position at the lock: Scattershot holds their primary way out. Weapons systems shifting to stun and disrupt, he subspaces in twin pistols. "Elita! Make it fast and keep safe. Till all are one, Autobots."

Combat: First Aid compares his Technical to 75: Success!

First Aid furrows his brow at the readings on the tricorder. "That's... unusual." He looks over to his three Angels, "Whatever they're doing, I don't think it has anything to do with the cybercidic weapon. None of this makes sense... if I didn't know better, I-" Wait, Aid stops. /Don't/ you know better? You handed them a Headquarters that revolves around this kind of technology. Did you really think Franklin Cross wouldn't find horrific ways to exploit it? That they couldn't scale it up into the real deal? "It, ah, might be a spacebridge," he says guiltily.

...and on the floor of Apocryphacius's lab, a mustachioed form lies quivering in the fetal position! "What the... hell..." General Cross gasps out on the floor, looking terrified for some reason. He sees tentacles on the floor, and with a startled yelp, jerks away from them... until he sees what the tentacles are attached to. "Apoc... Apocry... Apocryphacius?" Cross stutters. "I... I had a... a brief glimpse of... pure horror." The man in the doorway sighs, shaking his head. "Cross, stop sputtering and get on your damn feet. The base may have been compromised and I'm sending you off back to Cybertron post-haste." The man turns around, letting the door close behind him. However, Cross seems to be in no hurry to get up.

Meanwhile, the second sub seemed to be having fun with Grimlock up until it had its own torpedo chucked back at it! This mini-torpedo blows up on its sonar dome, cracking it wide open. The submarine then seems unable to track Grimlock at that point and aimlessly drifts about! Ah, but Grimlock's not done--the THIRD sub has broken away to fire mini-torpedoes at him!

"Screw you, robots!" the technician tells the Autobots, not heeding their warnings, and seeming to be reaching for... a hammer. He looks at the hammer, and at the robots charging at him. Then he lowers his head and steps out of their way. The troops aren't so compliant, though, and run after the Autobots firing their guns at them. But they're harmless.

Hubcap follows along behind First Aid, throwing confident grins at the technicians. Tilting his head in concentration, he frowns. "Getting some, well, /odd/ interference across the whole gamut of frequencies."

Marissa Faireborn has to run almost at full speed to keep up with the Bots. They can walk a lot faster than she can run. When she manages to catch up to them at the elevator, the tech is just stepping aside with his hammer. But that's when the troops begin to open fire. And with that, she raises her gun and squeezes off a few shots in their direction. She has no qualms about shooting back. Human to human...she's got it covered.

Grimlock grunts, diving out of the way of the mini-torpedoes- he finally reaches the seabase- and with a slice of his sword, he hacks open a hole in one of the freight-airlocks and pulls himself through! He grunts, looks around...and then he starts stomping through the place (occasionally through walls) until he reaches the rest of the Autobots! Either it's coincidence, or perhaps he's zeroed in on someone's transponder. "Hey." A wet and somewhat battered Grimlock says. "Me Grimlock miss anythings?"

First Aid raises his arm defensively, and tiny bullets embed themselves in his armour. "Hey, careful! Something could ricochet!" he exclaims to them. When Marissa fturns and blasts them, the Protectobot instinctively is about to say that it wasn't necessary, but realizes that from her point of view it probably was. He still doesn't like it, though. As Grimlock busts in through an airlock, Aid waves to him. "Grimlock! Over here! Elevator's on the way!" First Aid steps inside, holding it just long enough for Grimlock to get inside if he runs.

"Argh!" "Gyaahhhh!" the two guards cry as they are riddled with bullets in classic action movie fashion!

Apocryphacius waits until the man is gone before he looks to General Cross on the floor. He lowers his hover column, and his faces twist around. Apocryphacius offers Cross a tentacle to help stand up, and he says softly, "I am so very sorry, sir. I apologise if I have triggered any unpleasant memories - or caused them myself. However, I was, ah, worried that the Autobots might have taken some rusty machetes and a cart of salt to you. I could not, in good conscience leave you on Cybertron. However, I must also apologise for something else: I should have spoken up sooner. The thing is, sir, if you had treated the Autobots as you have treated me, the Autobots would have, in all likelihood, adored you, and if it was the case that you were unable to behave in such a fashion due to," he points to the door, where the man left, "I might have suspected something sooner and been able to do something about it. I am sorry for letting you down." He picks up one of the coffee mugs and offers it, as well. It... might not actually be coffee. But it will make Cross feel better!

Elita One covers the humans about her as best she can, as the doors open, "Well thank the Matrix the elevator wasn't locked down yet." She returns some light fire to the guards, intent to keep their heads down than actually hit anything. "Space bridge technology...So what are the intentions then? I can think of a thousand reasons, all of them bad. If I had to guess....Cross' boys are going to try to just destroy Cybertron in one swoop." As Bots and human allies start to pile in, she slams her hand on the third floor button, then almost immediately has to cancel the request, "Energy Spikes, Grimlock. Something bad's going down, things need smashed up a few levels. Come on!" She makes a beckoning wave to the dinobot, adding, "If there IS cybercidic weaponry up there, Grimlock's the Bot for the job."

Apocryphacius &lt;Wrath Face&gt; transforms into his Apocryphacius &lt;Darkness Face&gt; mode.

Grimlock ducks into the elevator (making it somewhat...cozy) and gives an affirmative grunt. "RIght. Fancy laser no hurt me Grimlock, 'cuz me so tough." He rumbles, and shifts around, being careful not to stab anybody with that big sword of his. "Let's go!"

Marissa Faireborn follows Elita into the elevator after picking off two of the guards. If they were EDC, which she doubts, she'll find out about it later. But right now, there are other things to worry about.

Hubcap stumbles, as the spacebridge warp is active, then manages to keep his feet as the effect ends, managing to reach the elevator before Grimlock. He also takes a moment to set up a direct link from his sensors to the sub.

The third floor opens up to... a massive Panopticon! Yes, indeed, this is an enormous room, and judging from the outside, it's nearly the same diameter as the base itself. In the center of the room is a tower-like structure, perpetually manned by guards who watch everything that happens around them. Across the walls are a number of cells for inmates, possibly thousands. And below, at ground-level, the inmates are up and about, engaged in various tasks. Some of them are engaged in boot-camp style training. Others are watching news reports and occasionally talking to each other about how to manipulate the facts for the UN's advantage. Another group appears to be openly discussing how to manipulate Britain's Parliament to gain a more "amicable" Prime Minister. And yet another appears to be planning terrorist attacks which will they will promptly blame on "Robot Sympathizers." All of this activity halts, however, when the Autobots come up to this floor, and the inmates all stare open-mouthed at their visitors.

Wait a minute, is that Sean Berger Jr. in the tower? "Hold on, who is that? What's going on here? I'm the mayor, here, I demand answers!"

Cross, meanwhile, sits up a little, staring at the coffee. Is it actually coffee? Who the hell knows. He drinks it anyway, and, feeling perked up, stands. He stares at the cup, and lets it crash to the floor. "...you're probably right. But." He looks at the Quintesson. "It's.... just my nature. I... can't ever forgive them... for what they did..."

First Aid's optics flash in surprise as the elevator slides open to reveal such a huge area. "My word," he breathes. The Protectobot steps outside just in time to see all the guards sloooooowly turn towards them. "Uh... oh... um..." think fast, First Aid. "We're here to stop the EDC and only the EDC. Anyone who doesn't resist will not be harmed!" He wasn't intentionally answering Sean Berger Jr., but the 'mayor' no doubt understands what's going on now. First Aid then quickly takes a step back, using Grimlock's leg as cover in case the masses decide not to take him up on his generous offer.

Elita One stares at the situation before her, this is....not what she expected. "Record everything, Hubcap." In her best booming voice, she yells, "Show's over, people!" She looks back to the team, "Grims, don't step on anyone, lead the charge to the energy spikes." She starts treading through the humans about her, her movements cautious and wary, looking for security defenses. "We need data access...We need all this certified. Unbelievable...." Even as she marvels, she slowly eases her way through the throng as she tries to locate the cause of the energy signatures.

"Huh." Grimlock rumbles, and steps out of the elevator- there's a *ka-chunk!* as he pulls out his double-barreled laser blaster, and sweeps it across the room! He's not firing...yet, but it's a big gun, held by an even bigger dinobot. The threat can be left unsaid. "Hnnnf. Spikes, right." he says, and strides forward- slow enough to let the smarter ones get out of the way. "You!" He points at Berger as he approaches the tower. "You in charge?"

Apocryphacius &lt;Darkness Face&gt; considers how General Cross mentioned that being tortured by Laserbeak is not the worst thing to happen to him. He considers how General Cross has, time and time again, been reckless with his own life to the point of appearing nearly suicidal. He considers the mysterious 'timetable' and Cross's thoroughly unpleasant boss. Then he tentatively offers, "Sir, if you cannot forgive, perhaps you should forget. I think... it would be relatively simple to alter you to pass as a Nebulan. A blue one. The... exit plan is obvious," and he looks over at the crystal in its setting. Even obliquely proposing as much is difficult for the Quintesson. He would be in breach of his contract. It's hard. But this is only going to end in tears. The only question is how many.

Marissa Faireborn hears some of the conversations, snippets here and there just before the doors open after the elevator stops and it comes to a screeching halt, everyone staring open mouthed. Looking around from behind First Aid's leg, she steps forward when asked what this is all about. "Everyone, back in you're cells until we're done here, then you can do whatever it is you want to do," she says in a commanding voice, hoping to get them into their cells and out from under foot. Honestly, she's hoping they'll go and she can find a way to permenantly lock them in until they can be claimed and put into some other form of high security prison....and not hidden away to be used for unscrupulous means.

Hubcap strains his audios as he glares at faces. And his audios /rock./ "Recording audio and visual for evidence, 'Lita."

He's also backing up to an external hardpoint, but is uncertain about mentioning it right now.

The prisoners, being somewhat underequipped to deal with this problem, back away from the intruders. They do hear Marissa's command to return to their cells, but... for some reason that just makes them glance about nervously. "Yes, I am very much in charge!" Berger Jr. boasts, peering down at the Autobots from his tower. "And I DEMAND you stop trespassing on my property--hwrngh!!!" A hand wraps around his face, cutting him off before pulling him away. Then a different man steps forward. A very hardened looking man, white-haired. A clear veteran of many campaigns. "EDC?" this man says. He looks about himself dramatically. "Well. I don't see any... 'EDC' here."

Back in Apocryphacius's lab, Cross's lip trembles as it seems that doubt wracks him. "I... I wish I could do that, Apocryphacius. But you see... like the Agents, my contract is..." He pauses. "Permanent, until my contract is terminated. I... wonder if that sort of a life could have worked for me? But... it can't." Another pause. "For what it's worth, Apocryphacius, I... thank you, for being a good friend."

Back at the panopticon, the mysterious man sneers down at the robots. "You are standing in no EDC facility..." He smiles evilly. "...you are standing in a *MECH* facility, the organization formed specifically to overtake and replace the feeble, pathetic EDC and destroy you robots once and for all! And I am MECH's Commander, Silas!" He peers down at Marissa Faireborne. "Silly Faireborne. So inconvenient. I shouldn't have listened to Cross--I should have just had my Agents cut your pretty throat while I had the chance. No matter--you'll make a fine resident here!"

"Huh." Grimlock muses, and looks over at at Elita One with a shrug. This said, he turns back to Silas, and then looks the place over. "Me Grimlock think that bad plan." He rumbles. "Me Grimlock say, YOU surrender, else me Grimlock explode wall there, and you all get wet." He nods. "Humans need air. Me Grimlock don't."

Marissa Faireborn looks at the man with white hair and her face hardens, her heart beginning to beat a little harder, "Replace the EDC? Over my dead body!" she snarls as she swiftly raises her gun and fires off several shots at him. She's had enough and by God, she's going to try and end it before the cancer can grow any further.

Elita One calls up to this Silas, "Got a lot of sass for your current outnumbered position, Silas." She looks around the room, there had to be a reason WHY he was so smug and confident. "So Cross was working for you this whole time, and now you have space bridge tech to work with." She'd say further, but shots just rang out, and that generally ends most conversations.

First Aid shoots Hubcap a grateful look. They're going to have to pour all this information later. He sees Hubcap backing up and figures the accoustics must be better from behind cover. Good mech, that Hubcap. Looking forward, he nods as Grimlock grabs the mayor and makes a little demonstration of what might happen should the others resist. But then the one man glowers at them, dramatically identifying himself as Silas. "Silas? Never heard of you. Also, 'Mech' means robot so I'm not sure where you're going with that." First Aid doesn't realize it's an acronym yet, but when he threatens Marissa, First Aid reaches for his sidearm. "YOU'RE the mastermind behind her illness!" Aid takes up a position just in front and to the side of Marissa, protecting her should this Silas individual shoot back.

There is a thin frown on Apocryphacius's active face. Then he pulls back and checks on the readings on the crystal, looking at what data he got out of pulling Cross from Cybertron. Being friends with one's military superior, who is also a war criminal and a xenophobe, is just wrong on so many levels. However, after a moment, he says, "Thank you, sir. Not as good as I could have been. As I said, I should have said something earlier. Perhaps it would not have come to this. Perhaps..." He dials in the coordinates for Monacus on the equipment and checks the power reserves. The Quintesson stares at his equipment for a long moment. "I must confess, an indefinite contract sounds awfully like slavery, which I have been told is immoral."

Silas honestly had expected them to let him monologue a bit more before they started shooting. Damn unpredictable heroes! He ducks down behind the parapet of the tower as bullets smack into it. "STOP!" he yells. "Or the good Mr. Wellesby, ambassador of Britain, will die!" And when Silas stands, he hauls up a middle-aged and somewhat bruised British gentlemen up to his feet with him. The latter man coughs a bit. And from the cells the inmates had been residing in, there comes a swarm of men armed with grenade launchers and man-sized Cybercidic weapons, which they aim down at the Transformers. "And as you can see, it is YOU that is surrounded."

General Cross straightens himself out, and begins to walk towards the door. "Slavery? Maybe so. Truth is? I wanted to do it. They didn't have to 'enslave' me. But, well, they're not very trusting, as you probably know." He looks down at the device Apocryphacius is making. "I'm guessing you're not coming with me? Probably for the best. I'm on a one-way trip. And I guess after all the things I've done, that's how it ought to turn out."

"Actually," Silas says back at the tower. "The illness was Cross's idea. 'Just something to keep her out of the way for a while, we don't have to kill her,' he said. Idiot. And a bigger fool I am for listening to him."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Elita One says, "Bots, I can stop this, you know I can. Are you ready though?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Always!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; First Aid says, "Ready, aye, ready!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Hubcap says, "Let's not rush hings"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Elita One says, "just be ready"

Grimlock grunts, and looks at the swarm of men with an unimpressed air. Still, he does make it a point to stand in front of the other Autobots, counting on his thicker armor and Cybercidic immunity. "Hnn. Me Grimlock fought lots more septi-cons than this before." He rumbles- though if it's meant for Silas or the other Autobots, it remains for debate! And, with the hostage taken, Grimlock narrows his optic visor, and then shoots a glance at First Aid. "Who that guy?"

Apocryphacius &lt;Darkness Face&gt; shakes back and forth, "No, sir. Just offering you an out." He disconnects the crystal and subspaces it, staring at his bleak laboratory for a moment. "After all the things I have done wrong, I do not need to add 'disobeying orders from a lawful superior' to the list, now do I?"

Elita One 's receptors flicker as she gets a few quick transmissions. For the moment, she holds up her hands, her pistols disappearing. "The last thing I want is another dead human, and to test out these cybercidic weapons." She looks up towards Silas, then back to Marissa. "So what is it then? What's the trump card? A bomb? a frame-up? Let me guess...the whole complex here turns into an enormous robot under your control."

First Aid hesitates, glaring at Silas as Wellesby is hauled up and the inmates brandish their high tech weapons. "Kidnapping an elected politician, arming /criminals/ to further your goals, rigging tests that will declare whether entire species are /alive/, employing the work of a man responsible for billions of deaths in the galaxy? I don't care who's IDEA it was, you went ahead and implemented it! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" But when Aid realizes that Silas is right and they are heavily outnumbered and outgunned, First Aid slowly lowers his photon pistol, following Elita's lead in holstering it. "A very bad man, Grimlock," he replies. As the Autobots plot on their broadband, First Aid continues to glare up at Silas, ready for when Elita One takes action.

Hubcap is crouched behind shelter, but he pops an audio relay device from his forearm, which he sends sliding along the floor to the base of Silas' stand. "Y'know," he says conversationaly to First Aid, "Mech doesn't actually mean robot. It's just short for Mechanised, or Mechanical, or Mechanism." He peers around his shelter at the hostage. "Oh, right, that was the other thing, I'm transmitting live, the world is watching your hostage-taking. Smile!"

Marissa Faireborn lowers her gun as she sees the Embassador, "I see," she says, her voice firm and controlled, "And exactly how were you involved in getting me out of the loop? Who was in this with you to begin with? I guess you can tell us. Not like we'll be around to tell anyone once you're done with us...."

"The trump card is that you all drop your weapons and surrender," Silas says. "You first, Dinobot. Yes, I know that even you, mighty as you are, will not let a man be harmed if he can help it. Though not an *innocent* man. Wellesby here nearly gave away our plan." He turns to First Aid, giving him a dismissive look. "The politician is a traitor, the criminals are useful, the tests were a sham anyway, none of those billions were *humans*--I fail to see at what point I should care. FORMER Commander Faireborn down there would never have gotten her hands dirty with such work, never would have done what she had to do to make sure the human race came out on top in the galaxy." He raises a brow at Faireborn. "Who put me up to this? Who do you think? The selfsame people you let down on the Long Night. The selfsame people who are tired of an unending war between two disorganized gangs of robots. The selfsame people who don't care who puts a stop to it all, or how, so long as it's done. Yes, leaders ALL over the world!"

But then Hubcap has to ruin it all by playing reporter! "That... that wasn't wise. Alright, then. I changed my mind. Wellesby dies." He puts the gun to the back of Wellesby's head, and the ambassador shudders in fear.

"Alright," Cross says with a nod. "Well, if you're sticking around, then come with me. We still have work to do on Cybertron. I might not like Silas much, but he's right. This war has to stop. By ANY means necessary." He opens the lab door and begins to walk out.

"That's great to know," First Aid replies to Hubcap, but then he smiles somewhere behind his faceplate as Hubcap announces that he's transmitting live to the entire world. "Don't you see that you've lost, Silas? Even if you kill us all, even if you unleash whatever weapon you're working on here, even if you raise an entire /army/ of cybercidic powered criminals, Earthlings aren't going to just stand by while you take away all of their liberties. It's the same lesson the Decepticons have been forced to learn." As the MECH Commander moves to execute Wellesby, First Aid immediately begins sprinting towards him, jumping up towards where Silas and the Ambassador is. There isn't a hope for First Aid to cover all this ground in the time it takes Silas to pull the trigger, but Aid's wagering that he doesn't know what Elita One is capable of.

Apocryphacius &lt;Darkness Face&gt; points out listlessly, "Where else do I have to go? Do you remember Planet Lightning, sir? The beings there knew my kind... and hated it." He follows.

&lt;Earth&gt; Hubcap links from node to node, transmitting from an unidentified location, Gradually, a picture becomes clear.

Apocryphacius &lt;Darkness Face&gt; transforms into his Apocryphacius &lt;Death Face&gt; mode.

&lt;Earth&gt; Hubcap transmits - A human stands, holding a gun to the head of another human, and First Aid runs to the rescue.

Elita One throws her hand out dramatically, "No." The word is quiet, but little else needs to be said as Elita's special ability starts to take hold, purple and pink energy erupts from her like a forcefield at first. It expands out throughout the room as time starts to slow, then stop completely for all enemies involved. As always it was a strain, but at one time it was deadly. As her consciousness starts to slow down in time, she simply hopes she is fast enough, and that her comrades are just as fast.

Elita One sags rather unheroically as she starts to collapse.

Marissa Faireborn stiffens at Silas' words and her blood runs cold. "Not all of the Leaders. And I do have the guts to do it but those self same leaders who are tired of the unending war tied my hands and bogged things down with laws, unending paperwork, and legalities, making a mockery of the EDC and what it was meant to do." She was about to say more when the others spoke up and Silas threatened the Embassador. Then Elita began to work her 'magic' the moment First Aid ran to try and protect the endangered human.

"Whuh?" Grimlock never was the fastest of Autobots- and so, as the plan swings into motion, First Aid's already closer to the Ambassador. Grimlock leaves the protectobot to do the protecting...and in turn, he looks over the arrayed, frozen MECH troopers- and Grimlock simply *STOMPS* down on the ground, sending a shockwave rippling out through the metal- hopefully enough to stagger or topple a lot of humans without breaking anything too important! This done, Grimlock catches the blur of pink movement from the corner of his eye, and he snaps his free hand out, attempting to catch Elita One before she falls. Once he's got ahold of her, however, Grimlock seems a bit...uneasy, as if afraid he'd break the tough-as-nails femme commander.

The second elevator: No one EVER pays attnetion to the second elevator. "Looks like Ah'm two seconds too late...Pretty solid TV yer playin' Hubcap" Scattershot grins. "Wreck Gar's gonna love it." He lifts Elita One and gestures to the door. "Cross and the Squiddy are long gone and Ah'd suggest we follow their example. Last one onboard Powerglide's Girlfriend is a Terrorcon, folks."

&lt;Earth&gt; Hubcap 's perspective gets ... confused. There's Grimlock knocking a crowd off their feet, a second elevator with Scattershot therein, and still, First Aid, and Silas (Our big bad), and the dubious politician, almost ... frozen?

The MECH troopers begin to fall over like mannequins, the weird time stop preventing them moving but apparently letting outside forces move THEM just fine. They're going to be VERY confused when time reasserts itself. Meanwhile, Silas is frozen in time, his trigger finger already squeezing down, the bullet just a millisecond away from discharging into Wellesby's head.

Elsewhere, Cross is hustling into a shuttle, keeping the ramp down until Apocryphacius boards. "Come on, Apocryphacius, I'm hearing bad things on my earpiece. No wonder Silas recruited me--he can't handle things on his own!" he growls. "But yes, I remember, Apocryphacius. I just... you're far too brilliant to throw your life away! Is there NOWHERE you can seek sanctuary?"

Rag doll Elita first starts to slump, then nearly catapulted by Grimlock's stomp, then gingerly caught, THEN handed off to Scattershot. Her optics would show static if it were an earth program. She is just along for the ride for a few more moments, her hand lightly bawling into a fist, but unable to keep it held.

First Aid lands on the platform, swiftly grabbing Wellesby like a football. "Gotcha! Don't worry, you're safe." The Protectobot flips and reconfigures as he falls back to everyone else's level. Wellesby gets quite the roller coaster ride as machinery twists and turns all around him, but finally First Aid lands on the deck in ambulance mode with the Ambassador inside. Automatic seatbelts swiftly move out to restrain the man so he doesn't get hurt. Already First Aid is blazing back towards Grimlock, Elita One, and Hubcap. He's at the half way point when Scattershot emerges, and so the ambulance peels off in in the direction of his elevator instead. "But we haven't found the power spike yet!"

First Aid folds down into Ambulance mode.

Hubcap raps his knuckles against the side of the ambulance. "Sorry, I don't think we can manage to keep this 'covert.'"

Apocryphacius &lt;Death Face&gt;, of all things, chuckles, "Sir, the EDC offered me protection if I would work for them, and the concept of cleaning up the mess that my relatives left appealed to me. I think we can safely assume that initial offer is null and void, but my motivation has not changed. If you are going to end the war, I should wish to see it." He boards the shuttle, taking one last glance at Earth.

Scattershot sheds some light as FA transforms. "Ah found the lab where the spikes were, team. Place is stripped. Don't mean we can't wreck the place, though."

Elita One feebly starts back up onto her feet, she puts her arm atop of the ambulance heading away, "Go on...I...have to rekkkkkkover." Slumping over him, and really only able to walk with ...hurr hurr aid. She starts to help the evacuation of the ambassador if no one else...even if he isn't that great a guy in reality.

Marissa Faireborn looks around, then looks at Scattershot, then around for Amber. "Quick. We need to get you Bots out." She looks over at Hubcap and makes a motion for him to cut the broadcasting or deaden it for a moment. Then she looks at Scattershot again, "Lets flood this place and fast....now. No prisoners." Her face is hard, with a look that says she dispises taking human life but these are the ones no one will miss and will save the world a 'world' of hurt and anquish later.

&lt;Earth&gt; Hubcap transmits - Somehow, First Aid manages to save the hostage, transforming around him, then the signal breaks into static.

Ambulance &lt;First Aid&gt; slows to a halt near Hubcap, "What are our orders--" He had been /about/ to say 'Scattershot', but the true General of Earth Defence Command makes the call. Still, flooding the place doesn't sit well with First Aid, "Ah, I'm going to guess that most of these criminals' weren't given a death sentence. Scattershot?" he says, wanting his opinion.

Scattershot gives Marissa a nod after a moment of quiet exchange. He glances at First Aid. "Autobots. Transform, roll out. This isn't our jurisdiction anymore."

"Hnn. If thems am smart, thems will start running and stuff. Or swimming. Whatever." Grimlock grunts- and he heads back for the Autobot submarine! "But me Grimlock wonder how her Marissa flood place all by her self."

Marissa Faireborn looks at Grimlock then at the others. "Just take away the sub. That'll take care of part of it."

"But-" First Aid says, looking like he's about to argue with Scattershot. He realizes he's pretty outnumbered on this vote.

BLAM! The bullet exits Silas's gun... into nothing! "What--" he blurts out, and looks around himself, finding no more hostage! Oh, wait, there he is--inside First Aid. "Dammit!" he curses. For all his efforts, he managed to capture exactly zero robots, had his organization exposed, lost several submarines, had his secret base revealed--all in all, not a great day. But he decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and so he presses his earpiece and says, "Evacuate the base. Get all our vital personnel out first." He stares down at his feet at Berger Jr. with a look of disgust. "I guess that would include you and your fellow members in the Concurrence." And he hauls the fat man up and descends down an elevator inside the panopticon tower.

If anyone has a criminal database handy they'd know that a lot of these guys, in fact, do have death sentences, which were *reported* as having been carried out. Hell, a couple guys have MULTIPLE death sentences to their name.

Cross tells the pilot to take them out of there, and above the shuttle, a massive telescoping structure extends above to the surface, eventually opening to sunlight. "Alright then. Thank you. Apocryphacius, I want to tell you something. I'm not..." He clenches his teeth. "Nevermind. It's not important." Their shuttle rises up.

"How about we call in Seaspray and another team of Autobots and EDCers to pick the place clean. There could be clues," First Aid suggests, "And anyone we capture can be interrogated for information. This MECH is still out there, after all."

"Him First Aid have good idea." Grimlock rumbles. "Besides, me Grimlock bet them gonna have harder time being evil when them secret base no am secret. Also him Hubcap put you on TV, so it look bad if you kill everybody."

Marissa Faireborn takes off running for the nearest set of stairs and begins heading upward to the control tower they saw, weapon drawn. She has to first stop anyone from leaving. She intends to destroy the computer banks that allow the telescoping structure to extend as well as open any doors to allow excape boats or subs out, efectually trapping everyone inside as she also plans to flood the tunnels and set off anything she can to explode.

Marissa Faireborn radios back, "First Aid, I said leave. Now!"

Marissa Faireborn gets on her com, "Amber, get them to leave, watch the area for anyone leaving and detain them. Those that leave we'll keep in custody."

Apocryphacius &lt;Death Face&gt; straps himself in on the shuttle. He looks a bit more alert when General Cross is about to say something, but when the man says 'nevermind', his gaze goes unfocused again. It is almost funny. He pulled General Cross all the way here from Cybertron - and now they are going back again. A one-way trip.

Scattershot watches Marissa dash with a frown. "First Aid, *get moving.* You've got VIPs. Grimlock, no one gets near him, got it? Hubcap, cease transmissions." He glances down at Amber. "You and me are going to figure out a way to free the prisonrs on this rock before this place drowns out."

Hubcap nods to Marissa and stops broadcasting, then stops short, listening to the messages flying around. His face drawn, he nods slightly, and heads for the sub.

While the heroes debate ethics, the MECH troops gather themselves up, look around in confusion, and hearing the call to evacuate, decide to scatter as fast as they can. The prisoners down below mostly watch them with various looks of annoyance, maybe betrayal. Maybe they had convinced themselves they were an important part of the organization? One guy, with a plain white baseball cap on his hat, says aloud, "Aw, man, and I was just one day away from getting my MLB hat!"

Ambulance &lt;First Aid&gt; flashes his lights in gratitude to Scattershot and peels out. "Sorry for that little delay, Mr. Wellesby. Are you feeling alright? Too hot? Too cold?" he asks as he peels through the base to the elevator. It isn't long before Aid's on the submarine level, rushing towards the craft. "There's soda in the back if you like."

"Too... bruised, more like," Wellesby says as he slumps down in First Aid's seat. "Those men... they're monsters, First Aid. They mean to plunge mankind into a dystopia and murder all of *you,* with no regard for your particular differences in ideology. I went too far in leaking their secrets, though, and they grabbed me. Beat me. First Aid... they knew you were coming. Bragged about it to me, said they'd use me as a hostage because, after all, Autobots always stand down when there's hostages involved."

Scattershot scans the structure as the rest of the group departs, spotting the tower. Scattershot leaps to the second level of cells, and then to the tower, entering the conveniently TF sized control chamber. "Alright, what do we have here...?"

Scattershot sighs as he studies the controls. "Marissa, believe me. Ah get it. Ah watched the Terrorcons slaughter my entire colony, but if I slagged 'em behind bars? Ah'd be no better..." He makes a fist in frustration. "Ah slag it." He busts out of the tower, heading after Faireborn.

Ambulance &lt;First Aid&gt; shivers (yes as a vehicle) at Wellesby's words. "Ugh. Believe me, I know exactly the sort of people that do horrific things like this. If you don't mind me saying, Ambassador, you're a hero for standing up to them despite the risk to your own life." The airlock to the submarine spirals open, letting First Aid drive right through. Once safe, the Protectobot opens his driver's side door so the man can get out and transforms back into robot mode. "I don't mean to push the issue given the plight you've been through, but tell me the truth: Can you destroy these men and women politically with what you now know?"

Ambulance &lt;First Aid&gt; flips up into robot mode.

The controls in the tower mostly control the cells, but there is an "emergency lockdown button," under which is labeled: "Do not press except in extreme circumstances!"

Wellesby's mouth forms a firm, tight line as he steps out. "Can I destroy them? I can help. I know much of their plans, how they brought all of this about, all of it. But I'll need Amber MacKenzie, and the things that she has uncovered, to put the final nail in the coffin."

Marissa Faireborn makes it up into the main control tower that works the platform and most of the overrides ot the pumps and main operating systems. There are redundent systems elsewhere but this is the first level of them. Looking at the banks of buttons, she sees what she needs and begins flipping switches. She overrides the commands and opens the bay doors on the elevatable platform while it's still underwater, letting the water in, while opening up tubs and tunnels, stopping pumps and opening persurized doors throughout the entire complex. She works frantically to over-ride the system to get as many doors to the outside open as absolutely possible. Once she's done with what she can do, she begins to destroy the console by firing several shots into it.

Scattershot is too late, to put it simply. "Damn it!" He picks up Marissa as she blows the console to hell. "Any crimes they may have committed, you just murdered them." Faireborn in hand, he bolts out, towards the tower. He clears the distance quickly, back to that IMPORTANT button... "Ah'd rather our closest allies not trade one sociopath for another, Faireborn!" He smashes the button to open the cells. "Besides, being as we just broadcast that we were here across the world...Who exactly do you think is getting blamed for this?"

That works! The entire complex begins to flood, water rushing in from every direction. The prisoners panic and flail as the water rises higher and higher, but they have nowhere to go! The Autobots may naturally want to save them, but how could they possibly save so many in such a short time frame?

Marissa Faireborn yelped as she was grabbed, "Me, that's who. I told you guys to leave!" She tries to glare at Scattershot as he bounces her around. "I didn't murder them. I'm carrying out their death sentence....that which many of them escaped. Most of them should have been dead already, but they've been allowed to live due to the stupidity and corruption of those behind the power of the United Nations."

Scattershot narrows his optics at Marissa, not letting her down. "You're a murderer. There's no way around that." He leaves the tower, watching prisoners swimming and drowning, getting the pair of them to the sub. "Roll." He says simply, putting Marissa down and walking towards the front of the sub.

Marissa Faireborn shuddered at seeing the men swimming around and knowing they were dying. She wasn't as unaffected as she made herself out to be. But she was put down roughly and after crossing her arms, she sat down. Yes, she was a murderer. Hell, she murdered to guardsman when they'd started firing at the Autobots and no one accused her of being a murderer then. This had been a hard call for her but she had spent time pouring over those reports that Noah had found on the prisoners that were kept here and it had turned her stomach, made her tremble at the thought that these men were technically free again in the world. She'd vowed to herself if she had the chance, she would take them all out if she could....and she'd just done that. There would be time for remorse later. But right now...she knew that several of the Autobots, possibly many of them, had lost their faith in her and would very likely not wish to have anything to do with her now. It was a price she was going to have to pay.

Once the Autobots have detached from the base, it turns out that, at the very least, the prisoners will have a quick death after all. Air ignites when placed under extreme pressure, and with the base opened up to the sea, that's exactly what happens. Intense white flashes burst forth from within the base, and the air, no longer trapped within, bubbles out. Anyone inside couldn't possibly have survived.

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/130                    Posted        Author Stormy Waters                     Thu Nov 08    Hubcap -- 

Hubcap's charming smile lights up the screen, although he also has water running off him, then he starts to speak. "Okay, after a series of cunning misdirection tactics, certain members of the Autobots and the EDC infiltrated a hidden underwater stronghold."

Hubcap half-turns away, punching up his own transmissions. "As you may have seen, A renegade group of humans led by this 'Silas' claim responsibility for many recent actions. Full credit to First Aid for his valiant rescue of the hostage"

He shrugs sadly. "The base had some sort of self-destruct that was triggered, we saved as many as we could."

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================================================================= ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/131                    Posted        Author Aquabse Discovery/Hostage Rescue  Thu Nov 08    Scattershot -- Text only: Cross's base of operations on Earth destroyed. He and his associates escape, though their infrastructure is severely damaged. Ambassador rescued, reports being made to the appropriate human authorities. Yesterday was a trying day. Hubcap, First Aid, Grimlock, and Elita One are hereby awarded the Gold Insignia. Based on her pristine command in the field, and quick judgment calls that saved the life of a VIP, Elita One has been awarded the Letter of Commendation, signed by myself, Hardhead, Magnus, and Prime. And...Sky Lynx. Stay vigilant, Autobots. We have a long way to go.

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