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Transformers 2005 - Saturday, June 19, 2004, 8:06 PM
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Central Plaza
All roads in Ayotzinco lead to the central plaza, or zocalo. This space is a large square, but the impressive fountain in the center is surrounded by a circular cobblestone patio. Gardens fill in the corners, and each small area has something new to explore. One hides a small replica of Tenochtitlan in its glory days, another contains an Aztec calendar stone, one is paved with a mosaic depicting the Militant flag, and the last surrounds a replica Cherokee war lance planted straight up in the ground. A few guards are posted at the northern end of the zocalo, where the road approaches the obsidian pyramid that houses the President and his closest advisors.
Contents:
Faris al Aziz
Militant Troopers 5853
James Trent
Rampage HMMWV (Ai Redbird)
Obvious exits:
Southwest <SW> leads to Marketplace.
North <N> leads to Inner Yard - Obsidian Pyramid.
Southeast <SE> leads to Sporting Arena.
West <W> leads to Aerospaceport.
East <E> leads to Botanical Gardens.
South <S> leads to Ayotzinco Gates.
With a slow swagger to his step, the ebon-clad Faris al-Aziz makes his way into the plaza, his hands clasped behind him. A loose, crooked smile is set upon his lips as he looks to and fro at passersby, most of his sleek black hair bound into a ponytail behind him. A few locks are allowed to droop down the sides of his face, however, the bangs framing his face.
Aramasu Hikage is standing in the parking lot talking shop with a regular soldier. "So you have tried them bikes right ? Are they any good ? Is that OCC place in New-York state still in business because I have been shopping around for a decent bike and have yet to find something...something...Me! You know what I mean ?" The black op that talks to much spots the Cloud Commander "Oh Hey there Faris. You missed quite an adventure in space the other day. Not that we were ever in danger with the great James Trent flying cover and announcing our arrival." ooohhh there was a slight touch of sarcasm in that last sentence. :)
"Well I'm glad he had the situation under control," Faris replies with a chuckle, his smile splitting into a cocked grin. He makes his way over to Aramasu and offers the other soldier he speaks with a nod, before his eyes flit back to the Sparrow. "Did we get our hands on any prisoners-of-interest or juicy intel data?"
Aramasu Hikage grins "No...not yet. Prisoners were turned over to the EDC as a sign of good faith. Which will make them lower their guard ever so slightly for us to get juicy intel data straight from the sources. I have a project in the works for that. But first! I am shopping for a motorcycle. I need a new transportation device since my last car had an unfortunate accident." (Flashbacks to where he parked in the wrong spot and Devastator stepped on his car in NY.)
Faris takes a look up and down Hikage, one of his eyebrows perking up. "Mm. You seem like a Ducati type of guy to me, but that's just a guess." His mouth takes on an impish quality as his lips press back together and smirk, the Cloud Commander commenting, "And I'm glad to see someone else around here is as devoted to beguiling our EDC and Autobot rivals, given the global political situation."
Aramasu Hikage nods at the grunt he was talking to and dismisses him "Back to work trooper." and turns back to Faris "Of course. I mean we simply cannot realisticly coexist with the EDC as long as them Benefactors are holding important positions among them. So we need to deal with them from an adverse position." The ninja fiddles around with an Orange County Choppers brochure. "What have you been up to recently ?"
"Oh, I've been working on a little project of mine. I've been trying to built an alliance with the Autobots and the EDC against the Decepticons, so we can gain resources for the Mexican warmachine via their dependence on our elite and special forces, against the 'cons. They're politically the weakest major group on Earth, but the lack of a focused plan against them has allowed them to stay around. It'd give us enough of a base to begin exerting more of our ideology and strength on this world - the seizure of some territory with some major bauxite or iron reserves would be nice, since all Mexico really offers us is oil," Faris muses.
Aramasu Hikage pulls a knife seemingly out of thin air. Wow them ninjas and their sleigh of hand tricks! While cleaning his fingernails Hikage hints at some of his darker ideas. "Actually I have been toying with the idea of blowing stuff up in Decepticon, Autobot and EDC territory. Spark things up a bit. We draw our strength from the instability of the other warring factions. Stability and status quo are bad for us."
"Don't go after the EDC or Autobots, that's stupid and wreckless," Faris states with an idle sneer, shaking his head. "The two are so close in bed, messing with one messes with the other - and the Decepticons keep the pot stir up things anyways. And as for the Decepticons, we ought to make sure we do so with the power hegemony on this planet thinking we're doing it for them. Gotta use our clout efficiently, and make sure we're doing things for a reason - not just because we can."
Faris blinks at himself. "The Decepticons keep the pot stirred up, I mean."
James Trent walks out of the Inner yard of the militant base. Stopping he looks at the crowd on the plaza. Noticing Faris and Hikage, he walks towatds them. "Greetings" he simply says.
Aramasu Hikage smirks at the Cloud Commander "You make it sound as if anyone would ever find out we had anything to do with the said events. Let's not forget..." The Sparrow commande points upwards "Both factions are currently focuses on Earth leaving their homeworld vulnerable to sabotage and 'productive patriotism'. If we can create a sense of urgency so that the Decepticons feel their territory on Cybertron is threatened they will pull some forces off making it easier to apply pressure here on Earth and eventually squeeze them out of here...In the long term anyway. That's not the kind of stuff that will happen overnight of course." Hikage looks up at Trent. "Hey there James. Had fun with the General on the space station ? I heard you blurt out something about weird weaponry. Got any details on that ?"
Faris shrugs idly, moving to rest his weight on his left leg as he puts hands on his hips. "Well, I'll let other people worry about Cybertron - my concern is with us on this rock right here. I stick to my sandbox." He looks to Commander Trent and offers him an upward nod, his mouth tugging back up into his nonchalant, crooked smile. "Hey, Commander."
James Trent shakes his head at Aramasu, "No news yet. I sent the sample of green liquid to the serpent and I am waiting for the results. Since I did had enough time to ... discuss with general Briar, I could not learn more. We will have to ... get... our information from the EDC...if you see what I mean..." James nods at Faris.
Aramasu Hikage gives James a smug grin "Yeah I see what you mean. I will get on that as soon as possible AFTER I get myself a new bike." The ninja looks soooo not ninja-like but more like a kid shopping for his first car. "I heard of this really cool places in New-York where they make custom motorcycles. I was thinking of taking a trip down there and put an order in for something really cool. Maybe a 'Black Widow' remake or something similar." Aramasu shows James and Faris his motorcycle brochure.
Faris' head tips to the left slightly as he peers down at the brochure, nodding. "Get yourself something sleek and classy, don't go for some stupid looking Harley or chopper," he says as he nods at Aramasu. "Hey, again, I'm voting you get a Ducati."
James Trent shurgs, obviously he doesn't care at all about bike. "We need more intel quickly. Briar talked about powers he got on Cybertron... we do not want to Autobots to get that power, so we must find it first and take it for ourselves or destroy it... which would be safer, seeing what it did to Briar and Bastet."
Aramasu Hikage looks up at Faris seemingly ignoring the hidden power on Cybertron "Hey. Choppers are cool and classy. They are work of art ? Not some stupid crap made by robots in a country that's among the top 10 richest on the planet. Choppers are hand made by artists. I am surprised you two never considered the idea of something 'unique' instead of buying expensive stuff that anybody else can buy with the same amount of money." He waves off James "Yeah yeah power thing go boom. Go to Cybertron yaddy yadda."
Al Aziz outright laughs at James, shaking his head. "Who cares? Let others pursue their silly shortcuts to power, do not get distracted by matters that others will deal with for us. We should be concerned with here, Earth. Besides, how do you know he was telling the truth? What would his motive be to tell you anything?" He raises a hand up, using it to chop the air forward. "Focus on our goals."
James Trent codly looks at Faris, "I am focused. We want those machines out of our world. And letting them gaining more power is not the way to do it. Here on Earth our hands are tied, we must take care of our public image. But on Cybertron... on Cybertron we get more freedom. In fact I have started planning a couple of operations up there but this is not the place to talk about it." He gives a quick look around him but he totally ignores Hikage and his babbling.
Aramasu Hikage looks at both of them. "I will leabe you guys to discuss the planning thingies. Just call me back when you guys have made up your mind. I need to book a flight to NY and I will try and get that intel on my way back. I will stop by EDC HQ and look up the info we need. Catch ya flyboys later." With that Aramasu heads for the motorpool so he can get a ride to the airport.
"Our hands are only tied because I'm the only goddamn one around here trying to untie them," Faris says bitterly, a bit of a distant tone to his voice indicating that he's not blaming anyone present, but instead people further removed from this level of command. With a huff, he shrugs and sets it out of his mind, waving to Hikage. "Good luck, man."
You move west to the Aerospaceport...
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