The Greatest Story Never Told

First City – Uberion

The First City is a rather drab, pre-fabricated looking town. It was laid out hastily by the first waves of colonists, in bunkers and box-like buildings. There is a basic spaceport, and it has most of the amenities a city should, but it seems rather deserted, with only a few stubborn colonists left. The only thing of any real note is a building on a lonely hill in the outskirts.

Contents:

Tempo

Fireflight

Red Alert

Church of the Devourer

Obvious exits: Up &lt;U&gt; leads to Justicar Tri-Cluster. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Grassy Plains - Uberion.

Uberion. Not that interesting a planet, unless you like farming or xenoarchaeology. Has a small population of colonists of various species, large and small, organic and robotic. Mostly known for its complex of tombs.

Until now, that is. Until the tombs opened and something was set free.

The City of Artists was wiped out entirely, they say, and whatever did it is still loose.

Nightbeat looks up from his datapad, jarred out of his thoughts by a bump and a clank. Shuttle trip's over? Hnn. Guess it is. He walks out of the shuttle and into the planet's First City, where some colonists have still stuck around. Looking over his shoulder, back up the shuttle ramp, he explains, "Yeah, this is the place. Uberion. Suspicious activity reported here, and as the galaxy's self-appointed watchdogs, we might as well have a look-see."

Fireflight is not so jarred out of it as he sits in his own seat, staring at the wall thoughtfully without even moving while Nightbeat spoke. Red Alert just makes sure Fireflight's actually accompanying them. He walks alongside Nightbeat, looking around, occasionally stopping to sniff the air and get a feel for this foreign city. "Normally I wouldn't be along," he tells Nightbeat (and, coincidently, the audiance), "Except that it's been... 'highly recommended' that I take on off-ship break after that Auntie fiasco." He shakes his head, then mutters, "Pretty sure I've got it figured out, though..." The Dark femme isn't behind the mechs, however her emerald green optics are looking over everything. Then when Red Alert points out the 'highly recommended' part, she smirks and Tempo then moves in a little closer, "What can ya say sugar, if ya were to stay in tha' dark lil' room, doin' all tha' work, ya get all stuffy and dusty."

The air is a similar blend to the air of Earth, though the pollens are alien. Low pollution, so far. The ship's exhaust the strongest scent in the air.

Nightbeat raises an optical ridge and asks, "Figured out what's wrong with this place or figured out what's wrong with that ditzy dame of a security system?" If it's the former, Nightbeat will be impressed. If it's the latter, Nightbeat won't believe it. He looks over to the hill and squints, frowning, at the building atop it.

Church of the Devourer

Sitting on the tallest hill on the outskirts of the First City is a strange building, apart from all the others. It vaguely resemble and astronomical observatory, made out of orange and grey metal, with viridian tinted windows. It seems to have a main telescope protruding from it but also a pair of structure that can only be said to resemble horns.

Red Alert gives Tempo a somewhat wary look as she moves nearer, but then his eyes go back to focusing on the area around him. "We wouldn't have so many problems with dust if we didn't have so many organics on the 'Pax," he objects, not actually addressing the 'stuffy' part of her arguement. Focus shifts momentarily to Nightbeat, and he says, "I think I've about pinned down what went wrong with Auntie." He sees what Nightbeat is looking at, then turns his own gaze that way. "First mistake was housing her in that outdat- erm, does that building have /horns/?"

Fireflight blinks and suddenly realizes he was being left behind. Scrambling out of his seat he starts after the others now, quietly just listening as he looks around, walking on automatic, still dimm-opticed in thought.

Tempo takes a few steps back and takes her hand and then gently slides her chrome finger along Fireflight's wing, "Wake-up dreamin' boy, ya gonna miss all th' excitement." She says with a soft purr in her voice.

Her optics then looks over to where Red Alert is looking, "Well-- this is a alien planet.."

Kup has arrived.

"What huh? oh, sure." Says Fireflight to Tempo distractedly. Then he pauses and blinks, turning to look at the hand on his wing, then up at her. "Err, Right! What are we doing here again? Woah. Horns. " he stares at the temple "... I dont like that."

The main door of the building on the hill opens, and some robots, tall as Transformers but clearly lacking the ability to transform, file out, standing near the building. They wear peculiar horned hats, and all of them, even the questionably female looking specimens, have beards. They seem to stare right over at the group of Autobots.

Tempo glances at the group whom are filed out and raises an optical ridge as she slowly removes her hand from his wing, "Is it just me-- or did we meet the mechanoid Dwarfs?"

Red Alert straightens and stops walking in reaction to the strange behavior, apparently somewhat alarmed by it. Of course, he's Red Alert, so that's something of a given. Also, 'acting casual' is not in his nature. He frowns, then picks up the pace to catch back up with the others. "I don't like it," he proclaims.

Kup should be in the medbay right now. He's not. Instead, he's walking up from behind the other heroes just now, leaning on a cane as he walks forward. He frowns at the planetary denizens, but says nothing of them.

Nightbeat squints at the horned hat-wearing robots, optical ridge raised, and he murmurs lowly, "Gonna have to agree with that assessment, Red Alert." Orange and grey building with green windows and horns. Horned hat-wearing robots with beards. This ain't lookin' good. He asides to Tempo, puzzled, "But they're not short?" Guess Nightbeat never read those books.

Fireflight was so focused on Tempor, and then the dwarves, that he bumps into the back of Kup. He blinks and stumbles back, and staring again ".. Giant Dwarves? " he guesses a little, puzzled "But... horned helmets. Vikings? "

Kup growls off-handedly at Fireflight, "Watch where yer goin'. I'm injured. Sorta."

"Viking Helment tall dwarves." Tempo amused softly to herself as she laughs gently. Then hrmed softly, "But I gotta admit-- I dun like it either.."

Fireflight flinches "Sorry Kup." he admits quietly, taking a good step back, and sideways. So he was behind Nightbeat instead of Kup.

Red Alert checks his Intelligence against 50: Success!

"Not vikings," Red Alert murmurs. Then, more quietly, so that only the group (and certainly Nightbeat) can hear, "Unicron." He glances up at the strange robots to see if they're still being watched.

Worse than being watched. One of the horned hat-wearing robots approaches the Transformers, and in somewhat accented, slightly outdated Cybertronian, he (or she? hard to tell) addresses the group, "We have been expecting you, Autobots. Fireflight, the dreamer, Kup, the veteran, Nightbeat, the detective, Red Alert, the doubter, and Tempo, the swordwoman. So it was written in the stars, in the cards, in the throwing sticks, in the vapours - even in the entrails."

Fireflight blinks a little bit at being mentioned, optics widening a little. He looks across to Tempo, then to the two in front of him, that name shivering him a little as he waves with a smile "Errr, hi!"

"You got my /name/ from vapours and entrails?" Red Alert asks doubtfully, optics narrowed in suspicion.

The dark femme cants her head to the side at the-- unicronian.. thing. "So ya vodoo-hodoo told ya about us, hmm? Pretty impressive if ya ask me." Her optics look over to Fireflight for a moment before looking back the the bearded robot tall dwarf.

The cultist laughs and claps his hands together, as if Red Alert has confirmed everything for him, "Of course! But your doubting was foreseen, Red Alert. Do not doubt this, however. You have been chosen, all of you. You must make a pilgrimage to the tombs and tell your tales truly, or... it will come for you." Suddenly, the cultist looks around, as if afraid.

Kup sneers, unimpressed. "Good, you know our names. Get them off of the Galactic Subnet? Wooptee friggin' doo. Blot could fraggin' do that." He sighs, wishing he had opted to go to Grapplebee's instead of adventuring around the galaxy showing that's he too tough to stay down, even after being mangled by Galvatron.

Nightbeat crosses his arms sullenly, clearly ready to call this a load of malarkey. However, when the cultist looks around suddenly, he tries to follow where the cultist was looking. Was there anything there? Hnn. Hard to say. Nightbeat doesn't think so, but...

Red Alert will doubt whatever he darn well pleases!

Like Nightbeat, the security director glances around when the cultist does, but then, Red does that pretty often, anyway. "Oh, really? What tombs would these be?" He glances at the others, looking for some indication that they suspect what he does. Probably not.

"It? What is IT? " asks Fireflight curiously, tilting his head as he matches Red Aler'ts question with one he felt was rather important too.

Tempo laughs softly as the cultist talks of such things, "Darlin', if ya talkin' about ghosts that come creepin' out at night, I dun believe ya. After all-- I ain't into no witch-craft." The dark femme then hrms softly as she rests her hands on her hip plates and shifts her weight to one side, "Besides-- why we gotta be affraid of some.. unknown in some ol' cript anyhow?"

Nightbeat half-agrees with the Unicron conclusion, actually, but it just seems so blindingly obvious...

The cultist looks around nervously, twiddling his fingers. He whimpers, "I dare not speak its name. It came for the artists first. Please, you must go! Only the pilgrimages keep it at bay." He may be a creepy weirdo who probably worships Unicron, but he's also quite clearly distressed and afraid of... whatever it is.

Red Alert narrows his optics, then looks back at the others. "Right. By providing 'it' with meals for awhile, I'd wager. If this isn't some sort of bizarre trap instead." He then tilts his head and tests the air again.

Fireflight hums softly and looks to the others, then back at the Cultist "What does it LOOK like then? Can you dare to tell us that? " he asks next, folding his arms thoughtfully

Kup grumbles, "Wuss. I fought Galvatron not so long ago. I ain't afraid 'a nuthin'. But ok, if it'll make you feel better, we'll go to the damn crypts, and maybe find out what the frag is going on. And if Red Alert's right and we're walking to a trap, I got some advice for ya, buddy." He points his cane at the cultist. "Change your address." Kup shuffles away for a moment, then stops and mutters, "Uh... where's these tombs again?"

Tempo was about to respond and nods to Fireflight, however it seems the old mech jumps right in with the cyrpt thing and her optics narrow for a moment, "I'm like Fireflight here-- wha' does this /thing/ look like?"

Then maybe she'll jump on the crypt walk gig.

Red Alert frowns at something. He takes a few steps away from the group and sniffs again.

The cultist looks down and murmurs, "They say it is beautiful, like an angel or a muse. That is why it took the artists away first." Bearing in mind that a crazy robot in a horned hat may have an odd idea of beauty. He looks up. "It is made of blades and razorwire. Taller than the veteran. Four arms, four red optics." He shakes his head. "But better not to see it." He gestures. "The tombs are across the sea of grass. A long way. Time enough to tell your tales."

Fireflight adds "And who are we telling our stories TO?"

Kup begins to hobble off. "Bah. This thing, whatever it is, better be glad I like tellin' stories. Maybe I'll tell some stories of some of the other monsters I've taken out in my day, and he'll get the message that I ain't to be messed with."

The cultist looks behind him and then back at the group, "To each other. You must tell your stories. If it judges you and finds you wanting, it will kill you. If it judges you can find you worthy, it will take you away." He pulls out a set of odd, horned medallions and pleads, "Please, take these!"

Fireflight takes one medallion, and a second one to give to Kup before starting after the old mech "Errr... Thanks I guess... see you when we're done." he notes to the Cultist, turning to look at Tempo then and start after them. Then he grins. Stories! "You can start then Kup if you want. I think your story will take the longest."

Red Alert has already wandered away from the group and is still sniffing at the air.

"So either we get killed-- or takin'. Nice choice." Tempo says rather dead pan as she takes the horned medallions and then looks them over. Tempo joins along side Fireflight shortly after taking the medallion. "I wonder wha' kinda stories its suppose to be-- like-- our history?"

Fireflight blinks and looks up and around, startled. He nudges Tempo "Did you feel that?"

Red Alert frowns and stares intently at a patch of ground, then returns, eyeing the medallion warily before accepting it. He sniffs at it, then returns to the patch of ground before looking up to make sure Kup hasn't gotten too far ahead, nor anyone else too far behind.

Nightbeat snorts derisively and opines, "Comeplete load of hooey, this." He takes a medallion and promptly drops it into an evidence bag. Then, he ambles on after the rest of them.

Kup looks around at the ground, frowns deeply, then puts a hand to the side of his head as he makes a transmission. &lt;&lt;There's too many footprints here. Didn't see 'em when I was coming up on you guys. Can I get some confirmation?&gt;&gt;

"Feel what?" Tempo asks Fireflight with her emerald green optics flickering looking puzzled at Fireflight.

Fireflight continues to carry Kup's medallion as well as his own in one hand and looks at tempo "The wind..." he looks at the grass then at the sky "... Maybe it was just my imagination. Did you want me to jump into the air to look ahead, Kup?"

&lt;&lt;I see them, Kup,&gt;&gt; Red Alert replies, and indeed, he's crouching over some of them right now. &lt;&lt;Also, the cultist smelled of radon, and there's a metallic scent to the air that wasn't there when we arrived. Also noticing brief.. drafts, of sort.&gt;&gt;

Kup doesn't take his own medallion. Maybe he's daring the creature to come for him. "Go ahead, Fireflight. Take a look around." Crouching down by the footprints, he feels around their edges, trying to get an idea of who could've made those depressions.

Nightbeat looks around, rubs his chin, and replies, &lt;&lt;Yeah, those are new. Somethin' invisible? I sure didn't see anything here... or hear it. Hnn&gt;&gt; Nightbeat is perturbed. His senses are very, very good after all.

Fireflight nods and steps alittle away from the othesr. The medallions dissapear into a storage cavity and he transforms, leaping up to jet straight up into the air, flattening the grass around him in a circle.

&lt;&lt;Neither did I,&gt;&gt; Red Alert adds to Nightbeat's statement, and he, too, sounds very nervous. &lt;&lt;Nor did I smell anything beyond what I already reported.&gt;&gt; He stands up, hissing with frustration. &lt;&lt;And you notice their 'terms'? We don't do right, we die, we do right, we get taken away? Seems supicious to me.&gt;&gt;

&lt;&lt;Nothing from up here. The temple, grass and - a tree.&gt;&gt; the phantom reports a few minutes, zipping ahead of them, although he banks sharply to come around in a wide circle. &lt;&lt;That tree looks forboding&gt;&gt;

Kup reports, &lt;&lt;These footprints could've been made by an Autobot or Decepticon with sharp edges on his feet. Don't know too many bots like that, though. Lot of 'em had those edges filed down. Still, we better keep an optic out.&gt;&gt; He stands up, wiping his hands. &lt;&lt;Frag their terms. I'll tell a few stories, but if I see this thing I'm gonna kill it.&gt;&gt;

"So the question is, do we just march into what is obviously a trap, swapping stories along the way," Red Alert asks out loud, "Or do we investigate this temple, the hill and tree, and so forth?" Tempo also is looking about as well, &lt;&lt;So far-- nuthin' to report.&gt;&gt; The dark femme states as she places the medal around her neck. Might as well do as the natives do right?

She continues her search by foot, pondering over what that-- unicronian was trying to warn them.

Tempo continues to look around, however unknown to her, her hands seem to on there own, as she pulls out her data-pad and starts to write in it. She blinks for a moment and then cants her head, &lt;&lt;Hey-- Kup.. ummm...&gt;&gt;

Her emerald green optics stare down at her data-pad. Her chrome features on her face tightened slightly in slight confusions and-- well-- discomfort. &lt;&lt;I think it wants to hear some of those stories..&gt;&gt;

The cultist, a bit slower on the uptake, looks down at what Kup is examining, and he recoils in clear recognition and horror, his optics glazed.

Then, those glazed optics hit the ground with a tinkling noise.

For a moment, standing over the collapsing body of the cultist is a tall, four-armed figure, like a robot fashioned entirely of blades and razorwire, with four crimson optics. The machine seems to stare at each Autobot in turn, but it is only there an instant.

Then it is gone.

Red Alert narrows his optics after the creature as it leaves. He shakes his head, muttering, "Shouldn't be possible..." Then he looks over at Tempo. "What's wrong, Tempo?"

Fireflight misses this, being focused on that tree as he circles overhead now, musing to himself.

Kup thinks about Red Alert's question. "I dunno. I like springing traps. I say we go with that." That's about when he notices the bizarre robot. His musket is in his hands almost instantly, firing a shot at it--but he's still not fast enough. "Alright, definitely not Cybertronian. Where the frag did it go? Nobody's that fast!" He glances at Tempo. "Eh?"

Nightbeat grimaces. The creature - what it just did - no, no, it can't be. That's impossible. He looks to Kup and nods. The detective transforms, starting to head towards the grassy plains.

Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll.

Red Alert looks at Nightbeat, then over at Kup. "Can you transform right now, Kup?"

Kup nods. "Yeah. Yeah." Slowly, he converts to truck mode, his cane somehow settling conveniently on his truck bed. "Well. So this thing wants to hear stories, huh? I think I already told you guys about the Skin Crawler. I ever tell you about the Sand Demon?"

Kup falls forward, folding up into really old looking futuristic truck!

Red Alert transforms to follow after. "Sand demon? I don't think I've heard that one."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "SOMEONE keeps taking my ball!"

Red Alert moves west to the Grassy Plains - Uberion.

Red Alert has left.

You move west to the Grassy Plains - Uberion.

Grassy Plains – Uberion

These plains seem to stretch on endlessly. Crossing it usually takes days, hours with a fast vessel. The grass grows high, almost like bamboo, and in some of the taller patches, even a Transformer could get lost. Rivers cut through the sea of grass, and along on of the river, to the south, there seems to be a city. Westward, the ancient tombs that puzzle the xenoarchaeologists so can barely be determined. To the east, there is the First City, where the first colonists landed. However, while the cities or tombs may vanish from sight in this expansive grassland, one thing can always be seen - a vast tree, gleaming by sunlight or starlight.

Contents:

Fire Chief's Car

Tree of Pain

Obvious exits: South &lt;S&gt; leads to City of the Artists - Uberion. East &lt;E&gt; leads to First City - Uberion. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Tombs - Uberion.

Tree of Pain

A horrific tree rises like a skyscraper, easily hundreds of meters tall. From a distance, it seems to gleam, as if made of metal, a spiky and leafless acacia. It might be mistaken for a wayward sculpture from the City of Artists. Sharp optics or moving closer will reveal, however, that the tree is metal and living matter fused together, that it has grown, and that baleful glowing red fruits hang from its branches and that many, many lifeforms from all across the galaxy are impaled on its thorns. Moving very closer or possessing very sharp optics indeed would reveal that every last impaled prisoner is still alive, struggling weakly and that each one bears the symbol of pilgrimage.

Kup arrives from the First City - Uberion to the east.

Kup has arrived.

Tempo arrives from the First City - Uberion to the east.

Tempo has arrived.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Would you like to report a theft?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I should probably do that. Either way, I'm gonna find out who did it and bite 'em!"

Fireflight arrives from the First City - Uberion to the east.

Fireflight has arrived.

Fireflight follows overhead, circling back repeatedly to keep from overrunning the cars below as he banks, coming in low over the grasslands. &lt;&lt;Ther'es the tree. VERY forboding.&gt;&gt; He confirms again.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "...Where are you, anyway, Nightbeat?"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; can see the tree and what - and who - is on it, and he rather wishes that his optics /weren't/ so good for once, because that's just messed up. Ugh. The tall grass makes driving difficult, but he tries to cope.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Lil' planet out in the middle of nowhere. Can't get more specific on open freq. Why?"

Were he in robot mode, Red Alert could see the tree from a good distance. As a vehicle, he only has its radar signature to go off of - and that's chilling enough. "Primus!" he gasps as they approach. "That's... they're still alive!"

Red Alert sweeps the area.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; grumbles as he rolls along, flattening countless blades of grass, "I wasn't expecting the grass to be so damn high. Good thing I'm built for off-road driving. Anyway, this Sand Demon, it was a real bastard on this desert planet I forget the name of. Sucked about half a dozen Autobots down below the desert and we never saw them again. We eventually figured out we could track it by sonar and anticipate its attacks, so whenever it came along we made sure we'd be standing on solid rocks or something like that. Still, we couldn't carry out our operation with that thing hounding us."

Coming up over a hill, he finally spots the Tree of Pain. "...damn, that's pretty messed up, I'll give this thing that much. I seen worse, though, believe it or not."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Just wondering. If you need a fox, lemme know.  In the meantime, I'm gonna try to find who took my ball."

For The TVR Tuscan S-- the grass is also slag on her. She is a sport vehical designed for high speeds--- not for grass and offroad moving, "..Primus.." Tempo whispers to herself as she picks up on what-- is the tree of Pain and she can't believe what her sensors tell her. "..How--" Is all the femme could get out.

Fireflight realizes the tree held people, and banks away sharply now, whimpering softly. He was unable to say anything and wobbled in midair, starting to slow down to the point of stalling out behind the cars.

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; murmurs lowly, "I'd believe it." Kup has seen everything, and everything, doubtless, also includes 'worse than the tree of pain'. Nightbeat does not envy Kup one bit. Then, he shouts, "Hey, look awake, Fireflight!"

Fire Chief's Car seems intent on driving straight towards the tree, though not at a very high speed. Partially due to caution, partially because of the grass in his tires.

Fireflight snaps his wings into place, rolling and hitting his jets. He circles a good two hundred meters away from the tree, with it in the center of his circle "I... I think we should circumnavigate AROUND This..." he admits shakily.

Fire Chief's Car isn't circumnavigating around it, but he does transform before he gets too close, sniffing the air and making use of his advanced senses once more. As nice as a radar is, he just hates the blindness that comes with vehicle mode.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; adjusts his course to the right just a liiitle bit. "Yeah... let's go around. Anyway. This Sand Demon, that thought it was so damn clever snatchin' us from where we can't get at it, well, it got what was comin' to it, lemme tell ya. What we did was lure it into an area where we had set up a little trap for it. They had me standing out in the middle of the sand, making as big a racket as I could. When we spotted that thing rumblin' towards me, they waited until it was in range, then BLAM! They set off some thermal charges right as it passed over 'em. Now, if those things didn't kill it, then they at least sealed it away in a coffin of hardened glass. Either way's fine by me, because after that we didn't have to worry about it anymore. So the moral of the story, then, is that no matter how sneaky some creature can get, there's always a surefire trick to take it out."

Tempo hrms softly and continues to follow the others, staying clear of the tree, however-- her wheels are getting the grass threaded in the tires which stops her cold, "..I hate grass.." She mutters to herself as she transforms once more and huffs softly.

Then emerald green optics gaze at the tree once more, before she looks over to Fireflight and places her hand on her comm link, now running to keep up with the others.

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; listens along to Kup's tale, and he decides to venture something, which he initially dismissed, "Kup, when that thing blinked out - it didn't look like any cloak I've seen. It looked... it looked... more like a shuttle engaging FTL Drive." He hollers. "Red Alert, can you back me up on that?"

Fireflight continues to circle as she receives the radio, murmering softly as he continued overhead, still staring at the tree, fixated.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; replies, "FTL within a planet's gravity well? That ain't possible. Is it? I mean, I dunno."

"Fascinating!" Red Alert says as Kup wraps up his story. "I'll have to keep that in mind." To Nightbeat, he nods. "It did, but that doesn't make sense. Isn't engaging FTL this far in a gravity well dangerous?" He doesn't seem to be paying attention to 'go around' recommendations and is, in fact, now approaching the tree, staying crouched low as he does.

Some of the various aliens, a mixture of organic and robotic, look at Red Alert, their eyes and optics dull and pained. They seem unable to do much more than look.

Tempo hears what Nightbeat pointed out and hrms softly, "Maybe its using a smaller form of it? Like somethin' that wouldn't mess with th' gravity or-- perhaps work with the gravity?" She calls out.

Red Alert stops and straightens a moment when the aliens look at him, then looks around the tree for a lower branch. With that, he darts forward, sprinting for one of the fruits.

Fireflight suddenly banks sharply "Red Alert! Stop! Dont!" he calls, alarmed now at Red's motions.

The tree is massively tall, remember, but if Red Alert makes a good enough jump at it, he can grab onto some of the lower thorn prickles. One of the aliens, one that seems to have been there for a shorter time than the others, croaks out, "Speak, doubter, if you want the tree so badly."

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; pops up into his robot mode, reaching out for Red Alert. This is a pointless gesture, though, since Red is already far away. "Don't do it, lad! We got no idea what that tree's really for!"

Red Alert skids to a stop and backs away - scrambles back, even - as the tree speaks to him. He points at the fruit. "Data storage units. Why? What are you taking from us?" he demands. "The stories, the data storage... who's gathering all this knowledge together, and why?"

Fireflight quietly circles a little bit closer, bringing his weapons systems online.... just in case.

The faded green cybertruck springs up and splits apart, revealing the ancient Autobot, Kup!

Hands push down on the ground, as the hood breaks by the window, shield, and face emerges, the hands then force the body up into the air, legs kicking outward from the back in a mid-air flip, the doors swings down to her side, and then lands down on the ground in a crouch, Tempo is ready for action.

The alien struggles weakly against the thorn impaling him and replies, in a raspy voice, "I... I don't know. I was a painter." Indeed, there are splotches of pain on his clothing. He gazes toward the south. "No one knows."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; sighs and skids to a stop in the grass, also transforming, since Red Alert is haring off after the tree. It doesn't sit right, as an Autobot, to let those people suffer, but what can he do, really? Just get a report on the situation and pass it on to a team of scientists, medics, and engineers, maybe. People who might be able to get those victims down alive.

The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat!

Red Alert transforms, and rolls rather quickly to rejoin the others. "Sorry. I... spotted the data storage units. Something's gathering information on... well, everything. But... that may be the library, but I don't think it's whatever's doing this." He pauses. "I suppose one of us should tell a story now, but I don't like not knowing what this information goes /towards./"

Fireflight hums softly as he listens, backing up a little from the tree once more as he transmits privately to the others &lt;&lt;What about a fake story? That way, any data is false.&gt;&gt;

Tempo optics flicker, &lt;&lt;I don't think that is wise.&gt;&gt; Honestly, this place didn't seem wise, she was starting to get a cold chill up her servos.

Kup frowns. "Alright, Red. Well, let's keep going. Anyone else got any fun stories? Of the monster-hunting-kind, maybe?" Transforming back into truck mode, he continues to roll along. &lt;&lt;I agree with Tempo. No telling how that thing will react if we start messin' with it.&gt;&gt;

The painter repeats, "Let the doubter speak."

Fireflight falls silent as he continues to circle overhead, his altitude dropping.

Fire Chief's Car rolls along, struggling through the tall grass now that he's back in sports car mode. "Me?! I'm supposed to go next?!" He sputters. "I'm, erm, not very good at stories," he protests as he continues to struggle. "Although, erm, trying to get through all this grass... it brings to mind some of the plains fires that could crop up in the Midwest on North America. I used to, erm, sometimes help Inferno with some of those. There was one really bad one in, oh, 1998, I think it was. Inferno got to the family - Farmers. Their, uhm, home was following the way of their fields. I can only help so much, because I'm not built to resist fire like Inferno. But... we didn't have all of them. There was a girl missing."

Tempo continued to follow, now on foot. She was thankfully a very good runner, after all during the olympics, she got the silver.

Nightbeat listens along to Red Alert's story, pondering what in the dickens a tree of pain could be storing inside. It's all rather disturbing, in his book. Cultists of Unicron, a monster that appears put of nothing and vanishes... how does it all fit together?

Kup mutters as he keeps up with the convoy. "Go on. Did you find her?"

"Well, anyway," Red Alert continues, "Inferno can deal with the fires, but I've got the nose. The, erm, girl... she'd gone to play by a small pond on the property, and then got cut off. I tracked her by smell - humans are pretty distinct - but when I tried to help her, well, I ent up trapped myself." He sounds a little embarrassed. "Fortunately, Inferno wasn't far, and he was able to get both of us to safety. Still, he wouldn't hfve found her on his own." He chuckles. "I... suppose the moral there would have to do with team work. And, erm, maybe I shouldn't have just rushed in on my own."

Tempo continues with the group. Her cable chrome hair moving with her jogging posture as she listens. She smirks softly, "Sound like ya had alot of fun with Inferno there, Red."

Fireflight continues to circle, actually losing a little bit of interest as he watches the tree nervously, wondering what would happen...

Fire Chief's Car chuckles softly. "I did, at times."

Kup chuckles. "As long as you go the job done and save the girl, that's all that really matters, Red."

Kup falls forward, folding up into really old looking futuristic truck!

Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll.

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; slides back down into car mode to hide a derisive snort at Red Alert's ridiculously wholesome tale. What is Red Alert, a Care Bear? Nightbeat is a big fan of working alone, personally. Partners only slow him down and bungle the cases.

Fireflight suddenly gives a Squeak of suprise and banks hard away from the tree... and considering how close he was to the ground, his wing catches, sending pu a shower of dirt as the plane suddenly cartwheels through the grass. He transforms midwheel and dissapears from sight, bits of dirt and grass still flying up for a moment before he lays there, blinking in startlement. "Uhm. Errr, Uh..."

Tempo notices him fall and optics go wide, she slides across the ground and quickly runs to Fireflight, "Fireflight!" She calls out to him.

She slides down on her knee and looks down at the taller mech, "Ya ok? Ya really outta stop day dreamin' while ya flyin', ya gonna get ya'self killed like tha'."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; exclaims, "Fireflight, you okay, kid?" Primus, but that Aerialbot is too blasted spacey for his own good. Needs to learn how to watch where he's going.

"Uhm, errr my... name was... on the tree." the aerialbot sits up, mostly dirty and scratched, but unharmed. With a bit clot of dirt on one wing. He climbs to his feet awkwardly and stares at the tree from where he landed, shivering. "My name."

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; yells back to Tempo, "Pull him up, we can't linger here for too long. Now somebody cough up another story. I still wanna kill this freakshow, but this has been kinda fun."

Fire Chief's Car pulls to a stop as Fireflight crashes, but doesn't rush out to him because, well, Tempo seems to have that covered. He does, however, transforms and takes another sniff at the air. Then he looks over at Kup. "Well, Kup, you are the only pick-up among us. The rest of us are sports cars. What are your light duty restrictions?" Truthfully, Red is /pretty/ sure they don't include being out here to begin with, but still.

"Your name?" Tempo asks in question before she gives him her hand, "Well-- dun worry about it for now, lets keep movin' before," She then whispers gently, "Kup losses a gasket-- who knows how many of those we got left for him after all." She said in a playful tone and a smile on her face.

"Now, can ya walk ok, sugar?" Tempo asks Fireflight, not sure if she should stay at his side or not, though she does radio over to Red Alert, &lt;&lt;Hey Red-- Fireflight thought he saw his name on the tree...&gt;&gt;

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; slows to a stop. "Uhhhhhhhh... light duty restrictions?" He didn't really pay attention to what the nurse said. "Um... no fighting, no rough-housin', no heavy liftin', ya know, be a big wuss for a week or so."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Hey! Me Grimlock bored!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Get Kup to tell you a story."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Hnnnn. Maaaybe."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Me no know where him Kup at!"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; sighs and admits, "Fiiiiine. There are bungee cables in my trunk." Since Kup as to be a huge wuss for the weekend, and Nightbeat likely has a /newer/ engine in him than anyone here.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I could tell you a story, then!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "You Foxfire story dumb!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Hey...that hurt."

Fireflight stands, nodding to Tempo as he brushes dirt off "I do that all the time. I'm fine." he notes as he walks towards the others, then to the tree. He stops "... I think I'm supposed to tell one now."

&lt;&lt;Thank you, Tempo,&gt;&gt; Red Alert says politely, not mentioning that he had heard. He heads over to Nightbeat's trunk and pulls out the bungee cords, assuming Nightbeat pops it for him, then turns towards Fireflight. "You, erm, might want to tell it on the road," he suggests, pointing towards Nightbeat.

Fireflight blinks and stares at Nightbeat, then stares at the Bungees. Then stares at red. Blink.

The dark femme looks up at the tree and shudders softly, "Long as we keep movin'. I'm really wishin' tha' thing fall over or somethin'-- or us to find another area.."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "I can't tell you where I am, Grimlock! Though I suppose if the Decepticons came here they'd make a new friend."

Red Alert sighs heavily. "Fireflight, we're trying to keep moving. If you're not flying, well, Kup is on duty restrictions due to injury, so you'll have to ride on top of one of us." Then he points to Nightbeat. "Preferably him."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I don't think the 'Cons know the meaning of the word 'friend'."

Fireflight nods a little bit "Errr, I'm not flying? " he asks, confused even while he walked towards Nightbeat "I dont think you need to tie me down. I'll just hold on." he notes, eyeing the bungees again

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Oh, they dae. but they caa it 'somethan useful tae them at thes time'"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; gets to be ridden by an Aerialbot. Oh, joy. Nightbeat is just so thrilled. The sooner Kup is healed, the better. Hey, maybe this stroll through the grass and the fresh air will do him some good. He grumbles, "Just get talking, kid."

Red Alert said 'if you're not flying.' He shrugs, though, then transforms back to vehicle mode so they can get moving again.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; growls, sounding cranky, "Could we just this show moving again? I'm growing old just idlin' here."

Fireflight nods and sits carefully on Nightbeat, his feet dangling over the back "talk? Oh. My story. Uhm... a story." the mech who writes now can't think of a story "I remember a few months ago on Earth... heh, a funny story actually... Swoop invited me to go fishing. It was rather fun, if interesting. " he starts "He took me to someplace in Germany - a beautiful lake. When it was still, it was like a hole into another universe, with the same blue sky and trees! Just stunning! Anyways, it did not last long, because Swoop dived in to catch a fish... then pushed me in. A few times. " he pauses in his story, to try and remember the rest.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Who's that?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Who's whit?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "You. Who are you?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Aam Fanfare, fueller an' shipper! Ah can tak' whatever ye want, an' move it tae wherever ye need it. an' yoo'll ken it when it gits thaur, believe me."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Me Ken whut? Me no Ken! Me GRIMLOCK!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Fanfare, huh? I'm Foxfire, of the Intelligence division.  I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Braw tae meet ye, Foxfire! 'eard of you I 'ave. An' uh... it means 'You will know its there', Grimlock."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "You've heard of me? Good things, I hope?"

Tempo does one of those dead-pan looks at Fireflight tells the story and she tags along in her jogging fashion. Oh-- she knew this story rather well, because she played a part in it.

Alas, this is probably why she took that vacation back there.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Weeeeell... depends. Is a 'paint rocket' a guid hin' tae hear aboot?"

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; hehs. "That Swoop's been a real trouble-maker lately. He was always one of the sneakier Dinos."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "..."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; deadpans, "If by sneaky, you mean 'not at all', then yeah." The Dinobots all give Nightbeat horrible horrible, headaches. It seems like they are, at last, approaching those tombs.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I dunno. It means I still have my reputation.  Hee."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Although I think it's Swift who usually does the paint rockets..."

Fireflight chuckles at Kup, looking across to him "Yeah. Anyways... He tried to teach me how to catch fish like him, but I couldnt cause well... I'm a jet, not a Dinobot, and jets dont like sucking up fish." he chuckles softly "So I tried catching them wiht my hands. Then Tempo showed up and Swoop of course, tried to impress her. She asked us each to catch a fish... obviously, Swoop caught one first. Though I uh... uh." he pauses suddenly, going awkwardly still. Nightbeat probably wouldnt see it, but others watching would see his faceplate warm.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "He tauld me th' story. Mebbe Ah got confused."

Tempo would smack her forehead, but she then slow down. No, she just keeps up. She was a player, she admit she was a player, but it was just that, play. After all, when your built to sing and dance, it kinda comes under that catigory of being a playful femme.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; mutters, "Almost there." Then, "Okay, then what happened? Drop the fish or sumthin'?"

Fire Chief's Car is driving. His optics are on the road and his radar doesn't pick up temperature differences.

Fireflight errrs and shake his head "Tempo took Swoops fish, then had to go. So did Swoop. A little later I.." he fidgets, nervously "I sent Tempo a fish-shaped Poem."

Fire Chief's Car sounds a might confused. "Uhm. Okay."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; can't see what Fireflight's doing, but suddenly, he has something else on his mind. The detective screams, "Sheyagh!" Cut neatly, into the flames on one of his sidepanels, are the stark, angular words, 'HOLLOW ONE'. It takes all he has to stay on track, and his voice sounding weaker, he mutters, "Guess I'm up."

Fireflight YELPS as his ride suddenly screams under him. And he falls off Nightbeat into the grass "GACH!"

Tempo keeps a rather dead-pan look, only thought now, 'of all the stories to tell'. Then she nearly trips on Fireflight and does a little hop to catch herself, looking at him, then sighs. "...." She helps get him back up, "Come on.. if ya weren't taller then me-- I just piggy back ya on my back."

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; pulls up alongside Nightbeat. "What the frag? Did you see what did that to you? Uh..." Somehow, he manages to read the words carved into the detective. "Hollow one. Oh, geeze. How did that thing know...?"

Fireflight climbs back to his feet "... I'm fine, really!He just startled me." he explains, t urning to jog after Nightbeat quickly, but he slows, staring at the carved panel. And flinches.

Fire Chief's Car swerves to avoid Fireflight, but catches sight of Nightbeat's side in the process. "You still aren't, are you?" he asks. When he sees that Fireflight is all right, he starts moving again.

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; sighs and slows to a stop, if Fireflight wants to climb back on top. Shaken, he replies, "I just caught a glimpse - it's fast. Nearly faster than my optical refresh rate. I can't see what it wrote, but I can /feel/ it - Primus, that burns! I dunno know it knew, and I don't think I am one still, but..." Slaggit.

Fireflight shivers again. He was right NEXT to where the thing was.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; coughs. "Well, at any rate, maybe you wanna get started on your story before it starts carving your whole life history into you?"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; coughs and agrees, "Yeah, boss." The detective narrates, "It started, the way it usually does, with a dame. Waltzed right inta my office, even though the sign said 'closed'. Leggy robotic redhead, smelled like Ardurian bloodroses. Said her brother'd gone missing, thought he mighta fallen in with a gang. Wanted my help, and who am I to say no to a dame in distress? So I looked into thing, and it just wasn't adding up. Every time I got close, she'd need to touch up her paintjob, and we'd get attacked by gang members. Thing is, and I noticed this - they never so much as scratched her paint, though they beat me half-senseless. Always missed her. Missed. Hmph. The clincher, though, was when I got her off my back and found her brother's dead body - the gang was hers all along. Her brother got wise to her ways, and she had to axe him. She was lookin' for a fall guy, but now, she's doing the cell block tango."

Fire Chief's Car's player has to go, so he's just not going to say anything for the rest of the scene and be quiet background filler.

Tempo continues to jog along, listening to Nightbeat's story, "Sounds like it serves her right if ya ask me." Tempo shakes her head, "Some nerve of some, I tell ya--"

Fireflight blinks a little bit, walking alongside Tempo and looks confused "... Cell Block Tango?" he whispers to Tempo curiously

Tempo whispers back gently, "When we get back to th' ship, I'll play ya a scene from a earth movie called Chicago."

Fireflight ohs, still puzzled, but accepts that as he nods, looking all around him nervously.

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; huhs! "So it was HER gang all along? Eh, femme bots usually ain't into organized crime. I'd expect something like that out of a Deceptichick, though. They're the exception that breaks every damn rule. Uh. Maybe this lass was a former Decepticon or somthin'?"

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; sighs and explains, "She went to prison, Fireflight." Blinking his headlights, the detective notes, "I bet you've seen a lotta broads in your days, Kup, but the kind that waltz into my office... well, they're a real special crowd, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong, some of them are legit, but every society's got its criminal element, and I just happen to run into ours more often than not. "

Tempo continued to jog, then it happened again. That cold feeling, then she kinda stopped jogging and stared down at her hands. This time she stared blankly at the data-pad, features gone stiff, before she dropped the data-pad and huffed softly, jogging again.

The dark femme waved her hands in the air gently, "Whatever ya are-- I wish ya stop have'in me jot stuff down, slag it all--" She sighed softly, "It seems our happy little four arms wants me to tell a story now.."

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; laughs, despite the horrific sights they've seen lately. "I'll bet you do, Nightbeat, you rascal. Tempo? Yeah, if you could share sumthin' with us real quick, before that thing tries calligraphy on you."

Fireflight blinks as she drops her datapadd. He skids to a halt and picks it up, before taking after her quickly again, nodding at her as he stumbles along.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "HEY."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "HEY YOU ULTRA MAGNUS. WHERE IS YOU?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I don't think shouting into the frequency is going to help much, Grimlock."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Me do!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Ow, my achin' audios..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock say if you yell into radio, message go faster."

Tempo continues to jog and then rubs her forehead as she does, "Wha' ta tell, wha' ta tell..." The dark femme seems lost for a moment in thought till she snaps her chrome finger tips, "Ah-ha!"

"Back on Cybertron," She starts out with a smirk on her face, "It was one of the bunkers I was placed in on a mission. We were out in the middle of no-mans-land, a place ya wouldn't want to be, but ya know how it goes, they figured that area was important, so we were sent there. Well, one night, we had an attack happen. The boys, as I liked to call 'em, decided to lay a trap. We got them to walk right into it, then closed them up in a room, once we got 'em in th' room, Nuetron and I knocked 'em out and then we held them for questionin'." She sound very proud of herself as she states that.

"Needless to say, I dun think they ever looked at a lil' femme the same way again, after all-- there is a reason ya dun mess with a gal with daggers."

Porsche 959 &lt;Nightbeat&gt; groans, "Oh, yeah. Been on the wrong side of a skirt's daggers a few times, I could tell you, ain't pleasant at all... but hey, ain't those the tombs, we're comin' up on?" Indeed, the stone edifices seem to be looming large before the Autobots now.

Fireflight blinks, perhaps expecting more details in the story. He continues along to jog, tripping on occasion but never gonig down. He squints ahead... then turns into a full out run, transforming to focus with his better sensors

You move west to the Tombs - Uberion.

Tombs – Uberion

The tombs are a massive complex set into a mountain range. The ceiling range from lofty, even by Transformer standards, to cramped. In the middle of the complex, however, a massive stone sphinx clutching an hourglass sits, untouched by weathering. Indeed, for stone structures, all the tombs seem remarkably unweathered. All the more strangely, all conventional attempts at dating the tombs indicate that have they not been built yet, even though the dust of ages coats their catacombs.

Obvious exits: East &lt;E&gt; leads to Grassy Plains - Uberion.

Kup arrives from the Grassy Plains - Uberion to the east.

Kup has arrived.

Tempo arrives from the Grassy Plains - Uberion to the east.

Tempo has arrived.

Fireflight arrives from the Grassy Plains - Uberion to the east.

Fireflight has arrived.

The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat!

Cybertruck &lt;Kup&gt; lets out a hackling laugh. "Damn straight, Nightbeat. Femmes and sharp objects never mix. Hm." He shines his headlights up ahead. "Alright, looks like the tombs alright. Gonna walk from here on out." He transforms into robot mode, taking in the sights. "Geeze. Huge place..."

The faded green cybertruck springs up and splits apart, revealing the ancient Autobot, Kup!

Fireflight slows and transforms, landing hard with a THUNK behind the others. He then eyes "... Do we REALLY have to do this?" he asks the others.

Nightbeat transforms back to robot mode, once he enters the massive tomb complex. Seeing the tombs, he frowns and withdraws his magnifying glass, looking at one of the wall. He pinches some dust between his thumb and forefinger and then blows it away, reporting, "This place ain't right. Not the way that tree ain't right - I mean, it shouldn't exist. Not yet. All covered in dust, but the stone's so new, it's like... like it hasn't formed yet."

Kup gapes at Nightbeat. "What the frag are you saying, Nightbeat? This place shouldn't be here, is that what you mean?" He looks around the room for himself, squinting at the structures within. "Huh. Though... yer right. This place... aside from the dust, it looks like it's brand new."

Fireflight just stands at the back, looking over the place with saddened blue optics.

Tempo has disconnected.

Nightbeat pulls put a datapad and reports, "Planetary survey says that the tombs were here before the colonists came. They have to be at least a few decades old, then, but they sure don't look it." The detective shakes his head.

Then, the stone sphinx holding the hourglass moves, staring at the group of Autobots, and it intones, "Autobots. At last, you have come - but you did not bring the empathy component!" Its wings mantle, as if flustered.

Fireflight jumps a little bit, and blinks and stares at the Sphinx "... Empathy component? " he blinks, and looks at the others "... Doubt... Dreaming... " he lists off quietly.

Kup nods. "Yeah, I agree. Something's definitely off, here." As he is addressed by the stone sphinx, Kup glares at it. "Don't you sass me, whatever the hell you are! We don't even know what the frag an empathy component is! I mean, you figured out who we are, sure, but you ain't omnipotent enough to tell that we have no idea what yer talkin' about?"

The sphinx shoots a mild look at Kup and notes primly, "In my youth, I will yet be older than you, veteran," speaking almost as if it has not reached its youth yet. Then, it shakes its head. "But you surmised correctly, and you have earned the truth. This /is/ a trap - for the empathy component. The tree creates and stores suffering enough that true compassion would be drawn to the tree to defeat it. Yet instead, you, the soldiers of empathy are here."

Fireflight blinks a little in confusion "Empathy... drawn to the tree." he blinks a little and looks at the others and mouths 'matrix' to them questioningly.

Kup nods at Fireflight. "That's what I'm thinkin'. This empathy component, the way he's talkin', sounds more like a who than a what. And the guy I know with the most empathy for others is Rodimus Prime." He smirks up at the Sphinx. "Sorry to disappoint you, but there ain't a chance in hell we'd ever let you snatch the boss. Even if you did, we got a nice big ship we can use to nuke this place from orbit."

Nightbeat turns around, crouches down, and frowns yet more as he holds his magnifying glass to the dust of the floor. He mutters lowly, "Footprints. Again. We have company." Then, the detective cries out again as, blades and razorwire cut into him, inscribing the number twenty-six upon his frame.

Then, the four-armed monstrosity is visible again, seemingly frozen in mid-swipe, going for Nightbeat's head.

Kup's jaw is set in bitter determination. He doesn't care if the thing just blinks out again. The monster has to be stopped. He aims his rifle at the beast and fires off a salvo of metal-eating acid pellets. "Bad time for a freeze frame!" he yells!

The sphinx, looking somewhat strained as it clutches the hourglass, protests, "Oh, no! I have no desire to see the empathy component come to harm. I was put here to keep the Shrike, that monster, under control, but as I grow younger, my powers weaken. Once, I could keep it contained to these tombs, but no longer - free the ones on the tree, end the suffering, and the trap will fail, but hurry!" Cracks start to appear on the sphinx.

The Shrike, for that is its name, does indeed seem to take some damage from Kup's rifle, now that the sphinx has it transfixed, if only for a short time.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah hae an idea, grimlock - Ah can send aff a flaur, an' ultra magnus can make his way towards it, an' leid heem tae us. they willnae ken which direction he's comin' frae an', if thaur is trooble fa comes uir way, 'en we'll be ready."

Fireflight whirls as well, his gun appearin.g then he pauses and looks at the Sphinx, then at the others. He turns to run for the door, and pauses "Shall I go start a forest fire, Kup?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I can smell Magnus, Fanfare. He's somewhere along this river."

Kup nods at Fireflight. "You're the fastest one of us! Take those people off of the tree, then blow it to hell! I'll make sure Edward Scissorhands has trouble putting himself back together again." He turns back on the monster, and plugs it repeatedly with laser blasts. "COME ON! I been waitin' for this!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Grimlock"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Quickswitch says, "What the--you guys found Ultra Magnus?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "+?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Whut?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "We've located the planet he's on, but we haven't found him yet. We're close."

Fireflight nods and transforms quickly before Kup could finish. The phantom whips across the priaries, targetting the tree as soon as he could...

Wait, take ALL those people off first??

This Could be problematic. He holds fire though as he tries to think of how to do this, Then he changes his target... the base of the trunk, the tree itself... hoping to bring it down.

"Oh please hit, oh please, oh please..."


 * FWOOOHS*

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Permission t'fire flares for Ultra Magnus to follow?"

Nightbeat deciding that he doesn't want to stick around where a gruesome beast was trying to cut him up, and he offers, "I'll make sure Fireflight doesn't kill anyone all accidental-like." On that note, he drives off, to go play catch with anyone falling off the tree.

The Shrike appears to be at least partially Cybertronian in construction, under the razorwire and blades, and it seems to be extremely durable. Eventually, it falls - in several pieces, but is it really dead?

Meanwhile, the sphinx continues to crack and chip, clearly under great strain for exerting its powers, so.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Uh yeah. Do that!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Gotcha! Ultra Magnus, Aam settin' aff flares. iffen ye see it, gang towards it!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah hiner he saw it. if he doesnt, he's nae oan thes side ay th' planit."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I'm SURE he's close by! I can smell 'im--I *heard* 'im!  He's here!"

Kup kicks around the Shrike-bits, then nods. "Right, good idea. I'll be right with ya!" He runs off after Nightbeat, fearing the worst already! "And I just hope that thing stays down!"

'Grassy Plains – Uberion

These plains seem to stretch on endlessly. Crossing it usually takes days, hours with a fast vessel. The grass grows high, almost like bamboo, and in some of the taller patches, even a Transformer could get lost. Rivers cut through the sea of grass, and along on of the river, to the south, there seems to be a city. Westward, the ancient tombs that puzzle the xenoarchaeologists so can barely be determined. To the east, there is the First City, where the first colonists landed. However, while the cities or tombs may vanish from sight in this expansive grassland, one thing can always be seen - a vast tree, gleaming by sunlight or starlight.

Contents:

Tree of Pain

Obvious exits: South &lt;S&gt; leads to City of the Artists - Uberion. East &lt;E&gt; leads to First City - Uberion. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Tombs - Uberion.

Kup has arrived.

Kup is still running out to see how much or how little damage was done to the tree. Did Fireflight get everyone off or will all of the tree's victims die in a horrific pyre?

The tree is several hundreds of meters tall and more resembles a skyscraper than a real tree, in some ways, and it would take more than one missiles to knock it over. However, Fireflight is exceptionally lucky today - his missile doesn't knock over the tree, but it does knock out some of the tree's systems, allowing the victims of be safely removed.

Fireflight banks around the tree, sighing in relief now as he comes around for another run, circling wide overhead as he reloads another firefog in preparation.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Coordinates, laddie?"

Nightbeat transforms, waves his arms wildly, and shouts up at Fireflight, "Hey, kid? Maybe we oughta get the victims /down/ and then knock over the tree. Eh? How about that? Y'know, so they don't get squished?"

Kup nods. "Yeah, and let's get it done before something bad happens!" He stares upwards at the tree, frowning. "Damn, it'll take us hours. Anyway to get the branches to lower themselves? That would make this a lot easier!"

Fireflight uhms a little "Errr. I thought if we knocked it over they'd be closer to the ground." he shouts back, circling still. "Can we attack the roots or... something? Weaken the trunk? " he calls back, circling a little closer to try and see.

Kup steps up to the base of the tree, staring at a portion of it that had been blasted open by Fireflight's missiles. "No need--look here, a control console of some kind!" He gets to work on it right away. "I think I know this operating system. Did they use Cybertronian tech for this damn thing? Well, it doesn't matter. I think... I think I know how to shut it down..." Tappity tap tap...

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Fanfare, lock on our signals and join us. We've found Magnus, and several Decepticons."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Roger 'at! incomin' noo! hoo mony decepticons? if ye need speedy lift aff, aam yer mech."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Americon, for starters. And a ferret who I think is also one of Soundwave's."

Nightbeat notes thoughtfully, "Y'know, that Shrike thing... looked kinda Cybertronian inside when you pasted it open, Kup." He squints over at the console. Perhaps it /is/ Cybertronian technology. After all, if this was a set up by some crazy cultists of Unicron, they might well have gotten their hands on Cybertronian technology. Through the black market, perhaps.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah see ye now.... can ye see me?"

Fireflight circles overhead, watching the tree nervously, and scanning the surroundiings for ANYTHING.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Yeah. Head down here and help us out."

Success! The victims are lowered and released, to stagger woozily off to the nearest hospital.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Nae enaw room tae lain, laddie. Ah will make a pass again wi' some taw lines if ye hae quick fingers - ur teeth."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Okay. Just stand by, then.  Hopefully we'll be about to get out of here without unnecessary violence."

Kup scowls. "Then maybe we oughta pay a visit to these cultists, next and find out where they got this tech. Still, I ain't never heard of a Cybertronian device that can make something, I dunno, younger? Primus know I'd have used it."

Fireflight circles overhead and sighs as they are released. "One more shot... " he notes and repeats the same action "Back away guys. I'm going to try and burn this to the ground." as he comes in... a slow, long attack, firing missile after missile once his friends were clear at the tree's base.

Kup yells, "Crap!" as he hustles off and away from the tree. He doesn't want to get burned!

Crash! The tree of pain comes down in flames - and once it's down and on fire, it starts to look as if it was one part tree, one part horrific detainment system... and one part spaceship. Good thing the Autobots caught this thing now, or it might have taken flight to the stars!

You move east to the First City - Uberion.

First City – Uberion

The First City is a rather drab, pre-fabricated looking town. It was laid out hastily by the first waves of colonists, in bunkers and box-like buildings. There is a basic spaceport, and it has most of the amenities a city should, but it seems rather deserted, with only a few stubborn colonists left. The only thing of any real note is a building on a lonely hill in the outskirts.

Contents:

Church of the Devourer

Obvious exits: Up &lt;U&gt; leads to Justicar Tri-Cluster. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Grassy Plains - Uberion.

Fireflight arrives from the Grassy Plains - Uberion to the west.

Fireflight has arrived.

Kup arrives from the Grassy Plains - Uberion to the west.

Kup has arrived.

The Church of the Devourer, sitting on its lonely hill, lies in ruins. Something resembling a tornado seems to have torn through it, and it alone - all the other buildings are untouched. A number of cultists lie in the ruins, dead, but who knows how many there are? A few might have escaped.

Fireflight notes softly ".. I have missiles left for the temple if you want guys..." he sounded a little... muted "... I've never destroyed this much before. Even when I broke Switzerland."

Fireflight then notes the condition "... I think that thing got here first."

Nightbeat stares and groans at the ruins of church, snapping his fingers in frustration. He exclaims, "So much for questioning those creeps - I'll get a team on this to collect any evidence, but... does a needle in a haystack ring a bell? I just hope... I just hope the thing did this while we were out on the plains," and, unsaid, that the Shrike really is dead. That it didn't do all this after Kup shot it full of acid.

Kup smirks wryly. "Yeah, don't bother Fireflight. SOMETHING took care of it for us. And don't worry about that Shrike. There's no way it could've done this after what I did to it. Though that does make me wonder... what DID do this?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Magnuuuuuus!"

Nightbeat shrugs and reiterates, "Eh. I'll get a team on it, like I said, but... I dunno." Lotta questions here, and he doubts that there are many answers in sight. He heads back for the shuttle - and to get his armour fixed. Fireflight circles overhead, and states "Let's go home.... for now." he states quietly, tiredly.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "We might've ticked off the natives of this planet...so don't be surprised if they try to attack us."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "We coods try tae pay uir way in an aw an' 'en check it it?"

Kup nods, shuffling off to the shuttle on his cane. "Yeah. Well, this was a strange mission, but we saved a lot of people today. Good work, everyone, and I'll expect some answers on this place, soon, Nightbeat."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Psh! Me Grimlock can just smash me way in!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Smashing sounds good. Or I can just be a sneaky little fox."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Weel, Ah coods start puttin' oan a shaw overheid tae distract them awa'..."

Nightbeat enters the shuttle and assures, somewhat ambivalently, "If there are answers, I'll find them, boss."

Fireflight lands and walks in afterwards, relatively whole, but tired as he flops down in his seat.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Oooh! Me Grimlock have PLAN."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Lovely..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Oh?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "You Foxfire go in, and put bombs on stuff. But not on kiddy stuff. That bad. Go blow up power station or something so it go dark! Then, me Grimlock go in and smash thems chains! Then him plane-guy soar by with rope and him Magnus grab on and fly 'way!"

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/136 PostedAuthor Uberion Report Thu Jan 15 Nightbeat -- See Nightbeat. See Nightbeat looks none too pleased, because something has carved 'hollow one' and '26' into his armour the hard way. He reports, "We checked out Uberion after hearing there was trouble there. Fireflight, Red Alert, Tempo, and Kup went along - and medics, don't get your wrenches in a bunch. Kup didn't strain himself any, not even when he was shooting that four-armed monster full of acid. But I digress. Seems a cult of Unicron had set up shop in Uberion, and don't get me wrong, religious freedom is great, but cultists of Unicron are freaky, a'ight?"

Nightbeat shakes his head. "They claimed there was some weird monster and that we needed to tell stories on a pilgrimage to the tombs. Load'a hogwash, if you ask me, but we did, and along the way, we ran into this tree of pain thing – think a metal tree the size of skyscraper, with hundreds of victims stuck on its thorns."

He shudders. "Nasty piece of work. Whole thing stunk of a trap, and it was. In the tombs, we met the monster's keeper, some kinda sphinx thing. Claimed that the whole shindig was a trap to lure out some 'empathy component' and that the sphinx couldn't keep the beastie contained anymore. The sphinx kept the monster contained just long enough for Kup to vape it. Then, Kup and Fireflight managed to free the victims of the tree of pain, knocked it over, and set it on fire. By the time we got back, /something/ had taken out the cultists. Good riddance? Maybe. I'll get a team lookin' into it - seems some of the technology might have been Cybertronian in origin. Either way, we freed a bunch of victims from torment, so I call it good."

Spinny.

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