The Energon Pub

Few Autobot's could cause the Ark's communications system to blare a distress signal across every available speaker in the ship while sitting at the ship's communications console. It was a testament to Blaster's skill that he managed it from another vessel altogether while hurtling from the sky.

General Distress Signal

"Ark-19! Ark-19! This is Blaster calling all Autobots. My ship, carrying a cargo of pure energon, has been attacked by Decepticons! I'm bailing out. Untargeted bounce. Vessel will crash in the ocean - strong possibility that infiltration protocols have been breached! I'll worry about me, get to that ship!"

The message ends in a squeal of electronics and a burst of static nearly powerful enough to blow the base's speakers.

Medical Bay

Smokescreen watched as Brawn picked up another panel and held it up over the next crack in the bulkhead. As Smokey stepped forward once again with his torch in hand, Blurr whizzed by him as the blue mech continued cleaning up the debris that the explosion had left around the vast room. The diversion expert had always envied Blurr’s superior speed and often wondered how he’d fare against him in a race. Smokey would most likely lose, of course. The red and blue ‘bot may have been the best at underground street racing back on Cybertron, but he was no match for the likes of Blurr. Still, Smokey was sure he would have fun if he ever had the chance to challenge the speedster one on one.

Smokescreen began welding the new panel into place as Brawn held it steady. The diversion expert had secured about half of the plate when Blaster’s distress call came over the ship’s speakers loud and clear. Smokey stopped and listened intently as the Communications Specialist laid out his dire situation. “Pure energon?!” Smokey exclaimed as he looked back at Brawn. It had been a very long time since he or any Autobot on the Ark-19 had felt true, unaltered energon flowing through their circuits. The synthetic stuff they currently lived off of was okay and kept the crew going against the Decepticons. But, nothing could beat the feeling of the real thing.

Smokescreen’s first thought was to drop everything and go find Prime, who would certainly want to send a team to retrieve both Blaster and the pure energon before the ‘cons got their hands on either one. However, there was still important work to be done here in securing the bulkhead. It would do no one any good to obtain the energon only to return to a flooded ship. “Let’s finish with this bulkhead, Brawn. Then we’ll go find Prime and see what we can do to help find Blaster and that ship.” Smokey quickly turned his attention back to the bulkhead and finished welding the second panel into place. “There. Now, one more should do it and then we're done.”

OOC - there was no Blaster profile posted so I just assumed he hadn't been introed and I didn't bother to search for his name in posts. We'll just go with the Prime sent him off on another mission thing

Wheeljack's lab

If there was one thing that could snap Ironhide out of his single-minded desire to bust some Decepticon heads it was another Autobot in trouble. When he heard Blaster's message come across the ship's PA system, the old veteran turned on his heel, not even waiting to see what Prime's response to his half-assed demand would have been, and nearly ran through Hardhead in his haste.

"C'mon guys what're yeh waitin' fer? There's 'bots in trouble. We can prolly get a read on 'em from the command center," he called back over his shoulder as he hurried away.

Wheeljack's Lab

Hardhead could see that Prime was currently very busy, which was the reason the Autobot Commander had not yet responded to Ironhide's demand for action. However, the two war veterans' desire for battle seemed to be answered when Blaster's distress call came in over the ship's speakers. Hardhead knew that a team would soon be assembled and he wanted to be on it.

"I'm right behind you, Ironhide!" Hardhead replied as he followed the red mech up to the Command Center.

Medical Bay

Once the last panel was in place, Smokescreen took another step back and did a thorough scan of the bulkhead to ensure it was secured. Once the readings came back in the clear, he knew their job was done.

"Everything looks good, Brawn. I'm not detecting anymore leaks or weaknesses of any kind in the bulkhead. We're good to go." Smokescreen then turned to follow Brawn out of the med bay when the tough minibot asked him about Hound. "I'm not sure where he disappeared to. The last time I saw him he was near the air lock down the corridor."

Smokescreen stepped into the hallway and looked around. He knew Hound was somewhere nearby and had probably heard Blaster's distress call. He figured the most likely place Hound and everyone else would gather was at the Command Center, so that's where Smokey would head to, as well. "Let's get up to the Command Center, Brawn. I'm sure that's where Prime and the ohers will be."

Wheeljack's Lab

Prime was lost in thought over recent events. The defeat on the oil rig and the capture, rescue and then sabotage of Bumblebee had all come very quickly on top of each other. It felt like as of late that the Decepticons were always a half step ahead of them. They needed to find someway to turn things around, to get an edge of the Decepticons.

Ironhide’s words were slow to bring him out of his reverie. He was finally about to reply to him when the distress call from Blaster came in. Optimus quickly followed the other Autobots into the command center. He quickly took his seat in the command chair and was rapidly surrounded by screens filled with data.

“His ship crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. Sensors can only give a rough estimate of where it has landed, but we aren’t detecting any massive energy spikes. That means the energon is still intact. There is a reading of a localized bounce as well, enough for a lone Autobot, but I can’t pinpoint the exact location of it.”

Prime looked over at Ironhide. “You wanted action, then this is it Ironhide. I want you to select a team and investigate the wreck. Salvage and recover whatever you can from the vessel and locate Blaster. The Decepticons are going to know about the wreck and its cargo as well so be prepared for a fight. I will remain here to monitor communications, both ours and the humans. This may take some work to smooth over for our infiltration.”

Medbay

Hound, off in a corner checking the seals on the the repairs, looked up at the message coming over on the PA. He stood up quickly, to join his fellow Autobots in their response, and banged his head off a piece of equipment which had been thrown out of place in the blast. He spends a few astroseconds clutching his head, then looks up, to find he's been left behind.

"Hey guys!! Hold on a nano!!"

Command Center

Hound ran into the command center behind the others, just in time to catch Primes briefing. With his head feeling better, he was able to pay attention, and nodded as the Autobot leader gave his words. Once he and Prowl were done, the Autobot Scout raises his hands.

"Sir, if its an underwater mission you're going to need me. Without Seaspray or Broadside, or any of the other aquatic specialists, you'll need someone built for extreme terrain to make up for them. Plus our firepower will be affected by the water, so my holograms might be a more dependable weapon."

Command Center

Smokescreen arrived at the Command Center shortly after Hardhead and Ironhide. As the rest of the Autobots filed in, Optimus Prime laid out what needed to be done. He placed Ironhide in charge of the salvage team that would be responsible for not only retrieving the lost energon, but also for locating Blaster, himself. Of course, there was also the chance of running into the Decepticons along the way. The thought of which made Hardhead crack a brief smile before returning to his normal, impassive self.

Great, more salt water, Smokescreen thought with a low groan. But, the diversion expert knew that he could be an asset to the team, so if Ironhide wanted him, he would go without hesitation. Once Optimus, Prowl and Hound were all done speaking, Smokey approached the team leader.

"Ironhide, I'd like to also volunteer for the mission if you'll have me along. My diversionary tactics might come in handy."

Hardhead couldn't help but chuckle at what Smokescreen had just said. "Really, Smokey? I seriously doubt your tactics will be much use underwater. I mean, you can't very well shoot one of your smoke clouds at the enemy down there, and I doubt your ECM missiles and disruptor rifle will have the same effects as they do on land."

The red and blue mech frowned at Hardhead's blunt assessment of his ability to assist in a watery environment. The career soldier was never one to spare the feelings of others and often came across as rude and uncaring. Smokescreen decided to keep his cool in his response. "Well, perhaps not, Hardhead. But there are other ways to divert the enemy's attention even when underwater. I can still help if given the opportunity."

Hardhead shook his head. "Whatever you say, Smokey." The ground assault specialist then turned to Ironhide. "Well 'Hide, I'm all set and ready to go. Hopefully, the 'cons will show up on this mission and we'll be able to finally dish out some payback!"

Command Center

"You got it Prime," Ironhide said then turned and faced the assembled Autobots. It looked like virtually the entire crew had turned up in the command center with the exception of those too injured for combat, and everyone was obviously raring to go, which couldn't have suited the old mech any better. A slow smile crept across his face as he listened to everyone's arguments and extravagant claims as to how useful they would be.

"Glad yer all as ready to bust some heads as ah am," he said when the tumult had finally died down. "An' don't worry, ah think there's gonna be plenty fer all of us to do."

Ironhide stepped up to the status board, and brought up a three-dimensional display of the estimated impact point. "We need to secure the energon, find Blaster, an' get rid of that ship. The best way to do that is to get there in a hurry. Blaster is a walkin' communications center, so if he ain't contacted us by the time we reach the freighter, then our best chance of locating him is to pull his transport coordinates from the bounce platform on the ship."

"Hound, ah want you to bounce now. Find that ship an' get us an idea what we're jumpin' into. Jazz, Prowl - gather up some shaped charges - enough to implode that ship in case the self-destruct is offline. When we get there yer priority is to access the computers an' rig the ship to blow. Make sure we leave no trace fer the humans to find when they start investigating. Smokey, Hardhead, Brawn, Shotblur - the five of us are strong backs and big guns. We secure the energon and kill 'cons. If, or should ah say when the refuse hits the fan - me, Hardhead and Shotblur will do our best to hold the perimeter so that Smokey and Brawn can get the energon out."

The old warhorse paused and leaned forward, resting his fists on the table in front of him. "That's the plan. 'Course you know what they say, no plan survives contact with the enemy, but ah got faith in you guys."

"Let's do this. Hound get rollin'. The rest of you gather up what you need and meet at the bounce platform in one cycle. Dismissed!"

Command Center

Hound salutes proudly as Ironhide gives him his mission. "Understood sir!! I won't let you down!! If someone can patch the last known coordinate of the ship to the bounce platform, that'll narrow the search area immensely." The scout turns to leave, then stops. "Er, Ironhide sir, are you leaving Blaster to make his way here himself? Can't we spare someone to go look for him?" Hound shrugs sheepishly, then transforms and heads for the Orbital Bounce Platform, hoping the coordinates will be uploaded by the time he gets there.

Command Center

"Didn't ah cover that?" Ironhide remarked sounding more than a bit irritated as Hound sped off. "Ah don't see how we can find Blaster without gettin' his coordinates from the bounce platform on the freighter...unless..." The old mech slapped himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand.

"Unless ah'm overlookin' somethin' obvious. Hex why don'tcha try sendin' Blaster a signal on the comm array? If you can get a'hold of him that way, you can go out and fetch him."

Command Center

Hex had followed Smokescreen and Brawn out of the Med bay and over to the Command Center. It was probably the only way for him to get an answer to his question as to what happened in the Med Bay. The young mech had also heard Blaster’s signal over the ship’s Comm array.

Once inside the Command Center, Hex took a position off to the side. He half listened to what Prime had to say and when the Autobot Commander announced that Ironhide would be in charge of the salvage mission Hex let out a sigh.

Hex watched as Hound took off, but questioned Ironhide. He let out a slight chuckle as the older mech made his comment, but his attention was caught when Prime’s security guard addressed him.

Hex gave Ironhide a sarcastic look as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the wall.

“Sure, I’ll man the comm, and then I’ll find the loud mouth communication device, but when I’m done I wanna talk to him.”

Hex pointed at Optimus Prime. The young Bot wanted to get a few things out in the open, and having Prime discuss a few things would help him understand why the Autobot Commander did what he did.

Command Center

Upon hearing Blaster’s voice coming across the Ark’s loudspeakers, Jazz was just as surprised as any other bot but he didn’t show it. He knew it worked best for him to stay cool so he simply chuckled at Prowl’s comment. It was surely nagging his friend as to why he was unaware of such a mission. “And why send someone as noisy as Blaster across the galaxy? I bet the Decepticons can pick up his fat beats a parsec away,” Jazz teased Prowl.

Optimus Prime soon arrived and took charge of the situation. This further reassured Jazz, relieving whatever anxiety he was starting to feel. With the situation assessed Prime gave concise commands for Ironhide to lead a rescue and recovery mission. Jazz began to ponder the logistics of an ocean going salvage operation. Prowl had jumped in and volunteered for the mission voicing his concerns as the strategist. This made Jazz chuckle at his friend’s zealousness.

Ironhide then spoke up and gave his orders for the coming mission. He had assigned Jazz and Prowl the task of recovering the shuttle data and destroying all evidence of the existence of the ship. Downloading the computer data would be simple; destroying the shuttle would be the tougher part. It couldn’t be an explosion big enough for human reconnaissance to detect, if they could help it. Brawn’s expertise would be helpful in this situation.

As Prowl headed off to gear up, Jazz turned to him and said, “You start getting things ready. I’m right behind you.” Jazz then headed after Brawn to pick his brain for a moment. “Hey Brawn, just wanted to get your opinion on the right way to blow Blaster’s shuttle. I don’t want to leave anything useful to the Decepticons or humans behind.

Command Center

Smokescreen listened closely as Ironhide delivered his orders to the group assembled. Smokey would be working with Brawn to help secure the energon and get it out of there before the ‘cons were able to obtain it. That suited the diversion expert just fine. He and Brawn had worked well together as a team to patch up the med bay earlier and this assignment would be no different.

“You got it, Ironhide!” Smokescreen responded, respectfuly. “See you all at the bounce pad.” He gave Hardhead a quick look as the green soldier remained stoic. Smokey knew that Hardhead didn’t think he would be of much use on the upcoming mission, but the red and blue mech would prove him wrong. However, to help do that, Smokey needed something to protect his joints from possible prolonged exposure to salt water, and the only place to find that was down in the storage depot.

Without another word Smokescreen turned on his heel and left the Command Center, heading for storage. Hardhead gave the diversion specialist a glance as he left the room. The war verteran didn’t really care that Smokey was included on the mission just as long as he made himself useful and didn’t become a liability when a battle erupted. And one would, of course. One always did when a lost resource as potent as pure energon was involved.

“I’ll be down in the armory if you need me,” Hardhead said to Ironhide. “Once my weapons are fully loaded, I’ll meet you at the bounce pad.” The seasoned veteran then made his way out of the command center and through the corridors, moving past Brawn and Jazz as he went.

Command Center

The sound of the servos in Ironhide's jaw grinding was actually audible throughout the room as Hex spoke. Only the fact that he was in command of this particular mission, and the responsibility that entailed, kept the old red mech from tearing into the little loudmouth. "Yeah okay Hardhead," Ironhide growled, barely glancing up as Smokescreen and the big warrior left. All of his attention was on Hex.

He stepped around the status table, grabbed Hex by the chest plate, shouldered past Jazz and Brawn, and literally dragged the smaller 'bot out into the hallway away from prying ears.

"Why you self-centered young punk!" he snarled, his face only centimeters from Hex's. "There's an Autobot out there in trouble, and yer usin' it to further your own damned agenda? What exactly is yer malfunction? Ah know you got somethin' in yer craw, but right now ah don't give a damn what it is! You need to suck it up and act like you got some sense Hex. Either yer an Autobot, or yer not... Make up yer mind and do it right now, but don't you dare put conditions on doin' the right thing!"

Storage Bay

Smokescreen entered the storage room at a quickened pace. As he moved towards one end of the bay, he noticed Prowl at the opposite side going through some containers. Smokey decided not to bother the military strategist and instead remained focused on the task at hand. The diversion expert needed something to protect himself from prolonged exposure to salt water, and he soon found what he was looking for sitting on a nearby shelf.

Smokescreen picked up a can of anti-corrosion spray and held it in his hands. The chemical was normally used to protect tools and equipment from rust and other corrosive substances, especially those found in salt water, which the Ark-19 was submerged in. Smokey studied the side of the can and noticed that there was nothing that said it couldn’t be used on a mech’s body. No warnings at all.

This should work fine, Smokescreen thought as he began spraying it on each of his joints and other exposed areas. There was a slight tingling sensation as the spray first went on, but it quickly subsided and Smokey felt nothing at all unusual. There, that should do it. I wish I had thought of using this stuff before when I went outside to repair the hull. I could've stayed out there longer.

The red and blue mech then replaced the spray can onto the shelf and started back for the door when he overhead Prowl’s communiqué to Ironhide. The strategist needed help in carrying some of the equipment to the bounce platform. Apparently, Prowl had a plan of some sort. Hopefully, it was one that would give the Autobots the edge during the upcoming mission. Whether that actually happened or not remained to be seen.

Regardless, Smokescreen decided to help out his superior officer and turned away from the exit. He swiftly approached Prowl and smiled. “I couldn’t help but overhear your message to Ironhide. Can I do anything to help?”

Armory

The doors slid open and Hardhead strode into the armory with a look of intensity on his face plate. He needed ammo for the upcoming mission and lots of it. It was only considered a salvage operation, but with pure energon at stake he was certain the Decepticons would show up at some point. It was even possible that they would already be at the crash site when the Autobots arrived. Either way, the veteran was going to be prepared for battle.

Hardhead pulled out a container from one of the shelves and reached in. He drew out several ammo cartridges that were compatible with his two shatterblasters. Each cartridge contained diamond-hard crystal shards, which he preferred over any other type of ammunition. The damage one of these shards could do was far worse than any laser beam. He placed one cartridge into each of his shatterblasters and stowed the rest into subspace storage.

Hardhead then moved to a nearby display case containing a variety of rockets and bombs. He stared at the high-explosives as a grin spread across his face plate. The mere thought of what damage these babies could do to the ‘cons was enough to get the veteran soldier excited. The enemy deserved no less after what they had done to Bumblebee.

Without further delay, Hardhead opened the case and retrieved over a half-dozen incendiary shells which he then carefully loaded into his 120mm laser-guided cannon. Once he was finished, the stubborn mech made his way out of the armory and headed for the bounce platform.

OOC: Sorry, guys! Life's been hittin' me like a truck, so it's been hard to keep up long enough to make a post...I should be better off now though, assuming I can stay up-to-date with the RP. Someone PM me if there's an issue with my post or something I ignored...I read most of the posts up to here, but I could only skim...

Corridors

Shotblur rushed to the Command Center, shaking his head. He was somewhat used to action, but things were getting quite chaotic on the Ark. There were two standby rules that he applied during a rush. Don't disobey orders, and don't panic. The latter would be difficult to adhere to, as Shotblur wasn't exactly a sterling example of courage, but he was at the least obedient. As the aptly-named Command Center was a good place to get orders, this was his first resort when he needed guidance.

Exit to Command Center...

Corridor

Hex glared angrily back at Ironhide as the older mech spewed forth with his righteous banter. The young mech shoved the old warhorse off of him and yelled back.

“Back off Methuselah!”

Hex calmed his demeanor and casually brushed himself off. He glanced back up at the red mech and nonchalantly moved away from the brute before he spoke again.

“Let’s get one thing clear; I have no malfunction, this faction is the malfunction. I’m also not here to benefit you all, I’m here as a favor.”

He put up his hand to stop the old mech from responding.

“Now I never said I wouldn’t find your overgrown stereo and the rest of his accessories; I just want to be sure I get something I need in the end.”

Hex’s calm expression faded as he glared back up at him.

“Now, let’s get this crap going so I can get back here.”

The silver Bot shoved past the mission commander and made his way back into the Command Center. he swiftly took up a position at the communications array and began to try and reach Blaster.

Ark 19 - Corridors

Striky slowly walked towards the command center, wondering what life form could habit a planet like this. "They have a funny name, "Humans". I hope I get to see more of their technoly before we leave this planet." Before Striky came to Earth, he had downloaded the blueprints of a human aircraft named Blackbird. He was fascinated by the human plane, and after choosing it as his alt. mode in Earth, he made some modifications to improve it weapons systems. The engineer kept walking torwards the command center until he finally saw the doors of it.

Ark 19 - Command Center

The doors of the command center slid open as Blackstrike entered through them. There weren't as many 'bots in the command center as he had expected. The black mech saw many 'bots familiar to him, but he didn't had time to say hello, at least not right now. When he saw Optimus, he walked towards and when he was in front of the Autobot commander he salute him and stood firm."Sir, this is Blackstrike reporting for duty, I'm at your services."

Corridors outside the command center

Even as he delivered his tirade to Hex, Ironhide's comm began to beep, serving to irritate the old mech even more. When Hex made his snarky and derogatory reply, it was all Ironhide could do not to drive him through the wall. With a discernible effort Ironhide let it go and let the little jerk walk off with his faceplate intact.

As Ironhide stalked off towards the bounce platform, he replayed his waiting message from Prowl. He opened a channel and snapped, "Durn it Prowl, if it's too big fer you to carry, it's too big to take on this mission! We're gonna be carryin' a bunch of stuff outta there if the energon is intact. The last thing we need is more gear to worry about haulin'."

Ironhide emerged from the corridor into the large room housing the bounce platform. He took up position at the controls, awaiting the arrival of the rest of the team and a transmission from Hound with the coordinates of the downed freighter. He figured he'd owe Prowl an apology at some point, but he'd get to that later. He needed to calm down and get his own head on straight before they headed out. Hex had really gotten under chassis, and the last thing anyone needed was a distracted mission commander.

Ark 19 - Command Center

Optimus was still busy going through all of the news and other data reports that the humans were putting out. He needed to know how much damage had been potentially done to their infiltration. So far the information he was seeing was mostly second hand or reported on the various social networks the humans seemed so fond of. There were no reports out of what he could tell were the more accepted news outlets.

His attention was drawn away from the various data feeds by the arrival of Blackstrike. He glanced down at the Autobot flyer. “Ah yes, Blackstrike. I want you to report to the orbital bounce chamber. Ironhide should be assembling his team there shortly. You will join them in attempting to salvage a vessel loaded with energon. I suspect your expertise will be of some use to them.”