The Energon Pub

Briefing Room 2

Hound had been hanging around the base wondering if he was about to be called on, and when everyone began heading for the briefing room he assumed he had been part of the call too. His eagerness to help overruled his normal sense of protocol, forgetting to double-check the transmission for his name. He sat down quietly and listened to Prowl explain the mission and the Decepticon's use of false humans: If the Autobot second-in-command had any objections to the scout being in on the briefing, he was too busy explaining things to voice them.

As the meeting was adjourned, Hound immediately began to head for the Orbital Bounce Pad with the rest, lost in thought about what Prowl had revealed to them. The Decepticons really are intent on corrupting this whole planet to their purposes. If they have no respect for the sentient beings, I dread to think what they plan for the rest of the planet's habitat. Don't worry Prowl, I'll do my utmost to protect the humans as well.

OOC: Ember gave me permission to be part of the team heading to stop the fuel raid.

Briefing Room 2

“Pitt of a first day Prowl”

Getaway declared in no uncertain terms as he slammed the chamber of his shotgun shut with a terrific clunk. He pivoted the weapon once, the entire thing circling a full three hundred and sixty degrees in a smooth and rapid motion, spinning with his finger on the trigger as the forearm handle clicked back and forth distinctively. With a second motion, one that was fluid and without pause, born from centuries of use, he slung the weapon back into its holster across his back, the tried and tested weapon of war just waiting to be spring loaded back into his waiting grip.

Reassignment, or being ditched, it depended on who it was who had made the call, in either case it was the same. Getaway had been relocated to an infiltration world, not exactly his first choice for assignment, while the likes Springer was able to jet off world to war zones unknown. Son of a piston was no doubt laughing his aft off.

As infiltration worlds went though, this one could be different. Prime was here, and word had it, so was Megatron, that pretty much eliminated any chance of a peaceful resolution. Things just happened around those two, if Getaway was to believe certain…odd thinking Mechs…then the two Generals didn’t move around the Universe.

The Universe moved around them.

“Decepticons, hostages, combustible elements, deliberate intentions to start explosions, sounds…volatile…”

More volatile than he would ordinarily give the uptight strategist credit for.

“Ah, what the heck…”

Getaway declared as he marched out the briefing room, heading for the orbital bounce platform.

“…what else is new, its not as though I’m too pretty for this”.

Orbital bounce platform

Perhaps overly excited, Ironhide ushered the Autobots onto the platform one at a time, as if he couldn't get to the mission fast enough.

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe...Hound and Getaway, what're you doin' here? Oh, well."

He pushe them onto the platform and loaded his rifle, jumping around giddily. He knew he should stand still, but he just couldn't. It was fightin' time!

Orbital bounce platform

With the various Autobots assembled on the platform the computer activated the system. In a wash of light the Autobots were disassembled into energy and shot up into space. There they were received by the orbiting, cloaked ship and then bounced back to Earth, reassembling on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico

OOC: Oil Rig team move to the thread in the Earth forum

Orbital Bounce Platform

Hound walked shakily off the platform, clutching at his wounded side. It was obvious he'd caught more than a few attacks, with shrapnel embedded in his armor and laser burns across his body. But the worst part was the dejected look on his face.

"Oh...Bumblebee....how could I let him down like this?? I completely screwed up, and now....Ah! Why did I even come on this mission, I only made things worse!!!"

Swaying from the pain in both his components and his spark, Hound headed to the Medical Bay, hoping Ratchet could fix his wounded spirit as well as his body.

Orbital Bounce Platform / Corridors

Smokescreen appeared on the bounce platform with his Autobot comrades. He was a little worse for wear, but not as badly damaged as he was after the Area 51 battle. Smokey's chest plate was dented in, his back was scorched and there were a few blast marks across his body, but it was nothing a short stay in a CR chamber couldn't fix. It was his morale that had taken the greatest hit and no CR chamber or medic could mend that. They had lost the battle, and more importantly, they had lost Bumblebee to the Decepticons. He was a prisoner of war and Smokey couldn't help but feel partially responsible. He didn't want to retreat, but stay and fight, even though he knew the odds were stacked against them. Smokey hated to lose and wanted nothing more than to strike back and rescue his yellow friend.

Smokescreen intended to say something to Prowl and make it known that he wanted to be a part of any rescue attempt. However, his second-in-command had already left the room, heading for the command center to report to Optimus Prime. Instead, Smokey turned to Hound and listened as his comrade blamed himself for the current situation.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Hound," Smokescreen responded, placing a hand on the wounded scout's shoulder. "You were a great help out there. It's not your fault Bumblebee was captured. We were out manned and out gunned on that platform. The Decepticons had a lot more seekers than before. Reinforcements from off planet, I would imagine. We weren't prepared for that." Smokey made his way into the corridor, walking beside Hound as the two mechs headed for the medical bay. "Don't worry, though. We'll get 'Bee back. I'm sure Prime and Prowl are planning a rescue as we speak."

Entering Medical Bay

"Yeah, maybe, Smokescreen, but if they do launch a rescue, they'd probably be better off leaving me behind." Hound didn't sound very pleased with himself as he entered the medical bay. "Look at me, I'm a scout, not a real warrior. I'm not fit for combat like that, my only trick is making holograms, and-" he held up his busted hologram rifle, "thats not reliable in heavy combat either.

"Lets face it, Smokes, I'm not the kind of warrior we need right now." Hound headed for a CR chamber, as Ratchet was nowhere in sight.

Entering Medical Bay

Smokescreen listened as Hound continued to be overly hard on himself. “Don’t be silly. Leaving you behind would be a terrible idea. I’m sure you’ll be needed to help scout the area first before the rest of us can move in and make a rescue.” Smokey tried to reassure the green mech of his worth, but he didn’t seem to be having much luck.

“Look, Hound, we all have our strengths and our weaknesses," Smokescreen continued. "Take me for instance. I have below average physical strength, but I still serve a purpose. My ability is diverting attention, giving off smoke clouds and disrupting enemy guidance systems. Your ‘trick’, as you call it, is a very useful tool in battle, as well. You can make our numbers seem much larger than they actually are or confuse the enemy with any number of holographic images. I’d give anything to have your skill.”

Smokescreen walked across the med bay and activated a CR chamber. The device hummed to life as the door opened with a quiet hiss. Smokey then turned and looked over his shoulder back at Hound. “Don’t sell yourself short, bud. You are a very important part of our group and you always will be. Don't forget that.”

Smokescreen gave Hound a friendly smile before stepping inside the CR chamber and letting the door slide shut.

Orbital Bounce Platform

Sunstreaker still had a glare on his face as the Autobots rematerialized inside of their base. He glanced over at his twin who was bent over by the weight of Ironhide resting on his shoulder.

“Hey bro, do you think…”

Sunstreaker stopped him before he could even finish the fought. “You found him out there and decided to drag his chassis this far, you can finish the job.” With that said the Autobot warrior stepped off of the platform, ignoring the orders and platitudes coming from Prowl and Brawn and made his way out of the room, heading towards the medical bay.

Sideswipe let out a loud sigh as his brother stomped off. It hadn’t been a great battle and it was topped off by a pretty horrid finish. He was just going to have to wait until Sunstreaker was fully repaired before he would even be tolerable to talk to. He adjusted the unconscious form of Ironhide on his shoulder. “Alright ya old rustbucket, lets get you in a CR Chamber and off of my back.” The red Autobot slowly and carefully made his way off of the platform and towards the medical bay.

*

Command Center

Optimus Prime sat in the command chair surrounded by a series of displays, both real and holographic. He was not just currently in command of this one Autobot outpost, but the entire Autobot war effort. There was a constant stream of reports coming in from across the galaxy that needed varying amounts of attention. With the current mission delegated to Prowl’s command it gave the Autobot leader an opportunity to catch up on older reports.

This didn’t mean he was unaware of what was occurring on this command. He was notified immediately of the return of Prowl. From a read out of their return bounce Prime could already see things had not gone according to plan. He deactivated the various displays and climbed out of the command chair as Prowl entered the room. The Autobot leader had a good idea what Prowl’s report would consist of and he was already formulating what he would say to the other Autobot. He knew that Prowl would feel comfortable going through all of the proper protocols, so he indulged him.

Optimus nodded at Prowl. “Proceed with your report.”

Command Center

The Autobot leader listened carefully to what Prowl had to say. According to the readouts of the team’s bounce back Prime could see that they were missing one of their numbers. When Prowl mentioned just who had been captured Prime’s optics flashed briefly. Bumblebee was one of his most trusted soldiers and the Decepticons knew as much. Within moments Prime had begun formulating a plan to rescue the minibot. Once Prowl had finished his report Optimus Prime placed a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring gesture and then addressed him.

“No one could have predicted that something like this would happen. Your course of action was correct. You did nothing wrong, Prowl.”

Prime stepped away from the strategist and moved to the console where he had been previously working. He brought up and image of the platform and then turned back to look at Prowl. “I have a plan to rescue Bumblebee, but we’ll need to monitor the Decepticons still on the platform until they leave.” He stepped closer to Prowl and then opened a link to Getaway, Hound, Smokescreen and Mirage.

>>”Getaway, Hound, Smokescreen, Mirage, I want to see all of you in the briefing room as soon as possible. I have a mission for you.”<<

Prime nodded at Prowl and gestured for him to follow as he moved to the door.

Medical Bay

Smokescreen stirred in his CR chamber as the repair cycle ended. It hadn’t taken too long, only a few breems to complete the necessary repairs, most of which were only external damage. Smokey had faired far better in this latest battle than he had in the Area 51 fight. Unfortunately, the Autobots had lost the platform encounter and were forced to retreat. Hopefully, the next time they fought the Decepticons they would come out victorious.

As the CR chamber door slid open and Smokescreen stepped out into the medical bay, he received Optimus Prime’s transmission. The diversion expert immediately opened his comm link and responded to his commander:

>>Roger that, Optimus. I’ll be right there.<<

A mission?! Excellent! I hope it’s to rescue Bumblebee! Without further delay, Smokey quickly exited the med bay and made his way through the corridors of the ship.

Command Center - Briefing Room

Entering the command center with a look of focus and determination on his face plate, Smokescreen hurried to the briefing room where Prime and Prowl were already waiting. The red and blue mech took a seat at the main table and patiently awaited the mission briefing to begin.

Medical Bay

With his comm twittering with a message from Prime, Hound gingerly lifted himself out of the CR chamber. He still didn't feel 100%, and there was a slight twitch in his side were he'd been shot, but he was fit for whatever his next mission was.

Well, its not like I could do any worse than last time, anyway...

He paused to pick up his repaired Hologram Projector, all the while considering whether there was any point in leaving the room. A mission this early must be to rescue Bumblebee, but why send me to do it? I was me who screwed up the last time, and if I'd fought better, Bumblebee wouldn't be in this predicament at all. What can I possibly do, a useless excuse for an Autobot like me??

No. Optimus himself called for me, and even if I can't trust my own abilities I can still trust his command skills. If he says this mission is for me, then I have to go on it. Its the only way I can make up for my failure!

Command Center - Breifing Room

Hound strode in behind Smokescreen, and saluted Optimus Prime. "Reporting, Sir, and eager to set right what happened on the last mission!"

Training Chambers, Simulation Active

Getaway erupted from the explosion like a metallic meteor, launching through the air amidst a cloud of smoke, fire and flying debris before he came crashing back down onto the highway. His engine roared as his tires squealed, his suspension rocking his entire frame as he swerved from left to right, battling for grip as he hurtled forwards at suicidal speeds.

The bombardment did not falter.

It rained down all around him, great explosions that tore up the tarmac, tearing up the road and hurtling white hot debris against his chassis, clattering against his windscreen and battering against his carapace. He could barely see where he was going, as he shifted gears and pushed his engine to its fullest, an angry growl and a savage roar competing with detonations all around him. With the fire and the smoke and the scattered traffic, each moment could be his last, each mistake could be fatal.

Stress was a state of mind.

It was one Getaway didn’t subscribe to.

Suddenly he transformed! Despite his near suicidal forward momentum, he erupted upwards from the tarmac, his body contorting and shifting gears, flipping outwards into his robotic body. He was airborne, sailing almost upside down, hurtling forwards and looking backwards, within the blink of a single optic, his shotgun launching outwards from its holster across his back. He caught it without a second thought, he aimed it without a moments pause, he fired a single round before he even hit the ground again.

There was a new explosion as he seamlessly transformed a second time, his body shifting back into its Earth bound form, his tires slamming back onto the tarmac, his engine already roaring. The Decepticon in pursuit was in disarray, his tires exploding as he flipped devastatingly into his own destruction.

It all happened with a spark beat, Getaway already hurtling off into the distance, a moment of chaos and confusion, that’s all he needed to get the job done. That’s all he ever needed.

Suddenly the simulation ended, the holographic imagery shutting down and the landscape melting into the walls. The oft named ‘Powermaster’ skidded and came to a dramatic stop, flipping over as he transformed and listened to his incoming call.

“Well I’ll be…”

Getaway noted with some surprise as he recognised the signature of Prime himself, not to mention the list of rogues he was being assigned to, maybe being ditched on a ‘Infiltration’ world wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“…and here’s me looking so pretty”.

The newest recruit to the Earth bound team noted the scratches and dents of his exoskeleton, the trials and tribulations of running the simulation on its highest settings.

“Ah to Pitt with it…”

He shrugged nonchalantly as he exited the chambers, holstering his shotgun with a loud clunk, his destination a rendezvous with command.

“…what’s the world coming to, a Bot can’t even bored these days”.

Personnel Quarters

Mirage sat at a table, carefully cleaning his rifle while watching some of the local human signals. It was moderately interesting. It seemed these humans were having some sort of difficulty with their economy. There were complaints about health care and jobs. It was the same type of things he had heard back on Cybertron before the war. He wondered now what he did then, why these people simply didn’t work harder and stop whining about what they didn’t have. He had had problems of his own on Cybertron like the falling markets and the energon shortages, but he didn’t let it keep him down. He continued his turbofox hunts and frequenting the night clubs. Just because the economy was down didn’t mean you had to stop everything and complain.

The spy sighed as he received the signal from Prime. It seemed that they required his vast talents, but they were going to force him to be some sort of ‘team player’ again. He had told them time and time again that he worked best alone, he could only turn himself invisible after all, not a ‘team.’ Still they insisted on putting him together with other Autobots. This time wasn’t the worst of groups, but they certainly weren’t great.

Hound was a friendly sort. Back on Cybertron he would have hired him to work as a groundskeeper since he liked the outside natural world so much. Perhaps he could help with his hunting. As a fighter though, he was sub par. Smokescreen was friendly, maybe a little too friendly. He found he couldn’t trust the diversionary tactics expert. Everything he did was designed to hide something else. It was his specialty after all. Getaway was actually a pretty good warrior, but he was also the typical rough and tumble sort. He would never understand the thugs who made up so much of the Autobot army. He would just have to do his own thing as best he could with those Autobots.

Command Center - Briefing Room

Mirage arrived in the briefing room. His optics scanned the room, coolly taking in everyone and everything inside. He offered a curt nod to his fellow Autobots before he took a seat at the table. The Autobot waited patiently with a mildly annoyed look on his face. He hoped it would be a simple and quick assignment, but from what he knew of the Autobots assembled for it, it was likely to be a difficult and in depth assignment behind enemy lines. Hopefully none of the other Autobots would get him killed during it. He was the expert after all, they were all practically amateurs.

Command Centre – Briefing Room

“I got me a complaint…”

Getaway announced in no uncertain terms as he entered the briefing room, his sapphire optics quickly taking in the Bots present. By the looks of things, the summoned team had been assembled, and with the likes of Prowl and the Boss Bot, Optimus Prime, himself present, then things must be about ready to get underway.

Which probably meant at least four Bots in the room were about to risk life and limb for the cause. Just another day in the trenches.

“…I get transferred to this Planet, and the only Femme on site gets transferred out!”

The oft nicknamed ‘Powermaster’ retained a mock air of seriousness as he took his seat, referring to the fact that Arcee had up and left for new pastures before he’d even had a chance to say boo.

“I blame you Hound…”

The veteran shock trooper announced, the well meaning scout the first one to catch his optic.

“…I blame you. So what’s all the hubbub, I had me a day of spark destroying boredom lined up?”

Command Center – Briefing Room

Optimus Prime watched as each of the called Autobots entered the room and took his own seat. The last to arrive was Getaway, and as always he was the first to speak up. Although his expression was not what Prime was looking for, the escape artist had a way of calming everyone with his cool nature and casual attitude. Prime looked at Getaway as he placed both hands on the table and leaned down. “Thank you all for coming. The nature of this meeting is of the utmost importance.” He stood upright and brought up an image of the platform where the fuel raid had occurred. “This is the platform the Decepticons have recently raided. Despite our best efforts the Decepticons were able to obtain their objective. In order to gain the upper hand against our team, Bumblebee was capture and used as a bargaining ship.” He waited a moment before he continued. “You four will access the Decepticon headquarters undetected and rescue Bumblebee.”

Optimus turned his focus to the image of the platform, now vacant and entered some commands. The image switched to a remote location near the base of Mount St. Helens. The trace Prime was performing stopped some distance from the exact location of the Decepticon base; probably due to Soundwave's jamming capabilities. The rescue team would have to pinpoint the exact area on their own; Prime had no doubt with their compiled talents they would have no trouble in finding it. The Autobot leader looked to the small group as a whole and then focused in on Getaway. The warrior had a knack for performing well beyond his means, and for always bringing any team placed under him back alive. It was to him that Prime would bestow the command. “Getaway, you’re in command of the team. I have sent you the general location of the Decepticon base. You’re to work together in finding its exact location. Get in, rescue Bumblebee, and get out. You are the most capable of the earth bound team to get to Bumblebee before the Decepticons can interrogate him.”

Prime deactivated the hologram and then addressed the team once more. “Be careful, all of you.” The Autobot leader then turned to face the wall of monitors that were at his back. His briefing was complete, now it was up to Getaway and his team of experts to liberate Bumblebee.

Command Center – Briefing Room

Mirage frowned as Prime laid things out for them all. He wondered why he didn’t just throw in assassinating Megatron along with rescuing Bumblebee. Certainly it wouldn’t be much more difficult then breaking into a Decepticon base, rescue a prisoner before he was to be interrogated and then have all of them escape without getting slagged. At that point they might as well go all the way and take out the Decepticon leader. Perhaps they should even just strap explosives to themselves and detonate themselves inside before they were inevitably captured.

The Autobot spy let out a quiet sigh. There was really only one way he could see this as working successfully. He looked around the table at the other Autobots before settling his gaze on Getaway. “I can sneak into the base disguised as some ranking Decepticon using electro disruptor. Maybe Hound could help with his holographic projector. Once I’m inside I’ll go and free Bumblebee. The rest of you can provide covering fire when we escape. This way the job gets done and I don’t have to worry about any of you amateurs getting hurt or in my way.”

Mirage folded his hands together on top of the table and waited for their replies. He had a good idea what they would be. They would never go along with it and he would be forced to put his own after on the line helping and protecting them in this suicide mission. At least he had tried.

Command Center – Briefing Room

Smokescreen sat quietly and listened as Optimus Prime spoke. The mission was what he had expected – to rescue Bumblebee from the Decepticons before they could interrogate him. Smokey wasn’t worried about the enemy learning any of their secrets so much as he was concerned with Bee’s safety. Darkride was known even amongst the ‘cons, themselves, for being very brutal in his methods and Smokey could only imagine what was in store for the yellow minbot if they didn’t get to him in time.

Mirage then spoke up and showed his lack of confidence in the others on the team. He wanted to go in largely alone and rescue Bumblebee by himself. Typical Mirage, Smokescreen thought, shaking his head slightly. He always thinks he’s better than everyone else. The diversion expert was about to say something to the Autobot spy in response, but decided against it. The focus should be on rescuing 'Bee from the ‘cons. Starting an argument with a fellow comrade, even Mirage, would benefit no one.

Instead, Smokescreen turned to the team commander, Getaway, and made his own suggestion. “If I may, sir. Once we locate the Decepticon base and figure a way in, I could create a diversion of some kind outside in the forest. This would force Megatron to send some of his soldiers out of the base to investigate while the rest of the team sneaks inside to save Bumblebee. Now I don’t expect all of the ‘cons to leave the base, but even if only half of them are distracted, it’ll make our job easier to do.”

The diversionary tactician was confident that his plan would work. He wasn’t worried about what Mirage thought. Smokey only hoped that Getaway would agree with him.

Command Center – Briefing Room

Hound almost jumped up and yelled at Getaway when the escape artist started needling him, but he realised the new arrival was joking. I'm still on edge over what happened. I can blame myself all I want, but I can't let it affect our teamwork.

Mirage then started talking about his plan. Hound couldn't help but point out an obvious flaw. "My holograms can make you look like anyone from Ratbat to Megatron himself, but they won't do anything if you're inside the Decepticon base and I'm outside. If you want to try that startegy, I would have to be in there with you. If you want me to be hidden using your Distruptor while I disguise you, thats fine, but it would be a two-man job."

Command Center – Briefing Room

Mirage rolled his optics at Hound's comment. He knew it was going to be like this. He supposed there was something to admire about all of these Bots being so willing to walk into a Decepticon base just to rescue some captured comrade. They were a brave bunch. On the other hand, they were also slagging stupid. Hound wasn't a warrior and there was only so long even the two of them combined could keep up a charade of this magnitude. The spy was already expecting to have to shoot his way out of the base while dragging Bumblebee, he didn't need to be dragging Hound as well.

"My electro disruptor can disguise me, maybe not quite as well as your hologram projector, but well enough."

He turned to look at Getaway. "There are only 2 ways I see this mission as succeeding. We all somehow make our way inside together. We sneak around for as long as we can but are eventually detected. If we move fast enough and shoot up the place well enough some of us get out alive with Bumblebee. The other way is to focus our efforts on getting a small number of us inside while the rest work to cover their entry and escape."

The counter-intelligence expert glanced over at Smokescreen. "The distraction idea falls under the latter. It might be worth investigating further. Either way, I'm going inside the base. I have the skill, the training and the abilities to get in and get out alive."

Command Center – Briefing Room

Optimus continued to face to wall of monitors infront of him as he listened to the debate of how the team would get into the Decepticon base, get Bumblebee, and get out without a hitch. The problem, it seemed lay in actually who would go in to get Bumblebee out. Prime wanted this rescue to be a team effort, but having on Autobot in the base and the other outside to create a diversion and cover the escape seemed liked the best option. Prime turned around to face the group; he crossed he arms over his chest and sighed.

“Perhaps sending in one of you would be the best alternative. Mirage is the most suitable option to send in. He'd be able to hold his cover better than anyone. However, I would like to hear what Prowl has to say.”

Optimus turned to look at Prowl and nodded. “Proceed Prowl.”