| abstract
| - Berlin, Germany(#2467Rnt) - Europe The Berlin Wall is long gone, except for pieces long since sold to private collectors, and a small section still standing as a memorial to a dark age. Reunited for over twenty years, East and West Berlin are now simply Berlin again, the urbane home of public and private theaters, film festivals, opera houses, museums, art galleries, and major universities. Located in the wide glacial valley of the Spree River in eastern Germany and bordered on the west by a chain of forest-rimmed lakes, the city is also a major industrial center, producing metalwork, machinery, porcelain and china. Not just another metropolis, either, an entire third of the city consists of forests of luxuriant pine and birch, cold blue lakes, canals, and beaches. Like much of Europe, there is the pervasive mingling of old and new. Lofty high-rise apartments and busy office buildings stand near grandiose palaces and restored churches. While the American Continent was hardest hit by the Polar Vortex, for once the EDC And other volunteers were abroad, helping out beleaguered Germans who hadnt had to deal with cold this bad since they retreated out of Russia. Snow was piling up to dangerously high drifts, several roofs had already started to cave in by the time the forces of Autobots and others had arrived. With the regular Military (CoughGijoecough) handling the homefront, the more mobile EDC was here, but so was danger, as always, in the arctic cold... "Tarnation, someone needs to tell ol' Mother Nature she left the icebox open again." Talia muttered as she looked out the cockpit of her VTOL. Ice wasn't a pleasant thing for fast moving aircraft, but for the slower moving Firehawk which didn't rely on it's wings to keep it aloft as it cruised over the city it wasn't as much of a problem. Besides the heat given off by the turbine drives helped keep them from icing over as well. With a huff she pulled the headset mic back to her mouth. <> There are a series of police vehicles headed toward the scene, and one of them is a Nissan 350Z, its sirens flashing and blaring as it hurries to assist those who have lost control and become stranded on the side of the road. <> Prowl comms back to Talia. <> Snow and Zipline do not get along very well. Maybe she thought that it would have been different on earth than it was on cybertron or something. Considering that her first few steps off of the shuttle and onto the snow end in her faceplanting right into the snowy wet stuff, it's a good bet that it isn't. "Should've waited for the slagging snow shoes," Zipline mutters after picking herself up again and shaking off. She moves a bit more carefully out into the snow covered landscape, digging claws into it. "Nooo, I had to rush onto the first shuttle. Ugh." Yeah, she doesn't like snow. Regardless of what she feels about the slick stuff, she is making her way for one of the sectors with the highest snow buildup. << I'm on my way to sector 5>> She replies to Talia, then dares putting on a little more speed. Cold. Winter. More cold... Who'd have thought that it was all because of some ambitious experimentation? Soundwave was very specific, though, in desiring this be tested. And very specific in that it should be escorted. Naturally, Buzzsaw made certain to be present. Perched atop a device outfitted with various anti-grav systems to keep it aloft, and concealed within a heavy cloudbank, Buzzsaw watches the world below as it is denied another day of thaw. Snow and ice clings to his form, and the device itself, leaving just a pair of glowing red optics to survey the area below... Bots... Ugh. He zooms in on the gathering force. Bleeding hearts that they are, they most likely don't realize just why their presence is an inconvenience. The humans can be torn asunder easily enough, but they are also not so keenly aware of the Cybertronian signature tied to the ionizer that is altering the atmospherics in the area. This provides some concern for Soundwave's pet project...and Buzzsaw keeps alert all the more as he monitors the proceedings below. He had originally come here for a ski vacation, but when a SECOND Polar Vortex decided to descend through Russia into mainland Europe, his plans, along with most of Europes', were cancelled under a heavy blanket of snow. The tall, thin form of Reidan was currently snow-shoeing down the street three full feet above as he made his way along, dragging a toboggan with supplies. He was, coincidentally, near the epicentre where the Autobots and others were converging. Finally at one window he kneels and taps on it. A confused old german woman answers "hi!" he smiles, and offers a paper cup of hot cocoa. YEs, he was out here in -40C/F weather delivering hot cocoa to Germans who didnt even speak the same language as him! Several teams of German Military were already out here trying to shovel the snow off the roofs of the buildings, pausing to look up as Talia and Zipline arrive, waving to them. Several began shouting in german and pointing at one practically buried house in particular. Meanwhile, Prowl will find the small german volkswagens caught up in the snow to be realizing he was a friend as well, and several try to roll down windows to get pulled out. Buzzsaw, currently, was not seen somehow against the all-white winter unwonderland. VSC-25 Firehawk comes to a hover overhead as the German soldiers wave it down. A severly covered house like that? Right, got it. Talia flashes a brief thumbs-up from the cockpit and then swings her aircraft around. Pulls up a bit, then angles it so the exhausts of one of the turbines is directed at the house. The super hot air takes a few moments but starts to melt down the snow and ice down the front of the building so the soldiers can get in and get the innocent civilians out. Zipline stares at the soldiers for a moment. Someone needs to install german translations. "What?" Good thing they start pointing towards the house. "Oooh, right, gotchya." They got there eventually. Nodding at them, Zipline hurries off towards the house in question. Well, hurries off about as well as she can. Once she gets there, a quick once over with her scanners indicate a few likely points of entry. She situates herself near a snow-blocked window underneath the hot air downdraft that Talia is creating, and begins digging the snow out as quickly as possible. Prowl transforms and begins to gently push the stranded vehicles out of the snow with one leg, careful to cause as little damage to the humans and their property as possible. Though that's only at the back of his mind, because there's something...off about this whole situation. He'd been going over Earth's weather reports and this just didn't make any sense. It wasn't natural. Someone was causing this... Once he's finished with the stranded cars he starts to head toward the city. <> The police cruiser rapidly unfolds, revealing Prowl's biped form. Buzzsaw shifts slightly, the ice falling from his form as he checks on the machine. It's a quick moment to plug in and begin downloading the collected data thus far, but he might as well start a data backup now, before things get too dicey to do such later. Shuffling across the controls, he also makes sure to initiate the self-destruct mechanism to go once the kill-command is delivered, which results in a quick blast from the alert beacon. If that doesn't get their attention, then nothing else will. Standing and moving to the next house, the first indication that things are getting excitable to Reidan was the sudden transformation of PRowl down the street. He pauses, blinking "An autobot!" he declared in English and waved, tromping down that way. The people's car couldnt get out of the snow still, the streets unploughed, but it did give them enough room to exit the vehicle and retreat quickly on their own. They can pick it up later... Talia's building was covered in several feet of snow, and one could almost hear the groaning of the roof underneath the weight. As she starts, several Germans come over, using snowshoes or sliding on their bellies to help. One paused, and offer her a shovel as though thinkin it may be able to help, and one to Zipline as well, working together. Right now, the only clear area was the ploughed street, and so down the snow goes there! <> Talia replies dryly. <> Which is when the alarm goes off that those with more sensative perceptions might pick up. The Firehawk doesn't have any such hardware though. Wouldn't even notice that creaking if it wasn't for the soldiers starting to get aggitated. But they're digging, and the bot-cat is there to help. "A'right gal, I reckon we gotta get our hands a li'l dirty." With a snort she lifted the Firehawk farther into the air over the building, taking it slow so she doesn't whip up the snow any more. A flick of a switch deploys the winch used for lifting cargo from the back, and with a little maneuvering she snags the hook under one edge of the roof. The VTOL lifts up a bit higher, actually pulling the roof apart from the wall a bit and tilting it to an angle. But it takes some of the strain off the rest of the building structure as the Firehawk lifts some of the weight of the pileup to give the rescuers more time to get inside. Although Zipline's paws aren't necissarily made for snow, they work... Well, not great at digging it up. Still, it's about as effective as a dog digging up snow. A very large dog. Soon a pile is building up behind her. She pauses when one of the germans offer her a shovel, then lifts up paw, wriggling digits. Which are much larger than the shovel. "I'm good, bro," She says, then dips her paws back into the snow, throwing piles after piles of it behind her. Until her sensors pick up that high-pitched klaxon. Zipline lifts her head up again just after exposing a window. <> She cants her head to the side, looking up, <> Then back down again at the germans. "Any of you guys make that sound?" She asks. Despite the fact that they probably can't understand her. Prowl is immediately made aware of that noise and his sensors sweep the area, searching for its source. Heh, of course, he's right again. <> And he does so himself, keeping his sensors primed for any Decepticon signatures in the area. Buzzsaw is still watching. Oh, he knows he's got their attention. Now it's just a matter of time. The upload of data and results continues as he makes his way out into the open air, arming the mortar tubes and setting the time-delay fuses on the rounds. Soft 'THOOMP-THOOMP-THOOMP' sounds echo across the snowscape as he plants them where they're needed best. Along the ski-slopes. Call it...insurance. With that done, he turns his focus to the Autobots, making a few calculations as far as how successful this can really be. Meanwhile, on cue, the device messing with the weather sends off another pulse. This one more along the lines of a recovery beacon. Time to see if the bait gets taken. The bundled up Reidan is perhaps the least aware of the strange sound. All he knew was his greeting was ignored. He watched as the Firehawk cruised up into the sky and merely stood out of the way, although a ew German soldiers taking a break stopped by for some cups of chocolate. They then continued on, a few adding liquid from flasks they carried as they stood and watched PRowl and the others, with slightly curious, amused looks as the spoke in German to each other. The soldier who offered Zipline a shovel nodded and backed up to go back to work, grunting heavily with every throw to clear the roof, soon they were down to the old tin surface in some parts. Unfortunately, someone started at the bottom, and with a shout, a full two feet high pile of snow from the TOP of the roof slid down, knocking several off their feet and into the snow below the house." As the explosions thumped out, there was excited german shouting (Although it ALWAYS sounds angry, doesnt it? ) as people ran this way, and that way, and several soldiers started to book it to the nearest one. Prowl picks up on the recovery beacon, though he's immediately suspicious of it. Why would the Decepticons broadcast their recovery beacon on a broadband frequency like that, unless they wanted the Autobots to find whatever it was? And if they wanted it to be found, that was never a good thing. So instead of moving toward the beacon, he homes in on its location and attempts to scan the object from as far away as possible. <> << I hope ya got that handled, cuz my figurative hands are a li'l full here!>> Talia is kinda stuck with the Firehawk where it is holding up that roof until the soldiers can get everyone else out. Combat: Prowl compares his Intelligence to 75: Success! Snow pours from the roof-top and falls right on top of Zipline, just as she was trying to hone in on that sound. Two feet isn't a big deal for most transformers, but it covers Zipline. And thuroughly distracts her from the target above. "I... HATE... SNOW!" She shakes off vigerously, sending globs of snow everywhere. No, she's really not a fan of it, not at all. It's surprising that her burning hatred of the slick stuff isn't making it melt around her. None the less, she sets about to carefully digging out some of the soldiers before they get lost in the snow as well, at least until the second chime goes off. Zipline glares up at the sky, fixing her sensors on the clouds above. They're not strong enough to penetrate them, but she's at least trying to get some sort of bead on something up there. <> Combat: Zipline compares her Technical to 70: Failure :(Combat: Prowl sets his defense level to Protected. Buzzsaw glides along as he checks... Download is almost there. Just a few more bits of code and data... Glowing optics flicker over towards Zipline and Prowl. Well, they're not close...but they're not too far either. He can, though, wait for the data stream to finish before making his first move. All the while, the recovery beacon is pinging it's location out to anyone listening (with an advanced degree in Cybertronian). As the killcode starts to tick closer to completion, the weather itself seems to stabilize, slightly diminishing in intensity, but only just. Ah...slag it all. The Autobots are getting suspicious, and the cycle's almost done. Time to keep them occupied and away from the upload and downfall of tech they don't need to get their grubby mitts on. Soft 'THUMPS' can be heard as the mortars launched earlier are detonated. It's not an explosive deal at all...far from. Actually, the desired result is a sudden rush of dislodged snow and earth as it rumbles down the slopes of the ski resort. Consider yourselves...distracted. Combat: Buzzsaw appears from the shadows... Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Buzzsaw strikes VSC-25 Firehawk with his Double-Black-Diamond baby! Area attack! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Prowl with his Double-Black-Diamond baby! Area attack! Combat: Buzzsaw (Buzzsaw) used "Twin Mortar Cannons": A Level 5 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Zipline with his Double-Black-Diamond baby! Area attack! What the hell? One moment its starting to clear up, the next there's snow -explosions-? And to make matters worse, there's still the soldiers working. If they get buried in the snow they could freeze too along with the people they were rescuing! Why can these missions just never end easily. With a grunt Talia pulls on the controls to nose up the VTOL and hits the emergency kill to the turbines. With no lift the Firehawk drops rather sudden and roughly to the ground. Right on top of one of the snow eruptions. White billows out from underneath the craft with enough force to still rock it about, but it's bulk keeps the snow surge down from reburying the workers all over again. We're not going to bother typing out the string of cursing the Autobots would be getting over the radio. Just safely assume that she's rather steamed. Prowl realizes too late that someone has caused an avalanche. Namely, a someone by the designation of Buzzsaw. <> The strategist comms the EDC rep. The snow buries him about halfway for just a moment, but he recovers quickly. << I'll see if I can deal with whatever it is the Decepticons are using to manipulate the atmopshere in this area.>> He can tell from the scans he just took that a self-destruct has indeed been armed, so there's not much time. He takes aim with his rifle, attempting to make a precision shot to the device's anti-gravs. Hopefully he can disable the detonator once it hits the ground. Combat: Prowl sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Prowl compares his Accuracy to 80: Success! It's no good. The tones don't match anything in Zipline's data-files, and she just can't really place the odd swirls of clouds or match it to anything. She growls in frustration. She knows something is there, she just can't figure it out! Zipline is just about to start firing anyway, when the explosions catch her attention. "Wha the slag-?" She turns, just in time to get a wave of snow washing over her. Zipline goes toppling head over paws, getting shunted all around by snow piling into her. For a moment she's submerged under a snow-drift, underneath a uniform white. Then a yellow feline head pops up out of the snow. "THAT'S IT." Blue optics train on a dark speck up above. Now that IS in her data-files. "NO MORE MISS NICE KITTY!" Ordinarily, a flying bird has the advantage over a land-bound cat. Unless someone happens to have given the cat a gun. Or in Zipline's case, a very large railcannon that materializes out of subspace on her back as she forces herself out of the snow. Energy gathers around the rail spikes of the cannon, ionizing snow instantly, before firing a barrage of charged energy at Buzzsaw. Combat: Zipline sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Zipline strikes Buzzsaw with her Cat with a BIG GUN (Laser) attack! Buzzsaw watches as the device -SOUNDWAVE'S DEVICE- goes falling groundward as it is struck. That will not do at all... Buzzsaw checks the data stream. It's almost done. Not quite complete, but the situation is getting a bit dire at this little turn of events. He folds his wings, inverting and dropping groundward as Zipline's blast is fired his way, opting to charge right through the flak it causes rather than dodge outright. Along the leading edge of his wings, blades emerge from their protective housings as he tries to keep the larger of the Autobots occupied. At leas the EDC fleshbag is caught up trying to assist in evacuations... Though, he will make certain to deal with the cat later. Priorities. Leveling out and skimming the surface of the snow, he aims a blow at Prowl's legs. It might not hurt... not at first...but if he's aimed right (as he often does) and things go well for him (... HAH!) ...well, Prowl will know. Combat: Buzzsaw sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Prowl with his Better stretch out them hammies! attack! Combat: Buzzsaw (Buzzsaw) used "Acute Vision": A Level 0 RANGED attack. Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Prowl's Agility! (Crippled) Once the snow surge dies down Talia hits the controls to open the rear compartment, giving the germans and the few people they dug out of the building someplace safe to get into. Though one of the soldiers stops, eyeing the gun mount just outside the compartment, and turns to bark something in german at the cockpit before dropping into the seat and grabbing the controls. The machinegun hums to life as he tips it up, and a small flurry of blasts come from it. Though it's quickly apparent that he's not trying to actually hit Buzzsaw directly, but using the gun's tracer rounds to 'mark' the Deceptibird's flight for the Autobots. Guess the need to protect one's people from alien robots bypasses language barriers pretty effectively. Combat: VSC-25 Firehawk sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: VSC-25 Firehawk strikes Buzzsaw with her Tracer Assistance attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Buzzsaw's Agility. (Crippled) Snow falls off of Zipline's chassis as she pries the rest of herself out of the drift. No time to worry about it clogging her systems or icing up her gears, though she's certain that it has. Not like she's going to be able to get up to top speed on that stupid snow stuff anyway. A fangy grin forms on her muzzle when Buzzsaw seems to be unable to dodge in time - At least to her. She tenses, expecting him to come straight for her. And... Then... doesn't? Zipline is momentarily confused when Buzzsaw makes for Prowl instead. "Pay attention to me when I'm trying to kick your aft!" Zipline complains as she lunges forward. Front paws hit the snow at a slide, but her back legs hit the snow again quickly enough that she can compinsate with only a minor loss of speed. It's not as fast as she'd like to be, but she makes short work of the distance between herself, Buzzsaw and Prowl. And when Buzzsaw finishes his pass, Zipline is there to lunge at him. Her front claws flash and spark with disruptive energy as she tries to sink them into the bird and ground him. If Prowl is aware of what Buzzsaw has done--which he probably is--he ignores it and continues toward the device, which is falling toward the snow nearby. With a soft CRUNCH it plops down into the frosty whiteness. Arriving before it, the strategist immediately sets to work attempting to disable the the detonator and prevent it from destroying itself. <> He comms. Snagging this tech might be useful, but he'd be slagged if he let his comrades take more damage than necessary for the sake of this thing. Thus far it's only Buzzsaw on his sensors, but the mech could have backup. Combat: Zipline sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Zipline strikes Buzzsaw with her Ignore those claws! attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Prowl compares his Technical to 80: Success! Combat: Prowl sets his defense level to Protected. Buzzsaw is taking a beating. FOR SOUNDWAVE... ... he shall take that beating. The data is, at least, uploaded. But now the ugly one has his device! He cackles softly as he goes to trigger the detonation sequence... ...erhem. As he goes to TRIGGER the DETONATION sequence... Slag it all. Nothing. Go figure. Buzzsaw hisses at the cat on top of him. "It is a mistake to be in range of my beak, you know." He leaves it at that just before the razor-sharp namesake he bears goes right for the optics. "Would you kindly get off of me?" Quite civil, considering he's stuck in a rather hectic one-sided mess. Time for Plan B, assuming he can get free... Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Zipline with his Diamond Beak attack! It's a pity that no one can actually understand German here, but that is probably some sort of cheering they're doing when Zipline swats the bird around. though in the end, better her than them, that beak looks nasty sharp. Once everyone's apart Talia revs the turbines back up and the Firehawk rocks a little, having to wiggle itself free of the snow piled up around it from the mortar bombs before it finally pries loose and back into the air. <> Combat: VSC-25 Firehawk takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Prowl watches with satisfaction as the countdown shuts off. << I've secured the device, it appears to be some kind of barometric pressure manipulator.>> The strategist turns toward his allies then, looking to assist them against Buzzsaw. Why is the Casseticon sticking around, anyway? Does he have backup? Does he still hope to retrieve the prototype? Is this technology more important than it looks? Hmm... Combat: Prowl analyzes Buzzsaw for weaknesses Zipline can exploit. Combat: Drained 4 energon. <> Zipline replies smugly, <> Zipline realizes a little too late that she should probably be paying more attention to where that beak is. She lets out a hiss of pain as it finds its mark, slicing into one of her optics. One paw clamps over it as she staggers back in pain, accidentally getting off of the bird. Whether or not she's been blinded in the one eye, she still has one good one left. And it trains angrily on Buzzsaw. "You are /SO/ in for an epic beat down. I was going to leave some scraps to send back to Soundwave, but nah!" The railcannon begins sparking and crackling with energy again. But this time, there's a slug in it. You can tell because it makes a dull *THUD* of the projectile breaking the sound barrier as soon as it leaves the magnitized rails. Combat: Zipline misses Buzzsaw with her Experimental Mini-Railcannon attack! [Pulled -3] Buzzsaw is pleased, in a rather twisted way, when the attack on Zipline gets the desired results. However, unlike Chatty Catty, he is not about to stick around to gloat, and as soon as he is able to get airborne does so. How fortunate, too, as the air beneath him is quite astir as the Railgun's projectile blazes by in his wake. The lack of proper conversation and taunts on his end continues as he sets his sights on Prowl, his engines kicking in full as the blades along his wings are brought forth once more, going for a quick strike to dislodge the device. Or, that is what it might seem like... He's actually driving towards the device itself with intent to destroy ... and maybe take a little hand with it while he's at it. Quite bold, considering the status of forces. Maybe the device is important? Maybe it is that powerful? Or, maybe it just has 'PROPURTIE UF SOUNDWAVE' written in crayon on the bottom and he's not about to let the Autobots get ahold of something his creator and master put together. Combat: Buzzsaw sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Prowl with his Enjoy your scrap metal you cad! attack! Combat: Buzzsaw (Buzzsaw) used "Diamond Beak": A Level 5 MELEE attack. If it was any other time Talia would happily join in the taking potshots at a pest, but she's got a ship packed with soldiers and nearly frozen rescuees to worry about. Instead the Firehawk turns the other way and takes off for the outskirts of Berlin where the EDC relief efforts have been setting up. Combat: VSC-25 Firehawk begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Buzzsaw Prowl is busy communicating with his teammates when Buzzsaw suddenly dives out of the sky and destroys the device. Scrap. Oh well, the attack manages to scratch his arm a bit, but it doesn't do much damage. <> he answers the cat bot. <> Combat: Prowl sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Prowl takes extra time to assist Zipline's next attack. When Ziplien does pull her paw away, the optic behind it is sparking. Can she even see through that? Not enough to get a good enough shot at Buzzsaw. Not without trying though. She angles the railcannon around, trying to keep it trained on Buzzsaw. But one eye is just giving her a lot of static and an out of focus image. Blast it! She's not going to let the close encounter go to waste. Her good eye trains on Buzzsaw, applying the intel that Prowl sent her first. ... Only to find that she's getting targeting data as well. Zipline's eyes widen for a moment, but then narrow as she grins fangily. The tips of the railcannon follows Buzzsaw according to Prowl's targeting data. An ominous HUMMMMM is the only witty banter Zipline offers before the railcannon slug CRACKS against air resistance again. Combat: Zipline strikes Buzzsaw with her BOOM BOOM attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Massive damage! Everything is suddenly fire and brimstone. Or, well, the Cybertronian equivalent. Alarms and system status warnings are everywhere in his optical HUD and mental processors as altitude is lost. The bird's form skips across the snow once...twice... a tumble here and a plume of snow from impact... but he's not out. Not yet. Recovering mid-crash, he gets his wings and engines back in sync, refiring the afterburners to get some altitude. A quick check shows...mission (mostly) accomplished, which is suitable. But he makes certain to record Zipline's likeness and designation for later reference. You can count on revenge coming when it will be least expected. Swiftly and brutally. The echo of a loud, mechanized 'CAW' can be heard in his smokey wake as he hightails it out of dodge. Combat: Buzzsaw sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Buzzsaw begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Zipline and VSC-25 Firehawk Prowl shakes his head as Buzzsaw takes off. It seems the situation has been contained. He gathers what remains of the device. He'll hand it over to Operations to see if they can glean any data from it but he predicts they won't find anything very useful. "Good work, Zipline. Now let's get this mess cleaned up." Zipline's good optic follows Buzzsaw's descent. And though she takes an energy blast pot-shot after him, it's far off. Turns out depth perception is something even cats with guns need. Though, perhaps, it makes good encouragement to not come back. "Aaaand adding that buzzard to the list of things I hate," Zipline mutters. She clanks her paw against the side of her face a few times in a feeble attempt to get her optic to reboot, but it's no good, not with that damage. A tree overhead chooses that time to dislodge some snow from some of its branches, right on top of Zipline. "... Just underneath snow." "Thanks, Prowl," Zipline cheers up some at the praise. At least until she's reminded that there's a mess to deal with. None the less, she begins getting back to work at digging people out.
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