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| - First Floor Lobby - - Outskirts of San Francisco With a footprint of nearly an acre, Metroplex's first floor lobby provides ample room for Autobots and allies. The brilliant white walls of the cityformer's various ramps and subdivisions lend a crisp, minimalist boxiness to the tremendous space's periphery. Ample light shines in from the floor to ceiling gaps on all four sides, the elements and insects kept out by the invisible veneer of a forcefield. The entire floor is made of smooth, silvery, segmented panels that reflect light upward onto the gargantuan gearboxes and the recessed hydraulic cowlings that come into use when the city transforms. Everything is quite clean and well-ordered, with clearly designated exits etched in Cybertronian and Standard English bas-relief guiding the unfamiliar to where they need to go. Contents: Hound Autobot Museum Arcee is reading something on one of the terminals, and she frowns slightly. (The more humans do things like this, the more I wonder how much they actually care about this world -- it isn't like they have another one to fall back on. Ah, wait. I know who might care about this,) she thinks to herself. Then she sends a tightbeam to Hound. "<< Hey Hound, it's Arcee. If you aren't otherwise disposed today, I'd like you to meet me in the first floor lobby of Autobot City. If possible. >>" Hound receives Arcee's message. <> Not too long after, the green Autobot comes walking into the lobby. Spotting Arcee, he smiles and walks up to her. "Hi. What did you want to talk to me about?" "Hello! Listen, I've been informed that there's a little bit of 'funny business' going on in the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, the Redwood Forest. Park rangers there say they've located a couple of 'burl poachers' -- those are the ones who strip the trees for profitable wood, and then leave them to die. These two poachers have been known to be 'armed and dangerous', but I let the rangers know they probably won't be very dangerous to Autobots. Want to go put a scare into them? Honestly, I can't understand what drives such greed sometimes." Arcee shrugs slightly. Hound stiffens at the news, frowning. "Oh, yeah. I've heard about that. It's... it's shameful. It's disrespectful. It hurts an ancient ecosystem that's been there for thousands and thousands of years... or maybe millions... for mindless greed? It's... It's.." He blinks. "They located some?" He pauses, considering, rubbing a hand on his chin. It takes him all of two seconds to produce the tiniest of smirks and nod. "You BET." Moonracer has arrived. "OK, let's get going! Um...I'm probably going to rely on you a lot more when we get into the forest, because it isn't really familiar terrain to me," Arcee admits as she heads toward the exit with Hound. "I told the rangers we'd assist because there's so few of them for such a wide amount of land, and they can only do so much." Hound nods. "No problem! I love the redwoods. Been there several times. Have you ever seen them, Arcee? They're amazing. They're...heh, it's like they're sized just for us. Most of the trees on this planet are sort of small compared to us. Not the redwoods. Even we can't see the tops of those giants. They're... great." his look of joy fades, though. "Yes. Let's go. I don't usually like messing with humans, but... I think these guys warrent it." (Time passes...) California - North America Covering almost 158,700 square miles, the Golden State contains everything from redwood and sequoia forests in the north, to the fertile Central Valley, to the deserts of the south and east. A land of contrasts, the lush beauty of forested national parks such as Redwood and Yosemite are matched by the harsh beauty of the Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks. The coast, too, varies from waves dashing themselves at the foot of the rocky cliffs in the north to gentle swells lapping the sandy beaches in Southern California. The state is not only one of the most beautiful, but is also the most populous in the United States, concentrated mostly in major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Contents: Hound PlayCo Toys Arcata As they make their way out toward the protected forests on a northbound highway, Arcee asks Hound via radio, "So tell me why this forest is special, why the humans haven't cut it down to make paper yet." Moonracer has arrived. Hound lights up, his love of the area quite apparent. "Oh, this is an amazing forest ecosystem, Arcee. The trees here are ancient- some of the oldest on the planet. Also the tallest! Up to 379 feet! They can live to be 1,200-1,800 years or more... which isn't a lot by our standards, but it's a long time by Earth ones. The old growth ecosystem here is amazing, home to an amazing assortment of creatures from ...I think they're called "banana slugs" to Roosevelt elk. Sadly, about 95 % of these trees have been cut down- which is why consevration of the remaining forests is so important!" He goes on and on, happily... Arcee doesn't mind Hound's obsessiveness with the Terran environment, as ironically, *he* seems to care about it much more than the typical Terran did. And she finds Hound's knowledge useful to her and not just trivial. Sky Lynx is the one who puts her into a rest cycle with his endless stories. No, Sky Lynx is no Kup, that's for sure. "Okay, the park rangers have relayed some important information," she tells Hound. "I'm going to send you the last verified location of the poacher's camp. It's deep inside the woods, far off the trail. Not sure at this point how they haul the wood out of there, but that's the location we need to find." Hound does love Earth... even more than Arcee will ever know. He'd secretly love to just BE human and get to stay here forever. But yes.... sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, and that seems to be the case with some humans. Including these burl poachers, stripping away the life of a over-thousand year old tree just for a quick buck's profit on the Black Market. "Good! Alright, I have the coordinates. I'm thinking my Jeep mode won't be a problem, but.... you could hitch a ride, or simply walk through. Either way, it'll be some beautiful scenery." "Okay. Do you think we have a chance of sneaking up on them? We can make the approach from two different directions to confuse them...they might be familiar enough with the terrain to split up when they see us coming," Arcee muses. As the two approach the grounds of the protected reserve, the pink Autobot femme finds herself quite impressed with the size of these trees, and the 'feeling' they convey when one travels through their presence. It feels much different than any Terran place Arcee has visited so far. "...Wow. These trees are...I can see why they're something special," she finally admits. Hound responds, "I think splitting up would be the best. Heh, yes... I don't think it's possible to come here and NOT be at least slightly in awe of this place. Everything is so... ethereal feeling here. So quiet and... ancient. Well.. for them, at least." And indeed, the massive trees loom overhead even the Cybertronians, spaced across the soft duff of the forest floor. The tops of the trees aren't even visable. Light filters through, leaving a soft patchwork on the floor, and sound seems quiet and muffled. Hound suddenly stops. "Oh! careful... Look, there's one of the banana slugs I was telling you about.... isn't it wonderful?" A large, bright yellow slug sloooowly crawls along the forest path ahead of them. Hound carefully makes his way around it, then continues on. Suddenly, the forest quiet is interupted- a clanging noise sounds off in the distance- obviously NOT a natural sound. Arcee pauses for a moment to scan the teeeeny-tiny little banana slug for her files. She can barely comprehend how many different kinds of life there are on Earth. So many widely different species, with new species being found all the time. It isn't really her area of expertise, yet it fascinates her because the variations in life on Earth seem virtually endless. Then she continues on. It's time to put the scare of Mother Nature into these poachers who didn't seem to have a care in the world destroying this place. And Arcee's a little bit nervous. Not so much nervous about the poachers, that was going to be the good part. She was nervous about not having much of a frame of reference in this massive forest where much of the terrain looked the same. She would need to rely very heavily on her GPS, and keeping in contact with Hound. "They're very close," she murmurs quietly. It's not like she has much of a chance of blending in, so she's trying hard to remain quiet and use the redwood trunks as cover. Unlike her surrogate sister, Moonracer blends into the environment quite perfectly. Not because her preferred color palette is comprised of browns and greens, but because she has taken on the hues of this place as snipers are wont to do. Through the lens of her sniper rifle, the normally-teal femme observes the poachers with an impassive, calculating optic. A sensor station that Moonracer had established a few solar cycles prior relays the position data of two Cybertronian signatures approaching nearby. Testing the frequencies, the femme smirks. "I was wondering when you'd catch up. Just say the word." Moonracer runs her thumb along a nub on the stock of the rifle in her grasp, removing the safety interlock. Hound transforms into his root mode, and grins. "Isn't this great? So many Autobots would rather be in the city, or at parties.... but here... here I encounter things most of them will never get to see. I'm glad you came along and got to see this." He looks up...."OH! Marbled murrelet nest! It's a shorebird that comes all the way inland here to nest high up in these old-growth trees, then brings its brood back to the ocean once they can make the journey...." He smiles... then focuses back on the task at hand. Smile fades to a frown, and his more military-like demeanor surfaces. He motions Arcee to head one way, and he begins going the other. He radios her, <> Moonracer radios in. <> Hound starts moving in, getting his Holo Gun ready. Arcee peers at the marbled murrelet briefly, before giving Hound a nod and carefully traipsing through the forest to get into position. And shortly thereafter, Moonracer's voice comes across the tightbeam frequency. "<< Hey, long time no hear, >>" she says, then checks her GPS. It would seem that the trio of Autobots have managed to surround the poachers camp, in a triangular formation. Time to close in and stop this nonsense. At the base of one of the most ancient redwoods in the preserve, Larry and Darryl work to burl wood out of the massive trunk. They work with sharp axes, machetes, and other sharp implements. Their compadre, Steve, has taken their latest haul back to the campsite. The three men work without tiring. Meth is a hell of a drug. It can keep you awake for 5 days straight. And once you're so tweaked out you can't hold a regular job, you turn to...desperate measures...to get the next fix. Like burling wood from ancient redwoods. Moonracer's telescopic sight hums as she draws each human into her sights in turn, panning the camp over as she goes along. "Non-lethal," Moonracer acknowledges. "For the moment, at least," she adds, perhaps only to herself. Hound frowns with displeasure at the sight of these poachers wreaking such havoc. He pauses, pondering the best course of action... then decides to make these fellows think twice before they ever do something like this again. He gets ready to project a hologram onto the very tree Larry and Darryl are working on. But first, to set it up: The two men may hear a voice... coming from somewhere. It says, "Hey. Stop that. That tickles." Larry pauses, saw in hand, and glares at Darryl. "Shut up, quit makin' stupid voices." "I thought that was you," Darryl says, looking around wide-eyed. "...This ain't funny, STEVE?!! Stop doin' that, Steve!!" Steve arrives back from camp. "Quit yellin', you two, what's all the fuss? We're gonna get caught, you keep yellin' like that. Now shuddup an' do some more cuttin'." Arcee peers around one of the redwood trunks, readying one of her pistols to shoot at the lowest possible setting. It still might be enough of a shock to give one of these morons a heart attack, but typically, it's harmless to humans. Moonracer pulls the trigger of her rifle. 500 yards away, a gasoline canister sitting on the tailgate of the human's truck is knocked over as a high-caliber round screams through it.
* BOOM! Moonracer smiles as she watches the mushroom cloud erupt in the clearing half a mile away, the flare momentarily knocking out the night-vision capability of her scope. She peels herself away from the weapon to admire the sight. "I always loved fireworks." Hound grins a little at the human's reaction. He tries not to get pleasure from other people's pain, as it were, but these guys need to be stopped. The "voice" speaks again. "Stop that. I mean it." That's when it *seems* like a tree branch extends down from high on the trunk, complete with a hand-like appendage at the tip, made of the redwood needles (its version of leaves). It seems to reach down and tap just in front of Larry's face- without actually touching him of course, then it flits back up into the branches. Suddenly, the gasoline canister explodes, and Hound follows that with, "I get mad when you do stuff like this." The trio of meth-heads watch, almost mesmerized, as the tree branch slowly moves to look like a hand -- an accusing hand, complete with finger, to point at their guilty selves! To pass judgment upon them. The spirit of the forest itself...is ANGRY with them. And then, as if on cue, their truck explodes. The explosion triggers a full tweaked-out panic mode in these men, causing them to scream and panic. They begin charging through the woods like frightened gazelles. Arcee watches as they blow past the tree she's concealed behind, then she takes aim at Steve and fires. Steve convulses and drops to the ground in severe pain, but still quite alive. Steve's two friends...leave him there, they don't even look back. Obviously, the spirit of the forest is out for blood! Hound winces slightly as Arcee shoots the human, radioing the others, <> In the meantime, hoping to stop the humans, he creates another illusion. This time, right in the direction the fleeing men are running, another, smaller "tree" appears. It looks sort of like those angry apple-throwing trees from the Wizard of Oz. And just as peeved as they were, too. The tree grabs an apple from its branches and "throws" it at the men. Hopefully they'll turn around and run back this way- or maybe just faint in fright, that would be fine, too. "Wh...WHAT ARE YOU?!?!" Darryl shrieks, stopping just in front of the littler tree 'monster'. He looks positively terrified. He nearly runs over Larry in his haste to go in the other direction. "Watch where you're going, moron -- whaaaaa???? What the...what IS that?! Ohh, shiiiiii--" The pair then begin barging in Hound's direction. "This way, I saw the road was back this way!! That thing ate Steve -- keep runnin', jerk!!" << I didn't want to endanger lives, >>" Arcee admits, "<< But he's only stunned, he should be alright once he awakens. I had the non-lethal shot wide open, so I took it. >>" Hound responds with some relief, <> As the two others run towards him, Hound produces yet another hologram of the same angry tree- on the side opposite from him. As the humans stare at this new horrible thing, Hound attempts to sneak up behind them and grab them. Moonracer subspaces her ghillie suit and vaults down from her perch, landing on the forest floor that sends a dull thud throughout the forest. A moment later she contorts down to take the shape of an angular, alien vehicle, starting off towards the incapacitated human that Arcee took down. "Oh dang, that thing TELEPORTS, didja see that??!!" Larry screams as the terrible, terrible tree monster appears yet again -- only this time in front of them! Darryl pulls a revolver from his coat, but his hand's shaking so badly that even if he does get a shot off, he'll probably drop the gun when Hound manages to scoop both him and Larry up. "I'm killin' this thing," he stammers. Steve's eyes blink open, and he tries to move but everything hurts as if electricity has singed every nerve ending, which isn't far from the truth. His wide eyes widen even more in fear as he hears a strange noise approaching. He tries to roll over to get up, but his muscles twitch in painful contractions and he's unable to move from his spot. Arcee, in the meantime, ventures around the tree and goes to rendezvous with Hound, but she has a little ways to go before reaching him. Moonracer shakes down to take the form of a Cybertronian hovercar. Cybertronian Hovercar idles next to one of the men on the ground, rear canopy swinging open to facilitate her fellow Cybertronians loading him and the others inside once they've been processed. Hound reaches down just as the humans pulls out his revolver. "Oh no, you don't." The shot rings out- and fortunately just hits the ground at the illusion's feet. Hound frowns and grabs the two, lifting them up to face him. "Shooting haphazardly like that is completely irresponsible. What if your shot missed and you accidentally hit someone in the diatance? Or some creature?" He shakes his head at them, but knows there's no way they really care... or are capable of caring right now. He sighs, looking them eye-to-optics... stern earth guardian to dastardly poachers. "What I *do* hope you remember, if anything, is... sometimes the Earth /fights back/. Don't forget that. So.... treat IT nice, and it'll treat YOU nice. OKay?" With that, he carries the two (most likely terrified humans) to Moonracer, where he proceeds to tie their hands behind their backs and then (gently) throws them in."Now BEHAVE, or I'll sic more trees on you." "Uhh...this the worst trip EVER, you batched some bad meth, Larry," Darryl complains as the two poachers are carried away and lectured by Hound. "This is totally your fault, cause you thought it'd be a good idea to come in here an' piss off the spirits of the forest!" "Shut up, man, just...you're makin' this worse than it hasta be," Larry says. "I dunno how giant robots can control tree spirits, but maybe we just better not ask." Arcee makes her way over, simply picking up Steve and placing him inside Moonracer's vehicular compartment. He doesn't even need to be tied up; his body is one big Charley Horse until the effect wears off. "You bastards got away easy with the freakin' ghost trees," Steve complains miserably. "Good job, guys," Arcee says with a grin. "Maybe that tree they were cutting on can still be saved, it doesn't look like they got much wood out of it. We caught them early." Cybertronian Hovercar says, "I'll see to it that these clowns are delivered to the appropriate authorities. Though that's better than what they deserve." Cybertronian Hovercar vroom vroom and hovers on outta here, ne'er do wells in tow, attempting to make the ride back as rough as possible for her cargo. Hound grins back to Arcee, then heads over to look at the tree. He studies it, hand tracing the fresh cut... the "wound" of the ancient organic life form. He nods and looks over to the others with a smile. "Yes, I believe so. Most of the cambium layer is still intact. That's the important thing." He pauses, then brings out a can of plant sealant from subspace. The ones gardeners use to help heal cut limbs of trees and plants. Yes, Hound carries it around. He sprays the cut, then returns to the others."Thank you, Mooonracer." He watches her speed off, then turns to smile at Arcee. "And thank you. Some missions are... well, they're important, but they're just... missions. And then there are the ones that really make you feel good. Make you feel you've really done something helpful. This is one of those times."
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