June 8th, 2003 ~Whiplash(D), Enfilade(D), Solar(D), Skydagger(D), Silentlight(A) Enfilade says, "All available Decepticons, report in." Lieutenant Moonlight says, "Yes?" Solar says, "Solar reporting Active" Enfilade says, "Converge on my location. *broadcasts ping signal from the Iron Glacier, near Neurex Central, North of the Wastelands.*" Whiplash says, "All's quiet in the wastelands. I'm up for anything." Enfilade says, "If there's anything to that datapad, I want us to get it." Skydagger says, "Skydagger, on duty in Medical, nothing pressing though." Solar says, "I'm at DM if anyone wants a lift" Iron Glacier Edging against the industrial complex to the north, this 'glacier' is actually a huge, kilometer tall ridge. A mostly smooth wall of iron and other ores shines brilliantly. A number of small mines and tunnels have been cut into the huge wall, marring its otherwise spartan face. Enfilade [Robot] [D] Obvious Exits: -U- Up leads to Sky Above Iron Glacier -N- North leads to Neurex Industrial Complex -S- South leads to Wastelands -Whiplash arrives from her guard post to the south, her black form becoming glaringly visible against the barren metallic surface of the glacier as she leaves her most usual haunts behind. -Moonlight arrives on the scene, exercising quite a bit of caution...for Moonlight. -Enfilade is standing near the ridge, the old datapad in her hand, gazing out silently at the scene. She turns as the other Decepticons arrive behind her and greets them with a nod. Solar says, "Solar and Darkmount team inbound Enfilade." -Solar leads a procession of Decepticons including Skydagger from Darkmount. Most of them land but Solar prefers to be in the air on recon trips, or most other trips for that matter. -Skydagger is one of those who does land, transforming and landing on her feet, a small distance away from the others. -Whiplash closes the distance and comes to join the others, remaining in MedusaSaur mode. She looks up at Enfilade and asks, "How much information do we really have about an exact location for this stuff?" -Enfilade says, "I'll play the datapad for you. -Moonlight stands off to the side slightly, not a hundred percent sure of what is going on. But she's certain she'll learn quick by listening and observing. That's how she's learned most of the skills she has today...formal teaching has never been a large part of her life. She nods to people as they approach, each giving them one of her little grins in greeting. -Enfilade hits the button on the datapad. A rough voice says, "Today I set out for the Iron Glacier along with a bunch of Nightlane's other hired...operatives. We'd just started down the tunnel (coordinates given) when the other mechs jumped me from behind, plannin' to take the electrum for themselves. I was ready for this, and brought out a stun pistol and stunned 'em. They were....eliminated, and I found myself unfortunately unable to remove the electrum by myself. After I perform the explosives run I'm going to get myself a team and come back." -Solar says, "Cripes, he rigged em to blow." -Whiplash tilts her head a bit at the mention of Nightlane. "Let me guess - the guy never made it back?" -Skydagger stands expressionlessly, listening closely. -Enfilade shrugs. "Frankly, I dunno. But I got the feeling that if he had, he wouldn't've been living as a scavenger in Cerrius. Well, that, or else he wasted it all. Only one way to find out." -Whiplash peers around warily. "At least we don't have unwelcome company yet, but we'll want to keep a lookout. If you walk through the streets in Dead End City, everyone's talking about striking it rich on electrum. Of course, I've heard all sorts of wild theories about where it really is, by now." -Moonlight nods in Whiplash's direction. Rumors she knows. She just hopes that the information the Cons have is the winning card. -Solar says, "Don't worry Lash, I already got a place set up at the Deal where mechs can sell Electrum for credits. Expensive but possibly worth it" -Enfilade cusses, "I had no idea the pad would say that so /loudly./ Damn." She snorts. "Well, at least Shockwave can't say I was using Con resources to no good result in Cerrius." -Skydagger remains silent, not having anything constructive to add, yet. -Whiplash says, "You're offering to buy up any bits that the scavengers find, Solar? I guess it's more valuable to us if we can use it, if it does what it's rumored to do." -Enfilade mutters, 'Maybe we should get going before the Autobots show up." -Solar says, "Maybe we should wait..." -Whiplash says, "Wait? Why?" -Moonlight nods in agreement with Enfilade, the thought of Autobots getting a hold of the Electrum painting unpleasant pictures in her imagination...even if it works /half/ as well as the rumors say. -Solar says, "Its been a while since I shot a Bot." -Whiplash smirks. "Alright, I can agree with that sentiment. But in this case we might want to leave playtime for later. Say, when we're wearing an electrum coating?" The smirk widens momentarily into a sharp-fanged grin. -Solar says, "It takes some of the sport out of it, but its a nice sentiment" -Enfilade says, "And if they blow the tunnel shut on us, Solar, I think you and I have enough explosives to blast it open again." -Moonlight shudders. She's never really liked explosives. Mass destruction really isn't all that constructive, and she'd much rather steal than destroy anyhow. -Solar says, "You don't think I have enough explosives by myself?" -Skydagger rubs her cheek for a moment. Still silent. -Enfilade leads the way forward into the main tunnel shaft. "This is the tunnel Pitfall mentions in his report. " She seems unusually grim. -Whiplash flickers a passing glance at Moonlight and Skydagger, her gaze resting for a moment on Skydagger. She'll be intersted to see how she handles herself in the underground, perhaps still mentally testing the medic to evaluate her battlefield capabilities. -Solar transforms "Great a tunnel...Spot Light mode please" -Moonlight moves to follow, hoping to stay in the middle where she's not likely to be attacked from behind. -Whiplash keeps just outside of the arc of the spotlight, her steps close behind Enfilade's. -Skydagger follows the others in silence, staying expressionless. No need to express anything, is there? -Whiplash mutters to Enfilade: "The voice ... the ... - this guy's connected ... the ... ... ... ... father ... ..." -Solar says, "Where da ya want me in the procession Fil?" -Enfilade nods once to Whiplash, sharply. "Solar, take the rear, in case of cave ins. I'll take the point. Everyone else getbetween our heavy artillery." -Solar pulls out the canvas bag filled with naughty bits and nods "A'right." -Whiplash doesn't press Enfilade for more details, and keeps pace behind her, the new order of progress putting her right in the glare of the spotlight now. Her tentacles thrash a little faster, as she doesn't care to be so fully illuminated, but she makes no complaint. -Enfilade says, "Moonlight, take a few minutes and watch the entrance. Make sure we aren't being followed." -Enfilade does speak, though, and says quietly, "I dont' know whether to think that at least electrum would make some sort of compensation, however minor, or whether to wish I could roast Pitfall alive all over again." She snorts. "Fate has a sick sense of humour." -Moonlight nods and moves out of the way, hoping that no one with a stun gun comes along and decides to prove that she truly is useless at guarding things. "Well, good luck then. I'll keep you informed of anything 'interesting' that happens." -Whiplash says, "Watch the shadows, Moonlight." -Solar says, "Shoot to kill...or in your case wound maybe." -Moonlight grins at Solar. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Boss." -Skydagger walks in silence with the others. -Whiplash gives Enfilade a speculative look. Here's a facet she's never really seen before - one that delights in retribution. Well, perhaps with Recoil, but it's still surprising from Enfilade. Whiplash growls softly. "She'll do just fine, Solar." -Enfilade's wings sway, the segments /snapping/ into different positions. She talks like fate is an entity on its own, somehow. "Might as well salvage what I can out of it, though I'd prefer if Pitfall never existed." -Solar says, "Lets go, electrums waitin" -Skydagger watches Enfilade's wings. "Commander Enfilade," she says quietly. -Whiplash is walking along with the others in an underground tunnel, not visible from above. -Enfilade says, casually, "What is it, Skydagger?" but she still has the aura of storming angrily into the tunnel as if ready to punch the first non-Decepticon thing she sees. -A large hover craft speedily and silentlight skims across the surface of Cybertron, heading towards the location that its imformant told it about. -Skydagger speaks quietly. "I would recommend calming down. Stress is just as unhealthy for the mind as it is for metal." -Solar just chuckles quietly. -Moonlight just stands outside while the others go deeper into the tunnel. She keeps one hand ready on her gun, the other ready to use her radio if need should be. She keeps herself focused on the task at hand. -Enfilade tilts her head, giving Skydagger what must be a twisted grin under the mask, and says, "I don't drink on duty." Well, that gives away her favourite stress reliever... -Skydagger nods back at Enfilade. "Good. Once I've finished examining the corpse, you're next," she says with the faintest trace of a twisted smile. "As for me, I have no plans to leave at any time in the near future." -Enfilade says, "Goody. YOu'll find me more lively than the corpse." -Skydagger snorts. "I like the corpse. Very cooperative, doesn't argue or scream." -Solar says, "And I think you'll find Filly more likely to shoot back" -The hover transport decides that slipping past the Decepticon gaurd would be easiest as a robot and transforms to continue silently on foot. Silentlight then creeps along the shadows of the walls, remaining out of sight as he works his way towards the entrance and starts down the tunnel in search of the rumored Electrum substance. -Enfilade says, tersely, "I don't "scream". -Whiplash eyes Skydagger balefully out of the corner of her glowing-violet optics as she and Enfilade discuss overhauls and autopsies. -Solar starts whistling the Dwarf mining song from Snow White. -Enfilade turns to Whiplash, squints her optics in what must be a grin and says to Lash, "Would you like to come with me for an overhaul?" -Skydagger makes a slight face at Enfilade's comment. "In medbay, the slightest noise is as good as a scream. Either way," she shrugs. "As long as you don't interfere with me doing my work, everything will be fine." -Silentlight carefully follows the map and information that was provided for him, and he also keeps track of the Decepticons that are a short distance in front of him. Usually, he would be slightly more careful with Decepticons in such close proximity, but the fact that they ARE here means that this informant must have actually been at least semi-accurate. He picks of the pace, staying in the darked shadows. -Whiplash replies to Enfilade, "Why, you want me to stand guard?" Hard to tell if she's kidding or not, by her tone. -Solar says, "Well Lash you are the Medic Killer" -Skydagger glances at Solar, then at Whiplash, a single ridge raised as if to say, oh, really? -Enfilade says, "Sure, then I could get completely overcharged an' be nice an' quiet for Skydagger here. Wouldn't that be fun?" She'd have noticed any large noise, but Silentlight is so quiet and the tunnel is so dark.... -Silentlight begins to be able to pick up sounds of the conversation of the Decepticon units in front of him. He listens intently, recording what he hears as he puts extra effort into remaining hidden. He calmly knows that the from this distance, the slightest noise could give away his position, and then the Decepticons might set the "Medic Killer" on him. -Whiplash grins to herself at the "medic killer" designation, but noticing Skydagger's expression, she says, "Let's just say med bay isn't my favorite place." -Skydagger chuckles. "You know, I think you and me might end up getting along. I don't much care for those who go out of their way to give me extra work." -Solar shrugs moving the light "I like the place, its the only place with a dartboard....Are we there yet?" -Whiplash kinda wonders that herself, as they've been travelling for a while. "Getting close, Fil?" she asks. -Enfilade says, "It should be in a few more bends....it's buried awfully deep." They're passing through a maze of branching side tunnels now. Enfilade pauses. "It's hard to tell if it's the left one or the right one." -Silentlight mentally checks the map that is stored in his database to see how far away the nearest deposits should be. He then concentrates on extending his sensors and radar to perform more thorough scans of the deposits to find out whether or not this Electrum does or does not exist. All the while, he remains in the shadows. He detects the Decepticons stopping and waits to see what they do before heading down the path marked on his map. -Solar says, "Flip a cred chip" -Skydagger returns to being quiet, walking along with the others. She's not much worried about how much farther it is. "We'll get there when we get there," she says quietly. -Enfilade says, "Go for it, Solar." -Solar takes out a cred chip, and flips it in the air. "Someone call chip or prongs" -Solar says, "Take a left" -Enfilade shrugs. That works for her. They head off to the left. -Silentlight smiles quietly as he watches the Decepticons decide to follow the wrong path. He then works his way over as quietly as possible from the left side of the tunnel over towards the right path. (Seriously, no pun intended.) -Solar puts the chip away and follows -Whether Pitfall ever came back for the electrum is anyone's guess. It does, however, become rather evident that he'd come back at least to protect his find...because as the Decepticons walk into the tunnel, Enfilade finds herself stumbling. What the frag was that? When her hand comes up with a broken trip wire, she begins to get a very bad feeling.... -Solar says, "Filly what is it?" -Enfilade says, "Frag, it's a trap, everyone on your guard and take cover!" She barely gets the words out before the rocks start falling from the ceiling. The tripwire's triggered a cave-in! -Solar, at the back of the pack gets out fairly easily, "Looks like we go right, Fil ya want me in the lead in case ya find somethin else?" -Skydagger turns to dive out of the way of the falling rocks, and almost succeeds - a large rock hits her on the head, and she collapses to the ground with a thud. -Enfilade however never gets the chance to answer Solar. ONe of the rocks hits her on the head. She staggers, trips on another rock rolling about her feet, and falls into yet another tiny passageway. A hail of rocks rapidly buries the entrance. -Whiplash tries to take a flying leap backwards through the falling rocks. -Silentlight detects the sudden shifting of rock formations that is very common among caveins. He then decides that it is well within his best interest to tread as lightly as possible. However, since that was only one of the probably several traps on the wrong path, one can only ask what dangers lie ahead on the correct path? -Solar pushes his back up and covers his head. As an old asteroid miner he's been through cave ins before. The debris clangs and makes dents, but no real damage -The surface near the entrance of the tunnel shudders with the force of subterranean explosions as a cloud of metal dust billows from the entrance. Something has collapsed below, perhaps in several places. -Skydagger stops laughing, then slowly gets to her feet and rubs her head, casting an icy glare at Solar. -Whiplash flattens herself against the wall as the new chain of explosions goes off, sending a renewed shower of rock down on those below. The right *and* left tunnels are now effectively sealed off - as is the way back to the surface. There's a small section at the intersection point of the corridors that's still relatively clear - the part that contains Silentlight, Skydagger, Solar, and Whiplash. -Silentlight notices the explosion and decides that he could probably make it, so he transforms into his faster hover transport mode and speeds over further down the tunnel, either shooting the larger rocks with lasers or dodging them. He ignores the smaller ones, and fortunately manages to just escape being crushed and emerges on the other side of the rubble, deeper in the tunnel, but for the time being, trapped. Lieutenant Moonlight says, "What happened down there? I felt something that certainly didn't feel safe." -Whiplash finally uncoils from her position against the wall as the shuddering starts to still, a faint haze of finely powdered metal hanging in the darkness and visible in the faint lights from optics, spotlights, or headlights. Whiplash says, "Moonlight? You still out there? Yeah, we've had a bit of a problem down here, you could say." -SilentLight jumps up and contorts his body into a large emergency hover transport. -Skydagger looks around, assessing the situation. She glances at Whiplash with an odd expression. "Everyday a new experience," she says quietly. Slag. Now what? Lieutenant Moonlight says, "What happened? What do you need?" -Whiplash's head snaps around as she senses a flicker of light further down the tunnel, a movement. She rumbles a deep growl. Whiplash says, "I'm not hearing anything from Enfilade. Doesn't sound good. And it looks like we got company down here. Maybe that's why we're stuck here." -Skydagger stands there, having fallen silent again, not knowing what to say or do in this situation. It's new to her... Lieutenant Moonlight pauses for a few moments. "I don't see any signs of trouble out here. Where did the trouble come from? Inside the tunnel system?" Whiplash says, "Explosions. Looks like the last guy who was through here left us some going-away presents so no one would come steal his prize. Or maybe whoever's down here had something to do with setting them off." -Solar whispers "Keep chatter to a minimum. At least till I can ascertain the stability" -Whiplash moves in closer toward the movement she sensed farther down, her optics glowing like twin violet lights in the dimness. Solar says, "Moonlight don't try diggin us out. I gotta see if the place is stable enough to shift some of this debris" Lieutenant Moonlight can be heard amongst the sounds of rubble being thrown away in small doses. "Who /is/ down there with you anyhow?" -The hover transport, though jostled and mildly damaged, works its way slowly now towards the 'x' marked on the map stored in its memory banks. It tries to be quiet but that is hard to in a form this large, and it has decided that if there are any other traps, this form would be better suited for speeding away from the area. Though it would take some damage, it would probably be less than the damaged sustained by a large rock to the head. Lieutenant Moonlight stops moving things. "Well, depending on who it is, they could be part of a bigger grouping or just in the wrong place in the wrong time. I'm one of the few people left who /do/ believe in coincidence." -Skydagger mutters upon hearing Moonlight's comment over the radio. "Fool," she says quietly. -Whiplash whispers, "Solar, you got that light handy?" Solar says, "Moonlight considering the entrance tunnel is blocked too, the mech or femme is in the same boat we are." Lieutenant Moonlight says, "So, what /do/ you want me to do out here? I'm not supposed to dig or ask questions. Hmph." -Solar whispers "COurse I do, where ya want it?" -Whiplash says, "This way," she says, though in the darkness it's hard to see where she's indicating. "Beyond me." -The hover transport continues to try and be as stealthy as possible, but it gains in anticipation as it grows closer towards the Electrum deposit marked on the map. Solar says, "Moonlight check for other tunnels into the glacier. Don't go in though they're prolly rigged too. Just give me locations." -Skydagger follows the sound of Lash's voice and walks up to stand beside her. "Which way?" she asks. Lieutenant Moonlight says, "Alrighty. I'm on it." -Whiplash indicates forward with a motion of her head, toward what used to be the right tunnel branch. "I thought I saw something this way." -Solar shines the light down the right tunnel and whispers "This what ya wanted Lash?" -Skydagger nods. She grimaces somewhat as the bright light illuminates her field of vision. Lieutenant Moonlight interrupts the peace over the radio every so often with the location of a new series of tunnels. It's hard to tell whether she's following Solar's orders in not going down them, but the ammount of time between reports indicates that she can't have gone far down any single one of them. -Whiplash nods, looking for the owner of the motion she sensed earlier, anticipating them to be revealed in the light any moment. -Solar starts to mark locations, angles and such on a datapad looking for connecting crove out his possition. -The hover transport scans the area again, and realizes that it actually had become disoriented during the trap and is in fact not in the section of the tunnel where it thought it was, but actually is close to where it had started. It then reverts back into a rather frustrated Silentlight, who stands in the middle of the tunnel shaking from the anger at his own stupidity. It takes all of his strength to limit his actions to this and not let out any screams or other noises that might auditorial give out his possition. -Whiplash growls softly in aggravation. She's torn between going back to try to dig out Enfilade, and trap whatever is down here. Lieutenant Moonlight says, "Anytime you're ready for me, I'll start digging from my end..." -Skydagger stands there. Not knowing what else to do, she asks quietly, "Either of you need repairs?" -Solar shakes his head and continues to walk down the path to the right. "First, elimate any threat, then analyze the situation. Then get out of it." -Silentlight continues to shudder for a couple of moments before he forces his body back under control. He is still extremely frustrated but decides that it would be easier to be proactive at the situation. He then walks around scanning the walls, searching for weak points. During one of the scans, he detects the Decepticons who apparently are in the same section as he. He gives an inaudible sigh and keeps working. Whiplash says, "Do what you can from the outside, Moonlight. I'm more worried about digging out Enfilade down here. We'll get out eventually, I'm sure." Lieutenant Moonlight says, "But Whiplash, /Solar/ told me not to." -Solar says, "Look Lash, I've been through cave-ins before, you gotta stay calm first. I've been mining for vorn so I'll take a look at the debris field in the left tunnel. You follow this one and find out what triggered the second set of explosions. I don't see any stress fractures in the rock field so it's stable enough." Solar says, "Since when you listen to me Moonlight, anyways it's safe enough to shift whatever you can. You start to hear anything fall stop and let me know" Lieutenant Moonlight chuckles. "I always listen Solar, I just don't act upon what I hear. Anyhow, I'm on it." As she speaks, she's already starting to move things. The going might be slow, but at least it's going /somewhere/. She's not exactly minning materiel, but she's sincere in her efforts. -Skydagger looks around, unsure what to do. "What should I do?" She asks. She's calm, she just doesn't know what to do. -Whiplash rumbles a soft growl, as she does want to help dig out her friend, but she lacks the specialized experience. So she continues down the right tunnel, listening and watching for any trace of movement. -Solar starts heading down the left tunnel. He kneels as he reaches the field of debris and start to look at the rocks, the walls surrounding the field, and curiously he even rubs the dust between his fingers. Then he tastes it. "Good we're safe this is hard density stuff." -Whiplash is certain there's something here *somewhere*, but she isn't finding it. Could she have imagined it in the chaos? She tends to doubt it, but who knows? -Silentlight continues his search for weak points in the walls, however he notices the Whiplash's signature is approaching him. He decides to play it safe and stand still in one of the shadows. -Moonlight continues to dig away at the rubble, 'carefully' tossing all the junk behind her as she works. Some people might find such work demeaning, but not so in Moonlight's case. She knows that she started off doing much lower work and isn't too proud to help her friends when they need it to the best of her ability. -Skydagger continues standing there uselessly, since nobody has answered her question. -Silentlight continues his search for weak points in the walls, scanning them, looking for any sign of Electrum or a way out of this trap. He finally just gives up worrying about the Decepticons and decides to work as speedily and stealthily as possible. -Whiplash rumbles a soft growl again, and finally in frustration lights up her tentacles with a crackling blaze of blue light, sending sparks in all directions. -Solar starts to shift key blocks of stone and rubble and this quickly starts to open the way to Enfilade. -Skydagger figures the other two know what they are doing. And since she doesn't like it when others interfere in her work, she decides to sit down and wait. -Silentlight does not turn, even though he detects the crackling sound behind him. Rather he continues to work, apparently completely ignorent of the Decepticon behind him. -Whiplash had in fact been facing slightly the wrong way, but from the corner of her optics she sees the form of a robot faintly illuminted in the blue light, and spins toward it, fangs bared and tentacles thrashing forward. She does not inundate it with electric bolts, though, before she sees who it is. -Solar works in about 5 meters and stops, he then redoes his tests. FInding things about the same he starts to work again. -Moonlight makes a little bit of headway in her task. She pauses for a moment and calls out, "Hello?" and then strains to see if she can hear anything from those trapped below. -Whiplash recognizes Silentlight as someone she's tangled with before, now. And she does, just for an instant, ready herself to launch into an attack - but some measure of common sense stops her at the last moment, and she holds back. Noticing, perhaps, that the Autobot has already cleared a good bit of the debris. She can even hear Moonlight's faint call. Whiplash says, "Skydagger. Look at this. We found ourselves a guest." -Solar keeps digging, heartened by the fact that he can make out the shape of a wingtip sticking out of the debris field -Moonlight is quite the dusty femme by now, but that doesn't stop her despite her small ammount of vanity. When she doesn't get a response, she resumes her digging, quickening her pace. -Skydagger stands up and walks over to where Whiplash is. She looks at the Autobot. "Who is this?" she asks, with clinical interest, like a scientist studying bacteria in a petri dish. -Silentlight continues to ignore the Decepticon behind him as he scans what should be the part of the tunnel that leads to the outside. He scans the structure in detail and manages to cool off some of his frustration by discovering a weak point that could easily be exploited as an exit. He then listens to Whiplashes comment, and replies, "If you wish to get out of here Whiplash, I believe I know the way." He then pulls out a small gun with a couple very small darts in it. He points it at the wall and gets ready to fire. -Whiplash reacts with a snarl as Silentlight pulls the gun, her tentacles still lit up around her, but again does not fire as she notices the weapon is not turned against her or her companions. -Solar digs Enfilade free of the field and props her up against the wall of the left tunnel "Skydagger Enfilade is free if you want to check her over. I'm gonna tackle the front door now. Shaped charge so stay out of the way." -Silentlight levels the gun at the wall and quickly cycles through three precise positions without firing as he takes a few seconds to makes sure he has the points correct. -Whiplash glances at Skydagger, and warily at the 'Bot - but she assumes that he, of all of them, is motivated to get out. -Skydagger nods to Solar and hurries over to where Enfilade is. Rapidly her hands fly as she analyses the other femmes systems, then says, "We should endeavour to get her to the Medbay as fast as possible." -Moonlight doesn't rest again, but she calls out every so often, hoping that someone will answer her and indicate that she's close to freeing them. -As the shots impact with the debris blocking the entrance, the barrier already being somewhat weakened from outside by Moonlight's efforts, starts to slip, the contact points giving way and an avalanche of rock and metal starting to spill inwards toward those inside - and outwards toward Moonlight. -Whiplash calls "Moonlight?" just before the barrier starts coming down and drowns out her voice. -Solar moves over next to Skydagger. -Skydagger glances up at the mech. "You will help me transport her." -Moonlight eeeks as the barrier starts to crumble and forcefully tosses herself away from the chaos, not wanting to get burried by the onslaught of rubble. The move ended in her getting a facefull of junk, but was preferable to the alternative. -Solar mutters to Skydagger: "... ... ... is clear get Fil ... ... base. I'm ... stay here." -Silentlight watches with contently as the wall slowly comes down. As soon as the rubble stops moving, he begins to calmly walk out, already planning his return to this place to study the rare Electrum element and its effects. -Whiplash has jumped backwards as the barrier collapsed, and can see faint light beyond, through a renewed haze of metal dust in the air. She also sees the silhouette of Silentlight making his way out. She growls, shifting now into an attack mode, and re-lights her tentacles. -Solar says, "Moonlight, get your aft in here and help Skydagger get Fil back to base" -Whiplash sends a few electric bolts after the Autobot, but the mention of Enfilade gives her pause. She looks back toward the others, finally turns toward them part way. -Moonlight picks herself up off the ground and dusts herself off. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she says as she makes her way over to Skydagger without hesitation. After all, she's quite fond of Enfilade. -Silentlight continues at his normal walking pace until he is completely outside the tunnel. He then transforms back into his hover transport mode and begins to head off back towards Iacon. Though it is still within range for an attack from Whiplash, at the pace it is going, it won't be for long. -Whiplash lurches forward at the sight of escaping prey, sending another shower of electric bolts after Silentlight, but it's only a momentary response, before she forgets about the 'Bot and hurriedly comes in to join the others. -The hover transport is struck by a number of the bolts that were sent after it, but it only emits a small grunt, dips a little as some of the drive mechanisms are temporarily distrupted, and then continues on its way. -Skydagger nods at Moonlight. "Help me with her, take hold of her legs." She then goes to the other end and picks the body up by the shoulders. -Whiplash transforms to robot mode so that she has hands to help with, should she be needed. "How's she doing?" she asks. -Solar says, "She ain't feelin no pain. Unconciousness does that" -Moonlight carefully starts to lift Enfilade from her feet. "I wish Enfilade was a bit...smaller. But I guess it's better that she's not a small person." -Skydagger nods at Solar's comment. "He's right. But we do need to get her to Medbay fast." -Whiplash says, "Helps in combat, anyway. Here, let me help you, Moonlight" -Moonlight nods. "The more help we have, the more carefully and quickly we can get her to safety..." She tries not to look too concerned. -Solar says, "I'm gonna stay here and cloak myself in front of the entrance. Ain't no one gettin in but us." -Whiplash nods to Solar. "Good idea." She helps the others with their burden and helps them make their way out of the passage. -Skydagger nods at Whiplash. "Thank you. Let's go." With that she starts moving towards the mouth of the tunnel, trusting the others to follow in time. -Moonlight has done this enough times before that her movements aren't too choppy. Of course, it helps that she actually /likes/ the person she's trying to carry out of here. -Whiplash says, "Once we're in the wastelands, we can take her to the air. But carefully." Wastelands The Wastelands are a lesser version of the great abandoned zones that stretch over parts of Cybertron, desolate and devoid of life. To the west, the formidable Decepticon fortress of Darkmount looms atop a 7000-meter cliff in the mountains. The wastelands themselves are made up of a vast, uneven, and broken surface, a haven for shadows and less harmless things. An entire army could take refuge here without being easily detected. Consequently, the area is also useful for more realistic training in the ways of war. Skydagger [Robot] [D] Whiplash [Robot] [D] Obvious Exits: -N- North leads to Iron Glacier -S- South leads to Wastelands -U- Up leads to Sky Above Wastelands -Whiplash accompanies the others to the base of Darkmount, near her own guard post, and looks to the other two femmes. "I figure we need to kick in our flight engines all at the same time. Ready?" -Skydagger nods at Whiplash. "Say the word." -Moonlight waits for the count... -Whiplash looks from Moonlight to Skydagger and back. "Okay ... one ... two ... three ... now!" With the last word she activates her thrusters gently and rises up into the sky, trying to keep Enfilade level. Darkmount - Launch Platform Forcibly hewn out of the side of a raised mountain, this sturdily constructed platform is large enough to accommodate several ships and still allow enough room for the arriving and departing patrols of Decepticon seekers. Crafted of solidly forged chunks of Durillium, it has been made to withstand the tests of time and battles. Around the edges of the platform are various anti-aircraft batteries and entrenched watch posts for defense drones, should anyone ever be foolish enough to attempt an attack from the air, or intrepid enough to risk approaching the Decepticon stronghold from the nearly impossible climb below. Skydagger [Robot] [D] Whiplash [Robot] [D] Decepticon Shuttle Obvious Exits: -U- Up leads to Sky Above Tarn -D- Down leads to Darkmount - Elevator Shaft -Whiplash lands gently on the launch platform and shifts her grip a little to resecure it. -Moonlight is also very gentle. Idly she wonders if the Bots even /know/ how gentle the Cons can be when occassion requires it. Probably not. They'd probably be quite surprised. But she's not about to go telling them. -Skydagger fires her retrorockets to soften her landing, knees bent to absorb the shock of the landing so as not to further injure Enfilade. "Let's get her downstairs." -Whiplash enters the Darkmount - Elevator Shaft <-D- Down>. Darkmount - Repair Bay Much like the adjacent research lab, the equipment here is showing signs of age, but is kept in a serviceable condition. Two automated repair drones lie against the far wall, though each is obviously missing a few parts...apparently they've been salvaged for someone else's benefit. The once well-stocked parts closets now contain mostly empty shelves and bins. Several dozen repair tables of various sizes are arranged in rows in the middle of the room. Skydagger [Robot] [D] Whiplash [Robot] [D] Drone Medic Redline's Side Office AutoMedic Dartboard Serdidymus Medical Terminal Obvious Exits: -S- South leads to Darkmount - Regeneration Spa -E- East leads to Darkmount - Medical and Science Level -W- West leads to Darkmount - Cryochamber -Skydagger steps in first, since she is carrying Enfilades head, and motions with her head towards the nearest table. "We put her there." -Whiplash helps the others maneuver the Field Commander to the med table that Skydagger chooses, still moving carefully. -Moonlight brings up the feet, never relaxing her grip or forgetting to be careful. She just hopes that next time she's unconcscious, Enfilade will return the favor... -As Whiplash finishes her part of the maneuvering, she stands back a little from the med table and looks over the considerably crushed and battered Enfilade. Then she looks to Skydagger. "What do you think?" she says, concern clearly in her tone. -Skydagger studies Enfilade for a moment, then says, "I think the checkup I scheduled with her will have to be moved up," she chuckles. -Whiplash prompts, "She'll be okay, though, right?" Still that note of worry. -Moonlight finds herself a seat and finishes off the dusting job she couldn't complete earlier. She does like to look her best, even if her friend is lying rather unconscious. At least she's as safe as she's going to be now. -Skydagger nods. "She will be fully functional. It may take some time though, but I can only determine that after closer inspection." -Moonlight gives a wry smile. "At least this patient won't be screaming or kicking..." -Skydagger nods with a little laugh. "I like working on unconscious patients. Very cooperative," she says, giving Whiplash an odd glance. -Moonlight thinks she can probably interpret that glance...everyone knows that Whiplash is the scariest patient out there. Moonlight is glad she isn't a medic...yet at the same time she thinks, deep down, that she could handle Whiplash just fine if she were so skilled as to be in the profession. -Whiplash smirks faintly. "I guess that's true, Moonlight. Good thing for Skydagger that I don't need her services, hm?" In fact, she too is a little dented and battered, but nothing at all serious or in need of attention. She sighs. "Guess I should make a report on how things went, seeing as Fil's out of it for a bit." Whiplash wanders over to the repair bay terminal to tap in and give a brief explanation of what happened, though she does from there cast occasional glances toward Skydagger and Enfilade, as though to insure herself that the medic isn't doing something horrible, whatever that may be in her mind. -Skydagger collects a number of devices and sets about thoroughly examining Enfilade's systems, ignoring everyone around her. -Moonlight coils her legs around the base of the chair she is sitting in and waits. She doesn't have much better to do right now. She knows Whiplash will be out of here the moment she can, but also that she'd most likely want to hear if Enfilade became conscious again. She doesn't know enough about Skydagger to tell whether she's the sort of femme that would notify Whiplash of such. -Skydagger continues with her work. Once or twice she does glance up at Whiplash and Moonlight, but seeing that they are being quiet, she says nothing and returns to her work. ================================= Decepticon ================================= Message: 10/7 Posted Author The Search for Electrum Sun Jun 08 Whiplash ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Whiplash appears on screen from, of all places, the medbay, from whence she keeps darting glances toward some activity going on offscreen, as though to keep a watchful optic on it) "Today we followed the coordinates off of that datapad that Enfilade found - the one that was supposed to lead us to the electrum under the Iron Glacier. Hard to say how accurate the coordinates were, since we never really got the chance to follow them to the source. Whoever was there before us, didn't want anyone reaching the stash alive, and had the passage lined with explosives. Ended up not being able to go forwards or backwards. Worst of all, Enfilade was buried under the debris, and to top it off there was a 'Bot stuck down there with us, Silentlight. Moonlight was up on the surface, and started digging her way down to us. I figured it was a good idea to let the 'Bot live for a bit, since he was digging his way out from the inside. He got to the point where he was able to collapse the rest of the barrier with a few calculated shots. Solar was digging out Enfilade, who didn't look in good shape at all. I send a few electric bolts after the 'Bot, but figured it was more important to get Fil back home to be patched up. She's still in bad shape, but Skydagger says she'll be okay in time. Oh, and not a drop of electrum. Could be it's still down there, though. And now it's buried even deeper, since there's still partial cave-ins blocking the passage. Watch for more traps if you do head down there to look around some more. Solar stayed behind to guard the entrance tunnel. I think it's worth doing some more digging when Fil's back on her feet. ============================================================================== -Whiplash finishes her report - after all this time she's become reasonably adept at working the equipment, if nothing else - and looks back toward Skydagger's work. She transforms to MedusaSaur mode and leaps up onto the neighboring repair table, to settle into place there, from whence she can get a good overview. She may hate the concept of being here for her own sake, but she has been known to linger here to watch over friends. -Moonlight arches an optic ridge in surprise; Whiplash didn't bolt for her rock after all. Then again, Whiplash is also very loyal, something that Moonlight has always admired. So it seems Enfilade has a couple of extra optics watching over her. It certainly can't hurt. -Skydagger looks up at Whiplash crossly, annoyed by the distraction. "Refrain from doing such things again, else I shall have you removed from the medbay. I don't know how it was under the previous medics stationed here, but I do not tolerate distractions of any sort." Having said her piece, she returns to her work. -Whiplash gives Skydagger an almost offended look. "What things?" she asks, genuinely puzzled but also irritated at the unexpected rebuke. -Moonlight frowns slightly. This place /really/ needs a friendly medic. -Skydagger sighs and sets the instrument in her hand down, looking up to Whiplash again. "Things such as jumping up onto tables. That distracts me from my work," she explains, voice level, almost teacher-like, but with a faint trace of annoyance. "Medicine is not combat; when I am engaged in sensitive operations, the slightest distraction might cause me to slip and make a fatal error." -Whiplash just gives Skydagger a blank stare, as she's been leaping up on med tables pretty much from day one. But she finally says, "Well. I'm up here now, right? Can't distract you by just *being* here." -Skydagger nods. "This is true, provided you remain quiet." She pauses, then asks, "Enfilade is your friend?" -Moonlight listens quietly. -Whiplash keeps her luminous-violet gaze fixed on Skydagger, as her tentacles flicker back and forth around her. "Yeah," she says finally, curtly. -Moonlight wonders why that was so hard to answer. "She's my friend too," she points out, and hopes it's really true. -Skydagger nods. "In that case I understand your protectiveness. You needn't worry, Whiplash. I shall do everything within my powers to return her to full health." -Whiplash's manner is more in response to Skydagger's rebuke than in response to the question itself - or it may be her old distrust of medics manifesting itself again. She *does* seem to be watching everyhing very closely, for someone without a shred of medical training. Whiplash says, "Well you don't mind if I stick close for a bit, right?" -Skydagger nods. "Provided of course you stay quiet and do not interrupt me." She gives Moonlight a glance that says, that applies to you too. -Whiplash bares her fangs in silence for the briefest of moments, and then settles back into her crouch to observe. -Skydagger, satisfied there will be no further interruptions, returns to her work. -Moonlight shakes her head, mildly amused at the scene for some reason.