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

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Post by Clogs »

Medbay, Steelhaven

"Without doubt..." Shockwave nodded to Cerebros and stepped closer to Gnaw, who retreated until his back was against the wall, expression as blankly stupid as any Sharkticon could manage without undue effort. "Most unexpected..."

And what does it signify?

"I was unaware that any of this kind possessed a recording system or, indeed, the necessary type of neural wiring."

----------------------------------------------------------------
Templar Heights

With Pounce running beside him, Mirage did not intend to be out-distanced by something on four legs and kept neck-and-neck, thankful in many ways for his muffler system. Wheelie, not so involved in the race, was the first to spot Spinister waving.

"Nearly there - take care," he warned.

Mirage so wanted to get there first, but he had to face practicalities. "Get ready to jump out," he said, slowing.
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Post by Warcry »

Warehouse

"Eh, let 'em in," Swindle told Road Hugger. "I'm expectin' them."
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Post by Airazor »

Templar Heights

The rocketing Blurr, with Haywire inside him and Jackpot hanging on for dear life on his back, decelerated and screeched to a slower speed next to Mirage and Pounce. "Hello, guys what are we supposed to do now?"

Taking advantage of the slower speed, Jackpot hopped off Blurr. "Damn. You're a menace to everyone on the road." Sight squawked and landed on the Action Master's shoulder. "If only I could transform."

Blurr saw Spinister wave, and shot off towards the Decepticon.
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Post by zigzagger »

Planning Office Ruins

With an unidentified mech hanging limply from his shoulder, Inferno climbed his way back through the tunnel. Upon reaching topside, Inferno opened a com channel.

"Better call the folks back at the 'Haven 'bout our friend here," he told Weirdwolf.

Inferno waited a moment as his transmission went through until Cog answered.

"Steelhaven command centre," Cog said. "State your business, Inferno."

"Sure thing. Wolfy here found a body buried underneath what's left of the Planning Office," Inferno began. "Looks like it's been here for awhile. Can't get a ID or anything, but there's definitely spark activity. Not sure if you folks got some kind of quarantine or somethin' on that there ship, just figure I'd ask you first before bringin' this bot aboard. Here, I'll stream you the details."

Inferno stood idly once more as Cog examined the information sent to him.

"Permission granted," Cog responded.

"Cool," Inferno said.

Carefully he transformed into his firetruck mode, allowing the offline mech to secure itself onto the vehicle mode's ladder.

"Guess were done here. See yah back at the ship," Inferno told Weirdwolf, then rolled off back towards the Steelhaven.

_________________________________

Steelhaven, Medbay

"Hmm, fascinating. Perceptor's doing perhaps?" Cerebros answered Shockwave. "And if so - why? Gnaw..." Cerebros then calmly asked the Sharkticon. "Are you able to do, well, what you just did again?"

----

Meanwhile, as Cerebros and Shockwave continued to puzzle over Gnaw, Ratchet lowered the industrial lift at Fortress Maximus' feet and climbed down. He wore a smirk on his face as he dusted off his hands. Fortress Maximus repairs were finally complete.

After examining the diagnostic equipment hooked up to the transtector, Ratchet walked towards Cerebros and Shockwave, who were still preoccupied, to relay the good news.
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Post by Blackjack »

Combaticons' Warehouse

Road Hugger nodded at Swindle's reply, and said to Wingspan and Needlenose. "You're good to go. Swindle would be waiting for you in his, um, office." He said.
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Post by Springer85 »

Templar Heights

Freeway comes driving up to the rest of the crew and after making a screeching entrance, he transforms. Packing a lot of heat, you would think that he had been shopping at Explosives R Us. He gives Blurr and Jackpot a look and thinks for a moment about talking to them or not. He decides to do so anyway, just because he thinks he hasn't annoyed them enough today. "Well well, if it isn't Blurr and the Nonformer! Get it? Nonformer? By the way Blurr, how's the foot?" Freeway says as he chuckles. "Old age give you rust! Hahaha!"

Freeway leaves them alone for now. Too many remarks like that in a row could result in a riot with him being the center point of it. Definately not his thing.

Freeway looks at Spinister, Mirage and Wheelie. By Primus. Wheelie, he thinks. We´re all gonna die... Freeway sees Pointblank arriving in the distance and Freeway then takes another look at the bots gathered here. "Quite the army we have gathered here," Freeway says to nobody in particular, but to those that might listen. "So what's the plan?"
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Post by Clogs »

Medbay, Steelhaven

Gnaw, capable of rushing boldly and recklessly into a fight, did his level best to scramble through the wall blocking his retreat. He did not like having Cerebros looming like that and Shockwave conspired to loom even more by virtue of his historical enmity (the Sharkticon understood that Protihex = do not attack anyone unless ordered to, although he did not have the necessary nous to wonder why he understood it...).

"Always glad to help," he repeated dutifully, Perceptor's careful enunciation at odds with the unit delivering it.

Shockwave rubbed his 'chin' thoughtfully. "It is fruitless to speculate on Perceptor's intentions," he noted. "When he is, himself, here. Ratchet..." Turning, Shockwave saw that the doctor was already approaching. "...statistical probability of reviving Perceptor?"

-------------------------------------------------------------
Templar Heights

"So much for a covert intervention," Mirage whispered to Wheelie as he stood up, transforming.

Wheelie shook his head and slipped the poniard he had been holding away into his subspace pocket. "The more the merrier," he pointed out coldly. "Distraction maybe there."

Pounce, bounding, reached Spinister first and sat with a triumphant grin that irked Mirage as he approached and said, "We're ready, but what do you want to do with this lot? Their antics may blow this operation apart before we even begin - and there are lives at stake."
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Post by optimusskids »

Templar Heights

Pounce licked his lips

"I know what i,d do with them , just leave me alone with them for 2 minutes, unless you need them for something"
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Post by Warcry »

Warehouse

"Thanks bunches, Huggy-boy," Needlenose said to Road Hugger. "We're inbound."

He transformed and landed outside the warehouse's main door and waited for Wingspan.
________________________________________

Templar Heights

"The plan," Spinister said coldly, "was for you to wait until we had surveilled the enemy base."

He jerked his head toward a nearby cross-street, where someone was shouting and pointing toward them. Without looking over, he aimed Hairsplitter in the offending party's direction and cut him down.

"Obviously, the plan won't work now. Thank you very much for that."

He briefly considered letting Pounce have his way with the unwanted helpers, but the deem thrummmm of the Mafia's shield generators coming online cut off that line of thought. He quickly queried his internal database of Autobot personnel and identified Blurr, Jackpot, Freeway and Pointblank. After taking a few moments to digest the information he had on them and their abilities, he said, "New plan.

"Mirage, Wheelie, Freeway and I will infiltrate the enemy compound through the sewers. Once we're in, Wheelie and Freeway will identify any civilians, hostages and slaves the gangsters might be holding and get them out of the line of fire. Meanwhile Mirage and I, under cloak, will start sabotaging anything we can and killing anyone who's wearing a sidearm, to the extent that we can without getting detected.

"Pounce, you'll take command of the rest of the group and lead an assault on the outer defences. You don't have enough firepower to break through, but you'll pose enough of a threat that they'll send most of their fighters to deal with you. That should be enough to let either Mirage or I get to their shield generators and start blowing them up."
________________________________________

Arrowhead heard the shields turn on and, moments later, the keening whine of the compound's security alert.

"Someone must have noticed you were missing," he told Aero Blade. "Quick, follow me! I'll find somewhere to hide you."
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Post by Blackjack »

Combaticons' Warehouse

"Huggy-Boy?" Road Hugger growled in disgust as he terminated the conversation. "Frag you, 'Nose." he grumbled after making sure the Targetmaster would be out of earshot.
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Post by Springer85 »

Templar Heights

Freeway looked at Pounce, who was licking his lips. Man, these Decepticons creep me out, he thinks. It's as if that bot wants to eat me.

Freeway looked over at Spinister who responded to his question. "Hey, look. Crosshairs told us to come here. Since he is a higher ranking officer than I am, I followed orders. Don't blame me for following orders when I have no clue what the plan is. Maybe you should blame yourself. Had you told the rest of us what the plan was, we wouldn't have been here. I think I smell incompetence."

Freeway knows that he is walking on thin ice after a comment like that, but being who he is, he can't help himself to say things like that. After hearing the plan, Freeway scratches his head. The sewers and Wheelie?! Lame!

***

Pointblank listened to Spinister's new plan and nods. "Affirmative."

Pointblank processed the new plan and assessed the situation. He looked at Blurr and then back at Spinister. "Not questioning your plan Spinister, but wouldn't it be better to take Blurr? He can get any civilians, hostages or slaves out much faster than any of us can." Pointblank said.

so... taking orders from a Decepticon..., he thinks. I don't think I can get used to that, but for the sake of justice, for the sake of Pinpointer, I'll comply, for now.

Pointblank looked over at Jackpot and Sights. Remembering Jackpot being insecure about his abilities he says: "Jackpot? Are you ready for battle?"
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Post by Aero Blade »

Templar Heights

This had been the last thing he'd wanted, getting someone else in trouble over him, but there was little that could be done about the matter now. Keeping pace with Arrowhead he followed along trying to stay out of sight of anyone who might be looking for them.
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Post by optimusskids »

Templar Heights

Pounce barked a whispered command low and growly

"My mechs fallout and gather round me now."
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Post by Airazor »

Templar Heights

Haywire: "Did we do something wrong? We disrupted the mission, didn't we? Great. Just great."

Jackpot: -turns to Freeway, gives him an icy glare- "Nonformer? At least I'm not someone who gets his brain trapped in a toy car." -turns to Pointblank and grins- "I'm ready-"

Sights: -transforms into gun mode, drops into Jackpot's hands-

Jackpot: "-and willing."

Blurr: -glares at Freeway, speaks in a cold, slow way, which is creepy for Blurr- "Searchlight. How are you?" -turns to Spinister, speaks in 'normal' voice speed- "Don't mind the little Throttlebot, Spinister. He's delusional. So, do I follow your group or Pounce's?" -resists urge to tell Spinister to throttle Freeway-

Haywire: -transforms int gun mode, latches onto Blurr's right hand-

Jackpot: -strides towards Pounce- "What's the plan, chief?"
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Post by Clogs »

Templar Heights

Mirage raised his chin in that kind of way that made so many of his fellow Autobots think of him as supercilious. "That has been done so many times, Spinister, rather like crawling along air ducts..." He relaxed, gave a quick smile and went on: "The recycling facilities were, in the days Iacon held the Heights, guarded by auto-sentries. Unless our unwanted 'guests' have managed to reprogramme them, I should have the command codes. If they have disabled them, I expect there will be some kind of physical presence in their place which you and I are the best equipped to handle."

For his part, Wheelie had an optic on Freeway, who seemed to have shot his mouth off without engaging cognitive processors. Honestly, the whole lot of them seemed pretty much to have acted the same... He wondered how Spinister would react and also wondered if taking this particular unit along was a bad idea - even if the original option had been Pounce.
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Post by zigzagger »

Steelhaven, Medbay

"Well, Cerebros - your extended self is..." Ratchet began to say, stopping short when Gnaw, now for the second time, spoke in Perceptor's voice. "...I'm afraid to ask. Did I miss something?"

But before Ratchet could ask further, Shockwave inquired about Perceptor's status.

"Err, umm, statistical probability? Approximately 91 percent, I would say," Ratchet told him. "However, and rather curiously, my initial attempts to prompt him have been met with...resistance. And while he did indeed sustain severe cranial damage, I suspect some type of evasive, self-preservation program at work."

"Why the sudden interest, Shockwave?" He added. "Would this have anything to do with Gnaw here?"
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Post by optimusskids »

Warehouse

Wingspan transformed and landed next to Needlenose

Templar Heights

Pounce looked over Blurr , Pointblank and Jackpot and then he looked at the Shield.

"A full frontal assault is tempting but would be futile and probably fatal I believe we will require some equipment.

He thought for a moment

"Jackpot contact the Steelhaven aee if they hav any mortars or artillery in their stores you never know heh you might get lucky. See if you can get 4 pieces. What we will do is Bombard their position and that should lure them towards us. There is not enough power in our firearms to even threaten them otherwise."
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Post by Springer85 »

Templar Heights

Pointblank crosses his arms and his optics narrow. He takes his time assessing the current situation while listening to the orders that Pounce barked. Even though he's not happy about following the Decepticon's command, he won't cause any trouble and will follow every order to the letter. As long as it won't violate his own code. Being the veteran that he is, he has seen his fair share of betrayals and ambushes. He agrees however that a full frontal assault would be useless and nods in approval of the plan.

Pointblank looks over at Jackpot. "That good," Pointblank says in reply to Jackpot. "I'm sure that you'll do just fine. Remember, luck is on your side."

Pointblank isn't much of a talker, but hopes that what he said to Jackpot would at least give him a little more confidence in his own abilities. Pointblank then looks over at Freeway. He remembers the battle that they both were in on Xylonina where Freeway was killed. It wasn't his big mouth that got him in to trouble then, but if he doesn't watch himself, that will be the case now.

Pointblank looks down for a moment. He thinks to himself that he owes it to Freeway to keep him out of trouble as much as he can. In part, Pointblank blames himself for Freeway falling in battle back then. It was he that led the team into that ambush.

Hearing Freeway bickering with just about everybody Pointblank walks over to him and stands in front of him in a very intimidating way. "Freeway, shut up. You will do as you are told, and you will put a stop to your nonsense. Focus on the mission." Pointblank says with a stern voice.

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

"Oh wow, Jackpot! Good one!" Freeway says in response to his comment. At least my functioning is interesting enough for you to know that much about me! Nobody knows what the deal is with you though. Only thing we know about you is that you're lucky, and that's about it. I have more skill in one of my digits than you got in your entire frame!"

Freeway looks over at Blurr. "Delusional?! I'll show you delusional with my foot up your tailpipe!"

At that moment, Pointblank stand in front of him and after giving Freeway an audio receiver full he responds with: "Yeah sure, whatever." Freeway shrugs. "You guys are no fun at all..."
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Post by Warcry »

Warehouse

Needlenose rapped on the warehouse door, then let himself in. "Huggy? You in here?"
________________________________________

Templar Heights

"I very specifically told everyone what the plan was," Spinister told Freeway. "If you'd payed any attention when you were in the briefing room instead of looking for new ways to pester Blurr and Jackpot, you might have noticed. Now you can either stow your supposed 'wit' and do your job, or you can go back to the Steelhaven and try out your charms on Shockwave."

Turning to Mirage he said, "In that case, you lead the way. I'll leave it up to your discretion with path we take through the underlevels."
________________________________________

Arrowhead ducked behind a pile of construction debris and beaconed for Aero Blade to join him. It was only a temporary stopgap, though. He'd have to find a better place to hide, but he had no idea where.

"That's what you get for having your nose stuck in parts manuals all the time," he muttered to himself. "Now come on, Arrowhead...think!"
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Post by Blackjack »

Combaticons' Warehouse

Road Hugger grunted as he approached Needlenose and presumably Wingspan as well. "Hello, you two. Swindle will be seeing you shortly... somehow, I think I've been... promoted into Swindle's receptionist..." the ex-Micromaster said sarcastically as he led the way.

"Why does everyone call me Huggy nowadays?"
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