| abstract | - Ayotzinco Time travel. Somehow, you've done it, for you find yourself in a place of ancient power in the modern world. True, it is overgrown with flora and crumbling, but you can still feel the mystery and age seeping from the very air here. Even the scattered tourists and peddlers can't shake the feeling from you. A pervading silence rings in your head, every rock and mound seem to live as a ziggurat rises before you... Hook is standing around with his datapad in hand playing Supervisor. He looks at the parts, design and the staff they have on hand. Payloader is hard at work, as opposed to hardly working, of which he is sometimes accused. So... Galvatron has a hidden talent for designing superweapons. Who knew? Of course, knowledge is power, so it stands to reason that the converse is true: power is knowledge. Therefore, the longer Galvatron goes without cannoning anyone (and wasting all that power), the smarter Galvatron can become, as he instead retains that power as knowledge. Logical, right? Except... the plans are patently mad. Scrapper can't see how this device is even supposed to function! So he's just quietly building it to spec, becaus ehe certainly doesn't have to stones to tell Galvatron he's off his rocker. He barks out, raising his shovel, "50 yards of superconductor cable!" The slightly scatter-brained but doubtlessly brilliant chemist MIXMASTER is here, and he is currently inspecting some materials. Before him is a hefty supply of girders and other sources of scrap steel. "Hrmmm..." He muses, "SCAVENGER I require your detection abilities to weed out the inferior grades f steel from these supplies." Unlike Scrapper, Mixmaster seems to find the design perfectly sensible. Komatsu D575A Superdozer , standing amid piles of materials stacked loosely around the supply yard, jogs over to one of the heaps and sifts through it, flinging beams and slabs aside to find what he needs. He easily hefts a giant spool of cable one-handed and slings it through the air to land in Scrapper's shovel like a catcher's mitt. "Cable, fifty yards!" The bulldozer noisily and awkwardly pulls itself up into a dense, compactly built green robot about twenty feet tall. Marching into Ayotzinco, Warsong scoffs lightly as he glances about at the ancient city buried under hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years of flora. "So, this is the place that we fought so long to kick the Auto-fraks out of, eh?" Shaking his head, a light scoff escapes him and he folds his large arms over his chest. "Hope it's worth the EFFORT," is snapped, and the Decepticon's optics narrow ever so slightly even as he's tickled by his little 'act'. Truthfully, there could've been no point what so ever to fighting the Autobots and he'd have still jumped at the chance to take something away from them by force. Komatsu PC5500 Excavator is tooling around hopefully, scraping at the ground in the hopes of looking like he knows what he's doing. At Mixmaster's command, he rumbles over, his shovel angled down and glowing with a faint pink Aura. "Right, Mixmaster," he says as he sets about scanning the various supplies for defects. Looking over at Warsong, Avalanche just raises an optic ridge. "It matters not, comrade. Anything the Autobots have, must be stripped from them." He comments, before looking towards the rest of the other Decepticons. "Huh, didn't realize we had already begun breaking this place down?" He then shrugs, passing a salute towards the Constructicons. "Greetings, fellow Decepticons." Then... THOOM! Unexpected, unannounced, and unescorted, Galvatron abruptly lands in the middle of the construction site, cracks spreading out from his impact point in mathematically perfect patterns. He rises up, and takes stock of the Constructicon's progress thus far with a stern gaze. Hook examines the Graviton Projection Cannon's frame for any stress fracture. Would not want the thing to go out of alignment when the other parts are inserted or anything. "Looks...satisfactory. The fractal generator mount is ready. Someone get that thing installed but no welding until the lense is in and the whole thing is aligned." Hook turns around and transforms into his crane mode heading for hangar 17 to get the lense. Warsong chortles softly and offers a curt nod. "Absolutely... War is an immortal beast that must be fed with consistency less it fall into the despair of hibernation." Looking to the Constructicons, the Provoker offers a nod into their direction when Avalanche greets them. "All Hail Galvatron!" he barks before offering an old-fashioned Decepticon salute...seemingly just in time. Payloader feels a bit of terror, deep inside his lasercore, as Mixmaster mentions the word 'weed' in a sentence. As the Protectobots have Groove, the Constructicons have Mixmaster. Not in the sense of being laid back, however. Ahem. He catches the wire from Bonecrusher in his shovel, then he transforms, and catches the wire again, now in his hands, before his shovel dumps it out. Scrapper moves to start laying down wiring in the device, quite absorbed in his work, entirely unwitting that GALVATRON has arrived. Someone might want to nudge him when he gets focused like this. The totally unassuming lime green payloader unfolds to become Scrapper, the architect of destruction! "Hey Chief," says Bonecrusher, looking up from stapling down cable behind Scrapper. "Da Boss of Bosses is here." Avalanche turns his head, looking at Galvatron. "Greetings lord Galvatron, what do we owe this pleasure?" He inquires, moving to an at ease stance. The Horrorcon just seems to leave the Constructicons alone, they always get so fiesty when they're buildings. Well, unless you're Long Haul, then you're just always that way. Leaning towards Warsong, Avalanche can only say one thing, "Damn good timing." Galvatron's entrance does not go unnoticed by Mixmaster, although he hasn't got a trumpet handy to blow upon to announce thier grand leader's grand entrance. He forgoes the salute, because he has work to do! "Ok, Scavenger!" Mixmaster intones. "Once to detect which are the most SUPERIOR of the steel, feed it into my mixing drum so I can create the ultra strong alloy we will need to complete the mirror frame!" He commands, before folding down into his nondescript mixing truck mode. Mixmaster transforms into a big ol' cement truck. And it's green! Warsong lifts an eyeridge as he turns about at the booming sound of Galvatron's landing, and a soft chortle escapes at Avalanche's words. "Indeed..." he comments in return before dropping to one knee before the Decepticon Leader. "My liege, your Constructicons are working tirelessly for your glory.. And we are here to ensure the success of your desires," he notes before rising to his feet to stand at attention. Chin lifted, back straight, expression stern. Warsong so very much loves the chain of command. Galvatron rumbles to Avalanche, "I'm checking on the Constructicons' progress." He looks about the construction site, his expression betraying no sign of approval or disapproval. "My plans are nearing fruition, and all that is left is to build this device and find the lens which is the final component in this last and most terrible weapon." He nods at Warsong. "It is good that they are--I do not tolerate lollygagging!" "I'm good at that," cheers Scavenger. He begins separating the superior pieces of steel from those with flaws, moving them carefully with his shovel blade. "What is this machine going to do, Lord Galvatron?" The steel sorted, Scavenger transforms and begins carting the steel in Mixmaster's direction, straining as he tries to carry just a bit too many pieces all at once. With a quick ratcheting sound, the green and purple excavator lifts up on its treads to become Scavenger! Hook drives back very slowly from the hangar as huge 50' lense is dangling from the crane's arm. The lense is wrapped in a special cloth to prevent scratches and is hung by a web of straps which connect to the crane's hook. Hook does not complain or mumble but he is a wee bit nervous about handling such a big fragile piece. Still he would be way more nervous if he asked any of his brother to do it. Scrapper is just thinking about why in the world there would be an induction coil inside a support strut when Bonecrusher brings down the house - metaphorically. Scrapper straightens with a start, bonking his head on the scaffolding, as he twists around and all but falls over himself to salute Galvatron! He mutters, "Blast. We could have had a trumpet fanfare, if he'd warned us!" He wrings his hands together after the salute, nervously, not quite looking at Galvatron. Bonecrusher, for example. Avalanche nods, "May all your plans come with the price of millions of Autobot wreckages, my lord." Though, Avalanche does very little, standing completely at attention now alongside Warsong. The Two Groundpounders always seem to be in the middle of something. "No sire!" Warsong barks out, echoing Galvatron's distaste for 'lollygaggers'. Mention of the lens device draws only the very slightest break of discipline, as Warsong cants his head with curiosity. "One final component..." he starts. "Sire! We shall make this a reality... You WILL have your lens! This I assure you on pain of scrapping!" he vows, slamming a fist against his chest for emphasis. Finding more materials for Galvatron likely means battle, and battle is Warsong's TRUE love next to win win situations, just like this one. Well, that is unless he fails... Bonecrusher pounds a guywire anchor stake into the ground with his fist and straightens up to salute. "S'comin' along on schedule, Boss," he reports. "We don't know what it does, but it's gonna do the hell outta it." Cement Mixer Truck 's giant mixing drum begins to churn, but it isn't mere earthly concrete he plans to mix- Instead it will be the finest steel alloy, perfectly balanced in it's iron to carbon ratio, with just the right hints of rarer metals. "Excellent, Scavenger, now feed the beams and scraps into my," Mixmaster giggles a bit. "SEETHING CAULDRON! Heehee, quickly, we must complete this project on schedule!" Galvatron smirks at Avalanche. "*Just* millions? You're thinking too small, warrior." He smiles in a vaguely unsettling way at Scavenger. "What does it do? Well, I bet everyone is wondering about that. Well, just imagine a mathematical equation that kills things and you're not too far from the truth. Rest assured, though, Constructicons--perform well in the construction of my device, and your rewards will be great indeed!" Scrapper doesn't read comics. But if he did, he'd be thinking about the anti-life equation. 'Anti-life justifies my hate.' Is that the secret of Bonecrusher? His shovel twitches a few times at Galvatron's cryptic explaination, nonetheless, and he returns to the wiring work. Scrapper demurs, "We're just doing our jobs, my lord." Some of the others may beg to differ. Bonecrusher hates math. Avalanche moves down to a knee, "Forgive me, my lord. What I should have said was; May it be ALL AUTOBOTS who shall be sacrificed to your inventions." He then looks up to the Unicronian lord, "Is there anything this warrior can do, to further your goals?" He asks curiously. "Whether it be related to this...or simply to indulge the destructive chaos that is yours?" Bonecrusher decides that this, like many things, is over his head and goes back to manual labor. He's good at that. Scavenger laughs a bit too loud at Mixmaster's 'intimate joke'. "That's funny, Mixmaster," he says as begins to comply, "Thanks for asking me to help!" He drags steels girders and I bars as well as hardened hunks of ore and slag over to pile them into Mixmaster's cauldron. Warsong glances over to Avalanche, his optics squinting as he seems to judge Avalanche's response to Lord Galvatron for a moment before offering a smile and a nod. Good job! Returning his gaze to Galvatron for only a moment, his optics lift to look just over the Decepticon Leader's head as not to challenge him with a direct gaze as he echoes Avalanche's concern more visibly than verbally with his attentive poise. Hook approaches the frame and puts the test lense over the socket and brings it down slowly...gently...slowly...gently... The sound of the lense glass edge gently scraping against the metal frame. Eventually the lense settles in the socket. The crane gently adds some slack to the straps and unhooks them. Hook retracts the cable and arm before transforming back to robot mode. "Of course, Galvatron! Destructive equations! No doubt magnified and multiplied by the refractive power of the LENS!" Miixmaster replies, as if all this made perfect sense. "And reflected by the mirror.. But reflected where..." He adds in a quieter tone, as he muses further upon the purpose of The Device. Injokes about hardening beams aside, Mixmaster fulfills his function as a fabricator of materials by reconstructing the raw materials at the chemical level, creating an advanced steel alloy perfect for the frame and dias for the mirror mounting! Galvatron points over at Bonecrusher, then at Scavenger. "You can help them with the heavy lifting, Avalanche. From the looks of things there's a lot to lift around." He frowns. "Oh, and where does the mirror reflect the weapon's firing? Well, that's a surprise. It'll be fun though, I promise!" Scrapper remarks, almost as if expositing, "So, Lord Galvatron, is this why you kidnapped the fleshling mirror-maker and ordered all those seemingly random raids?" Keeping matters down to earth is a bit less painful than trying to contemplate a killing equation, though Mixmaster seems to be happy enough to do so. Finishing with running the length of wire, he calls again, "Electrical tape!" Avalanche rises back to his full height and nods, "As you wish, my lord." Quickly turning towards Bonecrusher and Scavenger, the Horrorcon makes his way over. This is a job that he can do with his optics shut off. Though before the two Constructicons could give any instructions, Avalanche just starts to pick up random components. Warsong chortles softly at mention of 'fun'. Yes, yes, destruction is always fun...especially on a massive scale, for the skirmishes in the aftermath are always so very desperate, and oh so deadly. Looking to Scrapper then, the Provoker smirks a bit and offers a sound nod, taking a bit of pride at mention of all of the seemingly random raids as he stands within Galvatron's shadow like a low key bodyguard. Bonecrusher looks up from dialing the correct PSI into a giant torque wrench from a long list of instructions on his worklist, and shouts "Electrical tape!" at Avalanche in turn. Scavenger frets as Avalanche starts picking things up at random. "W-wait," he says, "uh, these things are separate from these. Here, take from this pile." He grabs on one end of a beam and waits, hoping that Avalanche will grab the other end. Galvatron nods his head. "Indeed, Scrapper. Of course, I always keep the true purpose of my plans hidden until the time is right. Heheh, and I imagine some of you probably thought I was just doing this to keep you busy! Or perhaps I was just crazy! Heheheheh!" Hook gently grabs the straps that held the lense up and begins pulling them out from under and around the lense itself. Gently would not want to set it out of alignment. After that he pulls off the special 'scratch proof' cloth. Hook silently moves to the fractal generator mount is located and installs a small laser pen-like device into the mount and activates it. The beam goes through the lense and makes a harmless dot on a hangar door. Hook pulls out his PDA and begins adjusting the mount one click at a time to compense for the glass's refraction factor. When Scavenger rushes to assist Avalanche, Warsong moves from his place to join the three other mechs. "Here, allow me to assist! My arms are used to heavy lifting, and it is the duty of the STRONG to carry the weight of progress!" This said as he reachse out to grab hold of the beam just inside of Scavenger's grip. Scrapper deadpans, "No, sir, I would never dream that you would assign us busywork." He is conspicuously silent on the status of Galvatron's sanity. Galvatron keeping quiet about a plan? That's a change from 'standing in front of the Autobots and explaining the plan in great detail'. Scrapper thinks he likes it. While waiting for the electrical tape, he rechecks how he has the main power line running. Bonecrusher stomps over to get the tape himself, grumbling. "I hate fake Horrorcons even worse'n real ones." He snaps the tape over to Scrapper with a flick of the wrist. "I'm glad nobody is trying to help me with /my/ job. Anyone can lift things, but none can match Mixmaster's metallurical magic!" The chemist's drum churns and churns, ominous oily smoke rising from it's spout as he smelts down the girders and other items down, reconstituting thier chemical structure. Add in some trace elements like manganese and tungsten, and presto, fresh new amalgamated alloys. He begins to extrude the hot metal out into pefectly formed ingots, ready for further processing into sheets and rods. Scrapper takes the tape from Bonecrusher and agrees, "Luckily, we don't have any fake Constructicons around here! Nosiree..." He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Aside from all those typo gumbies." He shrugs. Scrapper snaps off a piece of tape and works on securing the main power line. Galvatron announces, "Continue working, I will return shortly!" Then, without explaining further, he walks off into the city. "Oooo-ahhh-wow! AMAZING..." Warsong calls out to Mixmaster, his tone oozing with sarcasm. With a chortle, he shrugs and continues to help carry the beam from where Avalanche had found it to where Scavenger has decided to direct him. "And the Mini-Constructicons," adds Bonecrusher, torquing down the frame bolts with his wrench. Scrapper shudders and grumbles, "I was /trying/ to forget those exist. Thanks, Bonecrusher." He resumes taping in a decidedly more sour mood. Scavenger frowns as Mixmaster boasts. "Hey, I'm helping you," he says. He tries to lift the beam as high as he can and my end up fighting Avalanche and Warsong for control over the burden the three share. "I hate those little guys," mutters Bonecrusher, torquing a bolt until the wrench clicks. Warsong grumbles as he, Avalanche, and Scavenger fight for control of the burden of the beam. "Will you let the big mechs take care of this? Your expertise is sure to be of better use ELSEwhere..." "Be careful, Decepticon," Mixmaster replies after Warsong's annoying chortleing. The mixing truck, it's smelting task complete, transforms back into his robot mode. He begins to form the fresh steel into new forms, elongating the ingots into long rods. He peers at Warsong out from under the overhang of the missile launcher mounted over his head, giggling a little to himself, eyes gleaming. "I have no quals about melting /you/ down too, you could be a part of Galvatron's perfect project... Forever!" Once the fractal generator mount is callibrated properly, Hook allows himself a small smirk. Yeah he's the optic for detail and the hand for precision that why he handles the delicate stuff. Hook takes a walk around and onto the frame to double check the lense's frame and make sure it is secure and will not move now that the calibration is done. Scrapper, perhaps, notably, does not reprimand Mixmaster about threatening to turn people into beams. This is because Scrapper is A-OK with that whole concept. In fact, he calls out, "Could you half-melt him? Y'know, leave him alive but still make him into a beam?" This is clearly a pressing matter that has been on Scrapper's mind for a while. Taping done, he stashes the roll of tape around his wrist and climbs the scaffold to check on the project from above. Sure, he can fly, but climbing is less energy. "Hahaha! Pah-LEASE... I am not afraid of you, little mech!" Warsong barks toward Mixmaster. "But if you wish to prove your superiority... Perhaps we can PLAY together another time when Lord Galvatron's pet project is not in the vicinity!" the Decepticon snaps, before offering a rather brilliant, light-hearted smile. Then, Scrapper speaks and Warsong snorts. "Shut it!" "Don't you tell the Chief to shut it!" Bonecrusher shouts down from a scaffold he's climbed up onto in order to reach a different joist's bolts. Scrapper pauses in his climbing, and he looks over at Warsong, his body language conveying something like mild disbelief, despite his overall lack of expression. Did Warsong really just that? Is he dumb or something? Scrapper asks quietly, "Did you really just say that, on a construction site, surrounded by Constructicons?" Cement Mixer Truck snickers a bit as Warsong calls him 'little'. Sure, Mixmaster is little, but he also turns into a /giant leg/, perfect for kicking butt. Insulting the mean green machines is not a good idea. "Why don't you run along and play? Us REAL Decepticons have work to do." He returns to his task of shaping steel, destined for various parts of the rapidly-coalescing construction project. The lime green mixing truck transforms into MIXMASTER! Mixmaster totally did that as a robot "Yeah," Scavenger says, "You wouldn't be so brave if you were talking to Devastator!" He points dramtically. "Let us do the heavy lifting. We're the ones Emperor Galvatron trusts with this project." Warsong breathes a hefty sigh, the sound rumbling through his chassis like tires on gravel. "Whatever, wretch... You're only good for your ability to combine anyway, half-wit slag-heap..." he mutters to himself before coming to a final conclusion. "Fine! Constructicons! I am your servant for the time being, for the will of the Empire wishes it so. Direct me as you please... I carry my own weight around here, and that of others if I must." Hook hears Warsong telling Scrapper to 'Shut it' which causes the Constructicon to momentarily freeze and look down on the ground (because if the lens is 50' and the mirror 40' We talking about one big aft cannon and mount). For a moment Hook ponders dropping a wrench or something similar and cause a small 'accident' Nothing serious just slightly embarassing. Scrapper ohs softly and then comments, very clearly to the other Constructicons, speaking as if Warsong isn't here, "You heard me. I checked. So I'm thinking... clear CPU dysfunction. Probably a terminal case. Kinda sad really, but there's nothing for it." He kicks off the scaffold, and lands on his feet in a crouch, a cloud of dust arising around him. He says firmly, now to Warsong, "You want to be a /servant/ to /working men/, huh? Fine, Scavenger's your boss. Now get to it." Scavenger as boss of anyone is laughable and degrading! So it's perfect. "Heh heh, Boss Scavenger," chortles Bonecrusher, hanging a guyline. "That's good, Chief." Mixmaster snickers quietly following Scrapper's words, eyeing Warsong to see his reaction. "I could still melt you down, if you would find that a preferable fate. Your frame would be of sufficient size for a substructure strut, and your apparantly hollow cranium would make an excellent beverage container." Scavenger isn't exactly flattered by this bit. He looks around, hoping to see that his comrades are joking. He puts his hands up. "I-I'm not a leader," he says, "What should I tell him to do?" He looks to Scrapper. He doesn't seem to be able to please anyone today - which makes this exactly like pretty much every other day. Warsong sucks up his pride, though his optics do squint as he frowns while looking to Scrapper. Another moment passes and then a curt nod is given before he turns his gaze to Scavenger. Great... Bi*** of the Constructicons for the cycle. Good thing nobody else is around to see this! "Alright, Boss... Where to?" he asks as he 'gets to it' without complaint. Not much he can say in retort to a mech that calls himself a 'man' anyway... But to Mixmaster he can do one thing. Warsong fixes the Mixer with a look, his optics looking over the Constructicon from head to toe before barking with laughter. "Alright, now I'm in the mood to work!" "Just do what you do but tell him to do every second thing!" Bonecrusher yells down from the scaffold. "So's you do it twice as fast!" Scrapper straightens and stomps over to Scavenger, attempting to give Scavenger a hefty and rough pat on the shoulder, more like a swat. He directs, "Delegate!" That is code for 'Give Warsong all the busy work that even you don't want to do, Scavenger.' Scrapper expects to find a lot more useless holes dug in the ground around here soon. Hook sends Warsong to fetch some sparkplugs for the tractor's diesel engine. Warsong has left. Mixmaster finishes preparing his new metals, flourishing with aplomb as he presents the fruits of his labour to his fellow Constructicons. "As well as can be made with non-cybertronian metals, we have steel of the nessasary tensile strength and exceptional quality to support the weight of the giant mirror!" Galvatron eventually returns, holding a thirty-foot tall copper statue in his hands. It looks familiar--is that a statue of Chikome-Ollin, in full power-armor? In any case, if Galvatron is having trouble lifting this thing around he doesn't let it show. Scavenger laughs as Hook sends Warsong away on a fool's errand. "Yeah, find some nickel-plated ones," he shouts. He turns back to his comrades with a smile on his face. He witnesses Galvatron's arrival and marvels at the statue the Decepticon ruler is carrying. "Copper for the power?" Scavenger asks enthusiastically. Scrapper looks over the statue, head tilted to one side, and he opines, "The only thing better would have been the power-armour itself. But a most fitting find, my lord." Scrapper returns to climbing the scaffold, now that Warsong has been appointed to a suitably humiliating task. "Well well well, it looks at least /someone/ will be melted down today!" Mixmaster adds, eyeing the copious amounts of pristine copper thier leige has seen fit to deliver. Either that, or rig it to tell bad jokes about Militants. Galvatron drops the statue down... in front of the graviton projection cannon's line of fire. "No, Scavenger, I had something fare more FUN in mind than that. I explicitly ordered that this statue be spared, you see, because I had a far better humiliation of that blasted human's visage in mind. HOOK!" The firing chamber on his fusion cannon pops open, revealing a shimmering anomaly trapped inside a transparent case. "This is the fractal generator," Galvatron explains, withdrawing the item and holding it out in front of himself. "LOAD IT," Galvatron says. "But don't drop it! You'll never be the same if you do.... heheheh!" Mixmaster never gets to do any of the fancy stuff like Hook does. If it involves delicate manipulation of unstable power sources, it's always HOOK. Mixmaster tries to look busy assembling some parts while jealously peeking at the magnificent anomoly inside Galvatron's cannon. Scrapper looks over at the fractal generator, out of the corner of his optical band. He does not envy Hook, for all that Hook is being graced with an honour by Galvatron. Never be the same? A killing equation? These mad schematics? All these little bits and pieces are adding up very strangely. Scrapper turns and busies himself checking over the work, from the scaffolding. Hook gently takes the fractal generator "As you command lord Galvatron." He then proceeds to activates his anti-gravs since floating above ground eliminates the possibility of tripping or being tripped. A bit more juice floats the Surgeon near the fractcal generator mount he calibrated earlier. He gently sets it onto the mount and tightens it just enough. Would not want to put some overdue stress on it. Hook pulls out his sonic screwdriver to make the final adjustments. He makes sure to install a breaker BEFORE the fractal generator's position in the circuit. Just in case of a power surge. Bonecrusher stands well back, arms crossed and a little behind and to one side of Scrapper. "Gotta say I'm curious what it's gonna do." Scrapper takes a firmer hold of the scaffold, contemplating his position. From here, he can't be shot by the device. However, if it all explodes, he's going to be thrown and/or exploded. Hmm. See, Bonecrusher, right there, doesn't have these problems. Bonecrusher is safe wherever he wants to stand. Scrapper says lowly, "I'm more certain that it will do something curious." Galvatron takes a position near the Constructicons, and evidently safely away from the statue. "Heheh. Prep the weapon for firing! You're going to LOVE this. Hahaha!" Scavenger stares at the fractal generator in awe. "It's beautiful," he gushes, "I can't wait to see it obliterate that statue." Hook glides down from the Graviton projection cannon and lands near Galvatron "The fractcal generator is installed and aligned Lord Galvatron." he says with a half bow. He takes his place with his brothers at a safe distance and out of the firing path of this contraption. Being near the statue seems like an increasingly dangerous place to be. Mixmaster trundles a bit futher away, to find a better spot to watch the fireworks that are about to happen. He doesn't know /what/ this thing is going to do, but he does know it will be /awesome/. Devastating equations, refractory lenses, and copious amounts of /fractals/. Galvatron grins evilly. "Excellent!" He points at the statue and declares, "FIRE THE WEAPON! And don't stop until I tell you to!" "Huh," replies Bonecrusher in a low voice, not really getting Scrapper. But then, Scrapper often says things that he doesn't understand. That's how come Scrapper is the Chief. Bonecrusher bites a paint chip off of one of his thumbs. The paint often comes off of his hands and he doesn't bother to get it repainted so often as he just pulls off what's loose. Mixmaster peers at Bonecrusher as the brute gnaws on a finger. "Long Haul used to do that too. Now he doesn't get to have a mouth." Scrapper has great skill in confusion, it is true. Since he's stuck on the scaffold, rather than taking cover, and Bonecrusher is busy making a mess of his fingers, Scrapper clambers around to throw the switch. In fact, there is a series of three switches. Only the third one does anything. The first two are just there to look cool. He calls out, "Switch one! Switch two! Switch threeeee!" And... "I chipped my paint pounding a tie-down," grumbles Bonecrusher, spitting out a paint chip. "If you'd invent better paint that wouldn't happen." A swirling, multicolored beam leaps out of the cannon and pours into the statue. For a moment, it seems to almost come alive, as if Chikome-Ollin realized he was being fired on and was reacting to it, but then, his proportions begin to distort in strange ways, and it seems as if Chikome is writhing in agony during this unnatural transmogrification. One can only imagine the sort of horror one would see if the weapon was fired at something that really was alive! "Haha, it's glorious!" Galvatron says. "But this is just the start! Keep watching!" Scavenger is riveted. He watches the unfolding destruction with his optic visor gleaming. Scrapper shields his optical band with a hand as he watches uncanny, unnatural progression of the statue. He murmurs, "Could it be? Actually imparting the target with more life, just so it can take more away, in the end?" What a magnificent way of inducing suffering! Impractical, yes, but that's never stopped a Decepticon before and never will. The swirly multicoloured lights reflect in Mixmaster's eyes, igniting the mad-scientist within the Constructicon. "A most excellent display, Lord Galvatron! The distortions are beyond chemical in nature, the distortions appear /spatial/ in origin!" Which is not surprising, given the graviton cannon involved in the complex weapon's design. "Whoah!" exclaims Bonecrusher, startled by the bizarre output of the weapon. "Ain't never seen one do THAT Before." Hook is utterly fascinated by the effects of this fractal cannon. He stands there silent and observing. "With this," Scavenger declares, "We shall finally destroy the Autobots!" dun dun DUN Galvatron grins, leaning over to Mixmaster a bit as he explains, "Indeed, Mixmaster! The people who created the fractal generator were using it to create metal alloys and chemicals that were fractally altered! And I hadn't considered that, Scavenger, though this THING, if alive, is not life as WE understand it!" The statue continues to be hideously altered by the beam, eventually becoming unrecognizable. Not only that, but as its shape continues to warp and branch outwards more and more, the shape becomes bigger, and bigger, poking into the ground with microscopic copper hooks. It is not unlike watching a bush grow from a seedling before your very eyes. In fact, the copper shape becomes so big that it threatens to touch the cannon itself, at which point-- "Cease firing!" Galvatron says. "I trust that was a sufficient demonstration!" Scrapper isn't Scavenger, but that's okay - they're all green and purple construction equipment. People can have trouble telling them apart. Scrapper certainly won't correct Galvatron. As he reaches for the switch, almost hesitantly, he comments, "Life doesn't need to be understood to suffer. One of its many beauties." Then he pulls the third switch back. "It's psychofraculated!" exclaims Bonecrusher, jumping down from the scaffold to take a closer look at the test subject. "Ha ha! Can't wait to see an Autobot get shot with it!" Scavenger gawks. The cannon's power continue to surprise him. He approaches the twisted, copper monstrosity that used to be the statue. "Surely, none would survive, Bonecrusher. Though I wonder exactly how the beam has altered this statues molecular structure." Mixmaster's optics dart frantcially over the surface of the ever-growing and violently contorting mass that was once in the shape of a man. "Twisted beyond all recognition! A a weapon to strike fear into the cores of our enemies!" Galvatron grins at the Constructicons. "Heheh, yes, sadly, we probably won't get to see what it will do to the Autobots... but it will be enough to know that they will be warped into freaks of nature regardless!" The copper mass, now without the graviton beam influencing it, succumbs to gravity. Its fragile new form, though quite intricate, cannot support its own weight, and thus it begins to collapse upon itself, scratching the ground as it goes. "We won't see it's effects on the Autobots?" Scavenger puts his hand behind his head as he watches the statue collapse. "What do we plan to do with this powerful weapon, Emperor?" Out of the mouths of... Scavengers. Scrapper had been wondering that very thing. He pulls out his toolkit and checks his ominous-o-meter, noting that the needle is currently at '11'. Scrapper glares and puts the meter back in the toolkit, climbing down from the firing controls. Galvatron chuckles a bit, answering with, "Win. That is all, Scavenger. We are going to *win.*" Scavenger has left. Galvatron has left. Warsong has arrived. Warsong moves to Mexico. Warsong has left.=========================== Decepticon ===========================
Message: 2/168 Posted Author Cracked Mirrors? Fri Nov 13 Galvatron A fairly generic gumby frowns at the camera as he delivers a routine maintenance report. "So, uh, Vektor's been acting weird again. No surprise, there. He's been batty ever since Shockwave did that memory wipe on him. But now he's been screaming about there being cracked mirrors all over New Crystal City, and how he can't remember why it bothers him, and yadda yadda. And yeah, every mirror I've seen on base has gotten cracked somehow. I think Vektor did it. Going around, punching mirrors or something. Frickin' nutjob. Anyway, I better get these mirrors replaced before Galvatron sees them. He's been stomping around the base and he looks pretty annoyed about something." Galvatron's voice screams out from off-camera, "What is wrong with all of these mirrors!? They're all cracked!" The seeker sighs, shaking his head. "Too late. Well, gonna try to keep my head down and get those mirrors changed out. Maintenance team, out." ==============================================================================
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