Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Traveling Northwest

Mindwipe had watched in rapt amazement as Hungrr basically called down untold power from the heavens via the Semper Tyrannis and effectively obliterated anything that might have served as an obstacle within the forested region between their current position and the enigmatic structure that lay beyond.

He had silently agreed with the Terrorcon's expression of the impact event as "beautiful". It was a beautiful declaration of the Decepticons' power. Were the life on this planet sentient enough to understand it, they would bow down now and make the remainder of their journey supremely simple. As it was, it would surely scare the native fauna away for a time, but instinct and curiosity would overwhelm their simple minds and they would come for them again. Mindwipe was certain.

When Wheelie spoke again, it was noticeably without any of his typically curious speech pattern--something that intrigued Mindwipe all the more. Was his manner of speaking a sort of psychological defense mechanism that had developed over some unknown number of vorns? Very curious indeed.

"Well, young one, you've had to adapt to your circumstances. Making yourself scarce was probably your wisest option. Those of us within the Decepticon ranks have survived countless vorns of near-endless war precisely because of things...like this," Mindwipe said, holding out a hand to indicate the devastation in front of them as they continued their trek.

Such weapons, impressive though they were, remained simple tools for gaining power on this terrestrial plane. Once the Decepticons had achieved full dominance of the universe, Mindwipe was confidant that greater focus would be given to controlling the power that lay beyond this physical world. Megatron surely understood that this could not be all there was in the universe, regardless of how vast it might seem.

Wheelie was proving to be quite the effective guide, identifying another native creature--this one some form of subterranean species--that Mindwipe certainly had no desire to encounter directly. Fortunately for them, it was a species that relied completely on the element of surprise, and it had lost that now. Mindwipe continued on.

"Blot, at least, seems to follow Hungrr's orders to the letter," the Decepticon hypnotist said quietly, catching up with Cipher once more as they followed after Wheelie and had sidestepped the antlion.

The sun continued to descend. The sky and clouds overhead were now being cast in an array of oranges and pinks even as the smoke from the impact zone obscured some of it from view. The terrain actually felt kind of familiar now. After all, how much of Cybertron looked very much like this patch of earth did right now? Scorched. Scarred. Glassed over. Bearing no resemblance to what it had once been. In Cybertron's case, the process had taken vorns. Many of them. How long would it take for this world?

Considerably less, Mindwipe guessed.

"Yes, this is much faster. You have my appreciation for this aid, mighty Hungrr," Mindwipe said, calling back to the Terrorcon Commander and his minions.

Still alive. I'm still alive....

Traveling Northwest

Blot had been curious enough to travel forwards to see what the antlions whose presence Wheelie had revealed - could do. But apparently the heavy thuds of his footsteps kept the beasts at bay. Despite being simple beings, the antlion-like creatures seemed to understand when a potential prey was just too large to attack. This lack of action on the part of the antlions wasn't good enough for Blot though. As the beasts didn't come to him, he went for the beast. Punching one of his oversized clawed arms into an antlion burrow the brutish Terrorcon finally had the response he was looking. The creature had clamped its claws around his forearm. The antlion's bite however, was nowhere near the amount of pressure that would allow its mandibles to dug into Blot's metal skin.

Letting out a heavy sight due to the lack of challenge, Blot violently pulled the creature off his arms and threw it against the ground - only to reduce it into an antlion paste by smashing the creature between the ground and his foot.

At the same time, Hun-Grrr was ignoring the presence of Wheelie yet again. Nothing the small survivalist had told about the creatures dwelling this area had so far compared to what these creatures were supposed to be according to their guide. The huge crater the Terrorcon leader had arranged between their position and the bunker allowed several advantages over finding their way through the jungle. With an open area this wide, nothing outside an orbital attack by Autobots could take them by surprise. It also gave them room to fly across the crater, thus making their progress far greater it had been before. Without the trees, there was nothing left for local fauna to hide in and ambush the Decepticons as they flew overhead. Not that Hun-Grrr even believed in there actually being anything that dangerous in the jungles of LV-117. As long as they'd fly low enough to make sure their synthetized organic coverings would protect them from the electromagnetic radiation - all would be ridiculous easy.

"We fly across the craterrr. Stay sharrrp, fly low." Hun-Grrr commanded and took off, heading straight for the bunker.

Always ready to follow the example of his leader, Blot grabbed hold of Cipher and took off after Hun-Grrr. It would take less than two breems for them to reach the other side of the crater and by the looks of it - the distance from the crater edge to the bunker would require no more than a breem and half worth of walking.

Traveling Northwest

The scribe had taken his time to move around the area Wheelie had revealed to be the underground home of one of the antlions. After he had seen the one which had been coaxed out, Cipher was sure to not disturb it or any other one in his trek.

Now safely away from the hidden hole the scientist turned around to see just what was holding Blot up. Cipher’s brow furrowed as he watched the Terrorcon curiously as he plowed one of his massive clawed arms through the dirt and rooted around. Cipher stiffened his mouth agape as he watched Blot, with the creature’s gaping maw wrapped around the Terrorcon’s arm. He was sure the monster that was pulled up and out of the earth would perform some new fantastic attack, but Blot simply ended the assault by tossing the creature on the ground and smashing it under his foot.

The scribe’s upper lip curled in disgust as he watched the ground dweller smashed into a gooey paste under the hulking mech’s foot. The sight was disgusting, but Cipher was glad that he did not have to worry about being drug below the surface and chewed up alive. That thought sent a shiver down his spinal structure.

His attention was pulled from Blot and fell upon the even larger Hun-Grrr. The order to take flight was most welcome, after all Cipher was a Decepticon flier. Perhaps not as bit of fast, but he still had wings propped high on his back.

With a nod of understanding the scientist made ready to transform but found that he couldn’t. To his surprise Blot had grabbed him and took off right after his Commander. Cipher struggled a bit, but stopped when he realized he wasn’t going anywhere. He let out a sigh as he turned his gaze up to his transport.

“You do know that I can fly, don’t you?”

Rippersnapper had watched and listened intently to Hun-Grrr before took off after the two headed Terrorcon followed closely by Blot when had taken hold of the scribe. The terrorist let a small smile form on his visage as he shook his head.

“He was given an order to guard you. He’ll do so until told otherwise. Enjoy it while you can, scribe.”

“I don’t mind, except I wish he’d bathe more often.”

OoC: Hopefully there are no problems...

Traveling Northwest - Cliffside

Wheelie shuddered when he heard the order to fly. The destruction of his friend was still fresh in his mind. Even though there was probably no life for miles around, Wheelie was still not as apt to fly as he could be.

Not probably, but hopefully.

Even if some of the creatures were not as dangerous as they seemed, that did not detract from the fact that no one was taking him seriously. It was like he was still alone on the planet. Wheelie began to wonder why he was even helping them. It was almost involuntary...

Impossible.

But creatures are not the only thing to fear on LV-117. Sporadic weather patterns are another thing to fear on LV-117. Not that anyone would listen to him, but it looked like there was a storm brewing.

"There's a storm coming soon," Wheelie said, even though he knew no one would listen, "It won't be long 'til the monsoon."

"Though while in the air I will not be merry," Wheelie turned to the Decepticons, "Would one of you please carry?"

Traveling Northwest--Impact Zone

Cleared for flight. What an excellent idea. Mindwipe was more than happy to accommodate the Terrorcon commander. It would expedite their journey that much more.

Mindwipe leapt in to the air, transformed and began to flap away before catching Wheelie's latest comment. Fortunately he was large enough, and Wheelie small enough, that the request was not an unreasonable one.

Circling back and swooping downwards, Mindwipe snatched the protoform up with the claws on his feet--surprisingly mindful of not doing any damage to the mech--and arced back upwards. Pain was a motivator for many, but this Wheelie seemed to be doing just fine without its application. Mindwipe had more subtle tools in his toolbox, after all. And even those had been scarcely necessary.

Climbing higher in the sky, Mindwipe could clear make out the developing storms in the distance. Hopefully it would be nothing too serious. Hungrr and his pack could handle the native wildlife here just fine. A massive storm, however, would not be swayed by their powerful jaws.

The trek across the glassy impact zone of the Semper Tyrannis' awesome weapons system was as uneventful as Mindwipe hoped it'd be. It seemed like they had encountered an obstacle at every turn. They were due for a break.

"I am beginning to think you will make a fine Decepticon, Wheelie," Mindwipe said. "As you well see, many within our ranks are powerful warriors, but Megatron will accept any that he finds to be useful. Receiving your insignia will not be the most pleasant process, but...it will make you one of us. Forever. No more wandering this planet alone."

Mindwipe's optics sensors began to receive some of the data that he and Scorponok had originally homed in on aboard the Semper Tyrannis. This was it.

Mindwipe began his descent even as he could feel the beginnings of raindrops against his new, fleshy hide. It felt even more disgusting now than it ever had before. Once he was within close range of the ground, he released Wheelie and transformed, sliding about a meter or so before coming to a full stop. His landings were not always the best. A Seeker he was not.

Looking around, he could see terrain that had clearly been almost obliterated by battles of some kind or another. Whatever this non-native structure was, its contents had clearly been fought over, long ago. Even now, life on this planet was only making slight progress in reclaiming territory that had originally belonged to it.

"The scans from the Tyrannis indicate that the entrance would have been here....somewhere," Mindwipe said, approaching one of the two broken, metallic pillars that were jutting upwards from the ground. He ran his hand along the edges and instantly felt a connection. A purely psychological one, but a connection nevertheless. Looking a little further ahead, he could see what appeared to be a cave-like outcropping from the ground, practically sealed off by stone and metal debris.

He then realized that it was not a cave at all.

"There!" he cried out, excitement taking over. "The entrance!"

Mysterious Research Bunker

Hun-Grrr's landing was almost as brutal as the mech himself. Dozens of trees and other life natural to the planet were torn down or crushed as the mighty dragon made his way back to the ground near edge of the oddly desolate area where the structure stood. It wasn't like he couldn't have done it far more gracefully, he just did not care. And well, it had given him a chance to cause destruction. Now, when it came to the reason they were here for...

The Terrorcon commander was no scientist nor researcher of history but he had been fighting longer than some civilizations had existed. Even he could recognize the signs of battle being fought here ages ago. Craters and crystallization caused by powerful weapons and extreme heat. Remains of metals and polymers native to Cybertron. The visible signs of battle told of destruction even the Terrorcons would have been hard pressed to cause. And the reason for that? The answer for that was provided by geology.

The sensors in Hun-Grrr's feet that were used to analyze density of surfaces he set his feet on to avoid stepping on anything that couldn't support his weight were reporting extreme compactation of the soil and in shape of what could only have been foot prints of something immense in both scale and mass. From the Terrorcon commander's experience, these signs could only indicate one type of war machine being used here - an Omega. Had it been defending the installation or attacking it? That he did not know. Though given how there was no sign of a destroyed Omega here one could make an educated guess of it being the victor.

"An Omega." Hun-Grrr spoke out and assumed his robot form again, pulling out his sonic stun gun.

"Whoever was here... well, let's say they deemed necessary to bring an Omega to smash into that bunker." Hun-Grrr smirked and aimed his gun at the blockade where the entrance to the bunker had once been, "Too bad there's no defences to take out anymore. I'd loved to see what kind of defenses required a platoon of soldiers and an Omega Destructor."

That being said, Hun-Grrr pulled the trigger of his weapon and let loose a volley of destructive sonic waves that pulverized the blockade of massive stone boulders, leaving only the mangled and collapsed cybertonum support beams and remains of the doors of the bunker left. That unfortunately meant that they still had lot of work to do in order to clear the entrance enough to be able to enter the bunker.

"Start digging Terrorcons! I want that entrance cleared before that storm reaches us and turns this field into mud!"

Approaching Research Bunker

Even in his Cybertronian robot mode, Sinnertwin could force his characteristic flames to churn through his nostril units, pouring smoke in to the air around him as he flew. It was as effective an exhaust port as any. The destruction all around the area caused by the Semper Tyrannis was something to behold. It motivated him that much more to catch up with Hungrr and the other Terrorcons and see what more could be done.

When he did finally come within range, he descended sharply, transformed and padded his way over to where the others were. The brains were yakking about something or other. It was of no interest to him. It was Hungrr's orders that excited him the most. More destruction. And perhaps the promise of more--more, like this Wheelie--hiding inside of whatever they had found. Perhaps Scorponok would not find them so useful.

Perhaps the Terrorcons would be allowed to play.

Sinnertwin charged forward in to the clearing that Hungrr's weapon had caused, each of his heads and paws ripping away at more and more of the blockage. In the distance, an eruption of lightning flashed so violently that the ensuing thunderclap shook the ground a little.

Chaos.

Sinnertwin loved it.

Mysterious Research Bunker

Following close behind his Commander, Blot landed on the ground close to the others and set Cipher back down carefully. The scribe took a quick look around before setting his optics on Mindwipe as the hypnotist moved to a set of two broken metallic pillars. The find brought a wide grin to Cipher’s face and initiated an embedded want that caused the scientist to almost mindlessly trek out toward the structure.

Cipher’s optics were transfixed on the spectacle before and paid little attention to anything else, including Blot who quickly stepped away from the remainder of the group in order to catch up with his ward.

The shout that came from Mindwipe only caused Cipher’s pace to hasten. And when he arrived he was dazzled by the sight before them. Of course to the untrained optic it looked like nothing more than a dilapidated rocky structure, but to Cipher it was a door way to knowledge and to a possible advantage to win this war.

Hun-Grrr soon showed and took a careful look at the location and noted that the entire area had been subject to the power of an Omega. The revelation caught Cipher’s attention causing the scientist to whip around and stare at the Terrorcon Commander. Oh Primus, please let that thing be offline.

His mind continued to churn the possible ways to die by an Omega attack when he was jolted out of his reverie when he heard the order for the remainder of the Terrorcons to dig out the rubble to the entrance. Cipher’s head turned up as Blot moved past him followed quickly by Rippersnapper.

The order from Hun-Grrr was just what Rippersnapper wanted to hear. He was so wound up after destroying that small group of chameleons he needed something else to alleviate the pent up frustration. This task would do…for now.

The terrorist moved right into position in front of the now exposed support beams and part of the doors and began lifting the heavy debris and transplanting it to a separate location out of the way. With his first burden off loaded, Rippersnapper went back for another.

“Anytime, boys!”

Mountainside

Wheelie felt Mindwipe's bat-claws grasp him and begin to carry him across the burnt terrain. Wheelie didn't like it, even with Mindwipe's oddly comforting touch. He couldn't tell why, but there was something disturbingly calming about Mindwipe... Wheelie didn't like it. Not one bit.

Wheelie listened intently to Mindwipe's statement about his insignia. It wasn't going to be pleasant. Wheelie could care less; he had dealt with so much on this planet that he was certain that a simple branding wasn't going to hurt all that badly.

Maybe things would change with the Decepticons. He shouldn't make a judgement on the Decepticons just on Hun-Grr. That would be foolish. Wheelie once assumed that the planet was safe when he first came to LV-117, but he was wrong about the planet. He hoped that he was wrong about the Decepticons he was going to join.

One thing that he hoped was true is that he would have a family. Someone that would care for him is something that he had wished that he had on a regular basis. Companionship. That hope was the thing that made Wheelie keep going.

He looked down at the glassed dirt and cinders of wildlife. He hoped that nothing else would suffer the same fate. Nothing deserved to get burned like that, not even a Chaosterous.

Wheelie felt the claws release and he fell to a tumbling halt in front of the doors to the lab.

Mysterious Base (Of doom)

Wheelie walked forward to the hole in the doors and felt the rigid steel. It was sharper than he remembered. Maybe it was the vines obscuring the burns on the steel.

Wheelie heard a name that he did not know of. "Omega".

"The burns are new without the green, but an Omega, what is it that you mean?" Wheelie asked, he was wondering about this Omega and if it was friendly or not.

Bunker Entrance

To say that Mindwipe was taken aback by the knowledge that an Omega Destructor had ever been deployed here for any reason would be a significant understatement. It only further confirmed the reasoning behind mighty Scorponok's interest in this locale. Mindwipe, too, was now consumed with uncovering its mysteries. It was surely having the same effect on Cipher.

"Weapons of Cybertron...from long ago," Mindwipe said in response to Wheelie's question regarding the Omega Destructor. "They did their job well. Perhaps too well. I can scarcely recall them ever being deployed, at least not to any area I was ever in. Enforcers of Zeta Prime and some of his similarly authoritative predecessors, if I remember correctly. If one was sent here, it had to have been for a good reason."

A very good reason.... came the natural afterthought.

Mindwipe watched as the Terrorcons systematically proceeded to rip and tear a way through the aged and fortified bunker entrance. It alone was no small feat, particularly if had fended off the assault of an Omega Destructor once upon a time. But that was an exceedingly long time ago. Without reinforcement and repairs, erosion and corrosion would have done some of the work for them.

A seared, melting chunk of metal landed only a few centimeters or so from Mindwipe's feet, courtesy of Sinnertwin.

"Through," the Terrorcon had snarled. Mindwipe shot a brief glance in Cipher's direction before nodding at the Terrorcon and began to weave his way through the haphazard entrance that had been torn in to the bunker's exterior. He could feel the winds picking up. The intensity of the planet's precipitation was beginning to steadily increase as well. In this one aspect of the mission, it seemed as if they had been afforded a measure of good fortune--arriving here when they had. Mindwipe was of no mind to waste it.

Inside, he was greeted by darkness and metal, both of which Mindwipe found to be oddly comforting.

"The schematics I observed with Commander Scorponok suggest that the meat of this facility was housed in its center," Mindwipe said as his supplemental optic lights kicked in, increasing the available illumination. Along the old walls were many glyphs, well beyond his specialty to recognize or understand.

"Hopefully our trek there will not be fraught with as many obstacles as our path to arrive here in the first place."