| abstract
| - Monday, June 10, 2013 Nestled in the shadow of Iacon, and protected on its sides by natural defenses, the only way into Retoris in through the massive defensive structure known as The Wall, a medieval but effective enclosure punctuated by two devastating neutron cannons. Beyond the wall, the residential section of the city is making a slow comeback, as factionless Cybertronians have been provided homes in exchange for working in the city. There is even a large community of Kwarch refugees who have established their own community! Downtown Retoris is where the nightlife is, including an arts district, plenty of bars, and for public events, a beautiful town square designed as a nod to Crystal City in the hope of a future where all are one. Further back, warehouses and design spaces line the streets in the industrial section, where inventors, merchants, carpenters and engineers ply their trades and earn their keep to the tune of the humming twin power stations on either side of the main road into Iacon, the Tunnel of Retoris. Leading from the main gate, Rebirth Way cuts through the center of the city directly to the Tunnel of Retoris, where security picks up. Autobot security forces guard the entrance, which includes an emergency platform for Metroplex should he be needed. Below, the underground bunker housing the headquarters of the Retoris Emergency Active Response Division, the center of vast network of underground tunnels and roadways, can be found. Having spent half her life in San Francisco, Amber is wary enough to stand clear of any buildings. "I picked a bad day to play tourist, didn't I?" she comments uneasily, frowning. "Is there a more stable area nearby?" At least she had the foresight to bring her motorcycle, simply because of the greater distances to get anywhere. Erk. The buildings are falling. It is a new dawn on Retoris as one of Alpha Centauri's suns rises up over the horizon. Long shadows are cast across Retoris and Iacon, with The Wall casting the longest. Within southern Iacon, emergency mechs are starting to mobilize, but nobody has taken leadership yet to coordinate the relief effort. A tall grey rocket in Iacon's city centre suddenly splits apart, with the defensive tank track folding upwards as the rocket reconfigures into the Guardian known as Omega Supreme. In Retoris, Autobot and neutral civilians--both Transformer and alien--are sprinting for cover. Retoris's skyline is lower down than Iacon, which prevents any major collapses, but the shaking is still getting worse. Sirens can be heard in the distance. They did reconstruct Retoris with emergency shelters, right? Hopefully someone didn't overlook that concern. But that isn't one cassettebot's concern. His concern is just helping people get out of the way of imminent danger so the Autobots and emergency experts can get to the bottom of the problem. There's a flash of lavenderish glow as a forcefield forms against the side of a building, supporting the rattling structure while Retorians are being evacuated from it because it's never safe to stay on higher floors during a quake. It's not hard to trace the projection back to the street where Spindrift has anchored himself with his claws for support. Civilians first, then handle the disaster. Or something to that effect. It's been ages since he read Hot Spot's safety manual after falling asleep halfway through. Amber MacKenzie won't be doing any saving today, except that of herself. With the ground shaking, and things falling, she dares not use her motorcycle. The best she can do is stay in an open area, out of any rescuers' way and away from anything being jarred loose from any buildings. Oh that, and trying to keep an eye out for anyone in trouble. If she can't help people, she can at least spot. "You have one hell of a San Andreas fault somewhere, folks," she mutters to herself. An inbound shuttle flies low over Retoris. The back of the shuttle opens up and out comes Elita One! She slams into the ground on an already ruined piece of street, then stands, her receptors flickering as she seeks higher ground to survey the situation. <> She looks about at the scene, the chaos before her. <> She gazes about, her weapon in hand. <> She pauses, seeing some rubble fall from one of the higher buildings. There was little time to aim, not when there was a chance of civilians being taken out. Her cannon roars at the debris. <> Velum is pretty much a slew of curses by the time she dredges herself from her now messy apartment and rushes her way to the hangar she keeps her exo in, having to stop now and then to try and wrestle more of her combat armor on. Of all the days for an /earthquake/ to happen. With gloves in her teeth she scrambles to clear her exo of the tools and wires hanging off of it before climbing in, powering up, and moving out onto the street. "Alright, everyone, keep calm and move to the designated shelters!" Her voice booms through her suit while wading through the mass of fleeing Retoris citizens, making sure not to step on any smaller ones. "C'mon now, no shoving, just get inside, everything will be fine!" Any concerned citizens that approach are given the same lecture, albeit more polite, and are directed to follow all the others before she comms to the head femme in her ear. <> Climbing up into her large exo suit, Velum straps in, fires it up, and is ready to fight Retoris was designed with war and catastrophe in mind, and so it does have anti-bomb and anti-Trypticon shelters for civilians to hide in. Getting everyone there safely is an issue, though, as a Decepticon raid would give more warning than this quake has. Spindrift's forcefield does its magic to keep the side of a building from collapsing. Even as the shield holds the building in place, a desperate Autobot jumps from the highest floor... and transforms to fly away to safety. Another tremor hits, and the building starts to lean... lean... lean more towards Spindrift and his forcefield. Out in the middle of the city, where Amber is staying in the open, it suddenly gets much, much less safe. There's a deep rumbling coming from directly underneath her, stretching the entire length of the roadway. There's no obvious danger yet, but the chances are that's going to change in just a few seconds. As Elita One takes charge, Autobot emergency teams begin sounding off their location and capabilities. Currently they're spread throughout Iacon and Retoris, though most of the danger is in the southern city. The REARD reports in immediately, and are ready to deploy. There is also a reply from an emergency worker of a different sort: <> In the hangar, there's a sudden electrical short from one of the tremors that casts the entire place in darkness. It isn't until Velum is able to get back outside that she'll be able to see again. Silverbolt and the Aerialbots fly in after the shuttle Elita came in, the Concorde swooping low as a building crumbles. He allows the debris to fall onto him, taking the brunt of the damage and saving the civilians below from being crushed as they flee for safety. <> <> As the building starts to leer farther over Spindrift pushes more energy up against it. Is everyone out? When one guy jumps out and flies off and it looks like there's no one left, that's hopefully it. He's not going to be able to keep it up any longer, so Spindrift drops the field and his emitters snap shut as the armadillo does what his kind does best at looming danger -- curl up and ride it out. Better the wall falls on his armored shell that is made to take being blasted by tanks and lasers than some poor civilian mook that doesn't even have a real name. Pipes had been having a great time out to lunch in downtown Retoris, spending some time with the Autobot 80's Twin Grrlz, Flashdance and Synergy. Well, he was sitting at the same table, at least. And then the earthquake started. "Gearshifts and galloshes, is Unicron back?!" The minibot jumps onto the table and catches a big piece of neon sign, which would have otherwise squashed the twins, who have just now noticed he was there. "OHMAHGAWD you stepped on my energon!" Synergy scolds. "You mean your BOYFRIEND stepped on it." Flashdance corrects. "He is NOT my boyfriend." "He is totally your boyfriend." "Hi I'm Pipes!" Today was not going well. Elita One raises her head, looking at the flyer Autobot. She gives the mech a few seconds of her notice, just in case there was something fishy. Her hand goes to her audio receptors. <> She exhales relieved, <> She turns atop the roof to survey another area. <> She notes a pile of debris with three gumbies nearby. An arm twitches from beneath the pile. Elita motions to the rubble, "With me.", leading the others to help free the wrecked. <> Amber MacKenzie quickly decides that riding her motorcycle is less a risk than getting dropped into a massive (at least for her) sinkhole or whatever's happening underground. She starts it up and looks for a safer place to go... There aren't a lot of good choices right now. Her first impulse is to follow the evacuation, but she's very likely to be stepped on in the confusion and panic if she does. "Bloody hell." Skirting the crowds, she concentrates on making it to any clear, level area, her heart pounding. A skillful, adrenaline-powered bit of maneuvering gets her around a large chunk of debris that suddenly appears in her path. Everything here is so damned *big*! Exosuit is already outside, so being able to see shouldn't be an issue. Doesn't help that she stumbled around in the hangar before though, suit tripping over machines and the like that've been strewn about. Continuing to direct the crowds she moves forward down one of the main boulevards, moving off to help shift debris with a few others from the front of one of the many stores, allowing the freedom of a few customers and the shop owner who quickly scurry off down to one of the nearby shelters. Though of course, some shrill voices down the way have her looking up to spot Pipes with his lady friends, a minor scowl appearing on her face, of which can't be seen. "This isn't the time to be crying over spilled energon, ladies, you need to get inside, on the double!" The Nebulan barks to the trio, not exactly recognizing Pipes as one of the Autobots yet. Poor Pipes. <> Flashdance rolls her eyes at Velum, having already forgotten Pipes. "Ohmahgawd Synergy, it's Velum." "Ugh what a b word." "A total b-word." "She's like Optimus Lame or something." Regardless, the two trudge off and transform, heading for safety. The Kwarch slug alien that owns the diner, bracing himself nervously in his doorframe, gives Pipes a glare. "Hey you, somebody has to pay for their lunch! You're hear all the time..." "Pipes." "What? Oh yeah, this quake is gonna completely tear up my plumbing, you're right. But for now, how's about getting me to safety..." "Pipes." "Yeah, I'm worried about them too. Already said that. Now transform and let’s go!" Pipes transforms into his truck mode, and the apron wearing short order Kwarch cook climbs on the back. The two head after Velum. From above, one can see smoke pouring from buildings throughout Retoris. Several fires have broken out, with a commercial complex in danger of going up entirely. The Wall, built to withstand the best that Rumble can put out, still stands sturdy, and the Neutral Cannons are moving back and forth, scanning the skies for danger in case the Decepticons try to take advantage of the situation... if they aren't behind it in the first place. Rebirth Way, the main road going from the gates straight up to the tunnel that leads to Iacon, is littered with crashed Autobots and transports. The moment Spindrift drops the forcefield, the building comes toppling over right into his path. Big chunks of metal slam into the ground around and behind him, chasing him down the street. Amber will find moving through the crowds difficult, as people are panicking as they run past. There's enough aliens of her scale that the Autobots aren't totally unfamiliar with... you know, not stepping on them. There seems to be a clear area just in in front of a diner, where some heroic blue minibot has just caught a big neon sign, much to the sorta-awe of his girlfriends (two Autobots and one Nebulon in an exo-suit, it seems). The ground starts shaking again, but this time it is softer and more rhythmic. Soon it becomes clear that it is the heavy footsteps of Omega Supreme, who's just now appearing in the tunnel of Retoris to heed Elita One's call. He moves slowly with a plodding gait, and he's unsure of where to start with the chaos all around him. Sometimes you've got to run. And sometimes you've got to just tank the danger with your face. Fortunately Spindrift doesn't actually have to use his face. Though his head is just as well reinforced as the rest of him. As dust and rubble flits in the air from the collapse a few chunks of warped plate rattle around, only to reveal it's not from the Big Guy's footsteps as a pair of clawed paws shove them apart and Spindrift pushes his head out of the wreck. A few dents here and there, but none the worse for wear. He's still quite certain it was better him than someone else. As he hauls himself free the rising smoke catches his attention. <> Repugnus, unlike every almost every other Autobot, lacks a speedy altmode to help him get around. So it is that he arrives to the party late, hustling in and taking in the devastation with a sharp whistle. "Phew! Just when you think you're safe from the Decepticons, the ground itself tries to kill you! That's gotta be some horrendous luck!" A nearby neutral running past overhears this and glares at him. "Ohhhh, don't be such a baby about it," Repugnus says with a grin. <> Silverbolt confirms, and ascends to an altitude appropriate for surveying the damage. Circling the perimeter of each sector, he scans each area and relays the data back to Elita One. <> Elita One regards Omega Supreme as he slowly trudges through the arch, <> She motions to the side, "You two will have to carry him. Head to 6-G." She motions to the third gumby, "You help spread the word, keep your lights on. We need organization here, chaos is the enemy." With that, she transforms, rolling out towards the commercial complex! Amber MacKenzie is just a little too late to catch the Pipes express, but she can follow more slowly. It's getting much harder to maneuver, not just from the debris but from the continuing shaking. She is forced to brake several times simply because her balance is impaired. No, not *her* balance; the bloody planet's. She slows even more, only picking up speed when the ground steadies a bit. When her eyes aren't on where she's going, she glances ahead for the evacuees she's following and hopefully a shelter. An orange pincer reaches down to help Spindrift up. The arm it is attached to has been stripped of all armour, but beyond that the mech seems to be in decent shape. He has no faction insignia on him, and his head is more of a sensor unit than head. "Need a hand?" the Empty asks. The mech is taller than most, and from the looks of it must have arrived in Retoris with enough time to get one of those free overhauls that Autobots offer to the helpless mechs down on their luck. "I tried to get back to the surface as quick as I could, but I'm afraid the tremors hit first." The mech's antennas flash with each word. "Message: Received!" Omega Supreme says in a booming voice. He's moving even slower than normal, careful not to step on anyone that's smaller than him. His path takes him by the diner where Pipes displayed his heroics, and the Guardian has to be extra cautious with the presence of small-scale aliens. If they can avoid the falling debris, they might even be safer than the big guys who tend to topple over from the shaking. Then, all along Rebirth Way, a crack forms right down the centre lane. It starts off small but then starts to rapidly expand. The split divides the evacuees that Amber Mackenzie is following, stranding her on the side that doesn't have the shelter. There's a massive rumbling from deep beneath everyone's feet. It's loud enough that it's almost hard to hear one another. Exosuit just gruffs at the two femmebots, "Yeah yeah, get moving." She has to be that way for a reason. Don't need citizens dying on her, you know. Nodding to Pipes when he sets himself with his Kwarch passenger. "Nice catch, by the way. C'mon, after we drop him off you can help me with the others." Setting off she only pauses when the familiar rumble of a motorcycle is heard and she spots Amber, of all people, trying to weave around the debris strewn road. "Picked a bad time to show up, I'm afraid, Amber!" Whether she wants it or not Velum quickly steps over and scoops both bike and woman up in two hands and holding her close to avoid injury from bits of scrap that bounce off her suit, carting her off to follow after Pipes at a faster pace. "Seriously though, I thought you went back to Earth?" Ah well, can't be helped. "Why is it that I always have to come save everyone from something? I swear, the whole of Cybertron owes me at least one favor." Sky Lynx jets in, his engines scorching the sky by virtue of burning as hot as they are. That's...a fair bit of fuel going into that burn, too. Hmm. "Very well, let's see here... Beacons, Autobots! Let me see where everyone is at!" The Dino-bird dives down towards the nearest spot large enough to accommodate his size, setting off his own emergency beacon so others know where to find him. "All aboard who's coming aboard, this is a one-way flight, essentials only, do NOT-" He pauses as the roadway begins to crack, shuffling to one side before he drops into it. "Come on! I can wait all day, but I doubt any of you can!" That's...more directed to anyone in earshot. Mini Peterbilt Semi Cab slows up as Velum snatches up Amber. "I've got room!" The Waffle House Kwarch employee gives Amber a big grin. "We'll snuggle in!" Pipes revs nervously. "So...this isn't stopping! Also, there's a giant crack in the ground! That's probably going to end up terrible..." Spindrift accepts the helping claw out of the rubble. "Thanks pardner. Better to be here late than not at all, ayup." Once he's pulled free of the wreckage he climbs up onto Clawgrip's shoulder. "Com'n, we gotta go help the others. Omega and Bolt are on the fire." He nudges the side of the mech's head with his tail and points in the direction of the forming crevasse. "That way. If we get close 'nuff Ah can bridge the gap for people with a forcefield." Repugnus happens to have been about to cross Rebirth Way when the street forms a crack. The Monsterbot stumbles into an Empty, knocking him over, but the Monsterbot doesn't help him up. "Nfff, yeah, real sorry," he mutters. "Hrm, might have steady footing..." He rapidly transforms into creature mode! "...if I can dig in!" And the Monsterbot does exactly that, shoving his scythes into the ground and digging in with the claws in his feet. He looks up, noticing that the ground is splitting open. "Maybe... maybe if I can get a look over the edge..." Using his claws to help stabilize him as he approaches the edge, Repugnus looks almost like a really confused hiker! Huffing his way in from his Patrol, Hardhead stumbles and staggers as the ground gives way underneath him. Stumbling down to a knee, Hardhead pushes himself up and begins to help the nearest Cybertronians in distress. Working quickly, Hardhead starts ripping away debris and continuing his rescue efforts. Amber MacKenzie is first panicky at suddenly being snatched but grateful enough once she realizes what happened. "Hey, Velum. I really really glad to see you... No, this was a social visit; the only times I've been to Cybertron were for quick missions, and I *thought* things were quiet enough to risk a trip here to look around. If it's not the Decepticons, it's the bloody planet trying to kill me." And then the offer of snuggling with Jabba the Hut... She smiles brightly at the guy. "Thanks, but my good friend Velum already has everything under control." Pink Techcar lets loose with the high beams as she patrols upward towards Omega Supreme and the meetup positions. She can't go too fast what with all the debris, but she does proceed quickly. The pink car whirls and bootlegs around a fallen wall. <> She transforms into her bot mode, sliding in sideways towards the situation. Her skill at repair is not professional, but she knew a few things about saving lives. A few simple moves to protect the energon leakage from another. "You, come over here." She motions to a shocked gumby, "Stay here, hold pressure here. You're in charge now, find others, get him to one of the medevac points." She takes off again, < The Kwarch riding Pipes makes a disappointed grunt, which sounds sort of like a dairy fart. "Fine, don't ride with me. We'll keep it us bros- just me and..." "Pipes." "Yes, pipes, my Autobot friend. Are you a plumber mech? Cuz yer obsessed, buddy." Pipes, meanwhile, is still not thrilled. "Velum, this isn't stopping! Has anyone called Rodimus Prime? Has anyone saved Tailgate?" Clawgrip happily lets Spindrift climb onto his back, Yoda-on-Luke-style (though it is tough to tell what Clawgrip is thinking without a face). "The bridge...?" he looks left and right, apparently unsure of where anything is in this city. A quick nudge gets him trotting along in that direction, though, dodging debris as it rains down around him. "Think the world is coming to an end?" he asks in a conversationalist tone. The split down Rebirth Way finally stops growing, leaving about half a football field's length between the two halves. There's still tremors and deep rumbling, but the worst of it seems to be over... for now. Peering over the edge, the abyss stares back at Repugnus. Neither of Cybertron's two suns have risen enough to shed any light into the chasm, and with the main power out in the city it's only darkness. Omega Supreme reaches the commercial distract along with Elita One. "He reaches forward with his massive clawed hand, using his bulk to keep a residential tower from collapsing. He presses forward, putting his back into keeping it up. Bits of metal fall between his shoulder and arms, and he struggles against the weight. Exosuit snorts with a smirk, "Ah, well sorry your vacation was ruined. But hey, if we all live through this, it'll make an interesting stor-- Ergh!" Picking up the pace Velum nearly missteps in the fissure that begins to open up beneath her feet, inwarding curses and jerking hard at her controls to send the suit wheeling back before the ground has a chance to swallow both her and her passenger up. Welp, now Amber AND Velum are stranded instead, leaving Pipes and his Kwarch on the other side. "Damnit.." The Nebulan hisses, pressing lips thin and furrowing brows at Pipes in the background. "I'm sure they have Pipes, now just /hold on/! Gotta find a way to get over this damned ravine.." A moment to look around comes up with bits of building struts and rebar off on the side of the road. "Okay, new plan. Amber, either you wait here, or climb inside. Gotta leave your bike here a second.." If Amber does decide to join Velum, the exo's chest would split open to let her jump into the tiny cockpit where she'll have to huddle behind the seat. Or she can choose not to and be set down off to the side. Either way Velum gets to the strenuous work of dragging over the bits of buildings, trying to slide them across the gap to make a makeshift bridge. Sky Lynx has...a depressingly few amount of fleeing refugees in his hold. Most were fleeing away from the massive, rapidly forming trench. "Hold on, we're going for a ride." His engines kick up again as he takes flight to head for Hubcap's listed coordinates, leaving the trench behind. Unfortunately, it seems said podium location is rather...inaccessible. <> Optical visor flashing, he spies Omega Supreme by the falling building. <> He dives down, shouldering against the building Omega Supreme is struggling with as engines kick it up a notch to assist. "Hah...good to see you out and about, old chap! Pity the circumstances, no?" He would wink at Omega, if he could. "How many others are here assisting? I heard Hubcap and Elita One. Velum as well. Who else?" "Ah hope not, but Ah reckon it's doin' a number on the city," Spindrift replies. "First thin' first though, gotta get y'all out of immediate danger. Too many folks just tryin' to make a life for 'emselves to let it all go to waste now. By the by, name's Spindrift." You fight this war long enough and you get use to making introductions in middle of conflicts. As they near the crevasse Spindrift leans over Clawgrip's shoulder a bit to aim his projectors, which light up as he forms a flat length of forcefield across the gaping wound in middle of Rebirth Way, rounding up slightly at the sides to make a railing of sort. He doesn't have quite the finesse certain forcefield specializing FCs do, but he's not here so it should be enough to get the job done hopefully! "Make sure everyone gets across, and watch out fer fallin' stuff still!" Mini Peterbilt Semi Cab transforms into his robot mode, Cook stepping off to stand beside him. Pipes frowns, not happy about a sudden giant ravine cracking down Rebirth Way. "Pass on the energon pie, this is really bad..." He glances down at Cook. "I bet whoever designed and built this city is gonna be pretty cheesed at whoever we find out wrecked it." And then they both stare at the camera. Pipes stares into the ravine, and clicks his brights on. "What's down there, anyway?" Pipes transforms into his...well, his robot mode. Not every bot is a Wrecker, you know? Amber MacKenzie knows the first duty of a civilian in a war zone: don't be a burden on the fighters. While this isn't exactly a fight, at least she doesn't *think* it is, it is still an emergency situation. "Ditch the bike; I have more at home." She quickly slips into the cockpit and squeezes behind the seat, safe and out of the way. As long as Velum is safe, that is. "You can call for evac if necessary, right?" Continuing to make his way from the fringes of the area towards the center of activity, Hardhead merely grunts as moves to help as many people as he can between him and the others. His progress is slowed and measured as he just works away. "Primus...Rebirth Way is splitting apart!" Silverbolt exclaims as he watches the terrain tear itself in half down the expressway. Elita One then announces a rendezvous point in the residential sector 4-G. <> The sleek Concorde pushes his engines to full throttle and heads toward the location. But then he spots Omega Supreme struggling to hold up a building. "Hold on, Omega--help is on the way! Aerialbots, form up on me!" The others fly toward their leader obediently, the gestalt taking shape and moving to help Omega Supreme with the weight of the building. Hopefully their combined strength will be enough to stabilize it! Pink Techcar regards the chasm, she looks up into the sky, looking for Sky Lynx, but with all the smoke and panic, it was difficult. <> She looks over at the building beside her, it creaks ominously towards the chasm. She investigates. "Is anyone in here?" Flames creep up from...somewhere. She climbs to the second floor as the building starts to lean. "Any survivors in here?" She continues upward. Hold on, building, just a few more floors to go....Elita grimaces, this was where the Protectobots were needed most. They must've been on Earth still. The ceiling caves in before her, as the floors start to give way. She assesses her situation, then leaps up onto a pipe, swinging upward to the roof. The area seemed evacuated. Good, however it starts to groan ominously as it moves to tumble over. She plants her hands on the roof's edge then hurdles over it, sliding down the building's side as it starts to fall over. Bug Creature then, mouth open in awe for a moment, grins evilly. "Well! Time to see what else is down there!" and he leaps over the edge! "Geerronnimooooo!" he cries, and as he descends into the blackness, the only thing marking his position is a spray of sparks as he apparently digs his claws into something to slow his descent. Classic claw-guy trick. "Clawgrip," the Empty replies cordially enough. He seems a bit dazed, though not from the disaster unfolding around him. He is an Empty, though, and it's possible he ain't all there. He glances in the direction of Repugnus and the chasm that he's looking down, and just nods. He suspects he knows what the Monsterbot has discovered. "Levity: Not appreciated." Omega Supreme says as he puts his back into keeping the building up. He has no sense of humour, instead dedicated fully to his function as the Autobots' last line of defence. He doesn't answer who else is here, as it's Elita One doing the coordinating. He does, however, ask for help himself: "Assistance: Required!" His feet are starting to slip as he presses against the building. "Pleasure t'meet ya, other than the circumstances," Spindrift replies. He's still sitting on Clawgrip's shoulder while providing the forcefield-bridge for others to get across the crevasse and to the emergency shelters. For someone as small as Tailgate the tremors and shaking felt like the whole of Cybertron was going to explode! Eager to ensure the safety of everyone else, he quickly finds the rest of the Autobots surveying the damage that's already been done, but it looks like the cyberquake isn't finished just yet. Transforming, he hurries over to where the others are, and spots Omega Supreme having some difficulty supporting crumbling building. "Oh! I-I'll help you!" he cries, but then sees that Superion has already taken care of it. "...right, then. Where's Pipes?! Is he alright?" he yelps frantically. Elita One glances at the falling building, then hearing Omega's booming voice and the call to assemble, <> She raises her pistol, firing out several flare shots. That was its entire purpose after all...well after blinding Shockwave of course. She starts firing more flares over the cityscape, "Why didn't I just do this sooner?" <> "You're looking at the evac, I'm afraid." Velum asides to Amber behind her, grumbling softly a moment at her HUD blaring at her on the strain to her suit from picking up the heavy objects. "Everyone's pretty busy doing what they can. But don't worry, we're alright for now." Or so she hopes as she stares down the chasm and looks up to the hastily made bridge that's not exactly wide. She couldn't find much that was long enough to reach to the other side, so it'll have to do. "Alright. Now. If we fall.. Well, I can't guarantee what'll happen." She doesn't have claws to grip with like Repugnus afterall, who leaps on in. "The suit /should/ keep us safe though.." Note, should. And with that said she begins to inch her way across the gap. Dear whatever Gods Nebulans worship, please don't let another quake happen while she's crossing. Omega Supreme's footing slips... slips, and slips. Just when the behemoth thinks he is about to give way, salvation arrives. Superion is able to grab the building and give Omega time to regain his footing. With the both of them working together, they're able to keep the building up indefinitely. Their help is going to be needed elsewhere, however, so doing something to relieve them of this burden is paramount. Omega glances down. "Evacuation: Required!" he calls out to Tailgate. Sky Lynx increases his engine output. "Believe me, old chap, I am doing what I can." He has no true leverage beyond those engines, but they are a powerhouse no less. <> He looks towards the approaching bulk of Superion. "Hah, now there's a sight to welcome. Hurry your tailfin up, Superion!" He waits until things seem to stabilize. "Alright, Omega, Superion, I am going to back off... do you have this if I do?" He eases up just a little bit at a time, gauging how well the Gestalt and mobile brute of a mech are handling the load. Ah, good, they are. He turns his attention elsewhere, releasing the building fully as he spies Tailgate. "Come along! No time to linger." He drops down on all fours. "Hop on board, help me keep an eye out for the others, as well as anyone requiring a lift. But quickly!" The high beams from Pipes shine down the chasm, revealing a sight that has not been seen by mortal eyes in nearly fourteen million years. It is as if the world is hollow. It is well known that the tunnels underneath Cybertron go very deep, crisscrossing in an abstract maze of corridors overlapping other corridors. Elita One and any others who fought the good fight against the Decepticons during the Dark Ages know them well, but underneath Retoris there is no longer any sign of the ones known. There is empty space, and in the middle of it, at least a hundred floors down, is a factory on a world wide scale. Cables are shifted along, tugging huge platforms from one side of the chasm to the other, bound for destinations unknown. Scaffolding reaches up as mechanical arms put together bits of ground, machinery, or even entire buildings before carting them off again. Panels slide into place, forming around each other to form roadways that lay on conveyor belts to be carried away. In the middle of it all, it is all powered by a massive and ancient gear turns. Its metal teeth grip other gears, which turn the pulleys which move the conveyors which distribute the materials and finished product out of sight. It is into this chaotic assembly line that Repugnus now descends. Grunting as the orders come in, Hardhead alters his course and makes his way towards the nearest evac point, moving to help rescue anyone that he finds along the way. Spindrift peers down into the crevasse as it's lit up, as likely does Clawgrip just out of abstract curiosity. "It... looks like it's buildin' itself down there." This is a big technical thing and well over the little defender's grasp of things. Doesn't matter. As long as his bridge is helpin' people get to safety, it's all that matters. Clawgrip can probably hear a slightly louder hum come from within the dillo-bot as his gyroscopic dynamo revs up to keep providing power to his force-bridge. The little minibot swerves wildly to avoid the falling debris that's raining down from the building Omega and Superion are holding up. "Aaah!" Tailgate cries, "Er, right! I.. I didn't mean to get in the way," he says, sounding slightly disappointed. However, he quickly complies with Sky Lynx's command, he just barely manages to leap up and grab onto Lynx's leg, he's such a short little guy. "We should make sure Repugnus is alright!" Autobot Shuttle kicks off his thrusters in a series of short bursts, slowing his descent until he touches down gently. Then he extends his boarding ramp. "All abo-" He breaks off mid-word as his sensors report the external activity. Bug Creature lands on the conveyor belt transporting the roadways, and takes a moment to look around and get his bearings before he decides to run down the conveyor belt, occasionally peering over the side. Soon he sees a series of mechanical arms approaching him, ready to put the final touches on the roads before they're shipped off. One of them zaps him with a laser as it carves a manhole into road. "Agh! Screw this!" Repugnus snarls, and slices the arm off. He charges down the assembly line like this, slicing up more arms as he goes. Amber MacKenzie gets an uncomfortably good look at the deep chasm below as Velum approaches it, thanks to Pipes' headlights. "Uhhhhh. Maybe tie a cable to something sturdy as an anchor first?" she suggests nervously. That's a looooong ways down. She keeps very, very still. If she moves, even her weight could be enough to throw Velum's balance off. Elita One leaps forward into vehicle mode roaring, using the light from her flares as guidance for a few hundred feet. <> She swerves down a different road, then makes another strong turn. The techcar hits a high ramped broken piece of road which sends her into a flip. She moves to transform in the middle of the action which sends her sprawling to the ground in pain. She pulls her feet under her, then clears her head. "Roads are shot, on foot then..." She hoofs it towards the evac point, occasionally shooting flares for any civilians in the area, but none so high up to confuse the shuttles. "So," Clawgrip says wearily as he and Spindrift look down the chasm. "NOW do you think the world is coming to an end?" He laughs, "What happens when we take a wrong turn and are crushed by construction bigger than any of us could have imagined?" Despite his nervous laughter, he holds still, which should help Spindrift keep the forcefield steady. For Repugnus, the conveyor belt continues unabated. The stump of the sliced off mechanical arm still goes through the motions as if trying to etch out manholes, but of course nothing happens now. The roadway continues to fly forward, threatening to take Repugnus far away from the chasm that leads to the surface. Up ahead, as massive slicer comes slamming down on the roadway at regular intervals, segmenting them into more compact parts. For anyone else looking down, the view is suddenly blocked as mechanical arms and scaffolding starts to form, roughly creating a line that matches the chasm down Rebirth Way. Heavy hydraulics move underneath this latest construction, looking like it's ready to raise something up to fill the gap that's been created. Even as this goes down, a small hovering drone of unknown origin--no bigger than a Cassetticon--flies up through the chasm. It has two small anti-grav wings that angle depending on the direction it's flying, and a single optical sensor on the front of it. The drone moves up to Amber and Velum. The optic rotates, focusing on them from just a few metres away. Sky Lynx blinks down at Tailgate. "Repugnus? What happened?" He looks towards Omega Supreme and Superion. "Keep that up until it is evacuated, make sure it does not fall and cause follow on damage. Gently to the ground, unless your own safety is compromised. You do us no good at the bottom of a trench." He pushes off the ground. "I will be in radio contact!" Following the various evac beacons, he skirts along the trench that opened up. "Talk to me, Tailgate! What do you see?" He flashes a quick IFF to the incoming shuttle, to both acknowledge its presence and notify it of his own. <> Superion continues to assist Omega in keeping the building up while it is evacuated. The fleeing mechs have plenty of time now, with the two of them holding it up, though likely not forever. "Affirmative." the flying gestalt rumbles in response to Sky Lynx. His voice is monotone, but he's probably a little annoyed at not having any Decepticons to beat up, and at feeling a bit like Defensor right now. "I-I.. see a lot of weird machinery! A conveyor belt and mechanical.. arms? There's a lot of hydraulics down there.." He looks around, hanging by one arm and peering down in the deep chasm. He sees the small drone rise up out of the strange abysmal darkness and jumps a little, taking out his blaster. "A drone just came out from down there!" He starts to take aim, but then suddenly remembers that Repugnus might just be in a lot of trouble. He leans downward, optics wide and bright." Exosuit would've done that, honestly, but too late for that now! "It's alright, we got this, I promise we'll make it across, just.. don't move." She does her best to reassure Amber while easing across the thin bridge. Almost there.. almost.. there! With a few feet left Velum makes a dive for the other side, landing with a clang of metal on asphalt as she lands on hands and knees. "Ha!" Velum roars in victory, beaming as she straightens up her exo, actually chuckling a little despite the surrounding chaos. "See, told you we'd make it! ...Hey, what's that thing?" Turning back to view the chaos she halts when spotting the little drone flying up, Velum pauses to stare a moment. "..Have you seen a mech like that before?" She questions Amber at her back tentatively, not quite sure to attack or not. "HALLO DOWN THERE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Tailgate calls down to Repugnus. Autobot Shuttle lifts back up off the surface, <> En route, Ranger passes over the chasm, but doesn't try to penetrate the whirl of scaffolding and hydraulics. Descending amidst the beacons, he hovers above the ground, ramp open, ready to head out at a moment's notice. Bug Creature pauses a moment as he sees the slicer up ahead--and the fact that he's running out of conveyor belt to run on. He looks to his left--ah-ha, those hydraulic arms look like they're hauling something up! "Sorry, Cybertron, but I don't like what you've done with the place!" he says, leaping off the conveyor belt, scythes outstretched for the hydraulic arms. He tries to sink his claws into them, sliding down them just like he did with the edge of the crevasse. "See if you can... lift anything up... with no pressure!" Eventually the Monsterbot realizes someone is calling to him, and he calls back, "WHAAAAT?" <> Amber MacKenzie is jolted a bit, but reaching the other side of the gap safely is worth it. She sighs quietly and slowly, carefully pulls out her Blackberry. May as well make herself useful. Peering over Velum's shoulder, she records the image of the probe. "No. I was about to ask you about it. Could it be Decepticon?" she asks Velum softly, finally able to stretch her cramped muscles. Elita One makes her way back to the new chasm, firing a few flares into the air, and into the chasm itself. She spots Velum, then hurries over the two city blocks towards her. Elita One gets there just in time to be late to help out after the jump. She tilts her head, "Amber MacKenzie? Are either of you hurt?" She questions, then turns her attention to the drone, quickly making note of it for analysis. It could easily be a Con drone, but her lasercore told her it was something else. Perhaps here she could find an answer. Sky Lynx hovers over the trench momentarily to get his situational awareness intact. "We're going to the first beacon, Tailgate. Repugnus sounds intact and is the least of our concerns right now." He looks towards Velum and the probe, then to Elita One. "The probe is on the opposing side, Elita, unless it follows Velum. I'm moving to the first beacon on my side, need a lift across?" Dropping down low enough to give her a quick lift across, he offers, of all things his tail. "Grab ahold if so, Elita One, I'm not stopping for a smooth loading process." And, true to his word, he's slowing down, but not ceasing motion on his way. Hearing the distress of two of what pass for friends for Hardhead and friends for sure for Duros, the headmaster duo begin to make his way towards Velum and Amber, only to be distracted by the calls of trapped civilians. Duty first, Hardhead grinds his joints as he turns to free the trapped civilians. Diligently removing the wreckage, piece by bloody piece. "Kinda looks to me like it's buildin' more than comin' to an end," Spindrift replies, but he's just voicing his opinion instead of trying to actually contradict Clawgrip. He's not to sort to go about doing such a thing. He does however finally jump down from Clawgrip's shoulder and settle on the ground. He's vibration resistant, he should be okay even if things do start to shake a bit. Turns his head to look up to his new friend. "Ah appreciate the help pardner, but ya oughta go with the others now. They need yer help keepin' safe more." Between the bridge and Ranger's shuttle, there's no shortage of ways for people to evac now. Pipes sighs. "This isn't good at all. Not one bit." Cook, the loveable Kwarch short order cook who is not actually named Cook, shrugs. "Welp, at least we didn't fall down that there thing. Thanks for the save...you." And he pats Pipes on the back. And of course that's a terrible thing to have happen, because Transformers have severe reactions to Kwarchen skin. Pipes stiffens up, and loses all sense of balance. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh my processors feel like....dsfsfsd001110110000" And then Pipes falls into the ravine! "What?! Least of our concerns?! But when was any Autobot the least of our concerns?! We need to help Repugnus! At least I do. I owe that guy!" Tailgate says. "You might be going to the--" his sentence abruptly cuts off when he sees Pipes falling down into the ravine. "NO! Pipes!" And he immediately lets go of Sky Lynx's leg and drops into the ravine himself. Omega Supreme finally relaxes as the building is finally confirmed to be evacuated. He glances over at Superion to try and silently decide what they should now do with it. Assuming the Aerialbot agrees, Omega Supreme will gently set the building down along an empty street since they cannot hold it up forever. The drone buzzes around Velum and Amber, showing no concern for possibly knocking them off the bridge and into the abyss. It tries to eye them from all angles, getting in awkwardly close at times. Once Velum and Amber are on safe ground, the drone stops watching Amber and instead watches Velum. A blue beam shoots out from the drone, encompassing the Nebulon. There's no immediate damage, but Velum's exo-suit instrumentation will show that some kind of scan is being performed on it. There's no obvious Decepticon insignia on the drone, and Cons do love putting that symbol everywhere. Perhaps someone in the Decepticon Empire got wise to that? Below, the scaffolding that was built up in ten seconds is now being removed at the same speed. The total construction time was about a minute, and what is revealed is a sort of silver bottom half of a pipe--with the ends capped off-that looks like it would fit into the Rebirth Way gap perfectly were it raised. One of the hydraulic arms holding the half-pipe up gets clamped by Repugnus, and struggles under his weight. Meanwhile, a big hose slides out from the machinery below, starting to pump some kind of glowing liquid into the half-pipe. **SPLOOSH!** Pause. **SPLOOSH!** Pipes and Tailgate land right in it! It's... raw, unprocessed energon. More Autobots are dispatched to the scene to provide a helping hand, each heading to different areas of Retoris. Cerebros happens to be a part of the latest arrivals, having traveled onto the scene riding on top of Gasket while Grommet follows alongside. Eventually the drones pulls up into the vicinity, just before the trenches and Cerebros hops off. A look of surprise is worn across Cerebros' face as he stares at the gaping hole below, "This is catastrophic! What's the situation here as of now?" "Fool of a mech!" Sky Lynx swears in Cybertronian as Tailgate drops down after Pipes. "You're no good to me dead, and no good to the-" He catches his words and carries on. After all, he is, true to his word, picking up evacuees at the first beacon, though his attention is turned towards the trench. <> Letting out a mild grunt of agitation, he looks around the area he's landed in. Everyone aboard? So it is. "Alright! We are leaving! Hold tight, make room, we've got more inbound yet!" He lifts off to head towards the next evacuation beacon, launching a flare skyward to alert anyone in the area he's arrived to pick them up. Elita One fires several flares into the depths of the trench again to aid Sky Lynx' search. "What is going on down there? Is it some sort of Construction trickery?" Hearing Cerebros, she responds on the channel <> She regards the two off-worlders, "I'm going to see if I can get some scanning gear to identify this thing, Doesn't appear to be armed, still, keep your wits about you." SPLASH! Also, thud. Pipes hits the liquid energon, but the pool isn't all that deep, so he hits the bottom pretty hard, too. The mini bot bobs to the top still dazed from Kwarch poisoning. He smiles and waves at no one. "Oh well hey, Brawn. It's nice to see you, too. We never did hang out that much before you got shot to death." Amber MacKenzie holds her breath as the bloody Peeping Drone intrudes in their personal space, but there's nothing else to be done. The blue beam of doom is alarming, but once again, when one is walking a tightrope across a 100-story chasm, you can't do much. "Any damage?" she whispers to Velum, not knowing what the thing is doing. *She* feels nothing, but it may be doing something to the exo. Ka-shunk ka-shunk ka-shunk. Repugnus's head pokes up over the edge of the half-pipe, grinning with needle teeth at the two minibots. His bulbous optics gleam an evil green light. "Hey, guys! Heard you drop in. Say, what the hell are you doing down there?" He decides to paraphrase one of his favorite lines from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. "You could be killed!" Then he laughs like it's the funniest thing ever. He drops into the energon, and laps it up with his freaky insect-tongue. "Mmmh, delish! Did you guys make this? Hee!" Bug Creature takes a moment to reply to Sky Lynx: <> Okay, now she's confused. Velum takes no heed to the little drone as it circles around them during their crossing, though she gives it an odd look as it continues once they're on the other side. She can't help arching a brow at Amber when she spies a Blackberry moving into view to record, giving the human a sort of 'really?' look. Of course this all drops when some sort of beam shoots out of the drone and envelopes her and her exo, Velum freezing up in response. "I don't.. think so?" She answers her backseat driver, looking puzzled now as her systems ding and flash, signaling the alarm of being scanned. "What the hell, why is it scanning /me/? Is this some sort of security system?" If it is the scan would come up as Nebulan and Human for the drone. Both for the mix of parts of the exo, and wholly Neb for her. And also Human for Amber if it bothers to pay attention to her in the cockpit. Autobot Shuttle rises, closing his hatch as he goes, << I'm full up to the gills, where do I take these guys?>> Superion nods to Omega, and once his scans have confirmed that everyone has safely exited the building, he sets it carefully down onto the street, minimizing the additional damage to the building as much as possible. He's not really used to all this 'delicate' work, but he does his best. He then flies off to continue assisting in getting more Autobots and civilians to safety, and clearing rubble away from those who might be trapped below. Spindrift will sit here keeping his force-bridge in place as long as he must. He's diligent and stubborn like that. Sky Lynx glances in the general direction of the trench. <> ...scan complete... The drone's blue scan shuts off. It stares at Velum's exo-suit for a few seconds longer before turning on Amber Mackenzie. The beam shoots out, catching her as well. It tingles in a not-so-pleasant way, but doesn't hurt. ...scans complete... ...targets identified as organic in nature... The drone turns, shutting off its scanner. From afar, it can see a pink femme firing flares down into the trench. It hangs in the air, unmoving for now. ...second specific organic & specific demon already present in memory banks during temporal and matter transmitter disturbance... ...replaying time index 0011 0000 0011 1000 0011 0001 0011 0001 0011 0010 0011 0000 0011 0011 0011 0011... Far below the surface of Cybertron, in a place called "The City," the EDC had taken up residence, occupying portions of the city. The residents didn't mind too much at first. When Cybertron began producing energon again, they no longer needed to scrounge for energy. But that problem was replaced by another--wild packs of Cyberanimals constantly antagonizing the city, causing mayhem. And the planet itself seemed... upset at the substantial EDC presence. Every now and then, a building in The City would abruptly collapse as something transformed under it, removing its supports. ...acquire visual and audio data... "I'm telling you," one beat up robot explains down at General Cross, "You gotta let us leave. This... this planet. I don't think it likes you guys." ...close log. The gigantic gear starts to turn once more, making a loud and awful creaking noise that echoes throughout the chasm. With the scaffolding gone around the half-pipe, the entire contraption begins to rise up towards the surface. With Repugnus now *in* the river and no longer grabbing the hydraulic arms, it's able to do so relatively smoothly. The energon slooshes around wildly from the movement. The actual energon is unprocessed, meaning it's unpleasant for most Transformers to actual consume. Of course, Repugnus isn't most Transformers. Cerebros winces as he surveys the region after Elita One provides him a quick, but sufficient, update of the situation. Seems like the Autobots who arrived are already coordinated and well aware of what needs to be done, such efficiency is praise worthy in both the eyes of him and Fortress Maximus. Cerebros slides off from Gasket and lands onto the ground, giving the drone enough room to merge with its partner and form Cog. The mini Headmaster quickly goes about to the trench, taking a look down before keying into his commlink with for a query. Meanwhile, Cog turns around and points at the drone he finally notices the peculiar object. From Cog's plated mouth comes Fortress Maximus' voice, << Any idea what that thing is and what it's doing here? >> <> With that, Ranger engages his primary non-ftl engines for a moment, boosting him away from the area. Setting down somewhere in Autobot territory, he hurries people offboard. <> Sky Lynx hits the ground as soft as he can with the speed he's moving, firing another flare into the air to call on the refugees. <> He mutters and shuffles, rather...antsy at the fact he's still waiting for the evacuees to load up while someone's stuck in that trench. It is not an ideal situation. <> He looks off to the side to watch Velum and Amber. <> Too many things going on at once. <> Amber MacKenzie can't help but to flinch as she's scanned, whether it hurts or not. "Still in working order," she says to Velum in reassurance, hoping that that stays true. With the probe's attention apparently shifting, she adds, "Maybe get some distance from that thing?" She's done what she could to record the probe's image, though her Blackberry is woefully inadequate compared to Cybertronian technology. Putting it away, she tries to squirm into a more comfortable position, with unsuccessful results. That was.. so weird. When Sky Lynx's voice is heard over the comm Velum is quick to reply, not taking her eyes off the drone as she does. <> Glancing back at Amber over her shoulder she just shakes her head a little, "Not yet. I wanna know what that thing is. Just stay where you are. If that thing fires you'll be safe back there." ..Wait what?? Time to be the diplomat. With a hiss of hydraulic pressure the front of her exo cracks open to reveal the two in the cockpit, Velum wanting the drone to get a good look at what's inside. "Hey! You over there!" She calls to the drone, curious if it understands what she's saying. Velum holds a hand to one side of the cockpit to steady herself as she stands before her chair, peering out at the thing. "You can down from there, so what's all this about? Our city's in ruins because of these quakes and I think you know why!" The little minibot flounders momentarily as he drops aft first into raw energon pool. "Oloorf," he gurgles out. Paddling to the surface of the pool, he deadpans, searching for the two other Autobots. Spotting Pipes first he grabs him by the arm and hauls him over to an overturned piece of metal and making him sit on it. "PIPES! I'm not Brawn, and Repugnus is not Ironhide! A-Are you alright? Pipes? Pipes?!?" Then he looks around and find Repugnus lapping up the energon like a thirsty dog. "Oh Repugnus, thank Primus you're here!" Which is probably the first time in a long time Repugnus has heard that phrase. Tailgate trots over to him and examines him. "Oh good! You're okay!" <> Repugnus says while he watches Pipes float in the energon. He then glances up at Tailgate. "Eh? Oh, it was nothing. Felt kinda like something out of an NES game for a moment there, though. I'm just lucky I didn't run into the hydraulic presses, but those were probably in the next stage. Heh!" Amber MacKenzie, about to answer Sky Lynx, hears Velum speak for the two of them, which is fine with her. Right now, they're a package deal. Her eyes widen in shocked disbelief as the only thing between her and the alien spybot vanishes, leaving her exposed to view. She gapes at Velum and then rolls her eyes. If they were going to make a suicide pact, she would've liked to have a voice in it! Slowly rising to her feet - she's still stiff - she steps up beside Velum. "We're going to have words after this is over," she growls softly to the other woman. "Response: Formulating," Omega Supreme replies to Sky Lynx. The behemoth takes slow, trudging steps away from the commercial district back towards the chasm. He isn't fast, though, so it might take him a while to get there. His rocket form isn't built for any sort of action that requires agility, either. The drone doesn't seem concerned about Amber's Blackberry, but once Velum starts calling out to it, it looks back to her. The drone floats over the exo-suit, peering at the now revealed Nebulon. It recalls seeing some of a similar ilk earlier, when its lunar satellite was terminated. It recalls the white gleaming mechs there as well--both Sky Lynx and Superion. The drone hovers up reeeeaaal close to Velum, staring at her with its wings folded back. Its rotating optic is as big as her head. Is it considering her question? Is it thinking of an answer? Does it even understand her? Then, without warning, a cable shoots out from the underside, striking the ARES's diagnostics port. There's a soft whining noise as the exo-suit loses all power. Even as it does this, the drone doesn't stop staring at Velum. Down below, the half-pipe rises up to the surface, locking in place along the Rebirth Way chasm. There's a series of loud clicking noises running from one length to the other before the caps of the half-pipe are removed. The edges are rough, but the end result is a raw energon river floating through Retoris. Sky Lynx has one stop left. <> He affords himself a chuckle and loads up the last... Ugh. Full. <> Closing his personnel door, Lynx takes off and turns to in order to drop off his current load of passengers so he can return to finish the run. "Welcome aboard, one and all. Apologies for standing-room only, it will be a short flight. When exiting, do not shove, push, throw, shoulder, or otherwise attempt to dislodge a fellow passenger, I will not be pleased." Autobot Shuttle watches for a moment, speechless, before managing: << My lifting cables never made a river...>> Exosuit glances a moment to Amber as she steps up beside her, raising a brow. "I thought I said stay behind the chair." And then Amber growls at her, which draws out a smirk from the Neb, "Sure, but I'm gonna end up being your shield now, you realize?" If Velum dies they can't have that talk, now can they? When she turns back she comes face to face with a giant, rotating eye that has Velum staring wide and leaning back a hair or two. But once she realizes it isn't doesn't to shoot or stab her she straightens back up and just stares back while folding arms across her chest. "Well?" She questions with an arch of a brow. Aaand then it drains her suits power. Not a good move, drone guy. "Hey now!" She scowls at the drone, setting a hand on a hip while the other points at her exo, then directly at the giant optic in her face. "What was that for, eh? You don't see me draining your power. And you still haven't answered me." Meet Velum, everyone, the human-sized organic unafraid to stand up to anything bigger than her, mechanical or otherwise. Bug Creature tries to dig a claw into a part of Pipes that's nonvital as he gets sucked downstream in the energon river! "Woah, there, little guy! I can't even imagine how bad off the Autobots would be without you! Tailgate, help me with this..." He digs his foot claws into the bottom of the river to prevent himself from being swept away as well! Cog looks up at Sky Lynx and its master's voice responds in a frustrated tone, << Just doing what we can, but not nearly enough of what we could have if only I could have retrieved my main body in time. I've arranged for Iacon's facilities to accommodate the injured from Retoris, Autobot City's also ready to receive the wounded coming in through from the space bridge. You and Elita One have done well coordinating the others here today. >> Meanwhile Tailgate is barely hanging for dear life onto a bit of metal that's overhanging the raw river of energon. Repugnus doesn't need to tell Tailgate to grab onto Pipes, he already is gripping his minibot buddy like his life depends on it. "Repugnus! Grab my leg! I don't know how long this piece of metal is going to last, but I promise I'm going to try my best to get us all out of here!" Amber MacKenzie shrugs. "It already knows I'm here, and I doubt any Cybertronian tech could be stopped by a chair." She doesn't comment on Velum's volunteering to be a human shield. If it attacks, it would take out both of them at once. Rolling her eyes again as the Nebulan scolds the probe like a mother scolding her child, she mutters, "I doubt it cares about what it's doing to us." She resists the temptation to step away from Velum. Omega Supreme reaches the river just in time to see it connect with the surface. Somewhere behind that translucent face shield of his, he's grimacing out of concern. It took the near destruction of just one building to waylay him, but moving one building seems like child's play to whatever is mangling his planet. He wonders how Crystal City is holding up right now. He'd like better information than what the Decepticon propaganda agencies churn out. The drone remains attached to the ARES for a good ten seconds before the cable finally retracts. With an uplifting noise, the exo-suit powers back up. Its start-up routine has been modified, though, and the computer read-outs have been completely altered. The drone doesn't answer Velum, but the instrumentation on the ARES does. The HUD flicks itself on, playing a brief video with accompanying text. The drone turns away and starts to zip off. Sky Lynx lands, unloading everyone on board...which actually goes well enough due to the stunned nature of everyone on board. With that done, he's back to it. <> He checks the beacons for evacuation that have not been visited yet. He does glance down at Velum and Amber. The drone, by this point in time, has disconnected, so he sees no foul play at hand. <> He thoroughly anticipates a response, moving on through towards the last of the beacons on his side, launching a flare. Bug Creature misses Pipes, probably for the best, but he quickly considers just sinking a claw through Tailgate's leg to "grab on!" Again for the best, he decides to just transform and grab on. "Eh, alright, Tailgate. Say, you're, uh, pretty strong right?" he says casually. "If you're worried about getting swept away by the river," Tailgate says, "well, don't. That won't happen unless my leg breaks off. Or my arm. I swear by Primus I'll do everything mechly possible to keep both you and Pipes safe..." Exosuit doesn't respond to Amber, focusing on not breaking eye contact with the drone. Is she trying to read it somehow? Get something across through a simple look? It's unsure, but her expression lightens when the drone retracts its cable and her suit powers back up. "Thank you." She says calmly, opening her mouth to speak again, but no words follow as it zips off. "Er, hey wait, I wasn't done yet!" She calls after, but it's useless, the drone too far out of range. And so, with a grunt she turns in her cockpit to go over the systems, making sure nothing was damaged. Everyone's perfectly fine, actually. Well, expect the changes that have been made to her OS as well as the video that suddenly plays for the two women. "What the..." No.. no that can't be. "That's.. Cross??" Velum blurts out in shock, eyes wide and grip tight on the side of the cockpit. Was this old footage or new? She can't tell, only able to stare with mouth agape. Amber MacKenzie arches a brow and stares first at the video and then at Velum. She was there for that incident. "That's... interesting. Looks like it actually answered you. That last was pretty telling, too. I don't know if it's just anti-human or anti-organics, so we may both be in danger. Gee thanks, Cross." Cerebros begins tunneling into a nearby collapsed building armed with urban rescue and extraction tools in both hands. There's not much room to move inside, ceilings have collapsed in on itself in many areas of the building. Those that aren't are now straining under incredible duress resulting from the catastrophic wounds left behind by the quakes. Galen himself is not an engineer, but fortunately for him he needs not be one when he's have had access to the knowledge of his binary partner's databanks! He immediately goes to work on reinforcing the few remaining support pillars still standing within the buildings with swift, decisive expertise, soon there's at least one build that isn't in danger of collapsing in on itself any further... well at least for now. Hopefully long enough for search and rescue teams to truly do the saving by extracting survivors. "That's great," Repugnus says as he pulls himself up using Tailgate as a sort of rope, eventually hauling himself up and over the minibot, and for a moment it looks like he's just going to walk away from the Minibot. Then he turns, flashing a grin. "Nah, I kid. C'mon, take my hand, short stuff!" He extends a hand to Tailgate to help pull him and Pipes both out. For a moment, Tailgate fears that Repugnus really would just leave him behind, he wouldn't have put it past him. His optics flash in terror, as the thought of being swept away to some Primus forsaken place by a strange river of raw energon occurs to him. But before he can become too afraid Repugnus returns to help him and Pipes out of the river. "Oh thank you!" he says bashfully. "I shouldn't have doubted you..." he hangs his helm. "I-I.. that's the second time you've saved me. I thought I wouldn't need to owe you after this, but it just always seems like I'm too small to really help," Tailgate says, frustrated. The threat to Retoris and Iacon seems to have subsided. The river flows straight down where Rebirth Way once, traveling the length of the city before going underground again by the tunnel that leads to the capital. There are still battered buildings, with a few having collapsed. The destruction of Retoris--as well as many fatalities--have been prevented. With the new landscaping in place, the tremors have ceased. If you stand in just the right spot near the river bank, however, one can allllmost feel the subtle rumble beneath your feet, as if things are still moving deep below the surface. Repugnus snickers as he hauls Tailgate up out of the river. "Awwww. Well, just look at this way--if I let you die, what naive Autobot will I be able to slowly psychologically break until they snap? Certainly not Wheelie, he snapped a long time ago! Haha! Now go dry yourself off and get the blue guy to a doctorbot or something." He peers back at the river frowning. "Eh. You win this time, planet." Finishing the final bit of rescuing that Hardhead can engage in, the Headmaster slowly makes his way towards the nearest camp, awaiting to meet up with Amber MacKenzie in order to help guide her back to Earth. Exosuit just kind of.. falls back into her seat, stunned at this new info. Or rather, old info seen in a different light. "..I don't like this." She mutters softly, palming over her mouth in thought, trying to figure out why the drone showed them this. "...I'm going after it." She looks to Amber, nodding to her to climb out to receive pickup from Hardhead. Once she's safely on the ground Velum's suit seals back up and she wrestles it back into gear, digging heels in before sprinting off down the ruined street on the tail of the fleeing drone. "Stop! You can't just give me that, I don't know what you're trying to tell me!" Voice booms through the suit, amplified to try and catch the attention of the drone again while dashing after it. Sky Lynx continues the evacuations. Though with things calming down, now it's more a slow routine of stragglers coming out of the woodwork than the chaos that gripped everything during the onset of the disaster... He keeps his attention on the carnage, though, partly to keep an eye out for falling debris, but mostly because...it's just staggering. "Be safe, Velum. I can join once I am through here." If he ever gets through. <> Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to Velum: Luck, you crazy Nebulan. Didn't that scene look like the place at which we had the final battle with Cross? Offering Velum a nod, Hardhead gives her a smile. "General." He says warmly as he looks at her heading back out, nodding as the brave Nebulon continues her duty. Looking down towards Amber, Hardhead also favors her with a smile and a warm voice, "We are only mildly annoyed at you for not as your people say, phone first." Lowering himself to look at her, "Are you ok, Ms. Mackenzie?" He asks back in his mechanical tone. Velum sends a radio message to Amber MacKenzie: Thanks. And yeah, it did. That's why I want to find out more. I highly doubt this has anything to do with Cross, but I have a feeling he started something we need to finish.. Amber MacKenzie readily climbs down from the exo, reaching the thankfully steadier ground in a matter of seconds. "Hullo, Hardhead. I meant to call, but I thought you were on Earth, since I just saw Duros there a few days ago." She sighs and glances up at Velum as she dashes off in hot pursuit. "Next time, I'll wait for you. I thought I'd be safe enough in Iacon." She reminds herself to pick up another motorcycle once she gets home. He shrugs. "I suppose," Tailgate says, unruffled, He watches Repugnus with admiration. "I'm so grateful but..! How will I ever repay you?" He pauses momentarily, carefully slinging Pipes over his shoulder servo. "You know I don't think you're so terrible after all! And I think I like you better than Blurr. You're nice in your own strange way." Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to Velum: That last bit was rather pointed. 'I don't think this planet likes you guys,' she quotes. The drone is skirting along just above the new river put into Retoris, wings stretched out at its sides. It has quite a head start with Velum and Amber distracted by the message it left. The drone dips down low, skimming the surface. It seems able to match the ARES's speed. Right when it reaches the tunnel leading to Iacon, the drone moves to dip beneath the waves. Velum can't get up close to grab it, but she is within range to shoot it... if she prefers. Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to Velum: I think that the drone is part of Cybertron, connected with this rebuilding we've heard of - and seen today. Velum sends a radio message to Amber MacKenzie: Agreed. Now hold on, I need to concentrate.. Repugnus gives Tailgate a creepy sidelong grin. "Oh, you think so, huh? Careful, Tailgate--the other Autobots might be right about me after all!..." He can't help but snicker. If only the poor guy knew what he was dealing with. Exosuit curses under breath and grits her teeth when her suit crashes right into the energon river, fighting the drag but still so far behind the speedy little drone. That's it. Enough chasing. Time to clip some wings. Stopping in the dead center of the river she steadies her suit and pulls her rifle from its spot on her back, drawing it up to view through the scope linked to internal HUD. The Neb calms, exhaling with a soft sigh, getting into the zone of lining up a shot. One shot or this thing is gone. Just one.. "Sorry little guy.." She mutters, hand tensing on the controls when her HUD lights up and the exo's finger pulls the trigger, firing off a single round at one of the drone's wings, looking to cripple it. Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to the drone: Your work would be more efficient if you coordinated with parallel efforts being made by the surface dwellers here. I would suggest that you open communications with the people here. "Oh I know, " Tailgate says simply, "but regardless of who you are, everyone has some good in them. Except for Decepticons, maybe. The others might think you're totally rotten to the core and you might believe it too, but I don't. You saved Pipes, and that means the world to me," he says softly. The drone either doesn't know or doesn't care that the ARES is chasing it and drawing a target lock. It maintains its velocity in its attempt to make it to the end of the river. Just before it's about to dip down, a single bullet shears off its right wing. ~ping!~ The wing flips off to the side and lands on one of half the Rebirth Way before clattering up against the diner Pipes had his girlfriends had been enjoying before the calamity. The rest of the drone immediately loses control, hitting the energon river and stopping dead in its tracks. It floats for short time, and will sink to the bottom unless anyone grabs it. All of its lights and systems are off, having been successfully disabled. It does not acknowledge Velum's apology, or Amber's radio message. Naturally. Frowning at Amber, Hardhead nods his head, "I get around." Hardhead offers with a grunt. "Iacon is usually safe..." He rubs his jaw as he lowers his voice to whisper, "I think there might be some evidence of what is happening hear back on Earth...A mission, perhaps?" Hardhead asks as he gestures further towards safety and outbound shuttles. Repugnus smiles at Tailgate. "Never try to see reason in the actions of a madman, Tailgate. That way leads to--" He smirks. "--madness!" He gives a little salute to the minibot before he begins a leisurely stroll out of the city. Amber MacKenzie also sighs at the lack of a response. Maybe another time. Returning her attention to Hardhead, she lowers her voice and responds, "I haven't been asked to perform a mission since... since before Cross took over. A connection to Earth?" she asks. "I have my own theory," she admits. "But it's not to do with Earth." Bullseye. Velum lowers her gun, sighing heavily as if the task of shooting the drone was a heavy burden. And to be fair, it kind of was. Holstering her rifle back into its slot she makes her way down the river to fish out the drone before it sinks below the rushing energon, scooping it up carefully in both hands. "Sorry about that, little guy.." She says softly with a faint frown. It may not acknowledge her, but she still feels the need to say it before tucking it under an arm and making her way back to safety. One step closer to figuring this big mystery out.. Sky Lynx slows his pace between beacons to pick up the next load, though this time he's actually conscripted a volunteer to begin laying out signal flares that direct foot-traffic to a means of egress under their own power. Landing, he scans the area. < In anticipation, his massive cargo bay doors split open along his back, giving Velum a space separate from the personnel bay to deposit the drone once she's finished acquiring it. "What a mess..." Peering at Amber, "You are the intel expert." Hardhead nods to her, "We are all ears!" Hardhead offers with a nod. He motions around him, "It seems the others will investigate here...meaning there are other rabbit holes we should explore..." He frowns. "It is just Cross, and MECH and Earth...it seems so...neat." Aside from the missing wing, the drone doesn't have any obvious damage. It has been shut off, though, and there's no immediate signs of activity. The wing has been very nearly severed. Overall the drone weighs about as one would expect for its size--about as much as Rumble or Frenzy. Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to Velum: You might check recent news reports, too. Another place on Cybertron mysteriously "fixed" itself a short while back. And what we saw in that chasm is too big for the Decepticons to have done. The last clue is the last words from the video. Cybertron is repairing itself, and I don't think it likes us organics. Maybe you could continue trying to communicate with the drone? I tried radioing it, but didn't get a response. Amber MacKenzie smiles up at the mech. "Give me a ride back to Iacon?" she asks. "We can talk on the way." Nodding and moving to pick up Amber in order to put her on his shoulder, since Hardhead wasn't built for two passengers...Hardhead settles Amber on his shoulder and begins to stroll towards Iacon.
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