| abstract
| - Cuprahex Sensor Outpost The Cuprahex Sector is deep within Decepticon territory, and the dark city of Nightsiege can barely be seen far off to the west. The tall copper-veined mountains loom high overhead, their green peaks contrasting with the brilliant copper-red of rips caused by recent seismic activity. The ruined city of Cuprahex is gone, and in its place is a new hi-tech Sensor Outpost. The outpost is large enough to house approximately 20 Decepticons in comfort, as well as all the twirling radar dishes overhead and various antennae jutting skyward to facilitate long-ranged radio traffic. The outpost is protected by powerful shields, but has nothing in the way of weapons. Instead it relies on the guards stationed here and the nearby capital city for fighting off intruders. The good news: He wasn't one of the poor saps that got called back to sit around Crystal City hunting insurgents that may or may not really be there. The bad news: Cuprahex wasn't really much better. Because who would be crazy enough to try and assault it with that forcefield shielding the outpost, right? And this is where Weirdwolf has been stuck... for a long time. Long enough it can explain where he's been while he had no player, until an episode finally focused on this spot! Yay! Though that didn't make guarding the position any less boring. Which is probably why he is beating up a dummy made out of scrap with his sword while a few troopers watch. It's not the same thing as slicing up an Autobot though. Sigh. Inspection day is only -slightly- less boring than any other day around here. Lamborghini Gallardo is here to inspect! She rolls up, which could be an unwise choice, given the... prejudices of certain Decepticons, but it is a deliberate choice. All the better to check reaction times to a potential threat! For some reason a couple of Shockwave's drones are cleaning the Cuprahex landing pad, sweeping and scrubbing it with rotating brushes. So, Elita One has tasked the intelligence division with taking down the forcefield barriers at Cuprahex. And the first step to doing that is recon. In order to take down the Decepticon defenses quickly and efficiently, the 'Bots needed to gather as much information about the systems powering the fields as possible.... Is there a power source that can be taken out? A circuit that can be shorted out? Wiring that can be cut? How much time would be necessary to get in, get the job done, and get out? That's what Blurr and Hound are here to find out. Blurr is currently skulking about the perimeter of the forcefields, doing his best to avoid the guards and keep to the shadows. He opens a comm channel to Hound's hailing frequency. <> Well, Hound did say he was going to help out with this operation, so here he is now, sneaking around the outskirts of the outpost. Like Blurr, he is sticking to the shadows, supplementing natural stealth with his holograms to make himself extra unnoticeable. No one will ever suspect that simple supply crate of being an Autobot! <> the scout transmits back to Blurr, letting his sensors do their work. A small 'ding', muted to the outside, announces that external scans have been completed. <> A couple of the generic guards do raise their weapons at the approaching car. Fortunately one of them has enough processors to actually ping the vehicle, and waves to the others to lower their arms again and get into ranks instead. "Form up you louts, its the Intelligence Head." Huh? That gets Weirdwolf's attention as well. "Sounds like things more interesting starting soon. Best off be we." He 'sheaths' his sword by maglocking it to his side and gestures at the mooks that were watching him to go line up with the others, ambling along at the end. Both drones finish rolling around the landing pad and meet again in the center, where they stop moving for several seconds, emit a loud beep, and then change programs. One produces a spool of red material and the other reels it out and begins to weave it into something. Lamborghini Gallardo tracks the weapons being drawn on her. Go ahead, fire, that will get interesting... but then someone has the wherewithawl to give her a friend or foe ping, and she responds with the appropriate countercode. She drives up and transforms, turning around to look back out. What are they all looking at? In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. <> Blurr answers, creeping slowly closer and closer to the entry where Contrail and Weirdwolf are standing, taking cover behind piles of storage crates or munitions racks. << I don't doubt your speed, but I think the second option is safer all around. I'm heading in.>> Hound replies, then waits until no one's looking. A moment later, another generic Decepticon guard steps around to the front gate, heading over to line up with the rest. Completely inconspicuous! Contrail has a 'glitch in th Matix moment' when she looks back at the guards. But surely, not everyone can be an awesome character with a unique paint scheme? She approaches the gate from the outside, and she chides, "You know, in the moment where you wasted time figuring out who I was, /real/ Autobots could have been sneaking up, and just imagine, if I was a Stunticon? I doubt I'd be taking this so gracefully." Both drones roll out of the way as a shuttlecraft descends towards the landing pad, extending its landing legs. The shuttle lands with a pneumatic hiss, sinking onto the leg pistons as it settles its weight. Immediately the drones roll back up to the shuttle and reel out their work, a long red carpet stretching from the shuttle's side door to the edge of the landing pad. And now the rookies get their first dressing down by a superior officer. Aren't they lucky? ... huh, were there that many here before? Tch, despite this location being important it's a backwater assignment since Shockwave ordered a majority of the counter-intelligence to Crystal City, so they probably just got some no name loser reassigned here when not paying attention. Monzo does consider nagging him to check the rosters all the same for a moment. But then the sound of a landing shuttle draws attention away. "Now who else could be coming here at hour this is?", muses the headmaster mostly to himself. -Better go check it, mutt- Monzo retorts internally. "Yes, of course, yes, shall we." While Contrail is chewing out the noobs he turns and trots back towards the pad. Gives the work of the drones a curious glance. ".. Treatment of red carpet? Must be name big on the A-list..." <> Blurr replies, and thus he holds his position, waiting for Hound to make his move. He can't help but chuckle quietly to himself at Contrail's comment as he overhears the conversation. Ha! Her words ring true, unfortunately for the lot of them! Hound has to /try/ to suppress a snicker, and for a moment there, it almost seems like he might fail. But this is a highly sensitive operation, with a lot at stake! So, with a heroic and valiant effort, he holds that snicker in. He doesn't speak up either, trying to avoid drawing attention to himself. However, he can't help but turn to look at the shuttle as it comes down, and the red carpet...oh dear. <> he transmits to Blurr, starting to look a little worried underneath the hologram. Thankfully, the generic 'Con he chose as his disguise doesn't have much in the way of facial expression. Galvatron slams the shuttle door open with a bang and strides down the ramp, kicking one of the bucket-shaped red carpet drones out of the way when it doesn't clear his path quickly enough. He crosses the landing pad alone, heading for the nearest Decepticon. Galvatron's accompanying troops stay with the shuttle; shuttles get sabotaged all the time, but there's not much point in guarding Galvatron. "Decepticons, present yourselves and report!" barks Galvatron. A-list be damged, that's way up there into Names To Run Away From Quickly. Unless you're a Decepticon. And sometimes then it's still good to run away quickly. Weirdwolf however does not run. He does snap to attention at the end of the carpet at the approaching emperor of destruction though. "Lord Galvatron! What a pleasant and unexpected completely arrival this is." Hoo boy, if those rookies thought Contrail was bad, they're probably wetting their gearboxes as they scramble to get into position at the yelling. No one wants to be a cannon victim. Contrail is distracted from any dressing down of rookies that she may have intended to do. Instead, she pivots neatly on one heel and slams her fist up to her shoulder in a Decepticon salute. Contrail bellows at the top of her voicebox, "HAIL GALVATRON!" It could be out of a rehearsed propaganda video. Blurr is getting a touch antsy sitting there waiting. He hates waiting, that's one of those things that he can hardly stand. But this is an extremely delicate operation, and it's imperative that he stay hidden for as long as possible. The entire time, ideally. And then comes the comm from Hound about-- Oh, slag. Galvatron. That voice is unmistakable. Well that hadn't been expected. <> He doesn't have to tell the other scout to avoid the Decepticon leader as much as possible without looking too suspcious. <> <> Hound continues transmitting, watching the Decepticons to try to figure out what he's supposed to do. Well, there's a lot of scrambling around, so he'll just scramble with them. He ends up standing next to a garishly painted Seeker, halfheartedly bringing his fist up to his shoulder somewhat like Contrail. "Hail Galvatron!" << I don't know, but we're just gonna have to play it cool. Maybe he'll leave soon. I /hope/ he leaves soon.>> "Yes, hail me," Galvatron replies almost reflexively, glancing casually over the troops, including Disguised Hound. "Weirdwolf, have you and your head been attentive? Shockwave tells me this sensor outpost is the finest on Cybertron. So what have you people SENSED?" Not the most favorite of his commanders, but Monzo isn't about to pass up the chance to at least look good for the purple guy with the crowned head. But this needs to be done in a means that is understandable. Which is probably why he hits the command to make Weirdwolf transform, the Nebulon disengaging to unfold from his head to hover while the rest of the Decepticon drops down into his wolf mode. With anti-gravs engaged so he remains at eye level with Galvatron and Contrail, Monzo pulls out holo-display and activates it, then tosses it the more intellectual? Contrail. Well either way she is the big wig Intel boss. "Not one for makin' sense of 'em, but Shockwave's had the station pointin' all up and down the highway. Won't actually tell anyone what he's actually lookin' for, though." He shrugs a little. Now on his own without his partner's nagging rattling around in his head, Weirdwolf plods about a bit seemingly at random. Until he stops, canting his head as something faintly out of place catchs his sensors. He shifts a bit, turning his head to narrow eyes at the various guards. They all -look- the same, but something seems off. Something -smells- off. "... ~One of this things is not like the others, one of these things do not belong~..." It's cryptically the most coherent thing he's said all night. If you can call singsonging coherent... Weirdwolf drops to the ground, landing on all fours as a robotic beast. Contrail is not exactly intellectual. She can simply manage people. She catches the holo-display and deploys it, holding it out at a convenient angle for Galvatron. Well, this might actually net the Autobots some information...maybe. If Hound can just stick around a little bit longer, maybe they'll decipher whatever's on that holo-display. Then, maybe, he can listen in...wait a nano-klik. Weirdwolf's acting weird, and it's not just living up to his name. << Blurr, I think I may have been detected. Got any bright ideas for alibis?>> <> Blurr presses. The fact that Galvatron is standing there, and Weirdwolf appears to be getting suspicious is making him uncomfortable. <> "Mm," hums Galvatron, scowling. "Shockwave has been TROUBLED of late by Autobots smuggling fuel, ammunition, weapons, even soldiers into Crystal City, to deliver them to the burgeoning population of TRAITORS and MALFEASORS there. He complains of this to me, in his way, and I hate to have to listen to Shockwave complain. My HOPE is that even if these sneak-thieves are too SUBTLE for you people, somewhere in these sensor logs there will be a pattern someone more shrewd, like myself, can see." Galvatron has partially disconnected. Mecha Wolf minces back and forth a bit, in that way canines do when they are on edge but can't exactly place why. Something is off, he can smell something is off here. But he can't quite place what it is, because we're dealing with the guy who has like the best holograms possible here. So he keeps pacing back and forth a little, eyeing the guards. "But of course, Lord Galvatron. If anyone can figure it out, it --" And Monzo pauses, glancing in Weirdwolf's direction. "Excuse me, I gotta deal with something." He jets over, and kicks the back of the wolf's head before landing on his shoulders. "What the hell is your problem?! Don't be actin' like a glitch when the big wigs are here." Weirdwolf turns his head to glare at Monzo, then motions at one of the guards with it. ".. oooh. I get ya." With a grunt Monzo steps back, opens the hatch to his compartment in Weirdwolf's back, and pulls out a folding chair. "YAAAARGH!" And then abruptly leaps off to club one of the other guards on the head with it, knocking the guy down. And sending a few vid-chips scattering across the ground. Monzo lands on his back, using the legs of the now dented chair to pin him by the neck. "Aha! That's what ya smelt. Contraband!" "I swear, I bought em from one of the City traders!" the gumbie wails as he squirms. "This post is just so slag spittin' boring!" Contrail stays conspicuously silent when Shcokwave is mentioned. She made a deal with the cyclops, and the results yet to be of said deal trouble her. Luckily, Weirdwolf and Monzo provide an /excellent/ distraction. She folds her hands behind her back and paces over closer, murmuring, "Well, well, well. Service to the Empire should NEVER be boring." Hound tenses up as Monzo goes to check on Weirdwolf. This is it, they're going to discover him, and then Galvatron's gonna blast him to pieces. He braces himself to run, and very nearly does so when the Nebulon goes flying with the chair. How surprised he is when, instead of hitting /him/, Monzo goes after another guard entirely! If robots could breathe sighs of relief, Hound would be doing that right now. Or, well, trying to stop himself from doing so. Relief in this situation would raise awkward questions that he doesn't have answers to. <> he transmits to Blurr, starting up a low level scan in search of.../something/ that'll make an entrance for his comrade. Control panel, big pile of explosives, /something/. << I don't think they'll be moving on any time soon. Even if I find a way for you to get in here, we may have to go with your first plan after all.>> TO BE CONTINUED... Cue Decepticon emblem spin as Weirdwolf jumps on screen, then flips back to transform into his robot mode and strike a pose. AND NOW WE RETURN TO THE TRANSFORMERS! Okay not quite the commercial bumper, but Weirdwolf does transform back into robot mode after Monzo gets off the accousted mooks back. Then grabs the sprawled guard by the leg and starts to drag him off even as the trooper is clawing at the ground. "Hurrah, and now your punishment will up -my- day liven~" Leaving Galvatron and Contrail to discuss leadership type things in the background. <> Blurr answers. << I'm fast but...Galvatron's here. If he sees me...yeah, we don't wanna go there. That being said, it can be quick. Like really quick.>> One might even be able to see the smirk in those words. <> The mechanical wolf rises up into a bulky robot, Monzo folding up and forming his head. << I'd hate to be that sorry sack of bolts.>> Hound remarks, but otherwise just keeps up what he's been doing so far, scanning for a way in while trying to be inconspicuous. <> <> Blurr inquires, though he trusts Hound's judgement on this. If anyone is good at diversions, it's him. It's more that he's getting more and more impatient with every passing astrosecond. Soundwave appears just for a brief moment as he turns about before the Decepticon Insigna! His chestplate opens up, releasing two tapes. The robovulture Laserbeak takes to the skies, the fierce stalker Ravage leaps to the ground. Instead of the camera staying on the Decepticon officer, it follows the two tapes this time, and that means that the infiltration team is in big trouble because there are...Cassettecons! Laserbeak maintains a high position in the area as he is wont to do. With the assaults on Crystal City, Cuprahex's powerful sensors were needed to track enemy movements. That meant that Cuprahex was also a target, and that's where the lens headed sneak comes into play. The vulture regards the scene below, eyeing his own troops with equal suspicion. Anything could lead to betrayal, anything could lead to blackmail, and anything could lead to oneupping the Decepticon Intelligence Division by the Decepticon Secret Police. Ahh politics. Ravage is swift to follow suit, though without wings the air is relatively off-limits. Instead, it's the shadows for him. The feline's armor ripples as his dampner systems kick in to assist in lowering his electronic signature. His optics dim as his gaze turns skyward to watch Laserbeak's trajectory before mirroring it on the ground. Well at least Weirdwolf isn't right there behind him now, so maybe Hound will relax. Maybe. How much do you really want to relax when you're surrounded by the enemy? The Headmaster tosses the accousted soldier to the ground by the base of a stack of crates, then steps back and transforms again. Monzo stands up on the mecha-wolf's shoulders. "Now lets find out what's gonna be this jobber's fate shall we?" He pulls out... is that one of those talking wheel toys? That's had different pictures haphazardly stuck onto it. With a cruel smirk he grabs the string and pulls it to start the dial spinning. "Wheel of Brutality turn turn turn; tell us the fate this heel shall earn!" The device crackles and creaks as it slows to a stop, because it's speaking electronics got gutted out of it. Monzo looks, and his smirk only widens. "Oooh, Turnbuckle Lobotamy. One of my favorites." The stooge manages to pull himself up against the crate stack, only for his optics to go wide as Monzo jumps off Weirdwolf's back, grabs the soldier's head as he lands on his shoulders, and starts slamming said head down against the crates. Weirdwolf watchs his partner work, and then flops on haunches in a fit of laughter, for a few moments sounding more like a hyena than a wolf. Decepticon punishiment at its finest, folks. Weirdwolf drops to the ground, landing on all fours as a robotic beast. Well, the scan isn't turning up anything useful, and the way Blurr's acting, it's obvious something has gone wrong. In fact, yep, he just picked up a faint trace of something small, metallic, and flying high above, and he's willing to bet it's one of Soundwave's. <> he declares. But it's not just one of them. All of a sudden, /four/ of the Decepticon grunts are Autobots! One of them is, of course, Hound, but the other three appear to be Mirage, Windcharger, and Tracks. A moment later, they all open fire, probably leaving some goons hopelessly confused. Hound just hopes it'll confuse the big namers, too. Immediately after the holograms appear, Blurr darts out of cover and makes a break for the doors. The sooner he gets inside, the better, because the less time Hound has to keep up the illusion. He's assuming, of course, that the doors would open to allow more troops to come outside to defend the outpost from false Hound, Windcharger, Tracks, and Mirage. In all of the confusion and rush to get outside and figure out what exactly just happened, that's when Blurr will attempt to make his move and rush inside unnoticed! There will presumably be a few astroseconds between the time all of the guards get outside and the time the doors manage to get completely shut--that's going to be his chance! "AUTOBOT INTRUDER!" "What wher--" *ZAP* "--Augh!" "Why are they shooting us?!" "TRAITORS!" *PEW PEW PEW* Suddenly Decepticons are shooting Decepticons that look like Autobots, whom jump to conclusions and start shooting back. Someone has the sense to set off an alarm at least, which draws more guards out of the barracks. Whom, when confronted with such a situation, react as one would expect Decepticons to. "SHOOT THEM ALL AND LET GALVATRON SORT THEM OUT!" "Shoot them, not u-augh!" "They're the traitors, quit--Noo!" Cue a third set of guards now firing on both other sets of guards, everyone scrambling for cover and... well, if you wanted a distraction you got -chaos-. As shouting and gunfire roars up Weirdwolf stops laughing and turns his head. As does Monzo, pausing in mid-beating. "What the hell? Who C-listed all the face hell turns on one night?!" Then turns back down to the guard. "So you were a set-up, were you!" The clueless guard whines through his half busted face, "Honestly, they were just cheap vids, I don't know what's going on!" Monzo leaps off of him to reunite with Weirdwolf. Which is followed by the screech of warping metal and brief screams of agony as a thermal sword is impaled through the guard's torso. Weirdwolf pulls it out again, not bothering to check if he actually skewered the moron's laser core or just wounded him. Brutality is brutality. "Considering all, off lucky you got probably." With sword in one hand and blaster in the other Weirdwolf stalks back towards the rest of the compound. The mechanical wolf rises up into a bulky robot, Monzo folding up and forming his head. Laserbeak regards the militant scene below. He zooms in on what he would consider a treasonous act, slacking on the job. One of the Con buttonpushers, Freeloader, wasn't doing his work again. Footage is taken, and filed away. Within a week, he'd be picking at entrails if he had his way. Laser fire disrupts his thoughts. Immediately his eyes twinkle as he sets out an alert on the +d comm channel! His eyes zoom in to identify the source. Autobots? Here? He flies overhead as he assesses their capa..bil..iti..es? The tracking info was all wrong. Gun types were conflicting with the firing capability, armor patches simply were textured improperly, it was as if.... .... ....As if the Bots weren't there at all? Red warning lights flash. It's a trap of some kind! Ravage pauses in his tracks, the commotion getting his attention almost immediately. His optics flare ever so faintly before he turns his sensors to full. This is absolutely not the best of situations, but certainly a fun one... The feline starts towards the five, but movement in the corner of his vision catches his focus instead. Smirking, he leaves the chaotic mess for the others and takes off at a sprint, shadow to shadow, after Blurr. Ah...the hunt is on. Yes! Chaos! This is perfect! With everyone shooting everyone else, Blurr is free to go in! Hound just has to keep it up for a little longer, and they're home free! "Yeah! Come on, you ugly excuses for robots! My motherboard could shoot straighter than you!" he shouts, hurling insults left and right as he ducks and rolls and fires wildly, just trying to rile the 'Cons up and keep the confusion going as long as possible. Aaaand now! Chaos erupts, and sure enough, there is that tiny split-astrosecond window of time where the doors to the complex are not all the way closed once the other Decepticons had opened it to rush out of the bunker and into the illusion-incited fray. Chuckling to himself at the idiocy and quite obvious confusion of most of the 'Cons present, he dashes toward the closing gap. He'd just barely make it, if he were any larger he'd have gotten stuck. Any slower and he wouldn't have made it in time...But Blurr is just the mech for this job! FWWOOOSH. Faster than lightning, the courier has slipped inside, and the doors have shut behind him. Now all he'll need to do is open the door again briefly from the inside to let Hound slip inside as well, while the Decepticons are still trying to figure out just what the frag just happened. He doesn't notice Ravage on his tail just yet... <> Oh wait! A maintenance entry without security codes. <> Hopefully most of everyone is outside in the 'fight' and no one is in the corridor... Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected. Laserbeak does his part to try to focus attention on the proper targets, as targeting data directs Con after Con to the only real target available right now, the one spotted by his only real competition in the field, Ravage. Unfortunately, not all of the Con forces shrug off being shot at so easily. Firefight points an accusing finger at his fellow Decepticon, "Like shell I'm letting him get away with that!" Friendly Fire puts up his dukes, "No bird's the boss of me, you're all just jealous." Laserbeak regards the pair. A moment passes by. Somewhere a turbofox raises its head as the wind picks up. Targeting data appears on the gumbies HUDs showing both of the two idiots. Bodies hit the floor. Incompetence. Laserbeak takes up a higher flight pattern, sweeping over the area, knowing Blurr was most likely not alone, not with how brazen his tactics are. Ravage has the grand design of all things Decepticon to thank for agility and his own small size, slipping through the door and coming to a very abrupt halt before smacking into Blurr's backside. He freezes, slowly withdrawing into the shadows once more to resume his pursuit as soon as he feels there's not going to be sudden eyes upon him. Now, time to figure out where this is going... The scout hugs the wall as he continues along the corridor. << I have one inside... shall we mess with it?>> He looks around. <> Either way, while stalking Blurr, the feline's tail snakes around, manipulators extending from the tip to begin arming one of the bombs on his side in anticipation of fun. "I swear," Monzo complains inside Weirdwolf's head, "We're surrounded by jabonies tonight." Laserbeak puts two of the idiots out of their misery. "At least Soundwave's sidekicks are on the ball." "As amusing as madness be, this compromising security is," Weirdwolf replies, even as he walks up behind 'Windcharger', not bothering to waste time to transform since both Laserbeak and Ravage can handle that sort of thing just fine. "Are not dead you suppose to be?" Followed by his sword going through 'Windcharger's' lower torso. Though as soon as he feels the blade connect deeper than the visible exterior of his victim, Weirdwolf realizes there is some major trickery going on here! ... But he guts the gumbie anyways for being so stupid to fool. "Well, now you are!" He pushes the mook off his sword with his foot, and steps over the remaining wreck like it was just another day on the job. Which it pretty much is for him. Hound also starts switching the holograms around, trying to give the impression that there's some kind of major strike occurring. Look! There's Prowl, and over there is Bluestreak, and is that Smokescreen? They're not even covering actual Decepticons half the time, just appearing out of shadows, from behind other 'bots, or just out of thin air. And in the middle of it all is another grunt, steadily inching his way closer to the building. Every now and again, his form shifts slightly, a fender disappearing and being replaced by a tailfin here, visor turning into standard dual optics there... <> Hound responds to Blurr, moving through whatever shadows he can find toward that west maintenance entrance. << I know, that's why you need to hurry.>> Blurr urges over the comm. Wait an astrosecond. Had something--or someONE just smacked into his back? <> The speedster turns around, a weapon emerging from the armor on his right arm as he glances about, searching for whoever had just touched him. Laserbeak ponders as he looks from his view from above. Someone is causing chaos here, someone with the ability to...create holograms? He starts cycling through the known troublemakers of the Autobot side. Analysis continues as he flips through the portfolio of targets, Mech. Mech. Mech. Mech. Mech. Femme. Mech. His advanced targeting array starts analyzing what it can of the field, as forms shift and warp, when it locks onto a positive profile, that of a shoulder gun, one that projects holograms. Bingo. With that, Hound is made, and the Con gumby forces find themselves a new quarry. Things are now turning bad for our heroes. Beaker's eyes gleam as he lights on the shoulder on the gumby aptly named Perch. After a moment, the gumby raises his gun, remarking in a tone filled with the knowledge of having superior assistance. "Freeze Bot, you're outnumbered!" Ravage continues to circle around to stay in the shadows... though there is that moment of uncertaintly. To go, to not go... <> Very well, then...time to act. After all, this thing is in /his/ house, is it not? Ravage brings his weapon systems online and, without much more in a way of hesitation, decides to confirm the Autobot's clever suspicions by giving him a nice wake-up call by way of missile from the shadows. Combat: Ravage strikes Blurr with his Heat-Seeking Missile attack! Combat: Ravage (Ravage) used "Heat-Seeking Missile": A Level 6 RANGED attack. Most of the guards start to get back in order once someone with some actual sense starts feeding them directions. Most of them. There's a couple of that don't take kindly to having to take orders from Soundwave's munchkin enforcers. Because lets face it, most Decepticons are really bitter and resentful when they're forced to nuckle under others. Or maybe Laserbeak has some good dirty laundry on them which would be nice to be cleaned for good. Whatever his reason, one of the guards tries to use the dying chaos to dole out some payback, lifting his gun to take aim at the condor perching on Perch. But the shot goes wide into the air as he's abruptly grabbed from the back by an arm around his neck as Weirdwolf puts him in a headlock. Even as the fool is struggling and clawing at the larger Headmasters arm Weirdwolf looks up with a grin. "Continue as wish you do, this interruption shall be not one longer." Suddenly, a missile emerges from the shadows, taking Blurr off guard and knocking him onto his aft. Temporarily, at least. Frag it! He'd suspected someone had come after him...nothing was ever that easy. He's tempted to retaliate, but in this situation it really wasn't wise. He and Hound are clearly outnumbered, and they have a specific objective here. Why wasn't Hound in here already?? <> he urges. The courier's sensor arrays comb the shadows where the missile had come from and quickly find Ravage. << I'm going to look for the containment field control array, but I've got Ravage on my tail--I need you to get in here and distract him!>> But for the moment he's going to have to improvise. Transforming down into his hovercar form, he speeds down the corridor away from Ravage. A sonic boom follows in his wake, shattering any brittle surfaces and causing the ceiling and floor to crack. Hopefully some storage racks topple down onto the Casseticon. In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> strikes Ravage with his Sonic Boom attack! All of the holographic Autobots abruptly disappear, and the one Decepticon grunt outed as a fake stops and raises his hands in the air. "D-don't shoot! I'm just the new guy!" he says in a squeaky, panicked voice. It might have worked, just /maybe/, if it weren't for that fact that only a moment after he says this, he suddenly sprouts Seeker wings. "Uh... I'm a triplechanger?" Well, this is hardly the time to try to keep up appearances. The hologram drops, leaving Hound standing in the grunt's place, but he's not in anything resembling a surrendering pose. In fact, he appears to be firing a missile. Rather than explode on the Decepticons, it flies into the ground between them and him, exploding and throwing up a cloud of dust to try to cover the scout's escape into the maintenance shaft! <> Combat: Hound strikes Laserbeak with his Holoprojection attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Laserbeak's Accuracy! (Blinded) Laserbeak takes flight! If Perch took a hit to protect him, it was all in the name of the big picture here. The dust storm does indeed foul up his optics, the vulture letting out an indignant "SQUAAWWWK!" The storm carries him back several feet until he recovers, putting him about even distance with Weirdwolf from Hound. He shakes his head as he recovers. The optical tracking beacon he uses for his subterfuge ejects from his head, the infra-red beam trying to sift through the debris to find that...that sneak! Combat: Laserbeak strikes Hound with his Targeting Laser attack! Combat: That attack has locked on Hound. (LOCKON) By some stroke of fate or sheer dumb luck Weirdwolf happened to be looking away from the sudden blast while he was wrestling (literally) the attempted back-shooter into submission. The sound of the blast doesn't escape his attention though, nor does the sound of booms from within the building, and quickly he throws the guard to the ground to move on to more important things. Like sprinting off towards the outpost proper. Laserbeak is going to have to be content with Perch and the remaining guards for right now, whoever is messing around already inside the building is a bigger threat. Ravage is tossed back... Oh, right. He hated this silly hover car... The feline's not trapped under anything as much as slammed unceremoniously against the wall. Still, Blurr's off like a jet down the hallway and he would not be a true Decepticon hunter without giving chase and sounding the alarm over the comms. The damage from that horrifying blast is hard to really see...granted, he's no longer hiding any longer, but it would actually take someone stopping to look at him to see the massive caved in dent on his armor plating from the impact. <> No onslaught this time...he has to catch up first. Combat: Ravage sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Ravage takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] <> Blurr continues to drive away as fast as he can--he only has a limited amount of time before the other Decepticons realize what's going on and come back in here. He could no doubt incapacitate several of them--but there are just way too many of them and only two of he and Hound. Finally, he stops, glancing behind him. << I think I've lost him...for now.>> Quickly, he turns to a terminal nearby and brings up a map of the outpost. Shield controls, shield controls...come on....Aha! The main control room, it's got to be in there! Quickly downloading the map, he rushes off toward the control room. Hopefully he can make it there before they seal it off...<< I'm headed for the control room, they've got to have the control arrays in there.>> The hovercar quickly unfolds upward and outward to reveal the fastest terrestrial Cybertronian in the galaxy, Blurr! Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Blurr takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Unfortunately for Hound, Laserbeak has some rather keen eyes. Even through the smoke, dust, and debris, the tracking beacon manages to catch a glimpse of the scout as he heads into the maintenance entry. Despite closing the door behind him, Hound probably isn't in the clear yet! <> he transmits to Blurr, not even bothering with a disguise as he sneaks on through. With the base on high alert, it won't help much, if at all. Combat: Hound takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Oh, if he could, he would be panting. Ravage rounds the corner and spies Blurr, rather graciously no longer in that horrendous hovercar form. Situational awareness check time! Autobot...near a terminal...with delicate information? Probable. No time to hesitate...there's no telling what the autobot was up to, but he's on mission. << It is a data grab. Ravage out.>> He lunges for Blurr outright, not to tackle...not to blast...not even to bite. Nope. In fact, there's that ever soft hum of a det-primer spinning up before the bomb strapped to his side is triggered. Destroy the autobot? Fantastic, destroy the data terminal? Optimal. Combat: Ravage sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Ravage strikes Blurr with Suitable Distraction's Huge Explosion #11128 Area attack! Combat: Ravage's Suitable Distraction is destroyed! Combat: Ravage (Ravage) used "Huge Explosion #11128": A Level 6 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Ravage's attack has damaged your Strength! Combat: Ravage strikes himself with Suitable Distraction's Huge Explosion #11128 Area attack! Weirdwolf has been stationed at the dump of a post for way too long, but on the bright side it means he's got the whole facility pretty much memorized at this point as well. Oh, and Laserbeak tagged Hound with a beacon, that helps too. The combination of the two helps a whole lot. It also makes it a bit easier to avoid getting trapped in any of the lock-downs activated in response to Ravage's 'suggestion'. Seriously, the cassettecons may not be 'in charge' but no one wants to piss off Soundwave and Galvatron's favorites. Unless you're the idiot that tried to shoot Laserbeak in the back. Who's now laying bleeding face first in the rubble. Anyways! Following Laserbeak's beacon and his own familiarity with the compound give Weirdwolf a chance to take a different path to cut Hound off at the pass. Which he does so by barreling into the corridor with a gleefully malicious "SUPRISE!" as he throws a clothsline at the scout. Like a good little carrion feeder, Laserbeak comes to Ravage's aid, leaving his targeting data with Weirdwolf. It became apparent that this was not a battle for military strength, but for intelligence! Beaker roars overhead, taking Ravage's side in the trail of that devastating sonic boom. Blurr was getting close to a control room. A vulnerability for the outpost. There was one recourse to take, and it was obvious. Blurr was speed itself... ZAP! The control panel fries, causing it to shut out, giving in to its security protocols. Not as fast as lasers though. If he had an expression at all, perhaps one could see Laserbeak looking almost smug... And then before the doors close, Ravage blows the crap out of everything in a heroic suicidal charge. Combat: Weirdwolf strikes Hound with his Clothsline Interception (Punch) attack! Laserbeak recovers from the noble maneuver first. Surely that'd scare Blurr off, and deny him access as well. Now the priority was Ravage. With all the twisted metal, after the coast is clear, he activates his welding lasers to help free his comrade and take him to safety....This was going in his report. It's pretty quiet in here, though with all the commotion outside, Hound is pretty sure it's just because the Decepticons haven't thought to come back inside yet. "Really, where do they /get/ those buffoons?" the scout wonders aloud, peeking around a corner...and getting a faceful of robot arm, sending him clanging to the ground. "Augh!" Well, it /is/ an effective surprise, and it's doing a great job of impeding his progress. But Hound isn't the kind of 'bot who lets a little obstacle like this stop him. His altmode's a Jeep, after all! So, without any further words, he gets up and starts running, trying to slip past Weirdwolf! Wait a minute, he's also standing up from where he fell, putting up his dukes and readying himself for a fight. More hologram trickery! Which one is the real Hound? Combat: Hound strikes Weirdwolf with his Seeing Double! attack! Almost there...almost there...almo--BOOOM! Ravage's bomb goes off, stirking both Autobot and Decepticon! Blurr goes flying, his body slamming hard into a munitions rack that comes tumbling down on top of him. Ouch. That hurt like the afterspark, and the fact that the courier doesn't have much armor isn't helping. Looking up, he sees that not only is he too late to get into the control room, Laserbeak has fried the door controls, automatically placing it on lockdown. Well...that was a lost cause. Thankfully this hasn't been completely in vain, though. He had managed to copy some information from that terminal he'd gotten the map from. Maybe Elita One could use it to find some structural weaknesses--possibly even glean extra intel from the files.... Ugh...his servos feel as if they've had a ton of zolanium steel blocks dropped onto them, and he can feel his own energon leaking out of the cracks in his armor as well as out of his joints. Presumably Ravage's own bomb has at least disoriented him enough to give Blurr a chance to get away, though. He can't afford to let himself get turned into a P.O.W. Groaning in pain, he jumps to his feet and transforms, every circuit in his body screaming in protest. He manages it somehow, though... << I think we've gotten everything we can for now, they've sealed off the control room. We'd better bail before the rest of them come back in here.>> And with that he transforms and is off through the nearest exit, another sonic boom following in his wake. In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. "Haha! Now got you have -- aroo?" Darn those holograms! The bizarre split maneuver does seems to bewilder Weirdwolf for a few moments. Two Autobots going different directions, one trying to get past and one getting back to fight? Instead of trying to puzzle out which is which, Weirdwolf just draws his sword and takes a wide swing with the glowing blade, trying to just catch both of them in one sweeping slice! Warning alarms are the focus of Ravage's systems. Servos hiss and strain under protest as he waits for Laserbeak to cut him out. Armor panels are shot to slag, cracked and, in some places, outright gone to expose the wiring underneath. One leg actually looks frozen in place. One optic is even dark. Still, there's a moment where he watches Blurr leave before turning to depart as well, limping every step in his slow...painfully slow retreat. Combat: Ravage begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>, Hound, and Weirdwolf Combat: Weirdwolf's Thermal Sword attack on Hound goes wild! Combat: Weirdwolf strikes Ravage with his Thermal Sword attack! Ravage is...then promptly blasted by...hell if he knows what. Secondary blast? His optics don't even have a chance to register. Yup...now he's dragging himself out. Ow... .... Except with the spin Weirdwolf smacks into the wall, sending his sword flying from his hand at seemingly random. The Hound running past Weirdwolf is, as it turns out, the fake. The Deceptiwolf's sword goes right through it, causing it to fizzle out in a burst of static just before the blade goes flying off into Ravage. The /real/ Hound, in the meantime, has received word from his compatriot that it's time to bail. So, without further ado (and hopefully before the Decepticons recover enough to go after him) he shifts to his vehicular altmode and leaves the distinct odor of burning rubber in his wake as he bolts for the nearest exit. Combat: Hound begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> and Weirdwolf Weirdwolf is still trying to sort things out in his head where it went wrong and he smacked into the wall and accidentally threw his sword away. Which he's going to have to go fine. From Ravage. Oops. Fortunately Monzo is still here to set things straight as Hound takes off for the exit. "And let the doorknock hit yer ass on the way out!" Weirdwolf pauses in his semi-dazed fumbling. "... we had knobs on doors here?" ================================= Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/130 Posted Author Emergency Broadcast:Ravage Mon Apr 15 Ravage ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ****#####*****##### %System Failure imminent$$$*BlurrAutoBLU*$$*****Configsys.ini ... failed. Systems Check: Sensors: Offline Primary Power: Offline Auxilary Power: Critical *end transmission* *Resume Transmission - Standby For Text* Battle Damage Severe. Retreating under aid. Autobot incursion halted. More to follow. *End Transmission* =============================================================================== Message: 2/131 Posted Author Counter Intelligence Report Tue Apr 16 Ravage ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **static fills the screen, slowly dissolving to the Decepticon logo. The transmission appears to be struggling, though, as it continues to fade to static and back again a few times before finally establishing itself** Ravage appears as the logo fades completely, looking outright horrible. Armor panels are missing completely, lines for replacing lost energon running to the primary circulatory system, and it doesn't take a genius to see he's struggling to stay upright on a leg that appears to not function too well. "Follow on report to my previous. Cuprahex was struck by an Autobot intelligence gathering effort. I am uncertain who caused the initial distraction, but the intention was to divert attention away from Autobot Blurr, who managed to infiltrate the primary complex. I pursued while Decepticons Laserbeak and Weirdwolf took control of the situation outside. Blurr managed to separate himself from me and I found him accessing a terminal. Knowing any data is vital and time was of the essence, I detonated a bomb I was carrying to destroy the terminal and drive Blurr away, who promptly retreated. In the battle, I took further damage which left me near inoperable, but the goal of repelling the Autobot intelligence operation appears to have been a success. I will attempt to ascertain if any data was gathered in the brief time Autobot Blurr was accessing the terminal while I undergo extensive repairs. Ravage out." **The transmission ends abruptly in a hiss of static.** ====================================================================== ================================== Autobot ============================== Message: 3/122 Posted Author AAR: Cuprahex Recon Tue Apr 16 Blurr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blurr appears on the videopane, sitting in front of a comm terminal at the Intel Center. He looks rather badly battered, his armor cracked and stained with energon in several places. "Yeah....so...." he begins, a pained expression on his face. "Hound and I sneaked over to Cuprahex last solar cycle to run some recon. We managed to get inside by creating an illusion to distract and confuse the patrols--made 'em think a bunch of us had ambushed them with a full-on frontal assault. It worked for just long enough, but Ravage and Laserbeak were there and well let's just say it's hard to hide from or keep /those/ two fooled for long." "Ravage must have followed me inside, either that or he was suspicious and didn't follow the others out. I don't know. But he ambushed me as I was making a break for the control room, and detonated some large explosive. I would have made it in there before they sealed the doors, but Laserbeak fried the controls and they went into lockdown. I did manage to copy some data off of a terminal in the corridor, though, including a map of the place. I've sent the data to Elita One's comm. Hopefully she'll be able to make the most of it...." He pauses, looking slightly out of it. "I think that's about it. Oh...yeah Galvatron was there, briefly. Not exactly sure why he was, but it looked like he had some things to discuss with Contrail. And um--Hound is really good at diversions..." The courier looks like he's about to stasis lock for a moment, but then shrugs it off. "Anyway, that's it. Blurr, out." BLIP. The screen goes black as the transmission ends. =======================================================================
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