There Will Be Blood

Synopsis: Kup tries to put an end to the strange and gruesome phenomena that have been haunting him, but will he accept help from his friends, or will he be lost in his own worst memories?

Nanxis IV

The fourth planet of the Nanxis system, the world has a strip of barren land at its equator and is capped with green stretches of steaming hot rain forests. Rivers and lakes criscross up and down the planet, making travel by ground for any lengthy period of time rather difficult. There are scattered villages of pre-industrial aliens here and there, but no major settlements.

Contents:

1983 Chevy S-10 < Gears >

Steeltread

Nightbeat

Jayson Redfield

Red Alert

SOMEWHERE at the edge of the Spectral Climbs a mysterious planet awaits. A planet with a DARK, DISTURBING secret. And it all has to do with Kup, the Autobot security advisor. And now, his FRIENDS are here to try and sort out the WEIRD mystery before it is TOO LATE.

Kup himself is not here. The last thing he said to everyone, though, was that he would "take care of this weird slag" and that he didn't want anyone getting involved.

Well too bad for Kup, since Jayson is getting involved. So there.

Red Alert is /probably/ going to get in trouble for being here. However, he can't think of the last time when an Autobot running off on their own has lead to good things, and if Autobots are going to run off on their own to bad things, he'd just as soon they did it as a group. More accountability that way.

And speaking of accountability...

Red Alert turns away from the controls just after they land and looks at the others, particularly Nightbeat. "/Thank you/ for actually warning us before heading out here." He pauses, and looks at the others. "You should know that... Kup has specifically ordered me not to get involved, and not to let anyone else get involed, but..." But Red Alert is a nervous little nelly who insists on sticking his nose into everyone's business. "But this has affected the whole faction. It's... it's grown beyond being just Kup's business." There. That sounds better.

Jayson Redfield has made himself comfortable in one of the passenger seats, just enjoying the ride. Or trying to, anyway. He's still uncomfortable with space travel. Afraid, really. But he's always been willing to go through with it for the sake of his friends and allies. He grins at Red. "That's just how it works, man. If someone tells you not to get involved, the only way you can help them *is* to get involved."

Nightbeat would have just run off after Kup. He works better when he's alone (though he's never really alone, not now), and he's an excellent tracker. Besides, he had orders to case this joint. Only one thing stopped him.

That Red Alert threatened to make Twitch his permanent partner if he went haring off alone again.

Eeesh.

Nightbeat waves a hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. Besides, we got Jazz backing us, so the brass is behind us." The non-Kup brass.

Gears is sitting back and grumbling. "I hope Kup hasn't gone and gotten himself slagged," he murmurs, "That would really stink. And speaking of stink, did someone's binary partner go to the washroom before we left?"

Nightbeat glares over at Gears, stands, and transforms down into car mode, since he is clearly not flying this shuttle, however much he would like to be. Muzzle stalks away from the Porsche, subspaces his armour, and points his index finger over at Gears, "I bet you think that's real funny, don't you? Makin' wild accusations based off my species, huh? Well, you can blow it out your exhaust." The Nebulan crosses his arms and scowls.

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

Jayson Redfield gives Gears a look. "Yeah, that was outta line, bro."

Off in the distance, a wrecked airship, roughly the size of the Steelhaven, looms, its back end pointing at the sky at a 45 degree angle. Its most striking feature is that it is considerably wider than it is long--perhaps like a bird? Thousands of years in a rain forest have not been kind to this ship, however, and it is covered in rust.

By process of elimination, Red Alert must be piloting the shuttle. He frowns. "Can we perhaps wait until /after/ we're finished with the potentially hazardous mission before we start turning on each other?" He asks. Then he tilts his head and looks suspicously at Gears. "Unless /someone/ is trying to intentionally sabotage things by turning us against ourselves. Gears, you wouldn't happen to have a grudge against Kup, would you?"

Wait. /Who's/ turning Autobots against /who/, again?

He hmmms as he spies something on the viewscreen. He points. "Is that what I think it is?" he asks the others as he changes direction to investigate.

"Of course not. That's ridiculous," Gears snorts. "I'm just saying. Jayson can hop into the can real fast if he wants to, but seriously. Those binary head-suits gotta be some hindrance to biological functions."

Steeltread peers to Red Alert. "I don't think anyone here is trying to sabotage the mission, Red Alert. but.....if my trustworthiness is called into question....I can remain behind. Your choice."

Muzzle glances over at Jayson Redfield, as Nighbeat's databanks supply him with a name. At least someone here isn't Nebulophobic. His attention to detail is the equal of Nightbeat's, even if his height isn't. He climbs atop the Porsche's roof (and car afficionados everywhere wince) to look out the windows, where Red Alert is pointing. He confirms, "Sure looks like it, Red Alert. Like a /bird/." He glares a bit more at Gears. "Oi, Headmaster suits are quite sanitary, I'll have you know!"

Jayson Redfield rubs his temples. "Just be quiet, would you...?" As Red speaks up, he glances out the window. "Looks like an old ship." He gets excited. "Are we gonna investigate?" Because he loves exploring creepy places. Usually.

Ship's still there. Oh, look, someone parked a one-seat shuttle nearby. Wonder who that might've been?

"That /is/ why I'm approaching," Red Alert answers Jayson. He tilts his head and glances down at Muzzle. "A 'bird'. Correct. Interesting." To Steeltread, he reports primly, "If your trustworthiness were... insufficient, you would not be here in the first place." Red Alert doesn't completely trust Steeltread, but he doesn't even completely trust himself. He may be revising his opinions constantly, but at least at the start of this mission, he was willing to trust his life to these people.

"... Coming in for a landing," he tells the others, bringing the shuttle down to do just that. Not too far from the one-seater, too.

Jayson Redfield blinks. "Hey...someone's been here," he remarks upon spotting the shuttle near the ship.

Gears scowls. "Whatever you say," he says to Muzzle, "I'll believe it when I see it. Or rather, when I /don't/ smell it."

Steeltread says, "stow it, Gears. We have something a bit more important than what someone's partner did or didn't do." he grumbles to the minibot as he slides his rifle off his back. "Can you get schematics and/or a map of this ship, Red Alert? Nightbeat?""

Porsche 959, watching through Muzzle's eyes, mutters, "No slag. Anyone wanna lay odds on who the visitor there is? Sure don't think he's there to pay his respects." Muzzle just rolls his eyes at Gears. He rather doubts that Gears would know a stink if he was dumped in a sewer. After all, Red Alert's not complaining, and Nightbeat's databanks inform Muzzle that Red Alert has a nose a bloodhound would kill for. Muzzle hops off Nightbeat's roof and tries to climb up a console to see if he can get a cross-reference on either of the ships.

Jayson Redfield folds his arms. "You're really ticking me off, Gears. Stop complaining, and stop insulting Nightbeat's partner."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Gears mumbles, sulking.

The little shuttle looks like an Autobot ship. Definitely hasn't been here as long as the rusting hulk. And speaking of which, the hulk doesn't show up in any Autobot technical reports. Looks like no one really got a chance to scan it, or take pictures.

Jayson Redfield smirks and pats Gears's arm. "That's a good Minibot."

"If we're /quite/ done?" Red Alert sighs. By now, the hatck is unlatched. People can leave anytime they want. "There's nothing on file for the vessel. We'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He steps outside and looks around, taking in as much as he can (which is quite a bit), taking a deep breath as he does to add smell to sight and hearing.

Muzzle comments, absently, "I got a name, y'know." Then, without prompting, he adds, "I'm Muzzle." Unfortunate last-name, ahoy. It sounds better in Nebulan than in English, trust him. He taps at the console and frowns at the lack of data, "The little shuttle is yours," looking at Red Alert, Steeltread, and Gears, the Autobots here. "The rusting hulk... I get nada. Gonna look at a roster of active Autobot shuttles. See if any have been checked out recently." He taps at the console some more.

However, it seems like they're moving out, so he jumps down from the console and makes for Nightbeat's door.

Steeltread shakes his head at Red Alert. "Right." he says following him out and would try not to get in the way. He then tries to keep behind Red Alert....or getting in front if permitted. "Nice to have you on the team Muzzle." he says as he tries to keep an eye out for any sort of traps....or such.

Jayson Redfield blinks and rubs the back of his head, flushing slightly. "Err, sorry, Mr. Muzzle." That sounds odd, but far be it from him to not be polite, at least. He starts toward the hatch. "Down the rabbit hole," he murmurs to no one in particular.

Porsche 959's door opens to admit Muzzle to the driver's seat, and the Nebulan belts himself in - as fast as Nightbeat drives, Muzzle doesn't even want to think about what a crash would be like. Nightbeat rolls down the ramp. He may have to transform after, but for getting from point A to point B, car mode can't be beat.

The hatch to the Autobot shuttle is open. What horrible secrets lurk within!?

As for the hulk, there's any number of places one could use to enter it, owing to the numerous hull breaches.

Jayson Redfield bounds through the rain forest foliage and up to the ship and starts to circle it a bit, examining the breeches. "Whoa...this thing looks like it's been here for ages." He comes to a stop at one of the holes and peers inside.

Steeltread walks up behind Redfield and grumbles. "Redfield....you're gonna get hurt if you keep this up." He then looks at the ship. "jeez. All of these hull breaches.....I imagine it's landing wasn't pleasent."

Red Alert allows Steeltread to get in front of him, but then reports, "The shuttle first. I want to check something." Then, whether the other accompanies him or not, he approaches the small Autobot shuttle and looks into the hatch, taking a deep breath. Right now he's attempting to catch a scent, a trail... some way to pick which of those many openings on the larger ship they should take.

Jayson Redfield just looks up at Steeltread. "How? And besides, you're looking at a guy who's had gashes in his sides and even worse. You think I'm afraid of getting hurt around this hunk of junk? Well, whatever. Let's check it out." He moves over to the shuttle as Red examines it. "Find anything?"

Porsche 959 does indeed transform as he approaches closer. He takes a moment to just stop and listen, to hear what he can hear - and his hearing is very good. He follows Red Alert into the shuttle. If Nightbeat has to work a case with a team, he knows well enough that splitting up will be the death of them all. Sounds like Steeltread'll make sure Jayson doesn't get damaged, and Gears... Nightbeat wouldn't mind if Gears got lost for a while.

The security director definitely catches a whiff of Kup. No mistaking the old-fashioned lubricants he prefers, or the faint scent of possibly unthemely cyber-cigars. As for the contents, it's nothing special. There's a few cubes stacked in the back for the trip, and also a little picture tucked away on the flight panel. Hey, there's Kup! And... a bunch of other Autobots. Seems like a group photo.

The other Autobots are Rev-o, Turbobolt, and Slashtire. And all of those guys were reported by Kup to be KIA on this very planet!

Steeltread peers at Jayson as he moves in front of Red. "Just....keep out from underfoot." he then peers around and....looks at the cubes, then the picture. "Nightbeat....I got something here. A picture." he says before he moves to pick it up...then stops. "you pick it up. your scanners are better than mine."

Porsche 959 does notice the picture, and it's painting a scenario out in his head. He doesn't touch it, but he does crouch down and takes a good look at it, reporting, "Rev-o, Turbobolt, Slashtire... all killed in action here, if the reports are true. Maybe we're looking at survivor's guilt outta Kup? Doesn't explain all the blood, though." He straightens and looks around, still listening.

Red Alert sneezes and rubs his nose. "Blasted cigars," he mutters. Then he shrugs. "Well, the good news is the smell of those damned things tends to linger and cling. I'll see if I can't get a trail." He starts to head towards the vessel. "Maybe he had to leave them behind? Or had to sacrifice them to bring this guy down? Or... or was forced to fight them to survive?" Decepticons have some pretty twisted passtimes, after all, and Red Alert has a far-too-hyper imagination.

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

Pitter patter pitter patter. Hey, it's raining outside, and in a rain forest of all places. Seems to be normal rain, though. So far.

The jungle has fallen quiet, though. The local wildlife seems to be edging away from the crash-site, as well.

Jayson Redfield rubs an arm, as if suddenly feeling a chill. "I don't wanna think about that... Let's just get movin'." He starts back toward the wrecked ship, and climbs through one of the breaches. Thanks to the rain, of course, he is already soaked. Thanks a lot, jungle! "The local wildlife sure doesn't like this place," he comments.

Nightbeat frowns over the rain. Stupid rain. It's so /noisy/ and /loud/, and it tends to muffle all the useful sounds! Of course, Nightbeat thinks even a gentle sprinkle is obnoxiously loud. It's how he rolls. He points out, "Huh. The local wildlife's bailing. Never a good sign - also a sign that's something's happening inside. Something's changing." The detective exits the little Autobot shuttle and makes for the gap in the hull of the 'bird' that Jason went for.

Steeltread turns his head. "I'm not....all that familiar with wildlife behavior, Redfield. I was stationed in a desert for years....." He says softly as he peers. "blood?" He says turning to nightbeat. "Where do you see blood?"

Red Alert frowns, looks skyward, then follows Jayson to the vessel - presumably the nearest breach. "If something's changing, we should see what it is." He clambers into the vessel, tripping and stumbling in the process. He recovers before he falls, scans the inside, and adds, "Let's keep moving."

Jayson Redfield points out to Steeltread, "If the animals are avoiding a certain area, then that should tell you something." He starts wringing water out of his hair, although it probably won't do much good if it's still raining by the time they depart.

Something rrrrumbles deep inside the hulk. Sounds almost like an engine coming online, but that's surely impossible. This ship hasn't flown in ages, and it's in horrible condition. Doesn't look much better on the inside. Looks like it used to be your standard Decepticon ship at one point--and judging from how the walls are pitted with craters, there was a major firefight in here.

Nightbeat glances back at Steeltread and replies, "Don't see any blood here... yet. It's a rain forest. If there was anything, the local equivalent of insects would probably make short work of it, though. Not even getting anything on UV feed." He scowl and rubs his chin, muttering, "Don't tell me that's an engine comin' online, 'cos it can't be." Nightbeat flicks his wrist-mounted headlights on, trying to get a better look inside.

Steeltread climbs in after Red alert but looks around just the same. "Whatever happened here, one heck of a firefight took place guys. Yes I'm stating the obvious." He says as the rumble sounds through the ship. "Red? What was that? Jayson......keep close....even if it means you have to ride on my shoulder...."

Jayson Redfield waves a dismissive hand. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've been in worse situations than exploring a wrecked airship." He goes quiet, listening to the rumbling. "Something might be in here, if that's not the engine..."

Red Alert shakes his head, optics wide. "/Sounds/ like an engine, but that's..." he pauses, "Unlikely." He glances back at the others. "Less unlikely than blood suddenly falling from the sky, the way it did on Nebulos, if you think about it."

OH GEEZE HOLY CRAP DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE

But yes, the instant the interior is illuminated, one can easily spot the dead bodies of Decepticon gumbies strewn through the hallways. Doesn't seem like they met with peaceful ends, either. One gumby, in particular, seems to have his head jammed right into the bulkhead, with the rest of his body dangling underneath.

Oh, and speaking of blood raining down from the sky, guess what started pouring in through all the gaps in the ceiling?

Nightbeat notes, "Don't say stuff like that, kid. It can always get worse, and it usually does." A pause. "Yeah, like that, Red Alert." Nightbeat rubs the back of his head, a bit worried for Muzzle's safety on a case where Nebulan blood has raised from the sky in previous incidents, though he'd never admit it.

Then it starts raining blood here.

"FRAG."

Steeltread literally reaches down and grabs Redfield. "you just lost your choice, Terran." His voice now completely business as he puts Jayson on his shoulder. He then pulls out 6 cylinders that look like shotgun shells from his left hip and loads them into his rifle as his helmet snaps onto his head. "Red.....have your rifle with you?" As he loads the first shell into the chamber like someone would a shotgun.

"There goes tracking," Red Alert mutters, rubbing his nose as the smell of blood forces everything else out. He examines the bodies with an apparent disconnect that might seem strange in the flaily security director, then moves further in, following the line of destruction.

"Of /course/ I have my rifle," he answers Steeltread. "It's subspaced!" If he were ever hit with a device that froze subspace access, he'd be in trouble!

Oh, wait. Big frigging rocket on the shoulder.

Nightbeat pulls out a human-sized umbrella. Why does he have a human-sized umbrella? Because he started carrying one in his trunk shortly after he ened up binary bonded to Muzzle. Sure, Muzzle could wear his armour to beat the weather, but that armour stands out like a sore thumb if Muzzle's trying to lay low during a case. He tries to hand the umbrella off to Jayson before kneeling down to examine one of the bodies in more detail. Any sign of acid laser musket rounds? He asks, keeping cool, despite his earlier outburst, "Red Alert, what's the blood smell like?"

Jayson Redfield yelps in alarm at the sight of the dead bodies. He takes a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. "What *happened* in here?!" he questions almost hoarsely, but he doesn't expect an answer. And then it starts raining blood, in a manner of speaking. "Ugh, GROSS!" And then he finds himself grabbed and put on Steeltread's shoulder. He doesn't try to get away, but he does give the mech an annoyed look. "I *can* take care of myself, you know." He takes the umbrella from Nightbeat and uses it to try and keep the blood off him. "It'll take forever to get this outta my hair..."

"It's the same," Red Alert answers Nightbeat.

Steeltread looks to Red Alert. 'The same as what?" Of course, the same motion makes him look at jayson. "Normally you're in an exo armor. You don't look metallic to me." he says as he looks at the bodies. "Serves them right. Hope they offlined each other."

Oh, yeah, lots of acid rounds all across the rounds, and on the dead Decepticons. Kup did a lot of the shooting, himself, it seems.

And as the Autobots approach a hatchway, Kup himself appears on the other side, with an almost feral look on his face. "What is wrong with you people!?" he snarls, blood dripping down his frame. "I told you to STAY AWAY!" And he slams the hatch shut in everyone's faces!

Gears has been following along like a good little minibot, but complaining as usual. He knows blood when he sees it. And he grumbles about how it's getting into every nook and cranny. And then Kup slams the door in their face plates. "Well, this is a fine mess," he says crankily, "What did he expect? Us to quietly ignore that he was gone? Yeah, riiiiight."

Nightbeat murmurs, "Slaggin' lovely. Dunno why Narmanex the 3rd is so bleeding /bleeding/, but I'm gonna find out." And then get a dry cleaning after this literal blood bath. Ick. He immediately rises from his crouch and raises his hands as Kup manages to surprise them - wily old man, he is. "Ey, look, boss. I know I'm the last Autobot to tell anyone not to go haring off alone, but... slag." He runs toward the hatch and tries to see if he can take it off at the hinges.

Jayson Redfield huffs slightly. "What's your point?" He tenses slightly as the group comes across Kup, who is apparently less than pleased with their presence. "'Scuse me." He promptly climbs down Steeltread's frame with impressive agility and hurries over to the hatch. "Telling people to stay away isn't going to stop them from trying to help!" he calls, but he's not sure if Kup can hear him.

Red Alert's optics open wide and his 'horns' flash as Kup manages to get the drop on him. Tricky geezer! At Kup's words and the slam of the door, however, he winces and looks at the ground. "I just... couldn't just leave him..." he murmurs.

Nightbeat snaps, "Steeltread, tank mode! The hinges are on the other side - just blow this hatch." Well, they have a tank. Might as well have their tank shoot a door down. It seems to be the thing to do.

Steeltread turns his head to Nightbeat. 'That's an idea, Nightbeat." he says before starting to shuffle everyone behind him. He does take up a lot of room. However, he picks up Jayson and gives him to Nightbeat. "keep hold of him, wouldja please?"

"Stop trying to babysit me!" Jayson protests.

Nightbeat takes a few steps back to give the tank room to knock down the door, and he tries to shoo Jayson back, pointing out, "It ain't babysitting. It's concern. You ain't made out of metal or in armour." Jayson's just a kid with an umbrella, right now.

"Oh rats, I left my demolition charges at home," Gears snorts.

Red Alert steps back away from the hatch as Steeltread transforms and dampens his audio sensors. "Do be careful, Steeltread... if Kup is still behind that door..." he trails off.

Jayson Redfield scurries away from Steeltread and behind Nightbeat's leg. "Worry about yourselves, okay? I'm *fine*. Really!" That is, he's more concerned about them than himself. They're his friends, after all. Although they do have a point...

Steeltread transforms after everyone gets behind him and turns his turret at the center of the door. < < If he's still standing behind the door.....well...my shot will probably tickle. > > He chuckles over the shortwave just a couple of seconds before the audible bang of his main cannon echoes down the hall......hitting the door with one heck of a shot.

BOOOOOOM! The shell smashes the hatch into little bits, spraying the other side with rusty metal fragments. And on the side of the hatch, you see... a fully functional command center? Yes, the command center is somehow in working condition once again, and is even being crewed by perfectly operational Decepticons--which is odd, since they all seem to have been horribly mangled in their own unique ways, but they're still manning the ship like good crew members.

As if that wasn't mind-blowing enough, the corridor everyone is standing also as good as new! The lights are on, albeit with a ghastly red glow. The corpses of the Decepticons start to pick themselves up and move again--

< Autobot > Nightbeat says, "...motherboard-fragging circuit-shorting lubricant-leaking gear-grinding /scrap/!"

< Autobot > Hollywood says, "That doesn't sound good."

Jayson Redfield looks around in astonishment, wondering if the now-moving Decepticons even notice them. "This is unbelievable...it's like an illusion..."

< Autobot > Red Alert sounds frightened. "Most assuredly not good."

< Autobot > > :( Gears says, "what in the slag am I seeing?!"

"Not the zombies again," Red Alert moans slightly. He'd managed to avoid the last couple of rounds of zombies, and has now walked right into a new one! Red Alert pulls his rifle from subspace and peers into the command center, trying to see (1) what's on the screen, and (2) where Kup is.

< Autobot > Jayson Redfield says, "It...it's an illusion...it *has* to be..."

< Autobot > > :( Gears says, "If this is a bad dream, someone wake me up"

Nightbeat shakes his head at what he's seeing - and hearing - and smelling, ugh. He grinds out, "It if this an illusion, it is a /damn/ good one. And by 'good', I mean 'terrible'." He withdraws his plasma blaster, his trusty friend. He backs up against a wall, not liking these odds one bit - the dead won't stay dead! Inside his head, every hair on the back of Muzzle's neck is standing up, and his skin is crawling.

Gears is probably as equally disgusted as Nightbeat, if not more so. "Ewww, yeeeeuck," he says, "Whoever's putting on this show has a sick sense of humor."

The ship rumbles again, and suddenly the center of gravity shifts. What's more, you can feel yourselves being pressed into the ground--the ship is rising, a fact confirmed by numerous altimeters on the bridge!

There's some good news, though--the Decepticon zombies don't seem terribly violent just yet, but they look at the Autobots smugly, snickering to each other. A Decepticon head rolls by Jayson, chuckling, "'Scuse me."

As Red Alert peers at the main viewscreen, he can see a great big close-up of a screaming Nebulan's face. He looks like he's in agony. Muzzle might recognize him from his days in school--Narmanex the Third! "Great show, huh?" one of the zombies says. "But then, Firebomb's always been a great entertainer, you know!"

Steeltread raises his rifle and growls lightly. "Nightbeat.....take Redfield and run." He orders rather quickly. But it's too late as he feels the ship is rising. As the Decepticons seem rather chatty instead of shooty.....he turns his head a little. "Nightbeat?"

Jayson Redfield pales at the head rolling by. It's obvious that he's starting to feel ill, a result of fear and horror from the situation. Everything around him is having a severe effect--even he isn't sure why the sight of the zombie mechs frightens him so badly. And then there's the Nebulan on the screen... He sways lightly on his feet and places a hand on a wall to steady himself. He breathes heavily, starting to sweat slightly. "My *God*," he gasps out.

Nightbeat has seen a lot of horrible things in his time. (Not all of them were his fault.) However, the thing about a photographic memory is, however jaded the detective may act, those memories never get dull, never fade, they're always as raw as the first time - and the first time is always even worse. He gets flattened against the wall and grits his roboteeth together. He mumbles to Steeltread, "Gotta see this case to the end." He does, however, try to edge over to Jayson and provide him with some shelter if the human wants to hide behind his leg - Nightbeat owes the EDC one, and he never forgets. A glance at the main viewscreen, and he reports, "Muzzle says that's Narmanex the third, if what they taught him in school was any good." He snaps at the zombie, blustering, "I prefer film noir." Less... horrifying. Less /messy/.

Red Alert holds his forehead and mutters, "Here's the connection we were looking for." He snaps his head up and his optics narrow. "Why him, though? Did Kup... did Kup fail to save him? Leave him behind to escape? What?" With those musing, he steps into the command center and levels a rifle at one of the Decepticons. "Where is that Nebulan located!" he demands.

Steeltread steps into the command center and to Red Alert's left to look at more of the displays. His senses aren't as refined as Red Alert's...but there's one advantage to being there.....he can club Red Alert behind him if someone tries to shoot at them.

The zombie snickers. "Don't have any film noir, but we have.. THIS!" The image on the screen changes, revealing Kup squaring off against a hulking red Decepticon. Seems to be on top of the ship.

The zombie threatened by Red Alert sneers at him with what's left of his face. "The Nebulan? Which one? We have *thousands.* Too bad that science project didn't pan out. WELL. We thought of a better use for them, heheheh." Another zombie helpfully gestures at an elevator shaft. "You'll find them all UP THERE... along with your friend's SECRET SIN."

Red Alert immediately turns and takes a step towards the elevator shaft. Just one. Then he stops. More slowly, he turns around - and, with his energy rifle, fires at the screen. One after another, he aims a blast towards them all. Then he turns towards the others, uncertainly. "I... perhaps we should leave this to Kup, but... those Nebulans..."

Nightbeat holds his head, which puts his blaster pointed at the ceiling. He is so very close to just transforming back to car mode and telling Muzzle to beat it, that this is too dangerous for his Nebulan partner - but they're in the air. No good. Besides, Muzzle informs him, he wouldn't leave even if he could. They're in this together. Nightbeat narrows his optic band at the zombie and says, "Y'know, you're probably just lyin' to lead us all into a trap. Thing is, you got Kup, and we're not leaving without him." He stomps toward the elevator grimly.

"We can't leave this to Kup," Jayson speaks, though he's still not well. "We have to see this through. Kup could be in *danger* here."

Steeltread just.....blinks at the zombie. "and...we're to trust you...why?" he grumbles under his faceplate. "This is getting really sick...even for decepticons." He says making his way for the Elevator........making a flick of an arm gesture at the rest of the decepticons as he gets in. Strangely.....it looks like he's swatted something out of the air....or he tossed something at one of the consoles.....who knows.

The elevator door slides open on its own. There's only one button, and it seems to be labeled, "SECRET SIN."

Meanwhile, the screens explode in sparks as Red Alert blasts them. This elicits a chorus of cackling from the zombies. "You don't have to trust us!" a former seeker sneers. "But we want you to SEE FOR YOURSELF. Heeheehee!"

Red Alert's lip curls back in a snarl at the zombie taunting, but his shoulders slump as he shakes his head and turns to join the others in the elevator. "Let's get on with this," he grumbles, head down in a shame of his own.

Nightbeat has to wonder what kind of nutjob labels an elevator button 'secret sin'. It's a banal little thing to fixate on, but if he didn't fixate on that, he'd have to fixate on the zombies and the blood rain, and he'd rather not. He tromps into the elevator and grabs the guardrail, if there is one, quite expecting the floor to fall out and dump them all into Hell.

"Of course we don't trust zombies," Gears growls, "What do they take us for?"

Steeltread looks to Red Alert. "Lets get the Nebulan's out of here before anything else. If Kup needs help, he'll ask for it." he sighs as he goes to hang onto a guardrail anyways. this was getting way too strange.

Jayson Redfield wouldn't put it past this place to send them to Hell, quick frankly. He follows after the others, trying not to look at any of the zombies. He is still wet from the rain outside, and stained with the blood that had started falling previously. At least that's stopped. For now. But who knows what else can happen in this place--anything can, he imagines.

Nightbeat grumbles, "Would Kup ask for help if he needed it, really? He's stubborn. Kinda like me. But even more stubborn. With a side of tenacious." He reaches out and presses the button.


 * WHOOSH* The elevator speeds everyone to the top, and opens up to the outside of the ship! And it's even worse than the inside! As blood rains down from the sky, the Autobots can see rows and rows of Nebulans lined up on top of the ship, all of them firmly secured to horrific Clive Barker-esque machines, which appear to be sucking the very life-fluids from their bodies and spraying them back out onto the ground far below. They're all screaming in agony!

And also present aboard the ship are Kup and the burly red Decepticon, slugging it out punch for punch. The Decepticon, however, seems to get the upperhand, putting Kup in an armbar and pushing him to a device similar to the one the Nebulans are on, but scaled for a Transformer. "And I also made one for YOU, Kup, as a show of appreciation for all of your raids! You wanted to save these people, but, heheh, instead you will JOIN them!"

"Never!" Kup growls, trying to break free. "You're gonna pay for what you've done, I swear it, Firebomb!"

Jayson Redfield cowers slightly as the blood starts pouring upon them. Good thing he's still got the umbrella. He's still getting soaked, though. "My God," he whispers again as he stares at the horrifying sight. "A bad memory...a nightmare...maybe we're in Kup's *memories*..." He feels faint now, almost dazed, overwhelmed by sheer terror.

Red Alert covers his mouth with his free hand, optics wide, as he freezes in place at the spectacle. At least in Hell, /he/ was the only one suffering! At Jayson's words, though, he shakes himself out of it and peers at Kup. "I... in a manner of speaking, you might be right. Though... those /things/ down there... it's not /just/ memory." He rushes to the nearest machine, at one point nearly slipping and falling - not good, considering their height! - before kneeling next to it. "We've got to... got to find a way to shut these down!"

Steeltread shakes his head at the spectacle.....yes he's affected but he manages to keep his thoughts to himself as the big red decepticon tries to pin Kup down. He raises his rifle and fires a shot at the con.....hoping to stun him with the one attack he's known for.....the Inhibitor shell.

Nightbeat has just lost Muzzle's lunch, here. Due to the miracle of *master technology, however, no one needs to see it. Only his icy cool keeps him from falling to his knees and doubling over. Instead, he takes some wobbly steps closer to the Nebulans and kneels down by the nearest one, trying to figure out if there is any way to free him without injuring him more. There are so many of them! The detective almost feels overwhelmed by it all. He calls to the others, "Help Kup! I'm going to see about the Nebulans."

Gears is miserable and dripping in blood. "HOW do we help him?" he exclaims.

Firebomb suddenly freezes in place as the shell hits him, grunting out, "Hurrk!" Kup takes advantage of this, throwing Firebomb in the very same contraption he meant for his foe! He is automatically clamped to it, and poked all along his body by vibrosyringes which begin to suck the energon out of him. "NYAAAAAGGHHHH! Wait, Kup, I'm sorry! Help me! Ahhhhhhhh!"

The old-timer just stares down at him.

As for the Nebulans, the devices restraining them aren't exactly indestructible. They can be freed easily enough, but the problem is they're all emaciated by now. As for a control panel to free them all, though? That doesn't appear to be present here.

Jayson Redfield considers for a moment. "Then...maybe it's a time distortion...?" He swallows hard, clutching the umbrella tightly as he tenses, clenching his eyes shut. "Blood....why is there so much blood?!" The stains on his clothes and hair have become larger. "Where is it coming from?!" For a few seconds his gaze again rests on the scene before him and the Autobots, then his eyes glaze over slightly and he turns away, dropping to his knees and proceeding to retch.

Emaciated but alive is better than dead, isn't it? That can be healed, tended to at least, can't it?

Never mind that these Nebulans are all millions of years dead, anyway.

Still, Red Alert does what he can, destroying machine to free dream-Nebulans. Maybe he's acting in vain, but he still has to act.

Steeltread also makes his way to help out the nebulans. He tries to break the restraints holding them...or, if need be....shooting the restraints themselves. No...not with that big honkin' rifle, but with a pistol.

Nightbeat duly tries to work on freeing the Nebulans, one by one, though he and Muzzle both have a horrible sinking feeling. Fluids. They'll need fluids. And sugar. And vitamins. Nightbeat doesn't have any of that - and Muzzle just lost his lunch. He murmurs lowly to Jayson, "It's their blood, kid. The Nebulans." What can he do here? He transforms - and despite the blood rain, Muzzle subspaces his armour as he gets to work - a friendly face working on freeing them isn't much, but it's all the detectives have.

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

Thirty Nebulans freed, just a few thousand more to go. The Nebulans stare blearily at Muzzle. How did one of their own get on top of the metal eagle? But they lack the strength to even ask the question. However, they are far more frightened by the Autobots. They have no idea that there are good robots as well as bad ones, and try feebly to push them away if they try and touch them.

Kup, meanwhile, walks away from the doomed Firebomb, grumbling, "You made yer bed. You lie in it." Firebomb's wailing continues, but Kup continues striding away, heedless of the screams. Then...

"Wait." Firebomb sits up, as if no longer restrained in his contraption. "Are you *sure* it happened this way, Kup?" He grins devilishly.

Kup turns, staring at the Decepticon, uncomprehending. "What?"

Jayson Redfield keeps retching for a few moments, and then finally he gets up, still looking ill as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's not...it's not real...it *shouldn't* be real...this is just a distorted memory. It should all be an illusion! Is this what happened, Kup?!"

Red Alert doesn't seem to acknowledge the numbers, or the people pushing him away. He can't save everyone, but he'll save whom he can, and worry about how comfortable they are with robots later. Thus, the numbers do not keep him from working. Then Firebomb speaks, and /that/... that causes him to freeze. His fuel runs cool as he raises his optics in horror, dreading to see what this 'correction' might be, if this itself is so horrible...

And then he hears the noise.

Red Alert pushes the latest freed Nebulan gently to safety, then stands slowly and starts to approach Kup.

"Kup...?" he starts uncertainly. "There's something... something on your shoulder..."

Muzzle tries to explain, "Uh... so. These robots are aliens. I mean... they come from space." He covers half his face with a hand. Smooth. "Okay, I got it. All the stars you see at night? They got people around them. Some of these people are big metal monsters. Some of the metal monsters are evil and do... and do this. Some of the metal monsters, though, they're not really monsters, and they want to help." Thousands to go. And Muzzle's going to keep working. This are his people. Can he do less? It doesn't matter if it's real or not - if it wasn't done, it should have been.

Meanwhile, the Porsche hears a buzzing, and he mumbles along with Red Alert, "A humming."

Steeltread looks up and back down. "An illusion? Sure doesn't feel like it." he's really starting to feel stupid here......and out of place..

One of the Nebulans freed stares at Muzzle. Is that.. Narmanex the 3rd? Well, it kinda looks like him. He's not quite in as good a shape as he used to be, though. "Klan tapu zako nan," he mutters, in a dead Nebulan dialect. Still, he looks up at Muzzle gratefully, so he was probably thanking him.

Kup glances at Red Alert, bewildered. "Something on my?..."

"Was I really an evil Decepticon warlord?" Firebomb says, smirking. "Maybe I was just some random Decepticon you decided to take your frustrations out on." Firebomb shrinks in size, appearing as an ordinary seeker. "Or maybe I was an Autobot you accidentally knocked into the machine?" Again, Firebomb's form shifts, still aerodynamic, but with an Autobot symbol. "TELL ME AGAIN HOW THE STORY GOES?!"

Kup holds his hands between his head. "I... I dunno, Jayson... I thought... I'm not sure anymore."

"If we had gone back in time," Jayson says quietly, "then you wouldn't know me. This is nothing more than a dream. A nightmare. A realistic illusion." There are tears in his eyes as a result of the painful retching. That's never pleasant. He tries to wipe them away. He turns his attention to Firebomb, dropping the umbrella and allowing the raining blood to pour down upon him. "Who are you?" he demands finally. "Are you the one who's been tormenting Kup?"

"There is! There is something on your shoulder!" Red Alert exclaims. He shivers at Firebomb's words and tries to ignore them, though his fear is still evident as he approaches Kup. "It's /humming/!" He makes a grab for Kup, trying to pick off the tiny bit of crystal that's on his shoulder.

"This had better be a dream," Gears grumbles, "Because this is a poor excuse for someone's sick joke."

Combat: Red Alert strikes Kup with his Grab attack!

Combat: You took 0 damage.

Muzzle should have known better, that Nebulans from 10,000 years ago wouldn't speak the modern lingo, and he was the kid who did not take the Nebulan equivalent of Latin in school, opting for a more 'practical' language, which is now totally useless. "Er, you too, sir."

The Porsche observes, "Crystal. It's crystal in his shoulder." If Kup really did condemn an Autobot to having his energon drained out... well... Nightbeat can think of a few worse mistakes one could make, but that's definitely up there on the Horrible-O-Meter.

Steeltread looks over towards Kup and lowers his rifle. "Kup.....perhaps you have something to get off your processor." Holy mister obvious, batman! ya think so? He lets muzzle help out the imaginary Nebulans.........while the rest try to sort this out.....and least jayson isn't hurling into the wind.

Firebomb reverts to the form he originally appeared in, and grins over at Jayson. "What are you, another Nebulan? Enjoying the show? Careful where you step, trust me, you don't want to fall into one of these machines. As to your question--yes, I am. But he *deserves* it, for what he did. Calling himself an Autobot, and holding these pretenses of civility, and decency--but he would abandon ME to die if it suited him! Right, Kup?"

Kup turns around as the crystal is plucked off. He stares at the tiny thing incredulously. "Is that... that reminds me one of one of the crystals in the..." His optics go wide. "Oh, slag. That damned forest in Magnaron! So that's why all this crazy slag's been happening..."

He looks up at Steeltread. "Eh. Yeah, I do. I think I remember what happened now. Before I got up here, I put a bomb in the bridge. Should be goin' off--" BOOOOM! The ship shudders, then begins to pitch forward. "Yeah, then the ship crashed. Ehm... ok, sorry, but my memory gets fuzzy at this point, again."

Red Alert stares at the teeny tiny little crystal held between his finger tips. "But... but how...?" Then his optics flicker. "Vector Z! Life energy! Creation energy!" He glares at the Decepticon warlord. "But how did /you/ end up attached to this thing, Decepticon?"

Uhm, Red? Maybe you should be paying attention to the big old crashing ship beneath your feet?

Jayson Redfield gives a quiet snort, absentmindly wiping some blood off his sleeve. It doesn't do much good. "No, I'm not a Nebulan. I'm human. And what do you mean, Kup deserves it? We all have things we're not proud of! No one deserves to suffer for them!" He lowers his gaze, his body almost trembling. "People have almost died because of me. But everything always turned out okay. I took the situations and turned them around, and ended up saving lives. Kup is a strong warrior and I admire him for it." He lifts his gaze again. He looks angry. "You...you're just a monster, a *demon*, feeding off his inner torment and torturing him with distorted memories and illusions! You're a monster just like Galvatron!"

Steeltread is.....just....stunned now....especially when Kup's memory remembers a bomb. "Oooooooh crap. They always said the falling was the easy part.....the sudden stop at the end is painful."

Porsche 959 tries to get a firm grip on the crashing ship underneath his wheels, locking both brakes. He may need to transform, but for now, he lets Muzzle continue helping the imaginary, already-dead Nebulans. He asks, "Rev-o, Turbobolt, and Slashtire - what happened to them? Were they with you here, Kup?"

Firebomb snarls, "The crystal is my link to him! Put it back! He deserves to suffer!" He glares at Jayson, standing up and marching right towards him, clearly no longer secured to his machine. "Shut up, human! This is payback! I don't expect you to understand!"

Kup grimaces, squinting. "I... I don't remember what happened to my friends," he says. "They... oh, no. Now I remember. They got picked off, one by one. I was the only one to make it to the top, here. I swored I'd avenge 'em, along with everyone else."

The freed Nebulans look up at the approaching jungle terrain stoically. Perhaps their suffering would be eased if they just crashed.

Red Alert starts to try to squeeze the crystal at ends, to shatter it, then hesitates. He looks up at Kup. "Perhaps, erm, perhaps you'd better destroy this?" Then he realizes just how close the jungle is getting and steps further from the edge, instinctively shielding himself with his free arm. "Only hurry! Please?"

Jayson Redfield goes quiet for a short time. Payback? It sounds a lot like his desire for vengeance against Compton Xabat. But Xabat is a dangerous criminal. Firebomb's actions simply can't be excused. "And what is your 'payback' for?" he demands. "For something that might not've even happened they way you think it did? Unforgivable." He draws his gun and points it at Firebomb, and since this world is imaginary, a human weapon may very well do some damage against a Transformer. But he doesn't fire. Not yet. "Unforgivable!"

Porsche 959 has to wonder, "But how'd a two-bit piece of scum like you end up in that crystal, Firebomb? Those crystals came out of Galvatron, after he was hopped up on Devil Z's energy. Are you just the worst thing in Kup's past?" Terrifyingly, Nightbeat could imagine there being /worse/ things, even more wretched than this, in Kup's history, if only because Kup has lived so very long. He hopes not.

Firebomb glares down at Jayson, his optics burning with hellish flames. "Unforgiveable!? How dare you judge me! I know the darkness in your heart as well!" He raises up a boot, but hesitates at Nightbeat's words. "How?" He scowls. "What are you implying!? I am the victim, here! Didn't you see what he did to me?!"

Kup takes the crystal in his hands, then glances over at Firebomb speculatively.

Jayson Redfield raises an eyebrow, lowering the gun just slightly. "*Really*," he answers skeptically. "And what do you know about my 'darkness'?"

Porsche 959 drawls, "Yeah. I saw it. And I saw what you did to all those Nebulans." A frantic Muzzle is still running about atop the airship. "What the heck else was Kup supposed to do - let you fly away and do it all over again? He needed /some/ way of holding you still." Nightbeat is being rational. Pragmatic, even. However, her certainly has no sympathy for Firebomb.

Firebomb growls, "You crave the death of your worst enemy! Given the chance you'd put HIM in one of these machines! I can feel it, little man!" He glares at Nightbeat in turn. "No! I expected him to... to... take me in! That is what you Autobots do, isn't it!? You don't execute people! You're supposed to follow your PROCEDURES! But he didn't! He took the law into his own hands and MURDERED me!"

Kup chucks the crystal back at Firebomb. "Maybe I did, pal. But I know two things: You WERE a murdering Decepticon warlord bastard, and I don't feel guilty about offing you anymore!" He blasts the crystal right in Firebomb's face and it explodes in a great purple fireball!

"NYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Firebomb screams, his body distorting, pulling apart. The ground rushes up and then--

--everyone finds themselves scattered by the hulk of the rusting airship, and apparently unharmed! Kup stands up, looking his normal age, looking about himself, puzzled.

Gears seems curled up in the protoform position. After having determined it was all a dream or illusion, he just sorta tuned out. The blood is gone, but Gears still feels like it contaminated him. He'll probably see Bitbucket or Viper about it later. "Finally," he murmurs.

Red Alert screams and flails before covering his head and bracing for an impact...

...that never comes. His sense of smell and hearing catch up to him before vision, but they clearly tell him something is amiss. He lowers his arms and peers around, baffled. "Huh? Is it over?"

< Autobot > Markdown says, "So, uh, anyone get a weird transmission a while ago?"

Porsche 959 thinks he may have had this arguement with Kup about executions, actually, when he was on the other side, and he snaps, "Y'know what? You forfeited the right to /procedures/ when you built this freakshow-" -and he's about to reflect that he forfeited that right, too, as his world comes crashing around him. Muzzle! Is he is in his armour? Muzzle might make if he-

-nothing. They're in the ship, surrounded by the corrosion of endless war. Nightbeat's never been so glad to be in a rusted old hulk! Muzzle, however, is covered in blood, sticky as it dries, enough to turn his blue trenchcoat and fedora a deep red.

Jayson Redfield stares, wide-eyed, and where Firebomb had been. "Then Kup and I are similar...he killed an evil warlord, and I want to kill a terrorist." He coughs. Slowly, he holsters his gun and moves to grab the dropped umbrella. He manages that, but then he slumps back against a wall, still clearly ill from the horror of the scene they had witnessed. He turns away from the Autobots and starts retching again. The death of his worst enemy? That will come soon enough, he hopes.

< Autobot > Markdown says, "Oh, boy, there's another. Uh... I'll try to respond?"

< Earth > Markdown says, "Hello? Gargoan guys? Are you there? Hellooo?"

< Autobot > Nightbeat says, "Sorry. Covered in blood at the moment."

< Earth > Oxford says, "Still currently here. Barely here but here. We are being invaded!"

< Earth > Markdown says, "Uh, ok. I'll get some guys to help you!"

Kup sighs, staring at the hulk. "Let's go home, lads. And... I'm sorry you got involved in this."

Muzzle can certainly sympathise with Jayson's digestive trouble. He had some of his own not too long ago. Still feeling a little queasy, he walks over to the human, wobbling a bit, and he asks, "You going to be okay, kid?" Nightbeat replies to Kup, "Don't worry about it, boss. I'd be more concerned 'bout what woulda happened if we /weren't/ here." Would Kup have been locked in his nightmares, for good?

Jayson Redfield retches a bit more, then coughs and straightens. He groans quietly and wipes at his mouth. The horror plus the rain (including the blood, it seems) may have very well made him sick, as if the retching wasn't evidence enough. "It...it's okay, Kup." He blinks as Muzzle addresses him, and he nods. "Y-yeah. I'll be fine. I just...need to rest for a while." Maybe he can sleep on the ride home.

Red Alert shakes his head. "I'm sorry you didn't feel you deserved our help, Kup," he answers as he starts to move out of the hulk. He doesn't point out that Kup was unlikely to notice the crystal on his own, but it seems to be hanging there, just unsaid.

Muzzle offers, "Y'need a ride back to the shuttle? Nightbeat's gonna need his seats dry-cleaned, anyway," because Muzzle is a mess. What's one more mess?

Kup looks down at himself. The blood has congealed on him, getting sticky. "Nnh. Yeah. I might not 'a figured out what the cause of all of this was on my own. I..." He grimaces. "Thanks, guys. Thanks for caring about a stubborn old robot like me. I just wish you didn't have to see that."

Jayson Redfield nods. "Yeah...I'd like that. Thanks, Mr. Muzzle." It still sounds odd. He glances to Kup and manages a smirk, despite himself. "You're *our* stubborn old robot. You'd've done the same for any of us, right?"

Porsche 959's doors pop open. Normally, a free ride in a Porsche is a cool thing. The sticky blood everywhere rather ruins that, though. Muzzle enters, belts in, and assures, "No problem. Just mind the turns - Nightbeat takes 'em a bit fast." Nightbeat adds to the general good will, "Yeah, gotta keep you around, Kup. How else would we know when we're doin' it wrong?"

Red Alert gives a strained, weak smile. "I know, Kup. This is war, and... we all have, and are going to see, a lot of things that... that no one should have to see. And you've been through it and would save us all from it if you could. I know. It just... doesn't work that way."

Jayson Redfield laughs a bit. "I've done aerial stunts in my exo-jet. Nightbeat's driving can't be much worse." He climbs into the Porsche.

Kup smiles, walking back to the shuttle he came here in. "Heh, yeah, who else is gonna kick your butts if you screw up?" The smile fades. "Yeah. I won't forget this, lads. And rest assured, if you guys get in trouble, I'll be there to back you up, like you backed me."

o/~

What I've Done

I'll face myself

To cross out what I've become

Erase myself

and let go of what I've done

o/~

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===================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/184                    Posted        Author Recent 'Supernatural' Events      Thu Mar 05    Red Alert -- Text only reports.

"The recent, mysterious 'blood' incidents have been resolved, and were found to be connected to a small fragment of crystal from the Magnaron crystal forest. This fragment gave appearances of being 'haunted,' though there may have been some sort of advanced trickery involved.

"Extreme caution is recommended for any personnel spending time in the Magnaron region. It is also recommended that a permanent means of eliminating the crystals as a hazard be found, one that does not risk scattering any crystal pieces.

"Red Alert, out."

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