Beginnings of Betrayal

Tuesday, October 16, 2033

Catacombs Within Cybertron(#3554RntN)

The tunnels of Cybertron's catacombs are an endless maze of twists and turns, swallowing light and your sense of direction simultaneously. Chambers both small and large branch off the tunnels, concealing who knows what artifacts and creatures.

Contents:

Shockwave Komatsu D575A Superdozer &lt;Bonecrusher&gt;

Elita One

Perceptor

Crude 'W'

Obvious exits:

Up &lt;U&gt; Dark Passage &lt;E&gt;

Deep in the bowels of Cybertron's tunnels, in the places where demons and mutants are rumoured to lurk and... other... things... (possibly terrorist robot space alien women), there is a hole in the ceiling, leading all the way to the surface. It is a small hole. A Minibot would have trouble fitting down it. However, for the first time in countless eons, starlight shines down in this dank, confusing cave. In the cavern, there is a small drilling machine that definitely does not look Cybertronian in build. It sits off to the side, its drills cooling.

Near a large, glowing energon conduit, a small humanoid figures stands.

It's wearing a baseball cap.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave says, "Bonecrusher: Make a path for us."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Bonecrusher says, "AH'M GONNA BUST THIS GROUND UP DIG IT!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave says, "Be careful: we do not know how Cybertron's rebirth has affected the underground."

In the depths of Cybertron, one of its more dedicated inhabitants drives through one of the huge conduits, several hundred foot thick cables all devoted to pumping energy...at least in the Golden Age. &lt;&lt;Thanks for coming along, Perceptor. I could use an extra set of optics down here. There's simply layers after layers of unexplored regions down here.&gt;&gt; She swerves up the side of the pipe, missing a downward shaft. Using mostly her headlights, (not one word) she drives into the dark depths. &lt;&lt;I can't believe what has been happening here, Cross is a psychopath. Killing those civilians. Not every Cybertronian belongs to a faction...&gt;&gt; Perceptor has heard this rant before, twice even on this trip. &lt;&lt;...Perceptor, do you register light up ahead?&gt;&gt; She shuts off her hi-beams, coming to a stop. &lt;&lt;Is this area still active?&gt;&gt;

Komatsu D575A Superdozer &lt;Bonecrusher&gt; continues clearing out the tunnel began nearby as a part of a complex and abrupt reassessment of Polyhex defenses. Or something like that. Bonecrusher only knows he gets to knock the hell out of some underground ruins as he clears out a long forgotten tunnel. He seems...well, pretty peaceful. For the moment.

Shockwave follows just behind Bonecrusher, chestplate bathing the area in an eerie purple glow. His 9-volt battery powered nuclear reactor makes sure the tunnel the Constructicon is making is well lit. Two million, four hundred and nineteen thousand, and two hundred astroseconds ago the Wreckers smashed their way through Polyhex, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Now, with Polyhex under siege from humans as well, Shockwave is determined not to let anyone get in without his knowledge. Thus, the Decepticons are here to shore up the admittedly poor underground defences.

Perceptor had been pleased when Elita One requested that he accompany her here, as his endless thirst for knowlegde could never quit be quenched. There was so much down here that had yet to be explored and analyzed. The Autobots had been forced to evacuate Cybertron before it could all be uncovered. The scientist is lagging quite the distance behind the fembot, not only because he isn't equipped with a fast alt mode, but also because he keeps stopping to examine just about anything that happens to catch his optic. Therefore, Elita's words about Cross being a psychopath go largely unnoticed, as the scientist simply nods and 'mhms' at regular intervals throughout her various speeches. And so, when she wonders aloud about the light up ahead, a similar response is given, as he is busy examining an anomalous-looking circuit in the wall.

"Mhm...yes, of course."

Combat: Perceptor compares his Intelligence to 75: Success!

Combat: Pink Techcar &lt;Elita One&gt; compares her Intelligence to 75: Success!

Agent Yankees turns away from the glowing energon conduit, the baseball cap shading his eyes, and he address the Transformers that have managed, by sheer dumb luck, to stumble upon his little operation, "So, you think you can win the game on the seventh inning stretch? Too bad, because the bases are loaded already!" He pulls out a sickly glowing chartreuse bucket of crystals. They /reek/ and radiate a nauseating sort of green caustic smoke. Some of the Transformers may be able to identify these crystals by sight alone, though they are rather rare... thankfully.

Combat: Shockwave compares his Intelligence to 75: Success!

It is a rare toxic form of energon that is completely poisonous to Transformers and much of the machinery they use. The worst part of it though, is that it converts normal energon into this useless poisonous form. One little drop could, if dumped into that energon conduit there, theoretically kill all of Cybertron.

Pink Techcar &lt;Elita One&gt; quickly transforms into a kneeling stance, &lt;&lt;Perceptor...there's a human down here.&gt;&gt; She squints as she makes out the figure. &lt;&lt;What in blazes is he talking about?&gt;&gt; Elita, climbs atop a large pipe, crossing across closer to the figure, towards that central hub. "...Are you part of the EDC forces?" She tries not to be overly aggressive, but noting the hole that seems to lead...up quite a ways considering the light. "You don't belong down here, it is quite dangerous. Let me assist in getting you back to the surface."

The futuristic car breaks open in the middle, as the legs form upward. Her hood shifts into her armor plating with her arms coming together at the last, turning into Elita One's robot mode.

"Bonecrusher, hold," Shockwave commands the bulldozer. He hears something in the tunnels. Is it a turbofox? Autobots? With the relative silence gone from the tunnel boring, Shockwave listens intently, shutting off his chest light. He motions for the Constructicon to revert into robot mode so they can sneak up on the sound. This might not go well given which two Decepticons are trying to do the sneaking. Either way, eventually the pair wind up in the tunnel with the conduit along with Elita One, Perceptor, and Agent Yankees. "A part of Earth Defence Command, Elita One? Very likely, given Cross's prefered methods and the weapon he holds." He gestures towards the bucket of dark energon with his gun arm. Hopefully Elita wasn't planning on trying to lure Agent Yankees into a false sense of security by pretending to be ignorant of the bucket's contents.

Komatsu D575A Superdozer &lt;Bonecrusher&gt; comes to a begrudging halt on Shockwave's command, transforming into his robot mode while trying to fight off the shakes already coming from not breaking things...The old structures and ruins weren't nearly satisfying enough to sustain the demolition junkie... He tromps loudly after Shockwave down the tunnel.

Bonecrusher stops destroying everything long enough to be a robot.

Now something has caught Perceptor's attention, drawing him away from the circuit he had been analyzing. A strange energy signature, one that he had never encountered before. But from the readings he was getting, it was not good news. He hurried forward to where Elita One is standing and speaking to the human. Now how had Cross gotten ahold of such a substance? "Cross sent you here, did he not?" The scientist asks evenly, glaring down at the human.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave says, "Bonecrusher, the energon the human holds is a rare toxic variant capable of poisoning true energon. Its danger cannot be underestimated."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave says, "Forget the Autobots. Kill the human."

Elita's optics narrow, she raises a hand towards the Agent. "I don't know what you think you're doing...but you need to stop. Now." The Agent turns his back on her, "Listen to me. Despite whatever you were told, this is untolerable." She looks aside to the Decepticons. If something were to happen, she can't get there as fast. &lt;&lt;I know you can hear me, Shockwave...&gt;&gt; He starts for the bucket, "Human, Do not do this!" But he seemed committed, perhaps even a zealot. She didn't have many other options, but if that slag hit Cybertron's core... She bellows out, reaching towards him from her spot away, "STOP!" And so things stop. A violent aura of purple and pink crackle, emanating from Elita One as a visible aura, and then time stops...for the Agent. For Shockwave, this is the second time he's born witness to the event. Precious seconds are given, for Cybertron's sake.

Shockwave would argue with this human about whether he's with Cross or not, but when the man takes a step towards the conduit, Shockwave has to take action. Immediately raising his arm cannon, he prepares to fire a thin x-ray blast in order to turn the organic into a carbon stain on the ground. But before he fires, Elita One stops time for the human, saving the conduit. This opens up many new options to them. "Bonecrusher, relieve the human of the bucket. Kill the human if necessary." Shockwave then retrains his arm cannon... on the suddenly vulnerable Elita One. Perceptor has only a split second to act if he wants to stop this treachery.

Bonecrusher punches his fist into his palm. "Done and doing it, yeeeeeeeeah!" Boncrusher charges forward to grab the bucket. "And then these Autobots'll join the Nation of Devasation, DIG IT!" And then whatever Contrail decides happens as a result to this big lug doing things happens!

Perceptor is already aware of what the human is trying to do. Has been, in fact, ever since he'd detected his presence. He immediately draws his concussion weapon, hoping to disable him before he could contaminate the energon conduit and potentially destroy all of Cybertron. But alas, it would appear that he would be too late; he has already calculated that by the time he'd managed to pull the trigger on the weapon, the man would have already done it. However, Elita One's time stop aura suddenly crackles to life, granting him the precious astroseconds necessary to fire upon the human. But then Shockwave turns his weapon upon the now-vulnerable fembot, and has also ordered Bonecrusher to confiscate the toxins from the human. Thus, the scientist abruptly turns his weapon upon Shockwave instead, letting Bonecrusher deal with the contamination. Hey, why not let a Decepticon get the substance poison his systems instead of an Autobot? Perceptor is certainly cool with that. Combat: Perceptor strikes Shockwave with his Concussion Rifle attack!

Combat: Shockwave has been temporarily incapacitated.

Agent Yankees is frozen in time by Elita One's powers! He does not witness her sacrifice nor Shockwave's treachery. He does not feel anything as Bonecrusher liberates the bucket from his hands. Now Bonecrusher has a glowing bucket of lime green toxic energon that is extremely hazardous and difficult to store. Better not spill it! Yankees especially doe snot witness as Perceptor turns treachery upon treachery!

But if he did?

He'd call this amateur hour. No wonder the Transformers have never left the minor leagues.

As Bonecrusher grabs the tox-en, Shockwave prepares to end Elita One's existence. Just as he fires, though, Perceptor blasts him sqare in in the chest, sending the Decepticon crashing backwards into the wall. His x-ray blast goes wide, hitting the ceiling and boring a deep hole that causes dust and rubble to fall-a sign of what would have happened to Elita One had Perceptor been a second slower. Shockwave starts to get back up, but by this point Elita One will have time to recover. Worse, this means Bonecrusher has to decide what to do on his own!

Elita One stands there for a few moments, no sign of life, no sign of anything. For a moment, she has ceased to live, frozen in time, her heart in bondage. With her systems shut down, she can't even register the next few events. Deep in her lasercore, she had just enough hope to survive. Panels and pipes above her explode in dust and shrapnel, a large panel creaks ominously, then falls on the Femme commander, knocking her to the ground. The panel then slides off of her and into the chasm below, in a tumble down to the planet's core...

Bonecrusher looks at Shockwave's shot going wild. He looks at the Autobots. He looks at the bucket. He looks back at Shockwave. He remembers the talk about the bucket being super dangerous. Dangerous for...Autobots? Or... Everyone? He scowls. Decision time can happen later. It's time to kill Autobots the old fashioned way: bucketless. Bonecrusher transforms into BULLDOZER mode, safely containing the bucket inside some sort of Constructicon hazardous waste containment blah blah blah LOOK A BULLDOZER IS CHARGING TOWARDS PERCEPTOR! TOOOOOT TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

Bonecrusher decides to start destroying things as a bulldozer and turns into one.

Perceptor watches with satisfaction as Shockwave falls back and his shots go wide. Bonecrusher has also succeeded in taking the toxin payload. But his optics fill with concern as panel falls onto the fembot, and he hurries to her side, examining her for any serious injury. He has not yet noticed Bonecrusher rushing toward him. "Elita One, are you all right?" he asks.

Combat: Perceptor runs a diagnostic check on Elita One

Combat: Perceptor expertly repairs Elita One's injuries.

Combat: Perceptor is able to repair some of Elita One's internal systems damage.

Shockwave forces himself back up to his feet in time to see Bonecrusher charging towards the scientist and terrorist. "Attempting to poison Cybertron itself. Surely, Elita One, you realize now the folly of your alliance with this species! Perceptor, I should not have to appeal to your scientific nature for you to reach the conclusion that Earth Defence Command cannot be trusted... not by *any* Transformer." Shockwave would be blasting, but with Bonecrusher in the way there's a very good chance he'd hit him by accident instead. Thus, Shockwave activates his boot thrusters, dashing over to the side in an attempt to outflank the pair.

Time returns for Agent Yankees. Unimpressed, he dismisses casually, "Cheap robot tricks." He jumps back into his drilling machine and drills after Bonecrusher. If Yankees cannot poison Cybertron the easy way, he will do it the hard way - by drilling through Bonecrusher to get the toxic energon back!

Perceptor knows they can't be trusted, and if Shockwave had known who was -really- responsible for the destruction of Muskrat Falls, perhaps he wouldn't be trying to convince the other scientist of something he'd been persuaded was correct long ago. After managing a few repairs on Elita, he looks up to find Bonecrusher charging at him. Suddenly, he transforms, folding down into his proton microscope form, having received a comm from the fem to do so.

Perceptor folds down into his microscope secondary form.

Komatsu D575A Superdozer &lt;Bonecrusher&gt; spots a big drilling machine in his rear view.

A 'bust stuff up' alt mode challenge? Yes. Yes please. Bonecrusher hits the brakes, and reverses, full speed, towards the idiot human drill tank. "YOU THINK YOU CAN BUST ME UP?! Wellll-lllllla I HOPE YOU PACKED A LUNCH, SCRUB!" TOOOOOOOOT TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! RAMMING SPEED!

Elita One shakes her head, putting her hands under her subtley. She caught something of what Shockwave was saying, moments before he boosts himself to the other side of the pipe. Then of course is the bulldozer coming in. She pulls herself to her feet, "Please tell me at least we stopped that poison." She has just enough time to issue a quick command to her sole comrade out here...who probably just saved her life. Time to return the favor. Elita grabs Perceptor by the handle, hefting his smaller form. The scientist was many things, but not agile. /Dare! Dare to believe you can survive...? She spies herself flanked by the two. Big purple, and Mean Green. The bulldozer barrels down the pipe at full speed. Those modest repairs moments ago helped bring Elita's vaunted agility back up, and it was time to test it out. She hurdles the bulldozer's mighty front scoop. /You hold the future in your hands./ The bulldozer shifts gears as she steps over him, and into the drill. /Dare - dare to keep all of your dreams alive/ As the two machines grind into each other, she continues her run over the drill as well, leaving the Cons and this drill on the pipe in her stead. /It's time to take a stand.../ And that is when her det pack starts beeping loudly, placed on the bridge as she stood up.

/You can win if you dare!/

As Bonecrusher now reverses in order to crush the human's drill tank, Shockwave shifts his position, landing just *behind* the mysterious man. Agent Yankees now has a Constructicon in front of him and Shockwave behind him. As the drill and bulldozer grind against one another, Shockwave brings his hand down, trying to smash through the canopy of the tank so he can fish out the human. If successful, he doesn't crush the agent just yet. No, he'll leave that to Laserbeak and his special interrogation skills (and not Vortex's).

Agent Yankees is bodily yanked out of his drill tank by Shockwave, who is being surprisingly delicate about it! Without him to guide it, his tank explodes in a melted mess of thermite. Most humans would, at this point, need a change of pants. Yankees, though, seems bored, if anything. Oh, he might be about to die after being horribly tortured by Decepticons? Yawn. Really, Yankees does not care if he lives or dies. There has always been something of a... time limit on his life. Not exactly a terminal illness, but... well, one does what one has to.

Agent Yankees does make a perfunctory and competent attempt to free himself, taking one last chance at bat to accomplish his mission.

Once Elita One has planted the explosive on the bridge, Perceptor is set down where he transforms again. He nods at the fem. "Thank you, Elita One. You have acted swifly and cleverly." The scientist watches as Shockwave plucks the human from his drill tank, but does not move to attempt to assist him, even though he knows the Decepticon will most likely subject him to all sorts of horrors. Really though, if you asked Perceptor, the guy brought it upon himself. Venturing into the depths of Cybertron, trying to destroy it with toxins? Did he really expect it to be that easy? Had Cross -sincerely- thought that he could simply waltz onto Cybertron and blow it up just like that? Overconfidence was clearly one of his downfalls.

Elita barely has a moment to absently let Perceptor fall to the floor on the other side before she turns towards the chaos on the pipeline. Fire and smoke fill the air as the drill tank explodes, then her detpack, together covering Bonecrusher in smoke for the moment. The blueprint for her cannon appears, as it is summoned from subspace, aimed at Shockwave. What a magnficient sight it'd be for the Decepticons. Flames, wreckage, and Shockwave back lit by the fires as he holds a human in his one hand, seizing him majestically. "Don't do it, Shockwave. He's not the one you want. Just someone who got told a bunch of lies. You don't need him, and I'm not letting you take him. Now..." She closes an eye as she brings the cannon up, "My eyesight isn't that good, but I'm pretty sure I can bullseye your head from this distance, since you're five times the size of him. What do you think the odds are of that, since your backup JUST went up in flames."

Shockwave holds Agent Yankees as tight as he can without doing any serious damage. The Guardian of Cybertron doesn't react to Yankees's seeming indifference to his capture, but this is only because he isn't very perceptive when it comes to emotional states. He considers continuing the attack on the Autobots, but simply cannot justify it. Elita One (and any Autobot, really) understands these tunnels far better than he does, and so he declines fighting where he'd have the disadvantage. The Decepticons have the tox-en, and they have the human. "Bonecrusher, transform to robot mode. We are making our exit." With his cannon trained on the Autobots, Shockwave backs away into the tunnel he and the Constructicon used to reach this place. "Hit me without harming the human? Even you are not such a good shot, Elita One." Buff: Called.

Bonecrusher no doubt transforms to robot mode in order to follow Shockwave. We'll also assume he does something awesome that proves that Decepticons are better than Autobots.

Agent Yankees is competent at escape artistry, but Shockwave? Shockwave has had many long humiliating years of humans running between his legs, and today? Shockwave has his day! Yankees's struggles are futile. He cannot escape. And so, with one last indifferent shrug...

...his head explodes.

Hope Shockwave has something that removes blood stains!

"Hmm..." Perceptor would really prefer to at least get a sample of the toxin. But Bonecrusher seems to have secured it quite well. But perhaps the human would be worth interrogating... "Elita One, I suggest we appropriate the human for intel purposes." he suggests. "Cross must have procured the substance from another source. I doubt he has the resources to--" But then the human's head explodes. Frag it all, Cross had really thought of everything.

Elita One almost smirks at Shockwave. Five eons...and he still tries to call bluffs. Her cannon glows a mighty purple pink hue as she takes careful aim at him. Hesitation shows for a moment. 'Hesitation is the enemy...worse than all others' She is prone to say. Her cannon flashes out of space, immediately replaced by her pistols. Flares of light dart out at the cyclops and his hostage. Elita rushes forward, knowing what was to come next. Either Shockwave would drop him off the side, or she would be able to disorient him long enough to free the man. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, she readies herself for either possible outcome...but then that happened.

Shockwave is struck square in the optic by the twin pistol blast. "Argh!" his head jolts back as he falls to his knees. Then, a split-second later, the human's head detonates, coating his fingers in fleshling goo. For a brief micro-second, Shockwave indeed thinks that he must have held the human too hard. Perhaps he was overcompensating for That Incident With The Witwicky Brats? Perhaps Elita One's shot caused his hand to spasm? "Ah... that was not me," Shockwave tells the Autobots, lest they think he killed him. Despite Agent Yankees's abrupt demise, Shockwave would have liked to keep his grip on the body, but Elita's shot forced him to drop the mysterious human. Now without any bargaining chip and facing down a very undesirable position, Shockwave turns and starts running down the tunnel, followed by Bonecrusher.

Perceptor watches Shockwave flee down the tunnel from whence he came. Once the other scientist is gone, he carefully picks his way back over to where Shockwave had been standing with the human, and proceeds to appropriate the dead human's body before making his exit. It might not be of much use, but it was likely that Cross has implemented some biological enhancements in order to enable the man to survive on another planet not suited to human life without special equipment.