| abstract
| - All is quiet here at the Spire of Freedom, only a few Cybertronians come here to actually visit the site and remember better times before the war. This is the symbol of hope for peace now. Spat out of a rip in time falls a small life pod, spinning towards the planet Cybertron. A few scientists might even notice its descent, thinking it's just a meteor. The light from it hitting what atmosphere the planet has is a brilliantly hot white-yellow. Streaking toward the Spire and just missing it before it slams into the ground with a mighty THUMP! A shower of sparks and debris go flying from the crater it leaves behind. Chains is out on a scouting run in the area. He's not sure about the life pod or what it might signify, but it’s definitely worth checking out closer. Trying to stay generally out of sight, the minibot heads for the site and tries to find a better vantage point. Firestorm had been surveying the tower itself since she had some off time, the femme thinking back on the visions she saw at the solar alignment when the library deep below opened up. The chatter of the few people around caught her attention, making her look over and up to the thing they were pointing at. "What the pit...?" She raised an eyebrow, optics trained on the falling object until it slammed into the ground. Curiosity got the better of Firestorm, her jets firing up as she soars over to the location of the crash. Goa barely has his head back above ground, having spent the last few cycles in Cubicron, before he hears an all-too-familiar sound. Bassy fire, and from the west ... it was from his favorite tower, too! Oh, what the pit, this'll be good. Maybe the moon fell on it and crushed it or something. He transforms and makes a beeline to the Spire of Freedom, inwardly face palming. He shouldn't be giving himself time for this. Starscream goes along with Goa. Though he is in the air while Goa is on the ground. The disturbance around the Spire of Freedom is curious, and Starscream wants to investigate it thoroughly. The crater is on fire for a time, there really isn't anything much left of the pod, it’s in shards from the crater point and outward some 50 feet plus. The fire dies, leaving nothing than the blackened smoky crater. It appears as if whatever was in the pod may just well have perished. Or did it? Look close... (+roll awareness) +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 15. Chains notices plenty of Decepticons, and his own general lack of support. As such, he tries to stay still and hidden, watching events to he can report back, rather than getting directly involved. Brave, yes, but not suicidal. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 2! The total roll was 12. +Roll: Firestorm rolls against her Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 10. For those that get close enough, look hard and long enough, there's something moving very slightly. It has no form that's discernable. Oh, cool. The hallucination tower doubles as a meteor magnet. Goa accelerates, perhaps fruitlessly, as he hears the roar of Starscream's engines trailing him overhead ... attention from the higher-ups is exactly what he wants to AVOID right now. He gives a crater a rolling pass around the edge, beeping a recognizing honk as he notices Firestorm, but otherwise, there seems to be nothing else of interest to him here. Goa rumbles to a stop, parking and waiting to see what the seekers do. Firestorm glanced at Goa at the honk, smiling lightly as she sends a delighted feeling to see him again over the link. But that wouldn't distract her for long once movement in the depth of the crater caught her optics, "Hm? Looks like there's something else down there.." The femme hmmed to herself, taking a tentative step over the edge before digging her heels into the ground and sliding on down to the bottom to check it out. Chains notices the movement, but that isn't any help in his position. He stays still, surveying the situation and what the Decepticons do with it. Starscream pulls ahead so he can get to the disturbance first. His scanners on full, he probes everything between himself and the spire. Whatever it is stills the moment someone comes into the crater. But there's other movement now from all over, little bits of what looks like liquid mercury roll toward the crater then down into it. Slowly they draw into a blackened puddle at the very heart of the crater, slowly that puddle grows larger. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 9. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and SUCCEEDS PERFECTLY! Chains notices pretty much all the details of what's going on. Scouting optimized optic systems are great things on occasion. Even from where he is, zooming in isn't a problem. Still, he's heavily outnumbered and whatever is in there, they have a bead on it, all he can do is report. But at least the report ought to be a pretty good one. Goa's engine hums back into an active gear, and he rolls backwards a couple of meters. He takes the liberty of speaking aloud, off his radio, in Starscream's direction. "I've had enough run-ins with alien substance to last me two lifetimes, commander." Firestorm stayed far enough away that the substance wouldn't touch her feet, though she did crouch down and grab a length of metal, easing it over to prod the mercurial substance. "What IS that stuff?" Starscream wants to know, as he transforms and hovers above the site. "Get a sample of that to the lab for analysis as soon as possible." Little bits of mercury merge together as they roll into the crater, making bigger bits. More and more of it is flowing into crater, filling the blackened center. There is no physical reaction to that prod, but there is a sound that is distinctly masculine.. a groaned utterance. Chains narrows his optics, getting some shots of all of this going on. He has no idea what or who this might be either, but it’s definitely something Bot CoC is going to want some images of for study. "That sounded not good." Goa transforms to get a better look, a rolling alt mode clearly not being very well-suited to looking down ... He throws Starscream a look. "Why don't you get it, flyboy?" "Because I'M in charge here, and I say you take it," Starscream says to Goa, "Now chop chop!" Chains grins, despite himself, at the interaction between the commander con and subordinates. Some things never change. The recording continues for Bot CoC while the cons are occupied. There's another utterance from that puddle in reaction to the sample suggestion. Then that puddle moves all at once, rising up like a shapeless pillar. The black fades from it, the surface a smooth liquid silver that reflects back like a fun house mirror. It rises to the height of a mech Prime's size. Then there's a division that occurs at the lower third as it creates formless legs, then another division off either side for formless arms. Then formlessness shifts, becoming more distinct. The legs first, then a body, the arms, then finally the head. As time passes it takes on further detail, gaining coloration. Two piercing yellow optics flicker on in the face. Finally it has fully formed and looking right at Firestorm as he utters a gruffly masculine sentence that is certainly not native to Cybertron. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Courage Stat and succeeds by 3! The total roll was 9. Goa bites back a defiant hiss, fangs tugging down at the corners of his mouth. So much for staying under the radar. "Chop chop... sure..." He smirks and pulls out one of his shoulder blades, whipping it open and taking a couple steps down the crater wall-- "What." Goa just stands still and watches this whole de-facto transformation sequence. He grumbles something about stragglers, then moves forward, seemingly no less intent on getting a chunk of this thing to take to Starscream and win back a token few of the Decepticon brownie points he's lost recently. Firestorm's optics are as wide as can be at the sight of the shifting, metallic liquid as it starts to writhe and grow in height until it was taller than herself. "Slag..." She curses, frowning and trying to scoot back up the side of the crater backwards. That was until those piercing yellow eyes sprouted from the depth of the liquid and stared straight at her. Slag slag slag. She's understandably confused and somewhat scared, trying to now claw her way back out with jets trying to kick on. But her sliding back down causes debris to get lodged in them, making them false start as she futily slides back down to the center before the alien thing. Chains settles again when the figure forms. Yeah, this is something the Bots need to know about, especially if the cons end up with this being or whatever it is. Starscream stares at the morphing metallic liquid. "Just what is going on?" he demands, and raises his null rays at the curiosity. "Maybe my null rays will make it behave." He does not fire yet, however... The being turns his head toward the approaching Goa, an arm raising up and a hand grasping at the blade. The hand and arm melt back into formlessness and flow up the blade quickly and then it is inside Goa's all too accessible to a fluid body. Furthermore it is in his head quite literally, searching his files for something specific, language file found. Studying that without even taxing the Grounders network at all. The fluid retracts and reforms back into an arm and hand. It took perhaps 30 nanoseconds overall for that to occur. He looks down at Firestorm, offering the same hand that invaded her brother, "Heh, whut you afraid of girl, little old me?" he gruffs softly. A chuckle at what Starscream says, "Me behave? Surely you jest?" Goa looks at his blade, then this ... thing, then back at his blade -- which his arm already appears inadvertently fused to. His rational thought is all but suspended by the absurdity of this situation ... it takes him a few clicks to even figure out what to /think/, whereupon he finally settles upon cursing his fight-or-flight programming. Wide, blazing, red-eyed and shrieking horrid metal-on-slate noises, he pulls out his other blade and dashes randomly at the entity's leg, having little other combat option save chopping his own arm off. As he's let go a few long moments later, he tumbles on his aft. "You're SENTIENT?" Starscream shouts at the creature, "Who or what are you?" The Air Commander glares at the being, arm rifles still pointed. Firestorm glances over her shoulder to watch the thing grab Goa's blade and invade his mind, the femme wincing slightly as the unpleasantness travels over the link and into her own mind. But wait.. he wasn't going to attack them..? Ruby optics study him up and down with that outstretched hand, deciding she'd take a chance and grab it to pull herself up. "Yeah.. Where'd you come from..?" Firestorm raises a brow, still eyeing him warily. She'd never seen that type of transformation before, but oddly enough his hand felt as real as her own. Strange. The blade Goa just attempted to slash through his leg, it makes a distinct CLANG and doesn't even bury itself into his armor much at all. The sensation not unlike hitting a hammer with a hammer. If it hurt at all, the being gives no indication. "No too smart are ya boy." said in a gruff, demeaning, sarcastic tone. "Of course I'm sentient." He looks back down to Firestorm as she takes his hand, drawing her up then very up close and personal. Yellow optics seem to pierce to the very spark, "The name is Depth, babe." He releases her hand, glancing at Goa, "Overreaction understandable, but unnecessary. Just needed to borrow your language file, boy." Chains frowns at the interaction so far, continuing to take note of everything going on without drawing any attention to himself. This gets more interesting by the moment, if potentially worse. Goa still looks shocked and, unusually for the Decepticon that's usually either chuckling or jittering, angry. He stumbles to his feet, looking over his molested arm, then uses that hand to rub his helmet, still snarling and flinching. "You're welcome," he snarks. "... what brings you to our lovely Cybertron?" "Are you a Decepticon?" Starscream demands of the newcomer, "Or are you an Autobot? Speak!" Firestorm's optics widen a bit again, blinking blankly in surprise as she's drawn close to the mech, his yellow gaze staring past her own reds. "Uuhm.. Depth.. right.." A slight tint of soft red manages to show on her dark grey cheeks, looking a little flustered at his forwardness. Depth nods his head toward Goa, "Well you did just attack me, so you volunteered for the neural net invasion." he reasons in good humor, "I am neither for I am not of your world oh screechy voiced one." sounding so snide right then. He then looks back to Firestorm, "Cybertron huh? Are all your femmes this hot?" Goa simmers furiously, examining each blade for dents and behaving -- throwing his arms in the air, and putting them both away -- very unsatisfied about it. "Sure, great, moon logic," he mutters, taking a few long strides to place the somewhat squat Decepticon between Depth and Firestorm. "What is that supposed to mean?" His silver arms are crossed as he stares up. His teeth aren't bared anymore, but it'd take a blind and deaf mech to place Goa's demeanor as anything but ticked. Chains tenses at the threats and the rest, figuring the cons aren't likely to take a lot of this well. He remains uninvolved, just spying from a well covered distance, but so far, he's not having any trouble picking any of this up. And as if on cue.. the heavens flash brightly as a beam of energy streaks across the skies much like a shooting star. The relatively small reverse winged black star fighter known as Skystalker thunders no through the planet's atmosphere at high speeds. He's coming in hot and fast his destination looks to be this location. Starscream taps his foot impatiently. "So then," he says, "If you're not from around here, where are you from?" he asks. Firestorm isn't one to receive compliments very often, the usually gruff and hardened femme now starting to go soft as she rubs the back of her neck and gazes down in embarrassment, a feeling of fluttered nerves crossing the link. But thank Primus Goa stepped in when he did, allowing the femme to get some breathing room between her and Depth. Whew. Depth looks down at Goa as he puts himself between Firestorm and himself, there's a little amused twinkle in his optics. "Oh ho, the boy has a set. I might just like you after all." said in a gruff, amused tone, "It means I like what I see. Got a problem with a mech being honest eh? She yer girl hmm? Gonna tell me to back off?" he queries further. A snicker at Starscream's question, "That's for me to know, you to find out isn't it you vocally confused twit." He cranes his head toward the incoming flier, "I am popular today. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy." the tone is not at all serious. He looks back between the two, "No... wait... related yes? That's it.. protective brother. Hmm. Complicates things." Goa curses inwardly at a lot of things. A whole lot of things. In fact, it was a constant track in his processor the moment he came topside ... no, perhaps, the moment he left the slums of Cubicron. No, no, going back ... He cuts off that train of thought and just narrows his optics to red lines. There's only a few ways someone -- oh, or a pile of alien slag -- could figure that out, and he didn't like any of them. Even more, he disliked the information being blurted aloud, especially with Starscream and -- oh, pit's sake, is that Megatron's taskmaster flying in? "What does that even ..." Goa draws his lips thin, digging one set of fingers into his arm plates. "Yeah, yes. Is that gonna be a problem, Depth?" The green mech's optics are mostly on the sky ... Damn, reinforcements, and all sky bound. Sooner or later, Chains figures, someone is going to do a scan, and five on one is not good odds. The minibot waits til the newest arrivals set down nearer the others, and starts to make hi way off-scene. He's got enough info for now, no need to risk turning this into an air to ground chase scene when there's nothing he could do here anyway. Skystalker stops suddenly and causes a tremendous sonic boom in his wake. The star fighter transforms with rifles in hand armed and ready for destruction as he looks down between Depth, Firestorm, and Goa. His optics narrow and he takes a moment to acquire a missile lock on the unknown entity, "Step away from my--the femme!" he barks out to all. This Decepticon stays hovered high above everyone as he prefers the advantage of the high ground so to speak. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 7! The total roll was 3. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Agility Stat and fails by 2! The total roll was 19. Rogue is out doing what she does...causing pain and misery to the masses. She flies along till she spots...well it looks like some kind of party going on in the middle of nowhere. That really makes you wonder. She shrugs her shoulders a bit, as she changes course and makes for the group. Firestorm hopes Goa won't go into a frenzy or something over all of this, the femme reaching a hand out to pat him on the shoulder. But wait.. what? Optics shift skyward at the sound of the voice, spotting Skystalker which makes her groan and shake her head while rubbing the bridge between her optics. "Skystalker, it's fine! Put that away!" She shouts up to the short flier, ruby optics narrowing. Depth chuckles softly at the grounder, "I dunno, going to make it a problem, kid? I don't hear her complaining dat I complimented her. Didn't hear her asking fer help." he points out. He turns his head slowly toward Skystalker, "Dat a gun or yer happy to see me?" he purrs out, then snickers softly at his own crude joke. "Boys all getting defensive. She's got you all wrapped around her little finger hmm?" he looks at Firestorm with slightly narrowed optics that make him seem to leer lasciviously, "Only makes her more interesting." Goa doesn't have the time or patience for this. He just flashes Skystalker a particularly rude hand gesture without so much the courtesy of looking at him, instead peering up at Depth and holding his ground... the sound of /another/ pair of jets encourages him to look away again. What his optics focus on is nowhere near the sky, though -- instead, he notices a departing Autobot leaving from a hidden perch nearby... He smirks, holding eye contact just long enough to let Chains know that Goa's aware of his presence, then looks up to see... Rogue? "Aw frag it, why'd I even come back out of the ground?" he complains, loud enough for immediate company to hear, but presumably not the seekers hovering or standing further off from the crater. Goa sighs loudly, gives Depth another good glare, and then motions at Starscream. "Hey in-charge, what are we doing here?" Skystalker looks over to Rogue and gives her a nod then turns back to Depth, "Happy to see you DIE!!!" then he opens fire with both rifles shooting large bursts of purple lancing blasts at Depth. missiles flare out from the Decepticon's shoulders in a large puff of smoke.. their target Depth of course. Combat: Skystalker attacks Depth with Rage of the micromaster - (Rifle) Level: 1 and HITS! Combat: Depth's Armor buckles but remains functional. Damage - Depth -------------- Subsystem Damage ----Status---- Armor 9 107/116 92% Hull/Health 25 118/143 83% Cou-End: 35% Energon: 98% Rogue hovers down as Sky take a shot at the neutral with the others. "Hmm, are we playing trash the loser? You know how much I love that game..." Firestorm growls and covers her head at the incoming blasts from Skystalker, the force of them making her lurch towards the edge of the crater when they hit Depth. The femme hisses angrily as optics flash dangerously towards Sky, a blade extending from one of her hands to point up at him. "Sky, knock it off!!" Firestorm nearly roars as wing marks start to pulse, sending crackles of turquoise electricity along the blade to form a ball of energy at the tip which was shot straight at the mech at surprising speed. Combat: Firestorm attacks Skystalker with Buzz off! - (Element) Level: 2 and HITS! Combat: Skystalker's Armor buckles but remains functional. Depth turns his head toward Rogue, like he felt her looking at him. "Another femme, you boys got some pretty ones on yer side. I like dis." he rumbles softly. He catches that gesture Goa just made and slaps his knee, laughing hard. "Oh ho! I like you, kid! A set and a half!" He pauses at the complaint, "Dere's an underground? Ohh I gots to see dis." Then he turns on his heel and makes a shield out of both arms, the missiles impact it hard, rocking him back a bit as they explode. "Lovely, all brawn, no brains. Hello? Did you not notice two of your comrades are standing near me you addled fragger?" Then he peers at the femme, "Trash the loser? I like dat game too. But I gots a bigger gun." he looks over his shoulder at Firestorm, "Ohhh I like you." he purrs, "That just gave me the willies in some really naughty places." Goa does little more to react to the incoming gunfire than slide his armored cape up, hunching forward to balance the weight... he's face palming as hard as he can under it. "Here I was, thinkin' I was done with the whole 'vacation' concept..." Magnum enters the area with Xaaron, the buzz of his propeller pushing the hover platform along with a whir. Xaaron arrives along with Magnum, the old High Councilor riding atop the hover platform of his companion. "Now whatever do we have here, hmm?" Rogue hmms at the odd one, "Guns are over rated..." as she watches the exchange of fire. "But, I do so hate when trash thinks it can talk to a member of the empire like that..." as her hand begins to spark, a sphere of electricity forming around it. "And now your first lesson in pain." As she draws back and throws the sphere at the odd one...does she care others are standing near him. Not in the least... Combat: Rogue attacks Depth with element Level: 3 and MISSES! The Spire has had enough and zots a warning shot toward those using weapons in the area. "STOP THAT, YOU FOOLS!" Starscream shrieks, as the tower ZOTS. Skystalker looks all smug after blasting Depth and hid big mouth, well that seems to have shut him up. Then he's blasted by Firestorm and the surprise attack knocks him out of the sky and he hits the ground with a heavy thud. Though he is immediately back to his feet and he aims his particle beam rifle at Firestorm and yells, "Are you mad woman? Whatever feeling you may think I may have had for you is over and gone!!I have nothing but contempt for you.. welcome to oblivion." he barks out as he slowly ascends into the sky as a ginormous weapon of mass destruction appears on his back. He begins to arm the 800 gigaton nuclear weapon. But before he can use it. a mystical bolt of lightning zaps him thoroughly. The Decepticon falls unconscious to the ground as his nuke is automatically withdrawn back into his weapons port. "Looks like we have some trouble, councilor. Decepticons. I'm moving in for a closer look to see who they are shooting at. If there is an innocent under there, they may need our help." Magnum replies, his decision already made. Xaaron sighs as he sees up ahead the flash of light from the spire, and he shakes his head, "Some Cybertronians have no respect. Please, get me closer Magnum. Hopefully I can diffuse the situation. Do NOT arm your weapon systems." Firestorm huffs angrily as Skystalker pretty much announces revenge, her joints tightening at the sight of the massive bomb he suddenly pulls out, at least until the tower gets a good shot at him, sending the mech to the ground. She sighs in relief, but not for long with another blast from the tower landing near her feet, making her eep softly and quickly retract her blade. She'd totally forgotten about that as well as Rogue who was hurling electric orbs at them. "Ugh, I vote we get the frag outta here before we're all blown to bits by these morons and the tower." The femme comments as she glances to Goa and Depth behind her. Depth peers over his shield as the electricity deflects off his shield with no effect. Then the Spire zots a warning. "Huh, who knew the buildings would take offense." he mutters. Then it really fries that one mech, "Where did you people find that tool?" he asks over his shoulder toward the two behind him. Then nods in agreement, "That or stop acting like a bunch of idiots would be good." Starscream nods at Firestorm. "We shall pull back," he says, "Fighting's no good here." He shakes his head in disgust at the downed Skystalker. Goa waves his hand. "Oh sure," he grumbles, "That one's from the turbo flea market. Only cost a few chips, too." He gives Depth this utterly dry look. "Hey Firey. I need a drink, an' I'd hazard a guess you do too." Goa turns and sets to clambering out of the crater-pit without another word, peeking his helmet over the top edge. Deja vu... did that Autobot bring his friends over? Yes... Yes he did. Goa face palms hard enough it leaves a little dent on his crest. Xaaron arrives, with Magnum, and he dismounts the hover platform to stand proudly. "I think that is QUITE enough violence, THANK YOU. " There is some annoyance in the old Mech's voice as he looks to the Decepticons, "Now, if you would be so kind as to tell me what in the primordial program is going on here?" Skystalker just sort of lays there motionless and still slightly smoking. But his internal systems start to reboot and he begins to power up once more. He groans a bit but still unable to move. He does manage to clench is fists tightly at the thought of the betrayal from the femme. His optics glow angrily. Magnum says, "Yes, there has been enough violence here. Do you all forget why this is here?" Magnum adds to Xaaron's comment, hovering by the councilor." Firestorm peeks up over the ridge with Goa, optics narrowing at the Autobot elder before clambering out and dusting herself off. "Nothing's going on. We were just about to leave. Right?" She sends a sharp look to her fellow 'cons as well as Depth for them just go along with it. Depth snickers at that humor from Goa, "Yer almost cute when you look at me like dat." he murmurs softly, then glances toward Xaaron, "Oh good, it’s the old farts meeting and I forgot my lifetime subscriber pass too. Tsk." he chuckles softly, shield forming back into his hands and arms. He peers at the still 'Stalker, "You gonna leave him here huh?" Then following them out of the crater he hmms softly at that look, "Wut was that look fer? I didn't do nuthing but land on this sad little war torn mud ball." Goa takes quick strides away from his compatriots, then halts in his tracks-- "/Mud/ ball?" he barks, whirling around to give Depth an appraising glare ... where was this thing from? What did he know already? He frowns, slowly turning around, due east to Polyhex... and nearly stumbles over Skystalker's prone chassis. Goa sighs. "You owe me for this," he hisses out through clenched teeth, as he hefts Skystalker over his back and starts toting the flier back to base with him. Magnum says, "Yes, there has been enough violence here. Do you all forget why this is here?" Magnum adds to Xaaron's comment, hovering by the councilor. In response to the Decepticons: "Yes, leave this place Decepticons!"" Xaaron looks at Depth, and he quirks an optic brow faintly, "My my. Such an attitude. What is your name, friend?" no, he isn't insulted by being called an old fart. "I am Emirate Xaaron. And this particular place is known as the Spire of Freedom.. it commemorates the end of a war fought long ago, when all of our people were one." Firestorm rubs the bridge between her eyes again, just wanting to grab Depth by a faceplate and drag him off. No, no she wouldn't do that though, guessing he'd follow if he wanted as she starts to walk off with a dismissive wave at the Autobots. "Yeah yeah. I'm gonna get a drink." She radios Goa curiously after that, <> Depth peers at Goa's barked question, "You heard me. Mudball. Bet this planet gots a muddy middle if you went down far nuff." he gruffs. Then waves as he goes to pick up the fallen comrade, "Have fun hauling his aft around, kid. Not like he deserves it, he did attacker yer sister and all." he points out. A glance at the two that arrived, there's a shift of his optics that makes it look like he would have raised a single eyebrow at him if he had one, one narrowed the other wide. "Emirate. Now /dat/ is a title. All important are you eh?" he snickers softly, "Oh I gots a 'tude, friend, rude tude all the way down to the core of my being." then a chuckle, "Fraid to tell ya but seems you gots yerself a war now, sort of pointless to have this thing eh?" A glance at Firestorm, as if deciding if he'll follow her or not. <> Ironically, the emotional link tends to make Goa's communication more confusing than it would be otherwise -- during his hissing, garishly grandiose description, he's exhibiting a blend of sarcasm and enthusiasm toward Firestorm. Goa shouts over his shoulder, in reply to Depth's apparent drive to comment on everything, "No. But he's on the same team."
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