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Gifford National Forest

Vindicator watched as Psychout boarded Crueljaw, and then smirked to himself as he watched the sour-sparked decepticon drive off through the forest, all the while grumbling to himself about the lack of smooth road to drive on. Vindicator couldn't really help but feeling that he had an advantage over the rest on this green yet irregular terrain, as his tank treads would grip to it firmly, and yet churn it up with vehement force. There was the more subtle tones of Darkfire as she took to the air, changing to her F22 Combat Raptor mode as she took up into the blue sky, littered with white and grey looking fluff.

Vindicator took that as his cue to exit. The massive tank-former strode through the large national park, sticking to the thickest of the forest until he came close to the edge of the tree line. Stopping to crouch down, he placed a finger to his receptor, picking up the transmission from Darkfire, to which he responded, his voice tinged with a rare softness when he spoke to the femme.

>>"Confirmed... no sign of any native life forms yet. Will continue ground based recon...Vin out..."<< he added one last statement to Darkfire >>"...watch your aft up there 'Fiery..."<<

Vindicator scanned the surrounding area, looking for any signs of local habitations, or vehicles. His amber optics darting around, being wary before he decided to move on through the forest. It was far too green here! The sounds of different fauna filling his audio receptors as he strode on towards the rocky start of Mount Saint Helens. Back to where his headache began. Like that was going to be a fun trip again! Vindicator grouched to himself as he came to another clearing of the Forest and stopped.

Slag...that wasn't a good sign!

A patrol vehicle shot past. It was a small grey-olive drab vehicle carrying four humans in matching fatigues, churning dust and dirt up behind it as it shot along the dirt road towards its location. They seemed to be in a hurry. Had they been spotted? Vindicator looked around himself twice, his optics and audio receptors listening in for any radio chatter or any sound that might mean that they were being watched or followed. His internal computer didnt show up any signs of autobots - so another cybertronian recon party wasnt in the area. Good news then!

Vindicator turned his attention back to the running jeep, monitoring its speed, and trajectory. Psychout had asked for colours and insignia's to be scanned and duplicated so that the vehicles could fit into the surrounding military encampment. Vindicator called up the 3d holomap again - the blue and red meshwork illuminating him softly in the dark of the trees, careful that he wouldn't be seen, as he plotted the most likely trajectory of the military jeep. It did seem to be returning from somewhere, and a good audio feed of what was happening, or what the fleshbags were talking about would have been handy information to have. As it stood, they were just out of range of his receptors to actually pick up anything.

"..looks like I'll have to follow..." Vindicator breatherd to no one in particular.

He continued on foot through the trees, shadowing the jeep as it rounded a rocky outcrop, disturbing a few birds from their roosting berths as it kicked up small fragments of rock and stone. Vindicator decided that walking was becoming too boring a trek, and as a result he switched to his tank mode. The grinding of his treads against the ground was alien to those used to hearing what grinding tank treads should have sounded like. Yes they should have sounded like metal grinding and sliding against metal with rusty fillings inbetween, but instead it was like smooth plastic being pulled over sand. Just a subtle hissing noise as the cybertronian assumed the configuration of his sol-3 disguise. The one drawback was his black paint job with the gold and silver accents. It wasnt a conventional colour scheme for mixing in with human military, and he would be more than sure that he would be spotted instantly.

However he erred caution to the wind and shadowed, as best a tank could shadow, the jeep as it approached the military compund on the southern base of the mountain. He transformed back to robot mode and resumed his hiding in the thickest copse of trees nearest the military camp.

There was the sound of helicopters again over head, and Vindicator radioed Darkfire. More out of urgency and warning than concern.

>>"Darkfire...Vindicator...There are two more of these fleshbag vehicles in the air...Recommend that caution is advised. Avoid contact until further information about this installation is gathered...."<< Cutting the transmission quickly was a close call as what appeared to be a large transportation vehicle rumbled past towards the compound's barricade. The vehicle was packed with humans, all were dressed in the same garb as the four in the small vehicle that entered prior to this half-track's arrival. There was a symbol painted on the side of the vehicle which seemed to be an identification marking, and upon seeing this, Vindicator's optics took in the information, his internal computer cataloguing the marking, and the colour schema as he moved again through the thicket of trees towards a series of large boulders.

He crouched again, noting that one of the boulders was infact lined with cybertronian steel. The fragment was jutting out from the side of the rock.

Not big enough to be noticed, and not at a visual level for any of these meatsacks to actually notice, but still there all the same.

He gave the rock a tap. It echoed.

"...Slag.. this was part of the front facia of the base..." Vindicator paused as he tapped it again. This half of the rock was solid, no hollow response this time. "...still.. this isn't good...if the fleshbags discover this...frakking scrap!"

He contacted Psychout.

>>"Short-arse...we got a problem..."<< he heard the gruffled response >>"...seems that when the base fell apart, some of the front facia came away and fell with the other bits of rock and stone. Half of the rocks were hollowed out and replaced by cybertroian steel, and it looks like it could be anywhere around the base of the mountain....I hope none of it has been taken by these grease spots...."<<

He ended the transmission as he went skulking around the rock formation to another, thinner - and very much shorter - copse of trees. There was no hiding here in this clump! He had to do something and fast. He transformed into his vehicle mode and made for the gate of the compound, hopefully his hollo-matter avatar was convincing enough to get him through the gates and into some part of the human entrenchment, and ultimately, closer to the main goal.

In the Skies

Darkfire was coming in for another sweep of the military encampment. The cloud bank was still fairly thick, and she caught herself cursing these white wet balls of fluff yet again. She didn't dare fly below the clouds. That would put her in radar range and worse, visual range. As she passed over the camp once again, she confirmed what she had once thought she saw on the last sweep. An airstrip.

The assassin was turning her attention to the next item Psychout had asked her to ascertain when she received Vindicator's communique. 'Fiery? I have a nickname now? Terrific. In all honesty, Darkfire was more amused than annoyed by this turn of events. His concern was wasted on her, however. She kept a stern watch on the skies while gathering intelligence. All it took was one mistake to kill. She could be patient. Tolerance might not be one of her virtues, but patience was. At least in this.

There were a number of jeeps in the camp. Some heavier artillery, such as tanks, were also there, but in fewer numbers. What Darkfire did take note of was further down the road. It appeared to be some sort of human transport vehicle. It ambled down the road slowly heading for the camp. It was at this moment that she noticed two more of the fleshlings contraptions in the sky. Darkfire immediately tilted upward and flew into a second layer of clouds above the first.

The whiteness consumed her vision, but the femme maintained her altitude and soon broke out of the cloud. It was only a few astroseconds before the next cloud would consume her when she received Vindicator's second transmission. She took it as confirmation that her actions had been correct for the situation. She sent him back a short acknowledgment.

>>I see them, Vindicator. Adjusting accordingly. Darkfire, out.<<

The assassin tilted her nose downward slightly so that she wouldn't get eaten up by another fluffy monstrosity. The helicopters were far below and Darkfire was traveling away from the base once more. She could afford to lower her elevation somewhat. She glided down until the road to the camp came back into sight. Another jeep was traveling on it.

From this altitude, the human vehicles were moving insects or appeared to be. It was a small wonder why most Seekers had such a pompous attitude. They looked down on the world constantly. Darkfire had no preference for land or sky. Both fields served a specific purpose. The femme sent a report to Psychout.

>>Psychout, Darkfire reporting. The human base is armed with some heavy artillery. I counted five tanks and several of that thing we saw earlier that were armed with guns, though most of them seem to be used for transportation. There might be more. A surplus of jeeps exist as well, mostly for transport I would assume. I saw an airstrip as well. Continuing aerial recon. Be aware of two airborne human contraptions.<<

The assassin was considering banking to come around for another sweep of the base when she spotted another transport vehicle on the road below. She was far enough from the helicopters to fly low enough for a good look. It appeared to be carrying some type of human machinery, and while Darkfire did not recognize its design, she realized its function: Excavation.

The assassin immediately contacted Psychout once more, unable to keep her irritation from her voice.

>>Slag. Psychout, we have a problem. The humans are transporting excavation equipment to the military encampment. Probably to clear away the debris from the incident, but they might stumble across something, or worse, they have already come across something. Advise.<<

Surfing the Cruel-Jaw rollercoaster

Psychout was getting bounced around the cab by the grumbling Crueljaw's suspension, which still beat walking, but as Jaws still had the triple-x grade he thought he's try and make himself comfortable so strapped himself in and poured himself a drink as the initial reports came in.

>>Copy that Darkfire and Vindicator.<<

He thought on the two reports and Crueljaws complaining. The base seemed a bit more active than he was expecting and the thought that refused to budge was that there had to be far more to this than just a military investigation outpost. Once Vindicator had found them a decent clearing or cave as a back up, and he had acquired the access codes, they could move onto the infiltration part of his scheme, but until then gaining access to the base was impossible under Phase 1.

>>Vin, mark the locations of any Cybertronian minerals and investigate Blackfires reports of evacuation machinery. Anything deemed fit for recovery will be collected once control of the base is moved over to us. Continue to search for other agencies involved here. If this were on Cybertron, you'd expect to see more than just army in the area, so see if you can locate and identify any media-based transmission vehicles or any blacked-out unmarked that could be from another branch of the meatsacks in charge. It's highly unlikely that we will only meet the military with this concentration of fleshlings, so continue with caution and remain in your altmode as much as possible, whilst scanning all possible frequencies for transmissions that are not ours.<<

>>Darkfire, continue reconnaissance as before. Evacuation machinery will take time to install and construct, remain vigilant but turn your attention to identify any [i]other potential entrances or exits into or out of the mountain as once we are inside I want to be sure there are no surprises arriving through the back door. After that you are free to land at any safe location you and Vindicator can find between you and update with any required military insignia. Crueljaw and myself are nearly at the civilian population centre, and after that its a short hack to get us all in. Stand-by.<<[/i]

He knocked on Crueljaws dashboard to get his attention "Did you hear that? These two clearly know their job's, Jaw's, we picked well. Highway is just up ahead, from there it should be a few minutes before we can get out of this organic hell and into a more, hopefully civilised, surrounding."

Gifford National Forest

A deserted piece of the highway that runs through the Gifford national forest isn’t always the best place to break down. An old couple had don’t just that their ancient red pick-up was pulled over at the side of the highway. The lady was sat within the cab awaiting her husband to finish his ministrations to the rear wheel. Unwrapping the carefully prepared sandwich she’d made before they had left. “Pa come and get some food then go back to it your exhausted” the old man groaned as he stood up and held his back the wheel was on just need the jack putting down. He clambered into the cab as his wife handed him a sandwich “we picked a great place to break down so”

The sentiment was broken as the roar of a engine made the pair snap their heads to the direction of the forest a pair of headlights could be seen. Seconds later a huge black Humvee flew over the top of the stranded pick up the rear wheels clipping the roof knocking it off the jack. The dishevelled pair looked at the driver of the vehicle as it swung around a man in his late forties late forties with wiry grey hair looked back at them the window lowered and he yelled “Speed never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you.” Before the old couple could think of a reply it was gone roaring down the highway on the wrong side of the road.

The holographic avatar looked at Psychout and with Crueljaw’s voice said “So why do you think these small transport modules are getting all agitated” Bearing in mind he had no idea of earths road rules he barrelled down the wrong side at full speed. Before finally realising he had to be in the other lane which he managed to get to before the edge of Longview “Yo runt you might wanna switch to alternate mode before we get deeper into the town”

Crueljaws Cab, Gifford National Forest

Psych looked out the window as Crueljaw fearlessly hurled himself through the undergrowth towards the nearest town. Sol-3 was an ugly planet, all these greens and browns and other organic colours - what it needed was a good terraforming, shimmering metal as far as the eye could see would be such an improvement...

He was jerked out of his daydream as Crueljaws avatar abused a random pair of fleshlings at the side of the road and the vehicle lurched as they hit highway. "at least it will be a smoother ride now 'eh Jaws?" he said, shortly before he was thrown around further by his swerving from one lane to another "Oi! Steady on! I'll spill my drink!..."

He finished what there was left of his drink in his glass and not on the upholstery and studied the Avatar sitting next to him. These Meatbags are only a tiny bit smaller than I am, so I match those dimensions to my alt mass redistribution relays and... here we go... He focused and transformed. Size changing as part of a shape change wasn't simple and was very difficult to master. Mass displacement was both painful and power consuming and had Crueljaws Avatar been a Facsimile of flesh and blood it would have been horrifically scarred in the energy discharge he created as he quickly compressed his already tiny frame into a device barely larger than a human thumb. It was the first time he had ever had to shrink so far and it wasn't a pleasant experience and until he got used to it concentration was going to be tricky, but he had a connection to Crueljaw that at least meant he could see everything his bodyguard could, for now.

He used this immobile time to think over the mission so far and plan for any further eventualities. Both Vindicator and Darkfire had exceed expectations and were already able to move on to the second part of the plan, it was now down to he and Crueljaw to ensure their time was not wasted. He thought aobut what he was going to say in his report to Soundwave and Shockwave on their porgress, but there was plenty of time before it was due - and by then they would all be hidden inside the military base ready to enter the ruined command structure.

He allowed himself to be placed in Crueljaws Avatars holographic pocket and waited for his ride to arrive at the communications hub, hungry for his chance to finally taste what the fleshlings here called 'The Internet'. I am going to enjoy this!

Longview Skamania

Crueljaw’s holographic avatar shuddered as Psychout’s energy discharge temporarily overloaded the emitter. Like an extension of his body Crueljaw lifted the small form of Psychout and placed it in a pocket as his humvee form cut straight across an intersection causing mayhem cars slid to a halt as the belligerent con rumbled on towards something called an internet cafe. “I do believe this is our stop” muttered Crueljaw as he stopped opening his driver’s door allowing the avatar to clamber out.

The tall gangly avatar breezed into the cafe and sauntered up to the woman in charge “I need something to plug this into” the woman looked around not sure if the idiot in front of her was serious or not. “I’m not the most technical of people” Crueljaw admitted and the woman showed the avatar to a computer “you just insert it in here”

Crueljaw’s avatar raised an eyebrow at the innuendo that had popped into his head “Ok thank you very much I’ve got to speak to some people about extra POWER for my vehicle out there” the woman looked at the black Humvee that was ill parked on the sidewalk then back at the man as he started tapping away on the keys just before placing the usb stick that was Psychout into the pc’s slot “Ok Runt let’s hope that alt mode isn’t as stupid as it looks” Crueljaw whispered as he continued the illusion of typing to cover the covert operations of the diminutive Psychout.

Rocking the Information Superhighway.

Psychout’s mind nearly went into system-shock. Like a valve being opened on a giant pressurised container, the internet literally exploded into his mind.

He had been a cassette for what felt like millennia and whilst this was not the first time his martyrial refusal to alter his formatting had came in handy, this ‘next-gen’ version of the cassette altmode offered him gigantic storage capacity. This was the trade off of such a small size and stature - he was effectively just a walking brain, but it also allowed him to command the tide of information flowing towards him like a powerstation controls energy, or a conductor controls an orchestra. He effortlessly avoided the relentless tide of internet mediocrity, the mundane monotony of these pitiful fleshling lives, their feudal squabbles, obsession with famous people’s actions and - most frighteningly - their extreme, all encompassing and immeasurable fascination with 'powerlinking', or at least that what he hoped it was, it certainly involved a lot of weird noises and he would never look at Soundwave the same way again...
He moved on quickly in the hope of forgetting what he just seen and dived head first into the darker levels of information that actually made a difference upon this pathetic little rock.

Bypassing layer after layer of encryption like it was mere smoke, Psychout’s lust for information eagerly hunted out that of a uniform nature, data that was neat, organised and military. It was not hard to find, these meatsacks LOVED their warfare – it appeared they have been fighting a global land war for hundreds of their generations, and had become really good at killing each other, but their one key weakness was their reliance on this archaic technology. Eventually he ceased marvelling at humanities shortcomings and took a brief detour to pick up the data he actually needed - military encryption codes, access passwords and, the motherlode, individual base intra-net access routines. It took a millisecond or two for him to add in the extra personnel names, ensure that all ranks were correct and that all the existing staff would be rotated out to be replaced by the facsimiles over the next 72 hours and patted himself on the back.

He flashed up a message onto the screen where Crueljaws avatar was slapping the keyboard randomly in an effort to pretend to type >>First job done, we’ve been added to the personnel roster for the military encampment, Vindicator and Darkfire are cleared to enter as soon as they like, we’re due in roughly 2 hours. They are expecting a security upgrade to their unlinked network, so you need to hand me over and have me plugged in once we arrive and then we are good to go. Now I just need to find evidence of any facsimiles to call up, record the last year or so of media for study and then we can go, so about 35 nanoclicks should do it. How is the coffee?<<
He then flashed up one of the images he found of humans 'powerlinking'.
>>What in the pit do you think these meatsacks are trying to do here? These fleshlings create a pseudo-sentient global computer network that is millennia ahead of what their evolutionary chain should be capable of, with an infinite capacity for growth and effective globalisation in an estimated three decades and almost 95% of everything in here is images like that. UGH!
>>I cannot wait to destroy this planet and go home...<<

He took a metaphysical deep breath and dived back into the endless sea of information. There were so many nuggets of code catching his eye that could be connected to Cybertronain activity he struggled to find them all, but he dutifully recorded them for later dissection where he could and marked the rest. He did at one point stumble upon whole 'segregated' areas that had faint traces of outdated Cybertronian encryption codes, but there was nothing he could see that demonstrated a common knowledge of the Transformers being on earth and deeper investigation would have to wait. On the surface at least, Stage One was intact. Primary job done, he turned his mind to his secondary task, the Facsimile’s. Assuming they were all programmed correctly, they would involuntarily check in at regular intervals as a tracing device so all he needed to do was look for the coded imprint to their messages and... here it was, a handful of them at least, along with an ID signature from Darkride, who’s name he had spotted before. Again me made a mental note to contact the Facsimiles original programmer and investigated what little remained of the Sol-3 infiltration program, as with the interruption of the base’s destruction some would have been destroyed or gone off radar. Either way, he had the important ones listed now and he selected a handful, ordered them to report in immediately and decided to move on.

As he reluctantly made his way out of the network and back towards that hideous, damp, ball of organic waste they were stationed on he pondered on his new discoveries. Fleshling encryption methods were so ancient it was laughable, but their tech level was way beyond what they were supposed to be capable of, all beginning around a century ago. He needed to check to be exact, but when was the forts contact between us and these humans? He didn't continue to ponder this question, soon the Decepticons would enter Phase Six of the Infiltration Protocols and there would be nothing living left to evolve any further. And, considering the sheer volume data on Justin Bieber there was in here, Psychout couldn’t bring on Stage Six fast enough...


He sent out a quick message to his team. >>The codes are uploaded and we are clear to enter the base. Vindicator, head to the rendezvous point, Jaws and I will meet you there shortly, I am transmitting the final details for your avatar now. Darkfire, you are now clear to break cloud cover. Execute a final sweep for Cybertronian lifesigns and proceed to land on runway 2-niner once the rest of us are inside the base. I also have a bonus for you all, I have located at least one facsimile each that matches your psychological profile and have sent out the activation codes for you, they should be arriving over the next few days. 'Fires? I think you are going to like yours...<<

And then he hit the eject button.

In the Skies

The assassin had continued her patrol diligently, if somewhat bored. There had been no other interesting activity, but the assassin took in each new detail as her optics perceived them. She had been searching the area for another place to land but had found nothing, and Vindicator hadn't exactly been helpful. When Psychout's latest communique had arrived, the assassin did as ordered, putting new vigilance into her scans for Autobot activity. When nothing turned up yet again, she sent Psychout a short reply.

>>After flying in circles for a few hours, I have confirmed. Yes, we are still alone. Landing now. See you on the ground.<<

Darkfire dove beneath the cloud bank and began to set up her descent. She ran through the landing several times in her mind. It was a check she did simply to ensure a safe landing. Her seemingly effortless grace took some thought and planning, but such things were second nature to the assassin after countless vorns of training. All she needed to do was wait until the others were inside of the base. Darkfire sent a transmission to Vindicator in a faintly irritated, faintly amused tone.

>>Vin, I hope your aft didn't rust down there. Get a move on! I want to land. White fluffiness is only so much fun.<<

Longview Skamania
Crueljaw’s Avatar deftly caught Psychout as he ejected from the computer he looked at the startled woman sat next to him. “What yours can’t do that” the avatar turned and stomped out of the web cafe and clambered into his true form once within the Humvee the avatar placed the usb stick on the passenger seat as he pulled out into traffic forcing several cars to skid and swerve out of the way of the hummer.

“I really don’t want to be them when they get their bill in you get everything you need runt?” Crueljaw wasn’t really bothered about the success or failure of Psychout’s mission he was just hating the organic life that was around him. “Do you think they’d mind if I ran a few over” the jet black humvee rumbled out of Longview heading for the military base that was around the old con base.

As he drove Crueljaw opened a comm link to vindicator >>Hey Vin you seeker aft shiner gimme a location for the most suitable route into this military base me and the runt are on route but all these black things the organics drive on lookalike<< he clicked as he awaited the reply he started to increase his speed.

The car in front was a Toyota the man inside was happy he had a hybrid he was saving the planet until he looked in the rear view mirror and found a Black humvee bearing down on him. His instincts screamed at him to get away as he floored the gas pedal but much to his surprise the hummer easily caught up and was looming large in his mirror. So caught up in looking at the hummer in the rear view he didn’t notice the signs that told him about road works. All he was fixated on was the hummer which was dropping back the man’s sweat soaked face looked back to the road his eyes widened he screamed as his Toyota flew off a mound of earth like a makeshift ramp and ended up within a construction hole.

Crueljaw drove past the accident as the small organic creatures rushed to the aid of the driver a sadistic chuckle emanated from his vocal processors as he drove off the humans took note of the number plate “8 Pr1us” though once out of range of the humans it changed back to his standard plates of “Crul 1”

Vindicator stopped in his tracks as he listened to the incoming transmissions from Darkfire, Crueljaw and Psychout. A lot of it made sense, and the large tank turned on the spot and headed back towards the first false rock that he had found. There was only so many things that a large tank could pull off, and certainly blagging, if not being clever enough to lie your way past the front gate. Yes the humans were a primitive life force, but if they thought something was wrong, then they would turn their full weight of what firepower they had on him. Nothing really was wrong with that considering that there was, in measurment terms, a good dozen inches of surface armour plating on Vindicator that would deflect most of the human ordinance. Until they brought out the big guns that is. Yeah if they had big tanks, then it was time to feel screwed...in a big way.

The 3D Holo-Map popped up on his hud as he re-plotted his route back to the false rocks, the cybertonium signal flashing brightly on the wireframe map, the red dot glowing feircely as he returned to the rocks. The tank-former jarred himself to a halt, the shale kicked up along with a plume of dust wasn't enough to attract any unwanted attention, but it was still a nuisance and it clogged a few of his sensors and got into one of his intakes. Vindicator's engine sputtered, making the tank seem like it coughed to clear its throat of the alien substance.

Vindicator's turret swayed left and right, his scanners and atmospheric readers looking for any native lifeforms, or any unwanded presence before he changed back to his own self, and, satified that there was none of the native fleshlings around, Vindicator assumed his robot mode and approached the pile of rock from before, one of his massive hands picked up a part of the rock and crushed it deftly, the rock powdering as his vice-like grip pummelled it to nothing as he picked up another fragement. This time, however, the rock's outer shell powdered to the touch, revealing the gleaming cybertronian metal before deftly crushing it in his hand, the metal bending to match his grip. Vindicator gave a sigh as ne called up the holo-map again, the plotted area lighting up with his location, and the cybertronian metal.

"Time to see where the rest of this trail leads..." Vindicator scanned the material and saved it into his internal database, uploading its unique chemical makeup. His internal systems uploading the data to his scanners.

His hud changed colour to a bright blue, a 3D map showing his location, and the nearby locations of more Cybertronian Metal.

It wasn't too far away, most of it in a staggerd line leading towards the mountain. Towards the collapsed facia of Mount Saint Helens.

Vindicator catagorised the locations of the metal as he made his way up the side of the mountain, changing to vehicle mode as he took to the steeper slopes. It was safer than taking to the skies, as he would arouse too much suspicion from the surrounding humans, for it was easier to explain away a low-flying fighter jet, or helecopter. But a 35 foot tall flying robot was something that no explanation could rationalise. Well there was that and the fact that the base of the mountain was crawling with humans in their warlike vehicles, effectively bristling with firepower to take down, or stall the large mechanoid. Certainly, though, the shallow slope, and the cover of stewn boulders and rock had helped the decepticon climb to a plateux that held an interesting vantage point over the mountian's surrounding area.

Vindicator transformed again and crouched behind a large collection of boulder's and looked out over the military encampment, a smile flowing over his faceplate as his optics zoomed in, taking into most of the goings on below him.

"This is most satisfying..." he turned his head back to look at the plateux, his internal systems calculating the distance "...hmm not enough to land on, however, that nearby airstrip will have to do... for now..." Vindicator paused and keyed up his comm system and spoke to Darkfire.

>>"Hey up there o'silver winged angel of mine..."<< The gravelly baritone vocals said >>"...I'm afraid the only nearby place to set your silvery wheels, is the air strip with the rudimentary hangar, and then wait until nightfall on this plnet before you can 'stretch your legs' as these meatsacks say..."<< he let a moment pass before finally adding >>"...watch your aft 'Fiery"<<

Vindicator ended the transmission before turning and rising to his feet, striding over to a large expanse carved into the side of the mountain. It wasn't artificial, certainly not made by the indigenous life forms, and absolutely not made by cybertronian hands. The nework of carvings, and cuts in the rock were deffinately all natural, as if the planet carved it out by itself. Vindicator, switched on his shouler lamps as he looked at ever nook and cranny inside the cavernous expanse. Deffinately large enough to acommodate a thirty-five foot, armed-to-the-teeth, Decepticon Siege Master, and certainly wide enough to allow all of them to comfortably mill around without smacking into each other. Another smile formed on his face as he contacted Psychout and Crueljaw on the dual fequency.

>>"Hey short-arse, Jaws...I found our bolt-hole that we need, and in good location too..."<< He paused as he stood at the entrance to the cave and looked out at the surrounding area >>"...I've got a few things that you might find interesting Psycho, and Jaws...I'm uploading you the co-ordinates for the road to get here...Just watch for the sour looking grey-green vehicles filled with humans, those little bastards are all over the place like scraplets to an autobot!"<<

He sighed and rubbed his chin.

>>"...See ya in thirty..."<<

Crueljaws Cab

Once they were clear of the built up areas Psychout reverted back to his robot mode and size and began to evaluate of the data he had acquired. There was likely to be much more detail at the base itself but he currently had more than enough to go on.

He opened a general comms channel and brought everyone up to speed.
>>Listen up guys, I'm going to fill you in on the Facsimile details, and assign a couple each to monitor and relay orders through. Some will be here shortly after us but others will take a bit longer to arrive. They are being brought here to take control of this base and enable us to work more openly however caution is to be advised still as there isn't close to enough to replace the entire contingent stationed here.<<

He pulled the files up on a holographic monitor projection from the dashboard and sorted thorough them, he only needed the military base ones for now and wanted to match the facsimile's style with his teams personalities, but that was easy enough.

>>'Jaws, You have General Chase Meridian and his minion O'Connell. Miserable bastard from all accounts and is currently en-route via DCHQ to facilitate the stand-down of the bases high-priority status, so should be escorted here in a few hours. He is to assume control of the base and relieve the current commander who is being redeployed with his logistics unit to some sandpit outpost that we don't care about. Yet. Darkfire, I have a hand picked one for you... Former special-ops agent Kowalski, black ops trained, now a contract 'cleaner'. Not officially on the military books, but our new 'contract' should have been delivered by now. Currently finishing a senator job in Vancouver and will need to clear his affairs there but he'll be here in 24 hours. Be casreful with him, this one is very valuable. Headcase, Yours will already be in situ, a Commander known as 'Benchpress'. He's the current control coordinator and liaison with the upper echelons, so he doesn't need to change much other than to ensure that we are kept separate from the rank and file and he is responsible for making sure we are not seen. If he fails on that we feed him to Crueljaw...<<

He flicked through the rest of the the list, mostly media and political types, but there was one especially that caught his eye...

>>All others are on a need-to-know basis and I will inform you of them once they arrive. You have your orders, we meet at the base shortly, wait until dark and then its time to dig us up some rocks from home...<<

He checked the map briefly, they were there now and he could see Mount St. Helens looming in the near distance. He could see why it was chosen for a base, It was truly vast. This planet may be a putrid ball of rank organic matter, but it did have some interesting features in places, as well as it's limitless energy potential.

>>One last thing to note, there is a high presence of a organisation called Academi in the area, we are to stay off of their radar until more can be established about their intentions and affiliations. Until told otherwise they are to be considered the enemy and we are still under Phase 1 protocols. Vindicator, we are now on your position for the rendezvous. Your new toy is expecting us, and will clear us through the initial gates. Its up to you and Jaws to get us in without incident, understood? <<

Psychout guided Crueljaw over Vindicators position and checking they were all clear of fleshling interlopers, he jumped out of the cab and radioed Darkfire for a final time. >>Darkfire? We are in position, you may land when ready.<<

Gifford National Park – Up There…Somewhere…

Monitoring the chatter on the frequencies while setting up her approach to the airstrip, Darkfire sighed internally at the fact that she would have to land on the airstrip she had seen earlier. It was some distance away from her team, at least on foot. It would be an interesting venture to journey to their outpost. The assassin ignored Vindicator’s new term for her and focused on her altitude. She would have to circle around the airstrip if Psychout did not give her the all clear to land in time.

Fortunately, permission came along with some interesting information about the facsimile being assigned to her as well as a group named Academi. An assassin always changed the way a game was played. Whether by killing a key player or planting incriminating evidence, they always changed the rules of the game. It would indeed be interesting to work with another assassin even if it was a facsimile.

Darkfire set up the angle of approach and descended, opening up a comm to relay acknowledgement to the others.

>>Acknowledged. Proceeding to land. You three stay frosty. I don’t want to be the one to clean up your mutilated remnants if you get blown to bits.<<

With that, Darkfire cut off the communiqué, and set her attention on the runway before her. Her wheels folded out from her underside as she flew ever closer to the small airstrip. She touched down and rumbled across the airstrip, decelerating and finally rolling across the runway and toward the hanger itself.

The doors were open, but no humans were in visible range. Darkfire rolled into the hangar and slowed to a stop beside an old biplane. Rudimentary didn’t even begin to describe this hangar. It was slaggin’ prehistoric. The assassin knew this planet’s technology wasn’t that advanced, but she had expected better than this. Perhaps she had overestimated these fleshlings? Perhaps, perhaps not. Overestimation was more easily forgiven than underestimation in any case.

You can’t be taken by surprise that way.

Darkfire settled in among the rest of the planes. She stood out of course, but since no one was around, it wouldn’t cause much trouble. The assassin was content to rest here until dark. She considered meditating in the meantime. It wouldn’t be a bad idea, now that she had some time to burn.

The assassin emptied her mind of all conscious thought and attuned herself to her surroundings. She first became aware of the objects most immediate to her. The planes, the tools, the parts scattered about the hangar. Their composition was logged as well as size and structure. Her awareness slowly extended out to the full range of her perception, noting small organic life forms all around her—birds, rodents, and others. She calculated air pressure and altitude as well as a number of other things without concentrating on a singular process. The assassin was completely aware.

Any cybertronian could be trained to do this, though most of them didn’t seem to bother or thought that meditation was focusing on nothing when focusing defeated the whole purpose of meditation. Meditation allowed Darkfire to fight more efficiently and managed to calm her as well. Clearing her mind at any instant would allow her to react instinctively to a dangerous situation. It had helped her in the past. She would be able to know if anyone approached the hangar, but focusing on them would provide a point for concentration. A wandering thought did pop into Darkfire’s mind once, however—it was inevitable; no one could be absolutely perfect at meditation. She briefly wondered about the status of Vindicator, Psychout, and Crueljaw before crushing the thought away and returning to her meditation.

(OOC: Posting includes actions for Phaze and Baneblade, by arrangement, as they are both lame indisposed)

A cave in Gifford National Park

Psychout took a metaphorical deep breath and considered the descent from the caves up in the National Park. This would be his first direct encounter with these meatsacks, and he had learned all about their narcissism and tribal tendencies from his brief but intense exposure to the world wide web a few hours ago. He marked the position of the caves Vindicator had found on his map, dismissed any possible ideas of failure and turned his mind back to the job in hand.

"You know what we have to do. Vindicator, you are the escort and I need your eyes on the security. Benchpress should be the fleshbag on the gate so once we are in, take control of him and get us cleared and positioned for easy access to the base itself." He waited a few seconds for the grumble of acknowledgement to arrive and Vindicator returned to his Tank altmode and revved his engines impatiently, hiding inside a tiny cavern wasn't the siege specialists idea of fun.

Psych climbed back into Crueljaws cab, moved over to the passenger seat and transformed again. That's twice in as many hours he thought, don't see that every day but this time he assumed a slightly larger altmode, one more in scale with a portable hard drive, tensing at the energy expenditure his size alteration circuits costed him. Were it not for his small robot mode size, he would already be dangerously low, but he knew he could last until they were ready to enter the old factions outpost at least. "It's now or never 'Jaws, lets go and see just how secure these humans are..."

Darkfires transmission came through and it sounded as though she would already be in situ when they arrived >>Received Darkfire, land and we will meet you for transfer into the old base.<< was his simple response. For a new addition to the team, she knew how to keep herself tidy, a valuable asset in this kind of mission. He just hoped the likes of Vindicator and Crueljaw weren't too bored as these two were clearly bred for combat, although he doubted it would stay this quiet for long.

The journey to the base was short and uneventful apart from Darkfire's descent and landing ahead of them, graceful as always. There were a few near misses on route whilst Crueljaw reacquainted himself with the concept of only driving on one side on the road and the various horns and expletives that only a Hummer/Tank convoy would bring in a area such as this, but in a few short moments they were at the gate where Psychout took over the vocalising of Crueljaws shaggy-haired Avatar, complete with his uniform showing a single star of rank. I hope that's not too much the cassette thought to himself, lets just hope the military here think this place is as important as I hope they do...

The gate guard looked taken a back, word of their arrival clearly hadn't filter down to the rank and file yet, but their arrival prompted a senior officer to stand down the trooper and deal with this himself. Through his ranged receptors, he could see the name of the front of the commanders uniform was "Benchpress" - looked like they had hit the jackpot. He allowed the Avatar to lean forwards to speak but, instead of mere words, Psychout transmitted a short burst of machine code which to any passers-by would have sounded like a garbled screeching, or the interference between radio stations, but it in fact transmitted an override code and took control of the facsimile who instantly stiffened up as if standing to attention whilst he processed his new orders. The Avatars usual voice took over quickly before any of his subordinates could query what was going on. "At ease soldier, routine upgrade to your installation's internal network. We have an uplink package that required immediate attention, so have your CO and Comms officer in the briefing room at 1900 hours" it said, and waved a hologramatic replication of ranked military ID for the benefit of the other soldiers listening in on the gate. The Facsimile retained its blank stare and waved them in with his weapon, "Right this way, Sir. We have an area being prepped for your arrival as we speak, Sir. Your aerial escort arrived a few moments ago and has taxied to Hangar 4, Sir. ...You are cleared to enter." Benchpress' responses were monotone and flat, but Psychout was impressed with the level of control on these fleshling servants, clearly Darkride had done a good job when programming these things.

Releasing the facsimile from its machine code loop before Crueljaw pulled away, Psychout chuckled silently to himself. If only all all these fleshlings were that easy to control... and he watched from the inside as his bodyguard pulled into a secluded but secure area overlooking a group of hangars whilst Vindicator positioned himself tactically where he would see all surrounding access points.

"Well, we're in guys. New we just need to get me hooked up and for it to get dark so we can get inside the old base there. Big Vin? scan us up an entrance, you're our guide from now on..."

Gifford National Forest

After the others had begun the process of integrating themselves in to the area, Shockwave dispatched an additional operative from stasis to join those already in the area of the former Decepticon headquarters. Landgrab was a mechanoid of few words, if any at all, and that had not served him well in doing anything of political consequence within the Decepticon ranks, but it suited Shockwave's purposes. He did not need a mech of substantial charisma or power in this instance. He just needed a tool. And in that regard, Landgrab excelled.

He began looking for a suitable structure to connect with as soon as his feet touched the surface of this organic planet and began broadcasting a relay signal so that the other Decepticons in the area would know that he was present.

His function in most any circumstances had always just been as little more than a stationary support structure to anything that the Decepticons had already established in the area. He had scanned the structures that the native organics were using on this planet, particularly in this area, and had prepared an accommodating alternate mode configuration. Now it was just a matter of getting to where it would be of use.

Transforming, the nondescript platform rolled along in the darkness until Landgrab could find what he was looking for.
___

In the Skies

A pair of military surplus helicopters had entered the airspace around Skamania County with little fanfare. The pilots aboard both transmitted the various clearance codes that Epsilon Holdings had been granted to conduct some private contracting work in this area via the federal government. It was looking like it would shape up to be a hefty contract, possibly so big that it would put Epsilon in the black early this year. That warranted a visit from some of the big timers.

Abraham Dante looked out of the window, as some of the other members of his executive team did the same. Vehicles that were clearly military and others that were decidedly not so were all over the area.

"Washington sure don't know the meanin' of subtle, do they?" Dante said with a half-smile, looking over at the others. "We got teams workin' the media, yeah?"

"Deployed in to the populace about a half hour ago, Mr. Dante."

"Good deal," Dante said, before tapping the left ear of his headset. "We all clear to land? I'd hate to think I flew outta Dallas just to hafta go right back."

"Clearances received, sir."

"Well alright. Let's take these birds down and see how much money we're gonna make this year, eh?"

"Yessir."

Gifford National Park – The Hangar, Just Hanging Out

The approach of two fleshlings was immediately focused on when they entered the assassin’s range of awareness. They were still outside and a good deal off. Not in visual range yet, but definitely within audio range. Darkfire, knowing she still had a few seconds before she would have to display her holomatter avatar, garnered as much information about the pair as she could.

Their footsteps were fairly light—to a Cybertronian, any human footstep would be light—but rapid and loud. The assassin judged from the intervals that they were jogging toward her location. There was a variety of other noises that the humans made, but without proper experience, Darkfire couldn’t tell anything from it. She had never actually dealt with humans before. She would have to get the facsimile assigned to her do some exercises so that she could get an idea of the height, weight, and physical fitness from sound alone. It might also help if she could get Psychout to give her a few files on human composition and structure as well as functions of their various parts.

The assassin checked on the resonance of the human footsteps and judged that she had a few astroseconds left before they entered the hangar. It took one astrosecond for her to formulate a suitable alibi and several other back-ups in case the original was not accepted. It took another astrosecond for Darkfire to throw up a holomatter avatar. In the next astrosecond, the two humans jogged into the hangar.

The assassin’s holomatter avatar appeared to be in her late twenties. She had an obvious air of authority about her. She was wearing a flight suit and had the helmet tucked under one arm as she checked over the side of “her jet”. An ensign of an eagle was present on her shoulder, denoting her rank. The two soldiers came to attention in beside the avatar, waiting to be acknowledged.

As the avatar turned to them, they could see her cold almost golden-green eyes assessed them. She tossed a lock of midnight black hair over her shoulder and nodded to them. “At ease, soldiers.” The two humans took up a more relaxed stance, though they were still rather tense. One of them spoke up, “Colonel, what is the purpose of your visit?”

“I am part of a specialist unit investigating the cause of the volcano’s collapse,” the avatar said curtly. Colonel Phyre sent both men a stern stare after a long pause, wondering why they hadn’t left yet. It took her a moment to delineate the reason. She was not often in a position of leadership, preferring to work alone.

“You are dismissed. Both of you.”

The humans nodded before trotting off and away to report this to some superior of theirs. If she could have scowled in alternate form, Darkfire would have been doing it. She had hoped to remain undisturbed. Her avatar flickered out of existence after the two humans were gone. Suddenly, a Decepticon signal immediately caught her attention.

Another member for our team? Curious.

The assassin would leave the task of briefing their new teammate to Psychout partly because he was the designated team leader, but mostly because she preferred to keep her presence as discreet as possible. With the two fleshlings out of the way for now, she opened up a private comms link with Psychout.

>>Psychout, you’ve accessed this thing called the internet, correct? I need files on human composition, structure, organ functions, and anything else you can find.<<

Gifford National Park – Military Base

Crueljaw hated being this close to so many organics after Psychout’s binary conversation with the Facsimile Crueljaw rolled through the military base. Various versions of his own alternate mode just a lot more camouflaged some of the flying crates he’d seen in the woodland where sat idle to one side of the airstrip. As he moved He utilised his avatar to try and spy the communications and intelligence tent but as Crueljaw crawled forward an unfortunate human stepped out in front of the hummer a blast from his horn was enough to cause the human to leak. “These things are small scared all the time and deserving of being ruled” he muttered as he pulled into the secure area.

Crueljaw utilised his avatar in a more hands on approach as it picked Psychout’s portable hard drive form and headed off into the teeming throng of soldiers that where milling around. After a few subtle enquires Crueljaw guided his holo avatar into the communication and information centre and found his way to a bank of servers. Crueljaw knelt down pretending to sort his shoelace out but he placed Psychout in close proximity to the severs and hoped his tiny colleague could get himself jacked in as Crueljaw didn’t want to get discovered messing with the computer banks. “You’re on your own from here Runt I can’t stay here I’ll be found out” with that Crueljaw's holo avatar headed out of the tent and awaited a call to retrieve his friend.

Gifford National Forest

Landgrab increased the intensity of his locator signal. He knew from mission logs on the Thanatos that a group of Decepticons had been stationed within this area, but he hadn't encountered any of them directly. This was a pretty delicate intelligence mission, though, and Landgrab was hardly going to be the one to foul up any of Shockwave's plans.

These natives are so...squishy, Landgrab thought as he drove past a pair of them, engaged heavily in their own conversation. Even basic physiological analysis suggested that these creatures would come apart at the slightest application of pressure or tension. And Cybertronians had enough problems with leaking. These things? They were like water balloons. He wasn't going to enjoy it if one of them happened to get underfoot. Stardust would lose a circuit if he ever got assigned to this planet.

C'mon, 'cmon, someone's gotta see me and know where I'm supposed t'go.

Gifford National Park Military base

Crueljaw had found a vehicle compound where he could hold up and await Psychout’s retrieval signal. He took the opportunity to enter energon conservation mode to preserve himself for when he was really needed. However he never got the opportunity to do this as a decepticon locator signal burst into his audio receptors. I might very well strip the gears from the transformation cog of whoever this is Crueljaw shunted the thought of mutilating the new arrival to the back of his mind as he opened a secure comm frequency to broadcast to the new comer

>>This is Crueljaw who are ya and why are you here?<< Crueljaw didn’t see the point of being polite curt and to the point would provide him all the information he needed regarding the newcomer. His holo avatar sprung back into life as he prepared to move if needed stretching its holo limbs and pulling a holo paper from the glove box.

Gifford National Park Military Base

As Landgrab had received the incoming Decepticon transmission, he also homed in on it. It wasn't long before he found himself within the same vehicle compound and came to a halt, shutting off his engines.

"Landgrab. Uhhhhh...Decepticon operative activated at, uhhmmm...what time is it? A few breems before now. Function:...uhh, well, support and artillery I guess, on behalf of Shockwave for operative Psychout. You?"

Landgrab recognized the callsigns of some of the other Decepticons in the area but little else. It had been...well, slaggin' hell...it'd been an age since he'd since fieldwork. But here it was staring him in the face and he was determined to make the most of it. Otherwise it'd be off to the CR chamber again.

And who knows how long he'd be under next time.

(OOC:Apologies for my absence, its a long story, am also posting for Baneblade who's laptop appears to require an exorcism...)

Gifford National Park Military Base, 1 hour ago.

"...SOLDIER, I SAID DO IT NOW!!" Vindicator's rapport with the gate guard was effective, the siege master was a mech of many words when it was needed and he had the most military experience and knew how to get guards active, but this wasnt the time for conversation. The spooked guard panicked at first, but relaxed when the blank-expression of the facsimile staff sergeant relieved the confused grunt from his post and took over the exchange. He waved the tank and prototype military humvee through and watched expressionless as Crueljaw and Vindicator rolled into the compound and pulled up. Psychout, hidden away in his altmode, was handed over to the staff sergeant for upload into the bases dataset to allow him full control of the facility and 'stage one' was officially complete.

He lost sight of his team mates as he was placed roughly into a pocket and passed from personnel to personnel. He made a mental note to make sure these meatsacks knew what it was like to be shoved inside a giant holdall, and eventually - after much persuasion - managed to get himself connected to the central computer system. He began to settle in exploring the data before him and the milliseconds felt like hours as he mined away at the encryption layers like peeling the layers off an over-armoured Autobot onion and set about his task. Most of this shouldn't take long, these fleshbags just aren't prepared for a robotic space alien cyber-attack, heh. Periodically he found files that even he didn't recognise, but as Cybertronians have been here on Sol-3 for a while now it wasn't a surprise, it would just take a while longer to decipher them, the rest was ridiculously easy.

The cassettes triumphant train of thought was disturbed briefly by Landgrabs beacon as the new mech arrived on earth. Odd, I wasn't expecting anyone else he mused, Contemptor and Mal Practice were due to join in time, but that wasn't for a while yet. Lets see who the boss has sent..? but before he could reply Crueljaw had established contact and given Landgrab their location. Excellent, he thought, saves me a job, and he plunged his conciousness back into the computer system, not wanting to waste any more time.

Gifford National Park Military Base. Now.
"Landgrab, this is Psychout, in command of this mission and facility. You will rendezvous with Vindicator who will brief you when you arrive. Ensure your hard-light avatar is active and in the correct military attire, and we commence stage 2 shortly, until then you can stand down, and Crueljaw will establish your security clearance for mission access once you present your orders."

So engrossed was he in he in his data mining, Psychout had barely registered Landgrab's arrival at the base and so his welcome speech to the new arrival was briefer than he would have liked. Psychout angled a security camera to take a good look at their new team mate. Nope, definitely don't recognise him, but as its time to report in I can double check. Information operatives liked to know all the facts and Psychout, especially, hated being in the dark. Needless to say, the Decepticon army was huge and without access to the Thanatos' personnel files this Landgrab could be anyone, and he didn't get where he was today by blindly trusting 'anyone'.

He carefully selected a frequency that was least used and as secure as was possible using this cup-and-string level of technology, confident that if Shockwave himself was unable to receive it Soundwave would be able to pick it up and (hopefully) pass it along. Damn he hated that monotone yes-droid.

>>Psychout to Commander Shockwave>>
>>Infiltration of Sol-3 has been achieved with 100% success, Sir. Location is secluded and sparsely populated and fit all criteria for a secure outpost. Insertion team are in position to begin reinforcement of infiltration protocols here and key facsimiles have been activated, ETA's at facility between 26 minutes and and 14 terran days. Will continue to monitor Sol-3 transmissions and broadcast networks for possible protocol breaches before securing facility for re-use and transport to Razorclaws location. Please advise should you require and alteration to the mission brief, and to confirm the ID and designation of the support unit that has just arrived, to enable access to security protocols.<<
>>Out<<

It was nearing nightfall. Darkfire was in position in a hangar. Vindicator and Crueljaw were in position adjacent to the breach in the old collapsed base entrance and Landgrab had just rumbled into place with a few hours to spare. He summoned the Staff Sergeant to come and collect him to return him to Crueljaws cab, but not before accessing the medical journals and sending the information packet over to Darkfire. "Darkfire, this should be what you need on the organics physiognomy, and your facsimile looks like it will be first one to arrive, just prior to nightfall. Upon its arrival, it should report to the gate and be sent directly to you. We move into the ruined base in approximately 85 minutes."

As the facsimile arrived to transport him back to Crueljaw, he established a remote link with the fileserver to allow him to manipulate the system from range. Links like this were never that effective and he know that any major changes would involve a full integration, but it will save time for the mundane tasks. Then removing all traces of his activity within the system, he duplicated a couple of the file blocks he didn't recognise for later decryption and allowed himself to be pocketed once again, only being brought back into the fading evening light as he was handed to Crueljaws avatar and set back down on his partners passenger seat.

"Well 'Jaws, that's the boring part over with, are you ready to see what's in Aladdin's cave?"

Gifford National Park Military Base

Kowalski arrived at the front gates of the base, stopping at the front gate. He simply showed the guards on duty his clearance and continued inside. From what he had been told, the Decepticon that he was reporting to was inside the hangar nearest the mountain. The facsimile parked his car and stepped out into the evening air, headed directly for the hangar his superior was residing within.

Darkfire was waiting patiently for the facsimile to arrive after Psychout's notice. She had sent some time learning about these humans' physiognomy. The assassin found it fascinating. She always preferred to know her enemy before engaging the enemy. She now knew how much pressure to apply to snap bone or simply render unconscious. There would be no mistake of accidentally killing one of them. Suddenly, Darkfire became aware of approaching footsteps. No need to send out her avatar. She would simply observe.

As Kowalski entered the hangar, he looked at all of the aircraft within. Spotting the F-22 Raptor that was the assassin's alternate form, Kowalski approached Darkfire. He sent her a short tranmission, identifying him as a facsimile and not another human. Darkfire gazed down at the facsimile charged to her, then opened a brief communique with Psychout.

>>"The facsimile has arrived, Psychout. Ready to move to the old base on your mark."<<

Gifford Park National Park Military base

Crueljaw was keeping himself busy his holo avatar checking the underside of his Humvee mode.

He wasn’t registering any damage under there but he preferred to check it with his own optics the sound of an engine brought his attention to the approaching vehicle catching note of the purple symbol branded on the frame. The newcomer identified himself as Landgrab and let out a deep rumbling that was almost a human equivalent to a belly laugh. “No I’m not the runt he’ll be arriving shortly” another snigger emanated from the hummer as he emphasised shortly. The facsimile arrived carrying the tiny Psychout his diminutive colleague started jabbering about some human called Aladdin and his cave as soon as he was placed on the passenger seat in Crueljaws cab.

“did you take a sip of tainted energon or did you get a power spike through your processor units. Who in the name of the pit is Aladdin and why do I want to get into his cave unless it’s to cave his puny skull in? I thought we were grave robbing?”

He then remembered Landgrab “oh yeah this is Landgrab just happened to appear on earth by us apparently sent by Shockers himself” Crueljaw explained with a hint of sarcasm. He started his engine and prepared to move off

“Where we going now boss?”

Gifford Park National Park Military base

Psychout was....well, he was little, wasn't he? That was the first sentiment that worked its way through Landgrab's mind. But that fact certainly didn't make him any more inclined to not do what he was told. In his experience, officers generally got put in their jobs for many reasons beyond Landgrab's understanding or care. He just followed orders. It made his life easier. And, he was still alive after all. There were many in the Decepticon ranks since the war first broke out that could no longer make the same claim.

Landrab pulled up a physical scan of the avatar that had been put in place on his behalf and cross-referenced it with the others. Nothing out of place, really, except for that haircut it was sporting. He'd need to get that changed.

"Orders. Right. Uh, just support and resource provision, it looks to me. Nothing really specific on my activation readout out here. Just a location and some signature scans that match up with you guys'. So....yeah. Don't think Shockwave hand-picked me or anythin'. Just knowin' how he works, my performance record matched up enough with whatever directive protocols you guys needed to get done down here. And, bam, here I am."

Gifford Park National Park Team Midget Military base. Nightfall

After being unceremoniously dumped back into Crueljaws cab by the facsimile taxi-service Psychout took advantage of the tinted windows and reverted back to his robot mode, stretching himself out as he did so. He set the comms to include all 4 of the team. "Well, that's one problem solved. These meatmokeys have no idea of what happened here last time, despite the gigantic mechanical aliens trampling the area flat for 10 square miles. It would appear that whoever we have in the top brass covering this up really knows their job, or the locals have drank the Kool-Aid. There were a few files I still have to work on, but we have plenty of time for that later, but currently these shaved apes are to be considered 'clueless'."

He checked his internal chronometer, and the skies above, then cross referenced it with the shift schedule. It was now dark and the night watch has taken up their posts, they wouldn't be disturbed now. He open Crueljaws drivers door and jumped down to the ground, heading towards the aircraft hangars. If he thought he was small compared to Crueljaw, he was tiny next to the new arrival. Shockwaves humour always was subtle he chuckled.
"You can transform to robot modes now if you want, we're out of sight - but no lights!"

He walked towards his newest soldier on the way to the hangar. "Looks like you arrived just in time then Landgrab." Psych stopped and appraised the large platform. "You're well equipped, I like that. I assume you come with digging and hoisting rigs? Better hope you do, you've got 2 hours to drill us a nice new entrance here, the smallest you can make it so we can all fit inside - and 'Jaws has put on a few tonnes since the old days..." he pointed towards a section of rock Darkfire had identified as a potential entrance on her recon sweeps earlier "I doubt you've been dirtside before but it'll just be some weak carbon-based mineral or other and won't take long to drill. Get on it, and call me when you're done. Darkfire will enter first on point and Vindicator and Crueljaws will back her up and ensure nothing bad is waiting for us in there. Now get moving!"

Psych was on a roll now, he had just had a good few hours to formulate his strategy whilst playing cyber-tetris with the native computer technologies child-like encryption systems. He issued the next round of orders as he walked, keen to get everything done in the narrow window they had before dawn.

"Vindicator, you're the only person who has been here before. I need a schematic of the layout along with the rough location of the CR chambers, command bunkers and armouries and - most importantly - I need an alternate way out in case this place is pulled down on us again. Make sure Darkfire has a copy and then go and help Landgrab shift some rubble." Vin had stopped for a second, unnoticed by Psychout. The last time he had been here he had ended up with his head dipped in lava and he put a hand to his temple and remembered Mal Practice's experimental procedure to fix the damage. He did not want to go over that again, and didn't know if it was that or the makeshift repairs on his neurals but just couldn't quite recall the old layout. Still he had a few moments, if only he still had some of those drugs Mal gave Contemptor, Haxtl-something? He removed the triple grade Energon bottle from an arm cavity and took a swig, which seemed to help. A bit.

Unaware of Vindicators psychological crisis, Psychout moved on. "Darkfire, once Landgrab gets started, I have the first target for your Fleshling. An illegal weapons trader in the deep web is claiming to have discovered an 'alien ray gun' and trying to sell it on to the highest bidder. He is attracting too much attention. From the description its only a crappy mini-bot pistol which must have been lost in the battle here when Megatron collapsed the base. Send Kowalski to make this idiot disappear, retrieve the weapon and get the identity of the bidders - one of them is ours anyway but a most are not, anything on their tech levels that could haver been derived from Cybertronian needs recording. I've traced this guy to a private security compound about 60 miles from here. Brief him quickly though, you're on point when Landgrabs finished digging us an entrance."

Lastly he addressed his old ally, "Crueljaw, whilst they are busy getting us in, I've got something I want you to help me check out over here" as he continued towards the aircraft hangar...

Migetsville, military base gifford park

As soon as the diminutive Leader of their madcap crew jumped out Crueljaw heard those words he liked he was able to roam around in robot mode. He activated his transformation sequence. He ignored the jibe about gaining a few tons as he stood up right his hydraulics wheezing slightly as he stretched his arms out. This was what he hated about grey ops no fighting just a lot of sitting around in a suitable covert mode watching and utilising the holo avatars.

The servos in his neck groaned in protest as he looked around the prolonged stay in his alternate mode wasn’t great so soon after his defrosting from stasis. His lone red optic narrowed as he heard his diminutive commander ask for his help.

The bodyguard fell into step alongside Psychout he didn’t reduce his steps just slowed his pace. “You want me to do protoforms steps so you can keep up?” Crueljaw enquired making a not so subtle jibe at the miniature cassette. “I mean I could tow one of these trailers if you want to get their quicker or just throw you like a hex nut. So what’s the big deal about this place I mean apart from some cretin blowing it some when into the next millennia?” the aircraft hanger was looming in front of the decepticon who realised that he was going to have to duck to these hangers where for fighters not the huge freight planes. “I really hope you’re not going to try joyriding like on Ryza I remember you jacking that alien fighter took that bunch of seekers 6 breems to get you out of the air”