<Decepticon> Computer
says, "Heavy energy readings are being picked up from
<Decepticon> Vortex
says, "Right. I'm gonna go check that out.
Anyone want
to come with?"
<Decepticon> Cyclonus says, "An opportunity we cannot afford to
miss. Any
available Decepticons, rendezvous at
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "Let us spring the trap then, Cyclonus."
An important source of borax in the late 19th century, the fantastic
moonscape of
the lowest point in the
ground temperatures up to 165. However, the desert has been conquered by
tourism. Interspersed between the magnificent sand dunes, bleak mountains,
and native plant and wildlife are campgrounds with shade trees and
drinking
water, motels, and even a resort complex. Tourists enjoy the sights from
the
comfort of air-conditioned four-wheel vans. With the increase in the
availability of once-scarce water, there was a population explosion in local
wildlife such as bighorn sheep, burros, rats, and squirrels, drawing in
bobcats, foxes, and even mountain lions.
Room Contents:
Starfighter (Sixshot)
Junki-Hovercar
Sunstreaker
Seahawk helicopter (Vortex)
SpaceJet
Red Alert
Obvious exits:
Fly <Up> leads to Skies above
Out <O> leads to
Red Alert watches Cyclonus
circling and crouches down low. He takes aim on
the jet with his commando rifle, not intending to shoot but just to
watch.
He has to agree with the assessment the
Decepticon Jet has made. This looks
like a trap. Better to let the Cons spring it and follow them then
spring it
yourself. He clicks into tight broadband "They think it's a trap. So do
I.
Better to let them spring it first, don't
you think?" <repose for shox>
The sleek deep violet spacejet
twists in upon itself, limbs appearing a mere
moment before the crested visage of Cyclonus
appears.
Starfighter (Sixshot) seems to angle in, energy
readings? He got attracted
by the name. His weapons power up, and he
charges downward. His voice
thunders over all local radio lines, "This is Sixshot.
This, for a time,
shall be my field of battle. You do not concern me. Depart, I do not wish
my
opponents to be overly concerned with your safety that they do not fight to
their fullest..."
Junki-Hovercar sighs and blows up a dust cloud to cover Sunny's
err, sunny
finish, before converting.
The hovercar
wings fold, the stabilisers and thrusters retract into the
body. The nose of the vehicle extends and separates into a pair of legs.
Arms emerge, the spoiler/tail folds back
and a pretty head rises from within
the body. All parts lock into position - where's your camera, Ma? Dee-Kal's
here!
The Decepticon SpaceJet
slows down considerably and then transforms into the
Second in Command, his
rifle already in hand. His optics squint down at
the
area, not liking this. <Indeed, Sixshot...>
he trails off as the six-changer
makes their presence known in no uncertain terms. So
much for subtlety.
"Very well, let's descend and see what
we make of this." Soaring downward
towards the eastern side of the complex, Cyclonus
sincerely hopes this is
merely some ill-conceived human operation.
Several humans run screaming out of this
apparent "Factory." They leave in
due haste in jeeps and what not. Strange, there was no official human
distress call.
Red Alert hmms and keeps watching the scene quietly. He speaks into his
wrist communicator "Several humans just ran out, Sunstreaker.
They're
descending and looks like they may enter. We'll go in after them, catch them
by surprise. Be wary, I still think it's some weird trap."
The moment the computer spontaneously
became aware of a new energon reading
in the heart of the
likelihood that a 'heavy' deposit of energon would
go unnoticed for this
long seemed remote. Nevertheless, Cyclonus,
Vortex, and Sixshot seemed
willing to investigate. Shockwave, as the current Decepticon DCI Commander
felt the need to at least look over this investigation and extract any
soldiers that end up in over their heads. Were this Galvatron
down there,
Shockwave would be content to let him go in
alone. But Cyclonus,
unfortunately, is required for the Empire's continued success. Slower than
Cyclonus, Sixshot, and possibly Vortex if he's
shown up, Shockwave finally
arrives, hovering high over the factory and watching it from above. He'll
let the others go in, thank you.
Sunstreaker waves his hands irritably at the dust clouds, apparently not
realizing Dee-Kal's trying to do them both a favor. "Cut that out, you're
sandblasting my finish!" he hisses. But, nevertheless, he eventually finds
a
rock to hid behind that's conveniently near Red's. He radios back to
Red,
"Ok, but I just don't want those fraggin' cons to get this stuff first."
Starfighter (Sixshot) moves in the direction of the
factory, attracted as it
were...by the suspiciousness of the whole situation. His weapons
cycle...,
"...the most well thought out
trap...is often undone by the simplest of
tools..." His weapons open up on the factory.
Scattershot descends from the skies above.
Scattershot has arrived.
The Factory is hit several times but
remains standing as if constructed of
some high tech metal...or elaboratley constructed
shields.
Grimlock descends from the skies above.
Grimlock has arrived.
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "Thats
what I thought..."
Sunstreaker grins at Dee-Kal, telling her with his
usual smug confidence,
"Don't worry, just stay behind me and
those cons won't even scratch you." He
peers over his cover and notes how odd it is that Sixshot's
rather potent
looking shots appear to do nothing. Can humans really build something that
tough?
<Decepticon> Shockwave
says, "Shockwave reporting. I am in the area,
providing aerial backup."
Red Alert hmms
and watches that, looking over at Sunstreakers rock
and
giving a semi-shrug. He whispers, "What the hell?" into his
radio, "I knew
Briar's people were good. But this good? I don't think so. Definitely a
trap. We may have to spring it if they don't go in." he sighs as Grimlock
speaks. There's no point in subtlety now. Grimlock's
about as sublte as a
sore dic....thumb.
<Decepticon> Rumble
squeaks, "Aerial backup, huh?"
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "My weapons are ineffective against the
target.
Shockwave, care to
try?"
Technobot Spaceship (Scattershot) stays in silent running mode, which means
he is nowhere near anybody yet but he can get there as soon as possible
if
he wants to.
<Decepticon> Rumble
seems to be shouting within a small room, causing much
echo. "YO LAY-SAHBEAK! I GOT FIDDY ON SHOX
WIPIN' THE FLOOR WIT' THE
AUTOBOTS!"
<Decepticon>
Rumble says, "'EY! DON'T YOU SQUAWK AT ME!
YOU KNOW I DON'T
LIKE THAT LANGUAGE UP IN HERE!"
<Decepticon> Shockwave
does a half decent job of ignoring Rumble. It takes
real mental strength, folks. "I suggest using brain over brawn in
this case,
Sixshot."
Grimlock is actually in robot mode, flying over the country side with arms
outstretched before him. However, he flies down and lands, fairly quietly, a
bit back away from the rest of the gathered throng, and transforms into
Dino
mode to make his approach.
Grimlock lunges forward, snapping into his terrifying tyrranosaurus
mode!
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "The brawn represents gathering
intelligence,
Shockwave. I'd rather we provoke it, then the alternative."
<Decepticon> Shockwave
says, "Cyclonus, your decision?"
<Decepticon> Cyclonus says, "Proceed... I will monitor from
above"
Cyclonus transmits a message and takes off into the sky, hovering so far
above as to not be visible.
<Decepticon> Rumble
says, "'ey, don't be eatin'
my chips, Ravage. 'Ey, and
whuddidI tell you 'bout usin' the speaky-speak words with them kitty lips
on? I told you it's against Primus."
<Decepticon> Shockwave
says, "Hold for now, Sixshot. I require
additional
scans before we proceed."
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "Tenativeness
is the path to defeat, Shockwave."
Red Alert (RA) pages: oh yeah, if you
notice I'm not a complete paranoid
freak, I had commando tactics added as a skill, so Red isn't all pyscho :)
<Decepticon> Shockwave
says, "Disobeying your superiors is the path to a
quick death."
Sunstreaker radios to the others gathered nearby, "Ok, Red, I don't think
they're gonna go for it. Think they spotted
us?"
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "Superiors in what way, Shockwave?"
<Decepticon> Shockwave
says, "If you truly wish to try my patience, Sixshot,
this is not the time for it. Follow your orders."
<Decepticon> Sixshot says, "Very well. I will hold...for now."
Red Alert looks from Shockwave, to the
entrance, back to Shockwave. If he
can blast out of here quickly...he can get to that entrance before they
get
a good shot. He focuses, planning is route
and then radios quietly into his
wrist, "Grimlock, Sunstreaker,
Dee-Kal...GO! Scattershot, follow us in. Be
ready. They'll be following us." He suddenly leaps into the air,
transforming and burning towards the entrance at full throttle...around 270
MPH using his boosters.
Red Alert shifts into his car mode.
Cyber T-Rex has just arrived at the
gathering place of the various and
sundry Autobots, and begins to look extremely
impatient. And then, Red Alert
takes the leash off. Fairly impressive that he could get the leash /on/,
in
the first place. And so, he begins charging...like only a mechanical
T-Rex
can. THOOM THOOM THOOM
THOOM THOOM! Any cups of
water in the surrounding
area are definately shaking, going crazy as Grimmy charges towards the
compound.
Sunstreaker jumps over his rock, also transforming and blazing a dusty path
towards the complex, screaming out, "Let's rock!"
Technobot Spaceship (Scattershot) fires his booster rockets and starts
heading in at incredible speed, the loud thundering sound of his engines
begins to sear the sky as he comes flying in. He opens up the speaker
system
Blaster installed on him last year and
starts blasting "All Guns Blazing" by
Judas Priest. He obviously doesn't care much about what's going on other
than the fact he is out to spring a trap and run a blockade.
From this altitude, Shockwave has an
excellent view of the situation. The
DCI Commander is currently scanning the
factory, acquiring data and trying
to determine the source of this energon
reading. It simply dawns to him that
something like this seems like classic bait for the factory to explode the
moment the enemy enters. Heck, that might even -be- an energon
bomb they
were registering.
The would-be Decepticon ruler also has a good view of Red Alert,
Dee-Kal,
Scattershot, Grimlock, and Sunstreaker. He patiently waits for them
to rush for the complex. In a hurry, aren't they.
"Shockwave to Sixshot," he
transmits. His optic pulses with each word that he emits,
"Stand by. With
Cyclonus no longer with us we have lost the tactical advantage."
Shockwave,
master of the understatement.
Sunstreaker's engine howls as he barrels towards the facility. He's not as
fast as Red Alert, however, and so he lags behind him somewhat. Heading
straight for a sloped boulder in his path, he uses it as a ramp to launch
himself into the air, aimed at the security gates. Apparently he isn't very
subtle, either.
Junki-Hovercar fires her turbofans to stir up dust around her. "#Heart
pounding fever pitch blood pumping fury two fisted dynamo eager to strike...
All Guns, All Guns Blazing!!# and follows Sunstreaker.
Security Sports Car drives right past the
Decepticons blocking his way, he
rushes into the factory, transforming. Strange...it looks, just like a
factory. Odd. He turns around, his rifle raised up
as he keeps aiming
everywhere he looks. True commando tactics. He
points, "Grimlock. Be a king
and make sure the Decepticons have a hard time getting through that
entrance. Scattershot...help him. Sunstreaker, Dee-Kal...with me. We're
looking around." his e-senses are at max. "This is probbaly still a
trap...but on the surface it appears legit. Look at that
generator." he
points to the far wall. "Not like any human tech I've seen. It's
amazing..."
he slowly edges toward it, gun aimed.
Red Alert shifts into his robot mode.
Dee-Kal cuts the
music as she converts and drops to a half crouch, weapon
drawn and ready to act like an Autobot.
Technobot Spaceship (Scattershot) heads past the cons and lands next to
grimlock. He pulls his Acid Rifle out from subspace and says to Grimlock "Ok
Boss.....ready to kick
some aft?!"
Scattershot transforms into his
intimidating Robot mode
Cyber T-Rex turns to look towards Red
Alert, and nods with an eager grin on
his dino face. "Me
Grimlock say, no Cons by me!" He takes his
position up by
the gate, and a small gout of flame bursts from his jaws. And then
Scattershot is there, and Grimlock gives him a very dinosaur-ish
smirk.
"That stupid
question. When Me Grimlock
/not/ ready?"
Sunstreaker crashes through the gates, and blazing onwards into the factory.
His tires screech as he stops near Red
Alert, transforming into robot, rifle
in hand. His optics sweep the inside of the factory, looking for
targets
and, more importantly, cover. He glances at the generator, but since he
isn't exactly technically inclined, he says, "I don't see anything
odd about
it."
Dee-Kal follows
the duo, looking around, curiously. She looks at the
generator.
Dee-Kal finds a
few bits lying around and decides to adopt them. Waste not
want not and all that...
Shockwave watches as his own forces dwindle
down to nobody but himself, and
the Autobots race into the facility. Cyclonus and Sixshot have bugged
out,
perhaps deciding there is nothing here worth investigating. There are many
possibilities here, of course. There was an energon
spike, and the Autobots
are just as unaware of it as the Decepticons are. The US Army, perhaps?
Earth Defence Command? A private company?
Another possibility is that there was an energon
spike, and the
Autobots know -exactly- what it is. They could be here to contain it,
destroy it, fix whatever went 'wrong', or even something else. DCI has
nothing on who /owns/ this place.
Even as the other Decepticons bail, Shockwave lowers down towards
the ground. He's planning to follow the Autobots,
but he's doing it in a
very slow, deliberate manner. Naturally, he doesn't want to catch up
with
them.
Scattershot loads his rifle in preparation
for battle, he looks around
awaiting a target eagerly!
Dee-Kal listens
to the sounds of machinery and the hum of the generator.
Here's a bit more to collect and save...
and what about that piece over
there? Shame to waste that... she produces a trusty screwdriver and
begins
to undo a few bits from their housing...
Cyber T-Rex is also surveying the
surrounding area with an eager gleam in
his bloodthirsty optics, but he seems actually a bit more controlled
than
Scattershot. He glances over at Deek, and grunts.
"Me Grimlock want know
what you doing, Junkion. And STOP PLAY BAD
MUSIC!" Yep, Grimlock's in a
fighting mood.
Red Alert looks to the generator and then
to Sunstreaker, "Are you nuts?
It's producing at about 3X the rate of a
normal earth generator." Suddenly,
as soon as Shockwave gets within it, the warehouse door slams shut.
Everything fades away and there are three
rooms. The Autobots in one,
Shockwave in the other. A voice comes over the speakers, "Welcome
Cybertronians. Welcome to my
puzzle. IF you're as smart as they say...you
may live to see the day. But if not, I'll get my revenge for the
suffering
you've placed on my human lot."
Sunstreaker stalks about to a virbating, rumbling
piece of machinery,
incredibly complex in its workings. He has no idea what the thing could
possibly do, but decides it'll make good cover for now. Putting his back to
it, he peeks around one side of it as he watches for danger.
"Hey, how
should I know what these things do--" His whining is abruptly cut off
as his
environment radically changes, his efforts to keep up a semblance of squad
tactics thrown to the wind. "Ah, shoot..." he grumbles.
Scattershot looks around and says "Uhhhhh what's going on?!"
Dee-Kal hips a hand. "Excuse me! Excuse me? Cybertronian? See my face?
Am I
miffed? I think so! Miffed? Me? Face? Cybertronian? Are you disrespecting
me? I THINK so!"
Cyber T-Rex looks around wildly, and roars.
"Me Grimlock no like
this!" He
turns towards Red Alert, and takes one massive step towards him. "Me
Grimlock say, you way STINKS." He looks overly
ticked off, and snarls. "Me
Grimlock no CARE who he think is! Me Grimlock say,
we leave NOW!" And he
starts stalking towards the exterior wall with murder in his optics.
Scattershot looks over at Grimlock and says "Hey Grimlock.....wouldn't
do
that if I were you!" Scattershot lowers his rifle for a second
"Grimlock!
Don't be rash! get
back here!"
Dee-Kal continues
her Junkion tirade, angrily, and loudly, secretly hooping
it bring whoever it is to the fore, or within sensing range of Red
Alert.
Shockwave turns the moment the doors slam
shut, preparing to blast his way
out. An Autobot trap? If so,
a very bizarre one. No... they aren't this
smart, Shockwave concludes. This is confirmed as a human voice comes over
the speakers. The DCI Commander listens patiently and replies,
"This is
utter nonsense. Whatever you plan to do to us will only result in your
own
demise when our respective organizations find out about our
whereabouts."
Well, the Bots might care, anyway. The Cons
might be happy to let Shockwave
rot.
Shockwave steps forward, addressing the speakers, "More to the
point, you have 'captured' several of the most powerful Cybertronians in
existence. Your efforts to hold us will fail." Shockwave swings his left
arm
around back towards the door. He doesn't fire just yet, but will unless
something interrupts him. His real concern isn't the human. Oh no. His real
concern is being locked up with vicious Autobots.
Cyber T-Rex slows, and glares at the wall. "Me Grimlock no like this. We
need find way out of here." He looks around, and spots Shockwave.
"Me
Grimlock say ask Blinky Optic. Him Smart." He
glares at Red Alert, and then
he spins about to glare at Dee-Kal. "Me Grimlock want eat someone. You
annoying Me Grimlock. Do Math."
Shockwave is fine with being locked up with
a vicious Junkion, though.
Junkions he can handle.
The Human laughs,
"Right, Shockwave. What you said is
logical. However...the
world is not logical. No one knows who I am. Unfortunately...as much as I
admire your logical approach to things...you will die with the Autobots."
Suddenly spikes emerge from the wall
streaking at Shockwave to force him
into the Autobots room, "And I am afraid
your weapons are now
ineffective..." A Charge goes off, rendering all energy weapons
ineffective.
Scattershot looks to Grimlock
and says "Yeah, how do you know Shockwave
isn't the one who purposely trapped us?"
Red Alert cringes, "Oh slag. He's
going to force Shockwave in here with us."
he yells at the speakers, "What do you want?!" The speakers
respond, "To
test your know how." Red sighs and looks to the bots,
hoping...strangely...that Shockwave survives the spikes. They need his
logic
to get through this."
Sunstreaker shakes his head, yelling at whoever arranged this, "Yeah???
Suffering, huh? I've put my life on the
line for you humans more than I
count, and I'm getting tired of you stupid little apes spitting on me for
it! Frag off, dammit!!!
Frag off!!!" Yes, his contempt for the whole
human
race just bubbled to the surface right now.
Dee-Kal says,
"Can it, blondie! (unison
with radio message from RA.)"
Cyber T-Rex turns towards the spikes
approaching Shockwave, and moves
towards them. "Me Grimlock no like this at
all. But Me Grimlock not let
stupid human kill Blinky Optic." And so, he
opens his jaws wide and moves to
try and interfere with the spikes, hoping to protect the Decepticon
from the
impending spikey doom. "Me
Grimlock kill you later, Blinky
Optic. No get
wrong idea. Just need you now."
Shockwave mentally pulls the trigger on his
arm blaster as the charge goes
off. Alas, instead of a devastating shot that wipes out the door, the
wall,
and probably half the facility, there is... nothing. Shockwave raises
the
blaster slightly, peering at it as if the flaw in the weapon will suddenly
make itself apparent. Finally, he turns his head towards the squabbling
Autobots (and Junkion). "I am not involved in the creation of this 'trap',"
he emits to the Technobot. Before he can say
more, however, OMG, spikes!
Much like Megaman,
Transformers know better than to tangle with spikes, and
the Decepticon is forced into the same room as the Autobots
(and Junkion).
Shockwave stares at each of them.
Particularly at Grimlock, "Offer
accepted," he drones. Like he's going to say 'no' to a room full of Autobots
(and Junkion).
Dee-Kal
h'ms. Dee-Kal pulls an acid pack from under her chassis.
Sunstreaker just glowers, keeping silent for now. He decides that while he's
trapped in this mess he might as well try to keep Dee-Kal
safe as Red
instructed, and stomps over to her side. He asks her, trying to keep the
burning rage out of his voice, "That stuff you got a few moments
ago... you
still got it on you, or were they just holograms?"
Dee-Kal removes
and acid pellet and breaks it open on one of the spikes. At
SUnny's inquiry, she produces her store of pilfered bits and bobs. They're
real.
Dee-Kal studies
the result on the spike, if anything.
Red Alert sighs and watches as Grimlock stops the spikes long enough for
Shockwave to get through. Now one exit is blocked. The other closes quickly
and Red shakes his head. "All right Shockwave. It was a trap. Like
both of
us thought. Now how to get around the trap?" he asks. Suddenly,
the human
voice comes over the speakers, "Nice that you ask. You must solve
this
riddle." Spikes appear and the floor starts to very slowly open,
revealing
acid. Spikes from all walls and the ceiling. Acid below. Death at all sides.
Dee-Kal muses to
herself that at lest acid won't be a problem.
Scattershot looks over at Shockwave and
says "Well one eye.....I take back
what I said.....any suggestions?"
Dee-Kal says,
"Alka Seltza?"
The voice continues, "First think of a
person who lives in disguise, Who
deals in secrets and tells naught lies. Next, tell me what's
always the last
thing to mend, The middle of the midldle and
end of the end? And finally
give me the sound often heard, During the search for a hard-to-find
word.
Now string them together, and answer me
this, Which creature would you be
unwilling to kiss?" he chuckles, "You have 2 minutes...and one
guess.
Dee-Kal listens.
Dee-Kal tilts her
head.
Dee-Kal thinks . o O
(a frog..?)
Cyber T-Rex looks down, and shakes his
head. "Me Grimlock really no like
this human. And that EASY. Answer is
Spider!" He looks around self
importantly. "Me Grimlock not
stupid."
Dee-Kal
ahs, of course. Nice one, Grimlock.
SHe didn't know he could read...
Sunstreaker nearly falls into the acid vat as the floor opens up. However,
he shifts his balance back forward and springs away from the trap. He
backs
up towards a somewhat safer corner, and says to Grimlock,
"Nah, that puzzle
made no sense. And even if you got it right, the bastard will probably
slag
us anyway."
"Riddle?" Shockwave drones as he edges away from the opening in the floor.
He's not exactly familiar with idiot games
like this. As he listens to what
the voice has to say, Shockwave emits quietly back to Scattershot,
"Play the
game for now. We look and take the first opening we can get to escape
and
kill this aggressor." Or 'capture', depending on how many Autobots here
still remember Optimus Prime and his blatherings. The Decepticon listens to
the speaker. Someone who lives in disguise? Spy, of course. Middle of
middle? The letter 'd'. Before Shockwave can give
an answer, Grimlock of all
people gets it in one. Not for the first time, Shockwave idly wonders if
Grimlock pretends to be stupider than he really is. Shockwave nods at
Sunstreaker's words, apparently agreeing with his theory.
Scattershot looks over at Grimlock answering the question but does not seem
suprised by it. He then turns to Shockwave and says "I never knew Optimus
so....I am all for destroying."
Cyber T-Rex turns to glare at Sunstreaker, even as the unsteady and shifting
floor begins to open a bit more widely. And so, what does a smart dino do
when the floor won't hold him up in dino mode
anymore? He transforms into
his robot mode, and starts up his antigrav.
"Me Grimlock not stupid...and Me
Grimlock find way out if stupid human not live up to part of bargain."
Grimlock folds, twists, and transforms into his massive and frightening
robot mode.
Sunstreaker hrmphs, "Oh, I bet. You can
FLY." He then looks up at the
ceiling and at the descending spikes, and quickly adds, "Oh. Never mind."
Dee-Kal looks
around. SHe looks at Grimlock.
SHe goes to Sunny and gives him
a big Junkette hug.
Red Alert backs away and looks to
Shockwave, "Any ideas you may have would
be really helpful about now. We may die in the acid...but you can't
fly your
way out of those spikes!" The spikes pause when Grimlock answers. He looks
over to Grimlock, quirking an optic brow.
Honestly surprised. He always knew
Grimlock wasn't an idiot...but never thought riddles were his forte,
"Well
that's that..." But then the voice comes back, "Very good. That
was the easy
part." he chuckles, "Now for the
real challenge." the voice pauses as the
floor and spikes start back, "Now, answer me this. A father's child,
a
mother's child, yet no one's son. Who am I?"
Dee-Kal hugs Sunny
a bit snuggly..."DAUGHTER!" Dee-Kal shouts!!
The voice continues "And...What is so
fragile that when you say it's name
you break it?" These are both...Ah, one answered. Good. But the
second you
might want to deliberate on. For there are three more."
Shockwave answers this one quickly, as he's
not prone to the assumptions
that a human might make with a question like this. "Female."
Red Alert nods at Dee-Kal
and Shockwave, "Good job. Let's just deliberate
next time. If we get one wrong...we're all dead. Let's agree. Play the
game
until we get our hands on this asshole..."
Sunstreaker lets out an audible GAH as the Junkion
hugs him, and since she's
undoubtedly scraping his paint up he recoils a bit, treating her almost as
if she is radioactive. He gives her a little pat on the back and says,
"Uh... I love you too?"
Grimlock seems a bit stumped by this one. After all, what Dinobot King
worries about such things? And then Dee-Kal pipes
up with an answer, and
Grimlock looks at her, nonplussed, as he hovers over the opening floor. And
then the next one is asked, and if he could he'd grin. "Me Grimlock say
SILENCE!"
Dee-Kal
fires up her own antigravs, but SUnny
is a mite too heavy.
The voice speaks "What is so fragile
that when you say it's name you break
it?"
Scattershot just stands there watching everyone, riddles are not his forte,
blowing things up IS.
Dee-Kal looks
skywards.
Dee-Kal says,
"Dahh-hhh..."
Grimlock looks up, and snarls. "Me Grimlock just answer you! Now, open door
or Me Grimlock get ANGRY." And with
that, he starts hovering closer to the
exterior wall. "Me Grimlock WAITING."
Dee-Kal says,
"So much for the human touch..."
Shockwave scowls inwardly. What kind of
person kidnaps Transformers and
forces them to answer riddles? Yet also has the ability to tamper with
energy weapons. For now, Shockwave is examining the boundaries of the
room,
looking for any weaknesses. The Autobots (and Junkion) seem to be doing
relatively well without his help. Thus, he's focusing on the important thing
here.
Dee-Kal fans her
short wings and FOCUSES on her antigrav.
The little Junkion
hovers - just - in the air, with heavy a blond autobot
passenger...
Red Alert looks over to Shockwave,
shrugging, "Who said Dinobots can't
think?" he shakes his head, "Ok Human. What's next?" THe voice responds, "I
have been easy thus far. Now...the last two for this
room. And
Grimlock...you scare me about as much as a two year old girl does." he
speaks more "This one is not hard. But it is not easy either. Until I
am
measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, When
I have flown."
Dee-Kal winces as
s he concentrates, "..chee
a diet would go down a treat
right now - TIME!"
Sunstreaker wiggles his feet in a bit of a panic as he rises slowly off the
ground. He gapes at Dee-Kal, "Hey, woah, what are you doing? It's not gonna
do us any good to fly!" And besides, he prefers to be under his
power at all
times. He hears the next riddle, but just growls in frustration. None of
it
makes any sense to him.
Red Alert looks over at Shockwave, then to Grimlock. "Any ideas? I have
one....but I don't want to say it without you guys agreeing."
Scattershot chuckles slightly at the 2 year
old girl comment.
Dee-Kal already
answered it. ^-^
Grimlock looks up with a pensive expression on his non-face. "Me Grimlock
wonder...Me Grimlock think answer is TIME."
He pauses, and glares around the
room. "Me Grimlock also want you say that
to Me Grimlock's face."
Dee-Kal says,
"TIme time time time time!"
Shockwave likely wouldn't have gotten this
one, since all the clues involve
human sayings. Missing time, time flying by.
Leave it to the Junkion to get
that one right. Shockwave looks back to Red Alert and replies, "I
personally
have never said this." He waits for the next riddle, but again is
mostly
trying to figure out how to get out of here that doesn't involve jumping
through the hopes this fleshling has created.
Red Alert nods at Dee-Kal
and Grimlock. "That's what I thought..."
the voice
speaks "Correct. However the last one is not easy...." it pauses
as the
things keep opening and extending. "And I think we'll wait on it.
Wait till
you only have 30 seconds left to live."
The voice continues "At noon and
midnight the hour and minute hands are
exactly coincident with each other. How many other times between noon and
midnight do the hour and minute hands cross?"
Red Alert looks to his counterparts,
"Eleven? Wait...that can't be right,
can it Shockwave?"
Sunstreaker glowers as he just stares down at the ground as
about. He hates this feeling, being trapped in here, presented with
questions about a society and culture he knows little about. While the other
Autobots gathered to watch Terran shows and absorb
their trivia, he'd wander
off and do his own thing. Even Grimlock is
getting some of the answers
right, much to his chagrin. Is he... useless, here? How could he, the
Autobots' best warrior, possibly be useless?
Dee-Kal hovers more strongly now, her systems having adapted
somewhat to her
awkwardly shaped passenger. "Ak
the audience? Phone A Friend? Fifty-Fifty?
Nope? OK then it's... twice twelve - my
guess is 24 times..."
Dee-Kal says,
"Unless you take off the actual noon and midnight..."
Red Alert says, "You'd have
to.""
Grimlock glowers up at the ceiling some more, and pulls out his rifle.
"Me
Grimlock wonder if stupid human messed with explosives too. Me Grimlock
could always try...stupid riddles." He looks at Red Alert, and then
at
Shockwave. "Me Grimlock no
good with math. Or stupid human timepieces. Me
Grimlock ready go home." And he starts jiggering with that big rifle of
his.
Dee-Kal says,
"SUnny, did you over smurf the energon rations again..? I
swear you are heavier than you were last check up in the repair bay... THen
22 it is."
Dee-Kal says,
"On the twelve and on the six..."
Red Alert shrugs and looks around,
"Well I am counting 11...but I think I am
wrong here. I think it's less. We haven't given an answer yet!"
Shockwave stops in his inspection of the
room since there's apparently a
riddle that the Autobots (and Junkion) are having trouble with. "At noon and
midnight the hour and minute hands are exactly coincident with each other.
How many other times between noon and
midnight do the hour and minute hands
cross." Shockwave repeats the question for the benefit of both
himself and
others. The Decepticon draws up a mental image of an Earth analog clock.
He
performs some basic calculations. "No, not eleven," he replies to
Red Alert.
Shockwave rather smugly turns to Grimlock and Deek, but alas one
has no
answer and the other has the wrong one.
"Ten," he emits as his optic flashes brightly.
The voice groans. The floors stop and the
spikes go away. Access is given to
the third room.
Sunstreaker frowns at Deek. "I've always weighed
the same! Your antigrav
just wasn't meant for two. And this puzzle, dammit,
I can't read those
archaic wind-up clocks."
Dee-Kal slowly
lands again. Sunny Jim is safe and sound.
Grimlock lowers himself to the floor, and transforms back into his dino mode
as he stalks into the third room. "Me Grimlock
tired of you, stupid human.
Me Grimlock also
say humans hurt humans more than Me Grimlock. Or even
Crazy
Brain. Me Grimlock sick
you whining."
Sunstreaker sighs in relief as his feet finally touch the ground. "Well...
thanks," he says to Dee-Kal. "Though
it probably wouldn't have mattered to
keep me in the air, it's a nice gesture." He turns his attention to
the
third room, tilts his head to the side to crack his neck joint, and
follows
Grimlock in.
Dee-Kal hips a hand at Red. "You coming or are yo going to smurf there all
day?" she inquires.
Sunstreaker says to Shockwave in passing, "Oh, sorry if we seem a bit
distracted, we're just having a fun family chat. Heh."
Victory Leo descends from the skies above.
Victory Leo has arrived.
Grimlock gives Sunstreaker and Dee-Kal a disgusted expression. "Me Grimlock
say you need stop that." He chuckles. "Him
not that cute, anyways."
Red Alert starts moving towards the new
exit. "Let's go!" He rushes into the
new room....then the voice speaks again. "Welcome to my final
room." The
doors all shut and the same things start happening again. "This
time, you
will have to beat my friends." Suddenly about 30 robots rush from
the
ceiling, ready to kick some ass, "Have fun. They are better than Nightbird
Ninjas." THe robots attack.
Scattershot sees the robots jump out and he
qhips out his Technobot
Bat'Leth.
Dee-Kal grumbles.
Dee-Kal says,
"This is worse that C-class meteors..."
Shockwave heads to the next room. "By all means, Grimlock. Try
to rip your
way out of here," he emits quietly. Shockwave isn't being
sarcastic. Either
Grimlock succeeds and they're free, or he fails and something bad happens to
him. Win-win! Hopefully they all wouldn't get punished for the Dinobot's
actions, though. He turns his head towards Sunstreaker,
obviously not
understanding. "This is no time for distraction. Continue it -later-."
"This must be some poor attempt at humour..." There's no way
this
human believes that several of the most powerful Transformers in history
are
going to be challenged by Nightbird ripoffs... After initially testing to
see if his arm blaster functionality has returned, Shockwave takes a
step
back, ready to smash any of them in the face should they approach. He
more
or less lets the Autobots take the brunt of
the assault, though, since he'd
prefer an Autobot to get cut than him.
Sunstreaker frowns at Grimlock. "Hey, I'm just
trying to show a little
gratitude. Lighten up," he says hypocritically. His head snaps up
watching
the robots descend, and he grins. "Now we're talking! And for the
record,
Nightbird was a chump!" He raises his rifle, and pulls the trigger on
it...
but wait, is his weapon still shut down?
Grimlock turns towards the onrushing robots, and his dino-jaws
spread in a
wide, wicked grin. And then he lifts one massive foot high, and brings
it
slamming down on the floor with all his might, sending tremors through the
floor in all directions. "Me Grimlock no
care 'bout ninjas...Me /Grimlock/
have Real Ultimate Power!" And so the mini-earthquake spreads
through the
room, doubtlessly throwing various and sundry people off balance.
Dee-Kal says,
"Kahuna sends me out to combat C-class meteors
and to save
Junk. Do yo know what a C-class meteor looks
like by the time it beaks the
atmosphere? A pebble. I swear they just want me out
the way for a while..."
Scattershot gets into a
martial arts like fighting stance, he raises his
blade and begins to start fighting the Ninja Robots one by one.
Dee-Kal starts
fiddling.
Red Alert pulls out a blade from nowhere. A physical blade. He falls into a
crouch and just starts spinning, slashing left and right. This human
obviously overestimated the Cybertronians as his
robots fall left and right
to Shockwaves smashes, Grimlocks bites, Red
Alert's sweeps, Sunstreakers
"hows
your fathers" and Dee-Kal sitting there and being
cute.
Victory Lion lands somewhere in the desert
and pokes around for a bit before
losing interest and settling down in the dust, idly flicking the end of
his
tail.
Dee-Kal takes out
another weapon that she enjoys carrying. A paint gun.
Red Alert falls over at the end of his
strike, shaken by Grimlocks foot.
Scattershot begins slashing all of the
robots that come his way, obviously
Scattershot feels better when in combat as
he says "You pathetic little
wannabe bots! You think you idiots can defeat us! HA! This trap won;t work!
We have some of the most powerful bots here
and a pretty powerful
Decepticon! Your plan WILL fail!"
suddenly Scattershot is almost thrown off
balance....."What the....."
Sunstreaker grumbles as the rifles does nothing. He
turns to Dee-Kal and
asks in exasparation, "What? I don't
understand what you mean, those aren't
meteors--" BAM! The boot of a Nightbird clone
cuts him off as it kicks him
to floor, and the ninja lands only to be knocked over by Grimlock's quake,
promptly falling on top of Sunstreaker just as he
was half-way back to
getting on his feet.
Grimlock bellows his rage, and then charges towards the (hopefully)
disrupted ninjabots, his jaws gaping as he scoops
one of them up and bites
down. HARD. An arm and a leg fall free, sparks
from severed cabling and
power lines spitting as he chews up the other remains and swallows them.
"Me
Grimlock say FINALLY. Me Grimlock waiting for
chance mash metal!"
Dee-Kal recalls
that Nightbird was Japanese.
Dee-Kal says,
"Chotto matte, kudasai?
Stop, please? No..? OK..."
Hours from now Scourge will ask Shockwave
how he day was. Shockwave will
just say 'fine' and quickly change the subject. But for now, Shockwave
finds
the entire room shaken as Grimlock smashes
his foot on the ground. He's
slightly more stable than Red Alert, however, and manages to stay on his own
two feet. Remarkably, the one-eyed Decepticon has a very good idea of
what
Red is going through right now in regards
to keeping Grimlock and his
Dinobots in line. Like Red
Alert, he prefers working with team players. The
DCI Commander efficiently works his way
through the ninjas, still letting
the Autobots do most of the work and take
most of the hits.
Dee-Kal loads up
with paint and glue capsules (in no particular order) and
fires them at the Nightbirds.
Sunstreaker snarls angrily at the Nightbird on top of
him, grabbing it on
both sides of its head, then twisting it around and around until it
snaps
loose. He rips it off, shoving away the rest of the robot as he stands up
and tosses the decapitated head at another Nightbird,
smacking one in the
back and knocking it over. "Cheap Terran
metal..." he sneers.
The robots fight back tooth and nail. But
to no avail. They picked a bad
crowd. They picked some elites to screw with. Not good. They fall and the
third door opens. The voice calls over the speakers, reluctantly(as
the
owner of the voice wanted this to be more involved but has a work
commitment), "You have won. If you are looking for me, Cybertronians, I am
long gone. But you will see me again."
Victory Lion examines his claws. Sighs. Drums them on the ground.
Sighs
again. Gets up heavily and begins walking in concentric circles, head
sweeping back and forth as his ears swivel, trying to get a better lock on
the radio signal that led him this far. "Don't do anything for
them," he
growls under his breath. "Of all the ungrateful..." a
rattlesnake has the
gall to hiss at him. He steps on it.
Scattershot in fighting off the Nightbirds takes his rounded blade and chops
off the head from one of the Nightbirds
Red Alert looks to the others as he falls
over, about to be impaled, when
the bot stops. He gets up and sighs, "No
war here today, Autobots. Let
shockwave go. He earned that much." he eyes Shockwave, "But next
time I see
you...you're dead. Understand?"
Dee-Kal :successfully blocks vision and movement in a handful of
her own
assailants.
She lets Sunstreaker
shoot them after she glues them up.
..or take their
heads off, whichever works best.
Sunstreaker looks up from stomping away at a twitching robot and says,
"Hey,
hold on! We're gonna let him go?"
Grimlock snarls, and twists about, swiping his tale through the last couple
of robots and smashing them into numerous very small pieces. "Me Grimlock
disappointed." He glances at Red Alert, and puffs up a bit. "Me Grimlock not
answer to /you/, Red Alert. But you right. Me Grimlock say Blinky Optic get
go home now." He turns towards Shockwave, and waves one of his dino-hands
disdainfully. "Me Grimlock
kill you another time, Blinky Optic. But you good
to have on side in fight." He pauses. "Me Grimlock look forward to next
fight." He glares at Sunstreaker.
"You got problem with Me Grimlock
decision?"
Scattershot nods to Shockwave before he
leaves.
Scattershot nods out of respect more than
anything not that he wouldn't want
to pop an acid pellet into Shockwave's optic.
Despite Shockwave's attempts to let the Autobots take the brunt of the
attack, several of the ninjas managed to slash at him with their swords,
making minor cuts in his heavy dark purple armouring. But finally, through
the power of Nightbird sucking, the Autobots (and Junkion) and
Decepticon
are victorious. The moment of truth, where Shockwave discovers if he
needs
to fight his way out of here, could not have gone better.
The security director is a fool as far as Shockwave is concerned.
Were the roles reversed, Shockwave would
have had his mechs blast Red Alert
to pieces. He is unsure of whether or not to be surprised as Grimlock makes
the same decision, but isn't going to argue. With both Red and Grimlock
deciding to let him go, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.
"Satisfactory," he replies to the
Autobots.
Scattershot has disconnected.
Transmission from Grimlock:
Next time we meet. Me Grimlock not be nice,
Blinky Optic.
Grimlock transmits a message via radio to Shockwave.
You transmit a message to Grimlock: Naturally.
Grimlock receives a radio transmission from Shockwave.
Red Alert has disconnected.
Sunstreaker throws up his hands helplessly. Hell, he'd go after Shockwave
solo if the other bots wouldn't stop him--suicidal as that may be.
Dee-Kal says,
"Never thought I would see you hitting on so many femmes at
once, Sunny. What will Sideswipe say?"
Dee-Kal chuckles
and tips a wink. Then it's time to head out.
Sunstreaker says, "Heh, he'll just have to admit
he's only a cheap imitation
of *me*, that's what he'll say. (...though I kinda
miss him... man, where is
he...)"
Shockwave, not wanting to push his luck and
see if any Autobots (or Junkion)
want to change their mind, lifts off from the ground and begins soaring
west
to head home to
BS.
Dee-Kal has
disconnected.
Victory Lion is still muttering to himself
and padding grumpily through
communications expert; it takes him a while. Finally, the sound of voices -
actual voices, not radio chatter - reaches him faintly on the wind.
Shifting
into a confident lope, he makes a direct line for the source of the
noise.
"What kind of battle is this?" he
wonders sardonically to himself. No
gunfire, no pewpew lasers. And is that... Shockwave? Flying off on his own
unhindered? "What the hell," the cynical metal cat mutters in utter
disbelief. Without further hesitation or commentary, the rocket launchers on
his back whine to life, and with a sudden *fwoomp*
two white tracer trails
are winding through the air after the departing Decepticon.
Sunstreaker stomps out the factory door and waves to Vic. "Ah, Leo?"
he
shouts. "Hold on. Grimlock and Red Alert
both agreed to let him go. I guess
it's because he helped us in there, believe it or not. Well, he didn't
really have a choice but whatever." He's heard stories about this guy
and
hopes that he doesn't get flattened in a berserk rage for daring to
address
him or something. Realizing this, he looks behind himself to see if Grimlock
is going to follow him out and back him up.
Grimlock stalks out of the building, still a bit irritated looking. Well,
he's GRIMLOCK. What did you expect? A clown hat and ice cream? No, he's
Mr.
Grumpy. And so, he stalks out of the building, and looks around. "Me
Grimlock hate stupid humans. Me say want this place
blasted apart." And so
the Dinobot King gets out, and moves towards
Victory Leo. "Me Grimlock sick
spending time with stupid whiny Autobots. Me Grimlock want some time away."
And then Vic points guns at Shockwave.
"Me Grimlock say he go
now, Victory
Leo. Me Grimlock kill him later. It OK."
Victory Lion has of course, already fired
by the time Sunstreaker's hail
reaches his ears. He turns his head to stare blankly back: a clear,
unspoken, 'Yeah, and?' His optics shift briefly to Grimlock
as he says
essentially the same thing. With an indifferent shrug, Leo sits down and
turns his gaze back to the sky to watch his rockets twist through the
air.
"I shoot down Decepticons
sometimes," he comments dryly under his breath.
Shockwave was extremely surprised when the Autobots decided to let him go on
his merry way. Red Alert? Sure. He's bought
into that nonsense the Primes
like to go on about. Scattershot? There is an
outside chance. But Grimlock?
Still, the would-be Decepticon ruler wasn't
about to look a gift horse in
the mouth. Already the Commander is planning to investigate exactly who
owned this facility, what construction work has been done on it recently,
and who might have had such a bizarre grudge against Cybertronians.
These thought processes nearly distract Shockwave from the mental
proximity klaxons going off in his head. Did Grimlock
change his mind?
Whirling around in mid-air, Shockwave spots
a pair of white rockets blazing
through the sky, leaving a plume of white smoke behind them. Reacting with
deadly efficiency, Shockwave blasts one of them clean out of the air.
Before he can reorient himself on the other, however, the missile
overtakes him and explodes against his chest, creating a fireball in the
sky. Shockwave is rocked backwards, damaged from the blow. He stares
back,
mentally calculating from its trajectory where it must have come from. He
sees the origin clearly. "Victory Leo?"
Shockwave emits to himself with
surprise. Now there's a sight he did not expect to see. Has Victory Leo
returned to actively fighting in the war? Can Shockwave no longer send
Seekers he doesn't like on patrols near his
island? Thoughts for another
time, Shockwave tells himself, and he once again resumes his journey
back to
New
Grimlock chuckles.
"And Me Grimlock step on stupid Decepticons
sometimes.
But now Blinky
Optic get to leave." He chuckles, and shakes his
head. "Me
Grimlock not been to island in while. Me Grimlock think me fix that soon.
You want come back work,
or just party sometimes?"
Sunstreaker scratches behind his head, feeling anxious around Victory Leo.
He tries to put on a friendly smile,
though.
Victory Lion smirks, as only a satisfied
cat can, and returns his attention
to examining his front claws. "I wouldn't want anyone to think I
never help.
Work? Ask Rodimus about that. He still has me
listed as 'No Duty - Imprison
On Sight' or some
nonsense. Anytime you want my help Grimlock, all you have
to do is ask. You know that." He stands up and stretches, mostly
for effect,
yawning and showing off his teeth and such. "Does anyone need an evac, then?
Red made it sound like this human was the
third coming of Unicron or
something." He sniffs. "Doesn't seem like such a big deal to
me."
Grimlock shakes his head, and actually chuckles. "No. Stupid human try
use
simple riddles and stupid traps on us. And then stupid
human robot warriors.
Me Grimlock think human not understand power
of prey...very bad hunter. Me
Grimlock not think any real damage." He pauses. "And Me Grimlock straighten
Rodimus out, if you want. Me Grimlock
not happy with stupid Prime, anyways."
Sunstreaker shrugs. "Nah, it was just some maniac with a grudge. It was a
good thing we had a Junkion with us, or we
might have gotten some of the
riddles. Still... I gotta wonder how he managed
to set all this up. Must've
taken years and millions of US dollars. And all to
what? What was the
point?" He shakes his head.
Victory Lion's optics
glitter with something dangerous. "He's not
stupid."
Oh. Apparently only Leo is allowed to score
points off of Rodimus. The
moment passes though, segueing into a feral sort of grin. "You could
tell
him to straighten out Red, though."
============================ BB Post in
Progress =============================
Group:
Decepticon
Title:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** TEXT ONLY ***
New Crystal City Sensors detected an energon
surge in
discovered several Autobots and a Junkion <attachment: Grimlock,
Scattershot, Red Alert, Sunstreaker, Dee-Kal> on site. My scans indicated
there was considerable technology inside that outstrip anything Autobots or
the EDC possesses. I will be investigating further.
After I finished my scouting
mission, I was briefly attacked by
Victory Leo. Be aware that he may once again be taking an active role in the
war.
- Shockwave
OOC: There's no elaboration beyond this.
==============================================================================
================================== Autobot
===================================
Message: 3/36 Posted Author
Report. Jigsaw
Sun Nov 05 Red Alert
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Red*
Two nights ago...I realize this is a delayed response...we went to
investigate an unknown energy reading in the
the
junkion Dee-Kal responded. The Decepticons responded as well. We all
smelled trap and tried to let the cons go in
first. But they didn't
bite. Most retreated...leaving only Shockwave.
We knew he wasn't going
to enter, so we decided to rush him and spring
the trap. We did
so...and it was in fact a trap. A human calling
himself...well,
I don't know what he called himself. He never said. but
I Call him
Jigsaw...he put us into several tests of knowledge and logic to escape
the facility. With everyones
help, we managed to do so and it destroyed
itself. I don't know who this guy is or what he
wants, but we need to
be careful. He's definitely out to destroy all Cybertronians. That is
all. Red out.
*No Red*
==============================================================================