| abstract
| - Transformers 2005 - Wednesday, August 04, 2004, 7:48 PM Meeting Room A large rectangular table sits squarely in the middle of the room, with chairs large enough to fit your average Cybertronian situated around it. A holoviewer sits in the middle of the table, currently displaying the Autobot symbol. The walls are wood-paneled and arranged on them are various pictures of Cybertron in the Golden Age. Contents: Smokescreen Jazz Rodimus Prime Sky Lynx Ultra Magnus Autobot City Vidcomm Rodimus Prime looks over at Sky Lynx, not one to out do the egotist of the autobots, but he points out with a wave of his hand towards the Vidcomm, "That's what the vidcomm is for Sky Lynx, you didn't have to leave your post at Iahex if you didn't need to." Still, Rodimus gives a small smile letting everyone know he means well for this meeting. As he finishes his walk around the table he takes a seat in the larger of the chairs, one that a blue white and red Prime before him once sat in. He turns towards his fellow autobots and says, "Now, you all know how this is run...so let's get this over." He mentions the millions of meetings they've already had, each person from their area gives a situation report and what's going on, projects they're working on, etc. "Magnus, you can start us of..." he says nodding to the earth operations commander.(repose for Scattershot) The volume of the obnoxious music goes to... nothing. Yeah. Jazz is paying attention now. Good thing he's paying attention this time. And boy does he ever know how these meetings go. He's seen way too many of them. Smokescreen slips into the room- late, of course- but given his small size (In comparison to folk like Sky Lynx or even Ultra Magnus) he actually can slip in more or less unnoticed...or so he hopes. The tactician slinks to his seat and sits down, smiling as if nothing ever happened. Because nothing has. Really. Ultra Magnus gets on his feet, "As most of you know, Earth has been quite recently. The Decepticons are hiding in New Crystal City and they didn't raid any Terran installations since the Olympics. Now for the bad news... We're still trying to find a way to stop the nanites in Africa, I know our scientist are working on the problem but right now we can't stop them..." "Our other problem is the unknown alien fleet heading towards Earth. We know nothing about them and we're not even sure where they are. Soon an EDC/Autobot team will be sent in space on a scouting mission to find them." Scattershot walks into the meeting room (late as well) with a little nod to Rodimus. "Yeah I know I'm late but I was busy doin' something productive." The technobot commander grabs a seat puts his elbows on the table. Rodimus Prime nods towards Scattershot with a raised optic ridge. He nods towards Ultra Magnus, with his optics still on Scattershot. Then turns towards Magnus, still listening but he comments, "Are we making any headway with those nanites and what is the extent of the damage there?" "Actually," Smokescreen cuts in, smooth voice slipping in. "I've been going over a few reports that've piled up during the Olympics...by the look of it, the Nanites have ceased to expand- as a matter of fact, it's entirely likely that they may have been deactivated altogether." He shrugs. "Either they ran out of...well, something, or the Decepticons cooked up some sort of gizmo to slow them down." Ultra Magnus shrugs, "You would need to ask Depthcharge about that Prime. I could not find any report about that but he is the one working on that..." He stops talking and nods at Smokescreen as he speaks, "Well, that's a good news... especially since we really don't have any time to waste fighting them while a whole fleet is coming..." Rodimus Prime nods, "They'll be a side project while we have bigger problems to deal with." Ultra Magnus nods at Rodimus, "As we speak the alien fleet is our main concern. Why are they coming here? What are they? Right now we can't answer any of these questions. Our troops are ready and Metroplex is fully operational... but waiting for the Alien is not a good idea, especially if they are hostile... We must learn what they want and stop them if that's what we must do, but we must do it before they reach this system. Of course we must find them first..." Rodimus Prime agrees, "Sky Lynx, help out Ultra Magnus if you've got time. Your skills could come in handy." It's obvious why. He nods satisfied but asks, just to be sure, "Anything else Ultra Magnus?" Ultra Magnus shakes his head and sits down. "I'm done." "If I may interject again," so goes Smokescreen again- the time for just 'blending in' is over. "While caution in this case is a good idea- I don't think we should really start labeling these aliens as 'Hostile' right off the bat. I mean, sure, we've been at war for millions of years..." Smokey smiles, genuinely. "But we ARE Autobots." Rodimus Prime shrugs, "We're still dealing with a 'possible' hostile alien fleet. We don't know their motives or why the message mentioned an assault. Until we know more, we should be ready for anything that might happen. I'm not about to let our guard down, just in case." Jazz nods. He's taking notes. Hopefully these aliens won't end up being the chestburster types. That'd be messy, and icky, and... well. Anyhow. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Sky Lynx cranes his avian-like beak upwards and shrugs his wings, "Very well, Rodimus. I'm sure my subordinates can make due without my assuring guidance on Cybertron while I lend my superior expertise to speed up Ultra Magnus' search." With a quick nudge, Sky Lynx pushes away a chair in front of the desk and steps in closer. "Hostile or not, I believe that we should approach these Aliens with a strong posture to show that we are not to be triffled with. A strong force, particularly with myself present amongst it, should do that nicely." A gleam of light flickers from Sky Lynx as he reveals a sharp set of teeth with a grin. Rodimus Prime watched aliens 2, 3, 4, and 5 and didn't like them, everything was so icky, and the bishop guy kept dying. It's never good to see the robot die when you're a robot. He chuckles at Sky Lynx, not aruging the point and says, "That's the idea Sky Lynx. Why don't you give your report about what's going on cybertron side?" Scattershot chuckles and shakes his head negatively. "The Alien fleet IS hostile. I mean...which species shows up with a FLEET to negotiate a peace treaty or for a commerce agreement ? N'less they carry a mars size flea market wit em." Smokescreen shrugs at Scattershot. "Stranger things have happened. I just think it would be wise to make sure we don't come off as TOO agressive- wouldn't want to spook, well...whoever it is." Unfortunately there's a formula to 90% of Hollywood horror flicks. The black dude gets offed first. Damnit. Jazz shakes his head, though a Mars sized flea market might be an intreguing concept, he's sorta of the belief that 37 ships does not equal a welcome committee. "They're comin' straight at Earth-- we're the ones who might need t'not be spooked here." He comments. "We can try an' see if they just wanna talk, once we find out where they are." The barely audible sound of tearing metal can be heard from beneath the meeting table, no doubt caused by Sky Lynx's claws, as the lieutenant commander lets out a snort in disgust the moment Rodimus asked about progresso on Cybertron. "These last few series of messes on Earth has diverted too much of our forces and attention from Cybertron. We've lost the few advancements into Decepticon territory beyond the Warrens due to inadequate leadership, intelligence data, and personnel. The latest problem that I had to personnel oversee was the driving back of Decepticon forces on the fringes of the Warrens, and as I said earlier, I was just about to go back on the offensive when I was called back to Earth." Rodimus Prime adds, "Contact General Briar or Commander Fairbourne. The EDC have been holding ground north of mangaron for nearly six terran months now. See if they'll be willing to assist you. If we can gain more ground for either us or earth, that'll be all the better." Sky Lynx narrows his optics at the suggestion of asking the EDC for help, no doubt feeling insulted at him needing the help of the EDC but obviously making no attempt to project his feelings to the others inside the room. Such blasphemy! "I'll keep that in consideration, Rodimus. However right now we could really use some intelligence data on the positions of the Decepticon forces in the areas surrounding the Warrens. Those dastardly scraps are springing ambushes on us left and right whenever we step out of the Warrens, nowadays it's a stressing task for company commanders to rally up volunteers for expedition in force." Sky Lynx turns his beak to Jazz, "I could benefit... somewhat... from a consistently updated intelligence data around the Warrens, Jazz." If Prime noticed Sky Lynx has a problem getting help from the humans, he hasn't given it away. "Having a solid win would go a long ways to helping the morale. If the warrens can't be secure, then that's a problem that will have to be addressed before advancing any farther." he sighs and puts it on the list of things to do, which is beginning to look like a long list. The alien fleet, Africa's possible clean up, now this. Rodimus Prime asks, "The base at the warrens, is it above or below ground? We noticed the cons had better success with setting up their temporary base underground at that location during the quintesson occupation. We could take a play book out of their page..." yeah, he messed up that human term, "..and move it underground if it isn't already. We might be lucky enough to find their old base itself and move right on in." "Of course, Sky Lynx. I'm pretty sure that th' humans up there might be able t'help as well." Jazz replies in that slow, almost lazy manner. "But if ya want my personal touch," He looks to Ultra Magnus, "I'll see if I can scout up a li'l information, an' maybe that old underground base." Of course, Ultra Magnus might have some say in this. After all, Jazz is his second. Sky Lynx's tail shifts around as he lets out a mocking laugh, "I remember Jetfire promising to do something to the likes of that, along with a decentralized network, before he had set out for the fringes of the galaxy again to help out one of our ailing outer colony. The project has been left up in the shelf for a while now, probably will be for a long while until the egg heads can put out a permanent solution at the Warrens to keep our comm transmissions from being intercepted by that Decepticon space station in orbit." Sky Lynx's optics twitches ever so slightly again as getting assistance from the humans is mentioned again, this time by Jazz, "Yes, having a reliable personnel doing the intel gathering would be much preferred. Besides, I wouldn't want to send a human soldier into such a tremendously dangerous operation." Rodimus Prime taps his fingers together and says, "Neither would I, they take too many risks as it is. But, they are there and forgetting about them would be a mistake. Do you have anything else to add Sky Lynx?" Yeah, maybe that was the wrong question to ask with Sky Lynx, but we'll see. Ultra Magnus silently nods at Jazz, "I see no problem with you going to Cybertron for a while...like I said, Decepticons are quiet here..." Sky Lynx shakes his avian-like head in response to Rodimus, "Nothing more, Rodimus." Rodimus Prime glances over at Scattershot and says, "Scattershot, I know it hasn't been too long since you gained your new position, but do you have anything of interest?" Scattershot gets up and puts both fists on the table. "Allrighty...First thing first we deal with that alien fleet or whatever. I mean how close could can they be if we saw em comin' from that far away? Once we are done with that I agree with our 'esteemed' commander that we need to focus our operations on Cybertron. The EDC can handle it's on own on Earth for a while. We can leave minimal support and focus on stablizing our hold on the Warrens." He scans the room to for a second. "I think my boys and I could setup shop in the warrens." .oO(Yeah THAT would piss off the ol' Hun-Grrr.)Oo. We could run some commando operations from there. Make the Deceptions afraid of steppin' outside. But for THAT to happen. We goin' to need some backup...I'm talkin' about some of our rougher comrades...to get this done. More important will be medical support. It's all fine and dandy havin' a bunch of bad-afts kicking tailpipes and all but we got to have someone ta help em' keep runnin' in top-notch shape. Finally we will need some leaway into /how/ we operate." Smokescreen, who has been silent up until this point due to reasons of his own, can't help but quirk an optic ridge at Scattershot's words. "Leeway?" He echoes, obviously curious. Rodimus Prime can imagine where this is going. He raises an optic ridge towards Scattershot and says, echoing Smokescreen at the same time, which is odd enough, "Leaway? What did you have in mind?" Rodimus folds his arms giving him a look of curiosity. He's still curious about where this is going. Even if it's going someplace an autobot shouldn't go. Scattershot winces hoping the 'leaway' part would get lost in the long speech and the head honchos would just nod and say 'uh uh' like they usually do. "By that I mean...operational discretion and tactical freedom." .oO(Yeah use snazzy words and all that. Them command types like that.)Oo. "If we are to gain ground and more importantly /keep/ it. We need to stop being so damn gentle and be a little stiffer with the stick if you know what I mean." Ultra Magnus grins as Scattershot speaks, he knows what he means by leeway but he's not sure he likes that. "I don't think we have been gentle with the Decepticons... but I agree with you that we need to push harder into their territory... in the end we need to force them to leave NNC to protect Nightsiege... But if we push too hard too soon we may not be able to hold the Warrens if they stop us." Scattershot winces hoping the 'leaway' part would get lost in the long speech and the head honchos would just nod and say 'uh uh' like they usually do. "By that I mean...operational discretion and tactical freedom." .oO(Yeah use snazzy words and all that. Them command types like that.)Oo. "If we are to gain ground and more importantly /keep/ it. We need to stop being so damn gentle and be a little stiffer with the stick if you know what I mean." (repose) Smokescreen considers this information, glancing on over to Ultra Magnus. "Actuallly, I agree with Scattershot. Though an all-out territorial push may not be what we need..." he hrrms. "I mean, it's the Warrens. Aside from some issues of morale, and being full of hidey holes...the place is pretty useless. In my own humble opinion, at least." Smokey leans forward. "I think if we are to concentrate our efforts on Cybertron-" he puts one finger down onto the table. "Once this buisness of the mystery fleet is through, that is, ...If we're to concentrate on Cybertron, I don't think that siezing ground should be our primary objective. I'd think we'd be better off by using hit and run tactics. A supply depot here, a sensor outpost there...calculated, precision raids." Rodimus Prime shakes his head and stands up. He rests his grey hands upon the table to lean on it while looking at both of the supporters of this idea. Prime says, "Guys, we're not the decepticons, you both know that as well as anyone here. We cannot put ourselves to their level and expect it to be 'right'. I'm for winning this war as much as anyone, maybe even more so." He puts a hand on his chest for a second, then continues, "But we cannot give up what we hold close to our cores just to gain an advantage. We have the rules of combat for a good reason, not to discard at our pleasure when they seem 'inconvenient' to the current situation." Rodimus Prime does look over at Smokescreen and shrugs, "Hit and run raids are perfectly within reason. Attacking their supply depots and sensors are fine, hit them at their lines and the rest fall." He does wonder what Scattershot is getting at, if both Scattershot and Smokescreen are on the same wavelength. Scattershot musters all of his self-control not to start banging his head on the table in despair and tries to come up with a compromise or at least some camouflage. "I am not talking about 'scorched earth' tactics or shooting enemy medics in the back but maybe not having to call the 'home office' for permission to stir up trouble. Not having a loooong chain of command to deal with operational and tactical stuff. Keep it simple and small. Small teams with minimum or no logistic support." He points to Smokescreen "And Smokey's right. We should start poking Decepticons with a very sharp stick. Start small. An outpost here, a sensor there. Move on to bigger things. A warehouse here a factory there." Sky Lynx slaps one of his paws gently on the ground in an attempt to call attention back to himself again from his peers, "Hit and fade raids are all fine and dandy back when we had the full industrial might of Iacon and Agorahex. We've only recently gotten ourselves a breather from the Decepticons when we took the Warrens, but for someone as keenly experienced from the many battles that I've been through would know, we're going to need to capture some more industrial sites in order to keep our own war machines going." The lieutenant commander gives the Autobots around him a firm stare before revealing yet again his glimmering sharp toothy grin, "We need to start thinking long term, not burn our bridges by destroying potentially valuable assets worth capturing." Ultra Magnus nods, "I agree with Sky Lynx here... hit and run raids will slow the Decepticons it's true... But right now we have the advantage on Cybertron AND on Earth... the Decepticons are hiding in their base... I think it's time for us to capture some valuable objectives." Smokescreen hrrms at this, mulling over the information in particular- while staying in his seat, perfectly calm. "What I think Scattershot is trying to say is this..." Smokey gestures with one hand. "Most Autobot offensives these days have been large affairs...which have gone well, when we've managed to put them together." Smokey shrugs. "With resources spread as they are, I believe that a general liscence to raid would serve us well." Rodimus Prime hums, "Long term is what is called here, raiding the decepticons will only supply us with a small amount of energon than what we can actually make ourselves. Holding the land we have now is paramount. If we can't hold what we have now, we won't hold what we might have in the future. Also, streaching our supply lines, as thin as they are now, is dangerous. The decepticons could come in disrupt our lines leaving our troops on the lines with little or no backup. We need to build industrial sites instead of attacking and taking the cons. We already have Iahex, but Autobot City could be doing so much more." Ultra Magnus shakes his head at Prime, "Indeed Autobot City could do much more... but we already have a lot of trouble sending supplies on Cybertron where they are needed. The spacebridge is energy inefficient and sending shuttle is always dangerous because of the Decepticons space station." Sky Lynx lets out a sigh and says, "How unfortunately that there is only one me, the Decepticons wouldn't be so bold as they are now if that's so." His head quirks up and turns towards Ultra Magnus' direction, "Actually, I have been entertaining the idea of destroying the Decepticon space station for quite a while now. The station itself, like Ultra Magnus said, is already giving our supply convoys trouble but even worst is its esiponage capabilities. I shudder to think that one day, the Decepticon may just see fit to install an orbital bombardment weaponary onto the blasted thing." Smokescreen shoots his optic ridges up at Sky Lynx's suggestion. "That, Sky Lynx, is a wonderful idea...Though I'm afraid we may be at a disadvantage when it comes to arial superiority..." Sky Lynx meets Smokescreen's glance, "All the more that we should be brainstorming ways to take that scrapheap down, but I leave that to you techies. I'll just be there to execute the plan flawlessly as always." Rodimus Prime looks up from his contemplation and says, "We couldn't take the station at our current supply levels in addition to our lack of arial superiority. It 'is' something that we can work towards however. That's something I'd like to see happen." He looks over at Smokescreen and says, "What does SpecialOps have for us, Smokescreen?" Smokescreen looks over at Rodimus, smiling. "Oh, a few things." Smokey leans back, steepling his fingertips together. "To start with, I managed to make some new contacts at the Monacus Olympics- as well as renew some old ones. Nothing PARTICULARLY juicy- but it could lead to some other stuff." he hrrms, "Also, while at the Olympics, myself and Rodimus were contacted by a...a certain party, with a tidbit of information regarding our terran allies..." Rodimus Prime's optics widen slightly at that. He's put it out of his mind since then but it's all coming back to him. Rodimus says, "Smokescreen, we don't know if it's true. It 'was' from an unidentified source who claimed to be an EDC trooper named Raven. That hardly holds energon in the tank." Smokescreen raises one finger. "Actually, I did a little bit of research once I got back from Monacus- the 'Raven' in question IS in the employ of the EDC- he's just a Benefactor, which is why I didn't find his records on an early search. Unfortunately, I haven't yet had opportunity to look into the matter much further...and with how things are going, I'm not sure if I SHOULD." Rodimus Prime rubs his chin, "No, we have more pressing matters to worry about. It's in the past." He sighs and shakes his head dismissing the matter, "Anything else? I think I need a drink." He gives a grin and leans back in the chair. Scattershot's optics get a wee bit smaller as he listens to Smokescreen's report. "Is there a reason why we should worry about the Terrans Smokescreen ?" Smokescreen glances up at Scattershot, giving the Technocommander a practiced, knowing smile. "I wouldn't say we have to worry ABOUT them..." he hrrms, searching for the correct words. "So much as to be worried FOR them. Suffice it to say, I believe it'd be wise to keep these concerns- trivial as they are -confidential, so as not to create an...incident. Unless, of course-" He looks to Rodimus. "I'm ordered otherwise?" Rodimus Prime shakes his head, "Since we don't know all the details, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions about what happened. Still, if you know about anything, share Smokescreen." He knows it might make a few of the CoC go for Michael...or whowever we're talking about, but...we'll see. Smokescreen hrrms, then sighs, looking up. "Well, according to the report, certain EDC scientists may have been using Laser cores- deactivated ones, that is- in certain experiments to advance their own Exo Suit technology. From what I surmised, this project was very limited in scope- perhaps not even approved by the EDC high command." Sky Lynx narrows one of his optical sensors in response to the shocking information that Smokescreen has revealed, "I won't even ask how did those necrophiliacs had gotten their hands on deactivated lasercores. How exactly would deactivated lasercores even enhance their exo suit technology anyways?" Scattershot eyes Smokescreen "Are you telling me that Prowl's soul is now some mad scientist's flight controller system ? What the hell were they smokin' ? Digging up our dead to experiment on them... I can't say I hate them because they are what they are but I must say I very disappointed not to mention 'midly annoyed' and 'very much' scandalized about that situation." He looks around the table for reactions. Smokescreen heaves a sigh- this was why he didn't want to tell them, but eh. "To tell the truth, Sky Lynx, I don't know how. The most logical assumption would be that they're trying to use the Pinnacle of Cybertonian technology for their own ends- as components in their own weapons..." he shakes his head, then stands. "But like I said, I believe that it was just a few rogue scientists...and by the sound of it, the project has come to a halt." He hrrms, then makes for the door, as it looks like Roddy's gone off somewhere else. "But if I come across anything else, I'll be sure to keep all of you posted." And, with that, he slips off, like a sneaky sneaky type. ***** *** * * * * * * *** *** **** * * *** * * * * *** * * *** *** ** * * ** * ** * *** *** *** * * *** *** * * * * *** **** * * *** * * * * *
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