[New RPG] A House Divided: Iacon (Autobot)

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Aero Blade
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Post by Aero Blade »

Subterranean Maintenance Tunnels, Iacon

With his joints back in working order, Raiku would start to walk towards the junctures, talking a good look around.

"Keep your skidplate on, you're in my territory now," Raiku spoke cooly, ignoring Red Alert's seeming impatience as he scanned the immediate area. At the same time, from a compartment on the side of his chest plating, he'd pull out a portable data pad, starting to punch in information. "Triple branch juncture from single feeder...standard power conduits...type 5 ventillation..."

With that information, and a code number off one of the juctures, Raiku soon had a holographic map popping up from the embedded projector on the edge of the datapad. "Tada, underground Iacon."
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Post by Warcry »

Subterranean Maintenance Tunnels, Iacon

Red Alert glanced at the map that Raiku projected, immediately committing it to memory.

"Thanks," he told the technician. "So in your experience as an employee who works in these tunnels every day, what's the quickest, easiest way to get to the surface from here?" The security officer set his jaw, trying to hide his growing sense of unease. "Because that exit is almost certain to be a trap. The next two or three easiest as well, if our enemy has the resources. We'd need to pick a point of exit that he wouldn't suspect, and go there."

Red Alert worried for a moment that he was starting to exhibit signs of paranoia, but quickly dismissed the idea.

It's not paranoia when every networked piece of equipment on the planet is conspiring to kill you, he thought.
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Post by Blackjack »

War Room

"I'm pretty sure I won't." Sentinel snapped at Volks. "Done it lots of times before." But while Sentinel did not remove his hand, instead resting it on one corner of Volks' console, he did not pat the console as before.

"I am still worried. We have zero communications with the towns neighbouring Kaon. For all we know, the Decepticons might be imposing martial law... or worse." Prowl paced around the room. "Magnus is... not the highest priority at the moment. We need to get him back, yes, but Jazz can handle that. Sentinel, Kup, we all know how quick a military operation can take. Several deca-cycles. And if the Decepticons detonated some sort of... super weapon, like Tox-Energon? Or a weapon comparable to the Harvester? Praxus, Polyhex and the other towns may be in dire need of help! We need to mobilize now. The Elite Guard, the Lightning Coalition, we need to send them in."

"Everyone's mobilized, Prowl." Sentinel turned to look at his strategist. "You're... unusually tense."

"We're flying blind, Sentinel! In all senses of the word. We have no idea what's happening there, we have no idea what capabilities the enemy possesses, we don't even know whether Turbine's men in Praxus are even still alive!" Prowl raised his voice. The Autobot had enough sense of control to turn to the communications console and say, "Much appreciated, Wheeljack. Keep this channel open."
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Near Omega Supreme

Post by Brave Maximus »

The darkness of space was shattered by the lights of energy flares - weapons fire lighting up their little sections of space. Occasionally there would be the burst of light and flare, signalling a missle launch - followed by the explosion of their detination...

The space over Cybertron was as much a Warzone as the surface, but a little deeper out - it had remained relatively calm. That is, until a purple, maroon and white cybertronian ship surged through the black. It was deftly dodging the blasts, while the missles always seemed to veer off and miss. Behind it, in hot persuit, was a Deception frigate - it's orders were to capture the Transformer ahead, but it was proving an almost impossible to accomplish. He glided away each time, almost proving to be the ghost he was supposed to be.

Alpha Trion didn't have the time concentrate on opening Omega Supreme's access portal - instead, he opened his comm's:

"Omega Supreme and those currently on board. This is Alpha Trion, I am currently under heavy fire from a Decepticon capture team, and am requesting assistance and emergency docking clearance."
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Post by Warcry »

Omega Supreme

"Vessel: approaching," Omega Supreme rumbled, breaking the companionable silence that had descended between himself and Smokescreen on their long voyage. "Signal: incoming."

Smokescreen's optics flickered a few times before activating, as he'd deactivate them to better process the visual component of the latest war data tracks. Frankly, considering the horrors that the news updates had contained he was glad for the distraction.

"Do you recognize it?" Smokescreen asked.

"Affirmative," Omega said, surprise evident in his voice. "Passenger: Alpha Trion. Personal acquaintance: during great war."

"An old friend, then?" Smokescreen asked, his attention piqued. "Good. It'll be healthy for you to interact with someone from your previous life."

"Friendship: nonexistent. Fondness for Alpha Trion: nonexistent. Reaction to his arrival: indifferent."

Smokescreen suspected that was a lie, but didn't say anything for the moment. "Do we know what he's doing all the way out here?"

"Affirmative. In pursuit: Decepticon warship. Estimated arrival: twenty minutes."

"Ah. That's bad."

"Status: untenable," Omega agreed. "Energon supplies: insufficient to operate main batteries. Nearest Autobot forces: six hours."

Smokescreen winced. Before Smokescreen had convinced him to rejoin the world, Omega Supreme had been running on minimal power tended by an army of drones. Their trip sunward from the outer reaches of the system to Cybertron was taking months -- instead of cutting across the star system under the power of the war machine's massive-if-obsolete fusion drives in a matter of days, they'd had to rely on a low-power Hohmann transfer orbit.

"We have to help him if we can," Smokescreen said at last.

"Agreement: given grudgingly," Omega grumbled. Opening a comm channel, he transmitted to Alpha Trion, "Transmission: acknowledged. Docking permission: granted. Vector: 34 mark 18. Target: hangar bay four."

He deactivated the signal before the older Autobot could reply, falling silent. A few moments later, though, a deep rumble sounded from deep inside the vessel's core.

"What's that?" Smokescreen asked nervously.

"Combat drones: powering up," Omega told him grimly. "Decepticon boarding parties: anticipated."
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Post by Blackjack »

War Room

Just as soon as Prowl has finished his short outburst, all the lights in the War Room went out. "What the Vok-" Sentinel snapped, and in an instant the darkened room was brightened slightly by the azure hues Sentinel Prime's Energon-comprised Skyboom Shield flaring to life, followed by his energon lance.

The guards who were standing bored in the room immediately snapped back into attention, pulling out their sidearms.

"Security, this is Prowl! What happened?" The strategist snapped into his commlink, his headlights snapping into life like many of the Autobots equipped with similar ground-bound alternate modes. "Security!"

Sentinel made a low growl. "You, you and you, get the Pit to the security room and find out what happened. You, you, you and you- yes, you- get to the emergency power generators. The power should be up immediately if there's a power grid loss, and it isn't."

"It seems that we are under attack." Prowl said out loud. "If this was how they got our bases in Praxus... This is Prowl to all Autobots in the facility. We have a Code Red situation. Be on guard. Shoot to kill anyone not registered in the duty list."

"Warpath, Sky Lynx, Fortress Maximus, no one is to leave this building." Sentinel Prime snapped into his commlink. "Stop them by any means necessary, alive if possible. Be advised, we may be dealing with Minicons, organics, multi-changers or anything you've learnt in the Academy but never met before."

Prowl paced across the room, standing on the now-deactivated map of Cybertron, and pressed four seemingly random buttons on the keyboard, and the noisy hum of an old-fashioned crude energon generator filled the room, and the power began to slowly return in some of the computers, Volks' being one of them. The lights, however, remained off.

"Contingency plan." Prowl said out loud. "We have enough power for three days, and a shortwave generator that allows us to piggyback a civilian signal for communications. Volks, do you have access to the Extranet again?"

"I didn't know we had this." Sentinel said, frowning but nodding.

"As I said, contingency plan." Prowl replied. "Something I learnt from General Obsidian... always have a backup plan."

"But Praxus took you unawares." Sentinel said.

"True. Not that I do not have plans in place, but..." Prowl shook his head. "None of them... worked. None were that well thought-out in the first place. Additional troops, additional weapon caches... none of them would work well if communications are completely cut off."

"You don't have plans for a communications blackout?"

"All my backup signals and generators have been somehow jammed. It appears our adversary knows his way better. Tracks and Jazz's team are the only ones seemingly not affected by the jamming, though, so they must've gotten to my communication towers far faster than I thought."
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Iacon - "hidden" location

Post by Brave Maximus »

"Fortress" stood in the command center of the Maximus Battle Station. Currently it was in Garrison mode and being used as a temporary medical facility as needed, though at the moment, no one needed it. He looked around the room -The Maximus had successfully built a number of drones based on his old body, and was now using these Cogs as mainence drones. It was a little weird seeing himself running around with blank drone optics... but then again... it wasn't him any more.

His connection with the ship told him of the incomming message a nano-click before the console lit up. It was Sentinel...

Activating the comms, his response was simple

"This is Fortress - Negative."


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

Omega Supreme

Alpha Trion swooped through the darkness of space, heading for the docking bay Omega Supreme indicated. His speed increased, allowing him to get in a few minutes ahead of the Decepticons.... but it certainly wasn't a lot of time to prepair defences.

Landing, he transformed to robot mode and instinctually checked his Energon Saber's hit, making sure it's read.

"Omega I am greatful for your assistance, even after all these years. However... there are a group of Decepticons who would rather I work for them or cease to work for anyone... and I cannot allow that to happen. Too much depends on what happens next. Can you.... dissuade them from their persuit?"

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

Ginrai was meditating. He had been for a long time.... trying to find peace, trying to find his center. He was close, he could feel the pulse of his spark and trace it back... back to.....
Something whirred around him. In the chamber he had chosen for peace and quiet, drones were coming to life... combat drones. Standing up, he headed out, trying to find his way to Omega Supreme's Command Room.



(OOC: Guess I'm playing the Genericons, aren't I?)
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Post by Springer85 »

Arsenal

Prowl's transmission came and warned them of a Code Red situation. "Guess it was only a matter of time that the Decepticons would start knocking on Iacon doors," he said to Highbrow. "Let's hope that improvements we made to the defenses will work as planned."

Wheeljack scratched his head. "I just hope they won't shoot us since we're not officially Autobots and therefore not on the duty list," he joked.

Wheeljack contacted Volks. "Volks. The Sky spy has reached its target coordinates. You should be able to get a visual right now. I'll stream it to your console."

_________________

War Room

Volks was caught by surprise by the sudden power outage. "What the blazes?!" he shouted. He terminal went off for a moment, but then jumped back on and he immediately started checking to see if he had been hacked. After he completed his system check, he was glad this wasn't the case. His firewalls held up.

"I have a signal," he replied to Prowl, "but I'll have to secure it again just to be safe. I can inform you that my computer hasn't been hacked though. I'm still monitoring Jazz and his team and so far their signals are all in the green. Let's hope it stays that way."

Wheeljack's communication came in. "Thanks Wheeljack." He turned back to Prowl. "I can inform you that Wheeljack's birdie has reached Praxus. I have a live feed for you, if you're interested?"

Volks scratched his head. It was something about what Prowl said earlier that made him think. "Erm... Don't you think it's weird that of all the com channels we have, the only ones working are those that I set up?" Volks rolled his optics to Sentinel Prime. "And no. I didn't do this on purpose to prove my awesomeness."
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Post by Blackjack »

War Room

"Negative?" Sentinel Prime answered Fortress with a very audible annoyed tone in his voice. "Negative as in no one has gotten out of the building, or negative, you're not going to go as ordered?"

This is war, damn it! Why is no one cooperating with him? He's getting lip from Volks, from the supercomputer managing their extranet, and now Fortress is trying to be insubordinate too?

"This is a code red situation, soldier." Sentinel growled. "You better do as ordered, unless you have a good explanation for yourself."

Prowl ignored Sentinel Prime and immediately walked back up to Volks. "As long as it is secure. Jazz's team is competent enough to survive." The Autobot's optics narrowed. "Yes. A live feed would be great, would it not, Prime?"

"What would be great is actual soldiers that listen to orders without a damn attitude!" Sentinel replied snidely. "Stow it, Polks, you're here to hack, not-"

"Yes, a live feed would be good." Prowl told Volks, interrupting Sentinel, and narrowed his optics. "Put it on the main screen." The strategist then turned to face Sentinel. "Sir, with all due respect, Volks raises a very valid point. None of the communication channels work, unless those he set up independently. Do you think Soundwave may be compromised?"

Sentinel glared at Prowl, advancing towards him. "You know damn well that is classified. The last thing I need is you trying to be all wiseguy."

"This is a code red situation, sir. All due respect. And with Project Fortress compromised, you can assume everything we have under the tables have likewise been compromised." Prowl replied, unflinching.

Sentinel growled. "Fine. Be insubordinate." The Autobot leader, however, pulled out his communicator, and contacted Soundwave. "This is Prime. Is everything all right down there?"
_____________________________________

Emergency Power Generators, War Academy

Roadcutter walked up towards the power generators with the rest of the Autobots Sentinel Prime had assigned, and frowned. Where was everyone that was supposedly assigned here?

The burly Autobot knelt down next to the control panel. Someone deliberately shoved an energon knife numerous times through the panel. But who?

Roadcutter turned to regard his team. "Spread out in teams of two. I'll check the generators themselves. Sentinel wants-"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence as a glowing cube clattered down next to him, followed by a spherical object. "What the-?"

Someone shouted "GRENADE!"

The grenade ignited, and the explosion engulfed the energon cube, the concentrated energy amplifying the explosion... which in turn was large enough to completely demolish the five Autobots in the room, as well as at least one of the generators.
_____________________________________

War Room, War Academy

"THE PIT WAS THAT?" Sentinel Prime roared, his shield flaring even larger as he turned towards the direction of the explosion. To his credit, he showed no hesitation as he leaped between the noise of the explosion and the other Autobots in the room.

"Came from the generators." Prowl replied, forcing himself to be calm. "Broadblast, contact the team sent there!"

"I can't raise them. I just... lost their signatures." Broadblast lamented.
_____________________________________

Near Security Room, War Academy

"Watchtower, this is Graze. Respond."

"Watchtower, this is Graze. Respond, damn it."

Graze swore as he and the two other Autobots behind him reached the door of the Security Room. Watchtower was a former squadmate of his, and he couldn't just have dropped ball and gone radio silent. Prowl- sorry, Sentinel- chose Watchtower for security detail due to his moniker, given to him because he observes every single detail and has a concentration capacity like a computer, as well as keeping three commlinks with him at all times.

(Everybody knew Prowl was the one that managed troop distribution, but officially it's that prick Sentinel who you're supposed to thank for making all the right choices in duty designations.)

The door of the security room came up over the corner, and Graze didn't slow down. He slammed his elbow onto the door, knocking the door down. His optics already set for night-vision, the sight in front of him was one he dreaded, but expected.

Watchtower's head had been slammed onto the main security computer's panel, rendering it completely out of commission.

The rest of Watchtower was under the door Graze had just knocked down.

"Spawn of a-" Graze brandished his sidearm, and with a flick of his left arm he pulled out the rotor blades normally stored on his back. "Rampart, guard the corridor out there. Transmission, watch our backs. I'm going in."

Graze entered the security room, and swore as he opened a commlink to Sentinel Prime. "Prime, the security room's trashed. All the computers are out. Everyone's dead. And not just killed -- whoever did this is took his damn sweet time. Some damn psycho-"

"Those incompetent- bah. Be on guard, and I mean it. Someone just took out the other team." Sentinel's reply was not unexpected, but it grated Graze nonetheless. After all, while he's gotten used to Sentinel never appreciating anything anyone does, his friend just died here. His friend just died... Graze only processed Sentinel's warning after a short pause.

"What do you want us to do, sir-" Graze was interrupted by a loud sound, the sound that liquid makes when it gets pumped out of a pipe at high pressure. Transmission then screamed.

Graze cursed as he dashed out of the room, roughly pushing past Transmission, brandishing his gun. Transmission's only a rookie, and the type to freeze up in front of danger... but Graze himself couldn't make out the sight in front of him.

Rampart's body, minus head, stood in the corridor where he's supposed to stand watch... but his head was gone. The tubes that ran up to his neck sprayed out the energon that was supposed to go to his head. The body stood still for several seconds before collapsing onto the ground, spraying energon and mech fluid onto the walls and the floor.

"Contact! We have contact!" Transmission yelled into the commlink. "Requesting backup-"

Graze turned to face Transmission just in time to see the shadows behind the other Autobot seemingly swirl. A pair of purple hands materialized out of the shadows as Graze's optics adjusted and realized that those hands belonged to another being, coloured as black as the shadows. The hands clamped themselves onto the sides of Transmission's head...

And the other being laughed, before disappearing... along with Transmission's head.

Pop.

Everything's just gone, like they had just been sucked into nothingness.

Transmission's body stood, headless, and toppled forwards, likewise dead. Leaving nothing but the killer's unnervingly jolly laughter.

Then Graze saw flashes of purple on the peripherals of his vision... a brief swirl of colours... then knew nothing.
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Post by Springer85 »

War Academy, War Room

Kup shook his head. While Sentinel Prime raised a valid point about the soldiers around him being a bit insubordinatiem he wasn't surprised that they were. He had no problems with Sentinel in the past, because he was one of the few that he never was a jerk to, but most others weren't so lucky. Not to mention that Sentinel could be pretty inconsiderate from time to time. Good soldiers just gave their lives to protect the War Academy and he calls them incompetent.

Kup pulled his musket laser from subspace and walked towards the exit of the War Room. "We should go and investigate," he said to Sentinel. "It'll do us no good if we keep sitting on our skid plates here. We need to know what we're dealing with. Prowl can deal with things here. Shall we?" Kup said as he motioned to the door.

Prowl was always better at dealing with soldiers than Sentinel, because for some reason they respect Prowl. Right now the soldiers needed somebody calm to guide them in this crisis and not somebody that screams at them for failing. Besides, Sentinel as a much better field leader anyway so it'll do him good to get outside of this room too, Kup figured. Kup turned to Prowl.

"Send some guards to Arsenal so they can protect the inventors we pulled out of Kaon. There's a chance our attackers are here for them."

___________________

"Live feed is up on the main screen, boss," Volks said to Prowl. "Feed is a bit blurry, but it's the best we have right now." Volks leand towards Prowl a little.

"You know.... I have my suspicions about this Soundwave guy," he whispered. "I can create a program that sets up a bogus coms signal to Jazz and his unit. If it gets hacked, I'll almost instantly be able to identify the source. We'll at least know where we're being hacked from."
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Post by Warcry »

Docking Bay, Omega Supreme

"Negative," Omega Supreme told Alpha Trion. "Power reserves: depleted. Primary weapons: nonfunctional. Primary drives: nonfunctional. Shield generators: nonfunctional."

The hangar's outer door closed and the one-way forcefield that kept the atmosphere from escaping blinked out. Moments later, the inner door swished open to reveal a dozen combat drones, each of them shoulder-height to Alpha Trion and coloured in an array of gaudy colours.

(OOC: They're based on Omega Spreem, basically.)

Smokescreen followed the troupe inside, offering Alpha Trion a curt nod that showed absolutely no deference -- either he didn't know who the elder Autobot was, or he simply didn't have time to care.

"Sir, my name is Smokescreen. I'm the officer in charge." He pointedly didn't mention what he'd been put in charge of the station to do, or that his specialties were psychological rather than military in nature. "I'm sure Omega has brought you up to speed on our situation. We've locked down all the docking hatches, but the Decepticons will have expected that. They'll have to cut through the hull to board, but that'll only slow them down by a few extra minutes. I need you to come with me. We have to get you to a secure location."

Anyone who knew Smokescreen would be able to tell that he was play-acting, pretending that he knew what he was doing in the hopes that the older Autobot would do what he was asked without wasting precious time with questions. But anyone who didn't know him -- and wasn't as skilled as he was at mimicking and reading body language -- would see nothing but a firm, seasoned military officer.

If we survive this, he thought with a certain amusement, I'll have to ask Prowl what he thinks of my impression of him...

(OOC: We can each play a few 'Cons if you'd like. If nothing else they're probably in touch with Soundwave.)
_____________________________________________

War Room

"Please be more specific," Soundwave replied blandly to Sentinel. "What is this 'down there' to which you refer? I am in orbit, as you no doubt know. Thus the proper direction in reference to me would be 'up'. I can only assume you are referring to some other location."
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Post by Blackjack »

War Room, War Academy

Sentinel's eyebrows twitched. He had been handling snarkiness all day from Volks, from that Templar girl, even from Prowl. He didn't need this... this overglorified calculator to do the same.

"Is everything all right up there, then." Sentinel Prime managed to keep his tone relatively devoid of the annoyance he felt as he replied Soundwave. "Because right now we are not receiving any sort of communications from anywhere in the southern hemisphere... for, oh, the past hour or so. And it's imperative we re-establish communications with Praxus and Stanix. We are at a Code Red priority."

Prowl nodded approvingly, noting that Sentinel had not revealed Volks' existence. He isn't that stupid after all.

While waiting for Soundwave's reply, Sentinel turned to Kup and nodded. "I suppose you're correct." The Autobot leader allowed his Skyboom Shield to collapse to a more manageable size and for his energon lance to shorten to the length of a blade. "Prowl, as Kup said -- you'll deal with things here. All of you security detail and cadets -- except you, orange -- stand outside this room and form a perimeter. Unless it's me or Kup, turn anything that tries to get in this room into ash." Sentinel turned to Kup. "There may be more than one attacker, and we know for sure that our teams in the security center and the emergency power generators are hit."

Prowl nodded at Kup. "I have sent Cragleaper's team towards Arsenal."

Sentinel was about to exit the room when Volks put the image from Praxus on the main screen, and the Prime cursed very loudly and rudely. "What the Pit- Praxus is gone!" There were signs of large masses of purple and black Cybertronians marching through the streets, but worse... Praxus was actively burning. Smoke filled the air, buildings still burned... some of the Decepticons have left visible scars on the city through the city's topography. "How did this happen- Prowl! How did this-"

Sentinel whirled around to see a sight he hadn't expected to see.

Prowl was on his knees, optics wide, mouth hanging open slightly, a blank, vacant expression on his face. His datapad and stylus, both of which Sentinel has never seen leaving Prowl's person, had clattered down next to Volks' seat. "Praxus..." The Autobot strategist whispered. The voice was so weak, so tangible with defeat, that even Sentinel was slightly taken aback.
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Post by Springer85 »

War Room

Volks was shocked by the images from the live feed. He had never seen destruction on such a scale before, though he wasn't as effected as the others were by it. He looked at Prowl and saw the hopelessness in his face which shocked Volks more than the images from the live feed. Perhaps Prowl was from Praxus he wondered.

He got up from his chair and picked up the data pad and stylus that Prowl had dropped and put it on his desk. "Come on, boss," Volks said to Prowl while putting a hand on his shoulder. "We need you here right now. We're clueless at what to do if you don't get your head back into the game."

Volks turned to Network. "Network. Monitor the feed. Try to identify as many Decepticons as you can so that we can later track them down and bring them to justice when we can."

______________________________

Kup saw the live feed and was shocked. Just as everybody else was in the room. He has seen a lot of terrifying things in his lifetime before, but when it's on your home turf it always hits the hardest. Friends you once had are now gone.

Kup looked closer at the feed. "Don't think I've seen those types of soldiers before," he said about the Vehicons. "The Decepticons have quite a force at their disposal." Perhaps more than we can handle right now, he thought.

A smile appeared on Kup's face for a moment when he saw was Volks trying to help his commander snap out of it and how he was the first one to start thinking again. There may be hope for him yet.

"Volks, try to reestablish communications with Fortress and see if you can show him this feed too. Perhaps seeing this will convince him that we really need his assistance right now. Not for the sake of us, but for all the innocent live that are being lost right now."

"You got it, old timer," Volks replied.

Still no respect for his superior commanders though, Kup thought as he sighed.

"Let's wait until Prowl has regained his composure," Kup said to Sentinel Prime, "but we can't forget that we're under attack ourselves too. We need to deal with our intruders as soon as possible so that we can focus our attention back on anything else. If you want to stay here, I can understand. I'll go alone then."
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Post by Blackjack »

War Room

Prowl was still dazed as Volks talked to him. Words. He understood the words, but he filed them inside that part of his brain of 'things to sort through later'. Right now all he could process was Praxus' destruction.

He knew all the landmarks being destroyed. The crystal helix gardens, the engineering university, the grand legislature, the grand bazaar...

"Why..." Prowl managed to stutter out. Praxus was a city full of merchants and scientists. But it was no threat! It was of no strategic importance. Why would the Decepticons raze it to the ground such as this? To strike at them... how? Praxus is hardly a strategic zone... not as much as the other cities around it! To starve out Iacon and the other cities economically? Unfeasible. Praxus is too far and way too minor for such a thing to happen. Why why why why why why why

Sentinel nodded at Kup as he muted the channel to Soundwave. "Prowl." Sentinel said in a firm but not unkind tone. "Listen to orange. We need you in the game. NOW. Or do you want the people in Praxus to die in vain just because you can't be bothered to do what you do? You going to kneel there and cry all day long? Cause I don't need a weak crying coward right now. I need a cold, calm strategist who can help me win this damn war."

Prowl blinked, turned to face Sentinel Prime, then Volks, then nodded. He picked up his datapad and stylus, and stood up, face stiffening. All emotions have gone from his face. "I apologize. It will not happen again, sir. Volks." The strategist turned to face Volks, "Once you have reestablished communications with Fortress, set up that program you said that could intercept hacking attempts."

Sentinel Prime nodded, satisfied as Prowl returned into the game. "They seemed identical. More like drones." Sentinel said as one of the analysts magnified one of the images of the Vehicons from the Sky Spy on the screen. "But... they move with the precision of trained soldiers. We need Fortress. Volks, send the images."

"Please do not tarry on my account." Prowl told Kup and Sentinel in a very clipped manner. "I am fine now."

Sentinel looked at Kup and shook his head. "Prowl is fine, as he said. And this room is too well-guarded in case of an attack. Plus there are two locations to scout out. We need to both go. Broadcast, keep up a separate comm channel between Kup, myself and this room." Sentinel Prime's energon lance flared brighter. "Let's make these bastards pay."
______________________________

Network blinked as Volks addressed him. He wasn't sure what shocked him more -- Praxus' destruction or Prowl losing his mind. He never thought Prowl would do something like that... and he was glad at least one person was giving orders.

Sometimes it's good to have jerks among them. Network gave Volks a salute, "At once, sir." before continuing on to zoom in and work on identifying the Decepticons.
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Post by Chip1123 »

"It is good to know that the Sky Spy works as intended." Highbrow said loud enough for Wheeljack to hear, but mostly said to himself, giving himself something to think about and not let the destruction they were seeing over the Sky Spy get to him.

Turning to Wheeljack, "I hope that we are not their intended targets... And going off that assumption, What should we focus our attention on at the moment? Helping the shields operational? Trying to activate sensors and get more eyes on what is going on?"
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Post by Springer85 »

War Room

"On it, boss," Volks replied to Prowl's and Sentinel's commands. For once, Volks didn't give the Prime any lip. Seeing the images he just saw, Volks knows now that the situation is very serious. Especially when the one guy you didn't expect it from, caved in for a moment.

"Establishing contact with Fortress now," he said as he coded the transmission. "This is coms officer Volks contacting Fortress. I'm sending you a live feed of what is currently transpiring in Praxus and as you can see we can definitely use your help. Civilians are being slaughtered by Decepticons and we have no way of stopping them or at least evacuate the civilians. Can we count on your help?"

Volks turned around. "Contacted Fortress. We should be getting a reply from him soon. I'll start setting up the program. Shouldn't take long."

______________________

Kup nodded in response to Sentinel. "Been a while since you and I went on a mission together. I think the last time that happened was when we were stomping some Renegades, right," he asked as he walked through the dark hallway. "Let's check out the Security Room first. Perhaps we can get a lead on how many hostiles we're dealing with."

______________________

Arsenal

"Indeed," Wheeljack replied to Highbrow. "Glad an invention of mine doesn't blow up for a change. Praxus sure is in a rough shape though. Hope our friends are alright."

Wheeljack turned around. "We've done all that we can for the defenses of this base. Increased the reaction time of the turrets and the shield should be working properly. If we're really under attack right now, I don't know how they got past our scanners," he said with a puzzled look in his optics. "Maybe we can assist in helping tracking them down. You have any ideas?"
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Technically the blackout and everything was Soundwave, but Prowl didn't know that.

Post by Blackjack »

War Room

"Hmm." Prowl nodded at Volks in acknowledgement, whilst observing Kup and Sentinel Prime from the corner of his optics. He would do his best to assist them in apprehending their mysterious attackers before they do more damage.

But Prowl was not unprepared himself. If the attackers should come to the War Room -- and it is very likely that they do so -- they had to be ready.

There was a loud whir and click as Prowl's shoulder panels slid away, revealing two large missiles that mounted themselves on either side of Prowl's head. From a recessed compartment on his hips, a rifle was ejected and extended to full length.

Prowl took a gun from another Autobot and placed it next to Volks' table. "In case you need to defend yourself. The weapon is primed -- just shoot at the enemy. Aim for the head, or the spark chamber."

Prowl narrowed his optics. Fortress was never Prowl's first choice, but out of the few they could spare, he was the best. Prowl disliked working with Minicons. They were efficient laborers, yes, as befits their race, but they were unreliable. And they spoke in bleeping dialects that annoyed Prowl to no end.

The strategist sighed as he tapped his datapad against his chin. "Any progress on identifying the Decepticons, Network... or, more importantly, our people?"

Network blanched. "Sir... our garrisons were... all wiped out. And I mean all of them. I see the wreckages matching the description of the Elite Guard cadet force you sent to Praxus as well."

"Windsail's Detachment." Prowl shook his head. "They never stood a chance. If they were in the blackout as we did... Turbine would've never been prepared for such a massive assault on Praxus. Neither did we."

"The Decepticons... well, sir..." Network began clicking furiously, and pictures appeared on the main screen as he spoke. "I have ID'ed the sixchanger. Not hard... he's literally cut his way through the city. I mean, entire blocks looked like a meteor fell on them. Then there's Senator Scorponok, leading an army of identical-looking chaps. Looks like he's just finished torching the legislature building to the ground. I can identify two Cybertronians roughly matching Wheeljack and Highbrow's description of Predacon and Tarantulas, although I am not positively sure. I also have Zero of the Renegade army, as well as at least four dozen Destrons and Renegades marked as former prisoners from the orbital prison."

"What worries me is the army of identical troops." Prowl mused. "Granted, it makes our job at identifying the commanders easier, but where did they get such numbers? They couldn't be mere drones, or the Autobot garrison there would've cut them down easily... And then there's the matter of the sixchanger."

"And, sir..." Network brought up a last picture on screen, that of a smallish, black, legless Cybertronian hovering over the city.

A loud snap filled the room, and Network turned to see that the stylus on Prowl's left hand had been snapped into two by the strategist, and the two halves clattered onto the floor. Prowl's optics narrowed even further, and the expression on Prowl's face was a visage of cold anger.

"General Obsidian." Prowl growled. And oh, does Prowl have a terrifying growl... "No wonder we're outwitted. While we're thinking three moves ahead of the game, he's thinking six."
______________________________________

Sentinel tried not to look at the images of Praxus -- identifying the Decepticons there won't help them now -- and instead focused on Kup as they moved out of the room. "Pretty sure the last time was that Dweller debacle on the Tagan Heights... or was it a Driller? I can never get those subterranean beasts' names straight."

Sentinel nodded as he increased his walking speed to a slow jog, although he kept his shield in front of him. "Normally I'd advocate splitting up, but since we know what happened to the troopers I sent... I'll take point."
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Post by Chip1123 »

"Assuming they aren't of the same variety as the assassin earlier, as they confuse the scanners," Highbrow began in reply to Wheeljack, "we could run a scan on all life signatures in the building. From there, filter out the results of anyone who is broadcasting an Autobot signal. For neutrals, those would need to be ruled out individually, but it would help coordinate strike teams against possible threats."
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Omega Supreme

Post by Brave Maximus »

Alpha Trion just shook his head at Omega's report: "Well.... that's just prime...

"Perhaps we can do something about your power situation once we've dealt with the Decepticons and once I've had a chance to see what we've got. However, I doubt those following me will be polite enough to bugger off and give me a chance to work... they haven't until now."

He watched Smokescreen walk in and nodded to the Autobot. He wasn't military, but had spent quite some time around military personnel. Furthermore he wanted to keep Alpha out of trouble, something the Ancient firmly agreed with.

"I was always under the impression that just about anywhere in Omega Supreme was secure, but lead on.... let us see where I can be of the most.... help."
********************************

Ginrai was quite at home within Omega Supreme. Vents, signs, conduits, duct work, cabling all made for excellent grips. He could swing along, near the ceiling, without getting in the way of the Drone. They were setting up perimiters along routes, the best way to slow down invaders. He, however, wanted to be on the frontline. There was no reason to let Omega recieve more injury than was nessisary. The old guy was quiet... but Ginrai knew he had a reason to be.

Swinging along, he spotted Smokescreen and another bot that he didn't recognize.

"Who's the new castaway Smokescreen?"
*********************************

Outside
He was known as theDoomsday Marshal by allies and enemies alike. The reason was simple; when he took the field, it was the end for those who stood against him. He was one of the greatest Cybertronian Generals, who had the physical presence to take the fight to any weapon his enemies put on the field.

Why was it, then, that he was on a frigate, chasing down some old mech? He knew the truth of course. Megatron was weak and afraid of him. He knew he was gaining too much popularity with the rank-and-file troops. Megatron needed him out of the way. Well, he would show Megatron, he would bring back this A3's head on an Energon Pike.

The frigate neared the rotting Autobot hulk. The Marshall looked at his troops over the monitor. One full platoon of Decepticon soldiers, with specialties ranging from infultration to air support. 40 troops in all, a laughable number to take down this one renegade.

"Move over top of the command center." He ordered his helmsman. "It may take longer to cut through, but it will drop us into their nerve center. Once we land, deploy some Seekers, make sure this piece of rust doesn't have any surprises waiting for us."

(OOC - Sure Warcry :D )
************************************
Iacon

"I am not a police force Sentinel - if you want boarders guarded, get your troopers to do it. I am not your dog to heel at your beck and call...."

Before Fortress could close down communications, though, he recieved a message from Volks, and relayed it to the main viewscreen on the bridge.

"I'm getting what you're sending me Volks, but I don't see what this has to do with m........ By the Allspark!"

There were no more words. Praxus was a wasteland. Untold dead. Black and purple troops moving like locus across the face of the city like a plague. This could not be allowed to happen anywhere else.

Quietly Fortress berated himself. If he had of listened, maybe looked around, perhaps he could have bought those civilians time to escape. He couldn't let this happen again.

With a sigh, he turned to the comms:

"Where are they headed Volks? Give me a location to intercept and slow them down. Sentinel, I know you're listening. Get the civilians out of the way - I'll buy some time for evac."
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Post by Blackjack »

War Academy

Sentinel rolled his optics at Fortress, but did not deign to reply to him until Volks' message had reached him.

"See now? I thought you'd know better, seeing how the Decepticons killed all of your people." Sentinel told Fortress, not hiding the anger in his voice. "You're not the only one who lost friends today, Fortress. This is war. Whatever the reasons you give for not wanting to obey my orders. And if you hadn't suddenly gone radio silent, I would've sent you over to Praxus an hour ago... and this could have been prevented, at least partially. Should teach you next time you go off and sulk."

Sentinel sighed. "And please, Fortress, do try and not give me orders -- least before you know what the hell's happening. This facility is under attack now, and we are, as of now, having a near-total communications blackout with the entire southern hemisphere. Right now, well, you do have the right idea, at least. Get there and take out as many Decepticons out as you can without dying yourself. You're still an asset to the Autobot force, whether you like it or not. Unless you want more blood on your hands, you better start acting like one."

Sentinel narrowed his optics. "Orders are there for a reason, Fortress. For the sake of the lives lost -- both Minicon and Autobot -- I do hope you reconsider before being a child even with simple orders."

The one time Sentinel disobeyed orders, his best friend died on an alien planet, and an entire ship's worth of energon blew up. He does not tolerate disobedience lightly.
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