| abstract | - The sandaled crusader emerges from the Noose's alleys, grumbling as he manages to brush off most of what was on him and clear out anything unsettling from his hair, staggering his way over to the others. Although he managed to avoid any outright embarassing stains or otherwise dirtying himself, one thing he can not brush off is the smell. If he smelled a little too fresh for a freelander before, that problem is now solved in spades. Wolfsbane moves along to descend down one of the inhospitable alleyways few buildings away from the Silveredge hall, the man's steps growing conciously more quiet and measured once he's out of sight of the main road. Following the twisted, smelly alleys through the slum, he winds his way gradually back to the mercenary headquarters. Taking no chances at night in the Shadow District, the well armed and armoured mercenary that is Lucius Nepos comes striding out from the Noose, a bright red slap mark on his face. Thankfuly, the other good thing about night is that you don't see such things, unless you're somewhere with some un-natural light. He tacks his long spear from behind the shield and grasps it by the rear grip, heading also through the alleys instead of across the street. His footfalls attempt to be quiet nonetheless, armour and equipment well secured, as if practiced. Twilight and shadow are the weapon and armor of one who wishes to remain unseen, as is the observation that people seldom look up. Thatched roofs and crumbling stone walls make for treacherous footing, however, so it's with cautious steps and jumps timed just-so that Reese darts between the buildings. Her agility dares to fail her when feet nearly fail to find purchase on the edge of the compound's rooftop, however - her arms shoot out and wind, her frame wavering like a dancing wraith, until a moment later she thankfully steadies. It's not until she's crouched in the shadow of the ruined chimney that she slings Vice from her shoulder, listening, watching and waiting from her vantage point on high. The building seems utterly unaware of all of this stalking, empty windows watching the street impassively. Wolfsbane creeps about the alley. He's been getting rather used to finding his way around these lately, all things said. Of course, the smell is atrocious. Slipping about to the side of the Silveredge Company Hall, he moves carefully about, seeking out side doors or windows or unicorns. The crossbowman merely stands idly at the meeting point, folding his arms impatiently and tapping his foot as he glances around with a glum expression. Lucius Nepos is a few metres behind Wolfsbane at this point, slinking forward in pursuit of what the other man is looking for, probably. Looks like Norran's gonna be kept waiting a mite longer, unfortunately enough for him. Nepos's fingers flex and relax around the grip of the war spear, his breathing controlled but quick. Blackfox remains in the shadows across the street for a moment, keeping beneath the eaves of the tavern, bow in hand and arrow resting on the string. She keeps a watchful eye, watching Lucius' back as he heads towards the empty-looking building. The crossbowman's impatience grows, his foot tapping increasing as he glances about with an annoyed expression. After enough time has passed, he exhales deeply and begins to back up away from the door a decent distance, beginning to jog in place. Once he's reached his desired speed, he then makes to bullrush the door with a whirl of drunken rage and kicked-up dust. Just as it seems he's about to strike, however, he abruptly gives a hop and stops himself prematurely, skidding somewhat with his sandals just inches away from crashing into the door and...decides to see if he can open it using 'conventional' means, i.e., the handle. Rather than going /through/ the door - remarkably - trying the handle meets with.. A distinct lack of success. The front door of the building is securely barred, from the inside. However, in that close proximity? An odd sound comes through the door - a sort of slurred... singing. Off key. Very bad. Vhram still searches along the side and back of the building, carefully inching about quietly in search of alternate means of entry. Lucius Nepos splits off from Vhramis, moving to the front of the building. He motions to the busted out window, quite near to the main entrance now, flagging Norran down, too. Whether the somewhat drunken crossbowman will see him is another story entirely, but Nepos decides to slip his form through the window. He starts by putting his spear and shield through, then pulling the rest of his body in. There /is/ a back door - barred, yes - but the small shuttered casement to the side moves slightly, almost beckoning the ranger in. Suddenly, as Luc climbs through the window... NOTHING CLAWS HIS FACE OFF. But it is dark - perhaps not unexpected. The room beyond is a rather wide meeting-hall, space enough for dozens and tables for them.. but it is empty. Expectant. Waiting. Fox.. across the street.. is joined by a fellow in a very grimy shirt that smells faintly of something better left unmentioned. "Now /yer/ a pretty one, ye are.." Up on the roof, Caprice skulks from shadow to shadow, keeping low, keeping quiet, and moving with a careful quickness. A rat watches her with beady black eyes, zipping away when her boot falls too near, but she pays it no mind; her gaze sweeps the dark shapes for anything resembling a door. Blackfox turns just the slightest bit, pulling back on the bowstring enough that it brings the very sharp point of the arrow back to about hip-height, angled just a wee bit south as she faces the man. "Go. Away." Whether the fellow notices Lucius or not is up in the air, but he /is/ supposed to be a distraction, yes? Perhaps keeping this in mind or perhaps simply driven into a rage, the man carried an aghast expression as he hears what's going on within. "Argh! There'sh a crime is progressh, and the victim is SHONG!" angrily declares the man, backpedalling back from the door to give him a good distance and kneel down in an athletic stance. Staring with fire burning in his emerald gaze, his backside is raised in preparation before he explodes in a proper rush toward the door. Dust whirls around him as the man makes a flying leap into the air to crash into the door in a fury with all of his weight. The sound of terrible, possibly drunken singing finally comes to Nepos's his ears and he cringes, though it's more likely than not that nobody will see the twist of expression. Holding his shield defensively, now, and his spear out at the ready he is about to start creeping toward the sound when he hears Norran yelling his lungs out. He shuffles into the shadow instead, waiting for the inevitable crash and watching. Oh. Hello. Vhramis peers at the casement, stepping over to carefully try to tug open the shutters and look inside. Course, if they open, and he doesn't see anyone, he'll try to slip in, though all the shouting from the other side of the building does cause him to wince. The roof is not exactly a place /rife/ with doors - but a slatted high window, just wide enough for a small slip of Firelight to wiggle through? That has potential. The fellow who stands in immenent loss of his ability to sire children raises his hands, offers a grin filled with more gap than teeth, "Now, now, jus' bein' friendly. No harm in a man askin' how much, aye?" The drunken crossbowman? Well, he charges the door. He puts a shoulder down. He crashes!... and he bounces off. That door is a sturdy one.. but there /is/ a crack. The wood /does/ shiver - and something does /give/. It's looser in its frame, now. The shutter opens to Vhamris's insistance. Peering inside sees - well. It's dark in there. Darker than out here, in fact, and a little high. But it /is/ climbable - and slipping in will likely be a definite possibility.. There is a slight creaking, the only sound that comes from Blackfox's direction, as the string is pulled taut, "I am not for sale," she hisses, "Now walk away before you lose the ability to make use of what you seek to purchase." Progress! As Norran backs off and lands unsteadily on his feet, he gives a determined nod as he clenches his fists and pivots on his foot to run back and regain his previous stance, grinning wide. "HAH! A formidable foesh, but no mashtch! Prepare to be /shmote/, foul door! TALLY-SHO!" delivers the man as his battlecry, a stampeding bull charging once more for his target as he decides to take a more grounded approach, aiming for where he thinks the door would have given way. Lucius Nepos is not a happy camper, it would seem, at the sound of Norran trying to crash down a door only a few metres away from him. He stays quiet, though, tucked in the Shadow and waiting for Norran to inevitably come barreling through a door and probably passing out. He slips his hand slowly up the war spear's shaft to the throwing strap. Wolfsbane slips into the room, his feet squishing softly into a pile of /something/. His lips curl back, the man stifling a sudden desire to loudly wretch. Grasping at his cloak, he yanks it about, pressing the fabric against his nose and mouth. Footfalls crunching softly on rotten footstuff and an innumerable amount of insects and rodent droppings, he inches to the door, pushing it open slightly to peer into the kitchen. It's a tight fit, tight enough for Caprice to visibly weigh her options under a moment's consideration of the darkened portal. Slinging Vice back upon her shoulder, she steps lightly to the window's edge, shifting her weight to her toes and buoying her balance with the counterweight of arms extended just barely. Only the most cursory glance is given to what awaits inside before she slides in, as lithe and limber as a greased-up cat. You know - say what you like about the Ravensguard - but they /do/ take certain things seriously in Gate Town. Drunk fellows smashing into doors? ATTENTION GETTING. Indeed. Four members of what passes for the law (and not too bad a law at /that/) certainly take notice, and amble that way, moving a bit /faster/ when the door breaks loose, falls in, and takes the yelling fellow with it to land heavily inside. On the roof, Caprice finds herself entering a simple 'cell' - a bedroom with a cot, a basin for water, and a door that stands open, likely an unused sleeping space. Beyond, a black hall beckons onward; the abysmal singing more clear. Below, Vhramis finds himself in a kitchen, well stocked but disused - the singing louder, but the door crashing to the floor likely a more pressing thought. Fox? Fox's 'suitor' backs away, "Fine! As y' say - " But with a leer.. before he turns to move away, heading for a nearby alley. Luc? Well. There's a Norran on a door in a meeting hall. Blackfox watches the man go, managing to hide her trembling until he had turned to away. She lets out a breath as she eases up on the bowstring, stepping backwards and away from him, deeper into the shadows. She takes a deep breath to steady herself before turning back to watch for signs of anyone following her compatriots or taking undue notice of...oh. Guards. And Norran. This should be fun. Caprice does not move immediately to pursue the singing, no. She lingers just behind the door, melting into the blackness and drawing her hood up; it would not do to be recognized, and shadows have no features. She waits, listening, breathing slowly and steadily, trying to place the direction from where the sound comes - and its relative proximity to her position - before seeking to inspect the room's contents. The commotion Norran creates does not seem to particularly faze her; perhaps she is simply intent on making the best use of the diversion he creates. Wolfsbane's relief at being out of the foul smelling room is visible across his features as he pushes the door carefully closed. Glancing about the interior briefly, and not finding himself very hungry, he moves to leave. Instead of heading towards the singing and horrible commotion, he turns to head to the back stairway to ascend, squinting into the dark. "Sucshesh! Iron Man Varo Rivershtrider never mishesh hish mark, no he doeshn't!" proclaims 'Varo' in victory as he rises to his feet unsteadily but quickly, glancing off in the guard's direction as he gives a hand-signal to Lucius, 'I'll take care of them', roughly translating old Blades signals from inside the building where the coming guardsmen can't see. Stumbling his way out of the building, Varo gives a proud grin toward the coming guards. "Oh, oh, you wanshts shome of Varo, eh? Come at me, whelpsh! A little of the ol' Rivershtrider footwork, an you'll all be on the ground wisshing for your mothersh!" openly taunts the fellow, putting up his hands and backing away from the building toward the more open square as he gives a few test-punches in the air for a round of shadowboxing to, apparently, show the guards who they're dealing with. Lucius Nepos's lips press tightly together. If he can, he'll press himself further to the wall and shadows, probably thinking to himself how big of an idiot his immediate superior is. At this point he probably really wishes he had gone with the Pathfinder. Reese moves into the building - on and in search of singing... which is on the second floor, at the end of the hall, where a candle flickers and sends wan light out into the hall. But she is not alone - footsteps come from behind, from a stairway there. Vhramis moves upstairs slowly, hood drawn, staying as quiet as possible - but in the relative stillness of the House, being truly quiet is difficult at best. But there is a sound ahead, someone in the hall above, moving nearly as furtively... Downstairs, the Ravensguard draws up short and /stares/. Drunken. Large. Belligerent. This means /crossbows/. The two that have it level them - a blonde fellow on the left stepping forward to say, "Now, now, 's none of us looking for a /fight/. Now wot's this, breakin' down /doors/? Seems we've had a few, mm?" Lucius remains patient. And largely hidden. Fox? More of the same - though in an alley near her, there are quiet whispers, plans made. Inside, the singing continues, dirgelike. Crossbows are raised and Blackfox wonders for a fleeting moment if she should do something to help. But then she considers the target and tosses aside any thought of offering assistance, either because the man probably needs none or perhaps because she has no interest in giving him a hand. So instead she turns her attention to signs of others who might be paying mind to the activities going on about the old headquarters, watching their backs and counting on her silence and the shadows to cover her own. "Bowsh! Bowsh! Jusht hilarioush, what a bunch of cowardly Shahir whelpsh. There'sh FOUR of ya, and one o' me! Shure, shure, I undershtand that you're shcared. The oddsh are clearly in my favorsh, the four of yoush couldn't beat me in a fishtfight in a hundred yearsh, but shtill, musht you be sho obvioush?! If you're brave enough, I'll give you a lesshon in manhood you'll never forgetsh!" proudly declares Varo, his taunting grin widened as he gives a hops a little bit and gives a few bobs and weaves to the guard approaching him. Patience is not Lucius's forte, however, not the kind of patience in this case. Soon as he thinks he's got a distraction named 'Varo Riverstrider', he takes the opening to move through the meeting hall swiftly, and search the bottom floor for anything of interest. It's hard, given that there's no light. His eyes haven't adjusted yet. The slim digits slid through the fingerless sockets of the Pathfinder's gloves brush the hilt of Caprice's dagger, slipping it from her belt even as she detaches herself from the wall. Thinking fast and moving faster, she slips under the bed, bracing herself with one elbow and fit to spring or roll away. Wolfsbane hunches down some as he hears the movement in the hall, the man slowing his step as he slips up. Hard to tell just what's happening with the singing, but he draws a blade from his belt, peering up over the top stair to look briefly, before ascending completely and beginning to inch along the hallway. ... which leaves the two above to sort out which one of them is going to kill the other one. Though Caprice is firmly under the bed, at least she's not in the closet - and Vhamris has gained a few inches in his pursuit of bad singing. There's little of interest on the floor below - well, quite a bit if you were a thief. Failing that, there's little beyond the accumulated implements of living, now dusty though largely in place, stored against future use. The main stairway beckons up, however. Outside, the blonde fellow sighs, "When ye are sober, Master. Now, come along quiet with us - you know we've no time for playin'. And they /will/ shoot ye, they will, if we must to take you in. Now, you want that skin of yours creased more than once?" Three forms are deep in the alley behind Fox - and two of them unfold a blanket between them, a smelly horse-blanket, in fact. Creeping up on her, taking advantage of Norran's distraction. Happily oblivious to the woman hiding under the bed in the other room, Vhramis continues towards the singing, peeking in carefully to finally view the source. He looks rather skeptical, an eyebrow arching. "Oh, y'don't think I can fight? How about a bit of a game! If you shcared little tykesh can lay a /shingle/ finger on me, I'll be a good boy and go with you cowardsh who don't have the pride to take up a fight wherever yer wantin' me. Sho. Do you hash it, Shahir dogsh? DO YOU?!" challenges Varo with a boisterous laugh, positioning himself before the man approaching him. It wouldn't be right to say Lucius is dissapointed by the lack of important things on the first floor, because he doesn't seem to care much. He glances briefly in the direction of the door, smirking, now, as he's out of the danger zone, and then proceeds up the stairs, his hard boots not exactly the quietest thing on the wooden steps. Attuned to the forest and not the urban jungle, Fox picks up the sound of a boot scuff and the soft flap of cloth, but sound carries differently here between buildings and down narrow alleyways. As such, she misses the direction it comes from, mistaking it for one of the guards taking aim at Norran. She continues to keep watch then, oblivious for the moment but still alert to the world around her. For Reese - the booted feet that go by outside the cell are clearly visible, being sneaky. For vhram, spying the closed door and its flickering light may be surprising - and it is unlocked. Opening it? Well. It reveals behind it an unwashed, unshaven wreck of a man, a dagger on an oaken desk, a bottle near at hand - and bad, bad singing. Out in the street - the guardsman sighs, backs up a step. "Why do th' always figure we fight fair?" It's rhetorical. The crossbows sing - not aimed to kill, but then, it's all relative in GateTown. Fox discovers that smelly horse blankets offer their own warning - though she's very nearly enveloped in it as the three rough men do their best to grab her before she's able to give warning. At the moment? They fail miserably - but they're still there... Luc? Luc's boots make quite a bit of racket as he advances on Vhramis from the hallway to the ranger's left - his spear cresting the stairs before the rest of him. Lucius Nepos has got no idea who is upstairs from him, knowing only that there's someone who's never been trained to sing, and some of his friends on the inside. Who knows who else? Caution isn't thrown to the wind as he advances slowly, but stealth certainly is. His eyes dart around him, helmed head shifting when he can't get a good view of peripheral surroundings. He slowly moves in a semi-circle around the staircase, green blue eyes narrowing at the sight of the ranger's back. He smirks, but doesn't say anything yet. Doing an about face, he moves to put his back near the ranger's. It's assumed his loud footfalls would be plainly audible. "BAD. DECSHIOSHION," growls Varo, launching himself to entangle with the guard the moment he moves to step backward in a probable hope his compatriots would think twice about shooting in close quarters. A sandal'd foot is launched forward in a direct kick for the guard's abdomen to push him and his opponent into his guardly compatriots. Indeed it is the smell that tips her off, the men having approached from upwind, and so the diminutive huntress ducks beneath the blanket, ending up behind the men as they try to snag her in its folds. She blinks, taking a moment to take it in, stunned at the thought of what they were trying to do. And then instincts kick in, fight or flight, the hunter suddenly the hunted and realizing she was outnumbered and in unfamiliar territory. So she runs, straight for the guards as they level their weapons at Norran, "Help! They are trying to kidnap me!" When the man - that is, Vhramis - passes before the door, Caprice immediately rolls and peels herself from the floor. A pause, a second of frozen hesitation as Lucius clanks past, statue-still as blue eyes tracking his progress before recognition snakes its way to her brain. Still, she does little more than rap a knuckle on the floor: a barely audible signal to alert the soldier to her presence. If he looks her way, she does little more than arch her brows; regardless of whether he does or does not, she kisses the veil of shadow again to flank him in stealth, dagger finding sheath once again. Glancing behind him sharply at the approaching sound of boots, Vhramis' eyes widen a bit at Lucius, before the ranger turns about. Bursting into the room, like some sort of derranged ninja, he leaps at the seated, drunken man, working to topple him right off of his chair. There are only so many things a guardsman can worry about at once. Cardinal rule - /most important things/ trump /less important things/. So, crossbows twang, bolts are fired (aimed at locations meant to bring down, not kill - for now, at least), the surge and roar is deftly avoided by men who have done this dozens of times before... And then there's a woman running into their midst yelling for help. We have a precedent moment - enough, in fact, that the floundering drunkard gets a moment of distraction. The men and their blanket? They scarper. Rats brought to light. Upstairs? Well. Let's be honest. Larrin is /very drunk/. Vhramis is /very ninja/. In a deranged way. WHUMP. THUD. "Wha!" SMACK. The mercenary is not in a chair anymore. In fact? He's looking up at Vhramis, wondering why he's just been tackled by a wild-eyed ranger, and /WHERE DID MY BOTTLE GO/ and finally, "an.... who the SHADES are /you!/" That gets through the utter and complete surprise. Lucius Nepos is at first, too, very ready to toss his viscious barbed spear at the sound of the knuckle rapping, before he luckily spots exactly who it is; that certain type of movement, recognizable only to someone who's worked with the person performing it. He relaxes his grip a bit, nodding and then holding his guard position. He is either oblivious or simply too busy with his task to pay much attention to the ruckus outside, or inside the room Vhramis just invaded, either. Things go wrong. Terribly wrong. Faced with an oddly limber guardsman, his feet finding themselves oddly planted as he takes a couple crossbow bolts with a snarl, Varo goes down to his knees. His face immediately loses its cool confidence, contorting into a rage. "YOU. BLOODY. INGRATES!" screams a voice of a /distinctly/ noble accent, a hand reaching to pull out an item from his belt-bag. The item is tossed before the guards, and revealed to be a Signet of the Crown. "You /SHOOT/ a drunk? What sort of murderous /bastards/ trained you? You two will help that woman. You other two will take me to the Temple. If you do not follow my orders /immediately/, I will /personally/ see that all of your jewels and your commander's jewels are skewered on a /pike/ on the Emperor's way," growls the man, his tone angry but low enough so that just the guards can hear. "You Larrin? We're going to talk..." Vhramis whispers to the man, staring intently down at him, kris in hand held near drunken man's throat in a rather meaningful way. "Nepos, get in here," he calls out over his shoulder briefly, out to the hallway. Blackfox looks over her shoulder, slowing her pace as she sees her pursuers fleeing into the night. "They...they tried to throw a blanket over me..." she explains, pointing back down the alley. Content to let her brother-at-arms and onetime commander handle the interrogation, Reese whips into position just to the right of the door. Back against the wall, tucked in the darkness of the corner, she keeps an ear tuned to the conversation inside and eyes carefully trained on the hallway and its peripheries. There's a /meaningful knife/. And whatever sentimental value it has? It has Larrin's attention, at least. But what's odd is the fact that the man just laughs, just short of a sob - perhaps he's not /all/ there. But, regardless, he smells of cheap, rotgut grain alcohol and no bathing for enough time to make it particularly vile, in that proximity. The guardsmen are quick to step up past Fox, even without prompting - the blonde crouches, ignoring the threats, to cooly pick up the ring, to look it over, and to study Norran for a moment. "Sir." It's even polite, that greeting. "Shoulda told us sooner, Lord - would have spared all sorts o' trouble." He whistles up the street - "Bring the stretcher!" The darker haired of the two watching over Fox mutters, "Snatch-'n-grab. Rough part o' town, Mistress - woul' do better not bein' in it. Would have been in a brothel in the fetters come mornin'." "Alright." Comes the distinctive lack of protest from Nepos's low, rough voice. He retreats into the room and then does another about turn to face Vhramis and his quarry. "Well well. Look here." He smiles, buttspike of the spear slowly lowering onto the ground near Larrin's face. Wolfsbane waits for Lucius to enter the room, watching Larrin closely, before giving the man a slight shake. Not much, of course, what with how drunk he obviously is. The smell? Well, Vhram probably smells at least as bad. "Who called that attack on Night's Edge?" "That is Sir /Valoria/. I will not have /you/ tell me what it is I should or should not have done, /especially/ after this. There were /four/ of you, and one drunk! I was nearly /asking/ for you to bring me in, and you'd rather shoot first and then shoot later! A disgrace, even if this is the Shadow District! Watch your tone, and give that back. I can walk," growls the newly-identified Knight, making his way unsteadily to his feet as he begins to limp toward the direction of the temple, clothes beginning to stain crimson. Whether or not he offers, the Knight uses the blonde guardsman as a crutch as he makes his way along. "An investigation is underway. Let your men know to ignore happenings inside that building, though see one or two to stay and do something about the door. It would look odd otherwise." "And they call /us/ barbarians," Fox says under her breath, "My thanks to you," she nods to the man, turning to go, "I think it will be a long time before I pass this way again." Caprice does not move save for a cant of her head and a thoughtful look askance. Something has caught her interest. The blonde guardsman bears that burden - "Two nights ago, Sir Valoria - four guradsmen w' lost when they were brought down b' arrows from on rooftops when arrestin' a drunk like yerself." Just a quiet statement of fact - but the ring is handed back, the men keeping both Fox and Nor in a sort of protective square. "Wi' see what we can do with th' door, then." The darker haired one nods, "Likely wise, Mistress, 't is. Would hate findin' ye in an alley." Upstairs, Larrin closes his eyes, "Retribution. S' what he called himself." It's defiant. "Kill me. S' about time /somebody/ did." "No, no, my friend. You're gonna tell us all ya know. Else t'aint gonna be slow, or fun for ya. But let's let ya think a little bit first... in the black." Lucius looks over to Vhramis, making a punch-y motion in the air and then nodding at Larrin. "Shooting the drunk in that situation wouldn't have saved them, since the arrows were from an ambush. It just would've resulted in /shooting a drunk/! Your vicinity was secure. You overreacted. If I was just a freelander it wouldn't have mattered, but much like myself, you've found yourself to be /quite unfortunate/. Let us leave it at that, and I'll take no further actions against you. *wince* Bows, such a coward's way. This wasn't very fun at all." grumbles the Knight as he's led off.
- Thursday, December 15, 2011 Washington The Evergreen State is bordered on the north by Canada, Oregon to the south, Idaho on the east, and the Pacific to the west. The northwest corner consists of the Olympic Peninsula, with its rainforests and the towering Olympic Mountains. However, the region east of the Cascades, the forested and sometimes volcanically active mountains running north to south through the state, is largely dry, including the arid Columbia Plateau in the south. Forming the border between Washington and Oregon is the Columbia River, one of the world's greatest sources of hydroelectric power. The state is home to a variety of industries, from lumbering to their famous apples to the manufacture of jet aircraft, missiles, and even spacecraft. An archaelogical dig on a grand scale is taking place in the middle of the forested woodlands in the state of Oregon. Normally, archaelogical expeditions to investigate Native American sites are more on subdued, but there is something much more official about this operation, given that a large enough clearing has been made in the treeline for heavy equipment to move about freely as well as a crude landing pad for VTOL capable aircraft. Even with the majority of Autobot activity centralized in San Francisco, with little traffic to the wreck of the Ark these days, it's really questionable about how long an operation like this could remain on the down-low. Still, all things considered, a sizable portion of a pit has been excavated by the human work crews and EDC overseers without any real attention as of yet. All that is about to change. Robot Hawk circles about overhead, far enough from anything of actual importance not to draw too much attention. It's hard to say how the Decepticon ended up in this place and at this time. But data has been a little scarce lately over at Decepticon island, and if one there's one thing a data processor knows it's that sometimes you've got to take matters into your own beak. In the center of the pit, workers toil away with jackhammers and shovels alongside belldozers as they excavate the earth and rock surrounding the previously buried object. Over the last week, more and more of it has emerged into view, an odd metal structure with a triangular shape that appears inert and lifeless. Its true purpose has baffled the scientists at the dig site, who can all at least come to one conclusion. It MUST be somehow related to the Cybertronians...if only for the fact that the site has been dated at being millions of years old. Until now, the device has remained inert and lifeless up to this point. Until now. The instant the sun had set on the horizon on this night, something dramatic happened. Whether it was the presence ofthe stars lined up in just such a way, a pre-programmed response of some sort or some unknown factor, the device suddenly came alive with a series of blinking lights, and a bright flash of green light that erected in the center of the triangle like a shimmering forcefield. At the same time that this happened, there was a brilliant flash of energy that blasted straight up into the sky, sensors having registered the spike as having reached all the way up to orbit before it dissipated. While it seemed to be harmless, there was no mistaking the fact that it had lit up the entire area like a beacon for ANYONE to see and home in on. Any attempts at keeping the digging of this site a secret have come to an abrupt end. Robot Tiger had thought he'd go messing with the Autobots near the Ark, but then stumbled upon this. He peeks out of the edge of the brush, wondering just what it is that drew him here. That sudden energy spike he sensed was irresistible. He crouches down to stay hidden. The Ark may be forgotten by many in the Great War, but not by Impactor. He is fully aware of the fact that, should Metroplex perish in the line of duty, the Ark would have to bear the responsibility of housing the command centre of the Autobot war effort here on Earth. Hell, Metroplex doesn't even need to die for this to happen. He could be hauled out to another hot spot elsewhere in the galaxy on a moment's notice. Thus, Impactor is here with a small crew of Autobots, out in the wilderness away from the Ark itself, inspecting and repairing one of the towers that serve as part of the early warning system in case the Decepticons come to attack the base. Currently it's still a mess--inconvenient and ironic, given the sudden Decepticon activity! Either way, Impactor wasn't aware of the energy spike at first. Instead he was busy standing around, motioning to the techs to hurry it up. But even he can't miss it for long, and he frowns, glancing at the others for an explanation. Blue Cassette Tape rides along mag-clamped to Wingspan's underbelly, a bit of enforcer power in case he ran into any enemy activity. His senses aren't particularly sharp in this mode, so for the moment he's still unaware anything unusual is going on far below. Amber MacKenzie, dressed in warm hiking gear, pants as she reaches the crest of a forested hill and pauses for a drink of water from her canteen. Most of that is spit out as a sudden beam of bright light flashes in her face. Blinking away the afterimages, she leans against a handy tree for support and peers downward. Where'd the party come from? Seeing all the workers, the torn earth - that makes her growl in exasperation - in the middle of nowhere is quite a shock. Robot Hawk turns his head in the direction of the energy spike. The tiny lenses in his optics rotate in one direction as he zooms in, darken as they automatically polarize, and then rotate back out as he pulls his focus back and examines the surrounding dig site. Only then does he bank slightly and adjust his course to glide in that direction. F-5E could be one of the first on scene... or not :P. She is flying from California to Washington, to check on things atthe Ark. The sudden flare she sees draws her attention, descending on the source as it MIGHT be 'cons... but, that flashy, isn't exactly their style Rodimus Prime is actually in the area as well, part of the same group of Autobots that's checking out the early warning towers. Although he's about ten miles from Impactor's position, on a tall hill and looking one of the towers himself. He's up here because it gives him a good view of the surrounding area so he can co-ordinate the movements of the other Autobots at work...and that means he gets a ringside view of the lance of energy climbing straight up into the air. "...what the..?" Speaking quickly into his radio, Rodimus starts making the motions to descend the rocky hillside in the general direction of where that disturbance came from. When stuff like this happens, it's never a good sign... Grey Spaceship has been in orbit for some time, a powred down dull grey thing. But the beacon like energy spike from below rouses him and after some signal chatter, he powers up and soars down though the planet atmosphere. It's not hard to keep track of even through cloud cover and soon he breaks through the airborn vapor. If there's one thing Tracks loves more than looking at himself in the mirror for hours on end, it's driving around recklessly while admiring the glamour that is Mother Nature. Such an activity comes at a high price though as the Autobot has quickly learned. He's sitting on a large rock, furiously scrubbing dirt off of himself with a toothbrush, when the beacon appears and it's enough to make him (begrudingly) put off his obsessive compulsive tendencies for the moment. Tracks transforms and makes a B-line for the source of the signal, eventually coming upon the archeological dig site and the others gathered here. He shifts into his even sexier robot form and greets Impactor (the first Autobot he sees) with a grin. "I couldn't help but notice the fireworks show you guys were putting on." Tracks transforms into his sexy robot mode. Awww yeah! Anyone making a suborbital insertion generates quite a show. Remedy picks up the first hints of Fragment's entry, <> She casts her senses about to try and pick up any other cons. The gig, as they say, is up. The humans aren't stupid, and they know that massive energy spike will certainly draw Autobot and Decepticon attention like a magnet. Whatever the cause, there's a high liklihood this area could be turned into a battleground very shortly. So the EDC troopers on guard are suddenly shouting orders and scrambling to get the technical and other unarmed personnel secured safely, several helicopters winding up their rotors on the makeshift landing pads as they prepare to evacuate vulnerable personnel. As if that wasn't bad enough, the ground starts shaking steadily, though thankfully only just enough to send some minor tremors through the area that sets loose rock and earth shaking freely, inadvertently unearthing more of the ancient artifact. The giant metal triangular form thrumming idly with power as the green energy field in the center shimmers and distorts in an almost peacefully lazy fashion. Robot Tiger tries to keep his balance on the shifting ground. "Ugh," he says, "What's going on here?" The robot tiger tries to find a more stable hiding place from which to spy. Blue Cassette Tape starts to come online when he picks up broadband radio chatter. A tinny voice emanates from the cassette, "Waz going on Wingspan? Autonerds up to something down there?" Rumble considers transforming and disengaging from his ride, but holds off for the moment. Pretty Boy Seeker Windshear transforms into dead black and gray Cybertronian Tetrajet. Impactor peers in the direction of the light flash for several moments. "You stay here," he tells the techs. "I'm going to go scout it out. Get ready to haul back to the Ark in case things turn out badly." Turning away from them, he begins to head out towards the beacon. Before he can get very far, he spies the most beautiful alt mode in existence. Impactor just grunts at Tracks's arrival, giving no hint as to his opinion of the mech. Instead he just motions, "Tracks, you're with me." He doesn't answer Tracks's question since he has the same info they do. Nor does he even slow down with his march towards Remedy's location. He does, however, feel the tremors in the earth. "Feel that?" he asks Tracks as they hike towards the scene. After casting a wistful glance upwards - the Geminids were supposed to be spectacular tonight - Amber carefully makes her way down the hillside towards the work camp below. As she walks, she shrugs out of her backpack and rummages through it for her camcorder. Duty calls. Using that as a zoom lens, she focuses on whatever's going on down there, and her brows rise as she spots EDC troopers and helicopters. That's reason to stop in her tracks and park her backside behind the cover of a rock, and she more carefully scans the area. Good thing she's sitting down, as the ground begins to shake, and she scrambles for a handhold to steady herself. Something is descending down upon the digsite, looking like a meteor to the untrained eye, but it's no true meteor... it is Cyclonus, here to investigate the dig site! And of course, he had been nowhere near the dig site once this little incident had begun, but now, well, he's *fast.* And he shows no sign of slowing down, either! Rodimus Prime continues descending down the rocky side of the hill, doing his best to avoid slipping and falling in the process. "...times like this I really wish I had Sideswipe's jetpack." The Autobot leader pauses on an outcropping, about to leap down to the treeline below when he realizes he has a good line of sight on the area itself. Reaching up, he taps the side of his head as a pair of amplifiers suddenly slide down over his optics, just like he had back when he was plain old Hot Rod during a time that feels like a million years ago. In stereo vision, he gets a nice amplified view of the dig site, the range ticking by in Cybertronian numbers as he scans the scene, "Huh. I didn't know about any EDC operations going on in this area. I wonder what's going o..." And then he spots the artifact, falling silent as he focuses in on it, then makes a few more adjustments. "...oh no." F-5E descends to about 100 meters from the digsite, noticing all the EDC and other personnel fleeing. She gives the other autobots her position, turning to cast her eyes skyward for the cons, only having one approaching con's vector Without question, Tracks nods and follows Impactor; struggling to match his pace what with the whole earth-shaking thing going on. He answers the Wrecker leader's question with another one, "You mean the rumbling sensation that's impossible to miss? Yes, I did." Grey Spaceship barrel rolls and levels his descent now that he's halfway between the ground and the clouds and adjusts his angle of approach to a wide spiral. "Party crashing the light festival..." The jet fighter seems to shiver, components of the craft shifting as the jet becomes its true form of a female autobot. F-15 Streak Eagle is coming in from Decepticon Island and hes flying at full military power. Yes an F15 Eagle, antique thought it now, is a beautiful sight to see at full speed even the Zombie colored one bearing Decepticon brands on its wings now. As the Seeker closes in on the coordinates his wing lasers move back and forth as he cycles through all possible targets. Hes making no attempt to be descreet as hes coming in either, which suits Windshear just fine. Robot Tiger hears the order to move in and forget about stealth. He charges down the hillside. "Hey! Let's see what you got in there!" he shouts, "Whatever it is, it should belong to the Decepticons, not you filthy humans or Autobots!" Robot Hawk tucks his wings in slightly and angles himself a bit away from the dig site, quickly picking up speed as he dives. Then once Cyclonus passes by over him, Wingspan alters course again to try and match the Decepticon leader's angle of approach. He's left quickly behind but that's probably for the best anyway, given his spindly wings and limbs and his relatively smaller less-armored form. The thin topsoil and underlying carpet of shattered granite succumbs to the shaking and slowly slides downwards, carrying Amber with it. She glimpses air- or space-craft jetwash lighting up the skies but can't spare the attention to see who or what it is. Instead, she concentrates on flinging out her free arm and legs to keep from tumbling. Her other arm clings to her precious camcorder. Threatening shouts ring out from below as the slide slows at the bottom of the hill, and once it is thankfully still, she desperately rolls for cover in the torn earth. Blue Cassette Tape stays tacked to the robot hawk's belly for a few moments more. His sensors registered Cyclonus going by (hard to miss the roar of those engines) but disengaging before they reach the dig site will just delay him. His own flight speed is pretty sad, any car would easily outpace him, let alone fliers. The helicopters lift off in great swathes of rotor-wash, getting clear just as the first Decepticons start to arrive on the scene. Rampage's demand receives little more than withering laserfire as a few of the power armored troopers aim their weapons towards him...but it's more to cover their own withdrawl as they begin to back into the trees. Given that the dig was being kept relatively quiet they were somewhat undermanned, and they know it. They're also well aware of a WHOLE lot of attention coming in on them, so they know it's time for a strategic withdrawal. As Amber comes to a stop at the bottom of the hill, she's just in time to take cover as the heavy booted feet of several suits of power armor tromp down nearby, pausing just long enough for them to lay down more laserfire towards the Decepticons as a deterrant for pursuit before they resume falling back amongst the trees for cover. As much as they'd like to defend and hold the dig site, they can't when they're outnumbered and outgunned. So far Remedy and Rodimus have reported spotting Cons, and Impactor's expression tightens at the news. He fires off a quick transmission back to the techs he was overseeing, telling them to get to the Ark and prep it for combat. Prime also seems stunned by what he sees. Seems like everyone has a better idea of what's going on than Impactor and Tracks right now, and so the Wrecker listens up once Prime starts dishing out the exposition on the Autobot broadband. He ignores Tracks's smartassery. If Impactor had a problem with smartassed Autobots he wouldn't be in this line of work. Quintesson design, eh? Related to the Matrix of Leadership, huh? Can't get the Cons get their grubby mitts on it, hmm? Temporal, is it? etc etc. He picks up the pace, expecting Tracks to the same. It's around now he becomes aware of the humans fleeing, but they're of no concern. Hopefully Earth Defence Command can make themselves useful tonight. Glancing to his left as he hears something sliding a short distance away, he spots Amber reaching the bottom of the hill. Hmph, great. He doesn't see any EDC markers on her, so fires a transmission to her (or her cell phone if need be... all humans have them, right?). <> There's a terrifying roar from above, then a rush of air as Cyclonus speeds over the dig site, trees blown about in his wake, dust thrown into the air in a great cloud. But that's not the worst thing he does as he flies past--not by far. He also drops incendiary bombs straight into the midst of the power armored EDC troops, and those caught within the flames scream as they are boiled alive in their own suits. "DECEPTICONS!" Cyclonus booms, audible even over his eown engines, "AAATTTTTAAAACKKK!!! DESTROY THE AUTOBOTS AND SECURE THE DEVICE! FAIL ME, AND YOU WILL BE EXPLAINING YOURSELF TO GALVATRON!" His bombing run concluded, he pulls up sharply, his swept-wing form doing a few lazy rolls as it speeds ever upwards, a trail of purple energy streaming behind his nuclear turbine engines. Combat: Starfighter inspires F-15 Streak Eagle, Blue Cassette Tape , Grey Spaceship , Robot Hawk , and Robot Tiger with majestic and dramatic words! Rodimus Prime sees it all with the binoculars, right from Cyclonus' approach to the fates of the hapless troopers that weren't quick enough to get the cover of the forest in time. A faint grinding noise rises as he clenches his fists so tight he almost threatens to cause some linkage damage to himself before he can stop. Without another moment's hesitation, the Autobot Leader leaps from the rocky outcropping, transforming in mid-air and slamming down onto the earth below with the heavy *CRUNCH* of his suspension meeting with his undercarriage. Trees snap off as he roars forward at full speed, normally not one to deliberately smash up natural surroundings when he can help it... ...but Rodimus is duly pissed off, to put it lightly. "Let em have it, Autobots!" he calls out suddenly, his voice bellowing out for everyone to hear. "This is -our- turf and we're not going to let them think they can just waltz in here like they own the place!" Impactor peers upwards as he approaches Remedy's coordinates. Decepticons coming in all around. He reaches for his laser pistol before diving for cover behind a trailer the humans had been using during their brief stay. Combat: Rodimus Prime inspires Impactor, Remedy, and Tracks with dramatic and righteous words! Amber MacKenzie has no time to take incoming calls, thank you very much. Almost as soon as she gets her bearings, there's a violent explosion amongst the EDC troopers she was about to get up and follow out. She's inadvertently shielded by armored forms, and that barely gives her enough time to roll into a trench in the dirt. She doesn't escape entirely untouched and desperately rolls in the dirt to put the flames out. Ouch. She remains where she is for now, trying to catch her breath. "Bloody hell," she whispers to herself, channeling her Uncle Nigel. The second Cyclonus shows up starts brutally murdering people is the second Tracks realizes that some serious shit is going to go down tonight and he's right in the middle of it. On one hand he's thrilled at the idea of showing off how good he looks while shooting bad guy, but on the other he wants to cry at the amount of time and effort it will take to buff out the inevitable damage. At Rodimus' command, Tracks 'lets them have it'. 'Them' being Rampage and 'it' being lasers. Combat: Tracks misses Robot Tiger with his Pewpew (Laser) attack! Arms rotate backwards and legs fold in as Rodimus drops down into his vehicular mode. A moment later his trailer appears out of nowhere and hitches into place on his back. Robot Tiger snarls as Tracks starts shooting at him. "Hey, pretty boy. Prepare to have your finish ruined 8 ways from Sunday," he says, as he leaps and attempts to claw the part of Tracks that corresponds to his hood. Combat: Robot Tiger misses Tracks with his Ruining finishes is my life! (Punch) attack! F-15 Streak Eagle notices Prime crashing the scene, almost literally. the way trees and other parts of mother nature get flung everywhere in his path downward, Windshear cant help but wingover and head straight for him. "Not so fast, Prime." he rasps and lights up both wing lasers toward the Autobot Leader. Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle misses Flaming Winnebago with his Photon Pulse attack! Combat: Blue Cassette Tape sets his defense level to Fearless. Blue Cassette Tape finally disengages as his lift reaches the dig site and then for some unexplainable reason vanishes stage-left. He drops like a rock from the robot hawk, transforming in mid-air and hitting the ground rolling. The cassetticon is quickly on his feet again however laser pistol in one hand. "Time to make some trouble!" Since he hasn't had any time to find a target his own size, he draws a bead on the Autobot nobody could help but notice. Prime himself. He's apparently feeling pretty cocky today. Blue Cassette Tape bursts outwards, growing swiftly in size until a 7 foot robot has taken its place. Rumble has arrived. Combat: Rumble misses Flaming Winnebago with his High-Intensity Pulse Laser (Laser) attack! Starfighter begins to plummet back down, bearing down on Rodimus Prime for a moment. However, he sees that Windshear is keeping him occupied, so Cyclonus instead elects to try and find out what the hell is going on. But how to do that... which of these humans looks like an archeologist... hm... say, how about that one in the trench, trying to keep herself from going up like a candlestick? "HUMAN!" Cyclonus booms, transforming and landing right beside Amber with a THOOM! He reaches down for her... The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Amber MacKenzie with his Grab attack! Cyclonus snatches Amber in his hand, and brings her up to face his gleaming crimson optics from only a foot away. "Human FEMALE! I demand an explanation of what is going on at this archeological site! If I am satisfied with your explanation, I may show you mercy!" Grey Spaceship feels a surge of motivation. This is no silly 'shrubbery' business, whatever all that was about a few weeks ago. This is a military strike over an unknown source of energy... with 'the brass' giving orders no less. And there's an Autobot stargazing apparently. He flies in towards Remedy and transforms, landing hard on his feet. "Sight seeing trip is over, Autobot." He pulls out his gravel gun and opens fire a barrage of space rock fragments. The vehicle before you transforms, revealing the Decepticon soldier Fragment. Combat: Fragment misses Remedy with his Gravel Gun (Pistol) attack! As soon as the flames are out, self preservation kicks in again. Amber ignores the pain of some first and second degree burns to cautiously peer out of her trench. The scent of burnt flesh nearby is sickening, and she has to fight to keep from hurling. Cybertronians, right. She recognizes a couple of them: Rodimus, of course, and Cyclonus. Unfortunately for her, she's suddenly very up close and personal with Cyclonus. Staring into the red optics, Amber swallows nervously and answers truthfully, "Not a clue, sir. I was out here for the astronomical show, not the..." She glances towards the dig. "... mining one." Her gaze moves towards the Autobots, who she can now see a lot better from her higher-altitude vantage point. She'd like to know what's going on herself, seeing as she may die for it. Flaming Winnebago 's engine roars as he thunders through the trees like a runaway freight train, making his -own- road in the process. That doesn't mean he isn't about to take evasive action as the Decepticons inevitably fly in to make interference. As Windshear soars overhead and opens fire, Rodimus transforms again, lunging forward into a tuck and roll as he trades off his momentum from high-speed driving, using a conveniently large tree to absorb the blast from the seeker's built-in weaponry. It still serves as adequate cover as Rumble's energy shots hole through the trunk, but are deflected off in a different direction enough as to leave the Autobot leader unscathed. "You two are in my way..." Rodimus grunts, as he crosses his arms in front of him before lunging out from cover and raising his forearms to either target, "That's the last place you want to be right now!" A series of rapid fire staccato blasts erupt from his arm-blasters with a sharp *BRAKABRAKABRAKA* as the air fills with energy bolts. The trailer disengages and vanishes into thin air as Rodimus Prime's legs swing down. Arms unfold and head emerges as he stands up in his robot mode. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses F-15 Streak Eagle with his Arm Blasters Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Rumble with his Arm Blasters Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Rumble's Accuracy. (Blinded) "That's cute," Track chuckles, side-stepping the pouncing beast with all the coolness one would expect of someone of his caliber. "But there's no way I'm going to let a primitive monster like you get the satisfaction of even touching me." He puts some space between himself and the Predacon before cracking off another shot from his rifle. Combat: Tracks sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Tracks misses Robot Tiger with his Black Beam Gun attack! Explosions go off all around Impactor thanks to Cyclonus's bombing run, but he's safe behind his trailer cover. Taking a brief moment to survey the battlefield, Impactor spies Rampage. He briefly skirmished with the Predacon earlier, and wasn't impressed at all. Still, he could make himself a nuisance. He also spies Cyclonus threatening a human. The same human that ignored his warnings. Figures. On the plus side, she has the bravery to lie to him about not knowing anything (at least, Impactor assumes it's a lie). The grip on his pistol tightens. Now is this because Amber is being threatened, or is it because Cyclonus is the biggest, baddest target here, and Impactor knows it's his job to do so? That's for you, the viewers, to decide! Vaulting up over the trailer, Impactor fires a flurry of uncoded laser bolts towards Cyclonus, somewhat mindful not to hit Amber. "Cyclonus, you slaglicker! If you're looking to fight, then have the ball bearings to choose someone that can fight back!" Impactor lowers his shoulder and begins charging. Heavy footsteps slam against the soft earth, tearing up dirt each time his foot strikes. Combat: Impactor misses Cyclonus with his Charge (Kick) attack! The giant artifact, easily several the height of even the tallest Cybertronians, sits idly and continues to thrum with power. The green energy field pulses and weaves almost peacefully in stark contrast to the chaos suddenly erupting all around. Remedy sees Cyclonus pick up the human, grouses. She can't let him get away with that, so she leaps skyward, transforming and sweeping about, trying to line up and shoot him in the back Combat: Remedy sets her defense level to Fearless. The slender female robot shivers, before components shift and twist, compressing the robot into the frame of a jet fighter Combat: F-5E takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] The robot tiger misses, but dodges out of the way of the evil dark gun's path. "Well then dance, sucker, DANCE!" His gun-ports pop open at his sides and he fires at Tracks, hoping to marr his chassis in that way. Combat: Robot Tiger misses Tracks with his Gun-Ports attack! Rumble was standing unprotected and takes the blaster fire straight to the face. His optics are temporarily overloaded and the world around disappears in a blur of static white noise. "Hey! Who turned off the lights?! That's cheating!" He stumbles backwards and trips over a tree uprooted by Cyclonus's initial fly-by, going over backwards. Feet in the air and optics on the fritz, he's not worth much for the moment... Combat: Rumble takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Fragment sneers behind his battlemask, probably like Optimus used to do making faces at his Autobuddies. The femme just took off. Of all the nerve. She and another Autobot seem to converge on Cyclonus now. He sets his Gravel Gun to full auto fire and growls, "Don't cross the boss, tread-heads." The rocks blast out at incredible rate as he sweeps his fire Between Remedy and Impactor Combat: Fragment strikes F-5E with his Gravel Gun stoney rain (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Fragment strikes Impactor with his Gravel Gun stoney rain (Full-Auto) Area attack! F-15 Streak Eagle pulls up and swings around to line up for another shot at the Autobot Leader. "Come on, Prime." Windshear begins as he notices the bot took a shot at the smallest con there, "Thats just pathetic you know..." and he fires at Prime again. Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle's Photon Pulse attack on Rodimus Prime goes wild! Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle strikes Robot Tiger with his Photon Pulse attack! Combat: You took 0 damage. Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Robot Tiger 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Cyclonus glowers at the human in his grasp. "You *lie,* human," Cyclonus says, his optics flashing. "You're the only civilian here remaining. You MUST be connected to the project somehow, perhaps some scientist too stubborn to depart when she should have. And then..." He turns his head as Impactor yells at him, and dodges out of the way of the charge, sticking his leg out to trip Impactor up. "Pardon me, Impactor, she and I were having a *conversation.* Wait your turn." After the kick, Cyclonus has Amber at about stomach-level, and glares down at her. "Rather dangerous to be held by a Decepticon surrounded by angry Autobots, my dear! If you have something to tell me, you'd better tell me now! Else I might stumble... ON TOP OF YOU." He sneers. "Shame, such a young woman you are, to die in such a gruesome manner. That's not what you want, is it?" Alas, little does he know, Prime's right behind him... Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Cyclonus strikes Impactor with his Kick attack! Rampage's command to dance illicits a frustrated sigh from Tracks and he manages to look unamused despite the Predacon's attempts to blow him to bits. He opens his mouth to retort with what was sure to be a totally witty and clever remark but he finds himself at a loss for words when his dance partner is assaulted by his own team mate. "Wow. Not only are you guys ugly but you're stupid too," he chuckle, casually popping off another round of laser fire. Combat: Tracks sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Tracks strikes Robot Tiger with his Laser attack! Well, the truth didn't work, so Amber lies through her teeth. Breathing fast now in exaggerated but still very real fear, she stammers, "I-it's a n-new type of energon being developed, similar to the improved formula in Carbombya." Maybe if she gives him what he wants to hear... "The ambient solar radiation levels were extremely high in the distant past, and it saturated the fossil fuels in this area, giving it a power boost that's unbelievable!" Yeah, it is, but maybe he'll believe it. F-5E wasn't expecting to fly through an avalanche. She's stuck with some damage to the fuselage, and happy her engines didn't eat anything that would cause problems. Her original plan stands, lining up on the broad surface of Cyclonus' back, and sees if she can't stitch some 20mm cannon fire up it Combat: F-5E misses Cyclonus with her SURPRISE! attack! Rodimus Prime watches as Rumble struggles with his optic sensors being overloaded, granting the Prime time to get some breathing space. That is, until Windshear starts coming around for another attack...but that weaponry of the Seeker's seems to be a little bit wild as the shots streak past and hit a Predacon instead! "...hey thanks!" He offers with a half wave towards the seeker before turning and lunging the rest of the way. And indeed, a moment later it's from behind Cyclonus that Rodimus suddenly arrives, one large hand clamping down on the forearm of the hand that's holding Amber in its grip. "You know, Cyclonus...for someone who fancies himself a warrior...you sure like to try and pick on those who can't fight back!" his fingers suddenly CRUNCH down as he squeezes in an attempt to force the Decepticon second to let go of his prisoner, Rodimus' other hand reaching out in an attempt to catch her and safeguard her. Well, even if it works, she won't be entirely safe because Rodimus is no doubt in hand-to-hand combat with Cyclonus, but in Rodimus' hand she's ever slightly so much safer as opposed to a Decepticon hand, right? Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Cyclonus with his Drop it DROP IT I SAID! attack! [Pulled -6] Impactor runs straight into mortal danger. What a surprise. The Wrecker is just about to make sweet, sweet contact with the Decepticon second in command, but abruptly finds himself outmaneuvered and outnumbered. Fragment pelts him from above, spraying gravel across his form and leaving a hundred small scratch marks. Impactor tries to spit some of the gravel out, but then finds himself hitting Cyclonus's leg first and the ground second. It is not a pretty sight, but Impactor reacts swiftly, twisting and rolling onto his back, laser pistol already out and aimed at Cyclonus's head. But then he receives a message from Prime. No, not the radio transmission. That isn't a message. The message is Rodimus sneaking up behind Cyclonus, grabbing his arm, and crushing it. THAT's the message, and THAT's why Impactor rolls his optics and shakes his head whenever someone says they liked Optimus better. Impactor, still on his back, shifts his aim away from Cyclonus (who's already defeated) Windshear, trying to get the Seeker off Prime's back. Combat: Impactor strikes F-15 Streak Eagle with his Laser attack! Robot Tiger the tiger is suddenly blinded by an off-shot of Windshear's! As such, he's not able to evade the incoming shot from Tracks. He hollers unintelligibly as he tries to fire at Tracks again, seething with formerly pent-up rage. Combat: Robot Tiger misses Tracks with his Disruptor attack! Fragment subspace holsters his rock gat and unclamps his nunchaku. He runs up behind Impactor... this is becoming one heck of a congo line... and tries pounding the butt of his chained sticks against the back of Impactor's head with no quippy one liner to spare. Combat: Fragment misses Impactor with his Nunchaku-Butt (Kick) attack! Rumble stumbles to his feet again, shaking his head as the static begins to clear. He scans the battlefield looking for an easier target than the chosen one. A jet with the wrong insignias looks promising. "Didn't Prime tell you? Only Decepticons are supposed to fly!" He grabs his pistol off the ground and squeezes off some long range shots. Combat: Rumble misses F-5E with his Low-Intensity Pulse Laser (Disruptor) attack! Cyclonus gives Amber a disgusted look. "Your lies are *pathetic,* human." He points at the triangular metal object. "That is clearly a Quintesson device, the obvious source of the energy spike! Shame--you clearly have no desire to share what you know, so I'm afraid I have no use for--ah... ahhh!" And right before he can apply crushing pressure to Amber, Rodimus does so to his wrist, the metal cracking under the Prime's tremendous strength. His hand involuntarily opens, safely depositing Amber into the clutches of a much friendlier robot. "Bah!" Cyclonus says, wrenching his arm away. "What would you, a mere BOY, know of the way of the soldier? A soldier must take pride in himself and his deeds, but in the course of following his DUTY, he oft finds himself doing things he may find... unsavory. I must determine the purpose of that device, and I'll kill however many humans I have to in order to do so! But enough--I need not explain myself to you!" He backs away from Prime, whipping out his rifle and blasting him with oxidizing shots. He figures the Autobot Leader might be a bit less dodgy with that human in tow... F-15 Streak Eagle notices his shot go wild and it strike the Predicon. Oopsie. But before he can recalibrate and take another shot at Prime, who decides to shoot him but Impactor. The Seeker barely slows down as the laser blast strikes him and chuckles, "You just cant resist shooting me can you, Wrecker? Too bad Im busy..." he banks and heads back toward Prime firing as he closes in. Lets hop his shot hits this time though it would be kind of amusing if he ended up hitting Cyclonus instead Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle strikes Rodimus Prime with his Thermal Laser attack! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Rodimus Prime with his Oxidizing Laser attack! [Pulled -4] Rodimus Prime is indeed a 'bit less dodgy' with a human in hand, just as Cyclonus predicted. "Hang on, Miss!" he calls out, shifting his hold on Amber to both hands then as he turns his back to both Cyclonus, and Windshear as they come flying in. Prime is sturdy, and could likely weather it well under normal circumstances, but with a human in hand, he's driven forward as the shots from the two Cons both drive him to his knees with an audible, "UNFNGH!" coming from his open mouth. Still, he manages to cradle the frail human carefully in the center of his chest and shield her from taking any of the damage, or excessive shock for that matter. It's hard being a good guy sometimes. Combat: Rodimus Prime takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] F-5E drops a wing as a laser blast screams past her. Her optics cast about, spying the lippy little cassette'con. She pulls into a climb, stalling out and dropping from the sky. A few meters from the ground she transforms and goes to put a brace of matching piercings in Rumble's cranial module The jet fighter seems to shiver, components of the craft shifting as the jet becomes its true form of a female autobot. To further fuel Rampage's rage, Tracks just stands there and laughs; shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head as the tiger's shots hit everything but what they're supposed to. He lowers his rifle and plants his feet firmly on the ground, even going so far as to crouch slightly to give the missile currently launching from his shoulder a better chance at exploding in the Predacon's face. Combat: Remedy misses Rumble with her Let's look cool! attack! Combat: Tracks strikes Robot Tiger with his Asplode! attack! [Pulled -2] It may be hard to notice in the middle of a firefight, but something has started to happen to the artifact. The green field begins to pulse a bit brighter, and shimmer a bit more quickly. Power starts to noticably thrum through several feeding cables that run underground and the slight tremors in the ground becomes a bit more noticeable. There's also a wind starting to pick up in the immediate area around the artifact...stray papers from the dig sight, fallen leaves and branches all swaying in the moving air and inexorably flitting their way closer towards the device... Impactor is back on his feet a split second after shooting Windshear. It isn't clear how--maybe it's his years of experience, maybe it's his skill, or maybe it's just blind luck--but he saw Fragment coming long before the Decepticon even unclamped his nunchaku. Turning in place, his arm swings towards Fragment's neck even as he charges, hopefully catching the Con unaware. Hit or miss, it is at least successful in destabilizing Fragment's sneak attack. Regardless, Impactor is well aware that Windshear is going after the boss again. That cannot be allowed. As for the Quintesson device... well, Impactor hasn't forgotten it. But he is too busy, and as a result it's fallen to number three on his list of priorities behind 'Kill Fragment' and 'Kill Windshear'. The blowing wind does not concern him. Combat: Impactor strikes Fragment with his Punch attack! Amber MacKenzie finds herself scooped up into a very large gray hand in mid fall. While she winces at the gain of more bruises from the skilled interception, it's nothing compared to what she was expecting. Looking up at her new captor... "Rodimus Prime," she whispers. Some of her strength returns, and she latches onto a finger to steady herself, breathing hard as she tries to process that she's not going to die right now. She's jolted a bit by the impacts that strike the Autobot, impacts that he's taking for her... "Just put me somewhere out of the way," she pleads, "so you can defend yourself." Robot Tiger gets a missile to the side! His vision returns and he glares at the smug Autobot. "Oh, THAT'S IT!" he snaps, transforming and drawing his sword. "I'm going to carve you up and sell you to a chop shop!" He takes a swing at Tracks, intending to do more than merely scratch his paint. Rampage rises up into his robot form. Combat: Rampage sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Rampage strikes Tracks with his HASSAN CHOP! attack! F-15 Streak Eagle smirks mentally as his shot hits Prime and is even more amused when Cyclonus hits him at the same time. He flys by and then swings around to take another shot at the Autobots leader taking no notice that the Artifact they are fighting over seems to be displaying some sort of change in its present condition. Fragment goes backwards and down as if he ran into a head-level crossbeam. His back slams into the earth and he groans. "You tin plated..." He kick-flips back up to his feet and whirls his nunchaku around passing it from one hand to the other and back before side-lunging towards Impactor with a full swing of the sticks. Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle's Photon Pulse attack on Rodimus Prime goes wild! Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle strikes Cyclonus with his Photon Pulse attack! Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Fragment strikes Impactor with his Nunchaku attack! Rumble grins and ducks under the hail of slugs. "Hey thanks for droppin' by! I got a welcome package all ready for youse!" He flips the power level on his pistol up a few notches and pulls the trigger again, sending bolts of burning purple energy streaking toward the now much closer Autobot. Combat: Rumble strikes Remedy with his High-Intensity Pulse Laser (Laser) attack! Cyclonus almost smiles as he stomps towards the fallen Rodimus, slowly unsheathing his sword from behind his back. His deliberate pace is not unlike that of an executioner. "Foolish Rodimus. That's another lesson you must learn of the way of the soldier. You do not allow *collateral damage* to stay your hand. You fight on, regardless of how many innocent lives are at stake." He raises the sword high above his head, both hands on the grip, about to swing. "And the fact that you do not understand that is why--AGGGGGHHHH!" Then, from out of nowhere, he catches a blinding pulse right in the optics! He chops forward blindly at Rodimus. "Who--who dares blind me!? I'll have your heads--AFTER I claim Rodimus's head!" Combat: Cyclonus strikes Rodimus Prime with his Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Cyclonus's Accuracy. (Blinded) Impactor straightens up as Fragment goes down. He tilts his head to the side, letting his neck make a cracking noise to let Fragment know he's still just getting warmed up. Out of the corner of his optic, he sees Windshear blast Cyclonus. Awesome, he decides. Fragment does his nunchaku ninja moves, and Impactor replies by brandishing his harpoon arm. Fragment scores first strike, smashing him in the sides with both sticks. Impactor oofs loudly in pain as his chest crumples from the impact. Still, it wasn't unexpected. In truth, he willingly took the hit with the hopes that it'd give him the chance to shove his blade through Fragment's chest. Combat: Impactor strikes Fragment with his Hook-Shot attack! Indeed, Rampage's sword does far worse than merely scratching Track's paint. The blade punctures his chest and tears through his meticulously polished Autobot emblem with an audio-splitting 'screeeeeeeee'. At first there is no reaction from Tracks (just a blank, dead-looking stare) but within seconds his brow furrows and his lips curl into an angry scowl. "You son of a bitch..." he hisses, swinging a fist at the Decepticon's jaw. As for the artifact, well, Tracks momentarily forgets it exists. Combat: Tracks sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Tracks strikes Rampage with his Rocky Balboa Special (Punch) attack! Rodimus Prime coughs a bit at Amber's request, "I'm working on it..." As Cyclonus comes wrenching in with his sword in what could have been a VERY bad blow, Rodimus manages to leap to the side in time enough to turn what could have been a devastating cut into something relatively more minor. That is to say, he twists about in place so that the sword carves into his upper shoulder rather than removing his head in a single slice. It still brings a shower of sparks on impact, and a pained wince as Rodimus still carefully holds Amber so as to avoid crushing her inadvertently while he jockeys for position, half sitting upright on his side. "You know what I think, Cyclonus?" he coughs, before suddenly lashing out with one of those big leader-sized boots of his and slamming it right at the middle of Cyclonus' midriff. Coincidentally the glowing portal continues to pulse behind the Decepticon second in command. "...you talk too much!" Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Cyclonus with his Heroic Boot to the Gut attack! [Pulled -3] Remedy aughs as she's hit by Rumble's laser attack, growling. She aims again, refusing to let the poncy lil'git go about with impunity! She takes a deep breath, then fires the revolver Combat: Remedy misses Rumble with her Try try again! attack! The giant device continues to thrum with power, starting to grow louder with each passing moment. The ground starts to shake just a bit more...and the wind begins to pick up as well. Papers now flip along and lift into the air, entire branches lift off as well, spinning airborne towards the yawning green expanse. Trees nearby start to sway and bend as the wind grows stronger and stronger... Rampage gets punched! "You throw a punch like a girlbot!" he retorts, and counters with his own punch. "Now let me show you how it's done!" Combat: Rampage strikes Tracks with his TIGER! UPPERCUT! (Punch) attack! Fragment's cockpit window shatters aeound the impaling harpoon which penetrates his torso. He spits up a little energon and it leaks out from under his battle mask. His purple optics narrow as he looks down at it then follows it back to Impactors arm and up to his face. "Gluk-" another few drops of energon are spat out. He then draws a laser pistol and tried to disconnect himself from the fisherman by shooting at the arm. Combat: Fragment misses Impactor with his Laser attack! F-15 Streak Eagle is getting annoyed that Prime seems hell bent on taking out Cyclonus. Since everyone else is doing their thing, Windshear keeps pressing the attack on the Autobot Leader. Perhaps he can make up for his lasts shot hitting Cy instead. I mean it wasnt his fault but that makes no difference when youre the one hit by it. He comes in for another shot at the Autobot Leader. "Heads up Cyclonus." he says casually as he fires. Combat: F-15 Streak Eagle misses Rodimus Prime with his Photon Pulse attack! Rumble chuckles and leaps into the air, nicely evading the hail of lead again. "Is that all you've got rust bucket? Gonna have to do better to beat me!" He soars over Remedy and then cuts power to his anti-gravs, dropping straight down on the larger Autobot feet first. Combat: Rumble strikes Remedy with his Feet of Fury (Kick) attack! Cyclonus grunts heavily as the two boots crunch into his midsection, sending him flying backwards. He rolls across the exposed rock for a while, but eventually gets back to a kneeling position, glaring at Prime. "I've a few more things to say to you, Prime, so I suggest you get used to it!" He begins to stand... and finds himself taking a step back as the wind pulls on him. Or... is that actually the wind? "What--" He turns his head, looking back the strange triangular... portal? "It... it's pulling me!" Cyclonus says with alarm, as he takes several more involuntary steps backwards. "Decepticons--ah... AID ME!" he yells. But the device's pull eventually becomes too strong. The few paces he had made before become a clumsy backwards sprint, then topples backwards, flipping head-over-heels as he is dragged towards the portal. "Quickly!" Cyclonus shouts, hanging onto a piece of jutting rock with his fingertips. "Before I--" But the rock can't support his weight, chipping away, and Cyclonus is sucked in towards the portal, tumbling away. As a last-ditch effort, he tries transforming into his space fighter mode, and for a moment it looks like he's going to escape the pull of the portal, but he's sucked in regardless. "DECEPTI--GAAAHHHH--" are his last words before he is pulled in, his body disappearing bit by bit as he hits the portal, green energy flaring out brilliantly. Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode! Amber MacKenzie knows she's impeding Rodimus, but there's nothing she can do. Nothing except cling to him and spy on the combatants, so she has a good feel for where they are and what they're doing. She also scans the terrain for hiding places and escape routes. Rodimus's leap jolts her, and she is showered with sparks from the glancing sword strike. Another, more satisfying jolt as the Decepticon is kicked. "Yes, yes, he does," she agrees with Autobot leader's assessment of Cyclonus. And then the wind picks up rather violently. "What the..." Impactor finally takes note of the whirling papers, twirling branches, and raging winds. Or more accurately, it finally dons on him just how important it may be. "PRIME!" he shouts, pointing at ithe artifact. Even as he does this, he turns his focus back on Fragment, steadying his footing so he can better jab the harpoon in deeper and twist. He's seeking to do maximum damage to the Decepticon's internal systems. Even more, he's calling in for repairs on his banged up sides. It's a vicious maneuver, but Impactor sees no reason to use the kid gloves on Fragment. Suddenly, Impactor feels a slight tug from the direction of the artifact, but can't attend to it right now. As the Con swings his pistol around, Impactor smacks it aside with his free hand, working to grind his harpoon through Fragment's chest some more. "This," he hisses, pulling Fragment to up mere inches from his face, "Is why you don't screw with us. The days of letting scum like you run away into the sunset every time we stop your idiot plots is over. You come near an Autobot base, you fight Autobot warriors, you need to know that you're going to die." Combat: Impactor strikes Fragment with his Twisting the Knife (Punch) attack! Remedy is getting hammered by the cassette'con. She looks up, before jumping skyward and transforming, flying a bit odd given the damage she's taken. Looking about, she sees Impactor, and Cyclonus getting sucked in by an interdimensional portal. The slender female robot shivers, before components shift and twist, compressing the robot into the frame of a jet fighter Tracks takes the Predacon's punch like a champ. "That's funny," he says, jerking his head to the side with a loud 'crack'. "Because you punch like a newborn kitten!" He makes like he's going to take another swing but instead he jerks up his leg to knee Rampage in the robot gut. The entire time this is happening, leaves and bits of trash are whipping all around him. A couple sticks slap him in the face on their way past but he ignores them much like he ignores the sensation that he's being pulled towards the artifact. Combat: Tracks misses Rampage with his Knee'd~ (Kick) attack! Rodimus Prime blinks as Cyclonus gets up but...starts to be pulled back towards the portal. It's all that Rodimus can do to just sit there and stare, but Windshear is still making things difficult, and he tucks and rolls again to avoid getting hit by that weapon, coming up on one knee just time to see Cyclonus making his last desperate bid to escape the pull of the vortex before the Decepticon second suddenly vanishes into the glowing green field. "...what? What happened? He just got sucked in..." And then the winds are picking up even moreso now. It's easy for Cybertronians to take the wind on Earth for granted. Windspeeds that will set human clothes fluttering or even be intense for a human to experience can be pretty much ignored by a mechanical being that weighs anywhere from on par to a heavy car to several armored tanks. It isn't until Hurricane-force winds kick up that they often tend to REALLY notice. And that's exactly what's happening now. Trees are actually uprooting, whipped through the air, spinning end over end before vanishing into the green maw as well. The trailer that Impactor took cover behind earlier slides across the ground before going airborne, tossed like a tinkertoy before it's swallowed by the hungry green void. Rodimus can feel himself sliding across the ground, and he slowly gets to his feet, trying to pull away, holding the human close to his chest in an attempt to shield her as he leans full on into the 'wind'. "NNngh...hang on tight! We've got to...get out of here!" Rodimus Prime is abruptly whipped off his feet in short order as the winds HOWL at his attempts to escape, the Autobot leader's feet screeching across the stoneworks before he's suddenly picked up bodily and hurled like a tinkertoy into the void as well. Fragment isn't liking getting his impalement cherry popped by Impactor. Then again, it is pretty glorious. But Cyclonus is calling for aid. And Fragment's position is desperate. As his internals are twisted like spaghetti on a fork, Fragment fires up his robot mode flight system and propells himself INTO Impactor... aimming for the pull of the energy field!!! "I'm taking you... with me..." Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Fragment strikes Impactor with his Going All The Way With Impactor (Ram) attack! Rampage jumps backward, feeling a slight tug on him from the wind. "Oh I do, do I?" he says to Tracks, "Well remember a kitten has claws!" He takes out his lightning rifle and shoots at Tracks. "You'll get a charge out of this!" Combat: Rampage strikes Tracks with his Lightning Rifle attack! [Pulled -3] Impactor stares into Fragment's optics, trying to gauge what the Decepticon is feeling. Desperation, by the looks of it. Unfortunately for Impactor, it's the sort of desperation that results in an opponent who's capable of anything. Fragment's maneuver catches him by surprise, smashing Impactor and dragging him along even as his blade remains lodged within. For a brief moment, Impactor skids along the dirt, trailing behind Fragment as he flies. "The hell are y-" WHAM! A tree caught up in the whirling storm smashes into Impactor, knocking him and Fragment free of one another. Impactor hits the ground, rolls over a half dozen times, claws at the ground madly with his now bloodied harpoon, and gets yanked into the field after Rodimus. Rumble cackles as the Autobot leaps into the air. "Yeah run away! That's what you Auto-twerps do best ain't it?" He spins around however and stares in shock as first Cyclonus and then Rodimus vanish into the green vortex of mystery. "Hang on boss! I'm coming for ya!" Rumble re-activates his antigrav systems and far from attempting to escape the pull of the device, instead plunges toward it's center, quickly vanishing into the light. F-15 Streak Eagle sees everything infolding below and is quickly assaulted by the hurricane force winds himself. Now granted hes a jet and a badass one at that so flying through turbulance shouldnt be that big of an issue. But these wings are growing stronger and its all the Seeker can do to keep himself justified to the horizon according to his instruments. Windshear puts up a good fight against the pull and the wing but his energy stores are somewhat low from the battle and eventually the F15 starts moving backwards towartd the Portal. After a few seconds of that, the Seeker suddenly spins around and blasts straight for the portal. Hell if you cant get away from it, you might as well jump in head first, well nosecone first in this case. F-5E is flying toward Impactor, so, when the portal latches onto her, she has no chance of escaping, screaming as she is sucked in *slurp!* Fragment tumbles as the clash seperates him from Impactor finally. He regains some semblance of aerial balance in the suction of the vortex but doesn't even try to angle down to the ground to grasp at anything. His arms spread out into forward flight position and he gurgles, "So be it." Gosh these Decepticons are all crazy mofo's. Ohhhh, charge! Like electricty! Tracks would comment on how utterly clever Rampage is but the force of the shot sends Tracks tumbling over which normally wouldn't be a big deal but with gale-force winds whipping all around him it becomes kind of a terrifying experience. There's little the Autobot can do except shake an angry fist at his opponent as he's swept against his will into the mysterious portal (ooOOOOoooOoOOooo!) Hopefully where ever he's going has car wax. The Predacon watches Tracks get sucked into the portal! "Hey, GET BACK HERE!" He dives in after his opponent. "I'm not finished with you yet!" *SLURP* Combat: Rampage takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] There's a sense of...nothing. Absolutely nothing. How long it lasts is impossible to guess. If one is even capable of guessing in this case. Does it last minutes? Hours? Days? Years? Decades? There's no sense of time come and gone, no sense of being. Yet there's still a feeling of being detached from it all. Like witnessing things happening outside your own body. Seeing yourself tumbling endlessly through a green void for what seems like forever, until there is a bright flash of light and limp metal forms come crashing to the ground, unconscious and offline. Are you living it? Or observing it? Are you Rodimus Prime, laying sprawled on your back in a copse of trees that crushed under your weight, or are you the small human female, still clutched protectively in his hands even in unconsciousness? Are you the massive form of Cyclonus in his starship mode, two miles away and currently sticking nose-down in the middle of a bog? Or are you Rumble, caught up in the upper branches of a tree down in the valley below? Who are you? There's a feeling of returning to your body...that you will remember soon enough, and wake from this dream. But you can -see-, you can see the forms spilled about. You can see the open grasslands, the forests in the distance...a bubbling tarpit nearby. You can see great bodies of herd of giant mastodons travelling across the open grassland. The lazing form of a Sabretooth Tiger on a rock, looking out over the horizon. Sometimes details are clear, sometimes they're blurred. There is the sense of a great shape in the middle of a huge rock, embedded from its surface...a crashed ship? There is a sense of later...how much longer later is impossible to tell. A vaguely egg-like shape, several lumbering forms behind it. They enter the great shape, and emerge some time later. A sled follows them, a pair of shapes, one brightly colored and one darker grey strewn across its surface. As you become more aware, you see more clearly. Time passes. You see the spherical satellite descend from above...it has two wings. Like solar panels. You see it hover over the fallen forms. It finds Windshear's aircraft mode, wedged in between a pair of trees, and emits a scanning beam over his frame. It finds Remedy prone on the ground, and scans her as well, particularly her head, as if to probe her mind. It finds Rodimus and scans him, and each and every figure in turn it locates, and scans. And then, when it is done, it leaves, jetting up into the sky to return from hence it came. And then...you begin to awaken. Consciousness returns. Fleeting at first, painful, reluctant...but you start to waken once more. Very slowly. It feels like thousands and thousands of years have passed since Tracks and Rampage were socking each other in the face but that can't be right. Right? He's laying flat on his back in a soft pile of vileness when he awakes. "W-what happened?" he asks to no one (he's by himself as far as he knows). "Is this mud?" he inquires, sniffing deeply. "OH PRIMUS NO!" Tracks scrambles to his feet, chunks of mammoth dung plopping off of him. "THIS MUST BE HELL!" he cries to the sky (which is currently filled with a lot more stars than he usually sees) F-5E eeps, paralyzed, unable to move beyond flaps. Given the headache she has, it takes her a few moments to realize she's in her alt-mode, and transforms, slowly as it's rather unpleasant to move... The jet fighter seems to shiver, components of the craft shifting as the jet becomes its true form of a female autobot. Rumble groans. His optics flicker to life slowly to reveal a landscape on its head. "What hit me? I feel like Blot after... well just about anytime really." He gradually realizes that he has ended up upside down in a tree, one foot caught between a pair of particularly sturdy branches. The cassetticon begins to strugle to free himself. "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" Fragment finds himself slumped, on the ground with back jammed up against a cluster of boulders. The cold hard comfort of the geological protursions having his back helps him start to focus. Gravity... check. Vision... check. Gaping harpoon wound... "Owww." A hand stretches out to the side bracing against the boulder. He starts to slowly try to get up... His other hand moving to the ground and his battle mask disengaging to uncover his lower face. "Still on the dirt ball planet. Hmf." Starfighter thought he was dead as his mind drifted. Perhaps this is the sort of thing that happens to someone just before they die, he wonders. You lose your sense of identity, your sense of self. Then, nothing. You have no identity. You are nothing. "Nnnn....nnnnnghh," Cyclonus rumbles as his mind eventually finds its way back. "Where..." He finds himself stuck into a bog like a lawn dart. That's clumsy of him. He'd never land like that. On purpose, anyway. With a tired groan, he forces himself to transform, and finds himself landing in the bog in a great splash. Propping himself up on his elbows to keep his head above the muck, he tries to send a radio message across factional frequencies, but finds there's no response. Finally, he simply yells aloud, "Decepticons!... Where... where are you?" It's not a desperate cry. But it is insistent. The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus! Rampage groans and rubs his head as he comes to. "Ugh, what happened?" He looks around and spots the others in various disarrayed positions. "Don't look like we're in Kansas anymore." Amber MacKenzie stirs, blearily opening dull green eyes to find herself still pinned in Rodimus's grasp. At least he didn't squish her. From her fixed position, she tries to look around, impatiently brushing her mussed, scorched hair out of her face. Not able to see very well, she listens intently. Impactor's optics fizzle. He sees only a grey haze. Then, he sees two dark shapes in front of him, but they're hard to make out. One is sort of round, but keeps changing shape. The other is long and thin. They wave in front of his blurry vision, taunting him with the knowledge that he has no idea what's going on. As his vision slowly returns to him, it dawns on Impactor that this is his hand and harpoon. Impactor flexes the hand, blinking in the brightness above him. The sky is blue. He feels something soft beneath him. The grass is green. He sees a strange device. The alien probe is silver. Impactor's vision falters again, going dark. Hours, days, or minutes pass, and Impactor's optics once again flash to life. Again he can see his hand and harpoon hovering in front of his eyes, though they look different now somehow. He struggles to get up, certain that Windshear or Fragment will be using this time to strike against him. But they're no-where to be found. Instead, the closest mech is Tracks. "Hg...ghr... Tracks, where is everyone?" Impactor says, rolling over and holding his suddenly pounding head. F-15 Streak Eagle slowly wakes up. For a moment the jet just hangs helter skelter in the canopy of tree tops that he landed in trying to orientate himself to his surroundings. His mind plays back everything that hes just gone though and the length of time conveyed in the databanks conflicts with that his chronometer is saying. It adds to the confused state the Seeker finds himself in and before he can question it, he instinctively transforms to root mode. Unfortunately now Windshear finds himself falling through a canopy of trees. "Slag--oof--son of a--" BAM Windshear finds himself faceplanted to the ground. Tree branches rain down on him as he lays there wondering what the slag is going on. Nearby there is a chittering sound and as the Seeker picks his head up and looks toward the sound a large sabertoothed Chipmonk skitters up to him and bites him on the nose. Windshear's optics flare red, "Thehell with you too.." he mutters and clicks the Chimpmonk away and slowly gets to his feet. "Where the slaf am I?" he asks no one in particular. A lone predatory feline, smaller than the saber toothed tigers that dominate this biome, but opportunistic nonetheless, focuses on the small organic and seemingly unconscious frame of the humanoid in front of it. Staking slowly, it leaps up onto the strange, brightly colored rock that the prey had alighted on, growling as it prepares to make what it perceives to be an easy kill. That is, until the rock starts to move of its own accord. With instinct shifting from hunting mode to panic, the predator screeches and leaps off of the rock, running off into the trees at a breakneck pace. And Rodimus Prime slowly starts to come awake again, his optics flickering back to life, one hand raising to rub at the back of his head, the other still holding Amber carefully, of whom he becomes aware of again a moment later. "...ungh. What...happened? Are you alright?" Slowly he starts to push himself to sitting up, a broken tree trunk cracking under his weight in protest. The distant trumpeting of a mastodon carries over the grassy plains, the herd of giant mammals visible from a great distance as they finish up at their watering hole and start to plod their way back towards the forest. The air is thick and warm, humid even and carrying that smell of heavy moisture everywhere. Swamps, grassland, bogs and thick forest seem to carry on in all directions except for north, where the vegetation seems to grow scarcer until giving way to empty, rocky badlands...leading to a giant mountainous peak that can barely be seen over the treeline. "I don't know," Amber says very quietly. After jumping like an idiot upon hearing... *something* screech close by. Too close by. "And yes, I'm still in one piece. Thank you, Rodimus. I'm grateful for your help, though I wouldn't be very happy if you got yourself killed on my behalf." Having a better view now, she looks around again. "Never seen this place before... have you?" Rumble hears the sound of branches breaking and then the distant murmur of Windshear's voice, just loud enough to be recognizable. "Hey! Flyboy! Over here!" He morphs one arm into a pile-driver and uses it to drum on the tree trunk, sending a very loud BOOM-BOOM-BOOM echoing through the forest. His foot is wedged but good between a few branches and so far efforts to free himself have gone nowhere. Remedy ughs, "I feel like a car wreck." She lifts her head, grunts as her gyrostabilizers say bite me, and she rests her head on her arm, <> With the aid of a large leaf, Tracks starts wiping the larger hunks of poop off his body; cursing, swearing, and gagging the entire time. "I don't know!" he snaps at Impactor from over his shoulder. "Do I look like I'd know!?" Rodimus Prime doesn't answer Amber's statement about not being happy if he'd gotten killed. Because after sitting up, he's too busy staring across the open plain towards the herd of hairy elephantine creatures that are making their way back to the forest. "Uh..." he says quietly, shaking his head slowly. "I don't think...I have a feeling none of us have seen this place before." Cyclonus pulls himself to his feet, groggy, covered in mud, slime, and who knows what else these creatures secrete. Bracing himself against the trees with gnarled roots, he trudges forward, looking to get out of the bog or at least find his comrades. "Anyone!? I... order you to respond!" he calls. He begins to think about how he'll survive here. His nuclear turbines will supply him with plenty of energon for a good many years, but he still has the problem of maintenance. Cyclonus is technically competent, but not necessarily when it comes to repairing others, or himself for that matter. He hears loud booming noises, turns his head towards them, and redirects his course. Whatever that is, it surely couldn't have been made by the primitive creatures that live here. F-15 Streak Eagle snaps his head toward the BOOM-BOOM-BOOM nearby. He thought he heard Rumble but couldnt quite make it out. Though the only thing that comes to mind is one of the cassettecons pile drivers making that sound. He starts walkign toward the sound, "Rumble, is that you?!" he yells out as he heads that way. Dead black and gray Cybertronian Tetrajet transforms into Pretty Boy Seeker Windshear. Impactor hears Remedy's voice. So she survived along with Tracks. <> Hmm, if three Autobots are still alive, that means... <> Yes, Impactor is still thinking about making sure Decepticons die despite this fantastic event happening to them. He shoots Tracks a look. "Buff yourself later. Cons are still on the loose." Amber MacKenzie blinks and does a double take herself, staring at the distant mastodons. "Uhhhhh..." she echoes Rodimus, "Unless we're on the set of Jurassic Park XVI, those look like dinosaurs to me." She pauses to grab her camcorder, now hanging around her neck, and focuses it on the distant creatures. "Yes, they still look like dinosaurs to me." Fragment fights his way to his feet and then leans on the boulders. He looks around, apparently having landed closer to the northern part of this territory. He only glances north at the progressively withering landscape unfit for hiding and then looks back south. He grips the rock with his hand and then breaks off a handful. And starts to shuffle-march in search of the others. He transmits, <> Rumble hadn't thought this through very well. Although he's now making enough racket to draw attention to himself, he's also drowning out the sound of anybody else in the vicinity, effectively rendering himself deaf. Unless somebody actually walks up and into his line of sight, he won't be aware of anything approaching, even a 30 foot robot. Rodimus Prime frowns and keys in his own radio as he picks up the local Autobot transmissions cutting through the air. <> He pauses and looks towards the hairy elephants again, then adds, <> "They look pretty real alright." Rodimus states, unable to hide a bit of the apprehension in his voice as he remembers what he told the other Autobots earlier about the artifact when he'd spotted it. He wasn't so sure then but now he's becoming even more sure. "I've got a bad feeling about this..." Getting carefully to his feet, he pushes aside some trees that had fallen across his legs, starting to trudge through the foliage towards where his signal says the other Autobots are located. Remedy looks around, without moving her head, "I'm not getting upright til my gyros stablilize." Then, she urps... Tracks manages to look disgusted and shocked and depressed and angry all at the same time when Impactor comments on his 'buffing'. "It's not buffing! I'm trying to restore what little dignity I have left!" Of course Impactor wouldn't understand. No one does. Windshear doesnt get an answer and isnt to surprised really. The booming sounds hes homing in on is pretty much drowning everything else out. After a few short minutes the Seeker stops and stares at Rumble as hes beating a nearby tree into a pulp. He notices the caught leg and steps forward, "hey -- HEY!" he waves his hand in Rumbles line of sight and waits for him to stop with the pile driver. Rampage hears a crackle on his radio, and then a voice. "Whoa, someone's awake?" he shortranges back to Fragment. "I'd say where Cyclonus was, but the room hasn't stopped spinning." His vision swims and swirls as if he's on psychotropic substances. Impactor squints, still suffering from the effects of the journey. Every so often the blackness would hit him, and the void would be calling. He shakes his head, trying to fight through the effect. "Move it," Impactor orders Tracks, pointing in the direction of Rodimus's locator beacon. He takes a few steps, managing not to stumble despite his shakey eye-sight. Amber MacKenzie trudges after Rodimus. Despite her weariness, she keeps her guard up. She saw every one of the Jurassic Park movies as a child, and she knows what happens to people who lag behind! Alert green eyes dart from side to side, looking for signs of movement. Cyclonus eventually stomps right up to the tree Rumble is hammering away at, amazed that it hasn't shattered. "Rumble! Cease that racket at once!" he yells, but his voice is drowned out by the booming noise. "RUMBLE!" he tries again, to no avail. Sighing, he draws his rifle out and simply fires upon the branches ensnaring the tape. Maybe that will get his attention. He glances to the side. Windshear. He fixes the Seeker with a rather Venomous glare. Remedy shifts slightly, "Blast it..." Okay, I'm stuck here. I gotta go into a brief recharge cycle so I can get over the displacement sickness. Here's my location Rumble starts when the inverted seeker come into view. His pile-driver shuts-down and is just starting to morph back to a normal arm when the Decepticon second-in-command's rifle blast turns the branches holding his foot to ashes. "Aww slag!" is all he has time to get out before hitting the ground head-first. Well... the noise has ceased at least. "Here we all are at Remedy's position," Impactor says, perhaps wanting to make sure his eyes are functioning properly. "Impactor, over here!" Rodimus calls, waving to the other Autobots as he emerges from the treeline with Amber in tow, having homed in on where Remedy is currently laying prone. As the formerly seperated Autobots all gather together, he gives a quick visual check of the others, noting conditions, "Everyone okay? Relatively speaking anyway? Look, this goes without saying but I think we're not exactly where we used to be not so long ago..." Rodimus' words are an understatement given one has to only look around to see the evidence. Between the flora, and the fauna. A giant dragonfly with a four-foot wingspan even goes buzzing over Amber's head. There's a distant rumble in the air that starts as a faint roar...but growing louder with each passing second. Difficult to pinpoint at first, it soon becomes apparent that it's definitely coming from the North in the sky. ...are those jet engines? Fragment stops his zombie like trudging and turns to look north again... and he searches the sky. He places a hand instinctively over his torso damage as if to hide sign of weakness. Windshear watches Cyclonus come onto the scene and blast the cassettecon free. He lowers his arm and nods at the Second in Command, "Any idea where we are, sir?" Yea way to go.. ask something stupid, right?" Impactor sees a big red and orange form coming towards them, waving and calling to them with Rodimus's voice. Going to go ahead and assume it's Rodimus. "Fine," Impactor says. He glances at Remedy. It's the medic he suspects might be a bit injured. "You able to get back up?" Something suddenly catches the corner of his optic, and he whirls around, pistol at the ready. He peers at the dragonfly for several long seconds before reholstering the gun. "...right. I'm going to assume time travel? Per-" he suddenly whips out his gun again, this time at the sound of jet engines. Clearly, Impactor is going to have a hard time managing in this place. Hey, I got that Fragment guy on the radio, but then nothing, Rampage shortranges to the others. He gets up and hears the hammering by Rumble. "That's a pretty big woodpecker," he mutters, then the sound stops suddenly, followed by shouting. So he heads in that direction. Amber MacKenzie ducks reflexively as the giant bug hums by. Ewww. Hearing the rumbling to the north, she brings her camcorder up and aims northward, expecting those bloody Decepticons. Her poor camcorder is mere civilian technology and nothing as good as what the Autobots have, but it's all she has. Tracks is about to comment on how no, he's NOT okay (he just wake up in a pile of hairy elephant shit) until Rodimus adds the 'relatively speaking' part. "Time travel?" he scoffs. "/Fantastic/" Remedy manages a brief shake of the head, her optics dimming, <> As she can see a bot's feet, "I'm kinda sore all over, but, for the most part, just dealing with displacement sickness." "Yeah..." Rodimus responds to the not so farfetched guesses on their situaiton based on the evidence at hand. "...well we've been in messes like this before. Though not quite so far back as this. And slightly different circumstances. I guess first order of business is we've got to..." He cuts off at the roaring sound coming from the north, narrowing his optics. "...that can't be right, can it?" He takes a few more seconds, before some sort of realization crosses his features. "Everybody, lay low, quick!" Dropping down to one knee, he reaches up and grabs a nearby tree, bending it over to allow for its leafy fronds to offer some cover both for his bright paint job, and to hide Remedy's prone form from observation from the air. But what is he hiding from? It only takes about a minute for the answer to become clear. The Autobots, in cover in their relative clearing can see into the sky clearly. The displaced Decepticons, from their various rendezvous, are still relatively shielded by the trees from observation from the air, but they can see up through the treelines relatively easily. Several airborne metallic forms come into view...some of them humanoid, some of them vehicular. Given the flying humanoid ones, there can really be only one origin they come from. Decepticon. But then, a closer glance reveals something else. There are familiar Decepticon figures in that bunch flying through the sky. The blocky blue shape of Soundwave. The triplets that are the Decepticon Reflector. Ravage. Laserbeak and...Rumble? Wait, how is he in two places at once? And three F-15 Fighter craft. ALL of them recognizable colors. The telltale blue and grey one...the purple and black one. And the red and blue and grey one in the front, leading the way as they fly away from the North. Rumble slowly gets to his feet, rubbing his neck where he took most of the landing impact. "Uh hi commander. Thanks for the assist." The high command are some of the few people Rumble wouldn't give a piece of his mind to for dropping him on the ground like that. It's good to be the king, or the close enough. Cyclonus nods to Rumble, then scratches his chin for a moment, considering. "Hm. Well. Look over there." He points off in the distanceat the herd of mastodons as they trudge into the forest from the plains. "See them? In our time those creatures are extinct on Earth, and all that is known of them comes from their bones. So... I am forced to come to one of two conclusions. One, that we have been transported back in time. Two, that a sampling of the DNA of Earth's ancient creatures has been gathered, used to spawn new creatures, and utilized to colonize some alien world. I'd say that the first conclusion is... far more likely. And so you see, Windshear, the value of studying your enemies." Then he looks up. He sees the other Decepticons flying up there. Who else was ensnared by the portal? Then... is that Starscream? His optics fly open in alarm. No telling what that snake would do if he found them. He puts a hand over Windshear's mouth, and harshly whispers, "Silence, all of you! And that includes radio silence!" Impactor hides behind a tree as well, but frankly if the Cons are looking they'll find him. Ain't no way a tree is protecting him. That particular line-up of Cons opens up a whole world of terrible possibilities. He looks up at the approaching Decepticons, mouth slowly opening as The Best Of Both Worlds Part 1 final music plays. Tracks throws himself on the ground like there were bombs dropping all around him. Unfortunately he dives right into another pile of waste: saber-toothed tiger waste, possibly. "This must be hell. There's no other explanation," he mumbles. He looks up just in time to see a blast from the past. "Definitely hell," he adds as he spots Starscream. Windshear was listening to Cyclonus's answer when he notices the SoC look up. He does as well and his mouth drops open in a confused shock only to be covered by Cyclonus' hand suddenly. He shifts his focusing lenses downward to Cy's face and just stares at him as he makes his silence command. He just twitches a wing in response. Fragment observes the formation and is about to try drawing their attention for aid, until he takes in the forms of the seekers. Both retired and one long offline. "What?" he says to himself. The drab grey space con turns back south after they pass by and resumes his search for his comrades until he hones in on them and quietly remains in the back so to speak. Amber MacKenzie is easily hidden, as she is far smaller. She recognizes the newcomers as Decepticons, obviously, but only Soundwave is known to her. Ah well, he's bad enough by himself. She frowns thoughtfully in Rodimus's direction. He seems to know something more about those Decepticons. She keeps her mouth shut. Now's not a good time for questions. Rumble's gaze tracks up to follow Cyclonus's and his jaw drops open when he recognizes not only his creator, but himself? Cyclonus ordered silence, but Rumble's neural circuits short circuit for a moment from the shock. He's not yelling, but not exactly whispering either. "But how can I... I'm here, but I'm up there? I think I hit my head harder than I thought." The Decepticon flyers don't seem to take notice of the figures on the ground, even the badly hidden ones. They're flying with some sort of purpose in mind as they follow the leader red blue and grey seeker, passing by overhead without incident and continuing on their way south for now. One of them does slow, for just a moment. Soundwave, coming to a halt and turning to look back, just for a half a minute or so. That impassive face of his betraying nothing, before he turns and and resumes flying after the others. After they are out of eyesight, the sound of the engines of the three seekers also fades a few moments later. Rodimus Prime slowly emerges from his hiding place, which basically consists of un-bending the tree back to its original position again. "Okay..." he says quietly, as if afraid he would -still- be heard even after they're long gone. "...this may be worse than I thought it could be already. And that's saying something." Rampage finally reaches Cyclonus and the others. He looks up to see the familiar jets pass by overhead. And other familiar things. His head swims and he falls over. Amber MacKenzie rises from her crouched position and crosses her arms. She glances southwards, after the departed Decepticons. "Would you like to elaborate on that, please, Mr. Prime?" she asks levelly. Cyclonus releases Windshear, takes a step back, and gives them a stern warning glance. "Decepticons. Listen to me very carefully. This time... something is wrong. Very wrong." He looks behind himself to make sure the others are gone, then addresses his fellow time-displaced Decepticons. "I *never* heard of any incident where the Decepticons prematurely awoke from the Ark to explore prehistoric Earth. And you saw yourself amongst that formation, Rumble. Do you recall doing anything like this during this time? No? I didn't believe so. So. This is what we are going to do. We are going to lay low, and assess the situation more carefully. We are not going to rejoin the other Decepticons just yet because..." He wants to ascertain whether or not Megatron is also active, mostly. "...we're not sure how they'll react. For instance, Rumble, if they see you, they might assume you're some sort of doppleganger and destroy you. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Cyclonus spares Rampage a brief glance as he collapses, but says nothing. Windshear ignores Cyclonus' look and looks back up into the sky where the Command Trine just was. And though it appears hes not listening to what the Soc is now saying he is. "I say we don't join them period..." he say suddenly as he looks back at Rumble and Cyclonus. Rumble swallows and shakes his head, too confused and off balance by his own mirror image going by overhead to think straight. Not that he would normally oppose Cyclonus anyway. "No sir..." He does however steal another glance in the direction those copy-Cons went when Cyc's optics move away. Something stirred in him when Soundwave paused. Things have gotten... complicated. "Sorry." Rodimus grunts towards Amber, realizing that not everyone is 'in the know' of the situation afterall. He isn't aware of it, but he launches into a mirror explanation of what Cyclonus is telling his own troops right now, "This shouldn't be happening. The Autobots and Decepticons never woke up after the Ark crashed until 1984, when the volcano blew its top and activated Teletran I. So first of all, there's something VERY VERY wrong here that we see them flying around already. Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream were in that formation, those are all Decepticons that /no longer exist/ to us. And then there's other things to consider." Rodimus raises a hand and starts ticking off fingers, "The most obvious is the fact that they're up and flying around in prehistoric Earth. That's bad. The second issue is -why- the heck do Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker have their human alternate forms? There's no jets in prehistoric Earth, they should still be in their Cybertronian alternate forms. And the last point, and MOST disturbing one..." Rodimus points towards the sky where they vanished over the horizon. "Why didn't I see Megatron leading that formation? He was nowhere to be seen." Cyclonus gives Rumble another nod, satisfied that he seems to understand what's at stake. However, he's especially surprised by Windshear's reaction. He had assumed that the Seeker might have flown after Starscream and tried to get his autograph (or something) like some sort of crazed fangirl... and caught a nullray to the face, in all likelihood. But not to join them at all? "Really, Windshear?" Cyclonus says, not bothering to hide his surprise. "Why?" "Alternate dimension?" Impactor guesses. He's getting flashbacks (no pun intended) to when Perceptor sent them all to another cRaZy world. "Maybe they got pulled to this planet also." Rampage is still flat out on the ground, his poor Predacon brain too confused for words. Windshear can't help but smirk at Cy's surprise. "When I first joined the Empire, Starscream was my commander." he glances back at the sky the three were seen earlier, "I served under him long enough to know how he operates. Do you have any idea what he will do with us, to us, manipulate us to his ends if we make our presense known to him? Regardless if theres a 'Megatron' here or not and Im assuming there probably is.: Amber MacKenzie nods thoughtfully to Impactor, her own thoughts following his. She snorts suddenly. "Yes, I've read classic Trek's Mirror, Mirror." She absently rubs a bruise on her arm and snorts again. "Maybe the Decepticons are the good guy here." The derisive tone to her suggestion reflects her contempt for that ridiculous idea. "Okay, so some events have been changed, and we have to figure them out and change them? If this is an alt universe, though, this might be the way things are *supposed* to go. However, if this is time travel, we're 'destined' to change them back, because that's how we remember it." Amber sighs and adds, "Or you, actually. I don't know your history that well." Remedy has a few bad memories of back then also. SHe sighs, "If you think I'll be safe, I'm gonna go into recharge to get over the displacement sickness." Cyclonus narrows his optics at the Seeker. "I could have sworn you spoke highly of him BEFORE our little jaunt backwards in time. Regardless, I actually have absolutely no idea what he would do. He might kill the lot of us..." He grimaces in disgust. "Which I fear he is all too capable of. I am not so proud that I can't admit that I would be sorely tested against him, especially in my current condition. On the other hand, he might not kill us, but how could we possibly know that? And how can we even know that this is OUR Starscream? There's too many variables in play here. Whatever we do, we must know more before we do it." He fixes Windshear with a look. "But you know as well as I that he will demand our fealty once he becomes aware of us. And I have already sworn mine." Rumble just sits on the ground, head going back and forth like at a tennis match between Cyclonus and Windshear. He shudders at the mention of Starscream, but for once fails to add any comments, even though he served under the seeker warrior for years. He keeps glancing in the direction the alternate Decepticons flew off in, understandably shaken by their appearance. Windshear cant help but laugh, "Who says Im not speaking highly of him now... sirr?" the tone of his voice says it all... "That may be the case..." Rodimus admits to the guess of this being an alternate universe. Though the prospect that it could be a messed up timeline hasn't escaped him either. "I don't know...I don't think we have enough information to work with yet." He straightens up to his full height and suddenly looks off to the north, shielding his optics with one hand. "Yeah go ahead, Remedy. First we need to rest, effect what limited repairs we can and recharge whatever we can as well. We've got another serious problem on our own hands that isn't related to time travelling too. We've got no way to produce any more energon. We can't make empty energon cubes to process raw materials either, the only one who has -that- ability is Soundwave...or the facilities that are located on the Ark. So no wasting energy at the moment, guys, until we can figure something else out." He pauses, then looks down at Amber. "...I guess this is a case where a human might have an easier time getting sustenance than us, huh?" Windshear adds after a beat pause, "I could tell if its /our/ Starscream as you say. And a pity your fealty is that cut and dry... for me -- lets be honest. Its not that simple..." he keeps a steady gaze on his commander and waits for his reaction if there is one. "Your Starscream, our Starscream, what's the difference," Rampage murmurs. Tracks makes no effort to hide his contempt when Rodimus tells it like it is. The thought of being stranded in this place/time with no energy or any hope of getting back, his fabulous good looking rusting away with the rest of him. "I think I'm going to be sick," he groans, covering his mouth with a hand. Amber MacKenzie nods grimly. "I have enough supplies for a few days in my backpack. Water purification tablets, too. After that, I go native and hope the water isn't too bad." She shrugs and narrows her eyes in thought. "Any of you have solar power? That'd be the easiest. What's next... geothermal? I apologize for not having any other ideas, but outside of Jurassic Park - which was scientifically *inaccurate*, I don't know much about this era. Oh! Shouldn't we look for that what's-it that brought us here?" Cyclonus looks down at Rumble, wondering what the little tape is thinking about. Hopefully nothing... dangerous. But Windshear distracts him, and Cyclonus gives him a... quizzical look. What the hell is he going to do? Can he even trust the Seeker to follow his orders now? "If I switch loyalties at any excuse, then I may as well be join the ranks of individuals like Starscream in infamy. No. I am a loyal soldier, created to serve and serve well, and that is what I will do, even if it means eons pass before I reunite with my true master. You... you say your loyalties aren't as cut and dry? Then what in the name of the Pit are you loyal to, if you don't trust Starscream and your loyalty to Galvatron isn't a certainty? How can *I* trust you? In fact, more to the point, why don't I just blast you into scrap now and spare myself a possible betrayal?" "That's right." Rodimus nods, turning back again to look south once more, then turning slowly in a full circle, but not seeing anything like the artifact that seemed to bring them here. "Once we've rested, we'll have to do a quick recon and see if we can find something. Maybe that device is like a two-way door." If not...well, he doesn't want to think of the alternatives. In THEORY the transformers could potentailly weather it out if they could solve their energy problems amongst all the other issues they're facing. A fat lot of good that would do for Amber, however. And Rodimus tries not to dwell on that thought. "I think we also need to scout out the Ark as soon as possible too. But -carefully-. If the past Decepticons have woken up and are moving around, there's a chance the past Autobots have done the same, and we can't risk running into them, can we?" Windshear tilts his head to the side a bit as he listens to Cyclonus speak. Then when hes done, after a moment he draws himself up and responds, "I never said a thing about switching loyalties. My true loyalties are to the Decepticon Empire and for what it truly stands for but that does not blind me to the ways of my 'commanders' past.. or present. That being said its not a matter of not trusting my ex commander, its a matter of knowing my ex commander and understanding how he 'operates' and trust me... not getting in his way was a sure way to stay alive... And in the same statement you question the certainty of my lotyaly to Galvatron? Im here aren't I? I follow his orders, no matter how trivial they are dont I? And there is no ultierior motive in them. That isnt plain enough for you to see? As for you trusting me? Thats something only you can answer, sir. Ive given you no reason to question that trust other then being honest... which seems to be a rarity in this Empire most of the time." Cyclonus rubs his face, looking exhausted. "You have an odd way of reassuring others, Windshear. In fact, I don't feel particularly reassured at all." He peers down at Rumble. "But at least I can count on you, little Rumble. Your loyalty is something I know I can count on." That's... kind of a lie, but hey, maybe he can worm his way into Rumble's head a bit. "Regardless, we need shelter. Not from the elements, necessarily, but from view. A... cave or something. Then we can determine what else to do..." He begins to scan the horizon. Windshear smiles slightly at Cyclonus' comment and adds quietly, "If Soundwave trusts me with his cassettecons that should be your answer regarding me, sir." not waiting for a reply he looks around, "A.. cave?" his wings twitch. Sure as Seekers go hes actually not that claustophobic but that doesnt mean he really wants to hold out in a cave somewheres. Rumble shakes his head and pushes to his feet. "Hey Cyc, you know me. Decepticon through and through." It's hard to say, but there might be a bit of false bravado in his voice. His grin seems genuine but what little neural net Soundwave saw fit to equip him with is working overtime right now. He wasn't designed for thinking through paradoxes. Remedy okies, switching into recharge mode so she can recover from the displacement sickness Amber MacKenzie sits down in the shade and examines her burns. Adrenaline has run out, she's tired, and she's extra crispy. Well, not that bad. Removing the first aid kit from her backpack, she cleans her hands with alcohol and carefully smears the burns with cream, hissing at the sting. Only first and second-degree, thank heaven. On finishing with the burns, she attends to cuts and scrapes, marvelling at how lightly she got off. Another drink from her canteen is enough for the day, and she makes herself comfortable on a pile of underbrush, hoping there are no big bugs in there. Ah well, she thinks to herself as she dozes off, if a big bug turns up, she'll ask an Autobot to step on it. Alas, her dreams are filled with giant prehistoric bugs...
- The humans have made a startling discovery deep in the Amazon rainforest, pointing to the location of a mysterious "Pandora's Box". Having refrained from informing the Autobots of their discovery just yet, they follow the clues to their own backyard, Washington state, and find a lot more than they could imagine. A temporal crisis looms and a collection of Autobots, Decepticons, and Terrans find themselves thrown into the distant past.
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