June 14th, 2003
~Nosecone(A), 

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.

Nosecone [Robot] [A]

Obvious Exits:
 -U- Up leads to Sky Above Iron Glacier
 -N- North leads to Neurex Industrial Complex <Central>
 -S- South leads to Wastelands <North>

-Somewhere in the mineworkings, Nosecone carefully trudges, optics unnaturally alert for traps or cave ins. In fact, he's so intent on looking for danger that he COMPLETELY misses the huge stalagtite hanging from the ceiling, which he runs straight into. A very bad word echoes through the tunnels, all the way to the surface.
-Moonlight is really beginning to think that everyone should tie her down to stop her from being on guard duty, because quite frankly, she's terrible at it. She's hardly big and opposing and she seems to be just a joke to the Autobots. How humiliating. She wonders if that electrum is /really/ worth all this, even as she heads back into those evil tunnels to investigate the sound.
-Nosecone rubs at the dent in his helmet and mutters more choice words. Way ta go Nosecone. Nice sneakyness. Cons will probably be all over you in a second.. although they seem to be slipping a bit lately. Oh well.. can always bring the ceiling down if things get too bad. Nosecone continues on his way, as stealthily as he can. Which is to say, not at all.
-Moonlight, on the other hand, is quite good at being sneaky...when she tries that is. And, in light of yestercycle's events, she's trying. Carefully she makes her way through the tunnels towards the sound.
-Nosecone stops, examining the tunnel wall with his fingertips, the torch magnetically clamped to the side of his helmet throwing the rough surface into sharp relief. "Could be the same" he mutters, trying to remember what the terrain was like where they found the last sample. "Ah, scrap.. they coulda sent a science-type along with me.."
-Moonlight creeps along the tunnels, hoping that the numbers of Bots encountered will be less than five this time. As luck would have it, there's only one, and that one isn't the whispery shadowy /thing/, much to the smuggler's relief. In fact, it's only Nosecone. Moonlight smiles slightly at the thought...it's just how Swivel described /her/.
-Nosecone peers one last time at the wall, then shrugs, continuing down the dim passageway, rifle in hand. As per usual, he's completely unaware of Moonlight's presence.
-Moonlight shakes her head to herself. Nosecone really has to try to be more...subtle. Then again, that would probably make more trouble for her, so she blesses his straightforward core and keeps trailing him.
-Nosecone seems to be moving at random through the tunnels with a laughable attempt at stealth, though there's a certain logic to his movements - he seems to always choose paths that lead downwards. His progress is extremely slow but very steady as he methodically checks the tunnels for structural integrity and traps.
-Moonlight marvels at Nosecone's patience and thoroughness. She could /never/ go along in the manner that he is. She's surprised at herself for even following him so long without pestering him. He /is/ alone after all, and she's never been one for restraint.
-Nosecone scratches his head, having just turned down a tunnel that ends at a blank wall - a dead end. "Well.. scrap" he remarks, looking around. "Guess this means it's break time." Unclipping the torch from his helmet, he transforms it into a small lantern, sets it down on the rough floor and backs away out of the circle of light so unfriendly eyes can't immediately spot him. From the darkness there comes a small hissing noise, as if someone were opening a ring-pull can.
-Moonlight laughs mentally and shakes her head. Idly she wonders what would happen if all the enerbeer on Cybertron disappeared. Of course, the fact that Nosecone just walked himself into a dead end strikes her as rather funny. Now if only she was a bit bigger and scarier, this could be turned to her advantage. But as it is, it's just an irresistable opportunity for her to be herself. She steps out into the open, standing in the middle of the passageway out of the dead end. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" she asks, planting her hands on her hips and tilting her head ever so slightly to the side.
-There's a pause. "Ya know," Nosecone begins, "I'm beginnin ta think you've planted a tracer on me. Why is it that no-matter where I go, you seem ta turn up?" Nosecone sounds amused, but there's a soft click as he thumbs the safety on his rifle. After all, he has no idea how many Decepticons there are, and he's trapped in a dead end. Wonderful.
-Moonlight grins and spreads her hands out in a mock helpless gesture. "What can I say? Maybe I just can't resist you?"
-Nosecone laughs. "Oh yeah, that's /much/ more likely."
-Moonlight shrugs. "Now /that/ I couldn't resist. But no, I don't have you bugged. You /were/ rather loud back there. You might want to shout less when you're in Decepticon infested tunnels. Might lead to a longer and healthier life."
-Nosecone replays that sentence in his head for any signs of a threat. "Infested?" he replies. "You bought some friends?"
-Moonlight chuckles. "I might have. They could be dealing with your friends right now..."
-"What friends?" Nosecone replies. Oh yeah, master of the bluff and double bluff is Nosecone.
-Moonlight grins and shakes her head. "Well, in that case, you're just as crazy as I am. Tsk tsk, I expected better of you Nosecone."
-Nosecone sighs, taking a risk by stepping into the light. "Are ya plannin ta amubush me?" he asks. "Or am I just for another round of tauntin?"
-Moonlight puts a finger up to the side of her face. "Let me see. Little smuggler me versus big drill you. I don't think that ambush would last long...do you?"
-"For all I know" Nosecone remarks carefully, "Kimakaze an ..that other shadowy femme type.. could be hidin in the shadows." Classy mech that he is, Nosecone has a can of enerbeer in one hand, rifle raised in the other.
-Moonlight nods. "That is possible. But have I led you into a trap yet Nosecone...or as a matter of fact, have I seriously misled you yet at all?" She shrugs. "I'm afraid you'll just have to trust your instincts on this one."
-Nosecone peers into the gloom. "...Alright" he says finally, lowering his weapon.
-Moonlight smiles, not grins. "I guess I'm not so bad, eh?"
-"You could be worse" Nosecone admits, returning the smile wryly.
-Moonlight nods in agreement. "No arguement here. I'm certainly not hero material, but I'm woefully lacking in the villain department as well. I suppose I'll just have to be content with being me." She glances around. "You're really lucky that I'm not like most other Decepticons, or you could have been in a whole lot of trouble."
-Nosecone shrugs. "Yeah, like that'd be anything new. But yeah.. I was worried for a moment there. Coulda been very messy if there hada been more than one or two of ya." He watches her for a moment, then sips at his beer.
-Moonlight leans casually against a wall. "So, your people find anything out about this whole electrum thing?" As if it wasn't factional secrets and all...
-Nosecone shrugs. "Not really" he replies cautiously. Great, no ambush, just questioning. "You?"
-Moonlight hmphs. "Like they'd tell me even if they /had/."
-Nosecone looks surprised. "Thought you were intel? Isn't it your job to know stuff like that?"
-Moonlight shakes her hand back and forth. "Sort of. Me being in intel is a bit of a misnomer. I gather goods more than I gather information. Solar just thought I'd fit in with the Intel guys somehow."
-A breif frown mars Nosecone's face at the mention of Solar's name, but it passes as quickly as it arrived. "So you're just down here.. gatherin goods?" he asks, taking another sip from his can.
-Moonlight shrugs. "No, I was guarding the entrance when you make a fuss."
-Nosecone looks sheepish and self-conciously rubs at the small dent in his helmet. "Uh.. yeah."
-Moonlight grins. "You /really/ should be more careful. Now what would you have done if someone threatening had been up there instead of me?"
-Nosecone gestures to his rifle. "I don't carry it just ta look cool, ya know" he chuckles.
-Moonlight nods. "True enough, but it doesn't do much good against lots of really mean Decepticons. You might get one or two before they take you out."
-Nosecone nods. "True.. but they'd be busy, on account of several tons of rubble falling on them."
-Moonlight frowns slightly. "Yes, I know what you can do with rubble. In fact, if I was here to ambush you, I'd certainly be on the losing end of the fight."
-Nosecone looks uncomfortable. "Yeah... But as long you don't 'accidently' shoot me, ya should be fine."
-Moonlight blinks. "That would be rather careless of me, wouldn't it now?"
-You can almost see the 'huh?' hovering over Nosecone's head. "I guess so." He sips at his drink again to cover the pause. "Anyways, weren't you trailing us a cycle back?"
-Moonlight nods. "Yeah...so?"
-"So.. why not spring an ambush then?" Nosecone asks. "In fact.. we're pretty far from the surface, so ya musta been trailing me for a while.. plenty of time to radio for assistance.." He finishes the rest of the can and looks towards Moonlight.
-Moonlight scowls. "I /did/ radio for assistance."
-Nosecone blinks. "Now?" he asks, before he can stop himself. Oh CRAP. This could get VERY messy.
-Moonlight makes a sound of exasperation. "Not now...yestercycle."
-Nosecone ohs. "You did? Then how come we just strolled outta there without any trouble?"
-Moonlight folds her arms. "Let's just say that the help didn't show up in time."
-"Damn, eh?" Nosecone remarks with blatant incinserity, quite happy to have performed an incursion with no shots fire. "So what about now?"
-Moonlight arches an optic ridge. "Honestly? I'm not doing a damn thing."
-Nosecone relaxes a little more. "Okay." he replies, seeming to take her at her word. "So you're not going to shoot me or call your buddies ta beat the scrap outta me, an I'm not gonna bring the roof down on ya and bury you under tons of rubble. Glad we got that cleared up." He grins.
-Moonlight smiles again. "That sounds about right. Though I'm sure if anyone is around they'll be awfully mad if they see us like this..."
-Nosecone looks around. "Slag em" he replies conversationally. "Worst comes ta worst, we can punch each other in the face. Claim you were tryin ta get information outta me an it didn't work or somthin."
-Moonlight considers this. "That's true. But I don't want to be labeled a traitor any more than you do. I think you're a pretty nice fella for a Bot, but I'm not about to go risking my neck for you." She looks around. "I think we should go our seperate ways for now. Both factions /are/ rather interested in this place, and anyone of them might come in here at any moment..."
-Nosecone nods. "Well since /you/ were trailin /me/" He gets to his feet. "Can't go this way anyways. Seeya round Moonlight. I wouldn't suggest you tell anyone I'm down here though. Could be unpleasant for all parties involved." He grins wryly at his own threat.
-Moonlight tips her hat. "Don't worry, I /can/ be discreet." And with that she turns away and heads back up to her post.