| abstract
| - Laboratory - Ark Every base needs a lab for its resident (mad) scientists, and the Ark Base is no exception. The orange alloy hues predominant throughout the base blend with sterile white panels, giving the entire area the ambience of a slick, metallic creamsicle. Rows of gleaming glass beakers, spectrographic analyzers, Jacob's Ladders, Tesla Coils, and Ratchet Rectifiers line the walls and aisles of this densely-packed laboratory. While not as expansive as the facilities at Metroplex, it has enough equipment for a serious scientist to get some serious research done. A giant art deco head of Wheeljack has been molded into the wall opposite the entrance, with a small plaque: "Never do what your enemy expects you to do." RIP WHEELJACK, ?-2005 The Laboratory of the Ark is in complete dissarray, but it's the sort of organized chaos that comes with SCIENCE. Even though tools are strewn about in a wacky fashion, there is order to the madness. A crowd of technicians, scientists proper, even medical staff is on hand to witness the autopsy of one of the beasts found by the Autobots and EDC personell. Triage, the ward's senior advisor, is leading the proceedings. As extra precautions, he's asked a couple of specialists and military officers to 'sit in' on the procedure. "Well, I think we're all here.. what do you say we crack this bug open?" Triage shouts, standing on a chair to address the crowd. Trailbreaker is over near the corner, here only to help however he can. For the meantime, he's rubbing elbows with the rank and file. Arcee is in the observation area with her work tablet, taking copious notes and recording the proceedings for use in her own division plans. She doesn't much care about the science...she just wants to get an idea of what it's going to take to stop them. As the cyber-hornets are revealed, Arcee stares in disbelief at the sheer size of the creature. As one of the Wreckers who killed a bunch of the insects, some brainiac decided it would be a spectacular idea to get Sandstorm to come and sit through the autopsy. Alas while highly intelligent, the brainiacs may not have a huge amount of common sense it seems. Currently the Wrecker is freaking out various medical technicians by picking up random (and normally very sharp and pokey) looking items, swinging the to right under their noses and asking some variation of, "So would this be useful for in a fight with these things? I mean could it cut through their skin easily?" Sandstorm seems to also have spotted Trailbreaker, which may or may not have something to do with why Sandstorm is in the main part of the lab and not the observation area. Or perhaps observing is just too dull. The over excited crowd of nerdbots erupt into a chorus of cheers, one or two breaking open bottles of ener-wine and christening the autopsy. Nerdbots are a strange tribe. Triage leads the procession over towards the Giant Hornets, ascending up the platform to come even with the med-table. Nodding to a couple technicians, they tear into the abdomen of the first Cyber-Hornet with a radial saw. Small torn off chunks of space bug fly through the room, splattering the participants with bug guts. "Hrm, interesting." Triage surmises, reaching into the bug's innards and squirming around. Trailbreaker moves in closer, trying to get a good view on the large space insect. The things kinda creep him out, to be honest. Even in the throes of death, they give off a weird vibe and creep-stare. Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets strikes Trailbreaker with its Creep-o Stare Attack! Arcee smirks as Sandstorm is being himself. "Hey, are you a scientist now?" she jokes. "Get your aft over here and leave the sciencing to the guys who science, mech!" In the meantime, she continues to watch the proceedings. Wow, Triage seems to be way into this. WAAAAY...into this. And who are all these weird nerds? Is this like opening night at the movies for them? She imagines that can't be too far off the mark. As the bugs are cut into, Arcee...tries not to watch too much of that. She glances up from her work tablet every so often, but for the most part...autopsies, to her, are gross and she just wants to come away with the facts that will be important to her own division. "This space bug shares.. almost identical interior organs with it's much smaller non-cyborg Terran variety." Triage announces aloud, pulling a mess of guts out of the Hornet and placing them on the table. "You see this stomach? I guarantee if I cut it open, it'll be full of the same types of materials they use to build homes here on Earth!" he surmises, looking around for a consensus. Trailbreaker makes his way over towards Arcee, trying to dodge the shifty stare of the dead bug. "Didn't realize anatomy was your hobby, does Springer know?" he kids, his back to the proceedings. Arcee chuckles at Trailbreaker. "Probably not, but I'm doing this in large part to benefit him...as well as the rest of my division. I'm hoping there's going to be a Q&A at the end, because I want to find out the weak points on the exo-armor." "I'm sure they'll be overexcited to answer any and all questions you got, Arcee." Trailbreaker replies, still facing away from the autopsy. Triage makes another incision, which drops the contents of the stomach onto the floor. It's a half-digested Autobot, his face is half eaten away.. the remaining half frozen in terror, mouth agape and optics pratically bulging out of his head. "Oh, Primus. Keep not-looking, Trailbreaker. Smart move. I probably should have done that." She raises her hand, and asks, "Can we get a positive ident on him? Is there enough left?" "Why, what happen-GLARF!" Trailbreaker inquires, turning around and covering his mouth as a small bit of energon makes its way up to his mouth. Not enough to warrant an actual puking, just ener-bile rising in the throat. For now, at least. After the rest of the nerdbots get their bearings, they closely inspect the body. "Positive ident is Sleuth, EDC liason Autobot, last seen near the Alameda facility." "Thank you," Arcee says in a sadder tone, making a note of that. She doesn't recall offhand /when/ the EDC liasion was actually seen for the last time, but she could look that up later. "I'll make arrangements to have his remains interred with the proper respect." She begins to wonder with a sick senas of dread if there were others on that 'MIA' list that could be found in the stomach pouches of alien insects. Continued digging from Triage brings some cybernetics out to bear, an alarming expression crosses his face as he sets them down for technicians to mull over. "Many thanks, Arcee. You might actually want to inspect this portion." he denotes of the robotic elements of the Hornet. Meanwhile, a couple gumbie troopers step forward to remove the remains of Sleuth. "Okay, I'm fine.. really, I'm good." Trailbreaker motions to the Military commander, hand withdrawn from his mouth. Unbeknowest to anyone, he used the opportunity to create a forcefield inside of his frame.. to prevent any ener-bile from rising. He might feel sick, but he won't be puking.. that's for sure!! "I would like to know exactly how those parts are combined with these creatures, and if, in fact, these creatures are a known species that has been -- or is being -- altered, in some way," Arcee says, giving Trailbreaker a concerned glance before looking back toward the bug parts. "What would be most helpful to my own division is to know the weakest spots in each variety of cyber-bug's armor. The wasp is, clearly, sectioned off so those joints in-between the sections are vulnerable to severing. But how about the beetle-types?" "If you closer examine those parts, as the technicians are confirming to me now, we'll see some striking similarities to already existing cyber-enhancements." Triage says aloud, taking out a data-pad to control the room's utilities. From the ceiling, down drops a large flat vid-screen. After the clack of a few buttons, a diagnostic of a cyber-netic arm displays on screen. "Although it's a preliminary finding, these parts have over seventeen similarities with this individual's cyber-appendage." Triage states aloud, the lights dim while the vid-screen runs through different diagrams of the cyber-arm. "So, why does this Cyber-Hornet and Sergeant Velum's arm have so much in common you might ask?" Arcee stares at the comparison of the bug parts and Sgt. Velum's cybernetic arm. (Wait, what was going on here??) Arcee thinks to herself, frowning in confusion. (Copycat technology? Or...or something else entirely?) She listens to Triage curiously. "And you bring up a good point, Arcee. These insects are direct results of mutation of terran species, augmented with cyber-netic technology similar to Velum's." Triage states all matter of factly, clacking the keys to bring the lights back on and rescind the vid-screen into the ceiling. "I cannot give you any conclusive answers, that isn't our department. However, I hope what we've found today can help you to ask the right questions." he states, stepping down from the ladder. As the gumbies drag away Seluth, one of the other Hornets rears to life; violently attacking the two guards. Making short work of them, the Cyber-Hornet takes a large bite out of what's left of Sluth's head. Crunching down on the cranium, the space bug attempts to slather the rest with butt-stinger lasers. Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets strikes Trailbreaker with its Laser Stingers Area attack! Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets strikes Arcee with its Laser Stingers Area attack! Arcee gets tagged a few times with the hornet lasers, and she reacts automatically, assuming the thing has more than just a reflex reaction left in it. She draws her laser-pistol out of subspace, and gives the hornet a little sting of her own... Combat: Arcee strikes Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets with her Laser attack! The forcefield instantly soaks up the laser rays, Trailbreaker responds in kind without needing a written invitation. "Okay, now this part of the autopsy.. I like!" he calls out to Arcee, slamming his giant fists down on top of the Hornet's head. Meanwhile, the rank and file of the room evacuate in an orderly fashion; being led by Triage. Combat: Trailbreaker strikes Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets with his Hornet Hammerfist! attack! The almost-dead Hornet lumbers around, one of the insect's eyes not even working.. the other smashed into its face just a moment before. It is fighting off of base instinct now, no more.. no less. The smell of Seuth's remains must have stirred it back to life. Whipping around furiously with its pointed butt, the Hornet attempts to lift off the ground via broken wings. Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets strikes Arcee with its Menacing Bionic Jaws Area attack! Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets strikes Trailbreaker with its Menacing Bionic Jaws Area attack! Arcee grapples with the half-dead bug, trying to put it to rest once and for all. As the thing crunches down on her with giant jaws, she grapples with it and tries viciously kicking it, hoping some more parts -- cybernetic, organic, or otherwise -- will begin falling off of it. Combat: Arcee strikes Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets with her Kick attack! Getting knocked back, Trailbreaker cushions himself with the forcefield padding.. then extends the field to cover everyone retreating out of the lab. "Arcee, I'll focus on keeping these people safe.. open up with the big guns and END THIS BUG!!" he shouts, working his magic. The Hornet responds in kind, forcing his entire bulk against the forcefield.. stretching it to almost a breaking point, jaws lashing out to sever the protective barrier. "ARCEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" Trailbreaker cries out, hands extended outward trying to hold the forcefield in place. Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets strikes Trailbreaker with its Acidic Pheromone Tracking Spray attack! Pink Saturn Sky has one really, really nasty attack that she rarely uses -- only in extreme emergencies -- and she thinks that this might qualify for using it. She transforms to vehicle mode, and while Trailbreaker is protecting the onlookers, a compartment opens near the spoiler and a launcher springs out of it.
* POUMF!* The launcher goes off, and (hopefully) peppers the hornets full of nasty metallic shards, which should effectively juice their organic innards. Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Aggressive. Arcee darts ahead to gracefully transform into her pink Cybertronian Tech Car, enging purring, ready to go! Combat: Pink Saturn Sky strikes Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets with her Shrapnel Launcher attack! Stuck between a rock and a hard place, or in this case.. exploding shrapnel and a forcefield, the giant Hornet explodes upon impact of the blast. Guts of organic material and cybernetic origin are splattered across the front of the field.. and backwards at Arcee. Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets damages itself. Combat: Massive Cybernetically Altered Japanese Giant Hornets is knocked unconcious. The pink Cybertronian tech car splits apart to reveal Autobot Warrior Arcee! She's ready to kick aft! Arcee transforms, and shakes off loops of goop as she heads over to check on Trailbreaker and the onlookers. "You alright??" "Yes ma'am, thanks to you." Trailbreaker sighs a big heave 'o relief, dropping the forcefield and all the guts strewn across it drop to the floor in unison. It's quite disgusting. "Well, if this thing gets up and walks away THIS time, I may need to try and recruit him," Arcee chuckles. "...You know," she tells Trailbreaker, "I think I'm finally beginning to understand why I never went the way of scientific academia." "You and me both, sister." Trailbreaker stifles a disgusted scowl, collecting what he can in a makeshift forcefield barrier for incineration. Or study, you never know with these nerdbots. "So these bugs are from Earth.. and have Velum's tech in them?" Trailbreaker summarizes. "Well, from what I understood, they are similar in quite a number of ways," Arcee remarks, whils scraping and flinging bug goo off her armor and onto the copious pile on the floor that Repugnus' crew will no doubt sift through in short order. "I'm thinking that she in a place where her cybertechnology was used as a 'road map' to create and mass produce these things." "Decepticons?" Trailbreaker suggests, shrugging his shoulders. While a brilliant mind when it comes to defensive strategies and protection, he's got nothing when it comes to playing detective. "...I'm not sure, this could be them, or...perhaps Nebulan," Arcee muses. "Though I'm willing to bet that it's someone Velum's fought or had problems with in the past. Someone with a grudge." Arcee eventually makes her way out very carefully, trying not to get goop on anyone (but it trails out because it clings to her armor). She's heading back to Autobot City for a much, much-needed pressure wash.
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