Snow Ninja-spection

Siberia(#5221Rnt) - Asia

The icy blasts of wind in this frozen tundra chill you to the very core. The severe cold reminds you of what a constant punishment this must have been for the humans who were exiled in a penal colony here in the past. The terrain is steep and difficult to traverse. The icy wind squalls make the travelling even more difficult...not to mention the low visibility due to the snow.

LAST TIME ON THE TRANSFORMERS..

Backfire, overwrought with energon surges and on a mission, attacked the EDC's Siberia base of operations with some friends. The Rush answered the call to defend, but just wasn't enough mettle to repel their forces.

NOW..

The rebuilding effort in Siberia goes as slowly as expected, the exetreme temperatures hindering their work effort and slowing operations down to a crawl. Seemingly on overtime, the Constructobots are here supervising the mission as expected. Near the center of the complex, both Autobot and EDC personell alike are helping to re-side a main bunker.

Near the outskirts of the complex, a lone figure stalks. His white paintjob blends in nicely with the snowy fallback of Russia, what that doesn't cover his image-inducer does. Bending low, Specter inspects a Decepticon footprint and raises a hand to his chin.

Head whirling in either direction, the Autobot operative attempts to determine quite a few clues to this scene: What was taken, where was it taken, who took it, and why.

Combat: Specter slips into the shadows and out of sight...

As usual when something weird happens to the EDC or a serious security breach Marissa wakes up Hikage to go have a look. The ninja is fully dressed for the Siberian weather. He is also dressed in white small patches of light grey that make him a bit fuzzy against the background. He is not wearing his power armor at the moment.

Hikage walks out of the base and leaves the building to builders and takes a look outside at the terrain. Something in the back of his head...looking for weak spots...good vantage point? Maybe a new hideout for him away from the base but with a good line of sight...

There's little rhyme or reason to the clues discovered, they arrived via land with a trawler to transport materials.. yet left through air means of transportation. They came for one thing, yet leveled the entire base. Nothing else was taken, so it wasn't a cover job wrecking everything else. It just.. doesn't make sense.

Of course it doesn't, it's Backfire.

The Autobot stands to full heigth, his attention drawn down towards the reconstruction effort. While the damage appears menacing, it is not substantial.. superficial. Whatever THIS was, it was more a message than an effort. Specter clicks off his image-inducer once he's sure the perimeter is secure.

Combat: Specter appears from the shadows...

Aramasu Hikage spots an Autobot who is already investigating and decides to go say 'hi'. The ninja slowly makes his way into towards Specter. "Konichi-wa Autoboto-san. I am Aramasu Hikage of the EDC. Have you found anything interesting about the raid?" Straight to the point. Japanese people are polite but this one is also direct.

Craning his vision far down below him, Specter takes a knee before the EDC officer and bows his head. "Hikage, my name is Specter." Raising his head, the Autobot intel agent surveys the valley and wrecked base. "Nothing of note, I'm afraid. The signs they are.." he trails, searching for the right word.

"Senseless. They belie all evidence of a planned assault, even a legitimately clever one cannot be found here." he surmises, offering a hand out for shaking. "The pleasure is mine, Hikage. I have heard much about you." he grins behind the faceplate, retracting all but his index finger once realizing the rediculous size difference.

Aramasu Hikage is a bit surprised at someone hearing about him. Hard to guess the ninja's facial expression because of the scarf. "If it was good it's all true." The ninja nods at the description of the senseless attack "Any other Decepticon activity in the area that might be related to this apparently senseless attack? Pretty sure there must be a motive in there somewhere."

Smirking, a trait Andi Lassiter taught him, Specter stands again and pulls open a datapad. "Trust me, it was all good." he replies, pulling up the relevant data files. "Earth has been cold for sometime now, the Decepticons have been focused on Cybertron. What is more unsettling is this unique energon signature left behind, and their prize."

Cross checking inventory lists, the pale Autobot bends down low to show Hikage the datapad.. which might be just as big as he is. "The only thing stolen was.. Librithium."

"Cybertronian reinforced steel." he adds, a moment later.

Aramasu Hikage nods and thinks about the steel. "Ok they stole some reinforced steel...Is it a worthwhile quantity or could they have been in the middle of something, then realize they are missing some stuff and performed an impromptu raid for whatever was missing? If the quantity is small I would lean towards the second option. What about the unique energon signature? What is different from regular signature?"

"The quantity is considerable and this is our fault." Specter apologizes. "It should have never been here to begin with, I see an ignored requisition order from command to have it moved."

Scowling, he stands and runs a lengthy check into Intel. "We've had some run ins with this energon signature before, it's a Seeker.. goes by Backfire. What's curious though, I found tracks up there and the smallest trace that doesn't add up." Holding the datapad for Hikage to see, it reveals large feline prints.. much larger than anything on earth.

Aramasu Hikage checks the prints and their depths... "Those prints are pretty deep. Not only was the animal large but heavy. The print is too symmetrical to be natural. The length of those claws combined with the depth...I would guess Razorclaw was present. I had a close encounter a few months ago with that one. It was...educational."

"Hrm."

Tucking away the datapad, Specter looks again to the destruction of the EDC base and down to Hikage. "It looks as if our friend Razorclaw is tracking down supply depots for the idiot, feeding him information." A sly smile plays upon his face, under the faceplate of course, as he bends down low again to look Hikage directly in the face.

"What do you say we educate him for a change?"

Aramasu Hikage smiles behind his scarf "That Specter-san...would be most entertaining I am sure." He looks behind at the base and ponders what Marissa asked him and what she did not. "I was told to investigate BUT I was not told NOT to pursue the raiders so I think it will be fine."

"As the person responsible for my reconciliation with society Andi Lassiter would say." Specter hidden-smiles (even a ninja's facial gestures are secretive) and leads Hikage towards the tracks.

"There's no rule or order given that human ingenuity can't find its way around."

Aramasu Hikage grins "Ahh yes. Lassiter-sama. Lead the way Specter-san. Whoever is at the end of these tracks does not know what is about to hit them." The ninja follows the Autobot onto Adventure!