[Original RPG] Collapse: In the Presence of my Enemies (Protihex)

Ungla Cracker · Post by **Ungla Cracker** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:03 am

Medbay

Hoist still baffled reiterated his question,

“Come on guys! Is somebody here going to tell me what’s going on here!”

Post by **zigzagger** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:05 am

(OOC: Sorry about the length, folks. There's stuff here I neglected to cover earlier )

Steelhaven

"Just need to figure out where he's hidin' at?" Inferno answered Weirdwolf.

Inferno then stopped and looked towards the ceiling of the corridor.

"HEY COG!" he shouted. "Y'know where Cerebros is at? We need to talk to him."

"There is no need to raise your voice, Inferno," a voice replied over the ship's intercom system. "He is currently in the Medbay."

"Hmm, well, that ain't no place to talk about top-secret stuff," Inferno replied. "Have him meet us in that breifin' room place, could ya, Cog?"

"I will inform him," Cog told Inferno.

"Thanks," Inferno said, then spun on his heel to face Weirdwolf. "The Breifin' Room it is then."

__________

Steelhaven, Medbay

"That didn't quite answer my question, Jackpot, but very well," Cerebros answered the Actionmaster. "We will be expecting Blurr here shortly then. But, please do be careful. If you have been comprimsed, I would advise you return to the Steelhaven."

As soon as Cerebros ended the transmission, Cog contacted him.

"Sir, Inferno and Weirdwolf have returned from their mission at the Planning Office and wish to speak with you in the Breifing Room," Cog told him.

"Thank you, Cog, I will be there momentarily," Cerebros replied.

------

As Cerebros made his way towards the exit of the Medbay, along the way he noticed the standing Fortress Maximus - newly repaired and hooked up to various medical equipment - compelling him to stop. He approached the large transtector, admiring the work Ratchet had done.

"Yes, he's resisting. I assumed you might be able to figure out why," Ratchet answered Shockwave, noticing Cerebros from the corner of his optic. "Hmm, could you excuse me one moment, Shockwave..."

------

As Ratchet approached Cerebros, the Medbay door slid open and a drone rolled in, carrying an unknown mech in its arms. It placed the offline body down onto a slab near Shockwave, beeped, and then scurried off.

(OOC: Clogs, this would be Catalyst Dragon's character, I believe. I was under the impression Shockwave would recognize it.)

-------

Ratchet approached Cerebros, gently placing a hand on the Headmaster's back.

"That was what I was about to tell you before we were distracted," Ratchet calmly told him.

"You-you did a remarkable job, Ratchet," Cerebros replied. "Thank you."

"Well, I'm not one to boast, but yes," Ratchet grinned.

Following Ratchet's coded command, Fortress Maximus suddenly disengaged the various wires and tubes being fed into him and moved closer to the two Autobots.

"Fortress Maximus: Transform," Ratchet commanded, and in response, the transtector converted into its spacecruiser mode.

"I took some liberties - nothing drastic, of course - to improve Fortress Maximus' responsiveness, reliability, and energy efficiency according to his bulk and size by implementing advanced propulsion systems, vernier thrusters, and additional actuators to his rudimentary internal frame. I, uhhh, I won't bore you with the details, though. You will find all onboard computing, sensor and interfacing tech to be in functioning order, so accessing Maximus' technical specifications and back-up memory shouldn't be an issue."

"Fortress Maximus: Revert," Ratchet commanded, and once again, the transtector responded and transformed back into mechanoid mode. "That's gravity folded, tungsten alloy he's sporting, too. Not terrible heavy, it has far greater impact resistance than what he had before - well, it should withstand a building being dropped onto it, anyway. Also, weapon hardpoints are functional - all you need to do is drop by the armoury and reattach the respective weapon to its respective port."

"Impressive," Cerebros said.

"And that is that," Ratchet told him. "I'll leave you two be so you can get reacquainted."

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:08 pm

Medbay, Steelhaven

(OOC - I read ya, zigzagger...)

"I?" Shockwave said to Ratchet (emotional analysis: surprise). He had come to expect a good deal of trust, but this was exceptional. He was acutely aware that, should anything go amiss, he could well be blamed by some of the more volatile elements among the Autobot faction.

However, there was Hoist. "Major repair work on Fortress Maximus is complete," he began. "There is now the matter of Perceptor, which I wish to raise to your attention."

He stepped aside as a drone carefully deposited an offline mech on an examination slab. Idly, he scanned the casualty in case repairs were critical and found he recognised this particular configuration (emotional analysis: horror).

"Sucker Punch." It was no question, only a flat statement of fact.

Post by **Warcry** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:30 pm

Warehouse

"Sounds ambitious," Swindle told Wingspan. "What kinda help would you be expectin' from us? And what's our cut of the profits?"
________________________________________

Templar Heights

Spinister nodded. "We'll be behind you."

He turned to Wheelie and said, quietly enough that he wouldn't be overheard, "Please keep a close optic on Freeway. I think he'll be useful but I don't want him to endanger the mission with his antics."

optimusskids · Post by **optimusskids** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 4:05 pm

Warehouse

Wingspan nodded

"W-w-well w'ed want you to front the project with N-needlenose's assistance. As for profits w-we thought 60-40."

Springer85 · Post by **Springer85** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 4:43 pm

Templar Heights

Wether Blurr called him Crosshairs to make fun of him or if Blurr was confused, Pointblank couldn't tell. Which ever was the case though, Pointblank decided that it would be better to just ignore his comment. Peacemaker transforms to gun mode into Pointblank's hand. "I'm ready."

***

"You won't have to worry about me," Freeway said in reply to Wheelie and Spinister. "It's a good thing you seperated me from that speed freak. I'm going to do this job to the best of my abilities. Let's start blowin' stuff up!"

Post by **zigzagger** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 5:33 pm

Steelhaven, Briefing Room

"Nope, no one in here either," Inferno said as he entered the empty briefing hall, Weirdwolf (OOC: not doubt) closely behind. "Hrrm, now where's that Cerebros at? I'm gettin' restless."

Taking his seat, Inferno flicked the datacard they retrieved from the planning office down onto the circular conference table. Leaning back his chair, Inferno tossed his arms behind his head and kicked his feet onto the table as he waited for the ship's captain to arrive.

_____________________

Steelhaven, Medbay

"Hmm? Yes, Perceptor, of course," Ratchet answered Shockwave. "Let's get started then."

But, before he could run off to retrieve Perceptor's stasis pod, Shockwave uttered the words "Sucker Punch", much to Ratchet's confusion.

"Beg your pardon?" he inquired, before noticing the medbay's recent arrival. "Ah, a new patient. I didn't see this one being brought in. You know who this is?"

-------

"I can hear Fortress Maximus once more. It has been cycles since my unfortunate encounter in downtown Protihex. It certainly felt like it was longer than that. And even though Ratchet managed to repair me shortly afterwards, the mental bond that I had grown quite accustomed to between Fortress Maximus and I had been abruptly cut. For awhile, though I could no longer "hear" Fortress Maximus, I could feel the loss of him. A sensation much akin to what Earthlings might refer as a phantom limb. Yes, that describes it quite succinctly. Now - to put Ratchet's hard work to good use...."

Looking up at the transtector before him, Cerebros leapt to the air, transformed and combined with Fortress Maximus. The large Autobot stood idly while the two beings reacquainted themselves, allowing their minds to mesh and become one.

For now, that would be all the re-familiarizing he would allow himself, however, as Fortress Maximus was already moving towards the exit of the medbay.

"I apologize, but I have business elsewhere in the ship," he told Shockwave and Ratchet. He politely nodded at Gnaw and Hoist, then took his leave.

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:27 pm

Templar Heights

Wheelie looked up into Spinister's faceplate and theatrically face-palmed; Freeway was a right pain, but he had excellent audial systems...On the plus side, he would be a useful comrade... and then Freeway ruined even that positive by enthusiastically embracing the concept of noisy destruction.

"If this guy comes with me," the small 'bot muttered (not attempting to be too quiet about it). "Real trouble Wheelie see."

~~~

Mirage lay on his ventral presentation and wiggled forwards. Not the most dignified process, but one he had employed many times to hunt game and infiltrate Decepticon strongholds. It was all a matter of staying below the scanners, like jets dropped down to avoid radar.

Ungla Cracker · Post by **Ungla Cracker** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:14 am

Steelhaven, Medbay

"Who he is?” Hoist immediately began a diagnostic on the unknown mech “soon to be who he was, unless we move quickly” he shouted at Shockwave and Ratchet with an air of urgency.

“Unless……” as Hoist began preparing his tools, looking at Shockwave “unless you don’t want him to be reactivated” he quizzed.

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:44 pm

Medbay, Steelhaven

With both Ratchet and Hoist asking about Sucker Punch, Shockwave had no option but to respond; how he regretted his identification of the otherwise nameless mech.

"Damaged unit is known to me," he said emotionlessly, although he was still reeling. "He was a member of the Decepticon forces once under my command, but contact was lost during a mission into Uraya and no spare resource was available to attempt recovery."

And he would have recovered Sucker Punch, had it been at all possible. There were certain... loose ends he would rather not have been forced to leave loose.

"Intervention recommended to prevent terminal deactivation cycle."

Shockwave told himself intervention was logical. He needed to know what had happened long ago and whether there were any potential repercussions in motion. Besides, he could not very well refuse assistance for Sucker Punch without arousing either contempt or suspicion.

optimusskids · Post by **optimusskids** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:53 pm

Templar Heights

Pounce looked at Jackpot.

"See if you can obtain a holo projector and any drilling equipment they might have."

Ungla Cracker · Post by **Ungla Cracker** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:17 am

Medbay, Steelhaven

Hoist had already begun work to repair Sucker Punch. His diagnostic had
shown the mech was heavily damaged. Perhaps too damaged for Hoist to repair, help was required.

“Well you two, don’t just stand there!” (Ratchet and Shockwave)

“Preceptor can wait lend me a servo! Do we know anything about his design that may help us out or watch out for?” Hoist momentarily paused in his work and looked up at Shockwave.

“So let me get this straight, YOU cons sent this guy on some mission in the middle of no where and didn’t bother to pick him up when he was finished? Pardon my bluntness but do you think this fellow is going to be happy to see you when he wakes up?”

Hoist lowered his gaze and continued repairs.

Post by **Warcry** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:51 am

Warehouse

"Numbers like that don't mean much," Swindle told Wingspan. "Not until we've hammered out who's responsible for input costs, hiring the casts and crews, vetting the scripts, and stuff like that. No point agreeing to a cut of the profits if I'm expected ta do twice as much of the work, you know?"
________________________________________

Templar Heights

Spinister ignored Freeway's snivelling, only stopping for a fraction of a second to wish he had a proper Decepticon infiltration unit at his disposal before turning back to the task at hand.

"Be that as it may," he told Wheelie, "I would rather have you watching him than let him wreak havoc on our mission unsupervised."

With that, the Decepticon activated his cloaking device and followed Mirage, his internal sonic dampeners making it impossible to hear his movements.

He was briefly tempted to fall behind Freeway and fire one of Hairsplitter's pinpoint laser beams through his skull, but Spinister was never one to let his personal desires take precedence over his duty.

optimusskids · Post by **optimusskids** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:26 am

Warehouse

Wingspan looked straight at Swindle.

"You know full well that their is a whole industry here which will do all the little tasks for you. You will employ a professional.We will cover all your costs within reason. You will recieve 60% of the profits. You and Needlenose will ensure that the end product will be popular and is accurate to Imperial methods and training."

Airazor · Post by **Airazor** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:07 am

(OOC: Sorry, Springer85, the error was on my part, not the characters'.)

Templar Heights

Jackpot: "Will do, Pounce." -opens commlink- "Blurr, see if you can get a holo-projector and drilling equipment."

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

Steelhaven

Blurr: "SayWhat?" -skids to a halt, transforms and steps into the Steelhaven-

Haywire: "They want drills and holo-thingies."

Blurr: -nods, opens commlink- "Cerebros where are you this is Blurr I've arrived on the Steelhaven to pick up the cargo."

Aero Blade · Post by **Aero Blade** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:18 pm

Templar Heights

"Yeah, it's an idea," Aero Blade responded to Arrowhead, sounding very unsure. "But for how long? We'd not really have any idea when and where those things will go. If I duck into one that winds up getting sold to the Decepticons, then I"m no better off with them than I was here."

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:16 pm

Templar Heights

There were two Space Mafia operatives lingering nervously at the foot of the great entrance ramp, excluded from the safety above simply due to their duty. They were both on edge, nervous, clutching wide-angle dispersion rifles as they crouched low in the shadows cast by the bulk of the hillside.

Mirage found them...

He briefly decloaked, saving power, as he scanned for any further out-stationed units. It seemed, however, that he was quite alone, so he kept to the same shadows the Space Mafia had hoped would hide them and began to slink along to the nearest waste outlet. It was, he knew, no more than a low archway out of which waste coolant fluid seeped from the Height's power room, but it would allow access.

~~~

"We go together," Wheelie told Freeway with some grimness. "We make it back. Don't give Wheelie any flak!"

The small survivalist dropped to his hands and knees, scurrying away like a strange orange beetle.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Medbay, Steelhaven

"Sucker Punch was simply obeying orders," Shockwave informed Hoist as he picked up a small, blade-edged spanner and ignored most of the Autobot's challenge. "Note: his primary relays are quintal in design and sub-systems are tied, which may result in loop feedback unless isolated. Do you understand?"

Airazor · Post by **Airazor** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:37 pm

Templar Heights

Jackpot: -watches Wheelie scurry away, admires the minibot's courage and confidence- "So, Pounce, when do we set off?"

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

Steelhaven

Blurr: -taps foot impatiently on the floor quickly- "Cerebros you there? We've been discovered I'm afraid and Pounce wants those explosives and holo-thing and drill for distraction purposes and-"

Haywire: "Be patient."

Post by **zigzagger** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:59 pm

Steelhaven, Corridors

Fortress Maximus walked swiftly down the intersection of halls, on his way to meet Inferno and Weirdwolf in the Briefing Room. It proved to be somewhat of an exercise, though, as the new joints throughout his body were a bit stiff. Still, it felt good to be whole once more, Maximus thought to himself. As he turned a corner, Blurr’s urgent call came through, who had arrived on board moments earlier.

“Yes, Blurr, I am here,” Fortress Maximus answered. “I have important business in the briefing hall. I will meet you if it is imperative, otherwise go to the ship’s armoury. The equipment your unit requires will be there. But, as I told Jackpot earlier, if your detachment is in danger, I would strongly advise you all return to the ship.”
______________________

Steelhaven, Medbay

Ratchet listened to Hoist and Shockwave, tapping his finger to his chin and nodding.

“Not that I am justifying it, but in times of war, sometimes we are required do things we don’t always find favourable,” he told Hoist. “I’m sure Shockwave would have retrieved him had he the resources to do so. Isn’t that right, Shockwave?” Ratchet slyly added with a wink.

Ratchet examined Sucker Punch, determining the extent of the recently arrived patient’s damage, and in particular, noticing the rather familiar exterior design.

(OOC: If someone can PM me the extent of Sucker Punch’s damage that would help out a lot, otherwise I’m going to pass it off as “damage caused by rubble falling onto him” )

“Hmm, an interesting model choice. Though the components housed within are markedly distinct, on the surface he bears a striking resemblance to Bluestreak’s base-design. I won’t even bother to ask why that is,” Ratchet mused out loud, then looked back up to Shockwave. “By the look of it, after sustaining critical damage, his body simply went into stasis lock in order to prevent irreparable damage to his primary relays and laser core. Call it a sort of self-preservation protocol. What is damaged can be easily mended, since the parts needed are readily available here.”

Ratchet gestured towards the rows of stasis pods in a far off corner of the large room.

“I am more than willing to assist you, Shockwave, if we are willing to put Perceptor’s revival on hold,” Ratchet told him. “Or, I leave it in your capable hand(s), seeing that this is, to put it rather bluntly, a construct of yours. I am certain Hoist here would be eager to help you.”

optimusskids · Post by **optimusskids** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:05 pm

Pounce smiled.

"once Blurr returns we will commence our artillery barrage. the criminals will suspect a diversion. We will give them something to find we will use the holotransmitters to mimic Nosecone and Twintwist and allow them to see them. we will make them think we are trying to go underneath."