The Energon Pub

Autobase Prime - Command centre

From over the edge of the Tagan border, Smokescreen emerged, carrying a wounded soldier with him. As he approached the base of Fortress Maximus, Smokescreen placed the bot onto a stretcher, and watched as a medical drone transported him to the med bay. Smokescreen moved past Cog, inclining his head in greeting. Smokescreen moved through the base until he reached the command centre. He greeted Rollbar and Scoop and wasting no time, began to outline his plans.

‘So far we’ve played right into Decepticon hands, we haven’t tried anything to shake them. Sitting back and holding our gains has cost us dearly. We need to throw the Decepticons off balance before they can press their advantage, giving us breathing space to plan a counter strike.’

Smokescreen paused for a moment, allowing the others to digest this information. Moving over to a terminal, he brought up a map off Tyrest.

‘My intended target is here, the cons know the place holds no strategic value, and given the spread of their counter offensive, it’s likely to be under manned. Whilst we won’t gain anything, we will upset their plans, they will have to draw forces away from their front lines. I suggest a lightning raid, go in shoot the place up a bit, and once the con resistance pulls itself together we get out.

Smokescreen awaited the others reply, briefly he wondered in Maximus had heard the plan.

Iacon-Border Zone

"Yes, Sir!" She chimed out to Cog happily released from medical duty.

She hefts Panzer back onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry not letting him protest even if he could. "Uhmph!" Her knees nearly buckled under his weight, but held her upright position. "All right, here we go." She starts carrying him towards the Medical bays.

Southern Iacon ~ Border Zone

"Huh?" Trailbreaker replied as he heard his name mentioned by Cog, taking a moment to work out in what context was his name being mentioned "..Oh, yes indeed, time is of the essence guys, please proceed to the repair facilities as quick as you can, unless you want to walk back to Autobase Prime" The Defensive Strategist joked.

Jedishen looked over briefly as he heard Fortress Maximus speak to he, Blurr and Stormfire through Cog, and waved a hand in acknowledgment. It seemed that the Autobot General had yet to be briefed on Stormfire's recent incidents, and was unaware that this conversation was a little more than philisophical ramblings. Still, it was nothing to do with the Scout, he knew little more than Maximus anyway, the only Autobot with any real knowledge on the situation was Mirage, when he would get round to talking with the baseformer was anyone's guess.

Turning slowly, Jedishen, with Blurr's help, led 'It' up the loading ramp and towards the repair facilities located deeper inside Fortress Maximus, with any luck, there would be no more fighting, at least for a little while.

Primary Landing Port

The metallic painted stripe along the entire border of the landing bay slowly began to curl and crack as invisible wafts of unknown chemicals scowered through the docking bay. A normally busselling center of activity, the landing bay was now a barren strip of steel save for a lone individual watching up at the Moon Base and the approachway for Optimus Prime's shuttlecraft. Doors were sealed shut and pairs of optics lined the interior view ports, hiding from the Autobot waiting outside.

It was a large built soldier caked in chemical muck and grime. Rotting lubricents and crusted oil, hazzardous materials and other fragments of his function spotted his torso. The wafts of raunched stink was overpowering driving everyone from the bay area. Landfill was a patient mech and did not harbor any grudges towards those who shunned him, though for the spark of him he could never understand why anyone would. He was friendly and always willing to offer a helping hand or dumper should the need arise. Still they fled at his coming, he would not lie to himself that it didn't sting but it was how it was and little could change that.

At this point in time, Landfill was there to lend such a helping hand for the overloaded medics corps. They had run short of medical transports and needed some one to meet Optimus Prime's strike team and carry the wounded towards the medical bays. It was a task he was happy to accept, considering there was not much to do during such influx's of casualties from an embattled region. Not like some one was going to ask him to transport a photon artillery piece to the front when the front was completely depleted and in Decepticon hands.

And thus he waited, quietly and patiently, no one dared to exit to the outside of the landing port. Alone with only a small medical pack leaning up against his right leg resting and waiting in case of emergency. His optical visor zoomed in and out as he attempted to spy the distant shuttle, it was going to be a longer wait.

Autobase Prime - Command Center

Perceptor walked out of his laboratory, cradling his new prototype like a protoform. This new model Cosmotron had 17% better Energon transferral and was 7.3 percent smaller than the previous best model: Not much, but Perceptor saw even the smallest of spaces as having limitless potential.

"Optimus Prime, I am happy to report....Prime?" Perceptor finally tilted his many optics away from the Cosmotron and around the room. He was confused to find no-one but Rollbar, Scoop and Smokescreen apparently in the middle of a 3-man planning session. "Where has everyone gone? Is something the matter?"

Autobase Prime Command Center

Scoop looked over as Smokescreen came in and started to go over his plan. Listening intently to him he took everything all in, and started to formulate the basic questions that should be asked. He had to admit that he did agree with him in his basic assesment of the situation. Scoop put his hand to his chin and then asked " Two questionsSmokescreen. How many autobots will be needed to pull this raid off, and should this be coordinated with any of the frontline commanders before this is pulled off." Scoop would not make it obovious that he would be in on a plan like this if it was approved. He needed to know more details then the ones that were very well delivered by his fellow Autobot.

Scoop looked up and saw Perceptor come into the command center apparently looking for Prime. Scoop just decided to state the obvious to the Scientist's qustion "Seems like their are a couple of situations that need their attention Perceptor. I am not sure where Prime has gone."

Fortress Maximus ~ Repair Facilities

"Here, the Repair Facilities, just liked you requested..." Jedishen spoke as he and Blurr helped Stormfire onto one of the tables, and gestured for one of the Technicians who had made the trip from Autobase Prime to come over and take a look at the flyers injuries.

As he looked at Stormfire, Jedishen paused for a moment, deep in thought. His earlier reply drew some suspicion and confusion, and the Scout realised he couldn't refer to Stormfire in the 3rd person, like It chose to do, and equally, it wasn't his place to go around telling everyone about Stormfire's... issues.

Coming out of his musings, Jedishen looked to Blurr before speaking "Thanks for the help Blurr, you need any rep.." The Scout trailed off as an idea came to him mid sentence "..Say, could I ask a favour of you Blurr? Could you go and find Mirage and ask him to come and see me here.." Jedishen paused as he briefly glanced over at Stormfire, still not completely at ease with It's presence "..Tell him I need to talk with him about something" The Scout finished as he looked back to the Courier, a small smile on his face.

Fortress Maximus ~ Repair Facilities

Strafe had wandered in shortly before Jedishen, Blur and Stormfire and had been doing a little self-repair work on his systems. Needless to say he was more than a little surprised to see Stormfire; not that he held a grudge against the mech, he wasn't Afterburner after all; but he was a little worried. After all you don't quite forget being thrown like that and it hadn't exactly been one of his better landings. Thankfully his team-mate had saved it from being anything worse than a few dents and a lot of pain.

Still he shook it off and contined to fix the few hits he'd gained in battle and those that hadn't yet been repaired from his earlier...skirmish. After all he never did get that time in the CR chamber.

"A couple of...?" Perceptor frowned as his tertiary telescope revolved to read the report screens on the far wall. "Ceasefire...Negotiations...Sneak attacks...Omega Supreme routed...Dynobots...Oh my, it seems I have been in my Laboratory too long...".

Perceptor turned back towards his laboratory. "I shall have to leave my new devices for another time, my repair skills are needed. I shall try to arrange more repair space, have all the other medical officers gone with Fortress Maximus?"

Late Edit: Perceptor doesn't use contractions, silly me.

Iacon- Repair Facilities

Road Rage hefts the largely unresponsive Panzer onto one of the repair tables. "Phew. Heavy guy." She chuckles to herself. It went without saying he'd get repaired.

She lingers around though, incase she's needed for anything, but there's not much she can do but offer some muscle and protection for the medical bay. What bits of medical knowledge she knew of were woefully inadequate here so he being a medic was laughable at best since her work would have to be removed, then repaired.
It's emergency for a reason.

Her mind remains a peaceful, tranquil place. In other words it was hard for her to get lost in her own thoughts most of the time. She isn't dumb by any means mind you, but all the same sometimes her mind is a little too quiet.

She looked around at the wounded who are mostly all there by now. Things seemed quiet. Maybe she should enjoy it? How long could it last in this dense war zone? In fact it could get worse.

Ah, there it is. she thought to herself sparking something to keep her mental processors busy while she waited for something to happen, or someone to require her assistance.

Autobase Prime: Command Center

Autobots, drones and other non important personel fled into vacant hallways as the powdered blue warrior stomped through the pathway. The stature of the Protectobot commander did little to hide his fury as he pushed himself through door after door enroute to the Command Center of the primary autobot fortification. Sure Prime was off world but that was no slagging excuse for what happened. No way, he should have been there on the front kicking those blasted Decepticreeps back into the pit of the Sonic Canyons where they belonged. Course he followed orders like a good little autobot and had stayed in Iacon to help do Primus knows what and look what happened. Smooth move command.

The walls shuddered under the force of Hotspot throwing each of the doubledoors back into their alcoves. He marched his way over to Scoop, Smokescreen, Rollbar and who ever else was there. He caught the tail end of what the quartet were saying, he didn't care one way or the other what they wanted to do... "Prime's not here, I'd think that would be blasted obvious Percy," The warrior commander spoke sternly doing little to hide his frustration at the situation.

He looked over at the terminal showing the latest flash reports from the various aid stations along the border with Tagon. The cons hit hard and fast, they had lost plenty of soldiers but no that wasn't the worst part, it was the fact he wasn't involved in any way. Not saying another word, Hotspot punched in several commands into the nearest computer terminal, with feeling. He brought up the communications log in an attempt to locate other members of his team, First Aid, Blades, Streetwise and Groove. There was going to be a reconning, and if Optimus wanted to sit back, then so be it.

Autobase Prime - Command Centre

Smokescreen listened to Scoop’s questions; they were pretty much what he had expected. Smokescreen considered for a moment, then outlined his plans in more detail.

‘ I believe five teams of approximately five Autobots each would be sufficient to stall the entire Decepticon counter offensive to answer your first question. we can draw extra units from Altihex and Uraya if needed

Team A will require of a transport and one mech with suppressive fire capabilities. This team will hit an area of Tyrest, doing nothing more than damage defences, giving the appearance of a probing attack, they are to retreat as soon as sufficient Decepticon opposition is en route

Team B must consist of Autobots with flight capabilities. This teams target is Tagan, they will perform a bombing run on any Decepticons out in the open, then immediately move on to damage the Energon refineries extraction capability. There will be minimal target defences if we act quickly, and the Decepticons will be effecting repairs to the base ill prepared to counter such a short swift attack.

Teams C, D and E will act together. Teams C and D require no special abilities but heavy fire power would be preferable, Team C will attack along one section of the Polyhex border, in another simple raid; damage defences and retreat as soon as any threat approaches. This retreat will be covered by team D, who will attack a different section of the Polyhex front as soon as Team C report their retreat. Again this will be a raid attack, but Team D will have a specific target, as Team C will have drawn the defence away, giving them more time to accomplish their goal. Team D’s withdrawal will be covered by Team E, who will be positioned directly behind them on the Polyhex line, ideally I would like the Protectobot Defensor unit to comprise this team. A gestalt will make the cons worry about if this is where we plan to make our major counter offensive, a move that hopefully we will not need to make. So to answer your second question, ideally I’d like the Polyhex frontline to be in on this.’

Smokescreen waited for a response from the gathered mech’s, noticing a Protectobot enter the room. Hopefully he’d get this mech to side with him.

‘Any further questions? I’ve a list of potential targets for team D.’

Autobase Prime - Command Centre

Perceptor may have been able to see and count every atom in the command center in half a breem, but as soon as he turned back to his lab he became oblivious to all the goings-on in the command centre, from Hot Spots comment to Smokescreen's ambitious plan. He set down his prototype and began systematically switching off the various experiments in his lab: They used a lot of energy and if he was likely to be occupied for the next while, it only made sense to conserve the Autobot's vital supply.

He reappeared from the lab with an armful of diagnostic and repair tools, and his commlink flipped up. >>Perceptor to Fortress Maximus, Sir. I am preparing the Autobase medical facilities for your arrival. What is your estimated time of return??<<

Blurr glanced up at Jedishen as he finished helping shift Stormfire onto the medical table.

“Always-glad-to-help-Jedishen.-I-will-go-look-for-him-now.-He-can’t-have-gone-far,-
the-last-time-I-saw-him-he-was-talking-to-Cog.-I-hope-he-isn’t-hiding-because-if-he-
is-invisble-I-will-have-to-go-find-him-and-that-can-be-hard-to-do,-unless-of-course-
I-get-lucky-and-crash-into-him-while-he-is-invisible-and-I-am-zipping-around-looking-
for-him,-but-then-he-will-probably-be-agitated-with-me-and-not-want-to-listen-to-my-
message.-So-let’s-hope-he-is-still-with-Cog,” Blurr concluded.

Stepping back from the med table, Blurr turned around swiftly and dashed out the door as a streak of hyper blue coloring headed towards the last place he had seen Mirage.

Primary Landing Port

What's that awful... Red Alert switched to robot mode and stopped for a moment. He looked ahead at the landing station and tracked down where that smell was coming from with his optics. Oh it's him... great. It wasn't easy being him sometimes, with his enhanced senses. he noticed that someone else was coming up behind him. It was First Aid coming as he ordered.

First Aid switched into robot mode, taking a break to reply to Hot Spot message. "Hmph, at least it's not another medical page... I can only do so much in one day."

"Haven't had much time off huh?" Red Alert said, wondering why First Aid seemed to be a bit grumpy.

"Yeah." First Aid answered as he check his message, "Hot Spot want to know where the team is. Better answer, but if he wants anything he'll have to know that I'm busy."

>>Hot Spot this is First Aid... yeah I'm around. Iacon's landing bay. I'm checking for any injured that might be coming in from the commander's transport.<<

"There..." First Aid ended his transmission. "I take it you're here for security."

"Yeah Optimus Prime is coming and I'm not quite sure of the situation... but I'd guess the meeting went badly." Red Alert crossed his arms, "I didn't expect it to go any differently. Should have sent more security... Well come on, we'd better be waiting for them. And I think I might need something for my nose in a moment."

Autobase - Corridor

Frowning slightly, Blades had one of his swords in his hand and had it leaning onto his shoulder before he got the message from Hot Spot.

"Hey Spot's, Blades here; just wandering around patroling these nameless corridors", replied Blades stopping to send a message to Hot Spot.

Autobase Prime: Command Center

Hotspot looked away from the terminal with a bit of curiosity with in his optics. Smokescreen was definately a gambler, perhaps so much so that he needed treatment for the addiction, still the idea of a renewed offensive was quite an ambitious one. Course he would not mind being at the front of the line kicking Deceptisludge straight out of Tagon and Polyhex with his barest of digits, five strike points with five member teams seemed abit unrealistic.

"Your aggression is admirable Smokescreen, but don't you think your stretching yourself too far? I mean striking at nonstrategically important objects won't exactly draw the Decepticons into a shell... it will more or less cause them to look at the entire adventure as a potential slaughter." The Protectobot commander was about to point out alternatives when his inquery protocol returned the positions of two of the four missing members of his unit.

"Good to hear First Aid, do whatever you gotta do and be quick about it. Soon as you're finished with getting 'em patched up prepare for deployment. Hotspot out." He closed the channel and switched the frequency over to Blades comm line.

"Blades, Weren't you supposed to be patrolling the borders for wounded? ... Nevermind that, Report to Command bay for assignment."

Hotspot didn't exactly know what Optimus had planned when he got back, but it was probably better to be ready for dispatch as soon as possible. First ready usually meant first assigned. Still he wanted to explore this plotted deal from Smokers a bit more. Prime would probably have to approve an operation of this magnitude. "I'd like to get Streetwise on this deal, if I can ever find that bot." He muttered to himself as he rubbed at his chin. "Alright Smokescreen, lets see if we can modify this abit to make it more effective."

Primary Landing Bay

Landfill scratched absently at his aftplate as First Aid and Red Alert wandered in, or out, onto the main tarmac. He could see the shuttle slowly starting to take shape in the darkened sky. The material transport specialist, if you could call transporting cargo a specialty, finished his nice releaving scratch and approached Red Alert first. He extended his hand in friendship and gave a smile. "Glad you decided to keep me company Sir. It was getting a tad lonely out here with no one to talk with."

He looked over at First Aid soon after and offered another hand. "I'll be here to offer you my bed to transport the injured. It should be more effective in that manner sir."

En Route to Autobase Prime

With the damaged Autobots and the majority of the functional survivors of the battle of the Tagan Heights aboard, Cog quickly split back into his two component units. Their function fulfilled for the moment, Gasket and Grommet returned to their respective berths within the massive High Commander. Within moments, the massive battlestation that was Fortress Maximus had lifted off, his powerful engines carrying him and his passengers back to the Hub Capital at speeds that belied his bulky, warlike frame.

He had already covered a significant distance when he received Perceptor's message. Though preoccupied somewhat by the work going on in his repair bays upon those of his comrades most critically in need, such as Panzer and Stormfire, and the need to navigate the course back to central Iacon, Fortress Maximus was able to formulate and transmit what he considered an admirably comprehensible reply. All things considered.

>>We are inbound now, Perceptor. I estimate our arrival within one point two Kliks. You may meet us in the main landing bay, if you wish; otherwise, I will have Cog organize the transfer of the damaged.<<

None of the Autobots presently aboard required more care than he was equipped to give--with the exception of the possible damage to Stormfire's neurocircuitry--but it would be more efficient to conduct repairs within the Autobase's more extensive facilities. Besides, he had an uncomfortable feeling that he would be required in the command center far more urgently. Fortress Maximus' temperament might have made him better suited to maintenance and repair work, but his combat abilities made him an invaluable military asset. He had no illusions as to which was more important at this moment.

>>Trailbreaker, Road Rage, Jedishen, Blurr, Strafe,<< he broadcast over his internal speakers, >>this is your notification of our arrival at Autobase Prime. Final docking will be complete momentarily. I thank you all for your assistance with the evacuation.<<

Iacon- Repair Facilities

She would have replied to Fortress Maximus if he had used the radio, but it's not a problem that he used his PA system.

Dutifully, she starts helping the injured off board. Firstly Panzer who had been unresponsive for quite some time. He's either dead, or paralyzed far worse than she imagined.
Either way, he's being evacuated.

Once they dock, she hefts Panzer onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry, struggling a moment to keep her footing under his weight, but manages to stay standing.
Road Rage does her duty without complaint. After all, she's a bodyguard. She's supposed to be able to handle jobs like this. An injured client might need to be carried away in a hurry.
Certainly she could play the role of advisor, one of her strong suits, but she needs to be good at both and keep in practice.

Still, this heavily armored Autobot is heavy. Road Rage starts towards the docking bay for the Evacuation at a moderate pace.

Primary Hangar Bay

The shuttle glided into the bay and came to a gentle landing in the middle of it. The landing ramp dropped down to the floor and Grimlock was the first one off. The Dinobot commander glanced around quickly, spotting the few Autobots standing around waiting for the arrival of their leader. He let out a quiet grunt, not particularly interested in any of them. He turned to face the other Dinobots as they came out of the shuttle.

“Get re-energized and rearmed. If me got anything to say about it we be back in action soon. Me going to find out where we going to fight and who, assuming war not already lost.” Grimlock then turned away and made his way out of the hangar, not waiting for Prime or the other Autobots to come off the shuttle nor paying any mind to the Autobots waiting to receive them.

Autobase Prime - Main Medbay

The medical computers and diagnostic machines had barely entered powersaving mode from Fortress Maximus' own repair cycle when Perceptor reactivated them. The CR Chambers powered up, scanning beds gave affirmative green lights, and tool-carrying drones dropped out of their cieling recesses to stand to attention.

Perceptor observed this all off-handedly as he looked over the wounded soldier Smokescreen had brought in. With one hand and a telescope, he continued microsurgery on the autobot's Ventiphram circuitry, with the other his fingers worked the main controls, deploying more stretcher drones to help unload Fort Max's copius medical bays, and at the same time he sent the comm signal confirmation.

>>Fortress Maximus sir, I have sent an array of Stretcher drones to transport the wounded. They should be sufficient to transport the wounded from the docking bays to the correct areas. I trust Ratchet will be able to operate them, if not I can remotely operate them from here.<<

He finished with the young warrior, now ventilating freely and cooling down, and activated a screen to observe the drones journey and Fortress Maximus' touchdown. He also saw Prime's shuttle, and Grimlock and his gang of brutish Dynobots come down the ramp. Oh dear, I fear this may complicate matters...

Command Centre, Autobase Prime

"Wow look at you guys come out of the metal work," Rollbar grumbled to Hotspot, Scoop and Smokescreen, "Where in the pits have you all been hiding? What if the Decepticons had chosen to attack here and not Taigan? Don't get me wrong I would have loved the challenge but it would have been nice to know that someone had my six,"

Repair Facilities

Freeway and Searchlight strolled back arms still aching, "Hey Road Rage do you want any help from us Throttlebots to carry Panzer?" said Freeway.
"That's unusually generous of you," Searchlight said suspiciously.
"No. It's unusually generous of him," Freeway corrected his team mate and pointed at Wideload, "Oi get over here and give the lovely fembot some help,"
Wideload grumbled and moved over to help Road Rage with the stricken bot.

Autobase Prime - Commande centre

Naturally Hotspot was right, the plan had serious drawbacks, but in the current situations risks were necessary. With the Decepticons in control of Tagan, it would not be long before the energy shortage started to take its toll.

‘Okay Hotspot I see where your coming from. I’ll outline the situation as I see it. We need an aggressive strike, even if it is tactically ineffective, in terms of moral, raids will be beneficial to us, and cause the Decepticons to slow down and think. They don’t expect us to attack for attacking sake, it’s just not Autobot, thus we have a trump card, they’ll be looking for an objective which doesn’t exist, or preparing far an attack that will never come.

Secondly, The Decepticon conquest of Tagan is going to leave us feeling the squeeze, we need to maximize our effectiveness with our resources, a five man team might not achieve an objective, but it will force a Decepticon rethink in strategy, hopefully this will give us some breathing space to prepare for a counter offensive. Of course the numbers are open to debate, if you want five teas of twenty or whatever, go ahead and say so.

These are the core reasons behind my plan, I’m always open to suggestions so what have you got for me?’

Medbay

It was still alert as it was placed on the table, it heard Jedishen’s plan to find Mirage, It ignored the repairs going on to its system. It had more important issues to deal with, his programming was in overload, possibly the most fundamental concept it had been given was being broken; Never be repaired by anyone else. His programming was screaming for a fight, he knew that this was what was best for Stormfire, but it was hard to override such a core principal. Anyone watching the mech would have been oblivious to the struggle going on inside. It turned it’s head to a drone, Stormfire was still slipping away.
‘Hurry’

Command Center - Autobase Prime

"Where's Prime?! Or Grimlock?! Slag! Anyone who can organize a counterattack!" An irritated yell was heard in the Command Center as Cliffjumper marched in, carrying himself like Grimlock despite his small size.

"We gotta strike back those slaggin' Decepticreeps! What we are waiting for?!" He demanded to know, rubbing his fist against the palm of his other hand.

Never a mechnoid know for his subtlety or patience for that matter, Cliffjumper more or less felt like being left out of the loops with all the rumors about Decepticon attacks that had spread to the Autobase Prime like bonfire. He wanted actions, he wanted revenge.

Iacon- Repair Facilities

"Why, thank you, Wide Load." She smiles behind her face plate, accepting the help gratefully. She almost makes it sound like Wide Load got the better part of the deal in the end.
She shifts Panzer letting Wide Load help with some of Panzer's weight. Mostly the legs of the bot which were arguably lighter than the torso. The two were close enough to liken the experience to sharing an umbrella after she distributed the weight.
"My, you are strong!" She sounded pleasantly surprised. The Throttlebot could probably carry Panzer himself, but she isn't one to shirk her duty, or to want to look weak.
"Nice polish, by the way." She compliments on their way out of the repair facilities, and towards the dock.

With the term 'Many hands make work light' applying here in spades, she takes Panzer towards the docking bay with Wide Load.