| abstract | - Thursday, April 19, 2012, 6:43 AM Valles Marineris The magnificent Valles Marineris valley system is comprised of a multitude of valleys and canyons stretching 3,000 miles, from the Tharsis Planitia at the western end of the canyon system to the Elysium Planitia at the east end. The region is filled with extinct volcanos and other peculiar geological findings. The atmosphere is almost 80 percent carbon dioxide here, rising to well over 95% further east and making it hazardous for those who need to breath oxygen. Hardhead glances around, his scowl growing deeper and deeper. He emits a the secure close range. "Status Report...How are the traps progressing?" After finishing her eight-hour shift of forward observation, Amber agilely climbs down the cliff from her spy nest a bit to the east of the base; she's getting very skillful at maneuvering in the lighter gravity of Mars. She drops the last ten feet and lands with legs bent for balance. Straightening up, she walks towards the base nearby. Hardhead looks in Amber's direction and nods. "Ms. MacKenzie...how are battle embankments coming? Do you require assistance?" Mosaic steps, almost glides in, from the base, her gun at the ready. She doesn't raise it, but holds it pretty tightly, as if expecting trouble. "Are we ready for the evacuation?" Hubcap emerges from the base, sitting himself down on a handy rock. Staring with some slight confusion at the sun, he idly wonders what time it is on this wretched rock. "Umm, Evening? Folks." He'd be drinking coffee and eating a bagel, but... robot. Amber MacKenzie yawns widely, but at least it isn't visibly. "No Decepticons sighted, except for the occasional patrol. Did someone rig me a vacuum? If so, I'll get started on that. Oh, and hi, Hardhead. Heya, Hubcap, Mosaic. Last I heard, the majority of our stuff is packed." Hardhead looks at Mosaic. "No, our escape path is not prepared." He lets out a sigh as he looks at the assembled Fighting Force. "I like the technical knowledge on how to make this work, but perhaps y'all can prepare the traps." He looks to the side. "I can lift things...if that helps." He points at Hubcap. "I'll see what I can do about getting some Shuttles sent here." Hubcap freezes as Hardhead points at him for some reason. "Uhhh, okay? What am I doing now?" The Minibot glances around cluelessly, "Are we... leaving?" Hardhead looks at Hubcap and shakes his head. "You need to help Mosaic and Ms. MacKenzie preparing traps. We can't leave." He looks around. "Because we have nowhere to go." He scowls. "So we better make this place as safe as possible." He leans in towards Hubcap. "Because the Decepticons are less friendly than I am." Mosaic tilts her head and actually seems to smile. "And if that thought doesn't sober you up, I can't think of one that would." Amber MacKenzie cajoles a bored Autobot to weave a net of razorwire across the narrowest point of the canyon near the base. Meanwhile, she picks up the end of a flexible tube and turns the power on. This is not an upright or even a canister. It's one of them fancy shmancy central vacuum systems. Sweeping the end from side to side, she slowly steps towards drifts of red dust and vacuums them up. The dust is sucked through the tube and is deposited in one of the pits. There's a bit of swirling in the dust as it settles, almost like clouds of red smoke, but they aren't visible in the shadows cast by the brilliant starlight. The nameless Autobot she recruited grumbles a bit, but he's just as eager to strike a blow against the Decepticons. He climbs one cliff face with less grace than Amber and drills holes in various places as he ascends. On the way back down again, he carefully screws in long, thick bolts already threaded with the deadly razor wire. On second thought, he'll do these one at a time. The top one, at least is set. Mosaic tests the ground near the base's entrance. "We'll need a special tool to dig out the pits. Shovels won't work...not that there are any big enough for me to use." She looks around. "I suppose I should get to work on the holograms." Hardhead glances at Mosaic and pointers for a moment. He reaches into his shoulder cannon and pulls out a shell. "This should make a large crater." He tinkers with it, making it into a crude timed charge. He then hands it towards her. Mosaic turns the shell over in her hand. "This will work great...we can use this to cut off easy escape. It will sow chaos..make them less likely to be careful. Hubcap frowned slightly. Nowhere to go? Whatever happened to Earth, it's right over... well, wherever Earth is in relation to Mars at this moment. Nonetheless, with a thoughtful nod and a bright grin, Hubcap nods to Hardhead. "Ahhh, traps. Traps with which to entrap. I am on it!" Jumping to his feet, apparently oblivious to the subtle threat from the Headmaster, Hubcap starts pacing, rattling ideas off from the top of his head. "First off, Identification Friend-Or-Foe markers, helps with electronic targeting systems! Then disorientation software! All Snap, Crackle and Pop! Then Missiles, bringing the hurt!" Hardhead stares at Hubcap and looks at the others. "Sounds, uh, good...Get on those IFF things." He moves over towards Amber and the net making. "This looks promising, will it slow down or stop a Decepticon?" He asks as he fingers touch the ends. "If it just slows down, maybe we can combine it with other traps, attempting to determine where they will move too next?" The unnamed Autobot is named! Sideshift climbs up the opposite cliff face, once again drilling holes. The first line is threaded through the loop on the bolt and carefully tightened, using tools made for just that purpose. He sighs in relief at keeping all his fingers and descends to fetch another threaded bolt and climbs back up to screw it in. "You owe me, lady," he mutters as he climbs. For once, he envies the Decepticons their heel thrusters. Meanwhile, one pit has been filled, and Amber is running out of dust. She waits for the vacuum to be moved to the next pit and starts vacuuming rocks and parts of the cliff. This is harder work, and she suspects she won't finish today. Hmmmm. She glances up at the top of the cliff, recalling the desert full of sand there. Maybe they can lengthen the tubing to reach the top. Hardhead approaches her, and she's happy to take a break. "When it's finished, it'll do a world of harm to him," she answers with a sigh, trying not to visualize the unfortunate flyer being cut to pieces. "This stuff is horrible... it cuts through metal." Hardhead smiles grimly towards Amber. "Good...War is horrible business. But we do what we have to." He shrugs. "Some may curse us for our barbarism, but we do what we must. Then ends justify the means." Hardhead seems to think that might help as he motions Sideshift to help Hubcap. "Help him with the IFF dohicky...bomb, thing." He looks at Amber as he radios back to base. "What else do you need Ms. MacKenzie." Amber MacKenzie gestures towards Sideshift. "Er, he's not done yet. There will be wire at the top and every few meters down to the ground. No one's getting through that in one piece." She sighs again, queasy, then pushes it out of her mind. Mum would be proud of her; Dad would be heartbroken. "The holo windows, since they may take out more than one at a time... There are a couple locations where the canyon veers one way or the other; put a hologram in both places to make the cliff face look transparent. They try to fly through, and... splat." Hardhead looks at Sideshift. "Stop...continue to assist Ms. MacKenzie!" He bows slightly to her. "I apologize, I do not understand much technical stuff." He nods slightly. "Good, hopefully that will break morale." "Of the Decepticons." He adds. Hubcap glances around at the other Autobots present, most of whom seem to... ignore him entirely. With a slight sigh, he sits down and pulls out a datapad, upon which he taps out ideas to present to Maximus' fabrication facilities. "It's not what I'm used to," Amber admits. "Part of me says that it's cold-blooded murder, the other part reminds me that this is exactly what soldiers do, and I've always supported our troops." She fidgets with the controls on her vacuum hose, finally turning it off. Hardhead radios to Hubcap. "How are the IFF devices coming? Feel free to grab anyone standing around to help you. This is the highest priority!" Hubcap pings back to Hardhead. "You're already on the 'Friendlies' list, Buddy. That's all software. Don't let it rock yer yacht." Sideshift works efficiently, finishing twenty levels of razorwire that cover the narrow section of canyon from top to bottom. Amber gives the mech a tired smile. "Nice work. Thanks, Sideshift. Here's hoping you score with this one." She makes a notation on a borrowed datapad that's way too big for her, efficiently marking this location as hazardous and why. The message is automatically forwarded to the others. "Tomorrow, I'll go the other way for dust until they finish lengthening the tube," she mutters, half to herself and half to Hardhead. Finished for the day herself, she looks up and around, yawning again, to see how the others are doing. Hardhead emits to Hubcap. "Rock my yacht? I assume you are telling me to relax." His hands tighten into fists as he listens to Sideshift. "Good, Trooper Sideshift." He looks around the area and stares at the desolation. "It isn't much of a home, but it is ours and we need to defend it." He radios everyone again. "What is next?" Hubcap continues to mutter to himself as he taps at the pad. The phrases: "64-bit encryption" and "Electronic Chaff" can be heard by the observant listener, as, for some reason, can a grumbled "The Scrappy." Hubcap obviously has plans. Hardhead hears the Technical Talk and shrugs as he emits to Hubcap. "Good work, I know Highbrow and Chromedome have a computer in the base...salvage any parts you need form those computers. They tell me it is a complex computer." Amber MacKenzie is with Hardhead. This stuff is over this civilian's head. She yawns again. "I hope we finish before the bad guys get here. I know I had nothing to do with building it, and it's been bloody uncomfortable here, but it... offends me to let them get away with destroying it. Tit for tat. They want the base, they pay for it." Hubcap breaks off and stares for a second at Hardhead who, apparently, is not a complex computer. Then he nods slowly. "Will do, Buddy." Then he pauses, thinks, and brightens. He's just been authorised to salvage. Without supervision! Hot diggity! Hardhead looks at Amber and favors her with a smile. "You have a fighter's heart!" He nods his head. "Exactly, we will make them pay for every square inch they want." He looks at Hubcap, the Commodore 64 logo flashes in his optics. He radios towards Hubcap. "I expect a cut of the profits...from the excess." He radios to Hubcap. "A small one." Hubcap nods enthusiastically to himself as he considers his datapad. Then he surges to his feet and waves it in the air. "Hey," he announces, "I had some ideas..." Slowly, he notices that, well, almost everyone has left. "I, Umm, first there was the IFF/sonics/missile combo... uhh," Slightly disconcerted, he tabs to the next page. "Directed compressed virii designed to down Seekers?" Tab, no that one was always silly, Tab. "Micro-EMP devices scattered around the landscape?" Lowering the pad, the lil' minibot looks around aimlessly. "Who do I run these by, again?"
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