| abstract
| - Cubicron (#193) Cubricon, a city where gangs and the mafia run the seedier parts of it. Standing at the entry ramps that will lead them into those parts is a small group ready to face what lies ahead in hopes of finding one mech - the one called Weldbond. The group is well chosen for the task, each individual having a reason to be here. Arcee has a particular purpose for being in Cubicron. She is searching for her creator, Weldbond. To this end, she's asked for the assistance of various mechs, and now is the time to go and look for him, after hearing whispers and tidings of his presence in the lowest bowels of Neutral territory. Somewhere where hopefully no gangsters had taken him. It wasn't going to be easy, but then Arcee never considered anything worthwhile to be easy. Chains is right at home here - the worst parts of the city used to be home, after all. Despite the fact he wears the Autobot sigil now, the gangers are still family, and the people of the rougher parts of Cubicron hold as much of his loyalty as the 'Bot CoC. He's been digging around after this Weldbond for a while now, and while he hasn't found him, he's gotten at least some of the information they have on his whereabouts. While some may look into the depths with trepidation, he seems to be looking forward to it, and happily taking the lead if permitted. "Everyone ready? Cause its go time, folks." Hot Rod is of course doing a particularly laxed job in his patrol duties. Just so he can escort Arcee during her search, "You know.. trading patrol routes with Trailbreaker has to be my smartest move ever. It lets me spend more time with you.. aren't you lucky?" he teases the pink femme beside him. He looks around keeping his blue optics out for uh.. someone, "How do we know when we find this Weldbond, since we have no idea what he looks like, think he'll be pink like you?" Reliquary grumbles a little bit as he eyes Chains suspiciously, knowing the mech somewhat as the bum fidgets with some dirty item he'd found "Where are we going? " he asks distractedly, optics blinking "I'm ready," Arcee says, "Lead the way, Chains." She playfully pats Hot Rod on the shoulder. "I doubt he's pink," she says, giggling, "Maybe he has flames painted on his chest?" Chains scans the area ahead of them with bright optics, paying little heed to Reliquary, or doubtless Lifeline's suspicions. He's no stranger to those who live here, and not all the rep is good, after all, so long as everyone stays in line. "We'll know we're gettin' close, anyway. Fair odds have it he may be the guy who ain't shootin' at us, or at least at Arcee." he offers in reply to the question, in an amused tone. Hot Rod sighs and places his hands behind his back and laces his fingers together and looks at Arcee, "Haha.. as if he'd be that cool! But that would explain why you like me so much." he gives his girlfriend a playful wink and nudge. Reliquary follows last, but he slows a little "wait, we're going to be SHOT AT? " he notes, frowning as though nobody had told him this as he continues along last, leaving a trail of broken pieces from his toy along the way. Entry Ramps (#884) +Roll: Chains rolls against his Streetwise Software and succeeds by 16! The total roll was 25. "I hope not," Arcee says to Reliquary, "I'm hoping we won't encounter any armed resistance down here. But one can't be too safe." She is packing, of course, and sticks close to Hot Rod. "Oh you," she chuckles at the Autobot cavalier. Lifeline walks along with the others, keeping an eye on Reliquary to make sure he doesn't decide to just... wander off. +Roll: Lifeline rolls against her Streetwise Software and succeeds by 21! The total roll was 24. +Roll: Hot Rod rolls against his Streetwise Software and succeeds by 30! The total roll was 3. Chains heads into the depths, rather chipper despite the surroundings. Indeed, a few of the folks of the mugging pits and the like know him well enough to give the minibot a wide berth. He navigates easily enough through here, pausing at a couple of the dives to check his information. "Ok, still not sure precisely who else was looking for him, got some conflicting info, but I think I know where to find a mech with more info. Follow me, and keep your heads down." Long distance to Hot Rod: Death hehs. "Okay, you know that trouble may be coming. There were rumors about Mafia and gangs running around down in no mans' land. Not to mention Tacticon, if he logs in, may be trouble too." Hot Rod brings his hands down and pulls out his twin photon blasters and looks around, "Geez Arcee.. we sure find the most interesting places for our dates, don't we?" he take the opportunity to check the energon levels of his weapons in anticipation of a fight, "I this is worth it.. I know you are." he tells his pink femme before giving her a light peck on the cheek. +Roll: Reliquary rolls against his Streetwise Software and succeeds by 20! The total roll was 25. "EWWWWWWW" comes a squeak of disgust from behind Hot Rod and Arcee. Reliquary was staring at them looking quite repulsed, the guts of a turbo rabbit hanging from one hand. No Mech's Land (#899) Arcee follows to No Mech's Land. It's a slightly familiar area, and it's a good thing Hot Rod and the others are there. It's even seedier than Cubicron itself. "I hope we can find him," she says, "Then it will be worth it." She does as Chains suggests and keeps her head down, trying to look less noticeable. Chains scrambles over a lot of the debris, trying to stay nice and slow and not jumping over things so the bigger bots can keep up. He ignores the general chatter, headed for one of the areas sheltered from the fights that occasionally go through here, optics open for the mech he's looking for. "Pretty sure this guy will know something about Weldbond, but keep your hands off your guns, don't want to spook anyone. The locals are twitchy sometimes... for a reason. Long as no one gets jumpy, we'll be fine." Hot Rod rubs the tip of his rifle against his cheek with a smile after being satisfied with the energon level of his weapons. He looks to Arcee, "What are you going to do when we find this bot?" then his attention is drawn back to Reli who was obviously not happy about his show of affection to Arcee. He leans over and gives her another kiss on the cheek, "Don't worry.. I'm here to protect you, I won't let any of these whatevers do anything to you." he gestures to whatever it is that’s living down in these depths. Reliquary fidgets a little, slowing down and not watching the second kiss as he stares off to one side, staring into an alleyway while trailing Chains now without watching really where he was going Out of the shadows of an alleyway steps out a minibot sized mech, looking warily upon the group as he sizes them up. A short wave radio transmission is sent toward Chains to direct his path towards him as he retreats back into to the alleyway again, nearly blending in with the shadows. Arcee nods at Chains then gets another peck on the cheek from Hot Rod. She notes Reliquary's discomfort and giggles. When the strange minibot approaches, she lets Chains take care of that. She cocks her head at Chains, waiting to see what he'll say. Chains turns and heads for the alley, flashing a quick gang sign to verify he's a protector of this area, not a threat, then waves the others forward. "Don't worry, they're with me." he remarks to the mini in the alley, stepping without hesitation into the shadows. "Rumor has it you got some information for me?" Hot Rod notices the sad looking minibot doing his thing against Chains and the immediate pursuit. He lowers the visor from his helmet over his optics to enhance his vision in the dark, "Stay close to me Pinkcess." he says softly as he starts to run after Chains but not too fast to make sure Arcee can keep up with him. He looks back on occasion to be sure his femme is doing okay. Reliquary continues to stare off into the other alleyway, still following behind Chains into the darkness. The he freezes, optics turning to loc onto the Minibot and he crouches back, optics narrowing. The informant sticks to the shadows, his black armor blending in with them, making him difficult to see. A little snort given, then to Chains he states, "I got information, for a price." he glances at Arcee a moment, then at Hot Rod. "An energon ration will be your cost." a pause as he checks behind him to make sure no one is in the alley with him, "Fair?" Arcee follows along quietly. When the topic of price comes up, she nods at the informant. "I have a ration here," she says, "That's fair." Chains crosses his arms, glancing from the informant to Arcee. He was about to suggest negotiation and all, can't go too easy on these people, but of course, she comes up with the full amount right away. "There you go. Now spill it. Give me the information, she'll give you the ration, you have my word." Hot Rod narrows his optic at the informant and sets puts his twin rifles away and produces his energon canteen, "Not so fast.. how do we even know the information you have for us is worth anything. How about you tell us what you know and if the information makes my femme happy, I'll give you TWO energon rations.. if not, you get nothing." he tosses an energon credit in his and to show that he has the payment for the right information. He looks to Arcee, "That sound fair to you Pinkcess?" then he turns back to the informant, "So give it to us." Reliquary turns to focus back on the Informant, then turns to stare at Hot Rod "You never said please." he chides. The informant hmms softly, "Resourceful." then nods slightly, "Very well, as an Autobot you have to be a mech of your word as I understand it from the rumors." he raises a hand to point toward the east, "Go beyond the Industrial Zone. Be careful of the Mafia, they have armed thugs out that way. From what I heard via rumors, they are seeking Weldbond as well. Good luck." He looks toward Hot Rod, "I will be fair and not take payment until it is shown my information to be true." a pause a moment, "You will know you are near when you see the smallest building there painted oddly enough like your femme friend here." Arcee looks at Hot Rod. "Well, we'll see what he says," she says to the Cavalier. "Well, I guess we'd better go to the Industrial Zone," she adds, "And be careful, Hot Rod." She winks at him. "Thank you," she says to the informant. Chains nods warily, pretty sure, at least, that the information is genuine, both from what he knows of the informant, and the fact he's willing to risk losing payment after sending them across mafia territory. Still, the news gets a muffled curse. "Mafia... yeah, that's the kind'a bad news I was hopin' we'd miss. Alright, keep your optics peeled, watch out for any armed mechs whose paint ain't all scratched up. Down this far, that's a pretty good sign'a bad news." And with a pink bot, and a red one with flames, the odds of sneaking through don't seem good. "Be ready for a fight, they won't give up th' old guy easy if he's got somethin' they care about." Despite the info, he doesn't seem entirely disappointed by the notion of ending up in a scrap. He nods to the informant, and heads east, taking the lead again. Reliquary eyes Chains "... so when a fight starts, we run and hide right?" he asks as he trots up alongside the Autobot. Hot Rod smiles and tosses the informant the glowing pink energon credit, "No.. that was good information. I promised you two.. so you get one now and the other after we find Weldbond." he puts his canteen away and pulls his the twin photon blasters once more, "Let's go I guess." he turns to Arcee, "See, told you he'd probably be pink like you." he gestures towards east, " After you.." he says to Chains. Then turns to look at Reli, "Talk about dull.. I say we wreck some mafia afts!" Industrial Zone (#908) And just like the informant warned you, walking along the street is a armed thug. Arcee takes a defensive stance as she spots the armed thug. "Well, here we go," she says to Hot Rod and the others, "Let's hope we can get around him without too much trouble." Not that she wouldn't give this thug more problems than he could handle if he chose to mess with them. Were he on his own, on a scouting run, Chains would have tons of options. He's designed to go over, around or through as needed. With bright, shiny bots following along, and no one else equipped for climbing, those options are reduced, even if they have a fair amount of speed, potentially. "He ain't gonna let us by, and if we make too much noise takin' him out, there'll be more. If he ain't already spotted us, I can try an' take him down quiet. But I'm just along for the ride, it’s your show. Want me to give it a try, or you got an idea?" Hot Rod looks at the thug and frowns a bit as he looks to Arcee and the others, "You know.. I'm all for giving him one hell of a repair bill.. but I don't want to put the others in danger." he looks to Chains, "Any chance we can set up a distraction somehow and sneak pass him?" he holds up his rifle to signify that he's fully prepared for a fight. He's a cavalier and rather hot headed for a young Autobot after all. Reliquary blinks and peers at Arcee "... We don’t even know if he's looking for who we're looking for." he points out to the others simply with a shrug, continuing to walk along obliviously, without hesitation intending to pass the thug. Luckily for the group, the mafia thug is walking away from them. He's obviously headed toward the east, toward the Factory Zone. When you look around here, you see no sign of the building you are seeking. Best to move along hm? Well if we don't give him trouble, we probably won't need to worry about him. I hope." Arcee says. Chains nods to Hot Rod. "I got him. You and the others keep moving, stay low, keep out of sight and I'll catch up." he agrees, pointing them in the direction they need to be moving. "Just keep moving, and if there's trouble, take cover. I don't want a Mafioso behind us." he says, moving quickly and quietly after the thug to deal with him soundlessly, hoping the others keep going. He'll catch up. Hot Rod nods to Chains, "Be careful, radio me if you need help. We'll meet up with you about three hundred mega clicks from here." he indicates to Arcee, "Stay extra close to me." then he instructs the others, "Ok.. you guys walk along.. you'll blend in better without Arcee and I. We'll meet up just on the other side of this block." he takes Arcee by the hand and leads her on down the street staying close to the buildings. The cavalier doesn't like the idea of the team splitting up but.. a few small groups is less noticeable than a large group of mechs. +Roll: Reliquary rolls against his Streetwise Software and succeeds by 9! The total roll was 36. Reliquary slows a little, trailing behind. He pauses, staring at Arcee. "OH YEAH! Now I remember!" he bolts sideways, transforming midway to zip away into an alleyway and off he goes! +Roll: Hot Rod rolls against his Inspire Software and SUCCEEDS PERFECTLY! Factory Zone (#911) The thug is still going east, oblivious to the fact Chains is about to take him out. +Roll: Arcee rolls against her Presence Stat and SUCCEEDS PERFECTLY! Arcee sneaks off after Reliquary. Indeed, Hot Rod is right, splitting up might distract or discourage any pursuit. She hopes that Reliquary knows where he's going. Chains uses his chain and grapnel to quickly scale a building, moving along and matching the thug's pace. He waits until the Mafioso rounds a corner. As soon as he's out of anyone else's likely sight, the minibot drops down, wrapping his chain around the bigger bot's neck like a garrote to cut off his vocabulator, using his weight to drag the bot down. One hand on the chain, the other strikes the back of the Mafioso’s neck, mixing precision and power to shut the thug down quickly. As soon as the twitching stops, he unwraps his chain, and goes sneaking after the others. Hot Rod is standing at the fore mentioned coordinates to meet up at after getting past the thug. The young cavalier has his arms crossed but his hands still holding his photon blasters and for whatever odd reason he has opted to stand in the wide open so everyone can know where he is. He of course worries about Arcee and looks around for a pink building while he waits for the others. Reliquary is ... not taking a very direct route. He goes down one alley, up the next, skids to a halt and doubles back - right past Arcee, oblivious to her. He dives under a pile of trash cans, then crawls out, shaking his head before taking off down the street. Just turning a corner, he skids to a halt without any warning. Lifeline...just stays with Hot Rod for lack of ideas on what else to do. Pst Reliquary.. look behind you... Arcee nearly bumps into Reliquary as he doubles back, then follows after him. She doesn't dive into the trash pile as he does, but does follow him down the street. When he skids to a halt, she bumps into him. Chains slips through the area quietly, spending a fair amount of time on an indirect route, going over buildings and obstacles instead of staying to the roads. Just as fast, for him anyway, and safer. He catches up with Hot Rod and Lifeline, glancing about for the others. Not a lot of point to this, so far as he knows, til Arcee catches up. Hot Rod looks at Chains and Lifeline, "Either of you seen Arcee on your way here? It shouldn't take her this long to get here. Hope nothing happened to her." he waits a moment later and turns, "I'm going to look for her!" and without another word the young cavalier runs off. Reliquary stumbles forwards a step and turns around to look behind him... "Oh, hi Pinkcess! Hey, there's a house that looks like out behind you!" And indeed there is a small building, practically a house, pink and white sitting there not 50 feet away. The door is closed, the windows boarded up. Looks rather unlived in. Arcee goes up to the door. "Looks like this is the place," she says. She starts knocking on the door. "Anybody home?" she asks. Chains shakes his head, but goes back to work, hitting the high road and climbing a building side, then going rooftop to rooftop to keep an eye on things from above to keep an eye on Hot Rod and try and find the other group. Reliquary looks at Arcee hopefully, and when she just walks away his shoulders fall a little bit. Like a dejected puppy he starts to circle around the place for another way in, peeking through every gap he could Lifeline sighs as Hot Rod runs off. What's the FIRST rule you learned from Scooby Doo, children? DON'T SPLIT UP! She takes a moment to send a radio ping to Reliquary for his location before starting after him. There's a sound inside, like shuffling coming toward the door, a small slit of a opening opens in the door, an optic peering out. "Pandora?" comes a soft, elderly voice. "Weldbond?" Arcee asks. She recognizes the name Pandora from her schematics. "May we come in? I've been looking all over for you. I have so many questions." Hot Rod runs around the streets back and forth until he finally spots Arcee at the pink house he runs up to the femme, "Didn'y I say for you to stay close to me?" he teases her and looks at the building, "So this is it, huh?" he turns on the light at the top of his helmet and tries to peek in through a tiny crack, "Doesn't look like anyone is home." he says and adds, "Want me to bust the door down?" he offers with a flex of the servos in his arm. Laying on his belly, Reliquary starts to burrow under some rubble. Suddenly he jumps, slamming his head into the top of the pile with a shriek of surprise. Then something else falls on his head "OW! ... the house BIT ME!" Chains moves along quickly, but as soon as there's the loud slam and all the noise, he's on alert, dropping low at the edge of the top of the next building over to scan for trouble while Arcee talks to whoever's at the door. Lifeline catches up with everyone just in time for Reliquary to shout about the house biting him. The single optic peers out, a very long pause as you may hear a faint drumming of fingers against the door. Then the slit closes up. Its silent for another long moment, like nothing is about to happen. Then there's a series of clicks, like locks being moved. Slowly the door creaks open... rrreeeeeeeekkkkkkk. Come in, Pandora." Hot Rod watches as the door opens and then looks to Arcee he offers the pink femme the use of his photon rifle. But instead gives her a pat on her fender and gives her another kiss on the cheek, "This is what you've been wanting. Don't worry Arcee. I'll be just outside this door in case you need me." he gives her his boyish charming smile. Then he takes position by the door with both rifles ready just in case of trouble. Reliquary squirms, still halfway under the rubble and somewhat pinned by the hatch into the house that bit him it seems. "I'm not tasty!" Arcee looks at Hot Rod before accepting Weldbond's invitation. "Be a dear and pull him out of that?" she asks, pointing at Reliquary. Then she steps inside. Lifeline huffs and steps over to 'rescue' Reliquary. "Come on." Weldbond is a regular sized mech of advanced age, a long goatee of a beard is upon his chin. His coloration is a faded red that almost looks dark pink from age with some white highlights. Optics are a rare hue of silvery gray. "Ah look at you, just as I remember you." he muses with a light smile. A little chuckle as he hears the ranting of Reliquary, peering toward the mech that kissed her. "Your friends may enter as well, best to be out of sight, out of mind." Reliquary pauses and blinks "lifeline? " he asks, surprised. And instantly he was out, scrambling to his feet. "Be careful. The house bites!" he warns Arcee. Chains remains out of the way and out of sight, not interested in meeting Weldbond, per se, but very interested in watching out for any mafia patrols and the like. He can cover security duty while the others have social time. "I need to ask you, I have forgotten everything about my past. I didn't even know who I was and so I started calling myself Arcee," the pink femme says to Weldbond, "I don't know where I came from or what my intended purpose was. Can you fill in what's missing?" Hot Rod is about to help Reli out of his jam but Lifeline seems to have beat him to the punch. After hearing the invitation the young cavalier steps into the house, "Hello sir.. my name is Hot Rod and I'm Arce--err.. Pandora's boyfriend." he smiles proudly. He takes a moment and pulls out a data pad, "This belongs to you sir.. it’s the data readout to Pandora's systems and I thought it only right for you have it back. I found it in your workshop." he holds the data pad out for the old mech to reclaim. Chains remains perfectly still atop the building, save when he shifts to scan further down the street. So far, there's no sounds of trouble, so he supposes they're probably doing ok in there. Death hmms softly to Arcee and nods a little, "I'm afraid I had to take away your early memories for your safety, my dear." he notes, a glance at Hot Rod along with a raised eye ridge. He accepts the readout and hmms, "Too much time has passed, my dear. Too much." he sighs regretfully. "I will do my best to fill you in, but my memory too isn't as great as it once was." Arcee nods. "Anything you can tell me would be helpful," she says, "Like, why was I in danger with all my memories intact?" Explains carefully. "Because, my dear, you are my creation. I have a bit of a reputation you see." a little smile, "When I first starting forming your chassis, my intentions were to make you specifically for the more.. how should I put this.. " he tubs on his goatee a bit, "Hmmm.. ah.. I believe the word is a femme fatale. Someone who could and would use her femme whims upon the lesser intelligent mechs of this place to get information. But since I had a reputation for making mechs that were mercenaries and assassins, I had to do a quick rethink of what to truly program as. Sadly I had already finished your chassis by that time.. but still, I programmed you as you are now." "Ah," Arcee says, "I have a desire to join the Autobots, now. Is this something you would approve of? I feel I can do so much more with them than merely as an independent Neutral." Hot Rod listens to what Weldbond has to say carefully and then he makes a face, "Hey! Who's of lesser intelligence?" he crosses his arms and seems to pout a bit and looks between Weldbond and Arcee in a huff. Reliquary is outside the house with Lifeline, as he eyes the hole he found suspiciously. Then he looks at Lifeline "... Are we done?" Lifeline shakes her head no. "Arcee and Hot Rod are inside. I'm waiting for them before leaving. Weldbond chuckles softly at Hot Rods' indignant sounding question, "I was not referring directly to you, lad." another little smile and tug of that goatee. Looking to Arcee he hmms, "If that is what you desire, my dear, then I shall not stop you from doing so. You don't need the blessing from this old fool." Tacticon strolls onto the scene, his step rather leisurely as he meanders toward those standing 'outside'. His informants had noted that Arcee and the others were in this area, and he'd fully intended to be compensated for his efforts even if they had already found the femme's creator. Moving to stand only a few paces behind Lifeline, the Mercenary folds his arms over his chest and cants his head to one side as he looks past her. Chains remains in recon mode, not sure what's being said or done inside, more worried about the group being sighted. When there is movement, he stays on the rooftop out of sight, waiting to discern intent. Arcee chuckles at Hot Rod. "I don't think he means you, you big lug," she says teasingly. She turns her attention back to her creator. "I heard there were some bad mechs after you. Are you safe here?" Hot Rod sniffs a bit and mocks a hurt posture and nods to what Arcee is saying, "Yeah, do you want us to take care of the mafia for you, are they after you because of Arcee? And if that's the case.." he shakes his fist and blaster, "I'll teach em a lesson they'll never forget if not.. I'll leave them one heck of a repair bill!" Reliquary SIGHS loudly at Lifeline and nods "okay." he sniffs the air "I just don’t come here often. the WEIRD people are here." he explains to her. Weldbond shakes his head, "I doubt it. Eventually they will catch up to me. I certainly would not burden you to transport me." then he steps over to where there's a few data chips, which he picks up. Moving next to her, he takes her hand so gently so he can deposit them within her palm, "But take these, my dear, you will find all your answers there. Everything that I ever noted about you, how I decided on your chassis, how I changed the original programming to the current one you now possess, all if it is there for you to read." He shakes his head to Hot Rod, "No, lad, not because of her specifically. Because of my past history creating mechs that could prove their downfall. Trust me there is nothing that gets under the armor plating of a mafia member worse than an assassin or mercenary." Arcee takes the chips and nods. "Thank you," she says, "I hate leaving you out here vulnerable like this, but if it's your wish to remain here, I'll respect that." "So..." Tacticon begins, his persimmon optics glued straight ahead. "We find our good friend Weldbond yet, or are we just taking a break?" he wonders. Hahah, 'we'... Of course he includes himself. Hot Rod just shakes his head, "It's no burden at all.. trust me, it'll be a zillion times worse for all of us if Arcee ever finds out that you've been put offline." then the young cavalier transforms into his speedy vehicle mode and opens up the hatch, "Hop in sir!" then he pauses and adds, "Where are we taking you?" "Cubricon has been my home a long time. I know it so intimately it may as well be a old girlfriend." pausing to chuckle, Weldbond continues, "You are lucky you came upon me when you did, I was planning to depart." he pauses, "I should not keep you here much longer, but if you do need to reach me you will find my unique radio frequency there on the data chips. Just follow the instructions to the letter, and you can in touch at any time your spark desires." He looks at the over exuberant Hot Rod. "I will be fine, lad. Besides if I need to reach my lovely creation, I will know exactly where to come." Chains tenses, watching Tacticon addressing Lifeline below, but he doesn't react for the moment. He seems to know their mission, and the location, so the minibot doesn't want to bring more trouble down on anyone. He settles for letting Lifeline handle it. Reliquary blinks and looks over at Tacticon as he approaches, then looks at Lifeline with a shrug "I don’t know. Be careful of that pink building. It bites." he warns simply "Well, I guess we'd better go, then. Thank you again, Weldbond," Arcee says, "Well Hot Rod, are you coming?" Lifeline frowns at Tic, but then just gestures to the pink building with a tilt of her head. "They're inside." Hot Rod transforms back into his robot mode and follows Arcee out and takes a moment to look back at Weldbond and gives him a nod and smile as a thank you for building Arcee, "Did you get what you wanted out of your meeting?" he asks his femme as they leave. Weldbond smiles to her, "You are welcome, stay safe my dear." is offered. Once they are clear of the door, it closes, and you hear all those locks clicking into place. "Ah, nice... So they found him then," Tacticon offers flatly, not a shred of emotion in his tone. "Guess I'll leave the reunited to their own devices and collect payment for intel services rendered another time. Well done...femmes and mechs." Reliquary blinks and turns his head to stare at Tacticon "what payment?? I don’t have any money!" he notes, in the kind of voice one tells a robber they have no money to steal. Chains sees the others come out, and no fireworks, so he scales the way down to the ground from the rooftop, glancing at HR and Arcee. "If everything's settled then, let's move." Hot Rod looks to everyone and then to Chains as he comes down. His blue optics roll as he spots Tacticon and then he gives Chains a nod, "Let's get out of this place." he turns to look at Arcee, "Unless you had other plans." Tacticon looks Reliquary over from head to toe, and then a laugh is breathed. "Well... That, my friend, is going to be a..." *snap-click* The Mercenary's thigh chamber opens up and his pistol is ejected and then raised before him, barrel pointed at an upward angle. "...Problem." Jumpy fellow this one is, should be fun to mess with his processor. "Oh, Tacticon, you made it," Arcee says. "Yes, I've found Weldbond. Now we should get out of here." She looks over at poor Reliquary. +Roll: Reliquary rolls against his Courage Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 13. Reliquary stares at the gun, optics flashing suddenly as he just goes utterly still, staring.... not moving a single muscle as he focuses on the weapon, not even trembling. Chains growls, pulling Reliquary behind him and facing down the gun. "He's under my protection til we hit topside, if you got problems, deal with 'em then. Til then, all of us got problems. Now let’s roll and people can fiddle with their creds later." The pistol twirls several times around Tacticon's trigger finger before it is relocated to the holder in his thigh--clicking into place before it is drawn back into the appendage and sealed. "I did indeed, Pretty 'n Pink..." he says, seeming to ignore Chains' act of heroism. A nod then at the decision to depart, and his persimmon optics flash briefly as he looks over the others. "Shall we?" With that, he begins to move. Cubicron (#193) Hot Rod 's sense of decency and morals isn't going to stand for this. He whips out both of his photon rifles and aims them both at Tacticon, "Leave him alone and stand down." he shifts his gaze to Chains defending poor Reliquary. Reliquary YIPES as he's grabbed, startled more than anything as eventually, things are worked out perhaps and they end up near Lifeline's place. "Little slow on the draw there, 'Boyfriend'..." Tacticon drawls as he continues on his way. He was just messing with Reliquary... Autobots had absolutely no sense of humor. "Cute weapons, by the way." Chains keeps an eye on the merc. Casual threats towards civilians have everything to do with why he's a 'Bot now, and not a gang banger anymore. On this, he has no sense of humor and more guts than sense. He lets the other two jaw at each other all they like, just keeping an eye on Reliquary. The twitchy one might be nuts, but right now, he's still helping out on a mission Chains agreed to, close enough to putting him under protection. Now how did Arcee know that Tacticon was just messing with Reliquary? She wasn't sure how, but she knew. "Let's go, everyone," she says, "We're not out of the woods yet." The moment he was released, Reliquary indeed doges... moving to put LIFELINE between he and Tacticon, glowering a little "I didn’t even HIRE you." he points out "Which is probably why you shouldn't have said anything about the payment," Tacticon replies coolly. "Now, let’s keep it down... This isn't exactly the nicest part of town. I know plenty o' the mechs around here, and they can smell fear a kilometer away..." Shifting at the waist, Tacticon points a finger back at Reliquary. "That means you." From somewhere nearby there's a familiar informants voice, "My payment, Chains?" is inquired as the mech appears out of stealth. Chains ignores Reliquary, not caring who 'hired' him, turning to the informant, and gesturing to Hot Rod and Arcee. "Their offer, they got your energon." And they'd better damn well be good for it now. Reliquary stares at the Finger "...what means me?" he asks after a long, baffled pause. Then he turns towards the voice, nodding in greeting to the mech he probably recognized but never bothered to learn about. Hot Rod lowers his weapons as Tacticon decides to leave on his own, "That mech is in serious need of an attitude adjustment." then he spots the informant decloaking himself. He pulls out his canteen and shakes out another energon credit and tosses it to the informant, "Here you go.. you deserve it. That was good intel." he nods and smiles. He looks to Arcee, "Want to come back to Iacon with me?" "Too dumb to live...too much protection to die," Tacticon sighs to himself, head shaking as he continues onward. Chains shakes his head, watching the situation, making sure the informant is paid, and otherwise treating this like it’s all business. This place is home - which means he knows just how bad it can get if they stay too long. Arcee gives Reliquary some energon. "Here you go, for your trouble," she says, "Thank you." Lifeline just keeps on glowering. "Ignore him, Reliquary." She pulls the odd mech along if necessary and looks at the Autobots after the informant is paid. "So can we please leave now?" Arcee nods at Hot Rod. "I'll go anywhere with you, you know that." The informant nods to the now Autobot and studies what appears to be some sort of show down. Then deftly catching the energon credit that he earned. "Told you so." the mech smiles. Then the stealth kicks on and the mech disappears as mysteriously as he appeared. Reliquary blinks as the energon is given to him "... errr, but I didn’t MEAN to get into tro-ACK!" what was with people pulling him around today. Hot Rod smiles and nods to Arcee, "Well, then.. lets transform and roll out!" he transforms into his cyber racer mode and revs his engines before saying to Chains, "You coming back to Iacon to file your report or gonna stay here? Thanks for all your help." Chains shakes his head to Hot Rod. "File it for me, I'm gonna go grab a drink and all. I'll fill in any details after tomorrow's scouting run." Lifeline transforms as well, then says to Reliquary, "Do you want to ride back or stay here?" Reliquary eyes the energon, then quickly stuffs it away before it’s taken back "... Back where? I'm not too far from one of my homes, so I could walk..." Hot Rod shifts from idle and into drive as Arcee transforms then he says to Chains, "OK, I'll see you around! Bye.." he adds quickly to the others. Then he goes racing off hopefully the pink femme can keep up with him. Chains lets the others take off. All the fun stuff is out this direction, if he's going to cool down after all that. The mafia won't be happy, but he' dealt with them before, and covers his tracks well. He sees the others off, looking around a bit and considering his options. Reliquary eyes Chains as well, noting him looking around 'There's some rats down that alley there if you are hungry." he offers helpfully Chains turns his optics to regard Reliquary. "Nah, bots treat me pretty good for energy, but I only get so much time now to come back to the underside. Figured I might as well enjoy it while I'm here." Reliquary ohs a little bit and nods "I see." he states, sounding puzzled. "Wait, come BACK? Why?" Chains grins behind his faceplate. "Because I can. Because I know these streets, s'where I learned everything I know about scouting. So, y'know, nostalgia." Right on cue enters Shark, who had other matters to attend to this cycle, which kept him out of the search. "Hey Chains! How'd it go? I saw Hot Rod and Arcee race past me, figured something was going on." Chains glances over at Shark, lifting a hand in greeting. "Went fine. They found out what they needed. Don't go poking around too much though, things might be a bit stirred up for a while." "Isn’t that the stuff that grows in water, Nostalgia? " asks Turbo rat. Then he stares at Shark, "... Teeth." Shark moves toward him, grinning with a hint of teeth. "I wouldn't think of it. No need for me to be in disguise right now anyway." he points out. "Glad to see no one was injured."
*
* VROOOOM** Tacticon speeds onto the scene yet again, and suddenly without warning a mech is struck head on by the fore nose section of his hover strike craft.
*
* THUNK*** The mech goes down hard, flying through the air before landing face first onto the ground--only to skid to a halt just in front of Reliquary. "Anybody get the number o' that truck?" the mech asks as he rises to his feet. Lifting a finger into the air as if raising his hand to speak as he takes to staggering left and right before falling again face down. A snap-hiss, croaking of gears and popping of pistons sound then as the hover strike craft reforms, and the mech stalks over to the 'almost road kill'. Setting a foot upon the out cold mech's back, the Mercenary leans down to speak into the other's audio receptor. "Freeze." Chains nods. "Close once or twice maybe, but yeah, figured you knew what you were doing and all. Don't think some folks will be too happy about bots marching around on their turf, but everyone is in and out safe." At the new sound, Chains is turning to react, force field arm-shield popping on with a crackle, his chain in hand in a moment, turned to eye the scene. Despite this, he makes no effort to stop it, at least not without further information. Reliquary is still standing there as this all happens a few feet away. He stares at Tacticon, then at the mech, then back up again "... How come I get YELLED AT when I do that?! " he asks suddenly, somewhat outraged. Shark blinks as he hears something to thunk somewhere around here. Oh it's THAT merc again. Like Chains, he produces a weapon, a pistol, in his hand. "I'm partially to blame for that." he admits, "That one there made sure of that by now." Tacticon lifts his foot from the downed mech's chassis and then reaches out with one hand, gripping the orange and white mech before pulling him roughly into a sitting position. "Wakey wakey," he says, and his pistol is quickly brandished. **snap-click** Tapping the barrel of the weapon against 'orange and white's faceplate, the Mercenary grins broadly when the other mech's blue optics come online. "Well... Hello there, Steamroll. Long time no see..." "...Not long enough, Tac. You're lookin' even more wasted than usual. Tellin' ya... You should really look into gettin' a cleaning." Tacticon chuckles softly to Steamroll, ignoring those observing the interaction for now. "You always were full of jokes... Luckily I've got my own sense of humor," he states before tapping the pistol barrel against Steamroll's head again. "...Let’s not drag this out. You know what I want to know..." Reliquary is still a few feet away, glaring at what was going on, though he was torn on interfering. He looks at Lifelines' place, and then at Chains, then back once more. WWLLD? (what would lifeline do?) Chains tenses, and walks right towards the scene, guns or no. "What'd he do?" he asks simply. This isn't his hood proper, and maybe Steamroll deserves what he's getting. As such, Chains' tone isn't threatening, but it isn't quiet or meek either. He's not out to save the world, or even Cubicron, that can be left to better bots than him. But he's not one for casual bullying either. Shark sidles along with Chains, basically as a back up just in case. "Hello Tac." his tone is not exactly friendly toward the merc. Steamroll laughs in Tacticon's face. Who did the Mercenary think he was? He's not going to rat out his friend... Even if he did know where he was. "I don't know where he is, and if I did... You better believe you'd never find out. You're wastin' yer time, dummy... And look, now you're drawin' a crowd..." Steamroll turns his head slightly, taking in Chains, Reliquary, and finally Shark's visage. "...And that one don't seem like your biggest fan." Tacticon's optics flash briefly at Steamroll, and then his head turns to regard the trio the other mech had spoken of... Chains first, and then Shark in particular before a smirk is offered. "Shark..." he replies simply before looking back to Streamroll. "...Fine," the Mercenary says, letting go of Steamroll. "Just a conversation between old friends..." is stated for the benefit of the Autobots and their friend. "You're my friend like a rusty chassis..." Steamroll mutters. Reliquary realizes that he WAS drawing a crowd, and blinks a few times, slinking a step or two back. Then he frowns at Steamroll "I am NOT your friend. " a pause "But I'm not your enemy either. Just remember that." Chains eyes Steamroll, his force field flickering off, the chain retracting back into the arm housing. "You got guts." he says to Steamroll, admiring that much, anyway, noting the guy facing off a gun to the face and staying steady. "But before you get too rah rah about the cavalry, you best watch yerself. People who got nothin' to worry about don't get mercenaries hired on 'em. And all of a sudden, I'm curious what exactly yer pal did. And thinkin' you might need a better class of friends." Shark keeps his pistol, though it’s at his side. He doesn't trust Tac any farther than he could kick him. That thought makes him just grin widely. "Good question Chains." "Thank you," Steamroll offers to Chains before slowly rising to his feet, his chassis creaking and groaning as he does so. There's probably some hidden damage there... "...Though what my pal did ain't none of yer business, and if I didn’t' tell this psychopath..." Tacticon grins immediately upon being referred to as such. "Then I sure as slag ain't gonna tell you." A scoff and Steamroll brushes himself off a bit. "My friends are my business... Why don't you mind yours, Autobums." Well, at least he knew Shark was one of those goody-two shoes. Tacticon can't help himself--at this he laughs...and laughs. Reliquary shuffles back further, too many guns out to make him nervous "Totally unfair." he grumbles. Shark snorts, "**** you too." he cusses fluidly. A glance at Chains, "Maybe we should just let the merc have his way with this guy." putting the pistol away where he got it. Chains frowns behind his visor, optics narrowing. "Such gratitude." he snorts. "I'll keep it in mind next time someone comes calling." He glances at Tacticon and shrugs. "Happy hunting." he replies with a scowl, turning back to Shark. "If yer expecting nice guys and flowers down here, don't. S'the reason all I asked was what he did, I didn't say nothin' about stoppin' the mercenary yet. If someone deserves an extra hole or two in their head, no business of mine where they get it." "Yeah, good riddance..." Steamroll sneers toward who he assumes are all Autobots, which means Reliquary too. "Always gettin' into everymech's business... No wonder the Decepticons wanna blow 'em to slag," the orange and white mech continues with a shake of his head. "Tell me about it..." Tacticon replies with a smirk. "Looks like this cycle is a lucky one for you, Steamroll. Unfortunately, when Strongarm gets wind of your unwillingness to cooperate..." Steamroll stops brushing himself off, his chassis going rigid at the name. "What? Skids was in leave with... HIM?" A step is taken back away from Tacticon, and is followed by another once Steamroll manages to will himself to move again. "I... H-he.. You can't tell HIM..." Reliquary looks up, optics flickering as he lets out a squeak, moving back towards a lamppost to... hide behind it at that name. Shark nods a bit to Chains, "Didn't expect either to be honest, I've been down here enough." he replies. With that he turns to trek toward where the doc's place is, which is on the way to the El Sleazo, "I need a drink, you coming?" Chains turns back at the mention of the name. "You're in bad with Strongarm? Welp, congratulations, vapor trail. Guess I'll go mind my own business, eh?" He nods to Tacticon. "Sorry for disturbing you." he says, sounding half-sincere. He turns back to Shark. "Yep. Lead on." Lifeline shows up NOW, returning from where ever she'd gone ahead to, and transforming when she realizes that Shark is here now. Shark smiles spotting the doc, "I'm buying a round if you want to join us at the bar." he states. Reliquary looks over at Lifeline, and points to Tacticon "HE just ran over someone and everything. Is he going to get yelled at too? " he asks. Chains glances at Reliquary. "Nope, but if you run over people who are dead anyway, and just don't know it yet, you won't get yelled at so much neither. C'mon, Twitch, you did good work. Round of drinks on my buddy here." Tacticon levels his gaze with Chains when the mech turns to him. "Don't mention it..." he offers simply enough before glancing back to Steamroll. "Then you're gonna tell me exactly what I want to know when you receive the information. Now would be MOST opportune, but otherwise sooner rather than later... Be seeing you, Steamroll." Tacticon turns and starts to make his way toward El Sleazo as well, only to pause in his step and glance back. "...Don't leave town." Then, again he's off. A rattling sounds for several milli-cycles before Steamroll realizes that the sound is coming from the shaking of his knees. "...I'm a dead mech..." Turning to hurry away, the orange and white mech places a hand atop his head. "Oh Primus, I -am- a dead mech..." Reliquary glances to Chains "I wasn't asking you though." he points out, confused. Lifeline looks at Reliquary, then to Tac and back. "Did he mean to do it?" Shark stops by the El Sleazo door, still within audio shot as he shouts. "What do you think?!" Chains shrugs. "I'm just tellin' ya. Careful who yer friends are an' all, and someone does ya a favor, be grateful. It pays off now and then." He's gone toe to toe with the worst the city has for his hood and his people. He would again. Steamroll isn't it. He just heads for El Sleazo. A drink sounds pretty good about now. Tacticon walks up behind Shark, and shifts his body to the side to make his profile a bit smaller to slip around and in front of the Autobot. "'Scuuuse me, thanks," he offers in passing before disappearing inside. Reliquary nods at Lifeline "What the toothy one said." he agrees simply. Shark so could trip him, oh yes he so would too, but Foz-E would ban him for life if he did anything hinky around his bar. "Drinks on me, come on already." he shouts to the others. Chains ignores the merc, far as he knows, he has nothing against him. After all, the guy didn't take the shot earlier... that might have upset him a bit. And there's certainly worse scum around here. He shrugs, and heads into the bar. El Sleazo Cafe (#785) Shark heads on inside, moving to the bar. "Round of drinks for me and my friend here, Foz-E." putting down a cred for the bots trouble. "The usual for me." Chains settles down next to the bar. It’s been quite the day already. "Thanks." he replies, kind of vaguely between Shark, for the round, and the tender for serving it. Saves the trouble of saying it twice. Tacticon is already at the bar, leaning back against it with his elbows resting upon its surface. Persimmon optics watch the door, and notice Shark and his comrade but pay the two very little mind--other than a brief nod of recognition. Shark nods to Chains as he gets his ener-beer, "Sure thing." Foz-E puts the same in front of Chains. Chains nods back to Tacticon. For the moment, he seems to have let the past be the past. There's worse around here. When the energon is delivered, he raises a small salute to Shark, then downs a good bit of it. Not the best stuff, but it suffices. Shark pointedly ignores Tac, just better that way. He sips his drink and nods to Chains. "Glad you were able to help out Arcee. You probably just earned yourself some major points with Roddy." he muses. Chains shrugs. "The hothead? He just about got his head shot off once or twice. I better cash those points in soon, I'm worried they got an expiration date. Glad I could help out though." Shark gives Chains this odd little smirk. "Jealous hot head." he corrects, taking another sip of his drink, "And yeah you best do so if you got that impression." Chains snorts. "Jealous? What, his pretty pink princess have some interesting history or somethin'?" he asks with an amused look. "I dunno, maybe he does fine among the rank and file and all, but I don't think he's my top choice to be hitting the under city again." Shark mmms softly, "History she probably found out if Weldbond told her something good." a glance at Chains, "Guess you gave her privacy with the mech if you don't know for sure." then a sip of the drink before he continues. "As for Roddy, he just doesn't like it if you look at her. He's accused me more than once of having optics for her. Even AFTER I told him I didn't." Chains shakes his head. "I don't care about her history, or her creator, or none of that. I was on sentry patrol when they went in. I'll keep that in mind though. Hothead certainly was quick to go yankin' his guns, it’s true." Shark mutters into his glass, "For someone older than me, he's a yanker all right." a sip then lowering the glass he states, "Doesn't think, just acts. Sometimes I do that too.." a glance at Tac to indicate who that involved. Chains gestures dismissively. "Sometimes ya' gotta act faster'n ya can think, jus' the way it is if yer gonna keep yer head. But every now and then, pays to know when to leave your guns where they're at too. Wouldn't know he's all that old, but hey, it’s his head." Shark nods to that, "I hear you there, Chains. So going back to base after drinks or sticking around for a bit?" Chains shakes his head. "Nah, got no interest in rushin' back. Going to hang out for a bit, do tomorrow's patrol along the borders, then report in, probably. They got me on scout detail, so no one is expectin' me back for a while." Shark finishes off his drink, "Been on that detail plenty of times. Just be careful out there." lowering his voice down a lot, "I understand that the Con's have yet to find their pet. Dangerous thing. Watch for it and report it in if you see it." Chains gets a lot more serious, "I will, trust me. I ain't lived this long by bein' dumb. I'll keep my optics on, and be prepared to run. Thanks for the news." Shark nods, then adds lowly, "And careful of that one." then with a little salute, "I best head back on my little mission for the next few days." Chains nods, returning the small salute by raising his cup. "You do that. And don't worry, plenty of mercs around here, I know the type. Watch yourself."
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