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Corridor – Outside Mess Hall

Heading back to Wheeljack’s lab was a good idea. There was no reason for Smokescreen to watch as she went through another bought of withdrawal. It seemed to be happening much sooner than she expected. Probably much sooner than even Wheeljack had expected.

Tracer’s train of thought was brought back to the present when she recalled that Smokescreen had mentioned the synthetic Syk. She stared intently at the former racer as the words he had already spoken on now started to sink in. Syk. Drug. Button. More Syk. Tracer shook her head slightly trying to clear her processor hoping Smokescreen hadn’t noticed the movemnt. He hadn’t.

She nodded and smiled at his response to her asking him not to forget her. And when he began to pull away Tracer resisted, but only slightly. He has to go. I need to get back to the lab. Need to run that replicator. Finally she let him go.

The scout watched as Smokescreen turned around and began to make his way to the other end of the corridor. She took hold of her upper right arm and gripped it tightly. The slight amount of pressure kept her from sinking too much into the thought of him being away and the need for just one more fix.

He stopped. Tracer stood up straighter and nodded before he moved out of sight completely.

She let out a heavy breath and sagged at the shoulders. Lifting her head up toward the ceiling Tracer shut down her optics and waited a moment. Her processor was full of thoughts on nothing other than how long it would take to get to ‘Jack’s lab and if mixing the synthetic and real Syk together would make the drug last longer.

“No. No, no, no. Just the synthetic stuff.” She mumbled shakily and lowered her head.
She waited half a breem until she was finally able to put one foot in front of the other and headed to her final destination.

Her pace quickened.

Bridge – Observation Lounge 1

Yes. That’s right. While Axle stood before the group, his hands still flat against the tabletop, he recalled just how he found out about The Fallen’s location. And when Bluestreak took over his oration he found his memory hadn’t abandoned him.

Slowly, almost painfully Axle began to take his seat. He nodded slightly in Bluestreak’s direction and finally sank down deep into his chair. The voice of Blue faded into the background while Axle reached into his hip compartment and he pulled out Hex’s Autobot badge. It was slightly battered and covered in tiny holes. Probably because he used it for target practice with his crossbow.

Axle chuckle quietly to himself at the picture in his head of his ward loading a bolt into his weapon and squealing with excitement as it hit its target dead-on. The former surgeon pancaked the badge between both hands and brought the sandwich up touching it to his forehead lightly. “We’ll get you back. I’ll get you back. I promise.”

Corridors

Remington couldn’t honestly decide if she should be concerned about working for Axle or not. One moment, First Aid was telling her things she could understand and relate to, the other, he slipped back into being cryptic and somewhat elusive as if there was something he didn’t want to say outright.

Well, she’ll just have to find out. If anything, she was resolved to help to the best of her abilities. None of the ’slingers would do otherwise, contrary to their gruff and hoarse appearances.

They had made their way deeper into the ship, that was for certain. Remington was constantly looking around, trying to figure out what accessways she saw and where the side-hatches led, while First Aid kept on explaining the situation between the good doctor, his patients and this allegedly very irritating guy, Hex.

’Where are we exactly, anyway?’ she asked, a slight baffled about the fact that First Aid navigated unerringly through the maze of branching out corridors. ’I never would have guessed this boat was so...’

Mid-step, as she was about to turn down a corner, her path was suddenly blocked. Bump. She hit an obstacle she could swear had not been there a moment ago and fell, her aft-plate plumping on the lined metal floor.

Did... did she just walk into the wall? Was there something wrong with her in-depth optical perception?

Remington looked up, baffled, to see a femme. At least, it wasn’t the wall. Dusting her self off, the technician made medic got to her feet.

’I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t see you were there,’ she said apologetically and smiled. At second glance, this femme seemed oddly distracted for some reason.

Nothing an A-Okay smile couldn’t fix. Or so Remington hoped.

Science Lab

Arcee stood back at ease, glancing from the scientists congregated around their instruments speaking all sorts of techno-babble to the door where her squad would report in. She wracked her processor for a replacement for Mirage. Maybe...augh, she didn't know. Jazz likely had some priority assignment and she wouldn't bother him with this. Maybe...Maybe Tracks. Yeah. He'd be a good candidate.

The pink femme opened up a comm link to Tracks. >>"Arcee here. Tracks, if you aren't busy, come join me at the science lab. We've got an assignment."<<

Arcee cut the link with a sigh and continued her wait for her team to assemble. Fortunately for the pink warrior, she did not have long to wait before someone else entered the laboratory. A proud, elegant femme entered. She carried herself with the poise and posture of someone of a higher class.

The femme approached and snapped her a sharp, parade-ground salute. It was unexpected. So much so that Arcee quickly offlined and onlined her optics to check if they were functioning correctly. However, she quickly recovered and snapped a salute off in response before relaxing.

"At ease," Arcee said with a warm smile to Dragunov, "I am Arcee. I'll be your commanding officer for this mission. Very punctual, aren't you? One of Beretta's gals, right? Well, as you can see, the rest of the team hasn't assembled yet. I expect we'll be briefed once everyone arrives."

Habitation Suite C-6

That tie length was fashionable last year. Ugh, Tracks thought as he continued to customize how his avatar would appear to the other fleshlings on this planet. Humans. Not fleshlings. Decepticons called them fleshlings. Or meatbags. Where on earth had he picked up such a crass term?

Oh well. As long as I don't say it out loud, I suppose...

>>"Arcee here. Tracks, if you aren't busy, come join me at the science lab. We've got an assignment."<<

Tracks paused, frowning slightly at his personal comm receiver.

>>"Well, actually Arcee, I am a bit--"<<

Tracks stopped himself. There had to be at least a reasonable chance that whatever mission she was involved with would take place off-ship. The Autobot warrior leaned back slightly in his chair before pushing himself to his feet.

"But North West is such a cute name!" came a voice from the monitor.

>>"Scratch that. I'm on my way."<<

Giving his hab a once over to make sure he wouldn't need to bring anything with him, Tracks powered off the active equipment and walked through the automatic doors, headed for the science lab. It was neither a long nor arduous trek to cross the ship in that manner, especially since he did not stop to chit-chat with any other Autobots along the way. When he arrived within the confines of the science lab, he couldn't be sure what he was expecting but he had to admit that it wasn't quite this. Arcee, Huffer, Chromedome, uh, that one femme...what was her name....Dragunov!...and some lab rat he couldn't quite place.

Well...

"Quite the motley crew we've assembled here, hm?" Tracks said, looking over the gathered Autobots before turning his attention directly to Arcee. "So...what's the mission? Something planetside I hope."

Science Lab

’At ease.’

There. Dragunov preferred that. She edged her hip to one side, placing an actuator on it while she let her other arm hang loose. Much more comfortable. And better for looks, too.

’I am Arcee. I'll be your commanding officer for this mission.’

Dragunov gave the femme a look over. She certainly was different to Beretta. In more than one way.

’Very punctual, aren't you? One of Beretta's gals, right?’

‘Yes, punctuality is one of those qualities Beretta regularly... demands of her subordinates. Most have difficulties keeping to it. Most.’ Dragunov pressed that very last word to indicate she was not one of the most.

'Well, as you can see, the rest of the team hasn't assembled yet. I expect we'll be briefed once everyone arrives.'

As if on cue, the door slid open with a hiss again and a mech of undoubtedly non-tech function entered. His plating glimmered from too much polish and he carried himself with far more self-reassurance one would expect from a scientist.

Dragunov needed to dig a bit deeper into her memory database to be able to fish out his identity. Tracks, she believed.

’Quite the motley crew we've assembled here, hm?’ Dragunov shivered. If that was a pickup line, it was woefully misaimed. May have worked on proto-glitches who got all worked up and drooling by a few flames painted on your chestplate but any femme worth the badge and kill marks wouldn’t take kindly to be labeled ’motley’.

’So...what's the mission? Something planetside I hope. Dragunov was already forming a pithy response for that other remark but was halted by the question. If this indeed was an opportunity to leave the suffocating, rusty confines of this ship, it would be wiser to stay silent instead of antagonizing any of the team members before things even began. She decided to shelf the idea of offering this Tracks guy a piece of her mind for the time being.

She, too, turned his attention to Arcee and waited.

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

"Easy Buddy, no need to get your gears in a grind. Just keep em' from chasing me inside." Fireflight responded.

Air Raid seems a little touchy. Maybe the simulation is negatively effecting his thought and speech protocols. Fireflight pondered, analyzing the violent and confusing tone of his fellow bot as they split off toward their individual goals. Maybe if I safely destroy the factory core, he’ll defragment a little he continued, now decelerating and banking low toward the entrance at the base of the structure.

His aerial chassis contorted and twisted, returning him to robot mode. He skidded several meters across the metal flooring as he landed before darting forward into a sprint. Each leg hit the plating with a “thwump”, creating a hurried rhythm of metal on metal as the aerialbot dashed toward his goal. The main corridor was hexagonal, the ceiling obscured by pipelines and ventilation of various sizes. As he neared the opposite end of the corridor, his audio sensors detected a bustle of mechanical activity. Fireflight nearly stumbled as he drew his Photon Displacer.

The large corridor slowly opened up into a massive assembly hall as the wary bot stepped in. A bot five times my size could comfortably stroll through this place and have plenty of headroom He thought. Various autonomous machines where hard at work assembling everything from weaponry to armor all over the great room. Everything look much different than while viewed from the skies. Immense attention had been paid to the finest details of every part of the facility. From the aged condition of the factory equipment to the accuracy of each military grade device they completed, this truly was a masterpiece in and of itself. “This simulation is really over the top!” He exclaimed aloud, allowing himself to be distracted by the intricacy of his virtual surroundings.

“Wait- I have to focus. The core!” He continued, regaining his sense of awareness and continuing toward the far side of the room. Energon cabling fed from each assembly station in the hall, leading Fireflight directly to the lower level entrance of the facility. Lifting the floor hatch open, the bot revealed a freight lift. This must lead to the core he discerned, hopping onto the lift and beginning his decent into the bowels of this simulated wonder.

Corridors

Jazz looked over to where First Aid was gesturing, and as such, the femme who was standing there. She, no doubt, was the femme he talked to earlier, and the same one who had rebutted his friendly gestures. Meh. Wounded Transformers around didn't equal time for levity in anyone, it seemed, even if morale was the first thing to drop when wounded are around. Jazz didn't know how the medics do it, staying so serious all the time.

Jazz took a quick glance to the two of them from behind his visor and felt a grin come over his face. That's what they needed for morale. Definitely. He nudged First Aid on the shoulder, "I get it, dude! See ya around!"

Jazz chuckled to himself as he turned a corner with a backward wave to his friends. "Office Romance", you could call it, seemed to be on the rise. The Special Operations Director noted that, even during war and chaos, that people still seemed to find the time to be with each other, which was truly a wonderful thing. Not that he was a romantic, but still, it was good to see happening, considering the fact that most were changed so much by the war they had secluded themselves in their quarters or worse.

But he had digressed from his train of thought. Hardhead decapitated Howlstrike, and that would be no easy feat, let alone teleporting the Predacon's own sword into Hardhead's hand. The white mech knew that there was something more to it than some experimental tech. Just before, in Mt. St. Helens, Hardhead helped Jazz pull Prowl out of the blazing inferno, and now this happens? Doubtful. Something was wrong with his friend, and it wasn't just something like a Cerebro Shell. It seemed Hardhead was doing it on his own accord, which stuck to Jazz's mind like nothing else. Hardhead wasn't the type to do something so against his ideals so quickly.

Plus, there was something that Magnus wasn't telling him. Knowing Magnus, there must be some reason behind it, but then again, the thing with high-rankers is the fact that, for some reason, they pull a random line of text from a manual that no one reads detailing how they don't have to tell you a thing. Jazz rubbed his chin as he made his way to the bridge. Jazz's report was complete, and he had a few questions of his own about events that had transpired.

Science Laboratory

A silence of absolution fell over the laboratory as the final pieces of corrosion were peeled away from the locks and hinges that protected the inner core of the subspace booster node. Huffer picked up a cloth thickly coated with a Corrostop paste mixture with a touch of lubricant and micro polymers. He folded it over in his hands and rubbed both sides together to activate the concoction's chemical make up before he placed it on the exposed circuit board. A few silent scratches echoed through the chamber as the engineer pulled off what appeared to be centuries of grime left over since the technology fell into disuse and disrepair.

With an abrupt declaration, Huffer broke the silence with his customary grumble. "I don't know how you cannot be unfamiliar with this ship's layout. Its no different than any other of the Ark Class Starships." He pulled the rag back and slung it over his shoulder with a harrumph. Without waiting for a response the engineer grabbed hold of a pair of spanners and tweezers from the sash that was set diagonally across his chest. A few minor touches of the spanner to two or three damaged connections, and a few moved micro filament fans from the electrical pathways, Huffer was convinced that at least some of the soon to come power would be able to reach the outer ring emitters.

"We may want to hold off on that power test for a few more microns." Ironfist banged his head as he pulled free of the bottom emitter housing of the ring assembly. He rubbed the back of his neck where it had impacted with the similarly uncovered panel at the base of the interstellar ring. With his free hand, cloaked heavily in lubricants and other Corrostop based solvents and caked with loosed rust particulate, a black and copper motherboard, chipped with green flakes of corrosion.

Huffer smirked briefly, "I knew it. I knew there would be something that would stall this project. Its just too damn old to bring to life again." He plugged in a pair electrical cables to two intake nodes along the sides of ancient battery ports. "And here I just brought this thing up to give us proof that what is being asked is impossible. I mean if we had the facilities of a complete engineering complex then maybe we could construct a brand new emitter. But to restore something this long off line?"

"As a famous Autobot once said, have faith. So I say that to you Huffer." His voice was calm as he deposited the dead board into a chute that lead to the reclamation facilities on a lower deck. He then grabbed a relatively clean rag and removed a bit of the grime that made moving his articulating digits harder than normal. With a flick of his wrist he tossed it over his shoulder, it landed just short of Chromedome's computer terminal on the bench top.

Ironfist grabbed a fresh motherboard from one of the supply bins that lined the laboratory's heavy workshop station. A microscope enhancement emerged from the top of his forehead and expanded over his right optic and began to zoom to the level needed for him to examine the wire pathways necessary for optimal power transference. It was of a similar size and shape, though more modern by magnitudes of tours in the galaxy thus undoubtedly could handle more power than the original. "That won't work, it'll blow out the entire system." Huffer griped as he retrieved a similarly clean rag and cleaned his own hands.

The weapons engineer recalled his magnifying enhancement and spun the board in his fingers briefly as he rubbed his chin, leaving a thin grease smear of his thumb and forefinger. "Sure it will. All we need to do is install a pair of power regulators. It'll work... Trust me."

Huffer's brow furrowed as the chief engineer of the Guardian installed the instruments necessary to make the board compatible with the antiquated piece of technology. "Last time Wheeljack told me that, I spent a week in the CR Chamber picking bits of Transwarp Cell from my chassis." He grumbled as he watched and waited.

Ironfist finished his modifications and plugged in the modified board into the niche. He closed the panel after the final internal connections were made. He stepped back a few paces and gave an affirmative nod to Chromedome with a silent agreement to power up the device.

As their defacto programmer went to work with the final codes to link the onboard computer of the node with the external power sources, the large doors parted. Ironfist turned on his heel and gave a formal nod and proffered hand in greeting as Arcee entered the chamber followed shortly after by Dragunov and Tracks.

"So this is the team that Ultra Magnus put together for our little acquisition adventure?" It was a rhetorical question that did not need answering. Few outside of the engineering or scientific disciplines ever ventured into these sorts of facilities on their own. He paced around the work bench and made his way over to a cleaner portion of the laboratory where he had set up the deployment kits that would be needed before Huffer arrived.

He pressed a toggle on the side of a large box and allowed the top and sides to circle in on themselves down into the base of the container. Through two hidden repulsors jets a trio of smaller devices were lifted up into the air. Carefully he took hold of each black device, no larger than the palm of his hand and as thin as a silicone wafer disc. "To fill you three in on the current plans of Ultra Magnus, he has ordered the construction of a nearly permanent if not permanent colony on this planet. Hidden from the main inhabitants and the Decepticons who may wish to... well you know that bit."

Ironfist placed each device into a waiting open hand. "Because this is such an extensive construction effort to protect this planet from the obvious Decepticon interests, we will require more resources than we presently have at our disposal. In particular construction materials such as concrete and steel. We will also require vast quantities of copper." Once the cards were dispensed he walked back to one of the open terminals and sat down. He entered his access codes and began plugging away several new variables into his mission model.

"This is not a simple smash and grab, we leave that sort of brutality to the Decepticons. And to make it more complicated, you will have to remain in vehicle form as per pre-contact specifications... which means Avatars must be updated with the latest patches and designs to best fit where you will be deposited." He paused briefly as a large scroll of text flashed across his holographic terminal screen. "I have uploaded coordinates for an abandoned facility complex that you can use as a depository location of acquired materials. However, there are a few more restrictions I will place on your operation. You are being supplied each with small cards that your avatars can access that will enable you to use acquired funds for purchase of goods and services. But those funds are not infinite, if they were they would attract far too much attention from humans. Especially now that the planet is on an alert due to rising tensions globally."

He deactivated his terminal and looked up from the display before offering a cursory glance over at Huffer, who grouched about checking connections and wires, test coils and other devices in the transit node. "I cannot answer how you will acquire additional funds, though perhaps investment or even establishing cover companies to bring in larger amounts of capital can be used. Magnus has not given me much detail on that bit, though I am sure we can leave that bridge for when we must cross it. Also included will be resource scrolls and sensors, allowing you to identify potential sources and a check list of the kilo tonnage we will require. I do recommend spreading the wealth among various businesses again to limit suspicions... Anything to add Huffer?"

The smaller engineer waved his massive silver piston hand in the air briefly. "Yeah, don't get caught. I already got enough on my hands to worry about having to find a technical way to undo the damage you might cause."

Ironfist looked over at Tracks briefly, knowing the warrior had served before with the diminutive engineer. He resisted the urge to ask if he was always like that, fearing the simple answer of yes. "I have one more request, that has nothing to do with the acquisition of these resources. However, I believe that it could prove to be a great asset to our own efforts. There is an abandoned human technology that had been developed by them years ago, but never fully implemented. I require historical documents specifically from the catalogs of Project: Voltron. If you can find other historical documents that fit the qualifications of technical advancement..." He paused briefly choosing his words. "I would be appreciative if you would bring them to me as soon as you are able."

As Ironfist finished his last word, the power switch was hit on the space bridge focusing node. A shrill of electricity arched through the closed ring and danced from one end of the gap to the other. The interior of the ring flickered as the emitters came online and swirled a green plasma through them. And then the swirling vortex failed and a feedback of energy rebounded straight into the construction engineer. Huffer absorbed the energy with a yelp and a tumble as he was lifted from his feet and thrown at great force through the partially open doors, tearing one off its hinge and the other bending it beyond simple repair.

Ironfist watched briefly before pushing himself out from behind his terminal and none to gently passed Arcee and Tracks. He knelt down next to the stunned minibot and immediately activated a wall sensor to check for injury. "I... told... you it wouldn't... work." Huffer squeaked.

"Chromedome, get the medkit!" He called over his shoulder. As the third member of their team went to get the stabilizers and other medical gear needed, Ironfist returned his attention to Arcee's team. "Keep in contact with Blaster and the bridge. While this is a resource gathering mission, don't take it lightly. Learn what you can of the region and the humans you meet. Skids might be interested in your reports down the line."

He returned his attention to Huffer who was busy coughing up smoke from the shallow score of carbon on his chest plate. "Dismissed, and good luck Arcee."

Science Laboratory

The mnemosurgeon hopped up quickly from behind his terminal screen and rushed off across the room to grab the med-kit that was clipped up against the wall. He returned to Huffer's side and opened up the small red-and-white container and began pulling the needed tools to get the engineer back up and running again. He began to pull out electro-dampers from the box and placing them along Huffer's chassis while he turned his head towards Arcee and the others whom Ironfist was debriefing about their mission.

"You know, you could have just been patient and waited until we tested the power systems before you went off and continued repair the damn thing." Chromedome said jokingly to Huffer, returning his attention to the project. He rose from Huffer's side and took a couple steps back while the weapons engineer was finishing up his conversation about resource gathering. "Alright, the electro-dampers are stabilizing him for know. I'll leave him to your fine touch." He said looking at Ironfist.

Chromedome walked back over to his computer terminal and continued his work on the programming. He shifted through halfway completed files and began filling in the blanks with the extensive coding. The more he typed, the more his mind began to think of Rewind. He would proudly be proud of Chromedome for helping someone out with having to inject. He really hoped that the little archivist was okay down on Earth, not getting into too much danger.

He's probably just getting more footage about humans for Prowl and the others to study. He thought optimistically. Of course! Why else would have been chosen? The mnemosurgeon let out a huge sigh of relief.

I'm just worrying too much...

Holo-suite 3 - Rocky Mountains Simulation

The log-style cabin was situated about a third of the way up the mountainside where the surrounding forest still covered a good majority of the area. Only at higher elevations did the trees become more sporadic before finally disappearing all together, leaving only a rocky terrain behind. Sitting comfortably on the porch of the cabin was a middle-aged man nursing a cup of coffee in his hands. He wore the green uniform of a mountain ranger, the only member of his unit that was currently assigned to this particular area. The cabin, of course, was a ranger station where hikers and tourists could stop by for assistance, whether it be medical or otherwise.

The man took a deep breath before finishing his coffee and standing up. He looked out over the valley the stretched out below and was in awe of the sights and sounds before him. This planet is so beautiful, the ranger mused as he scanned the horizon where the sun was just beginning to set. As the orange glow started to overtake the cabin, a small rabbit suddenly scurried onto the bottom step in front of him, nose twitching. The ranger looked down at the cute animal and cautiously moved forward to get a closer view without wanting to scare it away. Organic creatures such as these made the Earth all the more alluring to him and he silently wished he could remain here forever. However, that was impossible. Not just because his surroundings weren’t actually real, but also because he wasn’t real, either. In fact, the only thing real in the current environment was his Jeep Wrangler that was parked nearby and even that wasn’t even an actual Earth vehicle.

I wish this was all real, the ranger thought as a smile spread across his faux visage at the sight of the setting sun and the small animals that hopped about on the ground just past the cabin’s bottom step. He wanted this moment to last for as long as possible, but unfortunately it was all about to come to an abrupt end. Whether he wanted it to or not, reality was about to intrude into his fantasy.

>>”Hound, this is Prowl transmitting from the Earth’s surface. I need you to drop whatever it is that you are doing and gather up the four Aerialbots remaining on board. Silverbolt is already a part of my scouting team. We are in urgent need of your assistance down here. I also need you to bring several larger-scale holographic projectors and shield generators down with you. Once you have gathered what you need, take a shuttle craft to the surface. Do not use an orbital bounce as there are humans in the vicinity and I don’t want to risk them seeing the beams. Land the shuttle several miles from my current location, the coordinates of which I am sending you now. Also, bring a medical drone with you. Bumblebee requires some repairs that go beyond my abilities. There is no need to reply to this message. Just get down here as soon as you can. Prowl out.”<<

The comm line cut out as the holomatter ranger revealed a surprised and elated look on his face before walking quickly over to where the Jeep Wrangler was parked. The fake human then flickered out of existence and moments later the green jeep transformed into Hound’s robot mode. “Finally, I get off this slaggin’ ship and see the actual Earth again for real,” the scout muttered to himself as he hurried over to the doorway and exited the holo-suite, the holographic environment vanishing from sight behind him.

Corridors

As he walked through the corridors of the ship, Hound opened a comm line to the Aerialbots: >>“Fireflight, Slingshot, Air Raid, Skydive, this is Hound. I have just received new orders from Prowl down on the surface. We have been reassigned to his scouting team. I have little information other than he needs our help and apparently humans are involved. Meet me down in Shuttle Bay 5 in two breems. I’ll get the requested equipment and see you there shortly.”<<

With his message sent, Hound returned his attention to the tasks at hand as he rounded a corner and approached the medical bay. A happy coincidence greeted him in the form of a med drone rolling out into the corridor. The green scout immediately called out to the smaller mechanism. “Hey, you!” The sound of Hound’s vocals caused the drone to stop suddenly and turn it’s singular optic in his direction. “You’ve been reassigned to assist Prowl’s scouting team down on the Earth’s surface. No arguments, just come with me please.”

The drone let out a series of beeps and chirps before following the scout further down the hallway. Hound had quickly managed to acquire one part of what he needed. Now, his destination was the primary storage facility where he would locate the rest of the equipment and tools that Prowl had requested. He could only fathom what the military strategist wanted with larger scale hologram emitters along with force field generators. Clearly, the black and white intended to hide something big, much too big for Hound’s own hologram gun to do the job properly. Of course, there was also the human factor to consider. The green mech had not seen a real human is several solar-cycles and he looked forward to observing them again. Although, with Prowl present, it was highly unlikely that Hound would be able to get too close let alone interact with them using his avatar. No, that just wasn’t going to happen.

Hound then stepped onto a turbo lift which took him and the med-bot down to the next deck where he exited and made his way straight to the storage facility. Once there, he entered his security code and gained admittance to the large chamber. Wasting no time and with the assistance of the drone, Hound went about gathering the items he required and placing them into a large hover cart.

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation]

Air Raid was busy destroying decepticons when Hound's voice interrupted him. He woke up from the simulation for a moment, seeing the "real world" again, white and bright. Many of his parts started to return to life again while Hound's voice spoke

>>“Fireflight, Slingshot, Air Raid, Skydive, this is Hound. I have just received new orders from Prowl down on the surface. We have been reassigned to his scouting team. I have little information other than he needs our help and apparently humans are involved. Meet me down in Shuttle Bay 5 in two breems. I’ll get the requested equipment and see you there shortly.”<<

The aerialbot stood from his place, the mission wasn't the most urgent, but they had to get out of the simulation soon. He opened a comm link between him and the rest of the aerialbots in the room.

>>"Hey, Fireflight, Slinghsot, Skydive, Air Raid here. I just left the simulation, we will continue this soon. Get out of that place because we have a mission waiting."<<

Air Raid walked to the simulation console. He deactivated the simulation system, waking all the aerialbots and bringing them into the real world.

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

The freight lift gave an ugly screech before coming to a halt at the bottom floor of the facility. Fireflight cautiously stepped off after the elevator door opened horizontally. The short corridor from the lift led the bot straight into a grand spherical chamber. The corridor ended onto a spacious catwalk that followed the horizontal radius of the space. The core itself resided in the center, a glowing hulk of cables feeding into the ceiling led from the central mass. A metallic sphere half the size of the room that housed it made up the central component. Random rectangular holes in the sphere bled intense light into the chamber walls, illuminating the entire space more so than necessary.

Fireflight paused and lowered his weapon in sheer awe of the massive power source. He stepped to the edge of the catwalk and looked down to see a collection of thin, spidery limbs at the base of the core. Each of them moved sporadically, tirelessly snatching cubes of energon from the base of the chamber and feeding them into the underbelly of the core. Suddenly an access in the ceiling shot open, pouring countless cubes of energon into the bowl shaped floor. Without another moment of delay, the aerialbot hopped over the railing and connected with the slopped floor, sliding noisily toward the heap of energon below.

Upon reaching the base, Fireflight climbed atop the energon mountain so as to peer into the base of the core itself. The underbelly had a perfectly circular opening around which the insect-like limbs connected. Again Fireflight found himself taken aback as he peered into the swirling energon at the center of the sphere. He observed as each cube was fed into and absorbed by the churning core like some sort of energy based smoothie.

“UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBOT PRESENCE! UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBOT PRESENCE! CORE DEFENSE SYSTEMS INITIATE!” A loud electronic voice boomed, echoing throughout the chamber. Fireflight, startled by the announcement, stumbled and rolled down the hill of energon. Regaining his component and looking up, the compromised bot watched as his exit slammed shut and dozens of acid beam turrets instantly protruded from the curved wall surrounding the core and Fireflight. “INTRUDER HAS FIVE NANOKLIKS TO SURRENDER FOR INTERROGATION OR FACE TERMINATION!” Again the automated voice boomed, rattling Fireflight’s audio receptors. “Aw scrap! I gotta think fast!” the bot exclaimed, his tone sounding panicked as he scrambled to his feet atop one of the shorter mounds of energon.

Just then, Hound's message reverberated through his head. "Aw man! This was just getting good!" Fireflight complained as the simulated environment dissolved around him, replaced by their far less interesting reality. Well, at least we have a mission. He thought while disconnecting the simulation equipment from his head.

Corridors

Get to the lab. Make the pain go away. The same mantra was repeated over and over again. The mere thought of trying to turn her processor on anything but her need for that next hit was unconscionable. Nothing mattered at this point. Nothing but that replicator and those vials of Syk.

But then it happened so quickly that Tracer had no way of stopping her backward momentum. She landed hard on her aft letting out a grunt of pain as she took a quick look up. How the slag did I not see her? Her optics caught Remington who quickly apologized and smiled.

Tracer returned the technician’s smile and stood back up. “No, it’s my fault. I should have been watching where I was going.” The scout ran her hand over her frame removing any dust that might have settled during her brief stay on the floor.

“Tracer?” Tracer’s head jerked up at the sound of her name. She knew the voice but couldn’t see the mech. Finally First Aid stepped out from behind Remington. The doctor tilted his head slightly as he looked the femme over. “Tracer, are you okay? You’re not usually out and about.” Aid’s visor brightened slightly as he waited patiently for an answer to his question.

“Oh. Uhh, First Aid.” Tracer brought her hand up and gently rubbed the back of her head. Have to come up with something he’ll believe. “Well, I was heading down to the labs to pick something up. I figured it was late and no one would be in the area. Heh. Guess I was wrong.” She flashed him and Remington a nervous smile. Well, it was mostly the truth. Please let this go. Oh Primus, please. I have to get to that lab.

First Aid’s head lifted and nodded in understanding. “Ahh. I can appreciate that. I know how you are with crowds.” Suddenly the doctor perked up and gestured to Remington standing beside him. “Oh! I’m so sorry. Where are my manners? This is Tracer. She’s one of our scouts.” Aid then looked toward the blue and white femme. “Tracer, this is…” He wasn’t able to finish as he was quickly cut off. “Remington.” Tracer offered an awkward smile. “We’ve never met. But I know you’re one of Beretta’s femmes. We were all assigned to the Guardian. And like First Aid said earlier, I don’t get out much.”

Tracer extended her hand toward the technician hoping to Primus the shaking would go unnoticed. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

While Tracer worked on her introduction Razr padded up between the two Autobots and promptly plopped down on his aft section and extended both rear paws forward lazily. With one audio receptor up and the other flopped down the turbofox moved his head from one femme to the other more than comfortable with both Remington and First Aid in his presence.

Bridge – Observation Lounge 1

An eerie silence had settled in and Ratchet didn’t like it. The CMO moved quickly slamming his hands down on the table and nearly jumping to his feet. “Slag this!” Ratchet pushed his chair away with the backs of his knees. “Something has got to be done. Those “possessed” mechs, and use the word loosely, they’re deranged. All of them.” That said Ratchet looked over his shoulder at Axle, who was still gripping his ward’s badge tightly in his hands. The former doctor sent a sneer in the CMO’s direction.

“I’ve got ‘Bots in my med bay with wounds that will prove just how dangerous they all are.” Ratchet’s voice lowered an octave. “Two of those ‘Bots were torn apart with nothing more than bare hands. And yes, one of them was nearly cannibalized.”

“That was not Hex and you know it!” Axle’s outburst made Ratchet whip around so he could face his subordinate. The black and green medic was standing with both hands pressed to the tabletop, his optics glued to Ratchet. “I don’t care if it was Chief Justice Tyrest himself! He’s compromised like the rest of them. He’s capable of anything.” He stared at Axle for a moment before he looked to Ultra Magnus. “Magnus, we either contain them or…” He was cut off when something hard hit the side of his head. “The frag?!” Ratchet looked back at Axle who was now standing upright without Hex’s badge in his hand.

Growling under his breath Ratchet picked up the insignia and stalked around the table. He pointed at Axle. “You listen and you listen good. Those mechs have been compromised. If we can’t help them then there’s a possibility this whole ordeal could happen again. Now you’re gonna have to come to terms with the fact that they all might have to be dealt with in a more permanent manner.” Ratchet grabbed a hold of Axle’s hand and shoved the badge into his palm. He then glared at the other medic for a moment but said nothing more.

Science Laboratory

When it was time to give the mission specifics it was not Arcee who had spoken up, as he'd been expecting. Rather, the little lab rat took that job. Ironsift. Fist! Ironfist. That was it.

Tracks listened as best as his detached interest levels would allow. As soon as the topic at hand shifted to that of resource acquisition, the Autobot's optics had almost completely glazed over. And from looking at the map they were not exactly heading into one of the great urban metropoli on this planet. Looked more like a region that had to consider itself lucky if it had even brushed against the industrial age. Lovely.

Tracks had to remind himself that the true value of this mission was in him being able to get off this ship. It was certainly one of the larger factors that kept him from simply walking back out the way he'd came.

As he examined the device and this Ironfist character kept talking--Primus he talked a lot, didn't he?--he was able to bring himself back into the conversation just enough to keep things moving.

"Right. Acquired funds, updated avatars, resource acquisition. Sounds like....something to do, I suppose. Let's go."

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

Skydive was trying his hardest to take down the latest squad of Seekers. He knew the Aerialbots could handle challenges but this would been better if all five were there working as a team. After dodging a couple of blasts, he received the message from Hound. It distracted him long enough to be hit hard from a pair of blasts sending him plummeting to the ground. He never hit the ground because Air Raid terminated the simulation.

"Alright team, sounds like we need to head down and meet up with Hound. Let us hope Prowl and team didn't get into too much trouble."

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

"Oh come on Sky Dive." Slingshot bellowed into his communications link with his supposed partner. Leveling off his flight path as a pair of bombs dropped from each wing tip and detonated in his contrails, raining a cloud of needles and debris down on would be pursuit. "Who cares how many we scrapped till after the contest is over. Sides I already got more than you and the others combined... as per usual."

The Aerialbot ground support specialist recalibrated his sensors to filter out a larger mass of seekers lifting off from the command citadel further south in the heart of the city. He estimated they were still approximately five breems away at full thrust. Not exactly a hurry, but with the present level of defenses still available, it was enough to cause some amount of concern for the attacking squadron. Added to the whole situation, Slingshot was well aware of his limitations as a strategist or tactician. Still he needed to tip the balance back into his favor, or he'd have to tap into his reserve for the party at the end of the simulation... of course it would be Sky Dive's secret stash, but he refused to acknowledge that.

Immediately his sensors pinged. Three anti air craft walkers were on the move from one of the large storage facilities at the core of the province. It was an interesting move by the defenders, and with most of the attention of the main thrust on one of the more heavily defended factories that Air Raid and Fireflight had decided to take on, it left Slingshot a brief opening to do some investigation of his own. He banked hard to port and dove deep onto the canyons of cylindrical towers and needle shaped spires.

As soon as he flew passed two mega towers, windows were immediately blown out as tank defenders began firing in his flight path, with vane hopes of taking down the attacking Autobot fighter. Slingshot inwardly grinned, as if they were dealing with Silverbolt. He was specifically designed to take on these sorts of situations, hitting hard targets while evading ground defenses. Slingshot activated a pair of sonic shells and loaded them into his forward mortar launchers. He did not bother to aim them, there was no time though admittedly he was rarely confident in his natural abilities. He fired the two shots, one into a lower level just below the squad of tanks and entered a tight spiral again this time diving as the floors above the blast zone began to collapse and cave in as the structural supports gave way to the intense sonic vibrations.

A bank to starboard and Slingshot came face to sensor shadow of a pair of anti aircraft walkers. They were moving slowly to take up position around a damaged dome shaped facility. He immediately recognized the structure as one of the fuel depots he had been assigned to hit. Quickly he began an inventory check of his remaining shells, and was immediately discouraged at the depleted levels of his primary offensive mortars. The Aerialbot had enough to take down one of the walkers, but would not be left with enough to blow the depot. It was the same in the other way.

As he kicked in his afterburners to lance toward his heroic destiny, praise of his fellow Aerialbots and an otherwise added notch in the proof that he was the best there is, was, and ever would be built, a loud burst of static exploded through his communications link. The effect of the startling communique was not as severe as he had initially suspected, especially given that he had just leveled off into a steady stream of laser fire and metal slugs from maelstrom cannons.

An added reserve of thrust was poured into his turbo jets. Slingshot withheld his fire as the two walkers combined their firing solutions in an attempt to destroy the moving Aerialbot. However, Slingshot would not give them a level target to hit, he constantly darted to and fro, adjusting speed and elevation at random times as he charged. On his internal HUD, a green square appeared above the ruins of the fuel depot. A small exhaust port, blown to hell by some unknown source had left a small gaping wound in the roof.

"At least Sky Dive has the same accurate opinion of the cons as the rest of us." He muttered to himself over the open comm. He loaded his last two thermal explosion shells into his mortar launchers. A quick squeeze of the mental trigger sent the electronic pulse to the two cannons, igniting the two firing caps at the base of each shell. He could feel the recoil as each spiraled out of his barrels, he could feel the tremors in the air as they speared through the flimsy patch over the wound, but he did not care to witness his success or failure.

He plugged into the message as soon as he was clear of the simulated canyon. A grin on his face plate, hidden by his simulated form, spoke volumes. "Well its about time ole Fearless Leader decided he couldn't live without my presence..." Slingshot unplugged the link and disappeared from the simulation.

Deck 6: Aerialbot Hub

"... I swear, Silverbolt would lose his head if I weren't there with Cyberglue to reattach it every now and again." Slingshot released a bellicose laugh as he draped the cable across the simulator surface. He did not bother to check the score card as he made his way over to the munitions wall. Grabbing a few clips for his rifle, as his primary mortars were already fully armed and ready to go, the ground support and snipper specialist made his way to the door.

He entered the hall and turned towards the shuttlebay. He paused briefly as he watched the other three trot off towards their destination. The confident blustery smile faded from his face and he offered himself a slow shake of his head. "Whatever their trouble is, I don't know if I will be of any use. I just hope I don't mess things up."

Slingshot entered into a trot himself and rejoined the squadron down the way, the confident façade returned to his expression. He just hoped that no one knew what he was truly thinking or how little faith he truly had regarding his potential value to this reinforcement mission.

Deck 6: Aerialbot Hub

One by one, each of the aerialbots woke from the simulation. Air Raid would rather do a real mission then kill simulated seekers. However, the "deal with humans" part troubled him. Do we have to deal with the humans? the aerialbot kept asking himself.

"Okay guys, you all awake?. We all know that me and Fireflight won" said Air Raid, putting his hand at Fireflight's shoulder the moment he uttered his partner's name. "Now, we should be in Shuttle Bay 5 after two breems. I know this mission is just scouting. But since we have, a breem to spare we should get ourselves lock and loaded" said Air Raid, suggesting that they should refill their ammo and get their weapons.

The aerialbot walked to the nearest weapon cache, leaned towards it and started to check all the weapons and ammo in it.

Science Lab

Arcee had listened patiently and attentively to Ironfist's rather long exposition about the specifics of their mission. It did sound painfully dull to the pink warrior's audio receptors, though she was glad for any chance to get off of this ship and down to Earth. Why did these scientist types have to explain every little detail? She supposed it paid to be thorough in their line of work.

"Right. Acquired funds, updated avatars, resource acquisition. Sounds like....something to do, I suppose. Let's go."

"Agreed," Steeljaw said from where he sat at Tracks' side.

Arcee was mildly surprised at the lion cassettobot's sudden appearance. He had a way of sneaking up on one without anyone noticing. Arcee cast her gaze toward her troops, and clapped her actuators together. "Indeed. Everyone to the bounce chamber. We are going to Earth!"

Leading the way, Arcee made her way purposefully toward the Ark-22's bounce chamber. Steeljaw padded along quietly behind Arcee. He glanced as his comrades, Tracks and Dragunov. "Greetings to you Tracks, and you too, miss. Are you squadmates with Miss Glock?" Steeljaw inquired casually.

----

Docking Ring--Corridors

'Honestly, I have no idea... but s’pose the bridge woulda be a good place to start.’

"YeahIbet you're right," Blurr said with a smile. He continued on through the corridors with Ingram, making way toward the bridge. He kept having to check his pace every now and then because he'd pull ahead too far. The speedster glanced about the corridors, finding them depressingly empty for the most part. The whole atmosphere had a subdued feel about it.

"Huh...isit just me or does it seem quieter than usual? Not just here but, youknow, on the 'Con sideof things. Feels wrong."

It kinda bothered Blurr. After Hot Rod - er, Rodimus - and crew had gone off to plot a strike on the Decepticons, Blurr hadn't heard from any of them. It was unsettling...enough time had passed for...some news to come back to the rest of them. But...considering how empty the ship seemed, the speedster supposed that it really wasn't all that surprising.

"Hm..."

-----

Bridge

"I dunno, Springer. I believe in Ultra Magnus though. Optimus did and that's more than good enough for me," Blaster replied as he wandered over to the communications array in the bridge. The communications officer ran his actuator lightly over the control panel. He glanced back at the green mech.

"Something is going on though. That much I'm sure of. Something big."

Blaster sat down in the seat before the communications array and did a quick scan of the Autobot frequencies to check if anyone needed assistance. Other than some mission related chatter, the comm lines were clear. Blaster let out a satisfied sigh. He was finally back where he belonged.

That done, Blaster pulled up the bounce logs of the Ark-22. It seemed as though Prowl and a few others had gone down to Earth, including one of his subordinates, Rewind. Ultra Magnus had been busy. He checked their energy signatures on the monitor to make sure none had dimmed or disappeared. Everything checked out.

Corridors

’This is Tracer. She’s one of our scouts.‘

Remington inclined her cranium, still smiling. This Tracer certainly had a streamlined frame. Glock couldn’t stop knocking it down with her usual slag-talk, Remington thought as she gave the scout a more thorough glance. Yeah, she might as well be jealous because this is something.

’And this is...’ First Aid didn’t have the opportunity to finish. Tracer did it for him.

’Remington.’ She said it with such self-assurance that Remington immediately felt being evaluated. ’We’ve never met. But I know you’re one of Beretta’s femmes.’

She really was the scout. Mind your surroundings. See everything, know everything. Without anyone taking notice.

‘You know Retta?’ Remington blurted involuntarily, after finally having the chance to speak herself. Come to think of it, though, knowing Beretta wasn’t hard, reputation and all. But speaking of her with any measure of familiarity like Tracer just had, was. Beretta was a fine and approachable officer but picky when it came to close companions.

While speaking, Remington took and shook the actuator extended to her. Tracer’s grip was a bit slack compared to how sharp she appeared. Fatigue? Or that slight disorientation Remington had noticed? Not that it was overly important.

And she was followed around by an exceptionally sleek turbofox. Remington was taking a liking to the scout femme already.

Bounce Chamber

Tracks had been mildly surprised at the sudden appearance of Steeljaw, one of Blaster's little confidantes. He had no animosity towards the smaller mech by any means. Just surprise, that's all.

"See? He agrees," Tracks said calmly, pointing at Steeljaw and wanting to get the show rolling that much quicker. "Good kitty."

He followed without hesitation as Arcee led the party out of the lab and to the bounce chamber. Tracks was admittedly a little giddy. Fortune had indeed smiled on him and he was getting off this ship--nice though it was, for being a cold, unforgiving hunk of flying metal. But there was just so little that interested him up here. The surface of Earth, that would be a horse of a much different color.

"Bah weep--uh, something or other," Tracks said as Steeljaw took a moment to greet him directly. He then looked at Glock as Steeljaw struck up a conversation with her.

"Indeed, I think she is. They're quite the team. Very, um, capable, from what I've heard. I'm surprised AutoComm would waste your talents on this little snatch and grab, honestly."

He stepped up onto the bounce chamber and waited with calm and scarcely repressed mirth for the bounce sequence to be activated.

Bridge - Observation Lounge 1

Ultra Magnus pressed his finger tips together and set them across the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward. His optic shields lowered slightly as the light dimmed noticeably. Slowly the index finger of each hand began to tap a soft cadence as he absorbed the information that Axle and Bluestreak provided. It was difficult, very difficult to accept. The commander gave no hint as to the turmoil in his processor.

"And I take it the coordinates were confirmed as Australia by a third party." He already knew the answer and allowed the rhetorical question to linger without response. The cadence came to a stop and Magnus placed his hands palm down upon the obsidian colored table top.

Carefully, perhaps allowing himself more time to decide if what he was about to agree to would be exactly what Optimus Prime would do, although the details may vary. The shields over his optics retracted back into the protective recesses below his brow and the lights returned to full strength as he turned his gaze to Axle and Ratchet. "We all know that the Fallen, or any level of demi god hell hound cannot be defeated by ourselves alone. To delude ourselves to think along those lines would be folly of the highest order." He placed his right hand under his chin and began to rub his chin with a thumb and forefinger.

"If there is some slim hope to recover the victims of this Fallen Prime's from his metaphysical hold, I do not know it. And I am fairly certain that neither of you do either. But be that as it may, the same can also be said for our rivals onboard the Thanatos." He shook his head briefly before finally deciding on what was before him and his fellow Autobots. "Axle, Ratchet I want you two to put aside your private vendettas. If there is even the tiniest shred of hope to recover Hot Rod, Hardhead and Hex, we must find it before it is too late. I will not abandon those three to torment or death."

"That being said, we can no longer wait up here in the heavens while the Earth below is thrown into further chaos, though I am sure its a mechanism that only fuels the Fallen and his hold." He paused again. This time he stood and made his way over to the wall high view port of transparent steel. "I wonder if that human expression 'To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before,' truly applies to a situation of this nature."

"Kup, I trust you have finalized the new duty rosters for the Guardian and Ark 22. I want you to begin the reassignments immediately. I also want you to prepare two surveillance squadrons for rotational dispatches to those coordinates, with specific orders of not to engage the quintet. I will have Blaster maintain continual emergency bounce lock on all party members." He pivoted on his heel and looked at each mech in their optics, carefully expressing a confident and hopeful expression as he did so. He knew that deep down each were scared, worried about their friends and saw no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. But he had to see the light, Optimus would never allow for a situation to be entirely hopeless. Even if he was the last Cybertronian standing, he would try to bring an end to the reign of darkness that threatened them.

"In the meantime, our primary concerns have yet to change. We will find a way to break those holds, and we will continue our construction operations. Albeit with a greater sense of haste than initially anticipated. I want to be informed of any progress on a cure or any level of mobilization from those coordinates. Bluestreak you are to be assigned to me for a while. I will need your unique perspective in what must be done next. As for the rest of you, prepare well. Dismissed."


Bridge

The meeting ended briskly, he knew there were more questions that needed to be asked, but quite frankly Ultra Magnus did not have any answers. For the grace of the Primes he would give his own spark to have a more worthy candidate to face these dark times, Optimus was worthy... a hero in fact. But Magnus was a soldier who followed orders and allowed for few variables to come between him and a tactical or military victory. Moral victories just did not exist. And yet, here and now he was forced to settle for just that... at least temporarily. A lone spark of hope, regardless of how faint it was, was better than nothing.

The Armored Autobot passed through the doors leading from the lounge to the darkened bridge. He stopped at a multipurpose terminal and entered a swift string of commands, temporarily unlocking all medical records of the three Autobots in question, even those that had been deep classified, to the security clearance of Ratchet to use at his digression. He also began reviewing the various accords and treaties signed by the various city states and governments prior to the fall of the Golden Age and the ghastly civil war, for any sort of tidbit that could be still in effect and used to accomplish his next mission.

"Springer, Blaster..." He finally broke his silence as he narrowed down to a far reaching piece of legislation that had never been disputed by either faction vying for power. A unity clause that bound all Cybertronians in the common cause of defense of the planet or the citizens from an external or non planetary interference. It was vague in exactly what was meant by 'planetary threat', and Magnus was not entirely sure that would be accepted if he used it in his argument for an alliance. At least he knew now he had some common ground to begin talks... as if the Fallen demanding their collective oblivion was not enough.

"Springer, Just the mechanism I was hoping to find. I need you to find a remote location on the planet Earth that is open. I do not want any places for ambush, but nor do I want it so open to allow the Humans a vision of our existence. Once that location is settled, gather three more Autobots and report back to me once you are ready." He left the command open to limited questions, perhaps as to why he was in need of such conditions, and why he needed an away party to be assembled without a military target. Again it fell to the fact that he really had no answers as to what he hoped to achieve. The others, Ratchet, Axle, Kup and Bluestreak probably had more to ask him... Magnus would not cloister himself away in the office. No, he would now address concerns in the open. The details would remain to those who were privy to the meeting, no sense in revealing trump cards until their due.

As the terminal cycled through more diplomatic notes, texts and logs from eons of the greatest negotiators to ever come to existence on Cybertron, war or no war, Magnus summoned Blaster even closer. "It would appear that I did not place you in a most opportune location for the maximum benefit for your talents Blaster. It is time I remedy that. As of now I want you to coordinate the movements of our two teams down on earth. Prowl will have probably reported in, review the logs when you are able, though I doubt he will require assistance. Arcee's acquisition operation will probably require a bit more guidance. Keep an optic on them as you are able."

"However, before any of that can be accomplished. You are to establish a communication link with the Thanatos." He kept his voice low so that only those coming out of the Observation Lounge and those gathered around the isolated terminal could hear him. Although he doubted that the majority of them, outside of Springer and Blaster, would have been all that surprised by his request. "Once that link is established you are to patch it through to the main viewer. I doubt it will be an immediate success, given their recent upheaval in their command structure. So in the interim, I want a ship wide broadcast prepared for exactly two breems after the contact with the Thanatos has concluded."

Bridge

Ultra Magnus' sudden appearance on the bridge was slightly unexpected, Springer thought he would have been in that office room much longer. The green mech hopped up from his seat just as Magnus walked over to him and began relaying his orders.

Ambush? Human activity? What in the pit is Magnus thinking?

"Sure thing Mags." Springer replied unsure of what Ultra Magnus had in store for the triple changer. Springer then turned towards one of the on-board terminals and began to scan the blue and green planet below for levels of extremely low human activity. "If you don't mind me asking, but what exactly are you planning?" Springer asked as he shifted his attention back to the Armored Autobot. "I mean, I need to know what you're up to if you want me to gather the right bots for whatever mission you've got in store for us."

Before Springer could ask another question, the terminal had completed its scan and began displaying possible locations that had fit Ultra Magnus' specifications. "Alright, so we have at least 3 possible locations that suit the specifications you requested, Magnus. The first location in deep in the heart of what the Humans call 'Russia.' Large woodlands surrounded by vast mountain ranges with very little contact with human life. A second possible location is out in the African Savanna. The spot the computer located is hundreds of miles from the nearest Human outpost. Finally, there's a vast chain of Islands along the Pacific Ocean. Hasn't been any human activity around these parts for quite awhile either."

Springer looked up from the terminal screen and back at Magnus. "Your Call, Mags."

Shuttle Bay 5

After walking through the many corridors, Skydive finds his way to the shuttle bay. He looks back and glad to see the rest of his team following.

"After major consideration, the simulation was a bit tough with the number of squads I picked out. When we return, we will restart but with only half the number of squads. This is if the higher ups don't have anything else for us to do. From what I could tell, though, we were doing well but still had the odds stacked against us. One thing we need to remember is we won't always have the advantage and often a huge disadvantage with the Cons since they have at least a five to one primary flyer advantage. We are the best aerial until the Bots have and I want to stay that way even if we have to fight against almost impossible odds."

Skydive looks around and doesn't see Hound to his surprise.

>>Skydive to Hound, the Aerialbots are in shuttle bay 5 as requested.<<

Corridors

As Smokescreen traversed the corridors of the Ark-22, his thoughts were constantly returning to Tracer and whether or not leaving her alone was a good idea. The rallybot tried to convince himself that she would be okay and that there was nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, he could not help but be concerned for her wellbeing, especially in light of the fact that she was hooked on an illegal narcotic not to mention her suffering from other mental issues. Hopefully, she would be able to operate the replicator in Wheeljack’s lab without much difficulty. Otherwise, Smokey might find himself in her company again sooner rather than later.

The diversion expert’s internal worries were then interrupted when he rounded a corner and spotted two mechs walking in his general direction. One was unfamiliar to him, a beige and red femme, big and strong looking, walking alongside another ‘Bot that Smokescreen recognized almost instantly. Blurr! Oh, my Primus, it’s Blurr! The rallybot stopped in his tracks, trying his best not to look like something was wrong or look like a complete buffoon. In reality, Smokey was fine if not a little star struck at the sight of the greatest racing champion that had ever lived. Blurr was the epitome of what Smokescreen had always inspired to become but had never succeeded in breaking free of his street racing reputation. The red and blue mech had once tried out for the Cybertronian Racing Circuit but was denied entry not because he wasn’t fast enough but because the officials looked down upon him for his illegal activities. After all, no one wanted a cheater and criminal racing beside them on the legal circuit.

Regardless of his failure, Smokescreen never stopped rooting for champions like Blurr and even Drag Strip. Of course, the latter had made all the wrong choices once the war broke out, leaving only Blurr as the one racer worthy of the diversion expert’s continued admiration. Now, here the speedster was, walking right towards the rallybot in his usual swift manner. Smokey had seen the blue mech on board the Guardian previously but had yet to muster up enough courage to approach him. Swallowing hard, Smokescreen slowly and casually moved forward again with a smile that quickly extended from one audio receptor to the other as he neared the object of his fandom.

“Um...hi, Blurr...um,” Smokescreen started to say, sounding like an idiot protoform who had lost all sense of purpose. “How are you doing?” The rallybot paused for a moment as he scratched the back of his cranium while his processor searched for something non-retarded to say next. “Um, I know we really haven’t chatted much in the past, but I just wanted you to know that I’m a really big fan of yours and I always thought you were a way better racer than that hack, Drag Strip. He could never hold an energon cube to your talents. It’s too bad the war had to ruin everything, you know? I’d love to hang out with you and talk racing when you have a spare astrosecond if that’s okay?”

The diversion expert put his hand back down to his side and tried to keep the ever widening grin from cutting his faceplate completely in half. He then glanced over and up at Ingram, not wanting to ignore the large femme for fear that she would take offense and pound him into the floor. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve ever met,” Smokey began to say as he extended his hand in friendship. “Name’s Smokescreen. I’m the resident diversionary tactician around here. It’s nice to meet you, Miss...?”

Bridge - Observation Lounge

Bluestreak was more than a bit shocked by the continued aggression displayed between Ratchet and Axle. The two medical officers clearly had deep rooted issues that went well beyond the CMO’s usual unpleasant disposition. Their conflict seemed to have a lot to do with Hex, but there was likely more to it than that. The gunner considered saying something, as always, but thought better of it. He would probably only be ignored or even yelled at by Ratchet, which was one mech’s ire that the chatterbot wanted to avoid.

It was Ultra Magnus with his calm and rational demeanor that succeeded in settling things down. The Sector Commander knew what had to be done even if he didn’t have all of the answers as yet. Magnus was not willing to abandon Hex, Hardhead or Hot Rod and knew that time was of the essence here. The large blue mech also knew and agreed that the Autobots themselves could not fight a demigod alone. It would take cooperation with the Decepticons to make that happen. When Magnus assigned Bluestreak to him for the time being, the black and silver gunner looked up and nodded in understanding. “Of course, sir. I’ll provide whatever help I can in these matters. I...”

Bluestreak’s ramble was cut mercifully short as Ultra Magnus exited the observation lounge and re-entered the main bridge. The chatterbot stood from his seat and quickly followed along with the others who had attended the briefing. Once on the bridge proper, ‘Streak immediately took up a position directly beside the City Commander as the armored Autobot accessed a multi-purpose terminal and unlocked a variety of private medical records on the three Autobot “heralds” before brining up diplomatic documents that were likely to be used in negotiating with the Decepticons. Once that was done, Magnus issued orders to both Springer and Blaster, instructing them to find a secluded place on Earth where they could meet as well as make contact with the Thanatos.

The Autobot gunner silently observed, knowing that his usual ramblings would not be tolerated during such a dire situation. Bluestreak liked to babble to be sure but that did’t mean he could not control himself when he wanted or, in this case, needed to. Sparks were at stake and he would be damned if he let his overused vocals put any Autobot, possessed or not, at further risk. Instead, he kept his comments short and productive. “Commander Magnus, I noticed that you were just focusing in on the Cybertronian Unity Clause, a legal document that had been agreed to by both factions near the onset of this war. If you want my opinion, it’s a good place to start. However, with Megatron gone, I’m not sure if his replacement, whomever that is, would be as willing to abide by it. Of course, I wouldn’t fully trust Megatron to abide by it, either, but that’s just me.”

Bluestreak then grew quiet just as Springer announced that he had discovered three possible locations where a meeting could be set up. That hadn’t taken long, but then again the green triplechanger was very good at his job. Without moving from the City Commander’s side, the gunner listened to the descriptions of all three areas. Of the options, ‘Streak liked one in particular the best. “If I may interject, sir, I think the African Savanna would be the best option for us. It’s in a wide open region with very few places for the 'Cons to hide an ambush or stage any other kind of trap. It would be the safest for us there, Commander.”

(OOC: A post for Hound will be forthcoming.)

(OOC: I’m going to assume that not all of the Aerialbots have arrived until their players designate so.)

Shuttle Bay 5

Having gathered up all of the equipment that he needed from the supply depot, Hound made his way into the shuttle bay with the medical drone pushing the hover cart behind him. The green scout immediately took notice that some of the Aerialbots had already arrived, giving the first one he saw a respectful nod. “Hey there, Skydive! It’s good to see you again,” Hound said as he paused by the flier and patted him on the shoulder plate. “Just follow me. We’re going to be taking off soon.”

Hound then returned his attention to the med drone, motioning the smaller mechanism towards the nearest shuttle. Walking up to the craft’s rear cargo door, the scout entered the security code that Prowl had previously transmitted to him. The back hatch swiftly opened upwards while a ramp extended to the floor. “All right, little buddy, I want you take the hover cart inside and secure it in the hold while I warm up the engines. Okay?” The droid let out a series of beeps and chirps before following Hound’s instructions to the letter. Before long, the cart full of holo-emitters and force field generators was onboard and fastened against the side wall of the shuttle.

Meanwhile, Hound moved around and accessed a side hatch, entering into the central compartment before reaching the front of the craft. He sat down in the pilot’s chair and quickly initiated the engines. A gentle hum filled the large chamber as the hologram expert continued bringing the rest of the shuttle’s systems online. Making sure to check everything twice over, Hound found that all was in the green. “Okay, we’re good to go. Once everyone’s on board, we’ll depart for Earth,” the scout said aloud as he peered over his shoulder to see if the rest of the Aerialbots had arrived and taken their seats yet.