| abstract | - Power has been fully restored to Polyhex and life in the great Decepticon city has returned to normal. With the loss of Nightsiege back when Cybertron was shunted through the spacebridge to Alpha Centauri, the density in the city is significant. At the border of the city are transparent, nearly-indestructible transantium-di-polycarbate alloy walls that stretch all around it. At various points there's gates, each with a checkpoint and long lines of civilians either leaving or entering the city. Each person has their credentials checked and receive a full scan before being let into Polyhex. Up along the walls are guard towers with snipers. Since the trouble with the shadowy aliens, the city has been put on high alert. None of the guards are looking complacent today. If anything, most of them are looking for an excuse to beat down some civilian for being out of line in order to show their superiors that they're on top of things and won't let another security breach occur. That must be why everyone in the line are on their best behaviors. In the city itself, Needlenose, Sunbeam, and Zigzag are at an outdoor cafe, sipping energon and/or Nebu-coffee and chatting with each other. Is Scorponok and/or Zarak nearby? May be! "NEEDLENOSE!" Scorponok roars as he flips over the table Needlenose and co. were dining at with a claw. "We've got a war on and you're sipping tea! REPORT, damn you! What is your status? What have you been doing to BENEFIT THE EMPIRE!?" Scorponok has been a regular terror in Decepticon strongholds lately. If the guards seem eager to please their superiors, it may be because one of them has a notoriously volatile temper backed by outbursts of deadly violence. Blurr and his team lurk in the caverns below Polyhex. As per Rodimus' orders, the speedster has taken it upon himself to lead a team into the great Decepticon stronghold to investigate the cause of the mysterious outage that had occurred a number of mega-cycles ago. At the moment, he's passing out holo-disguise projectors to each of his teammates: Hubcap, Tailgate, Specter, and Hikage, from the EDC. If the human decides to use it, it will likely resemble a Nebulan Targetmaster or Headmaster exosuit. Approaching the tunnel exit, he speaks in a hushed tone to the others. "Okay, remember--we're here to find out why Polyhex lost power, not to shoot Decepticons. Do not engage unless it's absolutely necessary. The city's bound to be on high alert after what happened, if we suspect it was sabotage...so be sure to stay focused and whatever you do, don't attract any unnecessary or unwanted attention. Got it?" Wraith Power Armor skips the holo-projector and activates his cloaking device and disappears. "Understood Blurr." The ninja double-checks his equipment, specially his little gadgets to help out in case things go bad. "...and in conclusion, that is why I feel that Captain Kirk is, and always will be, the very best Captain in Star Trek," Needlenose tells his two partners. He doesn't bother specifying that this is the Shatner version, because duh? That's obvious? Then the table gets flipped and smashes against the far wall. Sunbeam and Zigzag back the heck off, not wanting to get involved in this. Needlenose, however, is still nice and relaxed. "Sup, mighty Lord Scorponok?" he says, "It is actually energon." He holds up his cube. But he knows that isn't what Scorponok is really interested in, and so he gives his report. "We just got in from Praxis. Evacuation was successful. We had three more Coalition scouting starfighters warp in but none of them tagged us as we FTL'd out." "Ahem," Sunbeam says. "Oh right. Sunbeam wanted me to add that Praxis has super killer waves." Combat: Wraith Power Armor activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Blast Off was here when the power went out and helped in the capture of the shadowy creature. Thanks to his broad experience "galavanting throughout the galaxy", the shuttle was also the only one who recognised the strange alien device the creature had used on its mission. Blast Off had been called back to answer a question or two about the device, so the Combaticon is just now leaving the Intelligence Center and making his way down a street. For those beneath the city in the caverns below, they will find that additional traps, security cameras, and even personnel have been stationed here. Our heroes clearly managed to get this far, but it will be getting obvious that sooner or later the tunnels under Cybertron will no longer be safe. Does the tunnel end within Polyhex not far from a certain outdoor cafe? It just might! Tailgate examines the holo-disguise, tilting his helm to one side. He finds the idea of dressing up and going undercover intriguing but frightening at the same time. After giving it a good look over, he dons it. He nods in eager affirmation to Blurr. "Oh of course! You know that I'm pretty good at going unnoticed," he comments, a little dolefully. He glances at up his superior officer, awaiting further instruction. Only his face appearing behind Hikage, Specter merely nods and arms his weapons system. And he disappears, following along with the EDC ninja counterpart to his own Autobot position. You know, ninjas have to stick together and all that. Combat: Specter appears from the shadows... Combat: Specter slips into the shadows and out of sight... Hubcap already doesn't look like his normal self, his traditional yellow replaced by a glossy, dark purple. He taps an ID chip against his arm, where'd he get that?. "I could try the main gates?" Decepticon *masters are of course generally used to Scorponok's unnecessary outbursts of violence and property damage, so Scorponok isn't surprised to see Needlenose hasn't jumped away in terror. "Excellent, Needlenose! Unlike some of my warriors, you occasionally do not fail me!" He turns to see if Misfire's there. He's not. Well, he imagines he's standing there. Turning back to Needlenose, he says. "Though I grow weary of running, it's the only way to prevent ourselves from being overrun. We must consolidate our forces, stand our ground! And SUNBEAM, try to remember--Needlenose has a SPARE!" Blurr nods and moves to the shadows, avoiding any surveillance as he activates his disguise along with Tailgate. The exit slides open, and the Autobots find themselves near what appears to be an outdoor cafe. <> Tailgate follows Blurr uncertainly. He's a bit afraid he's no good at being bad. They all emerge near what looks like an outdoor cafe--and it looks like they have Decepticon company already. He gives a tiny gasp, but otherwise stays silent, looking around. "<>" He approaches the cafe, keeping his optics peeled for the mission objective. "Thanks, boss!" Needlenose says with a thumbs up. "If I may, though, I spent a week with the garrison at Praxis and I think I got a pretty good feel for their mood." Needlenose is actually pretty good at getting the inside scoop in social situations. "They sound just as weary as you do." Needlenose turns serious, moving in close to give an aside to the Headmaster. "There's a lot of talk about how we need to be going on the offensive. See if we can't give as good as we're getting." Sunbeam, meanwhile, is just about to reply that Needlenose's spare is incompetent, but then thinks better of it. Scorponok doesn't seem to be in the mood for it. Zigzag meanwhile stands tall. I'm a valued contributor! he thinks. Hubcap glances around at the team, then mutters, "Join channel sneak. for security purposes." Wraith Power Armor begins searching around for an isolated terminal he could work on for a few minutes without interruption. He spots one and slowly makes his way Blast Off is walking down the street when he notices Scorponok. The huge Decepticon is hard to miss, after all. He hasn't actually SEEN Scorponok very often- usually only during the heat of battle, from a distance. The Combaticon isn't quite sure what to think of him, either.... he has to question the sanity of any Decepticon who would willingly allow an organic to reside inside his head. I mean... that's just gross. But regardless, the huge Con is a Leader, and it might be nice to know what ELSE is going on inside his head. So the Combaticon finds himself approaching the cafe as well, and orders a nice Vanilla Chai Ener-Latte as he watches Scorponok- and is that Needlenose?- from across the cafe. He doesn't engage them, however, Blast Off rarely is that direct. But he can observe for now. Scorponok actually only thinks that Zigzag is barely adequate. But at least he doesn't say so (for now). Scorponok nevertheless leans in a bit to listen to Needlenose, grimacing, displeased, at hearing what he and Zarak already suspected. Decepticons crave war and conquest, after all, and for them to be the ones who are beaten and humiliated is not something they enjoy, even if "Decepticons, retreat!" is heard all too often amongst them. "As I feared... hrnnnh... I have plans devised to strike back against the Coalition, however! It will not be enough to stop their inevitable attack on Cybertron itself, but it will surely raise the men's morale... and lower the morale of my ENEMIES!" He looks up, noticing a few arrivals. There's some Decepticons he doesn't recognize, but that's not too abnormal for him. Scorponok only recently rejoined the Decepticons' ranks, after all. Blast Off is more familiar to him, though. "Blast Off! Do you have news for me? What have the Combaticons accomplished?" The locals, for the most part, pay the Autobots (and flesh creature) no mind. The civilians are going about their business, and the guards are keeping most of their focus pointed to the gates. Polyhex has a very different feel than Iacon, or even Crystal City. Everything is tightly controlled and managed. Security cameras routinely sweep back and forth from every corner, people aren't likely to stay outdoors for longer than they have to, and there's the omnipresent sense that Big Con is watching. Needlenose perks up at the mention of plans to strike back. He's just about to ask what when he and Scorponok spy Blast off not far away. "Hey, Blast Off! Come on over, dude. Be a part of the group. We're having a little pow wow over here." Sunbeam and Zigzag exchange looks. The latter would actually be pretty happy with 'barely adequate'. It's a few steps up from the normal assessment. Tailgate immediately recognizes Blast Off as the one who crushed one of his toasters at the ski resort. He shudders a little, stopping in his tracks momentarily to deadpan at the Combaticon, optics widening. He must really be the worst of the worst... He passes the Combaticon, and with great effort avoids optic contact with the 'Con. He begins searching for anything that might clue him into where the power terminals might be. Keeping behind Hikage, Specter follows along and keeps an optic out for any shenanigans in the area. It's like a sniper team, one shooter and one spotter. Except Hikage isn't killing anyone. Yet. "Do you think you can crack in without giving us away?" he whispers to Aramasu. Blurr scans the street up and down, searching for some place where he can access a public data terminal or something--perhaps that might give him a clue as to where the power stations would be located or at least some news regarding the outage. He does his best to blend in with the crowd of civilians and mills up and down the street, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Especially since Scorponok is here. Wraith Power Armor reaches into his belt and pulls out a small pocket computer with a weird adapter. He jacks in and starts searching for "casual stuff" any low-level report that might refer to the incident. "Depends at which level the information is hidden. Going to start with low-priority stuff. If we can get the information the easy way...we won't have to bother with the hard way." Combat: Wraith Power Armor compares his Technical to 110: Success! Some strange Decepticon walks by Blast Off very...uncertainly, like he's trying to be inconspicuous or something. The Combaticon has no idea who it is and is slightly baffled, but doesn't have much time to contemplate the oddity, because he is suddenly called to the Scorponok's table. He walks over, still holding his Chai, and nods to the Headmaster Leader and Needlenose. "I see," he responds to the latter. He ignores the organics. To Scorp he says, "I... suppose I do. Onslaught is working on several plans to cripple Autofool energy sources, and we have targeted some of the homeworlds involved with the "Coalition of the Brave", as they refer to themselves as." He takes a sip of his Chai, looking rather calm. There are public access terminals scattered across Polyhex, and even a small cluster not far from the cafe. They seem pretty popular, as Decepticon civilians regularly go check the news or bboards (ugh, Harrow and Dustoff /again/?). When they aren't in use, they display standard propaganda about watching your neighbors for any signs of treason and have bulletins about the latest Decepticon victories over the Autobots. It is at one of these stations that HIkage is able to jack in. There's lots of news going on and he's able to access all the public stuff by faking his ID. The Power Outage is being described as a mechanical fault that has since been eliminated. It's pretty crowded around the terminals, and from behind Hikage a green and yellow Seeker says, "Hey! You there!" he points at Hikage from behind. "Hurry it up! Latest Velocitron results are in and I wanna go check them out." While Scorponok may not care about the new Decepticons, his drone, Fasttrack, notices one of them... the OTHER Fasttrack! "*Beeeep,*" Fasttrack beeps angrily upon spotting him. It was thanks to this other Fasttrack that he got blamed for whoring around, buying weapons, and racing like a maniac or something! Fasttrack tromps over angrily to Other Fasttrack, passing unnoticed through the crowds, and kicks him in the shin! "BEEP BEEP BEEP" Fasttrack beeps, pointingly accusingly up at his counterpart. "Good, good!" Scorponok says, smiling in evil delight. "I always enjoy seeing what plans Onslaught can come up with. And I'll certainly make use of those plans--the galaxy's impertinence must be punished severely! Hm... but who first? Wherever K'Gard came from? Larraman Jrames? Hm..." Blurr strolls up to a terminal that doesn't appear to be in use, and simply starts looking for a map of Polyhex. That shouldn't require any hacking, right? That might at least give him an idea of where the affected power stations were. He checks up on the rest of the team via the encrypted commlink. <> It's pretty crowded around the terminals, and from behind Hikage a green and yellow Seeker starts to approach. At his side is a dark pink femme. "...so the odds on favorite broke an axel just before the race, so there's a damn good chance I'm going to be coming into some serious Shanix," the Seeker says. They're heading right for Hikage's terminal! Needlenose gestures at Blast Off. "See?" he tells Scorponok. "That right there. Blowing them up where /they/ live. Good show, Blast Off. Good show." The Targetmaster leans back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. "Maybe we... huh. Hey, Scorponok... where's Fasttrack off to?" After Blast Off looks away, Tailgate casts the Combaticon one last cautious glance, overhearing that last bit about Onslaught's plans. He then notices the public terminals. Oh dear, it appears they're quite popular, as it is rather crowded in the surrounding area. Due to his size, Tailgate is able to worm his way through the crowd over to one of the terminals, and peer at one of the terminals--although it is already being looked at by another 'Con.. hopefully he either doesn't notice or doesn't care that Tailgate is sharing the terminal with him. "<>" Tailgate chirps at Blurr. Hubcap drifts casually about the area, looking for any signs of power stations or power relays, all the while passively absorbing everything he hears. At some point he appears to have purchased a plush Galvatron, which growls "I shall crush you like I did Prime!" when you squeeze it. Wraith Power Armor hears someone wanting to use the terminal. He unplugs and walks away. <> As Blurr is trying to find a map, someone starts trying to kick him who appears to only be capable of speaking in binary. Why did the Decepticons keep these guys around, anyway? Ugh. The speedster makes an exasperated sound. Oh, great, this was about that stupid festival, wasn't it? Ugh, again. He tries to shoo Other Fasttrack away. "Okay, okay--I'm sorry about that, alright? I didn't realize my name was already taken. I mean, no one told me." Tapping Hikage's shoulder when the Seeker approaches, Specter pulls back into the darkness with his invisible friend. "Close, but not out." he whispers with a grin, drawing out his blade and holding it in front of him. Blast Off is pleased to hear that Scorponok appreciates the Combaticons' hard work. Maybe he'll like this guy, after all. He asks, "Who put together the attack on Charr? That was the first strike... If it were up to me, we'd retaliate in kind against the leader of that assault. Of course, whoever it was, I made sure his ship was barely functional before he escaped like a coward through that jump point." He looks down at Sunbeam and Zigzag, noticing them for the first time, and deigns to give them a nod. The Seeker almost trips over Hikage, but the Benefactor and Specter are able to get out in time. The Seeker frowns as he reaches the terminal. "Ugh. I hate it when the last guy doesn't log off when he's done. Thanks, jack off! Whoever you are!" he calls out. The femme just shrugs and keys in her ID, calling up the Velocitron races so they can check their winnings. <> Blurr responds to Hikage's report. <> He says, hoping Scorponok's drone will leave him alone as he continues to search for a map. Fasttrack's rage is not sated, however, as it continues to beep angrily at Blurr, waving his arms around and causing a horrendous racket. "That would be K'Gard. I don't recall what his world is called... hnnh... NEEDLENOSE! What planet does K'Gard hail from?" Because surely only Needlenose would know the answer to that! "And--eh?" Finally, he notices the beeping, turning towards his drone. "What is Fasttrack doing? FASTTRACK! Stop raising a racket, already!" He growls to himself as he turns back to Needlenose and Blast Off. "Damned drone. Designed to be too intelligent for my own good! Who was the Decepticon he was bothering, anyway?" Wraith Power Armor moves away from the crowd and hides in a dark corner waiting for Blurr to confirm their next waypoint. << If it was sabotage it explains why the security level seems beefed up. >> The minibot squeezes out from under the Decepticon he was sharing the terminal with, the 'Con gives him a dirty look but Tailgate is pretty much gone by the time he's decided he was annoyed. He does notice, however, that Blurr is being bothered by some binary speaking drone. Sideswiping over to the drone, he ever so slightly elbows the 'Con nearest to Fasttrack in the knee, causing him to slam into Fasttrack. But before the 'Con can turn around and find whoever knocked him, the minibot slips away, and the only person the 'Con will be looking at is Fasttrack. "<>" He manages to squirm out of the crowd surrounding the public terminals and heads back towards the outdoor cafe, eavesdropping on Blast Off's and Scorponok's conversation. He looks around, hoping to spot a map somewhere nearby. Wraith Power Armor moves away from the crowd and hides in a dark corner waiting for Blurr to confirm their next waypoint. << If it was sabotage it explains why the security level seems beefed up. >> Needlenose's interest in what Fasttrack is doing gets curbed by Scorponok's question. "That would be the--" Needlenose's reply gets drowned out from the audience because of angry beeps from far away. "--which I hear is actually a pretty nice place. Wanna nuke it?" He tilts his head, trying to spot the Decepticon Fasttrack is having a go with. "Dunno, don't recognize it." Needlenose listens to some more beeping. "Man, he sounds super pissed. What's Fasttrack saying, anway?" Then Fasttrack gets knocked by another Decepticon. "Oh oh. I smell a fight brewing." Blurr will have no problem finding a map at the terminal. It is a standard function. The city is huge. Residential Zones are to the west, and the Forum and Coliseum are beyond that. Most of the power stations, being vital, sit in the shadow of the great spire of Darkmount itself. Blurr quickly downloads the maps and slips away from the terminal, briefly nodding his thanks to Tailgate for distracting Fasttrack. << I've got a map, uploading it to the commlink now.>> The maps pop up on everyone's comms then, showing the rest of the team that the power relays are located near Darkmount. <> Transforming down into his hovercar form, he starts hightailing it down the street, hoping Scorponok won't become any more interested in him... Blast Off nods to Scorponok and takes another sip of his Chai. "K'Gard, then. I would return the favor he so kindly showed us." Then there is a huge racket, and Scorponok turns away to look at Fastrack (who he doesn't know anyway) beeping angrily at another Con. So does Blast Off. Hmmm, he's seen that other, 2nd Decepticon before somewhere. "Wasn't he at the Empire Day festival? I think his name was Fastrack?" Tailgate follows--er, well, he can't really keep up with Blurr, but he transforms and does his best, heading towards Darkmount. "<<.. Ooh, that place! I know it well!" The minibot races towards the Decepticon HQ. Hubcap slinks around a corner towards where he suspects a power relay to be. There's a door, locked with a keypad. Smirking, Hubcap places his hand over the keypad and delves into the underlying code. Tracing the pathways, Hubcap unlocks the door. Wraith Power Armor pulls up some schematics from Polyhex on his HUD and starts making his way towards the power station while taking extra care to hug the wall in order to minimize the chances of a random Decepticon bumping into solid air. <> "BEEEP--" Fasttrack beeps again, but is suddenly interrupted in its angry tirade as another Decepticon is knocked into him! "HEY! Clumsy drone!" the Decepticon grunts, giving Fasttrack a kick which knocks him over. "Yes, I remember now, the name is familiar," Scorponok remarks to Needlenose. "That world will burn--" He stares back at Fasttrack as the other Decepticons notice, growling as someone kicks his drone. "-hnnngh, dammit. Of course, Blast Off, I KNOW that's Fasttrack, he's MY drone!" Scorponok bellows, getting the Fasttracks mixed up again. He stomps through the crowd, shoving people aside until he approaches the Decepticon who kicked his drone. "THAT WAS MY PROPERTY!" Scorponok yells before backhanding the suddenly terrified 'con into the air. And quite a bit of air, too. As the Autobots (and Benefactor) head inward, they soon pass into the shadow of Darkmount, which blots out one of Alpha Centauri's suns from view. The power stations are fairly spread out, but as luck would have it, it becomes obvious which power station is going to be the important one. There is yellow laser-tape running all around the station as Decepti-cops patrol the perimeter. From afar, one can see that a wall has been torn open with a giant scorpion-sized hole. There are also damage from sonic cannons blasting the walls from the inside. A few Constructicons are milling about, trying to decide how much they're going to charge for fixing all this. Needlenose meanwhile gets up and follows Scorponok outside to watch him smack the Decepticon gumby into orbit. "Huh. That wasn't the Con I saw Fasttrack having a go with earlier," he says, tapping his faceplate. He turns to Fasttrack. "What is it that you saw, boy? Huh?" He pats his legs as he lowers himself to the drone's height. "Come on, boy. What did you see?" The minibot races towards that Primus forsaken place with which he is so familiar with. He gets the chills just looking at it. It's so different seeing it in real life--yet at the same time, it has such an odd, ominious familiarity about it. Once the power stations are in sight, he transforms, standing behind a bit of rubble that's near the laser tape, contemplating the fastest and easiest way in. Blast Off is now confused. "Uh...he doesn't really LOOK like a drone.... I mean, THAT little one (he points to the real Fastrack) looks like a drone, and he's even beeping like one, but Fastrack (he looks around, but Blurr has headed off...) well, it looks like Fastrack's already gone, anyway." The Combaticon shrugs and sips his latte. Wraith Power Armor occasionally checks behind to see if Specter is still with him. He spots the place with the police tape. <> Blurr is inwardly relieved as Scorponok appears to pay him no further heed. He comes upon the fortress, and stops, transforming to survey the area. Thankfully, it's immediately obvious which power relay they need to investigate. He watches the Constructicons milling about, as well as the guards. Huh. Well, they could try to bluff their way in, or find a more clandestine route. Wait, didn't Tailgate see this place when he was hooked up to Vector Sigma? <> Hubcap slowly closes the door again, grinning charmingly. "Sorry to have disturbed you sir, ma'am, um, unidentified sapient." The door relocks with a click. He strolls away nonchalantly. Needlenose listens to Fasttrack as he starts beeping at him, telling them all about how Blurr and Tailgate are totally here but in disguise, but Needlenose doesn't speak gibberish and so he has no idea what's being said. "Aw, that's a good boy." He reaches over to scritch Fasttrack behind the audio sensor, figuring that's what the drone is looking for. "Good boy, good boy!" Then standing up to his full height again, he thinks for a moment and then turns to Blast Off. "Gone, huh? Hmm. Maybe we should go check it out." See? He really DOES care about the Decepticons. "Think you could spot him from the air?" Needlenose is already taking off. "<>" Tailgate responds, heading away from the laser tape towards the vent he was referring to a moment ago. Blast Off looks at Needlenose as the other Con heads out. "Yes, I suppose so." He finishes his chai latte, then flies off after Needlenose, probably catching up with him pretty easily. He speeds along, scanning for the "Decepticon" he met at the Empire Day festival. Finally, he points down. "There he is." <> Blurr says, reiterating Hikage's warning. <> The speedster then proceeds to mill about, attempting to look as normal as possible. He leans idly against a wall. Needlenose flies along with Blast Off, transforming into F-16 mode along the way. When the Combaticon spots 'Fasttrack', Needlenose says, "Nope, never seen him before. Come on, lets go see what he has against our good buddy Fasttrack." The faux-Seeker soars towards towards Blurr. As for getting in, Tailgate's suggestion will work wonders. He knows this city as well as Vector Sigma does. Wraith Power Armor holds position not too far from the vent. The holo-field doing an even better job when he is immobile. <> Blast Off nods and also heads towards Blurr, landing nearby. He walks up to the "other Con". "Ah, Fastrack! We met at the Empire Day Festival. How have you been?" This is, of course, rather forward and "friendly" for the usually quite aloof Combaticon.... Fasttrack had tried to bite Needlenose's finger off after being scritched, but he has a faceplate. "...eh?" Scorponok grunts as the two other Decepticons suddenly depart to pursue the Faketicons. "I wonder what they're up to... Fasttrack! Stop beeping, follow them, and investigate!" "Bee-" Fasttrack almost beeps, but catches himself, transforming into his lazily designed altmode and driving off after Needlenose and Blast Off. "<>" The minibot responds, carefully dismantling the vent and crawling into the shaft. Once inside, he makes his way through the ventilation pipes and eventually finds a place to emerge that doesn't appear to be crawling with Decepticops. Plastering himself against the wall, he deadpans quickly, making sure he hasn't been seen. Diversion, Blurr had said--the power terminal is in a room very nearby and on the wall within Tailgate's grasp is an emergency evacuation alarm. This ought to do the trick, the minibot thinks to himself, and immediately pulls the lever down. Then he quickly makes his way towards the power terminal, keeping out of the Decepticops sight and away from the laser tape! The Mission Impossible music plays as Tailgate crawls through the air vents. Along the way, he may catch snippets of conversations in the adjacent rooms. "...First Apeface, then Scorponok..." "...got him holed up in Darkmount's basement. I almost pity the bastard..." "...cascading failure through the third and fourth relays. It was really genius in a way..." "...Coneheads, obviously. They're more aerodyamic..." The Mission Impossible music reaches a crescendo as the minibot finds himself in the power terminal room. Nobody is here, and there are sections laser-tapped off as they'll be needing repairs later. Hubcap notices the heavily guarded building and, after ducking around a corner to adjust his ID chip, is about to make an approach, when sirens blare. Quickly, he sends out a local broadcast <> Blurr waits for Tailgate to provide an appropriate diversion. Then Blast Off ventures up to him. Oh, great. Huh...the Combaticon is acting strangely conversational. Is he suspicious? Slag it. "We...did?" He asks slowly. "Um, good, I guess? Are you sure you don't have the wrong mech?" Needlenose lands next to Blast Off, serving as additional muscle for the Combaticon as he chats it up with 'Fasttrack'. Sunbeam and Zigzag transform out from their subspace holsters, serving as teeny tiny muscle. Needlenose then pauses, "Whoa, hazmat alert! Sunbeam, Zigzag, TO ME!" The pair jump back into his hands, now back in gun modes. Needlenose looks around for something to shoot in order to solve this hazmat problem. More Than Meets The Eye! F-16XL Jet Fighter transforms into robot mode! Needlenose is also in robot mode obviously. Tailgate takes due note of the conversation snippets he hears on his way throughout the ventilation shafts. When he reaches the right room, his optics widen. He's in the power terminal room now. He looks around, noticing the laser criss-crossing everywhere. Ducking down James Bond style, he crawls under the laser tape to get to the power terminal. When he reaches it, he looks it over a bit anxiously. And who should drop in on Fasttrack? Fasttrack, that's who! Yes, the little drone chased Needlenose and Blast Off down by the fortress, and proceeds with a battery of intense questions! "BEEP BEEP BEEP?" Fasttrack beeps, now that he's safely out of earshot of Scorponok. He points at Other Fasttrack for emphasis. Needlenose strikes a few action poses, aiming this way and that while dual wielding Sunbeam and Zigzag. He looks totally badass. Upon hearing a strange beeping sound, Needlenose whirls towards it in case it's the cause of the hazmat problem. Fortunately he manages to not blow Fasttrack's head off. "Oh! Fasttrack. It's you. You followed us the whole way here? What a good boy you are." In the power room, the terminal remains. Just what is Tailgate planning to do? Tailgate analyzes the power terminal, looking for any evidence of sabotage. He maneuvers around it, looking it up and down, hoping to shed some light on the power outage that had occurred in Polyhex. Blast Off cocks his head slightly as he looks at "Fastrack" and crosses his arms. "Why, no, no.... I remember you quite well. You were there, at the festival. I think you watched the "Death Match" a little...but.. come to think of it, you had a lot of questions for Dustoff and the others, didn't you? Are you some sort of media personality? An archivist? Or ...just a naturally nosy individual?" Come to think of it, Blast Off remembers that he also just doesn't LIKE this guy for some reason. He has no idea why, but there's just something very...annoying about him. If only he knew why. Suddenly, there are sirens, and the real Fastrack shows up. Blast Off stares at the drone, still somewhat confused, especially as Needlenose calls the drone Fastrack. "THAT's Fastrack, too?" He looks over at the fake fastrack. "They're BOTH named Fastrack?" Combat: Tailgate compares his Technical to 110: Failure :(Combat: Tailgate compares his Technical to 100: Failure :(Combat: Tailgate compares his Technical to 90: Failure :(Combat: Tailgate compares his Technical to 80: Failure :(Combat: Tailgate compares his Technical to 70: Success! "What is this, some kind of impromptu interrogation?" 'Fasttrack' asks, looking annoyed. Suddenly, alarms start to shriek and everyone starts trying to evacuate, converging in front of the main entrance. Ah! That's his cue. <> Blurr jumps, pretending to be startled even as Blast Off starts firing questions at him. "Oh! Good Primus, what is going on? I'd better report to the headcount area!" he exclaims, and takes off toward the power station and away from Fasttrack and Blast Off. He kinda strafes around the gathering crowd of guards and technicians, then finds a side door and sneaks in. Hopefully no one spotted him. What exactly was done to the terminal is completely out of Tailgate's league. But what /isn't/ is the repair work that the Decepticons have begun. It suggests someone did SOMETHING to cause a cascading failure. What that was is beyond Tailgate's know-how, but it definitely looks like sabotage. "<>" Tailgate oh dears, after giving the power terminal a good look over. "<>" the minibot says a little mournfully. "<>" He says, suddenly feeling a little faint and dizzy. Perhaps he's reliving his traumatic experience with Vector Sigma. Fasttrack beeps confirmation at Blast Off, and also flips Needlenose the bird. He also draws both of his weapons and starts posing, as if to one-up Needlenose, but he's just a clumsy drone, so one of his guns goes flying out of his hands at Needlenose's face. "BEEP?!" Fasttrack exclaims, now too distracted to notice his quarry escaping! Needlenose looks at Fasttrack and then 'Fasttrack'. Then back to Fasttrack. "I guess there's only so many names out there?" he suggests, scratching his head with Zigzag's barrel. "So Fasttrack was pissed that there was another guy with his name? Ha ha, that's pretty funny. Then one of Fasttrack's guns hits him square in the face. "Hey! I was trying to defend you, man!" Once inside, Blurr follows Tailgate's comm signal toward the central power terminal. It's clear that the station was sabotaged, but how, and by whom? He is not sure he can do much better than Tailgate. <> Blast Off listens to the drone beep and looks up to see the other "Fastrack" taking off. This IS highly suspicious, and now the Combaticon wants to know just who this is. He takes off after the stranger without another word, and spots him enter a side door. Didn't they just say NOT to enter? He radios to Scorponok and Needlenose. <> He peers inside the doorway. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar compares his Technical to 110: Failure :(The hovercar quickly unfolds upward and outward to reveal the fastest terrestrial Cybertronian in the galaxy, Blurr! Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 100: Failure :(Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 90: Failure :(Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 80: Failure :(Combat: Blurr compares his Technical to 70: Success! Hubcap scrambles up, over and around as he makes his way to the vent Tailgate used to gain ingress. Reaching Tailgate's location, he peers down then, seeing only Blurr, drops down into the room. Combat: Hubcap compares his Technical to 110: Failure :(Now suddenly Fasttrack--Scorponok's Fasttrack--is flailing about, beeping apologetically at Needlenose, scooping its weapon back. As if to make up for smacking Needlenose's face, he climbs up onto the Decepticon and proceeds to rub a polishing rag on Needlenose's mug. <> Scorponok transmits back. <> Combat: Hubcap compares his Technical to 100: Failure :(Combat: Hubcap compares his Technical to 90: Failure :(Combat: Hubcap compares his Technical to 80: Success! Combat: Hubcap compares his Technical to 80: Success! Needlenose eyes Fasttrack suspiciously, but just when it looks like he might start using Sunbeam on him, Needlenose chillaxes. "Aw s'cool, man. I can't stay mad at you." He grins inwardly and turns to Blast Off. "Yeah, lets totes go in there and see what's happening. Come on, Fasttrack, you can come along too." Blast Off gains permision to enter and does so as Needlenose turns to follow him. <> Since the building is supposed to be mostly empty, there are only a few signals to lock onto... which he does. The Combaticon draws his ionic blaster and heads down the hallways towards the readings... "Beeeep!" Fasttrack cries happily as he clambers onto Needlenose's shoulders, all past grievances forgotten, and raises his little arms. Needlenose holsters Sunbeam and Zigzag as Fasttrack climbs onto his shoulders. He jogs in after Blast Off, holding onto Fasttrack's legs so he doesn't fall off. As Blast Off and Needlenose approach, Blurr picks up on two incoming Decepticon signals. He's been scanning the power terminals, and from the repairs the Decepticons have begun, it is obvious that someone had sabotaged the machinery in just the right place at the right time, causing a chain reaction of sorts that resulted in cascading failure. Turning to Hubcap, he speaks with a sense of urgency. "Decepticons incoming," he hisses. "Come on Hubcap, what have you got?" Hubcap shakes his head briefly. " Well, that's interesting." He glances quickly at Blurr and Tailgate, "Too much to go into now. First prority is getting out of here." Blurr nods at Hubcap's words. Scooping up the stasis-locked Tailgate, he transforms and places the minibot in the driver's seat. It's cramped, but it'll have to do for now. "Right. Let's get the frag out of here. Think you can get out on your own?" He's just going to blow past anyone who tries to stop him, and hope he doesn't run into Scorponok. Hubcap pops a transmitter from his forearm as he jumps on top of the computer banks, then slaps it down on the side. "Get out if you can, one way or another, we'll get that data." Then he jumps up, tying to grab onto the vent. Needlenose can't help but laugh at something as he's running after Blast Off. Since he's also carrying Fasttrack on his shoulders, this makes him pretty ineffective. Hubcap is going to hear him coming from a zillion miles away. Will he and the other Autobots find a sneaky way out via the vents or go for the tried and true Blurr method of blowing past people? Blast Off speeds down the hallway, with Needlenose and the others running along behind. He just huffs, annoyed, at the same thing Needlenose is chuckling about, but tries to focus on the mission. << Ignore that nonsense, Needlenose- all of you- and let us focus here, shall we?>> The Combaticon enters the room with the disguised Blurr, Hubcap and Tailgate inside. Spotting them- or whoever they appear to be- he stops. They appear to be leaving... well, not if he has anything to say about it. He raises his blaster. "Halt, or I will shoot. Explain yourself NOW." It's okay, Needlenose--you might not be able to shoot anyone, but Fasttrack can do it for you. And so it is that Fasttrack whips out his little guns and begins pointing them forward. As soon as they burst in on the Faketicons, Fasttrack doesn't even let them answer Blast Off's questions before he starts shooting at them, his little lasers like painful pin pricks. Combat: Blurr compares his Agility to 35: Success! Hubcap dangles from the vent, glancing between the 'Bots and the 'Cons. "Umm, sorry, sir, I, um, sir, I was trying to evacuate. The alarm went off, you see..." With a yelp, he hauls himself into the vent as Fasttrack starts shooting. Blurr's optics widen as Blast Off, Needlenose, and Fasttrack arrive. <> Hopefully by now he's disappeared into the ventilation system. He jumps and ducks, easily avoiding Fasttrack's shots, then holds his hands up in resignation. "Hey, hey, cool it little guy! It's not my fault we have the same name!" he sighs, shaking his head. "Look, I heard the alarm and I was on my way out when I realized I forgot my tools somewhere. But then I couldn't find them so I figured I'd just come back later." Fasttrack, for his part, doesn't stop shooting. Or missing. Needlenose busts into the power terminal room just in time to see Hubcap vanish into the vents. He turns and chases after 'Fasttrack' now instead. "Go Fasttrack! Prove that you are a superior shot to my Targetmaster partners!" Needlenose stops, tapping his foot as 'Fasttrack' keeps dodging Fasttrack. "Atta boy! Oooo you almost got him that time! Little to the left! Wait, no, right! Shoot where he's going to be, not where he is!" "Beep beep!?" Fasttrack wonders aloud, pointing out that his lasers are the speed of light and hence should not require leading the target at all. He doesn't stop shooting, though, and hence the wall behind Blurr is soon riddled with holes. Blast Off looks up at Hubcap. "Right...." Then the Bot escapes into the vent... that's also highly suspicious. "You want to shoot something, Fastrack?" He says to the real one. "Go follow and shoot the mech there who just ignored my command!" The fake "Fastrack", meanwhile, gets a derisive snort. "And You're lying. I watched you enter this building after a direct order from command for NO ONE to come inside! You are coming with us.... and are going to see Scorponok very soon. If you are innocent, then you... then ...actually, I will make no guarantees. But ...*perhaps* you will live. If you are NOT innocent, then I am afraid this will be the last time we see two "Fastracks." He glances over at the angry drone. "I think that will please HIM, at least." Hubcap scrambles through the vents, and sends a signal back through the transmitter he placed. <> Okay, that was quite enough! Blurr didn't think bluffing was going to do the trick for long, anyway. "Nopenosorrynocando!" He suddenly says in his characteristic 'Blurr-speak' manner, before he grabs Tailgate again and his body folds in on itself as he transforms back down into his vehicle form. The hovercar then speeds off in the opposite direction, aiming for a door on the other side of the complex. In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. It's a mad and dangerous chase for Blurr to escape, being shot at by various Decepticons as he speeds out of the complex and back into the city. Needlenose, meanwhile, peers up at Fasttrack. "So close, buddy. So close." Blast Off suddenly hears a warning come over the com- a Containment Failure? The Combaticon looks around, slightly nervous now...and then he hears that hated voice, or something like it, which makes him freeze for a moment as the other Cybertronian screeches away...in a blurr. His optics widen, then blaze in anger. Was that...? He fires at the retreating figure in an uncharacteristic display of hot-headed anger, but it's already gone. If that was ....He can hardly even consider it. Finally, he snaps to, and looks at the others. <> And he heads out... optics still blazing. Needlenose nods to Blast Off. "If anyone asks, the breach was already there when we got here. Come on, Fasttrack." Needlenose jogs with his drone buddy out of the complex. He's already figured out what the Autobots were doing here, of course. He doesn't know what they're going to do with the knowledge, though. Blurr speeds through the city toward the tunnels he had used to enter it, doing his best to dodge any attacks that might come his way. By the time he's reached safety he's quite exhausted and banged up, but satisfied nonetheless. The first thing he does he make sure the others are clear of danger as well. << Is everyone clear? Hubcap?>> Hubcap clambers out of the vent shaft, << I think I'm clear, although in hindsight I just missed the perfect opportunity to infiltrate. Nevermind, heading back.>> Blurr sighs with relief. <> He then proceeds back to Iacon to write up a report for Command. ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/183 Posted Author AAR: Polyhex Outage Investigation Wed Aug 21 Blurr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A report from the Autobot Intelligence Division, bearing Blurr's signature. Less than a cycle ago, I led a team of intelligence operatives including Hubcap, Tailgate, Specter, and EDC benefactor Aramasu Hikage into Polyhex to investigate the cause of the recent power outage. We approached the city via the catacombs below, with Debris as the origin point. We noted heigtened security in the tunnels as we approached Decepticon territory. Upon emerging from the tunnels, we encountered Scorponok, Blast Off, and Needlenose discussing their plans regarding the Coalition. Needless to say, Scorponok is eager for revenge. Plans to cripple our energy sources, as well as take a more offensive position against the Coalition by striking various associated homeworlds, especially that of K'gard, appeared to receive approval from Scorponok. We then made use of public data terminals to retrieve a map of Polyhex, which led us to the affected power station near Darkmount. Tailgate was able to use detailed knowledge of the city granted to him by Vector Sigma to find a way inside through the complex's ventilation system, and then sound an evacuation alarm as a diversion. Hubcap and I were then able to enter the power relay. Hubcap's analysis of the available evidence has led us to believe that the power station was sabotaged. Someone or something alien to Cybertron found a way to strike in just the right place at just the right time, causing some kind of chain reaction leading to a cascading power failure. Additionally, according to the data he obtained, he was able to intercept comm traffic that made mention of a 'shadowy alien'. The traffic appeared to be part of a network that has been set up between the affected power station, Darkmount, and an external data storage facility located not far from the power relay itself. In conclusion, all evidence obtained thus far points to sabotage. Whoever or whatever it was is not immediately clear, but I suspect the Coalition or one of its affiliates was behind this one. I wouldn't be surprised if Silas were directly involved. Anyway, I suggest we move next on the data storage facility--there's a good chance we'll be able to find more information there regarding the perpetrator. Good work, Intelligence. Blurr, out. End transmission. ==============================================================================
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