| abstract
| - All around you as far as you can see, a vast undulating field of fiery red sand dunes stretches to all horizons. The constant, driving wind flings a steady hail of sharp-edged particles against you. The upper layers of the sand creep along under your feet, and you find it hard to keep your footing. If you look very carefully toward the west, you might make out a faint shadow. Hills, perhaps, or just maybe - traces of civilization? Contents: Mecha Tiger Windshear Mindwipe Obvious exits: Launch leads to Deep Space - Paraplanar. East leads to Petrified Ocean. West leads to Abandoned City. In a plume of red dust the shuttle extended landing legs and touched down onto the surface of the Red Planet. As the motors powered down, the only sound left was the wind whiping red dust everywhere and all over the shuttle. Inside the ship Windshear worked the controls on at the pilots station and looked back at his passengers. "Well here we are..." The vast, lonely plains of the FLAME DUNES spread out from horizon to horizon, a nigh-endless waste of red sand. The harsh winds blow the jagged silica particle around, blowing them into every nook and cranny, irritating the eyes and gears. From his ever-expanding supply of costumes, Redshift is draped in a long, flowing, sand-coloured robe, with stripes of white cloth bound about his head and face. He pulls a pair of goggles over his eyes, to keep out the blowing sands of the plains below. The shuttle ramp lowers, spilling red-hued light into the ship's dim passages. Redshift steps out onto the ramp, wind tearing at his robe. "Mindwipe... Are you SURE this is the place?" Mecha Tiger is literally digging his claws into the ship's deck, trying to keep himself in place as the shuttle makes it's way to the destination. "I am hating space." He keeps saying to himself, obviously trying to keep his nerve from giving out. Finally his claws release from the deep indentions he made, as the ship lands. "Out of my way, comrades!" He voices, and takes moves quicky off the gangplank, nearly knocking Redshift off the side, in his wake. Mindwipe peers at the flame dunes from around behind Redshift, and he stares out into the vast expanse and past it. Then, the mystic nods sharply and purrs, "Oh, of course, this place is /perfect/." Mindwipe had a funny ieda of perfect, since it seems to involve a sandblasting by the wind. He glares a bit as Avalanche muscles by, but he says nothing. Mecha-Tiger was clinging to the deck too, but fortunately someone had provided him with a small TV to watch during the trip. Once the shuttle lands and it is time to disembark, the Predacon follows the Horrorcon Tiger out the door. He looks around and blinks. "Are we on Mars? Or Dune?" Windshear watched and waited till everyone was out then got up and walked to the ramp. wow thats a lot of dust, he thought and idely fleed his wings. This stuff was going to wreck havoc on his servos. Without another thought to the matter he stepped down off the ramp and joined everyone else. "So whats the plan? What are we here for?" The cloth-draped Redshift stumbles aside as the much larger Avalanche comes bumbling down the ramp, and to save himsefl from falling, he leaps off, his feet pressing down into the red grit of the sands. His goggled view falls on Mindwipe, then out across the vast, empty plains. "Well then... What are we searching for?" He asks, bending down to scoop up a handful of the hot red sand. "If you wanted /sand/ there seems to be no shortage." Mecha Tiger would've felt great, given his feet were now on something that wasn't Decepticon made. However, his enhanced optic receptors have to nearly shut close from the cloud of sand whipping up into them. "Bah, we are always going to places like this." He comments, and raises his paw to protect his sight. Mindwipe sniffs and folds his wings down and around himself to try to deal with the blowing sand. He kneels and picks up a handful letting the grains run through his fingers, and quotes, "As grains of sand through the hourglass..." then, he shakes his head, and it's more Vorath speaking than Mindwipe, really, "There are often important trace elements to be found in sand, though what we're looking for today is underneath it... a catalyst to improve the burning of your flamethrower." Windshear looks around, the sand blowind looking like red static from time to time to his optics. He kicks in his radar and watches Mindwipe and listens. "Then may I suggest that you lead the way, Mindwipe?" You paged Avalanche with 'Right, just wanted to give you a heads-up so you can avoid making a similar mistake' Redshift flings the handful of sand, scattering the dust out into the winds. Godo thing he decided to bundle up, the wnid-blow sand would be hell on his freshly detailed paintjob and gold inlay. "Right. So... we dig? Or do you have a more.... Efficient method in mind?" Redshift asks to the Headmaster. Mecha Tiger looks back at the rest of the team, and waits for an answer. "Well if we are to be digging, I may want hands to use." With that said, the Horrorcon reconfigures his shape into robot mode, atleast this way, the dust would tear at his optics so badly. "Just name the place, and we'll dig...or blow it up. Either way should be fun." Leaping up, Avalanche transforms into his titanic robot mode. Mindwipe considers, "We aren't looking for /water/, so we can hardly douse, but... the most /interesting/ elements are usually dangerous, no? Fan out and search for patches of sand where /nothing/ grows." He straightens up, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he search for a better idea. Mecha-Tiger is perfectly happy to dig in Tiger mode, as soon as someone points out a spot for him to dig. Where nothing grows? Gee that narrows it down... Windshear nods and picks a direction to walk and starts that way. The sand blowing at the surface over his feet make it not smooth walking and a time or two one has to consider the grace seekers are suppose to have. He scans around looking for any spot without growth.. what growth? Redshift nods in aknowledgment to Mindwipe's plan, and rises into the air, propelled by his anti-gravs. His ropes whip around his frame, constricting his movements but thankfully keeping his joints free from grit. The dunes are featureless, sandy, with the occasional odd blade of grass or withered, thirsty bit of scrub. Easier said than done. Spotting a promising patch off to one side, Redshift drifts over for a better look. Avalanche raises an optic ridge, and looks around. "A patch with no growth. That's nearly saying, find an Autobot who's not worth shooting." He shakes his head, and just goes off in his own direction. Keeping an optic peeled for such a spot, maybe there is something? However, he then realizes that the entire area....is literally a dead spot. "Great..." Mindwipe gets paid to be unhelpfully cryptic. It's in his contract. He crouches down again and starts scribing out a design in the sand. Inclued is the alchemical symbol of the element that Redshift seeks and vaguely locations of the various Decepticons, though as they move, he keeps needing to upate his drawing. It's a shame they couldn't just use a metal detector, but those are so very limited. Then something occurs to him. Mecha-Tiger looks around for a spot to dig. He keeps his head down because of the blowing sand, then slowly moves forward. Finally he spots an area where the sand seems slightly different. He starts digging like a dog that's found his favorite bone. Sand goes flying everywhere, adding to the already annoying dust storm. Windshear continues moving and has now shifted his optic sensors to look for shade variations in the sand. But after a few minutes he sees nothing. He looks back to see if he can see anyone else. He makes out the vague shape of a couple there and from what he can see, no one else has found anyhing yet. He turns back and keeps looking. Redshift recieves the communique, and rises a little higher, as he slowly moves farther away from the other Decepticons to widen the search area. He pulls his goggles away, leaving his eyes vulnerable to the swirling sand, but giving him a better view of the ground below. From his high vantage point, he can see someone kicking up a plume of dust. Maybe they got lucky, maybe not. his red optics continue to sweep, as he uses his hands to block out the worst of the glare. Combat: Redshift compares his Intelligence to 60: Success! Avalanche continues to search for this spot variation. Unlike the others, he doesn't seem as intent in finding it, kicking up little patches as he goes along. He seems to be humming a tune, doing it out of sheer boredom. "Lets see..." He says, and looks farther in the distance. Combat: Avalanche compares his Intelligence to 60: Success! Windshear stops suddenly. A sifferent shaded spot! He bends down and looks and then a gust of wind blows the clump of off shade into the wind, revealing the same colored sand as before. He stands and keeps searching. Combat: Windshear compares his Intelligence to 80: Failure :(Mindwipe sighs and suddenly looks up, as another thought hits him. He adds. Redshift's keen robot vision spots something amiss, a patch of sand that is more RUSTY than OCHRE. Grinning behind the cloth across his face, he dives down for a closer look, but then Mindwipe/Volrath pipes up over the radio that the element they require should look GOLD. Redshift kicks at the sand in frustration, then searches anew, scanning the dunes for a patch of golden, flame-coloured sand. Combat: Redshift compares his Intelligence to 80: Success! Avalanche has found, nothing! He just slaps at the patch of sand, causing it to cloud for a moment. "Slag." He says, moving back to searching for this incredibly rare, and -valuable- ore. The Horrorcon then doubles his efforts, digging about in areas close to his previous spot. Surely if this ore was there, it would be near something like that kind of patch. Combat: Avalanche compares his Intelligence to 80: Success! Mecha-Tiger keeps digging for a little while before giving up. "I got nothing. How far do we have to dig?" he asks. Windshear hears Redshift's comment and then Avlanches and turns toward them lookig in his area. Combat: Windshear compares his Intelligence to 80: Failure :(Avalanche grins as Mindwipe mentions the use of explosives. "Most excellent!" He calls back, before turning to his lump of sand. "You've met your end, sand." He proclaims, and grabs his grenade launcher. Popping open the six barreled chamber, the shells drop onto the ground. "With a little work..." He says, messing with the actual grenades, he rigs them up to be used like an explosive. After jury rigging, he moves away, and a stretch of cord follows. "Fire in the hole!" He calls out, and pulls on the line. goes the spot, causing an even larger eruption of sand! Mindwipe would be despised by environmentalists in Appalachia for his mining suggestions, but he's an evil Decepticons, and he doesn't care. He takes to the air, and Vorath is glad for his armour to keep the sand out. He flaps over toward Redshift, who hasn't /yet/ started blowing stuff up. Mindwipe turns into a bat. Is anyone shocked? Explosions? Awesome! Redshift sheds his layers of dune-coloured cloth, and transforms into his spacecraft mode. Avalanche and Rampage should have more then enough firepower to deal with the robo-feline's patch, and Redshift can handle his. Rising up into the rust-coloured sky, he takes aim at the golden sands below, dropping a cluster of bombs down to blow a crater in the red dunes, sending a plume of dirt and rock skyward. Redshift transforms into his sleek spacecraft mode and takes to the air. Windshear heads back to where the spot was found and sees an eruption of sand. For some reason he brings his arm cannons on line and scans around the area. Thsi place seems deserted but one can never be too sure. Oh yeah. Firepower. I has it. The Predacon transforms and gets out his Lightning Rifle. He fires at the spot indicated. Rampage's head slides down to his chest, his body rising upright. His robot head appears where his beast mode head had just been, and he now stands before you in robot mode. Windshear comes as close to the spot as he can without getting caught in the fire and levels his lasers at it, adding his firepower to unearthing what Mindwipe has them searching for. Red Spaceship circles the site like a vulture, waiting for the dut to settle... As it does, a fresh crater can be seen, blackened around the edges where the sand has melted into glass from the heat of his firebombs. His sensors sweep the crater, but he doesnt' have the fine-tuned sneses required to detect trace elements. "Well, Mindwipe? Sufficient for collection of the minerals?" Windshear stops firing and loosk up at Redshift then over to Mindwipe. He stands at ease in a sense waiting for his orders but he still keeps his radar out for anything unexpected that might appear in their area. "This place /is/ uninhabited? Just want to make sure." It is a hostile place but hes seen creatures in his travels live in conditions just as bad and thrive well. Creatures though that are nothing but monsters to put it bluntly. He glances at the two Tiger mechs and waits. Giant Bat drops down out of the sky to look at Redshift's find, pulling out a jeweller's loupe. The mystic murmurs, "Oh yes, you've certainly found it... but not enough. Refined, I am guessing this will perhaps deliver half the yield you need. I do so hope that Avalanche's site will provide the rest." He cranes his head up and over, to look at the tiger's progress. Then he answers Winshear cheerily, "Well. /We/ used to inhabit here, so something may yet remain." Windshear's not sure how to take the mechs comment. He's still catching up on all their history and activities over the past millennia hes been gone. He hasnt gotten to the file on this planet yet though. "Well." his baratone rumbles, "Thats .. nice to know?" "WE own this?" Redshift the spaceship emits, circling above the recently unearth bedrock. "Whatever FOR? There's nothing here!" He transforms and drops down beside Mindwipe, peering at the odd rocks. "Alright, so we just load this ore onto the ship?" The sleek red spacecraft transforms into the winged warrior Redshift. Giant Bat notes mildly to Redshift, "There is more to this world than just dunes. An old science laboratory and a few other sites of interest." He nods and sweeps out a wing in gesture. "Yes, load the ore into the shuttle!" Windshear nods and begins gathering the substance they just uncovered. He takes as much as he can carry and heads back to the shuttle to load it up. Redshift sighs, as the burly Avalanche seems to have dissapeared just as the hard work is about to start. But still, in the end this is for /his/ flamethrower, so a little bit of manual labour is a decent price to pay. The red and black spacer starts loading up armloads of the rubble, to cart it back to the ship. Giant Bat thinks wistfully... if only they had little carts... in which they could run loads... like they were /LOADRUNNERS/. Windshear loads his first large armful into the storage bay on the shuttle and heads back for more. He nods to Redshift as he passes him noticing his robes. Thats pretty cool, Windshear thinks to himself, and pracctical in situations like this for sure. He shutters to think of the amount of sand thats inside his joints now and with each step he can feel it.. oil bath here we come, when this is all over. Windshear bends down and scoops up as much of this ore as he can for hsi second trip to the cargo bay. Redshift is now getting all dusty and dirty, because he chucked his fancy sandproof robes so he could transform. He grumbles under his breath about lazy cats or something, goig back and forth loading chunks of ore. Giant Bat sighs theatrically and starts helping with the hauling, since cats are apparently as lazy as advertised, and while bat rhymes with cat, they are very different creatures. Windshear gives the Bat a curious look as he stands with his second armload. He was wondering if this mech was going to help or not. Of course most of the ore might be loaded by now anyway so it probabaly doesnt matter now. Giant Bat is the team's scientific consultant. Does anyone really expect him to do any real work? Yet he does haul ore on his back, since Vorath can load him. This windowless room is immaculate - no dust has collected here, and no sand has forced its way in though the crevices. Experimental equipment of all sorts gleams in orderly rows on the shelves along the back, and walk-in storage chambers and data-entry stations are built directly into the side walls. You even detect the faint, very faint hum of some power source, still operating at a maintenance level. If not for the toppled lab tables that were shoved about to barricade the door, and the lifeless, fuel-less Transformer body slumped among them, you could easily picture this room as a modern, fully operational laboratory. Windshear looks around at everything including the dead mech. "This is .. well kind of cool, though the decorum leaves a bit to be desired," he gives the dead mech another look and then cautiously explores the room. Redshift follows after Mindwipe, deeper into the bowels of this old, forgotten facility. Volrath and his partner probably feel right at home here.. But Redshift keeps a tigh grip on his rifle, just in case the joint isn't as empty as it seems. Giant Bat rises up into his robot mode, gestures with a flourish of his hand, and he directs, "Get the ore unloaded so we can refine it and extact the catalyst... well, hello." He peers over at the dead body and nudges it with a foot, wondering if he could contact the spirit of the dead man here. Redshift almost forgot about the ore! He also drags a low-slung hover skid, perfect for ferrying cargo to and from Decepticon shuttles. The recently harvested ore glimmers slightly in the low light, and Redshift begins unloading the rocks, and the precious elements inside, into a machine for purifying and isolating the rare chemicals. Windshear walks around just looking at the stuff in the room, leaveing the other two mechs to continue on about the ore. He was just the pilot and the back up as far as he knew for any hostilties that might have broken out. Windshear stops at a shelf and reads the labal on a container. He makes a face and moves on, curious but not touching anything. Hes learned the hard way in the past about touching stuff without knowing it first. Mindwipe comments brightly, "Why, the laboratory looks like it could have been used yesterday. Really remarkable condition, considering the condition of... everything else around here." Mindwipe smirks and clears off a table, checking on the condition of the straps as he looks over Redshift speculatively, and he sighs. No, there really is no excuse to strap Redshift down and being horribly sadistic when only Redshift's rifle needs an operation. Redshift begrudgingly offers up his weapon for Mindwipe's scientific ministrations. He is more than willing to have his rifle improved, buit in this creepfest lab, he might /need/ it. Luckily he still has some other weaponry at his disposal, but he can't help but feel uneasy being unarmed in this spookily-empty labratory. Mindwipe also notes, "You know, I've been doing work on psychosomatic fire, trying to replicate how the Fallen's fire burned in space. It will be a pleasure to increase the staying power of your flames, as it it ties in so neatly with my research." He nods his head and goes to check on how processing the ore is going. He also glances over at Windshear, trying to keep an optic on the Seeker, who, at least, appears to be more competent than Misfire and Triggerhappy. Windshear turns back at them when Mindwipe comments, "Yes .. interesting this lab looks so good compared to the rest." he voice trails off as Mindwipe contiues and acknowledges the looks then merely scans the room with is optics. He makes notes of exits and moves over to the door. His lasers are still online and he keeps them that way and drifts back to the wall in guard duty. "Glad to be of help to your research, Mindwipe." Redshift replies. Especially when it involves improving his rather lackluster flamethrower into an instrument of BURNING DEATH. "I always did wonder ho The Fallen's flame kept going in space. I have to pack my phosphorous bombs with a.. um, 'oxidizer', I think it's called." Mindwipe smiles benevolently and agrees, "Oxidiser. Yes. Rocket needs those, too, to burn in space. it is a most interesting mystery, the falen's fire, as is this laboratory. Windshear, was it? I think being sealed off has protected the laboratory from the elements. This catalyst we have extracted will allow the flamethrower to burn much hotter and more completely, so that less fuel is needed to achieve combustion, thereby achieving a more /lingering/ flame. Fire and forget, shall we say? While your victim runs around on fire for the next few minutes, so he certainly won't forget." He holds out a hand to take a look at the flamethrower. A thin, cruel smile creeps across Redshift's face, as he red mech is no doubt picturing the glorious image of his enemies running around while /on fire/. "YES! Leaving them to suffer as they burn, running around, spreading mayhem. PERFECT!" Eager now to relinquish his weapon, he presses it into Mindwipe's waiting hands. Windshear chuckles at the image of someone running around in flames for a few minutes. Then he thinks back on Octanes flamethrower that seems to keep on giving when you are hit with it... He laughs out loud at Redshift's comment then then clears his Voice synth. One word keeps coming up in the conversation; a word hes not familiar with. "Forgive me for sounding..well, stupid. I have been away a long time -- what or who is this 'fallen'?" Mindwipe takes up the weapon and looks it over with a critical optic. Then, he pulls a screwdriver out of one of the laboratory cabinets to open up the weapon and check it out. He mumurs, "Hmm, some carbon deposit buildup in here. Someone, get me a bottle of nonpolar cleaner?" Then, he laughs. "Oh, Windshear! The Fallen was an ancient Transformer who became an enemy of /all/ Transformers in his quest for power. So the Autobots blew him up last winter. That is... perhaps an inelegant way of putting it, however." Windshear raises and optic ridge as he starts looking for the nonpolar cleaner. He did pass a container that had that labeled on it. He finds it and brings it over to Mindwipe. "Interesting way of explaining the Fallens demise...by Autobots no less... they never cease to amaze me, as peaceful as they are, they do a lot of destruction..." "I was incarcerated in a space prison at the time, and wasn't around to respond to the events surrounding the appearance of The Fallen..." Redshift adds, not sounding very happy about the situation. He looks about for some solvent, but isn't very technically inclined and doesn't really know what to look for. "So why did this mad mech want everyone dead? What buld was he to begin with, did anyone ever find out?" Windshear asks as he steps back into his self designated 'guard' spot. Mindwipe takes the bottle of cleaner from Windshear and pours some on a piece of cloth, removing the gunky carbon desposits. Then, he stalks over to the processing machine, with a swishy walk, an he finds that the catalyst has, indeed, been seperated out from the ore. He puts it through a grinder to get a ponder form and generously covers the unside fo the combustion chamber with the powder, explaining," We'll just heat the powder up high enough to sinter it to the rifle, an when it cools down, you should be good to go - ah, Windshear. The Fallen was /ancient/. He transcended both factions, though I suspect he had more in common with the Decepticons, as his master allied with us at the close. He did not want us all dead, so much as perhaps... soulless and enslaved. Better off dead." His wings mantle up. "He was lost in the Fifth, the land of the dead, for ages, until he was invoked and returned." Windshear takes in what Mindwipe just explained about the Fallen and can't help but think back on his recent converstaion with Dreadwind. There something to touch back with him on after what hes just heard. "Then it was good he was destroyed." He says finally. "But if he was in the land of the dead and came back, the Autobots sent him back, no? Couldn't he come back again?" Redshift keeps one audial tuned in on the conversation, but Redshift was never really interested in old news... If the Fallen is gone, thne it doesn't really make much of a difference to him. This Decepticon only concerns himself with looking /forward/. Mindwipe points out dryly, "That Autobots destoyed the Fallen. That hardly means he is gone." He grins at Windshear. "I see no reason why the Fallen could not rise again," but Mindwipe is a crackpot mystic, too. He steps over to a small furnance to sinter the catalyst to the metal of the rifle, his optic band dimming to filter out the bright light from the furnance. "Trap the energies of his lasercore, remove it from his body and that might do the job of at least nullifying him? Doubt he could be too much trouble then that is /if/ he comes back" Windshear suggests then thinks. "Then again, if that disembodied lasercore got in the wrongs hands...." Redshift poking around the forgotten lab is interesting, but really Redshift has little knowledge of what these machines are or thier odd origin, and they cannot hold his attention for long. He is, at least, inteligent enough not to touch anything. He sneaks up on Mindwipe, trying to look over his shoulder(and wings!) to see the progress the Headmaster is having on the flamethrower. "If he comes /back/ we'll just kill him again. Simple enough." Mindwipe thinks he needs to mention, "Windshear. The Fallen was on /fire/. Even in space. He could set you on fire, too. That is ignoring that intelligence suggests he was a tank of some sort and all that implies. I daresay that /Galvatron/ woul have diffculities handling the fellow in a fight. I believe that Rodimus Prime opened the Matrix to do the deed." He turns around, suddenly, and holds out the rifle. "Ta-da. Might be a bit hot to handle right now, however." Windshear makes a slight rumbling sound in his voice synth. "But then he'd just come back...this could go on for a long time..." Windshear is surprised at Mindwipes comments, "Fire in the vacum of space? Evedently a lot more to that mech then anyone found out dare I say?" "And HOPEFULLY, with Mindwipe's research combined with the rare minerals we have harvested from the FLAME DUNES, my improved flamethrower will burn in space with equal efficiency." Redshift says, his optics lighting up as he views his improved weapon. He takes it from Mindwipe, too hot or not, and it sears the enamel away from his fingertips. Mindwipe sighs as Redshift plays with fire (well, a hot rifle) and gets burned. He smirks. Mindwipe notes mildly, "Really, Windshear, I would suspect that what we know is only the tip of the iceberg. There is definitely more than meefts the eyes at work here. Redshift, do let me know if th catalyst works out for you?" Windshear grins. "I bet that thing can so some serious damage now." Redshift's red optics glide up to view Mindwipe, an evil gleam in his eye. "Yes, I will let you know how it performs. you have done well, and hopefully this furthers your research as much as it has furthered my weaponry." Windshear merely nods to Mindwipes last comment and falls silent again. But he does glance over at the dead mech, his mind wandering a bit on what he just learned about the Fallen.
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