| abstract
| - Muskrat Falls- The secrets within. Players: Laserbeak, Marauder From above, there doesn't appear to be much suspicious about the dam at Muskrat Falls. Looks fairly typical as far as dams go. However, the Decepticons already know that there's a suspicious amount of black vehicles going into and out of the dam, disappearing into some structure on top of the dam that couldn't possibly hold as many vehicles as went into it. And more importantly, there's a secret entrance hidden precariously between two turbines that may lead inside the dam! Laserbeak perches on high, his systems are on full surveillance. Cameras, traffic routes, sentry patrols, he takes it all in. By now, it is quite late... 3 AM, late enough that shifts are quiet, less commotion from outside vehicles...and a chance to get this full sized assistant into the darn place. Any radar systems are noted, but for now the two are following Autobot Radar protocols. Staying in clustered areas, low to the ground. The Bots would have a hard time finding them, let alone the humans, still, take no chances. Current Objective: Find Marauder a way into the base.... Perhaps the loading dock? [It is fortuitous that I selected a Terran alternate mode,] Marauder says to Laserbeak on an encrypted frequency. Flying through the air, before he actually reaches the base, he must transform into that mode, landing in a wooded area. There, he begins to apply a type of paint, changing him from his usual green and purple camouflage, to a basic black, so he can better match the vehicles picked up on surveillance photos. Once he's done, it seems to be quick drying paint, he will transform into that mode. [Laserbeak, I need you to inspect my chassis to ensure that the paint application covered.] Lowering to the ground, Marauder transforms into a M1A3 Abrams. While there doesn't appear to be much security on the surface--at least not what would be abnormal for a dam--Pounce did report hidden patrols at the perimeter of the dam. That would be something to be careful of. Laserbeak 's yellow eyes gleam, they were never red, that was an animation error. He scans Marauder for inconsistencies in his paint job for several seconds. Greenlight. Which is about as much as Beaky discusses things that doesn't involve laserfire. The patrols are a concern, of course. It was going to be quite hard to get Marauder in there. Marauder emits, [Acknowledged] and sets off. He tries to keep to the main road. It's three A.M., so there are few drivers on the road, and if he's going to sell this, he's going to make it seem like it was planned. He passes a large Construction Crane going the other way, probably on the way to some jobsite while traffic is nonexistent, and for a brief moment, he wonders if that might have been Hook. The colour was close enough, but it's hard to tell in this light. [Redlight][Redlight] He swoops in front of Marauder before he gets too far...if he doesn't stop...well the vulture wasn't about to play chicken. He'd better hurry if things were proceeding like this. Laserbeak checks out the set of buildings outside the plant. Target: Security rooms. If he can find a security room, they're not too hard to find, just look for the antennas that really don't need to be there, he can forge his way into the system to schedule a late night 'delivery' of an extra tank. There is indeed a security room, or rather, two checkpoints guarding both routes to the dam. Laserbeak will note that the security guards staffing these checkpoints don't fit the norm for human civilian security--that is, overweight, somewhat older... asleep. These guys seem to mean serious business. Nevertheless, if Laserbeak can gain access, there are some computers in here likely hooked up to the security system. The M1A3 Abrams Main Battle Tank comes to a stop. It's a good thing they're still a fair distance from the base. The communications array on top moves, rotating, and he makes a connection with whatever mundane Satellite might be up there. It's a big facade, but hopefully it's a convincing one. He seems to receive a transmission about some kind of purple dinosaur. The vulture skulks outside one of the checkpoints. Sentries, only two, but still two more than he'd prefer. Laser fire would be...exquisite but he didn't want the EDC to know he was ever here. It might change their plans. Spotting one of the cameras in the area, he pauses. Both guards were outside at the moment, but the camera was an issue. His eyes glow slightly, not enough to fry the receptor, but enough to get it staticy. Infrared works wonders against such primitive things. He silently glides inside the shack, then transforms. Transformation noise not withstanding, an innocent tape lays on the ground beneath the bench. With the flash drive adapter he's equipped with, he starts to process information, forging information for the tank's arrival. The same info will be sent to Marauder as well, best he know what the plan was. 'Late night security detail addition. Beefing up forces due to Autobot activity. Abrahms to be kept in secondary storage bay.' That should do it, if it gets that far, he'll just slip on out, and rendezvous with Marauder. The guards are carefully watching the road for signs of activity. If anything approaches that they're not prepared for, well, their response is likely to be a little overenthusiastic. Upon receipt of Laserbeak's information package, the M1A3 Abrams begins to move again, but at a normal speed. He doesn't want to do anything ordinary, or to draw more attention to himself than a tank already would. A few minutes later, he'll meet up with the first checkpoint. The tank will slow before it approaches, and parks near the guard tower. He identifies himself, without anyone getting out of the tank, and uses a southern drawal. "God, I hate these balls to eight shifts. Staff Sergeant Anthony Wayne, here to drop off a M1A3 Abrams MBT to the Secondary Storage Bay. Seems you boys wanted to beef up the security thanks to the mess o' Autobots hang'n about." The guards eye the tank suspiciously as it approaches, and exchange a glance. "I haven't heard anything about some damn tank," one of them says. He pulls out a small PDA, and stares at it. "Huh, what do you know. Okay, Staff Sergeant, just pop the hatch so I can see your ID real quick>" A familiar voice emenates from the radio system. In truth, Laserbeak is doing his best to imitate their C.O., and using a microburst , just enough for them to hear but not the base itself! "Higgins, McCoy..." (Thanks for the personell info.) "Why am I staring at goddamn armor before you report in? Get it inside already. No time to waste, can't have the damn thing out of cover more than absolutely necessary. ****ING Cross. Going to ruin this enti..." the voice trails off. A signal is sent to the Abrahms, [Countermeasures needed, frequency 30.2] The two guards grimace collectively. "Dammit. Alright, head on in," one of them says, and as the guard barrier raises, they wave the tank on. The door leading into the building where all the black vehicles have been driving into opens invitingly. The hatch on the tank begins to pop up, yeah, he's really yanking their chain, but before they can see anything inside, it begins to close as they insist that he heads on in. The tank starts up, and heads through the first check point, and when a door opens, presumably to the Secondary Storage Bay, he follows it on in. Another encrypted message is sent to Laserbeak, [You have my compliments, Lieutenant.] Laserbeak returns to vulture-mode, then slips out of the gate a bit as the tank rolls by, zapping the camera again for good measure. Certainly the troops will be watching that impressive Con armor...despite it having a purple symbol on it. The vulture can squeak out in good fortune. After Laserbeak rendezvouses with Marauder, he returns to cassette mode, hiding now...of all places, in the tank's barrel. Admittedly it is a bit of a scare. If Marauder knew half the things Laserbeak generally knew...well...its best not to dwell on. Inside the base, it was back to surveillance work, the rafters would do a wonderful job here to scope out the place. The job was get get that tank into the 'secondary garage' he mentioned in the orders. There was bound to be a lot to this place, but he gambleda bit that there was a second garage. If not...well the military messes up occasionally. They DID hire Cross, after all. If garage/elevator directions are found, they are transmitted to Marauder, who can stroll on through as if he knows exactly where he's going. And as it turns out, there was indeed an elevator in this building! There's a flashing yellow light in the room, followed by a sharp tone to warn personnel that the elevator that it's going to descend, then the elevator gradually lowers them down... and when the elevator opens, the next room appears to be an underground parking lot, with plenty of black vans, cars, and some military vehicles. There's two more guards down here, but they're clad in black armor and armed with grenade launchers. Their faces are also concealed. They appraise the tank as the door opens. "M1A3? Pretty good tech for its time, but not compared to what we have now," one of them says. "It's got a 120mm cannon, that's what the new disintegrator shells use. Probably why Cross requested it," the other one says. Marauder transports Laserbeak. No one would notice a cassette on the inside of the barrel, and if they did look there, well, it would be too dark to see the cassette, or . . . considerably worse things would happen to them. The elevator is quite spacious, enough that the tank could turn around, but fortunately he does not have to. It's always a pain when they design these things for such manoeuvres. Once in the lower hanger, Marauder again must check in, "Staff Sergeant Anthony Wayne delivering an M1A3 MBT, where d'ya want this thing?" He's already looking for empty berths, and hoping that he might get one around the corner, somewhere secluded. Laserbeak notes the mention of disintegration rounds. As the massive tank is parked, the barrel rotates around. After all, the tank faces forward when its parked. During that time frame, he slips out of the barrel, back behind the black van nearby, shifting into bird mode. Internal security seemed to be person based, which is good. Constant camera fizzles would be a warning, if the security team was competent. He takes to the top of the hanger, again using Marauder as a distraction. He starts mapping out the possibility of using the turbine waterfalls as an exit strategy. For now, however it was time to get snooping. Cables and conduits were attached to most ceilings, which gave him ample cover as he looked for a vacant security room or armory. Marauder just needed those guards gone so he could slip away as well. To perform that, Laserbeak needs security access... The two guards think for a moment. "Park in D2." That would be the labeling for the parking spot. However, if Marauder wants seclusion, it might be difficult, here. It's a wide open parking lot, but still, D2 would put Marauder next to some other, rather large military equipment, like a transport truck and a battle walker. Marauder begins driving through the open air parking lot until he finds D2. He tries not to park too easily, doesn't want to throw the guards off in case they're still watching him. Once he gets himself inside, and angled at such a way that he maximises the cover provided by the transport truck and the battle walker, he rotates his turret, adjusting it really, to add to the effect. He'll then play a prerecorded sound of footsteps, walking away. It's quiet, but hopefully the guards will think that he simply wandered off. With Laserbeak off, he'll simply stay there for now while he thinks of a way to get rid of the guards. A red line leads off to the armory! A blue line leads off to security, and an orange line leads to "Labs." Guess R&D wasn't... fancy enough? And there is indeed a wi-fi connection. However, it's very heavily encrypted. Marayder begins analysing the cryptographic algorithms for vulnerabiltieis, backdoors, and anything he can make use of. It's not very inspiring, but some war is unseen, unheard, but still, very much real. Marauder manages to break the encryption, and gains access to the Wi-Fi network! Transmission:[FORCE ACCESS OF NETWORK. REQUEST LAB UPGRADE.] With Marauder here, things were simpler as they were more clumsy. The skulker noted that he needed an impressive array of radio comms as well. Perhaps when Marauder perished, he'd get himself a fancy upgrade, until then. Excellent, things were progressing properly. He'd follow Marauder into the Armory if there was an aerial way, if not, a tape will clatter atop the great armor and hitch a ride. Things were progressing easily enough. What awaited in the Armory? The armory is currently deserted, once Laserbeak finds his way inside. And there seems to be something of a goldmine here, as there are rows upon rows of shells stacked on top of each other, and what seem to be energy weapons of varying sizes. Many of them seem to be built for a human to carry. Marauder's first order of business is to learn the system, where things go in, where they go out. In a fashion similar to the raw Matrix, he watches, studying it as Laserbeak busies himself with hardware. Once he feels comfortable, he begins to explore in greater detail, looking for anything of value, but careful to ignore anything that looks too good to be true. He does not want to get caught, and obviously doesn't immediately pull up General Cross' personnel file. There's a lot of information in the systems about the experiments being run here. The EDC seems to be perfecting the weapon, minimizing power draw and heat production as much as possible, resulting in the energy rifles Laserbeak saw. There's mention of a "Hard Deadline" by which the weapons must be done. There's something about a "City Buster" in the system, and finally, one report cross-references another, saying something about how the other report mentions the disintegrators won't work on Dinobots, but Marauder would have to crack the other file to find out why. Seems its security is a bit better. Laserbeak is near giddy with anticipation. He starts applying data to Marauder's receptors almost immediately. As if Marauder couldn't see the disintegration shells, the retrofit upgrades and the like. Any cameras in the area are set to static, perhaps he was a second slow on that, but who can blame the buzzard for enjoying himself? He investigates the area. Certainly there were some security systems, but this wasn't quite R&D either. Those files were on a separate mainframe no doubt...and hopefully on turbocassette recording. He records all that he can see. When he is satisfied, he perches on Marauder's shoulder to examine the other data at hand. For the moment, Marauder leaves that file. He will continue to explore further, while keeping that file in the back of his mind. He tries to figure out why the disintegrators won't work on Dinobots. If he can learn that vulnerability, perhaps the Decepticons can modify themselves, or form a specialised team to the deal with them. Afterwards, he'll try and find information on the Hard Deadline, and then the City Buster. Marauder transmits to Laserbeak information regarding the file, [When I hack into this, I may require assistance.] Laserbeak ponders the security around the encrypted files. He looks aside to Marauder then takes flight, re-examining the room. On Marauder's vision, he highlights several pieces of armament that the Con could possibly slip away with. As for now, Laserbeak's mind is elsewhere, like R&D. The EDC has some pretty decent file security, at the worst case, he could just cut out a hard drive and take it along...while the alarms sound. Noting the helpful lines from before, he attempts to find a secondary path to R&D. It would be hard to get Marauder past those guards a second time without having to off them... Marauder, still in tank form, waiting in the parking lot, and wary that he may not be able to penetrate the system given his lack of technical ability, sends a signal to Laserbeak. [I have located several files of note, but they are encrypted. Your expertise in this matter would be appreciated.] A holotrail appears before Marauder's eyes. Laserbeak seems to have found another path of interest, and is intent on checking it out. The orange letters flicker up on the tank's map 'Research and Development' before the skulker scouts ahead. Any cameras on the way before the tank get a jolt of infrared vision, that should keep them overloaded for long enough. He perches on a large pipe before the R&D entrance, awaiting Marauder's approach. Oh, look, one of the air vents is just the right size and shape for Laserbeak to slip into and eventually find his way into the R&D lab. Speaking of the lab, it seems to be mostly a mechanical laboratory, though there is some chemistry at work here. There are NUMEROUS prototypes here, various bits of defeated Decepticons, and... oh, boy, what's this? There's a Seeker head in here. It's just set up on a table, standing up, wires and everything running out of his neck. Laserbeak scans the room. This was beyond mere...research, this was an outrage. He starts identifying what parts he understands, even the Seeker head if possible. He does a full sweep, then and only then does he retreat through the airvent. A display of his findings pop up for Marauder again, then with a jolt of more infrared to the cameras about, he posits the command INITIATE ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES to his ...'subordinate'? Laserbeak returns to the main armory, watching the two guards again. His yellow eyes gleam as his targetting cannons aim independantly at the two. FOLLOW he beams to Marauder. While a clean infiltration was always preferred, these humans needed to know their place. At the bottom of the falls... Marauder may be out of sight, hidden behind some kind of a truck, but he is not out of earshot. His motor would certainly alert the guards, even if he is a Cybertronian. He could transform, but he's awfully big to go skulking about. Thanks to Laserbeak, he has a good idea of where to go, once he can extricate himself. But, seeing as he is in an open air parking lot, with two soldiers guarding the elevator, his options are severely limited. In his mind, he debates his options . o O (Were I to remove them, they would miss their check in, which seems to be every ten minutes ago, so that is not a viable option. I'm too big to go sneaking around in here. The acoustics would give me away in an instant, even if they missed the fifteen foot Decepticon. I lack the ability to create a physical diverson, but perhaps Laserbeak could . . .) And then, he transmits to his not-so feathery friend, [Laerbeak, if you surrepticiously flew to the corner of the parking lot, would you be able to make an audible disturbance, perhaps a recording of an engine or a radio. Under the cover of that noise, I may be able to sneak past them. You could transform into your cassette form, were they to get too close.] It's likely that only one would go, but perhaps he may get lucky, that is if Laserbeak doesn't already have ideas of his own. Laserbeak pauses for a moment. Marauder had a good plan to distract these two guards. He watches them a few moments longer. PAF PAF! But then that happened. Two well shot muted energy rounds catch the pair in their backs. He swoops down near them, perching on another pipe. His eyes gleam, as he superheats any radios the pair might have. After ensuring they're dead, he opens the door for Marauder. Laserbeak circles back slowly, almost hovering as he passes the corpses. The bird of prey strikes again, his intentions justified and carried out precisely. The bodies...will be disposed of somewhere. Perhaps under the flooring, or dumped into the water turbines, either way, they weren't an issue anymore. The guards never knew they were marked for death until they were already dead, their body armor proving no obstacle to Laserbeak's weapons. They immediately drop to the ground, like puppets with their strings cut. There aren't a lot of places to store bodies in this facility, though... except for right under the elevator. Yes, you could toss them there, and it might be a while before someone found them. Or maybe in the truck Marauder's next to. Marauder groans "Vector Sigma" even as he transforms. They have perhaps ten minutes, give or take, to get what they want, and get out, fifteen minutes if they're extremely lucky. It all depends on how much time Cross' forces give the guards to check in after missing their scheduled time. Heading along the orange path, they're in it now, so any resistance he encounters will be dealt with harshly. He is slowed only by an effort to remain quiet, and for him to use his enhanced senses to scan each room for recording devices that may have to be neutralised before proceeding. To Laserbeak, he transmits, [We have ten minutes. Let's get to work.] Marauder shifts into his imposing robot mode. Laserbeak just about tilts his head at Marauder, as if to say 'What did you expect?'. The hovering infiltrator follows the helpful yellow line back to R&D. He examines these prototypes, these Con parts, then sits on the workbench with the Seeker head. He claws at it lightly, knocking it over. Just in case the head was still alive for some ungodly reason. He shuddered slightly, ruffling. These humans were some sick bastards.... Now to see what he can learn from the computer system here. Eventually, the convenient orange line leads Marauder to the Research and Development room, and fortunately, it's in his size. He has to roll up a garage like door, but he gets in easily enough. They probably don't expect infiltrators to penetrate this far into their system. Once there, he will do a quick scan, prioritising the items he can take according to their probable usefulness. Those that he can't, he places in one large pile, intending to destroy them before they leave. For now, the computer system is left unhindered. [Laserbeak, if you are unable to hack into the computer system, I will simply remove the hard drive and hope that there is a local copy to decrypt later.] In the back of his mind, there is a ticking clock, counting down from ten minutes rather like what's seen on the show, 24. Laserbeak quickly perches on the system, then folds up into his tape cassette mode. He connects into the system quickly, bypassing the security on the computer to get access to what he really desired...Information. Oh how the condor loved being one of the few competents Galvatron reigned over...it kept him less likely from being shot at. Even as Marauder's ticker counts down, Beak finds himself extracting everything he can from the system. News about the Dinobots is interesting but unimportant at the moment...Swoop was far too annoying and dangerous for him to confront, unless for some reason the new info here made him invincible. Laserbeak would've snorted if he had a nose, it was an intriguing thought, but something like that was FAR outside the EDC's feeble grasp. Actually the information contained within is EXTREMELY important as this audio log demonstrates. Apparently it's a video of Franklin Cross himself, addressing the camera! "We encountered a potential problem today with the research of the weapon. Apocryphacius obtained a sample of the Dinobots' armor, and we tested the weapon with it. It was ineffective. After performing some background research, I can theorize the cause--the Dinobots, unlike most Cybertronians, were not constructed on Earth, and thus, they do not contain the same Cybertronian metal alloys that the weapon has proven effective against so far. This could be an issue, especially if certain Decepticons were also built on Earth. We are trying to determine which Decepticons fall under that category, but as one might imagine, we lack access to the Decepticons' files, and the need for discretion means that we can't ask the Autobots either. It's a risk we'll have to take." Meanwhile, gathering up the weapons won't prove an issue. However... is someone trying to check in with the dead guards early or ask them a question? Unfortunately, despite the Decepticons' successes thus far, apparently someone tried to contact the dead guards--and failed to get a response! Alarm klaxons sound throughout the base! The minute that Marauder hears the alarm klaxons sound, he stops his internal countdown. Still transmitting wirelessly, he suggests to Laserbeak, [Time to clear out,] and begins removing hard drives, well, whole computers in most cases, from the walls, or wherever they happen to be located. He fires a few quick shots with his Electron Cannon at the pile of goodies too big for him to steal. There might not be anything in there of value on the hard drives, but seeing as this is the research and development laboratory, there's a decent chance that there are local copies. With or without Laserbeak's help, more than likely without, Marauder puts the hard drives with the other stuff he thought was useful, collecting them up into his arms, and transforms into his M1A3 Abrams mode. They are now pocketed within the tank, and he heads back the way he came. The bird quickly transforms back into vulture..er, condor mode. An alarm was bellowing out. Either the data was safeguarded in a way that he missed...yeah right, or someone finally got suspicious. Either way, it made his circuits sizzle. He quickly retrieves a strange tray of tin, depositing it inside Marauder's bulky frame, then the Seeker head. After that, he tucks his wings in, bobbing inside the tank as well. It was now up to his ride to get out of there! Possible exit strategies were added to Marauder's optics. Taking the elevator up and out, and to hell with the humans, blowing a hole in the thick wall with one of those new disintegrator shells, or even shooting downward in any spot close to the water turbines... The elevator seems to be rising upwards! Uhoh! Still, the Decepticons may be able to reach it if they're fast! And they may have to be, because they may have company... "This is General Cross," says the man of the same name over a base-wide PA. "The facility has been infiltrated! Lock down the base and prepare for combat! Search every nook and cranny, detain anyone or anything that is unfamiliar. If you see Decepticons, kill or disable them. And trust NOTHING." Combat: Marauder compares his Velocity to 70: Failure :( Too slow! The elevator rises up to the surface, trapping the Decepticons inside! Marauder hurries towards the elevator, but he is clearly not fast enough for that. He didn't expect to be so, but it was worth a try. Shunting his 'loot' into subspace, he transforms back into his robot mode, and incidentally, he exposes Laserbeak to potential danger. [They'll have the surface covered. Laserbeak, I have an idea.] He forms a wry smile as he does a quick comparison of the blueprints that Laserbeak fed him, and the geographical survey that was conducted during their earlier reconnaissance of base's exterior. He conducts a quick survey of the garage they're standing in. Seeing a mobile machine gun emplacement, he'll transmit[Follow me] and pick it up and begins carrying it back down the hallway towards the Research and Development room, passing it. Marauder hurries towards the elevator, but he was never going to be fast enough to make it. Still, there is a method to his apparent madness. Transforming back into his robot mode, he shunts the 'loot' into subspace, and he performs a scan of the garage. He transmits, [They'llhave the surface covered, but I have an idea.] As he grabs what looks like some kind of a mobile machine gun, hefting it aloft, he compares the map that Laserbeak provided him with the geographical survey that they conducted during their preparatory reconnaissance. [Follow me], he instructs, and heads back the way they came, towards the Research and Development room, and then passes it. Laserbeak hops out of Marauder appropriately. He always hated having to bail during transformation...though it was better than subspace attempting to take him! He fires off several quick shots to the elevator struts. While he may not be a mechanic, the vulture can pinpoint stress locations easily enough. Any EDC coming down..at least with armor, may find themselves either stuck or perhaps even in freefall. He follows Marauder back to the R&D room, quietly lamenting how loud things have gotten. Assuming he understands Marauder's plan, he starts scouting the walls for weak spots, feeding precious targeting intel to the bigger Con. Uhoh! Once they backtrack to the R&D room there's already about four men rushing up to them, armed with grenade launchers! They see the Decepticons immediately, leveling the grenade launchers at Marauder and firing away. "Decepticons in the base! I repeat, Decepticons in the base!" one of them yells into his radio. Don't underestimate these grenade launchers, either--while they aren't armed with disintegrator tech, their incendiary rounds will burn a nasty, painful hole on contact. Marauder sets the mobile machine gun platform down as they approach the Research and Development room. Still communicating inaudibly, [Laserbeak, I need you to man this system. Our combined firepower should be enough to widen the opening. Of course, these are hardly regular machine guns. These ones were designed to be used against Decepticons. He takes the brunt of the grenades, groaning audibly, and in deference to Laserbeak's well-known cowardice, he acts as a human shield. Transforming back into his tank mode, he targets the centre human and fires a round of his railgun. He doesn't even offer them the right of retreat. Lowering to the ground, Marauder transforms into a M1A3 Abrams. Laserbeak gives Marauder a....questioning look. In fact, in Marauder's optics, he can actually see a holographic question mark over the bird's head as he perches on the gun emplacement...which...probably uses hands being that its human tech... He leans forward, letting out a rapid burst of fire towards the humies, his dual cannons pumping out energy rounds to the entire area, seeking to waste the squad. Only then does he try to move his claws just so to squeeze the trigger of the gun emplacement. The center human is pretty much annihilated by the railgun, reduced to a red spray. The others are staggered by the sonic boom of the railgun shot, and prove easy prey for Laserbeak. And yet, more footsteps sound down from down the hall, and you can can hear, "WE NEED BACKUP RIGHT NOW! What the hell do you mean the elevator's stuck? Unstick it!" Having selected the most powerful condor-friendly equipment he could find, Marauder is displeased when Laserbeak ignores it. But at he was feeling brave enough to take on some human soldiers, and that's something. As the humans are cut down, he rotates his cannon, aiming for the not so secret passage in the wall that Pounce had relayed to them. Because he must widen the hole and not collapse it, he takes his time. If more humans arrive, he will ignore them, for as long as he can. That hole must be widened, or he will not leave here. To himself, he intones, "I am Marauder, Cybertronian by birth, Decepticon by choice, and I will endure." Those grenades are rather like a bee sting, one is a nuisance, but a hundred could kill you. As for the weapons platform, it fires heavy rounds in a pretty wide cone in the general direction of the weakpoint, concrete splintering away from each impact and filling the air with a fine powder. More humans do indeed show up in the meantime, and while their weapons are mostly annoying, the guy coming up behind them, well... "Decepticons!" Franklin Cross's voice calls out. "Surrender, and I'll make it quick! Don't surrender, and, well, let's just you're going to wish your boss had worked WITH the Autobots in that UN meeting!" It was a strange sight. The condor just sat there on the earth weapon, barely even helping. The gun sputtered and hissed as it spewed ramjet shells at the wall, and the ceiling....and the wall again. It was as if he was just perching there, and the damage was...accidental. Seriously, it's obvious that Earth troops weren't any big deal...and then the tank showed up. Suddenly the indifferent condor started firing his cannons at the wall as well. Of course the moment the tank gets too close (visible) he bails on his teammate, slipping into one of the waste disposal units and takes off! "A quick death, or a slow one, they are the same thing, General," as he continues to fire upon the crack. Laserbeak's been helpful too, though with the sight of the tank, he flees. "I never doubted it for a moment," his cowardice Marauder completes in thought. Another shell hits the wall, and it erupts in a thunderous roar. Smoke fills the room, providing something of a cover. Were he another Decepticon, it might have taken his sensors a moment to adjust, but his are enhanced. Transforming back into his robot mode, he steps into the cloud, "Another time, General." And he slips through the crack. Except it's still a bit tight, scraping at his oversized chest. A moment later, he is through, the soot and debris washed by the water of Muskrat Falls.=========================== Decepticon ===========================
Message: 2/73 Posted Author Infiltration: Muskrat Falls Wed Sep 26 Marauder The Decepticon spinny is quickly replaced by the visage of Marauder. "Earlier this morning," the time stamp suggests that it was posted around 3 AM, Eastern Standard Time, "Laserbeak and I infiltrated an Earth Defence Command bunker. Geographic Coordinates are to follow." It seems that the bunker was near a town called Muskrat Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador. "We were able to learn a great deal about General Franklin Cross, and what the Earth Defence Command has planned for us. It will take time to analyse all of our findings, but I present to you a most disturbing piece of information. Here is the General's own take on it." Marauder begins to play an audio/video recording of General Franklin Cross, "We encountered a potential problem today with the research of the weapon. Apocryphacius obtained a sample of the Dinobots' armour, and we tested the weapon with it. It was ineffective. After performing some background research, I can theorise the cause -- the Dinobots, unlike most Cybertronians, were not constructed on Earth, and thus, they do not contain the same Cybertronian metal alloys that the weapon has proven effective against so far. This could be an issue, especially if certain Decepticons were also built on Earth. We are trying to determine which Decepticons fall under that category, but as one might imagine, we lack access to the Decepticons' files, and the need for discretion means that we can't ask the Autobots either. It's a risk we'll have to take." Marauder continues, "Unfortunately, our presence was detected." The pained, yet innocent, look on his face would suggest that it was not his fault, "The base compromised, it is likely that General Cross will sanitise it. Because of the research being conducted there, and his presence, I recommend that we launch a full scale assault as soon as possible. Raze it to the ground, and salt the Earth." =============================================================== ************************************************************************** ****MESSAGE FOR DECEPTICON HIGH COMMAND AND INTELLIGENCE ONLY***** **************IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND ARE NOT APPROVED******************** ***********TREASON**************** TIME: 3:23 AM EARTH STANDARD TIME. LOCATION: MUSKRAT FALLS. HIGHLY SENSITIVE DATA FOLLOWS. UNIT MARAUDER AND SELF SUCCESSFULLY INVESTIGATED MUSKRAT FALLS: EDC SUPERWEAPON BASE. FOUND INFORMATION AS FOLLOWS: TROOP DEPLOYMENT ESTIMATIONS ARMORY CAPACITY EDC TECHNICAL WEAPONRY DATA, INCLUDING DISINTEGRATION ROUNDS AND PROTOTYPE DESIGNS. OBJECT 'CITYBUSTER' BOMB SCHEMATICS FOUND. CYBERTRONIAN DISINTEGRATION TECH CONFIRMED. WARNING: DOES NOT WORK ON EARTH METALS. QUERY: ENERGON FORMED METALS APPEAR VULNERABLE. SAMPLES AND SCHEMATICS TO BE SENT TO SHOCKWAVE. FOOTAGE OF EDC USING DECEPTICON PARTS TO ENGINEER WEAPONS. FOOTAGE OF ARMORY STOCKPILE AUDIO LOGS OF FRANKLIN CROSS PLOTTING REMOVAL OF CYBERTRONIAN LIFE FORMS, INCLUDING AUTOBOTS. **************************************************************** ****************TRANSCRIPTS OF DATA COMMENCING**************** ****************************************************************
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