Return of Planet XXX

Transformers 2K5 - Prowl - jeudi, septembre 25, 2014, 10:40

Grand Central Spaceport - Six Lasers System

New York copied us. Honest!

Grand Central Station slowly orbits the Six Lasers sun in a preplanned flight path that keeps it in as close of proximity to the other planets as possible. It serves as the central hub for all traffic, and is a major habitat for visitors who want a safe place to stay while checking out the attractions. A gleaming white beacon, the station has four main arms reaching out from a centralized cylindrical hub. Each arm is unique in the modules it it contains, though all have various antennas and docking ports jutting out at every angle. Several of the arms feature recent and ongoing construction.

The station's interior is incredibly varied, able to service beings of every size and make. Even the gravity is modular. Habitat modules serve as gigantic hotels where one can check in. Recreation and theme park style attractions, including roller coasters, merry go rounds, bumper cars, and more exotic rides are available. Marketing is heavy here, as one cannot swing a Cassetticon without hitting a souvenir shop. Shuttles are available to every attraction that Six Lasers has to offer.

Contents: Rodimus Prime Repugnus

This room is a shuttle room. You can type '+destinations' to take an auxillary shuttle from here.

Crusade has arrived.

Kremzeek's Office. Grand Central Station.

The mascot/CEO of Six Lasers has requested the help of the Autobots with a developing situation, promising to compensate them financially in exchange. He was tight-lipped about the reasons why before they came, but as they enter, Kremzeek looks up from his desk and says, "THEY FOUND PLANET XXX!" Cue dramatic musical sting.

Kremzeek is also wearing a cast for some reason.

Prowl blinks at the news. The Galaxy -LOST- a planet. Not some friggin' car keys no sir. A whole planet and now someone found it back. "Ok this might sound like a stupid question but...Did they found it back where it was?

Prowl blinks at the news. The Galaxy -LOST- a planet. Not some friggin' car keys no sir. A whole planet and now someone found it back. "Ok this might sound like a stupid question but...Did they found it back where it was? Was it moved? And who is 'they'?"

Considering all the gunfire and electrocutions in the war they've had with Gycony, Rodimus Prime was interested in the request from Six Lasers. He mostly expected this to be a way for Kremzeek to negotiate next year's Olympics early, to cut out any last minute altercation. Rodimus enters the room, his hand raized, "Kremzeek, it's always a.." He pauses as the mascot bursts out with his revelation, then puts a hand on his hip, his other to his chin, "Planet XXX, eh? Always heard, never visited." He coughs to himself, then puts his hands behind his back, Prowl's comments are echoed with a gesture towards the Intel officer, "Those questions, too."

Crusade keeps silent, staying behind the higher-ranking bots. He's not sure of what this Planet XXX is, so there's not much for him to say. As he listens, he peers at Kremzeek intently, trying to guess at the reason why he's wearing the cast.

"Oh, right, good questions!" Kremzeek says. "Well, see, Planet XXX pulled out of orbit in system! Was in outermost orbit, and took us time to find out where it went to! As for who found it, well, was incoming tourist ship coming in to system, happened to coincidentally pass by it!" Kremzeek looks anxious. "This really bad! Six Lasers not equipped to handle something of this magnitude!" He loads up a video showing what looks like a smog-laden planet that seems to just ooze sleaze... and something very, very large slowly engulfing it. It's almost like a planet itself, with a rich and vibrant ecosystem, but which split open to consume this other world!

"Planet XXX being eaten by other planet!" Kremzeek says. "Legend say this is PLANET MONSTER!"

Rodimus's denial gets a raised brow from the mascot. "Me thought you been to XXX before, had good time?..."

"PLANET MONSTER, YOU SAY?" Rodimus responds loudly the moment, Kremzeek starts questioning him. His voice comes back down a notch, as the subject is changed "It's nothing I've ever seen before, though the Autobots have seen their share of world devourers. Have any scouts checked out the planet, or some initial scans at least to help ascertain how and why this is happening?"

Prowl looks at the 'planet monster'. "Somehow...I did not see that one coming. I was expecting spatial anomaly, or spacebridge or something like that." Now it is his turn to motion towards Rodimus "Those questions too."

"Nobody want to go near planet," Kremzeek says. "Life insurance policy not generous enough! Try to hire mercs, but we have zoologist who say that Planet Monster stripping Planet XXX of all life, and will leave it barren! Supposed to have done this before many times. Planet Monster itself actually one big life form, too, with things living on it!" He sighs. "You closest thing to giant monster experts. If only we knew guys who been there before!"

Meanwhile, back in Autobot City, Repugnus throws darts at a picture of Rodimus Prime's face.

"Tried to contact survivors on Planet XXX, but they not talk long before they start screaming and hear things coming after them! Planet XXX infested with monsters now, not just the one eating it!" Kremzeek says. "Too dangerous, employees too cowardly." His head shakes.

Arcee has arrived.

Meanwhile on Rodimus' desk, stuck to the bottom of one drawer specifically, is a request through the channels for Repugnus to be reissued back into Intelligence, citing his counter intelligence skills as a use to Tarn. "And so you want us to go check it out, see if we can reverse the process, or at the very least save as many innocents as possible." He doesn't even hesitate as he crosses his arms, "Planet XXX was rather small, all things considered....Fine, but we'll need evac transports that're willing to land at least, a headcount of everyone who was on the clock there or touristing the resort and anyone else who may've disappeared in that time frame. I can't promise we'll save the planet...giant sentient organisms don't like their lunches being disrupted, but we'll do everything we can for the populace."

Prowl ponders the size of 'infestation' "Infestation is a big word. Are we talking a couple of of dozens or dozens of hundreds?" He checks his ammo, spare ammo. All ready. "Ready when you are Rodimus."

"Need one more?" Arcee asks. Wait, when did she get there? Apparently, she was just behind Prowl.

Rodimus Prime looks over his shoulder, "Arcee. Glad you could make it. I'm sure Planet XXX for all of its quirks, could use every hand available. Welcome aboard."

"That it in a nutshell!" Kremzeek says. "Me hoping you'd have ships already..." He seems crestfallen for a moment, then he quickly brightens as he gets an idea! "Ooh, me know! Me tell them you kill Unicron, so killing this monster be no problem for you!" Because that's how it works, of course! "We no know how many monsters there are there! Could be dozens of millions! People too scared to get headcount, or in process of being eaten. So we just say, probably a lot!"

Kremzeek picks the phone up off his desk. "Me make calls, set this up!"

SPINNY!

Soon the Autobots are leading a convoy of merchant vessels turned rescue vessels on a course for Planet XXX! One of them hails whatever ship the Autobots are riding on to say, "Go kick that planet's ass, Rodimus!" and there's a chorus of whoops and hollers from the other ship captains.

http://youtu.be/1vU7XqToZso

"...." Arcee stares at the radio for a moment, then just shakes her head. "Why do I have a feeling we're getting in over our heads," she mutters.

Rodimus Prime rubs his temple, "...slay one enormous planet eater." Rodimus shakes his head, at the controls of the Autobot shuttle. A weak smile crosses his face at all the comm chatter. << Alright, listen up. Stay in orbit until we've ascertained the situation. If there's sign of assault on your position, radio us about it, then pull back. >> He looks over towards his team, "Well I can't say this is the strangest situation we've been in, but if there are still civilians on Planet XXX after all this time, it must be a relatively slow process. Prowl, got anything useful on Planet Monster?"

Combat: Prowl compares his Intelligence to 90: Failure :(

Prowl looks at Rodimus and shurgs "I am a military strategist, not a xenobioplanetologist. Given that there are only legends about such a thing. The attacks must be VERY infrequent. Maybe if we just evac and let it feed we will not hear about it for another million years. Just considering our options."

Blast Off has arrived.

Up ahead, Planet XXX looms... as well as Planet Monster, in the process of stripping it of life. The cheering diminishes when the captains get a look at the thing. One has to imagine a planet's crust splitting open like the skin of an orange, and that skin stretching, reaching out to an adjacent orange, slowing pulling its neighbor within itself. That's kinda like what's happening here, and the Autobots can get an occasional, horrifying glimpse of Planet Monster's glistening innards, likely now filled to the brim with cheap booze, unfaithful husbands, and strippers. Stopping this thing is unlikely to be as simple as whipping out the Matrix!

Rodimus Prime gives a soft nod of his head, "Noted." He clicks the radio to silent mode as he continues, "It may very well be irreversible, even without the consideration of Planet Monster itself dying, if it is truly alive." His words end just as the planet comes into view. "What in the name of..." He slows the ship for a moment, sputtering an oath "pppfff..... This...is going to be a problem. Something tells me that this isn't so much a darkest hour, as much as it is a clash of tawdry and crude hours...I'll bring us in closer...see what we can see." With that, he does indeed bring the shuttle in closer towards Planet Monster, awestruck by the strange and savage nature of the planet.

As they near the planets, Arcee stares at the monitor. "...Okay...between all the rescue ships, we can save...what, several thousand? Maybe?? And that's if we're really packing them into the ships' cargo holds."

Crusade stares wordlessly at the Planet Monster, his mouth hanging open in pure and utter shock. Words fail him completely. All he can manage is a frightened "...eep!" sort of noise.

Rodimus Prime warns, "Stay frosty, Bots. We'll do everything we can, we're more than just 'the guys that punch Galvatron in the face', although I am at a loss with it. Someone get on the radio and scanners, see if we can pick up any distress signals or readouts that may be useful."

Prowl looks at the magnitude of the problem. "On it Rodimus." The strategist begins to check for readouts and tries to process everything as fast as possible. Extrapolating data and scenarios given the very unusual situation.

As the convey approaches further yet, more details become clear. There appears to be a cluster of buildings in the middle of the planet, directly opposite of Planet Monster's attack, constantly flashing what look like distress lights. Now that they're closer, Prowl can pick up multiple radio-based calls for help as well, albeit with considerable interference. However, landing to approach any survivors may be difficult as the Autobots can already see some of the lesser monsters *from space*, as well as swarms of flying monsters, too.

"...Those creatures are absolutely massive," Arcee exclaims. "How are we going to distract them or even run interference on the scale we need to do it?"

Rodimus Prime 's faceplate tightens as he views the scene. He reaches up to a few switches, changing the radio over to a loudspeaker function, as he closes in on the spacebound inhabitants << Attention denizens of Planet Monster. This is Rodimus Prime of the Autobots, we are here to secure the civilians aboard this planet. We request that you allow the transports access to remove all inhabitants of Planet XXX. >> He shakes his head, "The planet looks like a lost cause, if those flying monsters swarm in, we'll have to discourage them. Set weaponry to 40 percent power, unless they start damaging the craft. There's still a chance this doesn't have to end up being any worse than it is." And there's still a chance we won't be eaten by this thing either...

Prowl nods in agreement with Arcee. "Indeed, I was expecting dinobot-sized beasts but this...Even with all three Autobot gestalt I am not certain we could fight those to a standstill." He hears the order to set at 40 percent and thinks it is a bit on the low end but enough for a warning shot. "Arcee you have the guns. I will stay on the comm."

Crusade tears his gaze away from the Planet Monster and shakes off his horror before looking up at Rodimus. "Orders, sir?" he inquires. He's pretty good at keeping his nervousness from showering, or at least he thinks he is.

 Rodimus Prime says, "Arcee, designate port side firepower to Crusade's station. We're not on the offensive here, but anyone that decides we're easy prey is going to get a stiff declaration otherwise."

Perhaps to Rodimus's surprise, he gets a reply from Planet Monster! <<Uh, Autobots! Wow, this is kind of a surprise. We usually don't get people trying to communicate with any of us. People tend to think we're just animals. Well, okay, most of us are, but not all of us! My species is pretty smart, for instance, and it turns out our antennae are perfect for intercepting radio transmissions! Anyway, uh, sorry, not sure we wanna comply with that request. I mean, it can be pretty tough to catch a meal on Planet Monster on a good day, so a buffet of helpless creatures like this other planet has is a rare opportunity!>>

The Autobot ship is assaulted by a swarm of flying monsters the moment it breaks the atmosphere, but these monsters don't have antennae, in case anyone was wondering.

Arcee nods to Prowl. She realizes why they're shooting warning shots, but the urgency of the situation really makes her want to shoot 150% power shots at them. It's probably a good thing that what *she* wants isn't what's taking place here. Hearing Rod's orders on channel, she nods and gestures to a second console. "Okay. Crusade, you've got port guns."

Rodimus Prime puts a hand to his face, and sighs. "Alright, Autobots, I hope you're ready to scrap, because it's on!" Rodimus gets back on the open frequency, << Alright Planet Monster citizen, let me make something clear. Whether or not we're too late to save the planet itself, we're *going* to save the civilians there. If I have to smash each and every one of you to do it, I will. I've done it to protect others before, I'll do it again." He turns his head to Prowl, ensuring Arcee can see him, and shakes his head, then adds, <> The fact he's negotiating just after entering an atmosphere, trying to dodge spaceborne monsters, has got to give him a bit of a 'less hothead than usual' credit, right? "Light em up, Bots. They need to see we're not easy food for them."

Prowl keeps track of targets around the ship along with the firing angles in-case one of them goes for a gun-blind spot. "Doing allright so far. The Wreckers will be sorry they missed this."

"On it, ma'am!" Crusade takes position at the second console and awaits further instruction, his fingers tapping lightly against the controls in anticipation. He cringes slightly as the swarm approaches - but hey, the shuttle has weapons. They're not completely defenseless out here. Even better, the order to use them just went out! He wastes no time in lighting 'em up.

"Keep the power at 40% of normal unless we get orders to up the power," Arcee tells Crusade. "We're basically just trying to warn them off so we can...hopefully...get to the evacuees." Arcee then concentrates on the starboard array, zapping as many monsters as she can target...and probably making them extremely unhappy in the process.

<> comes the reply. <>

Meanwhile, the flying creatures seem to waste little time experimentally scraping and scratching at the shuttle, but the moment the ship begins to shoot at them, they zip away quickly, some of them smouldering from low powered energy blasts. They had been used to easy prey that couldn't fight back, and encountering something that could shoot at them was a rude surprise.

The Autobot ship approaches a big cluster of buildings, and it seems that many of the remaining civilians have gathered hopefully on the rooftops, braving possible monster attacks in the hopes of rescue.

Rodimus Prime tries to bring the shuttle in closer to the city proper, at least if these swarms let up, he could. <> He pauses, then says aside, "Fifty shanix says I'm talking to the Planet right now, any takers?"

"Oh, don't even say that," Arcee asides. But she knows Rod's probably right...

You say, "You don't want tok know the odds on that."

<> comes the reply transmission from what might be Planet Monster itself. <>

Meanwhile, swarms of monsters dart about the perimeter of the Autobot ship, occasionally lunging at it to try and test the gunners' aim before darting back in. Behind the Autobots, the merchant vessels are anxiously approaching the rooftops holding civilians, expecting the monsters to come back in force at any moment. They could be right, as some of the larger (MUCH larger) monsters seem to notice the newcomers and are beginning to approach, and suffice it to say that nothing that's been constructed on the planet so far is much of an impediment to their progress.

Arcee continues aiming and firing at the flying monster swarms. "...I don't really need to mention this, but...I think we're going to need to up our firepower, pretty soon," she mentions. "...Crusade, you doing alright? Are you seeing ship-sized bogies, now? I think I saw one bigger than a couple of the rescue vessels."

Crusade hesitates, squinting through the viewpoint. "I'm doing fine, ma'am. And I see them too. They're getting bigger. Uh... this is bad, right?" He changes targets to one of the huge monsters, sends a volley of warning shots at it.

Rodimus Prime scowls, << Alright, fine. I don't care who you are, if I have to fight you to get these people out of here, I'll do it, but you've got to call off the monsters. You said you're pretty tough, fine. I took out the God of Death, the Chaosbringer. You up for that sort of challenge? >> He looks grimly back to Arcee, "If they hold off, we're going to need the Steelhaven or the entire fleet out here. It's bad enough we're shooting them down, but it's just not stopping them!"

There's a pause on the other end of the line! <<...YOU took down Unicron? Hm.>> Another pause. <> Planet XXX begins to shake, and the reason is apparent as Planet Monster begins to retract from the other world. The other monsters take notice, and not seeming to want to be left behind, chase after it. <<...never much cared for Unicron anyway.>>

Rodimus Prime just stares at the sight before him, "Well that was unexpected." He takes a quick intake then gets back on the radio, << Glad we've cleared up that issue...alright, you name the setting, you'll get your fight." Rodimus tilts, his yellow 'wings' obscuring his faceplate until he leans over closer to the others, "Let's start getting these civilians evacuated, before it changes its mind."

"Whaaaat? What just happened??" Arcee asks in amazement. "...Did that thing just.../run/?" She doesn't laugh, as this situation is a serious mess, still! However, she's really amused at the sudden change-in-plans for the abominable planet-sized atrocity.

Prowl nods "But this might buy us enough time to bring in the Steelhaven in order to make larger trips and maybe bring an Autobot gestalt...in case things go spinward." Yes because south has no meaning in SPACE!

Rodimus Prime muses, "Let's charitably call this one a draw." He adjusts the shuttle to come in close to Planet XXX itself, <> He lets out a sigh of relief, "It'll do for today...but a sentient planet eater...that's going to bite us in the aft again someday." ***** *** *  *      *   *   *      *   ***  ***   **** *  * ***       *    *  *   *     ***  *   *     ***  ***  **    *  * ** * **      *   *** *** ***  *   * *** ***  *   * *  * ***   **** *  * ***  * * * * *