Information Crucial to Progress

Geyser Crater Apartment Complex

Once the site of a dead crater caused by a destroyed energon geyser, Cybertron's reformatting has created an apartment complex along the Cybertronian Highway.

With the crater walls now providing excellent cover from the elements, the complex consists of four jet black buildings with bright lines running along the exterior. Windows allow the interior lighting to be seen from far away. The central building is a tall, forty-story tower that reaches high into the sky, while the others are smaller commercial buildings. The apartments are upscale, but despite modifications to reinforce their structure, they aren't particularly durable.

Numerous transforming sky ways, some still in the process of regeneration while others are now fully functional, can be seen connecting this region to the New Maintenance Center to the east and the Old Cybertron Highway to the west.

So, a mysterious residential complex has risen out of the Geyser Crater, once the site of a destroyed energon geyser. A gunship has gone missing. Retoris has split apart, and strange satellites have been observed trying to cyberform Mia. Someone or something powerful seems to be at work here, and Blurr is determined to search out this strange occurrence and see what, if anything, he can find out. Maybe if he could track down the survivors of the gunship that went down, they might have some information that might shed some more light on who or what was behind all the strange and disturbing phenomena that had been taking place recently.

The blue courier speeds across the landscape, a small team accompanying him to the complex. He gets as close as he dares to the structure to determine what he might be up against--last he'd heard from Hardhead was that it had been overrun with Insecticons, if that was still the case, they'd have to move fast...

The apartment stands as many will remember it. Tall, dark, and actually quite handsome to look at. The Decepticons have re-purposed the civilian buildings towards the war effort, though, and lime green construction vehicles are rolling about outside, adding on reinforcement plates to ensure the place can withstand bombardment. Decepticon sentries are present as well, but they're relatively light. The Cons have been spread out thanks to all the recent developments. There are still some Insecticons about, but the horde has been thinned out dramatically of late. Furthermore, there's still cracks in the ground from the upheaval, and if the Bots are going underground they need only reach one of them. If they're careful, they can make it without being spotted.

Ambulance  drives alongside Blurr, pushing his little engine in an attempt to keep up with Blurr's slowest speed. In truth he thinks this is a fools errand, and there's a zero percent chance that the crew of the gunship is still alive, but Blurr spoke with such passion in wanting to find them that he couldn't resist getting swept up in it. He knows how important this is to the speedster.

Ranger, on the other hand, is having a hard time slowing down to keep position with Blurr. Transforming, he drops nimbly to his feet in a position where he can get a good look at the complex.

Skull-Faced Samurai Warrior < Bludgeon> looms from above, atop the tallest building. The actual need to be so high is negligible, his eyesight isn't so supreme that he can gaze upon the horizon without issue. He rests on one knee as he looks down from his position. His fiery gaze looks down upon the sentries in the area with a calculating eye. With a leap, he springs closer to the other side of the building then repeats the process. The warrior sighs softly as he checks up on the soldiers in the area. <> He pauses, his optics zoom in on a ground floor sentry who seems to be doing that 'mocking with his hand' bit at Bludgeon's words. He raises his arm towards the offender, then angles slightly off. An electric fireball at the lowest setting streaks down to within feet of the soldier. Bludgeon repeats himself, <> His words are not a mere threat, they are life, they are the inspiration from one warrior to a potential comrade. He places his hands at his back as he stands up straight, towering over the area. "Better than the Insecticons at least..."

Cassette mode Frenzy doesn't exactly do stealth, letting his avian cassetticon brothers take that route. Still, as he flies in low towards the ground, his small frame leaving little trace for autobot radar to detect him. Taking a position at near the rim of the crater, down from the lip, taking in the view down below before he glides down to get a better look from the ground.

Cassette mode Frenzy transforms into his Frenzy mode.

Blurr might have made it sound like this was all about rescuing potential survivors of the downed gunship, but really, that wasn't his primary objective. Sure, it would be nice if they could get someone back to Iacon alive, but the real purpose of all this? Information. To find out as much as he can about whatever caused this strange occurence, and if it's associated with that odd factory observed that was observed at Retoris. He's thinking that it probably is...but the person or entity behind it still remains a mystery.

<p class="MsoNormal">Scanning the area, he picks up on the sentry drones as well as Bludgeon standing atop the building. "Seems the swarm has thinned out, that's good." he says in the a low voice to First Aid and Ranger. "Positive ID on Bludgeon, not sure if there's anyone else of note around." The speedster then points toward the cracks in the ground near the complex. "It's looking like those are going to be our best bet for getting in. If we're fast enough, we should be able to get down there without being spotted by any of the patrols."

<p class="MsoNormal">Not far ahead of the Autobots is one of the newly created chasms that leads into the depths of Cybertron. The Autobots can rapel down, fly, or if they're suicidal, jump. If one looks over the edge, they'll find that it goes way, WAY down, and the closer you get, the more you can barely hear a deep, far off rumble echoing up through the chasm walls.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ambulance <First Aid> and company reach the chasm, and he slows down. "You know, getting down is going to be easy. Getting up less so." To Ranger, he asks, "If we need an evac, are you going to be able to fly us up with those walls being so close?"

<p class="MsoNormal">So far, it seems as though Frenzy has gone unnoticed by either side, but now that he's here, he sends a short radio burst so the other Decepticons are aware of his presence. As for the autobots, he's still oblivious to them, taking in the sights of the towering buildings around him, stepping out from behind one to examine the interior of the crater as well.

<p class="MsoNormal">Skull-Faced Samurai Warrior < Bludgeon> raises his head, noting the distance. Perhaps being so high up did aid his guarded behavior. "Rust cloud in the distance...." He scowls as he investigates closer, putting his foot on the apartment block's edge. "A shuttle flying in too low. No notification...." He makes up his mind, <<Decepticons, to arms. Double Time. Secure the area.>> The comm immediately responds, <<We've already secured the area, sir!>> The samurai scowls...it's default for him, <<Secure it again, Autobots are inbound.>>

<p class="MsoNormal">With that, he leaps from the tall 40 story building, and unsheathes his blade. Bludgeon leaps down, his arms high above his head, his legs tucked in in a classic pose. With a mighty slam, he cracks the pavement, and is off towards the incursion. <<Air support and Security Teams 4 and 7, with me. Teams 2 and 3, be wary of possible flanks. Snipers to stations.>> With rust and dust trailing off behind him, Bludgeon moves to confront the incoming forces!

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger shrugs a shoulder at First Aid. "If I can't fit in the gap, I can throw you a line, I've hauled heavier weights on my cables."

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off sits quietly atop a spire, admiring the view. Well, as much as he can appreciate a view that isn't outer space. Frankly, he's rather bored, and can think of things he'd rather be doing (like blasting Autobots) but having a quiet time to just sit unbothered by anyone else is rather pleasant. And then he gets Budlgeon's signal. Well, there's goes quiet- but here comes blasting Autobots! Fair trade. He shifts forward, ionic blaster in hand, and looks around for anything suspicious.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ambulance <First Aid> transforms into robot mode and gives a silent thumbs up to Ranger. Then he peers off at the new Decepticon tower, terrified that they're going t- ah shoot. "Blurr... Blurr, I think we've been made." First Aid kneels and takes out his climber's gear from his trunk-knees and hooks it up to the side of the cliff. He constantly looks up nervously as he sees a team of Decepticon marching and flying his way. Of those, it's only Bludgeon that really terrifies him.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ambulance <First Aid> flips up into robot mode.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Slag it, we've been spotted!" Blurr hisses. "Quick, let's get down there--I don't think the Cons are as familiar with the underground as we are. We'll have the advantage there, and we might even be able to lose them. If Ranger can't get us our ticket out of there, I should be able to lead us to the Debris near Crystal City, or one of our underground outposts."

<p class="MsoNormal">And with that, he leaps into the chasm, literally bouncing off of the opposite walls to get down without taking too much fall damage. Hopefully, the walls don't get too far apart toward the bottom...

<p class="MsoNormal">Frenzy lands uncerimoniously on his behind with an 'Oof!' as Bludgeon leaps down from out of nowhere! "Watch where ya land buddy! You might have scrapped me!" Big talk from a small audio processor. Still, watching Bludgeon take off towards the incoming autobots, Frenzy can't help but laugh with manical glee as he gets up to chase after the Warrior con, "Wait for me! I wanna bash some bots too!"

<p class="MsoNormal">With his arms behind him like an anime figure, ninja or otherwise, Bludgeon closes in on his foes. "Intruders! Whatever your mission here is, it is undone...by the will of BLUDGEON!" His name resonates as if blood red and in 36 pt type. Decepticon sentries move forward to firing positions, several of them opening fire ineffectively from the distance. Bludgeon scowls as he approaches the hole, firing a modest sidearm as he approaches as well. Contempt in his voice as he gets to the hole's edge, << Infiltrators and medical support. Leave the medic be until he becomes a threat.>> He gestures to First Aid accusingly! "Medic, dispense with your mission here, and leave this place. Stay and fight, and you risk my wrath." His burning eyes regard the others, noting some motion down into the chasm. << Blast Off, one of them has infiltrated the chasm here, engage him. I will hold these at bay.>>

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid stares back at Bludgeon with a look of muted horror. "Sorry, we're here on a mission of mercy. You have my word that we aren't acting against the Decepticons." With that, he jumps down the chasm, holding onto the cable for dear life. Unlike Blurr, First Aid is taking a more normal approach by rappelling His feet touch the face of the cliff briefly before pushing himself off, steadily descending while holding onto the cable that reaches up to the surface. The Protectobot isn't really looking down where he's going, though. Instead he's looking up out of concern for what's going to happen when Bludgeon and his murder team decides that a 'mission of mercy' equals 'easy pickings'.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off watches from his perch on high, looking down on others (one of his favorite pastimes, after all). He suddenly spots movement- ah! There's the Autobots! His optics gleam as he spots Blurr zooming by...oh, the day just got much more interesting! He receives Bludgeon's next message. <<Understood.>> Blast Off launches from his perch and flies down to pursue the 'Bot inside the chasm. OH, is that Blurr down there? "This is my lucky day...." he says gleefully.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "Aid! Quick, get down here and get out of their line of sight!"

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "You too, Ranger!"

<p class="MsoNormal">The deeper the Autobots go, the louder and closer the rumblings get. The Decepticons above can hear it as well. There's the sound of gears grinding against one another, of cables sliding along intricate pulley systems, and the low thoom of heavy duty machinery working. As they get lower and their optics adjust to the darkness, they can see a whole new world. A massive road way is being pulled along a conveyor belt while just a few metres up a set of assembly arms is fashioning what looks like a complicated motor covered in pink tron lines.

<p class="MsoNormal">Just to the side of this sight are rows upon rows of small drones like the one encountered by Velum. Thousands of them, all offline, waiting patiently in their assembly bays for unseen orders. A fully fledged rocket assembly is carted past, narrowly avoiding the dozens of arms putting together wall panels at a frantic speed. Facing the drones is an ancient computer monitor, spilling out unreadable code. For all of its chaotic efficiency, the place is a mess. There's machinery littering the area, both in the new style of the reformatting and the old, rusted style of the Cybertron we know.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger watches everyone else leave, finding himself alone with BLUDGEON (the name is bigger than the speech bubble.) "Uhhh, Hi. Look, this really is a mission of mercy, we're responding to an emergency. It'd be dishonourable not to.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "Ranger! Get your aft /down/ here!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Skull-Faced Samurai Warrior < Bludgeon> regards the scene quietly. He steps around the crater wordlessly, he eyes Ranger. His blade drags willfully along the ground, making a static hissing sound, crackling as it cuts into the planet without any effort at all. He regards the transport. "This...." He drags out, "Is *not* your territory. None of you are warriors true, not even what the Autobot's consider warriors. It's not....proper to execute noncombatants. So you are to be captured. Detained." As more guards move inward, he commands over the radio <<Move to capture. We'll see what truth is in their words.>> He kneels down, inspecting the long cables, then pointedly glances at Ranger. His hand moves to touch the cable, "Do not provoke my sense of honor again, Autobot, or despite your unworthiness, I WILL strike you down." He grasps ahold of the cable and pulls upon it, hard! It may not be enough to pull First Aid back to the surface, but the message is clear. The Autobots live only due to his courtesy.

<p class="MsoNormal">As soon as Blurr touches the bottom of the chasm, he dashes away from the opening above and ducks behind some machinery. Good, lots of cover down here. It's kind of a crazy sight, but the speedster is focused on not getting murdered by Bludgeon and the other 'Cons. Besides, this is just like what was reported to be seen at Retoris. He glances over at the strange computer console as foreign code scrolls across its displays. He'll have to check that out later, once he's figured out how to lose the Decepticons...

<p class="MsoNormal">The courier watches First Aid rapel down from the crater, but where is Ranger? <<Ranger, get your aft down here!>> he shouts over the comm.

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid rapel, rappel, rappel to freedom!... at least, until Bludgeon grabs the cable and YANKS! "-ulp!!" The Protectobot is flung a short ways upwards, losing his grip on the rope as it's torn away from him. His finger nails claw at the cable but it's no use. First Aid begins to fall, fall, fall!

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off  rockets past Bludgeon and Ranger, focused on the 'Bots down below- especially Blurr. He whips past cables, noting the strange sounds and sights of the ancient machinery. But his primary focus is a certain hovercar. Coming to the bottom, he lands among the wreckage. "Uck." He looks around in disgust at the mess.... up above was nice and neat and orderly, this place needs some major cleanup. But nevermind. He looks about, ionic blaster raised. "Come out, come and play, Blurr!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Frenzy doesn't let Bludgeons silly code of ethics get in the way of shooting any Bots but before he can, he steps up to the rim of the chasm towards the machinery below and watches. "Does shootin dem first and then capture when they're in itty bitty peices count Bludgeon?" It's a rhetorical question anyways, the larger con rarely pays him any mind. "I was gonna cut the cable but sending them falling like that is pretty mean too. I like it!" Again, Blast Off nearly gives Frenzy some new burn marks as he rockets into the chasm before he draws his two blasters off his back and points them squarely at Ranger. "Too bad Bludgeon here's just a big softy after all, i'd rather shoot you were you are." In fact, he aims a few laser blaster bolts at the ground under Ranger just to prove his point.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger raises his hands in a placating gestureas he backs towards the edge of the crater. "Hey, you know us Autobots, we're do-gooders, we were trying to do good." He looks over his shoulder at the gaping maw of the crater, then sighs. "I hope I live to regret this..." Then Frenzy shoots the ground from under his feet, and Ranger falls... My that's a long way down.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Ranger says, "On my way, sort of."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "Ieeeee!"

<p class="MsoNormal">"Awww, frag it..." Blurr mutters as he watches First Aid's cable get yanked and the medic fall toward the bottom. And then Ranger also takes a tumble. Grumbling, he runs at a wall--and then up it. Gauging the distance that his comrades have fallen already, he launches himself off of it and onto one of those giant mechanical arms. From there he leaps at Ranger and First Aid, attempting to grab them or at least break their fall!

<p class="MsoNormal">As he gets close to the medic, he mutters, "You know, I never did make it to the repair bay after Koriolis..."

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off is walking along the ground, stepping over debris as needed when he hears a commotion nearby. Gripping his rifle, he inches along with his arms to either side, using the flotsam and jetsam as cover, until he peers around a corner and spots Blurr. Violet-gray optics flash in the gloom. For the moment, he decides to watch what happens as the 'Bot attempts to save his friends, keeping his rifle trained on Blurr the whole time.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Ranger says, "Make a hole!"

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid plummets down towards what would surely be certain death via the machinery below when Blurr runs up the wall and snatches him out of thin air before landing on one of the mechanical arms. "Ooof!" First Aid exclaims as he's set down. "Whew! I thought I was a goner for a second. Thanks Bl... uh... Blurr, where are we?" The Protectobot looks around at all the whirling mechanical action. "Just think of what good we could do with all this," he murmurs. "We could rebuild the entire planet..."

<p class="MsoNormal">Aid snaps out of it only when Blurr mentions he's still hurt. "You... serious? Aw, c'mon Blurr! Do I need to give you the speech about proper maintenance again? Don't you read those pamphlets I hand out?!" Despite his exasperation, First Aid does grab his medical kit and get to work, even while the pair of them are on the mechanical arm, which is still rapidly moving back and forth as it puts together traffic light after traffic light after traffic light. Looking up towards the surface, First Aid squints. "Is that Blast Off up there? Ranger, are you keeping an optic on him? Is he coming down here?"

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid expertly repairs Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>'s injuries.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid is able to repair some of Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>'s internal systems damage.

<p class="MsoNormal">The hovercar quickly unfolds upward and outward to reveal the fastest terrestrial Cybertronian in the galaxy, Blurr!

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger tries to judge the available space around him, then angles himself specifically. "Never tried /this/ before..." then he transforms, main engines facing down and firing as he brakes his descent.

<p class="MsoNormal">Panels shift at such an incredible speed that they seem to blur and....expand? until a large transport rests before you.

<p class="MsoNormal">Looking up towards Bludgeon, Frenzy peers back down as the action seems to have shifted down into whatever it is down there. He stands up straight and flexes his arms, shifting quickly into two large pylons. "Watch the first step dere' flyboy!" <<Fine! I'll behave for now, but if any of dem bots try and make a getaway, this chasm may become a dead end!>>

<p class="MsoNormal">Blurr is relieved as he manages to snatch First Aid out of the air, though Ranger seems to be out of range. Fortunately, the other Autobot is able to use his flight mode to break his own fall. The speedster and the medic bounce off of the arm and skid across the floor before coming to a stop. Somehow, First Aid's managed to throw in some repairs through all of that. Guess he's just that good. But perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, after all he once snapped Silverbolt out of stasis lock while free-falling from lower orbit...

<p class="MsoNormal">Blurr takes a brief astrosecond or two to recover from the fall, then stands up, glancing around to see if they've lost the Decepticons. It would appear that they're still topside, though he doesn't see Blast Off since he was busy trying to save First Aid. "Looks like we lost 'em for now..." he mutters, and moves over to the strange console. "Huh." The code is unintelligible and damaged, as if parts of it were missing. "This code language isn't like any I've ever seen before...still, I can tell it's damaged." Examining the controls on a holo-display, he activates what appears to be a switch for an audio feed.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off watches Blurr's heroics and his optics roll slightly. Autobots and their bizarre attachment to "friendship". (Blast Off, of course, has few friends and LIKES it that way, darn it! He's not lonely...no, not at all! *sniffle*) He debates just shooting both 'Bots while First Aid is repairing Blurr but what kind of challenge is THAT? When he defeats Blurr, he wants it fair and square- just so Blurr can know how unworthy he IS! At the mention of his name, he pauses and sinks back a bit, still watching. <<Very reasonable of you, frenzy! Very well.>>

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 120: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 110: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 100: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 90: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 80: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 70: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 60: Success!

<p class="MsoNormal">The code on the monitor whirls past at a dizzying speed. It's almost hard to keep up with... or it would be for a normal mech, anyway. There seems to be bits and chunks missing, as if this is just a random sampling of what's going on. Finally, Blurr activates the audio feed, and a calm, pleasant male voice is heard in mid-sentence:

<p class="MsoNormal">"-but for all my supposed genius, I never realized what I was starting here. I knew I was onto something. I knew I had the chance to do something my people had never managed to do before. But this... this was beyond my wildest expectations. At first I thought it was merely a machine, but it soon became clear that they would surpass even myself."

<p class="MsoNormal">There's a quick shot of static, and the message repeats over and over again.

<p class="MsoNormal">Spinister stands quietly near Blast Off, studying his bizzarre surroundings. Hairsplitter is in sniper rifle mode in his hand, though Singe is transformed, watching the Autobots next to Blast Off. He glances up at the Combaticon, having similiar thoughts about friendship and how dumb Autobots are.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid expertly repairs Spinister's injuries.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid is able to repair some of Spinister's internal systems damage.

<p class="MsoNormal">Autobot Shuttle <Ranger> slows his downward velocity to a crawl, then transforms again to land on the hot floor. "Ow, ow, I think I sprained something in the inertia. Where are we?"

<p class="MsoNormal">Panels shift at such an incredible speed that they seem to blur and....contract? until the Autobot Ranger stands before you

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid strides up to Blurr, looking past him at the code on the monitor. "...huh," he says. It doesn't look like it makes anymore sense to him than it did to Blurr. "Hey, Ranger, come over here. Come check this out." Then Blurr fiddles with the audio controls and the message is placed on repeat. First Aid frowns inwardly.

<p class="MsoNormal">Patrol? Maybe. Sent out as support and/or cannon fodder? Perhaps. Soundwave was feeling bored and someone radioed in for support? Likely. No matter the reason, Buzzsaw has found himself soaring overhead, sharp optics observing the scene below as he checks to ensure his stealth suppression systems are online.

<p class="MsoNormal">Listening intently to his radio, he holds his distance and simply takes his time to observe, for the sake of good, clear, overhead situational awareness. No sense making a presence known if no need has arisen to do so. Though, he does make sure to call in his own position for his own allies' benefits.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Hmm..." Blurr continues examining the strange code and listening to the feed. Who is that? A male someone, it would appear. Now, a typical mech probably wouldn't be able to follow all that code as it oscillates wildly across the display, but Blurr? He doesn't just talk fast, drive fast, and run fast--he thinks fast as well. Thus, he is able to follow some of the code flying by, and he catches what look like coordinates, as well as a few directives that appear to be coming from some kind of centralized location.

<p class="MsoNormal">He vaguely hears Ranger touch down on the floor, but it sounds like he's okay. "I don't know, Ranger," He says in response to the question. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, but most of this is like ancient Cybertronian to me. I mean, I can tell a bunch of directives are being sent from a central location, and I picked out some coordinates, but everything else is beyond me." he glances at First Aid, but it seems the medic is equally confused by it. "Ugh...Primus, there's got to be a way to copy this data onto a microchip so we can take it back to Operations. Cerebros or Perceptor should be able to make more sense out of this than we can."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Buzzsaw slips into the shadows and out of sight...

<p class="MsoNormal">He takes a small disc out of subspace and tries to find a way to interface it with the console to copy as much information as possible.

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid can't help but be reminded of the Matrix as he watches all that code scrolling. "Centralized location... centralized where?" But it's the audio recording that him concerned, though. "I don't see a data jack or disk drive anywhere," First Aid replies, "So I'm not sure how we could cop-... wait, oh I'm such a fool." The Protectobot kneels, reaching into his trunk to pull out... an iPhone! He holds it sideways, turning on the video mode as the code rolls past. He glances at Blurr and Ranger, fully expecting them to be incredibly impressed.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off looks back as Spinister comes up behind him. He briefly glances about for Buzzsaw, then realizes the cassetticon is likely hidden by now. He watches as the Autobots work. Blast Off is no slouch in the speed department, either, but is probably still not as able to pick up as much as Blurr from the transmissions onscreen. He catches bits here and there, but decides the key thing to do is to get that disc once the Autobots finish downloading it. He maintains his grip on his rifle and inches a little closer, gesturing to Spinister to keep down and keep quiet.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger knuckles his back, cricks his neck, then heads over to First Aid. He pauses, studying the monitor. "I ... think I've seen this sort of thing before. Odd."

<p class="MsoNormal">"Where?" First Aid asks, turning towards Ranger while keeping his iPhone pointed forward at the monitor.

<p class="MsoNormal">Spinister doesn't respond to Blast Off...after all, down and quiet is what he does. The Mayhem leader follows quietly, Singe bringing up the rear.

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw folds his wings and dives down, to get a better angle as his optics zoom in to record what he is seeing from his own perspective. Still, something seems to not quite settle well with him all the same. Checking his weapon systems, he brings them online in simple anticipation of...anything, really.

<p class="MsoNormal"><<**I see the machinery. Barely. Attempting to get a better angle. Why are we allowing them to touch the equipment if we do not wish them to see it?**>>

<p class="MsoNormal">Looking the console over for a place to interface the disc and finding none, Blurr grumbles. He watches as First Aid takes out a recording device. "I guess that'll help, but...there's got a be a way to take some of this with us..." A weapon unfolds out of his right arm and he presses it against the mainframe hardware, hoping to get to wherever the data is stored. Maybe he can just rip out the databanks. Well, here goes nothing.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">BLAM. Blurr fires into the machine, still unaware that he is being watched by Decepticons.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger frowns, remembering, "Years ago, I was helping a Junkion friend, we got quite deep into Cybertron..."

<p class="MsoNormal">"Wait, you said you've seen this kind of thing before?" Blurr suddenly turns to Ranger. "Please, tell us about it."

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid keeps his iPhone steady, recording both the audio message--which continues to repeat--and the code that's scrolling past. "It seems that 'deep Cybertron' isn't as deep as it once was," he replies to Ranger. Upon noticing what Blurr is doing, First Aid says, "Wait, you don't really think that's going to work, do you?" Ka-BLAM!

<p class="MsoNormal">The machinery is neatly severed by Blurr's gun blast. The monitor abruptly switches off and the audio recording ends. Beyond now being separated from the rest of the factory, the machinery doesn't look particularly damaged. It's light enough that a reasonable tough mech could carry it.

<p class="MsoNormal">From behind the group, a shady figure slinks up and casts an uneasy set of optics upon the operation. A couple of more steps, and he's skirting the boundaries of the darkness. "You probably shouldn't do.." he starts, then Ka-BLAM!.

<p class="MsoNormal">"That."

<p class="MsoNormal">From the shadows emerges Chromedome, a worried look upon his mouthless face and datapad in hand. "Apologies for the late arrival, not only did I need to find an alternate access point because of Bludgeon and Frenzy.. but Stylor was shoe shopping." he says with all seriousness.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off falters a bit at Buzzsaw's earlier radio question. Well, basically, he was just catching up to the 'Bots when they started working on the computer. And he didn't know how to turn the thing on anyway, so he let them do it. But (*ego alert*) he radios: << I let them do the work FOR us. They will not be going anywhere, after all. How could they possibly escape from this Primus-forsaken hole in the ground with all of us flyers here to stop them?>> But as Blurr starts firing into the Computer, he begins to think that maybe Buzzsaw has a point. He leans forward, ready to make a move against the Autobots and stop this foolishness, when Chromedome appears. He hesitates, thinking perhaps he should wait some more- but what if Blurr has damamged the computer? He glances up towards where he last saw Bludgeon and decides he doesn't really want to explain that he allowed the Autobots to further damage delicate machinery to him.... No, the time for action has come. The Combaticon steps out behind his hiding place, hissing in annoyance as he trains his rifle on the Bots. "Stop that foolishness at once."

<p class="MsoNormal">Singe can barely believe it. "So we lose the element of surprise by announcing we're here, Blast Off?" He rolls his eyes, and tranformers into a flamethrower, caught by Spinister. "I'll never put 'Combaticon' and 'strategy' in the same sentence again! But he does put 'burn,' 'to death,' and 'Blurr' in the same sentence so to make him back away from that computer equipment!

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Spinister strikes Blurr with his Flamethrower attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Spinister (Spinister) used "Flamethrower": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "Shoot, we should have known Bludgeon's 'honour' would only hold them back for so long. What's the game plan, Blurr?"

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "Lose them in the tunnels, we know them better than they do."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "You mean we USED to lose them in the tunnels."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "You mean we USED to know them better than they do."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "Pff, well, I don't know about /you/, but /I/ do."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Chromedome says, "You do realize we are wasting an opportunity to salvage intel, right?"

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw watches Blast Off and... wait, that was it? He might as well have yelled that nonsensical line 'Halt, behave or I will be very put out!'. The condor continues to listen to his radio all the while, though, carefully altering his flight pattern to circle behind the Autobot team. <<**In position, offering ready fire support.**>>

<p class="MsoNormal">It seems that Singe is on the same page as far as Buzzsaw's own annoyance goes. Perhaps he'll have a word or two with the combaticon about proper strategy later. That may go over very well. He lets his targeting optics fall on the one recording everything with that iPhone, letting his systems put together various firing solutions.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "You know your way around this world factory? I've worked the tunnels before and I sure don't remember seeing this down here."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "Sure, Chromedome, but I'm not sure what intel we can get while we're fighting the Decepticons."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "Hmm...okay. Let's see, do you want to try climbing back out of that chasm we fell down? And Chromedome do you want to keep them occupied while I try to find more intel?"

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Buzzsaw analyzes First Aid for weaknesses.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Chromedome says, "If the line can even be held temporarily, I can see what can be garnered from this BUSTED console."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid hesitates, looking up at all the Decepticons between them and the surface of the chasm. "Well, no."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "Alright, we'll do what we can, Chromedome. If anyone needs medical help just give me a shout."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "I've already got the data drives, if you want to see what else you can salvage you're welcome to it."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Neutral.

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid goes ahead and turns off his iPhone since it doesn't look like he has to record anything else today. He tucks the potentially important evidence away in his trunk and stands back up just in time for Blast Off to call out to them. "Wait Blast Off-" he doesn't get any further before Spinister unleashes the pain upon Blurr. "Oh Primus," he mutters. "Spinister, you... come on, this could be the world changing event that sets our species back on track and you're starting a /fight/ down here?!" He pins all the blame on Spinister and not Singe. After a brief but eventful discussion on the Autobot broadband, First Aid dives for cover behind one of the mechanical arms and returns fire on Spinister with his photon pistol, briefly lighting up the intricate and world-spanning factory that's down here for all to see.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hurriedly rushing over towards the shot up console, thanks again Blurr, Chromedome skids to the ground on one knee while pulling a handful of connections from his left fore-arm compartment and hooking them up to the data-pad. At Blast Off's emergence, a worried look is flashed over his shoulder while the Headmaster tears a panel off the console and hooks up more connections.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Keep them at bay, I'll expedite the process as much as I can!" Chromedome cautions Blurr and the others, his free right hand dances over the screens as a hundred commands are inputted and attempted. "There's gotta be something else." he quietly intones, the optics carefully picking through the code scrawling across the data-pad.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Chromedome sets his defense level to Guarded.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid sets his defense level to Protected.

<p class="MsoNormal">There's quite a bit of protesting from his comrades, but Blurr acts too fast for any of it to matter. But it seems the more direct tactic had been effective, leaving the databanks exposed and ripe for the taking. And then Chromedome shows up. Really? Now? Just as he KOed the computer? Sigh. Oh well. He pulls starts pulling the drives out.

<p class="MsoNormal">"There you are. Primus, you could have showed up like a breem ago, before I had to put this terminal out of commission..." He shrugs. "Well, we have the drives, hopefully you can take these back to operations and see what you can figure out." The courier continues, subspacing the the databanks.

<p class="MsoNormal">And then Blast Off announces his presence. Ha, talk about losing the element of surprise. Admittedly, though, this distracts the speedster momentarily, allowing Spinister to hit him with a flamethrower. "Unggh..." he stumbles into the console, but recovers quickly, glaring at Blast Off. "You again! Here to prove that you're better than me, huh? Well, you're probably better off giving up, because both of us know that's never going to happen."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Chromedome compares his Technical to 90: Success!

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger kneels to inspect the wreckage of the computer monitor. "Seriously, what were they thinking?" Standing, he looks at Chromedome. "I can get this stuff, and you guys out of here, I think. But I'll only get one shot at it."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr misses Blast Off with his Never gonna happen (Laser) attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw checks his firing solutions and opts for the best of them. Diving in low, he circles about and eyes First Aid. Oh, to have a proper cloak. Still, since the medic is focused on Spinister, that leaves the window open for him to have some fun as only he knows how. Picking up speed, he does what he can to use some sense of surprise to get his way.

<p class="MsoNormal">Razor sharp blades extend from the leading edges of his wings as he levels himself out at face-level, giving himself away but, at quite the same time, letting his wings take care of any formal introductions that would get in the way of getting down to business.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Buzzsaw appears from the shadows...

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Sneak Attack!!

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Buzzsaw strikes First Aid with his Razor Wing (Punch) attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off  tries to do the civilized thing, but yeah- that doesn't go over so well. *sigh* As all chaos breaks loose, he shakes his head, realizing he should have expected as much from a bunch of Decepticons. He prefers finesse and delicate manuevers, not brute force, but that's... apparently just him. As Blurr hurls an insult at him, he just starts to mutter "Hardly, Auto-" as Blurr then fires. Fortunately, one thing the Combaticon can do is evade an attack- even by Blurr. He throws himslef to the left, avoiding the blast, then returns with his own attack. "Fine- have it your way, Autobot!" He fires, hoping to Primus he misses that computer.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blast Off strikes Blurr with his Blast to Bits (Laser) attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blast Off (Blast Off) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Had? You didn't -have- to shoot it!" Chromedome protests, ducking as laser blasts ring through the chasm. "You're supposed to draw fire -away- from the console, not towards it!" he chastises, still reading through hundreds of lines of code for something they can use.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then he spots it. Rather than just an 'it', he finds everything they wanted to know.. and more. Closing the lid on his fore-arm housing, the Headmaster tucks it away and eyes the console itself. "Roger that Ranger, what do you have in mind? While it could be left, I fear there's even -more- to discover if I was given the time to sift through this.. wrecked console." the last of which was directed at Blurr.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Hazarding a glance at Blast Off and Blurr, Chromedome forwards some tactical stance information to the speedster. "Try to anticipate his movement, I've calculated eight hundred possible reactions. Giving you the top tenth percentile."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Chromedome takes extra time to assist Blurr's next attack.

<p class="MsoNormal">"I think I got him!" First Aid calls out in surprise as Spinister is fragged by his photon pistol. The Protectobot is just starting to get his hopes up that they might be able to fend the Decepticons off, Buzzsaw emerges from the shadows and stabs him straight in the back. The medic cries out, falling forward as the wing blades pierce his circuitry. On his hands and knees now, Aid looks down and can see the extent of the wound on the front chest. Hands trembling, the medic tries very, very awkwardly to get his finger laser scalpels to aim at his own back, but fails. Reaching into his trunk, he instead pulls out a small device. Tossing it into the air, it transforms into a bandage-valve hybrid and lands on the Protectobot's back, sealing up part of the wound Buzzsaw delivered to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid quickly patches up some of his minor injuries.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, but I already have it my way!" Blurr chuckles, even as he tries to dodge Blast Off's attack, but it ends up grazing him in the side. Dashing behind the Combaticon and putting some distance between them, he transforms and tries to run him into a wall or some of the machinery, taking Chromedome's tactical feeds into account as quickly as he can, though rather than thanking him for the assistance, he complains about the jabs at the fact that he shot at the console.

<p class="MsoNormal"><<You know what, Chromedome, you need to stop shoving that slag up my tailpipes like a rusted piston rod. It was bad timing on your part, if anything!>> he protests.

<p class="MsoNormal">In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> sets his defense level to Aggressive.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> strikes Blast Off with his Ram attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">"Just like the bad timing on that tactical data I sent you?" Chromedome mutters offhand, only Ranger would likely be able to hear it though.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger glances around worriedly, "It's not exactly a brilliant plan... it's basically 'put everyone and everything in one place, and I'll transform and make a break for it.' Then He pauses, "/Or/ I can pretend to do that and lure them away if you have another exit strategy."

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw continues on his path of destruction, snapping into a roll to dig into the medic with his beak. It's not so much blood he's after, but this time using his strikes to carefully probe the medic's body for that device he had been using to record the screen. It's delicate work, of course, but he's always up for the challenge. There's a very faint mechanical sound, almost like a soft chuckle emitted from his vocal processors as he goes about dismantling First Aid as only he can.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Buzzsaw sets his defense level to Aggressive.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Buzzsaw strikes First Aid with his Diamond Beak attack!

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Chromedome says, "Alright, I've gotten as much as I can.. which is a workload to be frank.  What's your call, Ranger says he can get us out of here."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "Blurr, I hate to say it but if the gunship crew was ever down here, they're gone now."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "I think we've gotten enough--Ranger, you can get us out of here?"

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off  is pleased to see the shot hit. Take that, you annoying Autowreck, he thinks to himself! As Blurr transforms into his hovercar mode, Blast Off is distracted watching Chromedome. What is he doing? Seeing that Buzzsaw seems distracted by toying with First Aid, Blast Off decides he'd better get over there and see.... he still dreads having to explain this mission to Bludgeon if things go wrong...which they already seem to have. But before he can finish that thought, a speeding streak of a hovercar makes a rude interuption- a VERY rude interuption. Blast Off is rammed into a wall with a nasty THUNK! "AHHH!" The space shuttle isn't really built for this kind of close quarter combat, and he struggles to get to his feet and fly up while holding his chest, where several cracks have appeared. "You cracked more of my heat plates! You will regret that. It is past time I taught you some courtesy, Blurr." As he attempts to fly up, he fires his ionic blaster at the car. "And for the record, I AM better than you. Eventually you WILL acknowledge your superiors. You and ALL Autofools!"

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Ranger says, "I can do my best."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "That's all we're asking."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blast Off strikes Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> with his Superiority Complex (Laser) attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blast Off (Blast Off) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Blurr says, "Ugh...Aid, I could use a patch job..."

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> First Aid says, "On it."

<p class="MsoNormal">The bandage-valve latches onto First Aid's back, covering the wound entirely. Once done, it transforms in on itself, forcing the hole closed. It is not a pleasant experience at all, but it's better than bleeding out while Cybertron is rebuilt around you. Rolling over, First Aid swipes at Buzzsaw with his fist. It doesn't connect, but it might be the reason that the Cassetticon isn't able to sink those sharp talons or beak or wings into his hide again. "Back off, Buzzsaw! Look around you! We're witnessing the birth of our planet and you want to /fight/ down here? We could be putting all of Cybertron at risk just from being here!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Before Aid can further chastise Buzzsaw, he hears the call go out for a medic. He looks over at Blurr in time to see him get ionized by Blast Off. First Aid has felt that enough times to know how bad it is, but on the plus side he knows the remedy. Rushing over to his fellow Autobot, First Aid pulls out a small magnetic clamp and attaches it to the side of the hover car. Twisting a dial on it, the clamp activates and de-ionizes Blurr's body, undoing at least part of the internal damage Blast Off delivered.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid quickly patches up some of Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>'s minor injuries.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blurr smirks with inward satisfaction as he hears Blast Off's armor plating crunch, buckle, and crack with the impact of hovercar against Combaticon smashed up against a wall. Granted, it puts some stress on his own armor, but not so much that this isn't worth it. Listening to Chromedome over the comm, he quickly replies. <<Great, take as much as you can with you. Ranger can get us out of here--as soon as I deal with some...unfinished business.>>

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off takes to the air and shoots Blurr while he is communicating with his comrades. Fortunately, First Aid comes to the rescue, undoing some of the damage Blast Off has done. "Thanks, Aid! Now," he transforms as blasters unfold out of his arms. Pointing them upward he aims for his opponent, hoping to knock him out of the air.

<p class="MsoNormal">The hovercar quickly unfolds upward and outward to reveal the fastest terrestrial Cybertronian in the galaxy, Blurr!

<p class="MsoNormal">Even as the Autobots and Decepticons war, Cybertron continues its process of rebuilding itself. A fully formed tower, laying on its side, passes overhead on a conveyor belt. Once being handed off to a set of mechanical arms, conveyor belt transforms into a welder and shifts down a level to apply thrusters, one by one, to rows upon rows of drones identical to the one that hassled Velum at Retoris. Beyond that, solar panels roll off the assembly line to be carted off for destinations unknown. Far beneath the battle, gigantic gears large than a Combiner turn, powering the machinery that is giving this planet life.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Fearless.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Blurr misses Blast Off with his Down with you! attack!

<p class="MsoNormal">"You heard the mechs, transform and get us out of here!" Chromedome replies to Ranger as he stashes what he can carry in subspace. The rest however, will have to be left up to Blurr. "Aid!" the Headmaster calls out, rushing over to his side and running a few scans.

<p class="MsoNormal">A few adjustments later, and the Protectobot should be right as rain with his systems. "Ranger, transform so we can get out of here!" he calls out, looking at Blurr duking it out with Blast Off. "Blurr, get the console onto the shuttle!" he does his best Magnus impression, before continuing. "First Aid, help me get this console aboard the shuttle and get out of here!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Chromedome quickly recalibrates First Aid's internal systems.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Too SLOW, Autobot... here, should I just hover in place to try to give you a sporting chance?" He doesn't actually do that, however, deciding instead to give Blurr the worst insult of all- ignoring him completely- as he initiallizes thrusters to begin flying over towards the escaping 'bots. There is no way he's allowing them to escape with that information. The shuttle takes aim at Chromedome and fires.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ranger says, "Well, if we can find a point to..." He trails off as he watches the tower. "Y'know," he says absently, "This reminds me of a time..." Oh, no time for remeniscing, he transforms and opens his hatches."

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw is less than pleased when he doesn't taste quite as much energon on his beak as he would normally like. First Aid's haphazard strike glances off him as he turns his head to one side, a protective plate sliding down over his optic to keep it from being damaged. Looking back up, he watches the medic scramble off after Blurr and kicks his engines on to follow suit.

<p class="MsoNormal">Not one to give the medic time to follow up on any patching or repairs, he makes a grab for First Aid's neck, letting his own speed and inertia do the follow through to pull the Autobot down and away from Chromedome. Vocal synthesizers kick in, almost like a playback from a scratchy recording. **You should know me better than that, First Aid!** He grunts with his own impact against the ground, checking to see if he managed to pull the Autobot down with. **I just want information. It is as simple as that. Appease me with something. Or, I can take it myself and have infinitely more fun doing so.**

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid compares his Strength to Buzzsaw's Strength: Failure :(

<p class="MsoNormal">First Aid whirls around after applying the magnetic clamp to Blurr. "You got it," he tells Chromedome. The Protectobot rushes over, but only makes it half way before Buzzsaw grabs him with those talons. "You should know *me* better than that if you think I'd give up Autobot intel." Aid wrestles with Buzzsaw as best he can, trying to yank his arm free. He isn't able to do so, though. "You want information, Buzzsaw, go get it! It's all around us!" Thanks to Buzzsaw's interference, Aid isn't able to get over to Chromedome to help him out. Hopefully the Headmaster can make it on his own, and First Aid is eventually knocked over. He crawls his way over to Ranger and baords him. "I hope you're ready for some fancy flying..."

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: First Aid begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Blast Off, Blurr, Buzzsaw, Autobot Shuttle <Ranger>, Chromedome, and Spinister

<p class="MsoNormal"><Autobot> Ranger says, "All aboard who's going aboard, Like I said, I've got one shot at this."

<p class="MsoNormal">After giving First Aid a thumbs up, Chromedome turns and grabs half of the console himself and starts dragging it towards Ranger's altmode shuttle bay. When suddenly, a shot lances through the back of his left shoulder and sends him falling forward. Darting a hand to cover and stem the loss of energon, Chromedome shoots a glare at Blast Off.. then makes sure to analyze the console as much as he can; if they have to leave it behind. "Blurr, quit trying to settle old scores and get on the winning team here!" he chastises again.

<p class="MsoNormal">After the seal takes its hold, the Headmaster gathers what strength he can call up and litterally DRAGS the console, complete with terrible screeching metal on metal scratching sound the whole way, to Ranger's bay doors. "Alright, last call before lift off!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Chromedome begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Blurr, Buzzsaw, Autobot Shuttle <Ranger>, and Spinister

<p class="MsoNormal">"Tch, nah...I wasn't really trying." Blurr lies. Though it is partially true. "You know I'd love to stay and crack your skidplates more, but we've got a payload to haul off. Another time, Combati-glitch!" Taking as much of the machinery as he can carry, he dashes off and climbs into Ranger's shuttle mode, dumping it in the cargo bay. He can't carry much, as he doesn't have much when it comes to brute strength, but he has to do what he can. "I think that's everyone--Ranger, take us away!"

<p class="MsoNormal">In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

<p class="MsoNormal">Combat: Autobot Shuttle <Ranger> begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>

<p class="MsoNormal">In another world, a small animation studio in Korea...

<p class="MsoNormal">An angry Animation Overseer shakes his fist at his animators. "You fools! You forgot to keep drawing Spinister in this scene! If I have my way, none of you will have jobs by the time you turn 12!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Spinister watches Ranger soar off, flanked by his Nebulan team.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Well..." Singe makes a face. "I suppose we look around for leftovers."

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw hisses at First Aid's remark. **And where is the fun in that!** He brings his mortar cannons about to bear on the shuttle's door to blast those entering it... But they get lucky. Ranger's too fast and, before he can fire, he's forced to watch the group depart with the console in tow. Laser designators follow the shuttle, but no shot is fired. How utterly disappointing.

<p class="MsoNormal">Whirling about on Blast Off, the condor jets towards the Shuttle and just about backhands the shuttle in the face...but refrains after the windup for the gesture. **You,** he either can't find the words, or just lets them go. **Let's scour the field, see if we can find anything of use.** He turns his optics towards Spinister, glaring as the volume for his vocal playback is increased. **That includes you!**

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off curses to himself as Chromedome makes his getaway. Turning as Blurr gives his parting remarks, Blast Off fires at him, too, but the shot is useless, naturally. BLast Off sighs through his vents and turns to survey the damage. Walking up to the computer, he looks over the damage and cringes. It's not as bad as it could be, but it could be better, too. Then Buzzsaw flies nearly into his face. The Combaticon jerks back, surprised, and then angry. "What? I was attempting to obtain the information without...without..." He points at the damage on the computer."This! This will be LOADS of fun to explain to Bludgeon, won't it? Does no one understand treating delicate situations with CARE?" Blast Off works to calm his anger.... he might be able to shoot Buzzsaw, which would be satisfying temporarily, but then ...he'd have to answer to Soundwave. Better to refrain from that course of action. But he can't resist a little barb. "Be careful, Buzzsaw. Don't make me too angry or Bruticus could have a little...accident on the battlefield someday."

<p class="MsoNormal">Singe smirks as the trio begins Operation: Salvage. "Bruticus on the battlefield *is* a little accident..." He elbows Hairsplitter, who doesn't have much of a reaction.

<p class="MsoNormal">Buzzsaw refrained for just that reason. **You did. But in a careless fit you revealed yourself to them too soon.** He folds his wings in, maintaining his perch on Blast Off's shoulder. Truthfully, the shuttle should feel honored. **Let us just find what we can, record what we can, and get out of here.**

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Blast Off huffs slightly, his way of calming down. Having the condor go from flying into his face to perching on his shoulder is.... odd, but somehow he doesn't mind so much now. "Very well, I agree." He moves to look through the debris, trying to salvage this situation the best he can.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;">

=
===================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/116                    Posted        Author AAR: Geyser Crater                Wed Jun 12    Blurr --       Autobot spinny, followed by Blurr's 'winged' head and blue and white body. He looks a bit scratched up yet triumphant. "Autobots, I'm pleased to inform you that the recon operation in the Geyser Crater was a success.        "Myself, Ranger, First Aid, and Chromedome ventured into a chasm near that mysterious residential complex that recently appeared. The Decepticons guarding the structure spotted us, and followed us down there, but before they engaged us we found some kind of terminal with a bunch of code scrolling across it. I snagged us some of the databanks, and Chromedome salvaged what he could from the rest of the machinery. "Anyway, it's a good thing Ranger was with us, otherwise we might not have had a quick enough route out of there. I've sent the data drives over to Operations--hopefully we'll be seeing a report from Chromedome on whatever he's managed to uncover. That's about it. Good work, 'Bots. Blurr, signing out."

BLIP.

End transmission.

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

=
==================== Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/87                     Posted        Author Subterranean Anomaly              Wed Jun 12    Buzzsaw -- The Decepticon logo splashes across the screen before melting away to Buzzsaw. His beak does not move, but vocal emitters have been hardwired into the same camera that is providing the feed, so his voice comes across clear. "Responding to a communique from Blast Off and Spinister, I approached the new complex which we have claimed ownership and followed Blast Off's directions to a subterranean location." The camera feed is overlaid with footage of a massive complex, sporting the apparent production of some of the newer features that have popped up around Cybertron, including a massive bank of inert drones. "We have a veritable treasure trove of material down here to use, and there are certainly ways we can use it to our advantage with careful planning and manipulation. We may even to, if used carefully, bring the Autobots to their knees." The footage fades, Buzzsaw's face reappearing once more as he clicks his beak. "Blast Off and Spinister had initially attempted to stall the Autobots so we could retrieve whatever data they acquired. Naturally, I assisted in this effort, but ultimately we fell short and they escaped. I am uncertain what they have obtained, or if they will even be able to use it. We have the same data here, waiting to be retrieved and at our disposal, so I do not sense we are at a disadvantage but rather we have merely lost our advantage. I would also like a few of the drones gathered for study and possible reutilization. It is highly recommended our own Intelligence division start scouring this place for further use." Clicking his beak, he angles his head so that the lines and shadows appear to give him a smirk. "Of course, for the actual military operation that fell short, as well as events leading up to the altercation prior to my arrival, I will simply refer all interested parties to Spinister and Blast Off, who should be more than willing to provide their recounts of the ordeal. "Buzzsaw out."  The screen blacks out.

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

=
===================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/117                    Posted        Author Geyser Crater Addendum            Thu Jun 13    Chromedome --
 * Appearing right after the Autobot spinny fades away, a section of a lab is seen with a myriad of nerdbots running around. In the far corner is a large screen that scrolls with hundreds of lines of code and text, a certain orange and white Headmaster stands with a hand on the back of a chair; the other rubbing his chin as he carefully studys the display. Suddenly a gumbie gives him a good bump on the elbow, alerting him to the report being filed.*

"Oh, right." Chromedome blurts out, approaching the camera setup. "So, as Blurr pointed out.. I've been carefully combing through the information we were fortunate to uncover last night during our engagement. I hope you're all seated for this, it's a doozy." he attempts to chuckle, but it comes out sounding like a nerd chortle. "To put it bluntly, this stuff is old. Like, not just old.. but ancient. I'm talking pre-war, pre-faction coding and programming. Not that it's outdated or antiquated, just.. different. Something about it is.. errie." he finishes, resting both hands down on a tabletop.

"Only if Rewind were here, he could help shed some historical context onto the situation.." the Headmaster sadly asides under his breath.

"Now, down to the really important stuff." Chromedome announces, pulling open the screen on his fore-arm. "There's TONS of data here, but what I'm seeing so far is some sort of.. blueprint? But it's more than just a layout.. specific location placements, chronal stamps, energon distribution, everything meticulously measured down to the seventeenth decimal place." he pauses, regarding the readout. "I haven't seen attention to detail in this magnitude since working with Prowl."

"The bad news is, a lot of this information is corrupted. Either missing entire strings of code or damaged beyond repair at the moment, but my team and I are hard at work on it! If anyone can stop in to lend a hand and a servo, it would be greatly appreciated. Right now I'm waist deep in communication logs, transmission details, audio journals, and the like.. just calibrating them to be understood by the receptors is a task in and of itself. I will keep you informed, Fortress Maximus, as to the developments." Chromedome finishes, turning away from the camera and sauntering back towards the large viewscreen of code.


 * Return of the spinny!*

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