[Original RPG] The Edge of the Abyss: Bringing Down the House pt. 2 (Autobase)

[Reflector]

Skyfire grinned to Hoist as the medic continued to work on him, though he felt bad occupying his time. He struggled to raise himself from the floor, but the pain in his back and side from the many blast wounds was simply too great. He also noted a strong wooziness - he seemed to be low on fuel. One of his wings was badly mangled as well, as well as his left arm.

"Thank you for the help, Hoist," he offered weakly.

********

Nearby

Roadhandler stopped in his tracks, a furrow consuming his mouth as he heard Big Daddy's challenge. Swindler transformed, and the two looked at each other for a moment. Roadhandler shook his head and looked back to the floor; Swindler simply shrugged and continued on his way out the door. Roadhandler thought for another moment and turned, his hands landing on his hips.

"You'll call me coward if I say no, huh?"

[Zisteau]

[OOC note: technically at least a couple of these guys are already on earth, but seeing as they’ve not done anything significant, Warcry approved that I could fudge things a bit]


Somewhere outside the solar system, a shuttlecraft limps along. Huge gashes, hastily repaired, mar its outer surface. Inside, five mini-vehicle Autobots strive to reach Earth and finally rejoin their comrades.

Bumper: “Look- scanners indicate we’re nearing the outer reaches of the solar system.”

Pipes: “Its about time.”

Huffer: “wouldn’t surprise me if we slagged it now, after everything we’ve been through.”

Outback: “Quit yer ceaseless whining. At least we’re still here. Quite a few shuttlecraft didn’t even make it off Cybertron when the Quintessons chased us off.”

Bumper: “I wonder what we’ve missed these past years?”

Huffer: “War. Fighting. It’ll be the same old story.”

Powerglide: “How long has it been, anyway? We’ve been limping along in this piece of junk for so long, I’ve no idea how much time has passed.”

Bumper: “I could give you a figure, but it wouldn’t mean much. Time dilation screws things up. I have to assume that most the other bots and cons made it off Cybertron and back to Earth rather more smoothly that we did.”

Powerglide: “Look, the asteroid field is coming up. Ooh ooh ooh! Let me drive! Look at the hole in that asteroid. Bet I could fly us right through it.”

Bumper looks at Powerglide nervously. “Uh, maybe someone else should pilot.”

Outback: “I’ll do it. Gimme the controls.”

Bumper hesitates again. “Uh…”

Pipes shoulders his way to the front. “I’ll drive. We didn’t come this far to crash against a stupid rock.” Pipes takes the helm and steers the shuttlecraft several degrees out of the plane of the elliptic, where only a few erratic meteors float. Pipes grumbles under his breath. “Been cooped up on this thing too long. Can’t wait to get my hands on some decepts again.”

[Bombshell]

"Not really," Big Daddy said with a smile. "But I'll know that you're not as great as you used to be."

Greaser facepalmed. Big Daddy was asking for trouble. And the sad thing was that Daddy knew it.

[Warit00]

"Let's go to the CR chamber Ratchet ask to get you there."Hoist say to Skyfire

Then Hoist meet Hubs"I take him to the CR chamber."


(OCC:What is the CR chamber?)

[Sociopathic Autobot]

"Whadda you say to that?" Blaster asked rhetorically, looking down from the crows nest.

"Nothing?" Fastforward replied.

"I don't have anything too say even if I wanted too.... This is Blaster. Prime is down and we need a med-team out there now!"

Blaster pushed away from the panel and turned around walking to the ladder. "'Bout all I can do, I guess?" He slowly descended down the ladder.

~~

Brawn and Windcharger quickly swerved off from Sideswipe towards the front courtyard.

"C'mon Sideswipe! We'll worry about Sunstreaker latter!" Brawn called to the dazed Autobot.

[Scout]

Saddened, worried but still in need of the repairs to his head, Hound decided that his exhaustion and lingering pain would be best served by going into a light sleep mode. It would allow Grapple to finish without worrying about hurting him and also speed his body's ability to repair the burn damage on his 'skin'. He eased his head back on the table and let his optics dim. His engine tones sank into a barely audible consistent hum as the autobot scout rested soundly by his own choice, for the first time in many weeks.
------------------
------------------
Trailbreaker turned his attention to the soot falling on the very stressed-out looking autobot in front of him and slowly began smirking. He caught up behind Crosshairs and quickly put an arm over him, making a smiley-face in the soot on Crosshairs' back as he brushed his arm up and over the shoulder.

"So, our world went and had itself a really big bang ten billion years ago. We recovered. The Cons have made a lot of bangs and messes since then, and we've always pulled through. But I ain't seen a disaster like the one on your face right now Cross buddy. What's gotcher mind?"
-------------------
-------------------
"Shoore (sure) thing Firestar." Inferno drawled with a grin as his partner came up. "Things're gonna get real hot around this corner here. I think medbay and the labs'll be okay - they've got hefty blast walls. But the blasts'll 'ave channelled straight down this corridor. May even have plasma still burning in the walls. We gotta cool the area down nice and slow, keep the heat change to a minimum. That'll increase chances for equipment salvage... but our first job is survivors. Keep a watch out as we move through."
-------------------
-------------------
ooc: Warit00, a CR chamber is a small room for repairs.

[Zisteau]

Somewhere outside Earth orbit:

The small shuttlecraft continues on. Pipes pilots the ship, a bored look in his vision receptors. Bumblejumper and Huffer occupy themselves with technical matters- the former with his face glued to a computer screen, the latter doing some last minute wiring and welding at the back of the ship. Outback disassembles his mortar cannon, cleans it, and reassembles it for the umpteenth time. Powerglide drums his fingers on the console.

Powerglide: "I'm bored." The others ignore him. "Bored bored bored." Powerglide stands up and heads for the airlock. "Think I'll step out for a bit and do some loops around the ship."

Everyone else suddenly perks up and yells in unison: "NOOOOO!!!!"

Powerglide assumes an air of innocence. "What?"

Outback: "Last time you did that, mate, we got into a whole pile o' trouble."

Powerglide holds up two fingers: "Just two loops?"

Everyone else: "NOOOOO!!!!"

Powerglide slumps his shoulders in defeat. "Allright." He walks back to his seat. He accidentally kicks something small across the floor. The sound of a duck quacking fills the ship.

Powerglide: "Where'd it go? Imma gonna break that stupid-"

Huffer: "Another one, Pipes?"

Pipes: "What? Its the last gadget I've got left. Not even a gadget, just a little noisemaker."

The little gizmo stopped quacking.

Bumper, who has been monitoring their position, says "Hey guys, we're nearing Earth orbit. We'll actually be on Earth soon. I can't believe it."

No sooner has he finished saying this than the engines sputter and die. The lights in the cabin fade out. Everyone looks around nervously. The jolt to the ship starts the duck quacking again. Huffer grunts in annoyance and punches the wall. The engine rumbles back to life, the lights click back on. Everyone sighs.

[Warcry]

Atop Metroplex

Crosshairs tore his gaze away from Prime to see what Trailbreaker had done to his back.

"Please don't do that." He brushed the soot away, frowning. "Prime's what's on my mind. Prime, and that...thing he just killed." He shook his head, staring down at the far-off figures. "I mean...what just happened?"

It couldn't actually have been him. Could it?
______________________

Enroute to Portland

Hot Rod continued to speed towards the city, moving at full throttle.
______________________

Forest, outside Autobase

Snarl had wandered away, far enough that he didn't have to see Prime, Grimlock, or any of the other Autobots. He sat on the stump of what had once been a particularly large evergreen, mindlessly playing with his sword.

"What's the point?" He whispered to himself. "Why fight for this ugly planet? Humans hate us. I look like some dumb animal. The boss is punching Prime, not Decepticons. Why?"

His optics locked on the near edge of his energo-sword, staring intently. He longed for the peace of battle, when he could forget these thoughts for a time.

He didn't dare give voice to the real thought that was behind all those questions, though. Not even when he was alone like this could he bear to admit out loud that he wasn't like his fellow Dinobots. He knew that he'd never catch Swoop or Slag thinking like this; the facade of tough, violent warrior that he put forward was what his teammates actually were.

What would they think if they knew who I really was?

[Random Sweep]

Ratchet Completes the patching up of Red Alert's chest and steps back.
" There you go Red, good as new. " the medic said " Is there anything else I can help you with? "

[Heinrad]

Wheels' Room, Fort Max:


Ironhide: -decides to play along- "Awlrahght... give me th' exact floorplans'a Metrotitan, Scorponok, an' Trypticon."

*********************

Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead: -heading for Denver-

[Scout]

Trailbreaker smirked slightly and looked to the distant fight. He sighed audibly and the smirk faded into a surprisingly unsurprised smile.

"Either Hound's feelin' better and puttin' on a slidey show, or Prime just trashed the livin daylights outta Megatron again. I can't explain it better'n that Crosshairs, but since Optimus won, I ain't too worried right now 'bout any more 'Cons."

Trailbreaker paused as he thought heavily for a moment and then grabbed his radio. There is one to be concerned about though.
"Hey Grimlock- Can you take Optimus in for some R & R? And then maybe tell me what happened?"

[Heinrad]

Grimlock: -picks Prime up- "Me think Me managed to get him out of depression." -carries Prime inside-

[Scout]

Grimlock's simple statement made perfect sense in an odd way to Trailbreaker. He knew his leader hadn't seemed to be himself since the Autobot faction had split during the Chaos Matrix episode. Prime had been struggling with something dark, and though it was beyond Trailbreaker's understanding, he knew he had had to stay solidly loyal to the leader until the darkness had been vanquished and defeated.
And so he and many of the other Autobots had... which had eventually led the faction to come back together. They had stayed together solidly, even through the Quintesson invasion of Cybertron and the retreat to Earth, and that had left them where they were now.

Could Grimlock have snapped the depression out of him that seemed to be brought on by the evil matrix? Maybe. Wierder things have happened in my lifetime.

Trailbreaker stared for a moment, blue optics fixed carefully on the dinobot leader as he lifted Optimus and retreated inside Fort Max. A smile spread across his facial features and his optics brightened.

"I can't explain all of it Crosshairs, but I think we're about to get our fire back."

He slipped a hand over his partner's shoulder. "Come on. No need to be concerned right now- we'll find out more in good time. Let's get these weapons salvaged."
-----------------
-----------------

Spike gave Fortress a grin in response as the repaired sections flashed positively. Then he noticed the rest of the damages and got a concerned look.

"Hey Fortress, are you okay? Do you need to go for repairs?"

[Zisteau]

Earth Orbit:

After a long and arduous journey, the shuttlecraft nears its destination. Five mini-vehicle Autobots will soon be reunited with their comrades and fellow soldiers in arms. Earth now looms large in their viewscreen.

Bumper: "There it is."

Huffer welds a plate shut on the side of the wall, ceaselessly trying to keep the shuttle in one piece. "Yeah, Earth. Oh boy, great. Nowhere else I'd rather be."

Outback: "You'd rather be stuck on this shuttle?"

Huffer: "Allright, you got me there."

Bumper: "I'm picking up some signals here." The panel Bumper is manipulating hums and beeps. "Okay...looks like one signal. Its the Maximus!"

Powerglide: "Where's Metroplex?"

Bumper: "I don't know. I'm not getting anything other than this one signal."

Pipes: "Fine, we'll land there. I'm sure we'll get filled in on what we've missed after we land. Bring ship into landing pattern." The shuttle swerves slightly and heads down towards the planet. Pipes jabs a button on the console, but nothing happens. He grunts in annoyance and jabs it several more times. "Why can't I open a com-channel to alert them we're coming?"

Huffer: "Oh, yeah, that. Um, you know our communications system?"

Pipes: "...yeah."

Huffer: "Well we haven't got one. Lost it ages ago when we were getting shot at by those strage aliens."

Outback: "The big, stiff metal aliens?"

Huffer: "No, the crab ones."

Outback: "Ah....yeah they were nasty."

Pipes: "Great. Hope Fortress doesn't think we're hostile and shoot us out of the air." The ship enters Earth atmosphere and begins bleeding off speed. The outer hull turns orange and begins to glow as the interior heats up noticeably. Just then, the engine gives out and dies.

Powerglide: "Ah, great. Terrific timing."

Pipes: "We might want to strap down." Pipes straps himself in and the others follow suit. "Huffer, can you do something about the engine?"

Huffer: "Yeah, toss it out the airlock. It's useless." Huffer nevertheless gets up and pries off an access hatch and goes to work.

Powerglide: "Maybe I should get out and push."

Outback: "Very funny."

The starboard engine rumbles weakly back to life, thrusting in reverse. Huffer: "Well, that's something. We've got about 20% power."

Bumper: "We're still coming in too fast. We have to slow down or we're slag!"

Outback points. "Look, there he is, Fort Max. And uh, the big guy is getting bigger really fast."

Pipes: "Huffer! Strap yourself in, we're going to crash!"

Huffer: "Slag that! Almost have the other engine...on...line!" The port engine comes to life, but just as weakly as the starboard one. Huffer rushes to his seat and straps in. "That should do it."

Pipes: "Still isn't going to be pretty." Pipes wrestles frantically with the controls, trying desperately to pull the ship's nose up. "Looks like we're going to hit just to the side of the Maximus. Oh, no. Look, I can just make out Autobots standing there! Hopefully they'll get out of the way. Brace yourselves, we're going down!"

Outback: "Yeeee Haw!"

[OOC note for anybody's tfs currently outside of Fort Max: I'll wait a bit before reposting to give people time to get their tfs out of the way. If you don't, I'll just assume you weren't in the path of the crashing shuttle.]

[Heinrad]

Medbay, Fort Max:


Minerva: -working on Omega Supreme- "What a mess."

Brainstorm: -working on Omega Supreme- "You can say that again." -pulls out a burned out component from Omega's chest- "I hope he's not going to nearly get himself killed every time he goes into battle. Almost as bad as a giant version of Chromedome...."

**********************
Outside:


Chromedome and Hardhead: -having watched the whole fight, then watched Grimlock apparently explain it all-

Hardhead: "What do you think?"

Chromedome: "I think things were simpler in the old days. The most we had to worry about was Scorponok, his men, his Targetmasters, our Targetmasters, and Sixshot."

Hardhead: "You're just upset because you can't swear dread vengence over this."

Chromedome: -sighs- "You swear it because Ultra Magnus dies, and they never let you forget it......"

Hardhead: -starts ticking things off on his fingers- "You also swore it over the death of Avalo, the theft of that power satellite, that day you tripped over Wheelie, Blaster playing his music too loud, Galvatron nearly killing us all on Mars, the destruction of Mars....." -trails off-

Chromedome: -giving Hardhead a look that makes Hardhead glad that looks can't kill, grates out- "Finished?"

Hardhead: "I think so."

Chromedome: "Thank you....." -hears something, looks up- "You know, Hardhead, given our luck with shuttlecraft, if it wasn't for the fact that I know we're not on a shuttlecraft right now, I'd say we were on our way down."

Hardhead: -looks up- "Autobot or Decepticon?"

Chromedome: "Crashing."

Hardhead: "Good point."

Chromedome and Hardhead: -move out of the way of the shuttle's crash point, pull their guns-

************************
Warehouse District, Portland:


Tracks: -still sitting there, retracts his guns, waiting for backup, wondering what do do about the unconscious carnapper-

************************
Outskirts of Denver:


Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead: -rolling down the road-

Hosehead: "Aren't we a little conspicuous?"

Nightbeat: "With all of the rioting? Nah." -pauses for a moment- "I might have to worry about getting carjacked, but you two should be fine."

[optimusskids]

Wideload moved into medbay , reluctant despite his knowledge that there was something wrong with him , he liked medics as people, individuals , it was just en masse , he couldn't shake the feeling that they were butchers , there was the time with those decepticreeps , they ruined his bodywork.

Then there was the scraplets who'd tried to eat his bodywork and RAAT who'd crushed his bodywork , and the human from RAAT who'd saved him , that was probably the most humiliating experience , him a Autobot Warrior, being turned into a toy , a plaything of young humans . What a fate for an autobot

Then there was the decepticreeps who'd tried to crush his bodywork when he was in toy version.

Finally he'd been rebuilt , given a new body. The medics were
" we haven't the resources to bring back your Cybertronian body . He'd accepted it that time for the good of the unit .

Then there was the Underbase Starscream 's lil god episode. Did We get a chance to get in the fight no blown to Smithereens before we could transform Slaggit.

Now here he was back in the body that oil smear Ratbat
had provided him.


He moved into medbay

Deep in his processor's Trojan monitored the situation with interest the subject was feeling rage extreme rage, that was good , it left the host vulnerable , they were now enetring medbay it was teaming with targets , medics all over the place he would wait his opportunity, monitor the situation and then strike .

[Reflector]

Skyfire forced a weak grin at Hoist, reached a hand up to the mechanic, and struggled painfully to push himself up.

"I will do what I can to help..."

****

Roadhandler chuckled easily at Big Daddy. He shook his head slightly, folded his arms over his chest, and took a few casual steps toward the other Micromaster.

"You're a fragger, ya know that? We got better things to do, but I run a recon unit. Prime'll do without me for a bit... All right. Half hour, route 9 in the town south. Don't chicken out."

With a glance to Greaser, Roadhandler turned, transformed, and raced through the door into the courtyard.

********

Metroplex: Halls

Ultra Magnus continued to stalk down the halls, guiding himself by his fingers on the walls. He was too tall to avoid the smoke near the ceiling without slowing himself down considerably, but it also meant he couldn't see. (Nor, similarly, was he aware of his follower.) Deciding that he hadn't learned much in his pursuits, Magnus turned on his radio.

"Autobots in Metroplex, this is Ultra Magnus. Give me a status report. If you've found injured, I want to know how many and where. If you're hurt and need assistance, forward your coordinates and I'll send help."

[Bombshell]

Greaser looked at Big Daddy. "You're in it now. You know that, right?"

Big Daddy turned to look at his friend. "Only if I lose. Go find Hubs and Trip-Up. I want them to be there when I finally whomp Roadhandler."

He started to walk off, pausing when Greaser asked, "You mean if the rest of the Race Track patrol try something stupid."

Big Daddy kept walking without a second thought. Then he signaled Hubs and Trip-Up to meet him at the front gate in ten minutes.

[Warcry]

Light.

Burning light, melting away years of torment. Doubt, fear, regret...years of uncertainty, caused by evils from this world and beyond toying with his very spark. With the last of those evils banished, the emotions that they had seeded within him faded. They didn't disappear completely; they never would. They had been a part of him for too long, now, and they would always be there.

But he could no longer let them control him.

The light was the light of the Matrix, he realized, now fully a part of him in a way that he had forgotten it could be. It's wisdom, it's power, would help him control the demons that had been unleashed within him. All he had to do, he realized, was let it help him.

But even as that personal burden was lifted, another, greater one settled on his shoulders. It was the weight of the world, he knew, and he could no longer let others carry it for him.

Fortunately, it was a burden that Optimus Prime was used to bearing.
_________________________

Outside Fort Max

Prime's optics flickered back on, burning a brighter blue than they had in a long time.

"Put me down, Grimlock. I can walk."

There was neither anger nor doubt in his voice. Only steely confidence.
_________________________

Medbay, Fort Max

Red Alert pushed himself off the diagnostic bed, shaking his head. The headache was still bothering him, but the only way Ratchet could fix that would be to totally rebuilt Red's cranial circuitry.

The security officer pretended to admire his newly-repaired chest and arm. "Thanks, doc. No, nothing else. I'll see about helping Ironhide with his interrogation."
_________________________

Atop Metroplex

Crosshairs frowned. "You mean I might finally get to see the Optimus that you guys always tell stories about?" His tone was sceptical, but hopeful.

"Yeah, let's see to those guns." He lead Trailbreaker onto what had once been Metroplex's head and (while trying to ignore the morbidity of walking on a corpse's face) strode towards the huge disruptor that served as the citybot's left antenna. He pulled several simple tools from subspace and hoped that his field weapons-repair equipment would be enough to disconnect the huge cannon.

He flicked open his comlink.

"Crosshairs to Magnus. I'm up on top of the city with Trailbreaker. I'll have to take a closer look to be sure, but I think Metro's antenna disruptors are intact. We're going to disconnect them, but it'll take someone a bit bigger to haul them back to the Maximus."
_________________________

Streets, Portland

Hot Rod tore through the warehouse district, before spotting a mangled-looking Corvette that wore a hood decoration similar to his own. The young Autobot transformed, rolled forward, and came to rest on one knee beside Tracks.

"What's the story?"

[Sixswitch]

Three CR chambers in the medical area of Fortress Maximus slid smoothly open. Groove, Streetwise and First Aid stepped unsteadily out of them.

"We're alive," Groove said.
"It would appear so," Streetwise affirmed.
"Where are Hot Spot and Blades?" First Aid asked, examining the remaining CR chambers, finding them devoid of the other two Protectobots.

"Oh no," Groove said simply.
"Wait," Streetwise said, a lot more calmly than he felt. Then he opened a comm channel.

"Streetwise to Med Bay. First Aid, Groove and myself are online. Where are Hot Spot and Blades?" his tone, while seemingly level, carried a great deal of urgency as well.