Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Traveling Northwest

Mindwipe had watched in rapt amazement as Hungrr basically called down untold power from the heavens via the Semper Tyrannis and effectively obliterated anything that might have served as an obstacle within the forested region between their current position and the enigmatic structure that lay beyond.

He had silently agreed with the Terrorcon's expression of the impact event as "beautiful". It was a beautiful declaration of the Decepticons' power. Were the life on this planet sentient enough to understand it, they would bow down now and make the remainder of their journey supremely simple. As it was, it would surely scare the native fauna away for a time, but instinct and curiosity would overwhelm their simple minds and they would come for them again. Mindwipe was certain.

When Wheelie spoke again, it was noticeably without any of his typically curious speech pattern--something that intrigued Mindwipe all the more. Was his manner of speaking a sort of psychological defense mechanism that had developed over some unknown number of vorns? Very curious indeed.

"Well, young one, you've had to adapt to your circumstances. Making yourself scarce was probably your wisest option. Those of us within the Decepticon ranks have survived countless vorns of near-endless war precisely because of things...like this," Mindwipe said, holding out a hand to indicate the devastation in front of them as they continued their trek.

Such weapons, impressive though they were, remained simple tools for gaining power on this terrestrial plane. Once the Decepticons had achieved full dominance of the universe, Mindwipe was confidant that greater focus would be given to controlling the power that lay beyond this physical world. Megatron surely understood that this could not be all there was in the universe, regardless of how vast it might seem.

Wheelie was proving to be quite the effective guide, identifying another native creature--this one some form of subterranean species--that Mindwipe certainly had no desire to encounter directly. Fortunately for them, it was a species that relied completely on the element of surprise, and it had lost that now. Mindwipe continued on.

"Blot, at least, seems to follow Hungrr's orders to the letter," the Decepticon hypnotist said quietly, catching up with Cipher once more as they followed after Wheelie and had sidestepped the antlion.

The sun continued to descend. The sky and clouds overhead were now being cast in an array of oranges and pinks even as the smoke from the impact zone obscured some of it from view. The terrain actually felt kind of familiar now. After all, how much of Cybertron looked very much like this patch of earth did right now? Scorched. Scarred. Glassed over. Bearing no resemblance to what it had once been. In Cybertron's case, the process had taken vorns. Many of them. How long would it take for this world?

Considerably less, Mindwipe guessed.

"Yes, this is much faster. You have my appreciation for this aid, mighty Hungrr," Mindwipe said, calling back to the Terrorcon Commander and his minions.

Still alive. I'm still alive....

Traveling Northwest

Blot had been curious enough to travel forwards to see what the antlions whose presence Wheelie had revealed - could do. But apparently the heavy thuds of his footsteps kept the beasts at bay. Despite being simple beings, the antlion-like creatures seemed to understand when a potential prey was just too large to attack. This lack of action on the part of the antlions wasn't good enough for Blot though. As the beasts didn't come to him, he went for the beast. Punching one of his oversized clawed arms into an antlion burrow the brutish Terrorcon finally had the response he was looking. The creature had clamped its claws around his forearm. The antlion's bite however, was nowhere near the amount of pressure that would allow its mandibles to dug into Blot's metal skin.

Letting out a heavy sight due to the lack of challenge, Blot violently pulled the creature off his arms and threw it against the ground - only to reduce it into an antlion paste by smashing the creature between the ground and his foot.

At the same time, Hun-Grrr was ignoring the presence of Wheelie yet again. Nothing the small survivalist had told about the creatures dwelling this area had so far compared to what these creatures were supposed to be according to their guide. The huge crater the Terrorcon leader had arranged between their position and the bunker allowed several advantages over finding their way through the jungle. With an open area this wide, nothing outside an orbital attack by Autobots could take them by surprise. It also gave them room to fly across the crater, thus making their progress far greater it had been before. Without the trees, there was nothing left for local fauna to hide in and ambush the Decepticons as they flew overhead. Not that Hun-Grrr even believed in there actually being anything that dangerous in the jungles of LV-117. As long as they'd fly low enough to make sure their synthetized organic coverings would protect them from the electromagnetic radiation - all would be ridiculous easy.

"We fly across the craterrr. Stay sharrrp, fly low." Hun-Grrr commanded and took off, heading straight for the bunker.

Always ready to follow the example of his leader, Blot grabbed hold of Cipher and took off after Hun-Grrr. It would take less than two breems for them to reach the other side of the crater and by the looks of it - the distance from the crater edge to the bunker would require no more than a breem and half worth of walking.

Traveling Northwest

The scribe had taken his time to move around the area Wheelie had revealed to be the underground home of one of the antlions. After he had seen the one which had been coaxed out, Cipher was sure to not disturb it or any other one in his trek.

Now safely away from the hidden hole the scientist turned around to see just what was holding Blot up. Cipher’s brow furrowed as he watched the Terrorcon curiously as he plowed one of his massive clawed arms through the dirt and rooted around. Cipher stiffened his mouth agape as he watched Blot, with the creature’s gaping maw wrapped around the Terrorcon’s arm. He was sure the monster that was pulled up and out of the earth would perform some new fantastic attack, but Blot simply ended the assault by tossing the creature on the ground and smashing it under his foot.

The scribe’s upper lip curled in disgust as he watched the ground dweller smashed into a gooey paste under the hulking mech’s foot. The sight was disgusting, but Cipher was glad that he did not have to worry about being drug below the surface and chewed up alive. That thought sent a shiver down his spinal structure.

His attention was pulled from Blot and fell upon the even larger Hun-Grrr. The order to take flight was most welcome, after all Cipher was a Decepticon flier. Perhaps not as bit of fast, but he still had wings propped high on his back.

With a nod of understanding the scientist made ready to transform but found that he couldn’t. To his surprise Blot had grabbed him and took off right after his Commander. Cipher struggled a bit, but stopped when he realized he wasn’t going anywhere. He let out a sigh as he turned his gaze up to his transport.

“You do know that I can fly, don’t you?”

Rippersnapper had watched and listened intently to Hun-Grrr before took off after the two headed Terrorcon followed closely by Blot when had taken hold of the scribe. The terrorist let a small smile form on his visage as he shook his head.

“He was given an order to guard you. He’ll do so until told otherwise. Enjoy it while you can, scribe.”

“I don’t mind, except I wish he’d bathe more often.”

OoC: Hopefully there are no problems...

Traveling Northwest - Cliffside

Wheelie shuddered when he heard the order to fly. The destruction of his friend was still fresh in his mind. Even though there was probably no life for miles around, Wheelie was still not as apt to fly as he could be.

Not probably, but hopefully.

Even if some of the creatures were not as dangerous as they seemed, that did not detract from the fact that no one was taking him seriously. It was like he was still alone on the planet. Wheelie began to wonder why he was even helping them. It was almost involuntary...

Impossible.

But creatures are not the only thing to fear on LV-117. Sporadic weather patterns are another thing to fear on LV-117. Not that anyone would listen to him, but it looked like there was a storm brewing.

"There's a storm coming soon," Wheelie said, even though he knew no one would listen, "It won't be long 'til the monsoon."

"Though while in the air I will not be merry," Wheelie turned to the Decepticons, "Would one of you please carry?"

Traveling Northwest--Impact Zone

Cleared for flight. What an excellent idea. Mindwipe was more than happy to accommodate the Terrorcon commander. It would expedite their journey that much more.

Mindwipe leapt in to the air, transformed and began to flap away before catching Wheelie's latest comment. Fortunately he was large enough, and Wheelie small enough, that the request was not an unreasonable one.

Circling back and swooping downwards, Mindwipe snatched the protoform up with the claws on his feet--surprisingly mindful of not doing any damage to the mech--and arced back upwards. Pain was a motivator for many, but this Wheelie seemed to be doing just fine without its application. Mindwipe had more subtle tools in his toolbox, after all. And even those had been scarcely necessary.

Climbing higher in the sky, Mindwipe could clear make out the developing storms in the distance. Hopefully it would be nothing too serious. Hungrr and his pack could handle the native wildlife here just fine. A massive storm, however, would not be swayed by their powerful jaws.

The trek across the glassy impact zone of the Semper Tyrannis' awesome weapons system was as uneventful as Mindwipe hoped it'd be. It seemed like they had encountered an obstacle at every turn. They were due for a break.

"I am beginning to think you will make a fine Decepticon, Wheelie," Mindwipe said. "As you well see, many within our ranks are powerful warriors, but Megatron will accept any that he finds to be useful. Receiving your insignia will not be the most pleasant process, but...it will make you one of us. Forever. No more wandering this planet alone."

Mindwipe's optics sensors began to receive some of the data that he and Scorponok had originally homed in on aboard the Semper Tyrannis. This was it.

Mindwipe began his descent even as he could feel the beginnings of raindrops against his new, fleshy hide. It felt even more disgusting now than it ever had before. Once he was within close range of the ground, he released Wheelie and transformed, sliding about a meter or so before coming to a full stop. His landings were not always the best. A Seeker he was not.

Looking around, he could see terrain that had clearly been almost obliterated by battles of some kind or another. Whatever this non-native structure was, its contents had clearly been fought over, long ago. Even now, life on this planet was only making slight progress in reclaiming territory that had originally belonged to it.

"The scans from the Tyrannis indicate that the entrance would have been here....somewhere," Mindwipe said, approaching one of the two broken, metallic pillars that were jutting upwards from the ground. He ran his hand along the edges and instantly felt a connection. A purely psychological one, but a connection nevertheless. Looking a little further ahead, he could see what appeared to be a cave-like outcropping from the ground, practically sealed off by stone and metal debris.

He then realized that it was not a cave at all.

"There!" he cried out, excitement taking over. "The entrance!"

Mysterious Research Bunker

Hun-Grrr's landing was almost as brutal as the mech himself. Dozens of trees and other life natural to the planet were torn down or crushed as the mighty dragon made his way back to the ground near edge of the oddly desolate area where the structure stood. It wasn't like he couldn't have done it far more gracefully, he just did not care. And well, it had given him a chance to cause destruction. Now, when it came to the reason they were here for...

The Terrorcon commander was no scientist nor researcher of history but he had been fighting longer than some civilizations had existed. Even he could recognize the signs of battle being fought here ages ago. Craters and crystallization caused by powerful weapons and extreme heat. Remains of metals and polymers native to Cybertron. The visible signs of battle told of destruction even the Terrorcons would have been hard pressed to cause. And the reason for that? The answer for that was provided by geology.

The sensors in Hun-Grrr's feet that were used to analyze density of surfaces he set his feet on to avoid stepping on anything that couldn't support his weight were reporting extreme compactation of the soil and in shape of what could only have been foot prints of something immense in both scale and mass. From the Terrorcon commander's experience, these signs could only indicate one type of war machine being used here - an Omega. Had it been defending the installation or attacking it? That he did not know. Though given how there was no sign of a destroyed Omega here one could make an educated guess of it being the victor.

"An Omega." Hun-Grrr spoke out and assumed his robot form again, pulling out his sonic stun gun.

"Whoever was here... well, let's say they deemed necessary to bring an Omega to smash into that bunker." Hun-Grrr smirked and aimed his gun at the blockade where the entrance to the bunker had once been, "Too bad there's no defences to take out anymore. I'd loved to see what kind of defenses required a platoon of soldiers and an Omega Destructor."

That being said, Hun-Grrr pulled the trigger of his weapon and let loose a volley of destructive sonic waves that pulverized the blockade of massive stone boulders, leaving only the mangled and collapsed cybertonum support beams and remains of the doors of the bunker left. That unfortunately meant that they still had lot of work to do in order to clear the entrance enough to be able to enter the bunker.

"Start digging Terrorcons! I want that entrance cleared before that storm reaches us and turns this field into mud!"

Approaching Research Bunker

Even in his Cybertronian robot mode, Sinnertwin could force his characteristic flames to churn through his nostril units, pouring smoke in to the air around him as he flew. It was as effective an exhaust port as any. The destruction all around the area caused by the Semper Tyrannis was something to behold. It motivated him that much more to catch up with Hungrr and the other Terrorcons and see what more could be done.

When he did finally come within range, he descended sharply, transformed and padded his way over to where the others were. The brains were yakking about something or other. It was of no interest to him. It was Hungrr's orders that excited him the most. More destruction. And perhaps the promise of more--more, like this Wheelie--hiding inside of whatever they had found. Perhaps Scorponok would not find them so useful.

Perhaps the Terrorcons would be allowed to play.

Sinnertwin charged forward in to the clearing that Hungrr's weapon had caused, each of his heads and paws ripping away at more and more of the blockage. In the distance, an eruption of lightning flashed so violently that the ensuing thunderclap shook the ground a little.

Chaos.

Sinnertwin loved it.

Mysterious Research Bunker

Following close behind his Commander, Blot landed on the ground close to the others and set Cipher back down carefully. The scribe took a quick look around before setting his optics on Mindwipe as the hypnotist moved to a set of two broken metallic pillars. The find brought a wide grin to Cipher’s face and initiated an embedded want that caused the scientist to almost mindlessly trek out toward the structure.

Cipher’s optics were transfixed on the spectacle before and paid little attention to anything else, including Blot who quickly stepped away from the remainder of the group in order to catch up with his ward.

The shout that came from Mindwipe only caused Cipher’s pace to hasten. And when he arrived he was dazzled by the sight before them. Of course to the untrained optic it looked like nothing more than a dilapidated rocky structure, but to Cipher it was a door way to knowledge and to a possible advantage to win this war.

Hun-Grrr soon showed and took a careful look at the location and noted that the entire area had been subject to the power of an Omega. The revelation caught Cipher’s attention causing the scientist to whip around and stare at the Terrorcon Commander. Oh Primus, please let that thing be offline.

His mind continued to churn the possible ways to die by an Omega attack when he was jolted out of his reverie when he heard the order for the remainder of the Terrorcons to dig out the rubble to the entrance. Cipher’s head turned up as Blot moved past him followed quickly by Rippersnapper.

The order from Hun-Grrr was just what Rippersnapper wanted to hear. He was so wound up after destroying that small group of chameleons he needed something else to alleviate the pent up frustration. This task would do…for now.

The terrorist moved right into position in front of the now exposed support beams and part of the doors and began lifting the heavy debris and transplanting it to a separate location out of the way. With his first burden off loaded, Rippersnapper went back for another.

“Anytime, boys!”

Mountainside

Wheelie felt Mindwipe's bat-claws grasp him and begin to carry him across the burnt terrain. Wheelie didn't like it, even with Mindwipe's oddly comforting touch. He couldn't tell why, but there was something disturbingly calming about Mindwipe... Wheelie didn't like it. Not one bit.

Wheelie listened intently to Mindwipe's statement about his insignia. It wasn't going to be pleasant. Wheelie could care less; he had dealt with so much on this planet that he was certain that a simple branding wasn't going to hurt all that badly.

Maybe things would change with the Decepticons. He shouldn't make a judgement on the Decepticons just on Hun-Grr. That would be foolish. Wheelie once assumed that the planet was safe when he first came to LV-117, but he was wrong about the planet. He hoped that he was wrong about the Decepticons he was going to join.

One thing that he hoped was true is that he would have a family. Someone that would care for him is something that he had wished that he had on a regular basis. Companionship. That hope was the thing that made Wheelie keep going.

He looked down at the glassed dirt and cinders of wildlife. He hoped that nothing else would suffer the same fate. Nothing deserved to get burned like that, not even a Chaosterous.

Wheelie felt the claws release and he fell to a tumbling halt in front of the doors to the lab.

Mysterious Base (Of doom)

Wheelie walked forward to the hole in the doors and felt the rigid steel. It was sharper than he remembered. Maybe it was the vines obscuring the burns on the steel.

Wheelie heard a name that he did not know of. "Omega".

"The burns are new without the green, but an Omega, what is it that you mean?" Wheelie asked, he was wondering about this Omega and if it was friendly or not.

Bunker Entrance

To say that Mindwipe was taken aback by the knowledge that an Omega Destructor had ever been deployed here for any reason would be a significant understatement. It only further confirmed the reasoning behind mighty Scorponok's interest in this locale. Mindwipe, too, was now consumed with uncovering its mysteries. It was surely having the same effect on Cipher.

"Weapons of Cybertron...from long ago," Mindwipe said in response to Wheelie's question regarding the Omega Destructor. "They did their job well. Perhaps too well. I can scarcely recall them ever being deployed, at least not to any area I was ever in. Enforcers of Zeta Prime and some of his similarly authoritative predecessors, if I remember correctly. If one was sent here, it had to have been for a good reason."

A very good reason.... came the natural afterthought.

Mindwipe watched as the Terrorcons systematically proceeded to rip and tear a way through the aged and fortified bunker entrance. It alone was no small feat, particularly if had fended off the assault of an Omega Destructor once upon a time. But that was an exceedingly long time ago. Without reinforcement and repairs, erosion and corrosion would have done some of the work for them.

A seared, melting chunk of metal landed only a few centimeters or so from Mindwipe's feet, courtesy of Sinnertwin.

"Through," the Terrorcon had snarled. Mindwipe shot a brief glance in Cipher's direction before nodding at the Terrorcon and began to weave his way through the haphazard entrance that had been torn in to the bunker's exterior. He could feel the winds picking up. The intensity of the planet's precipitation was beginning to steadily increase as well. In this one aspect of the mission, it seemed as if they had been afforded a measure of good fortune--arriving here when they had. Mindwipe was of no mind to waste it.

Inside, he was greeted by darkness and metal, both of which Mindwipe found to be oddly comforting.

"The schematics I observed with Commander Scorponok suggest that the meat of this facility was housed in its center," Mindwipe said as his supplemental optic lights kicked in, increasing the available illumination. Along the old walls were many glyphs, well beyond his specialty to recognize or understand.

"Hopefully our trek there will not be fraught with as many obstacles as our path to arrive here in the first place."

Mysterious Research Bunker

For a reason or another, Hun-Grrr had assumed his dragon form once again as he watched his men clearing the entrance. To the Terrorcon leader it came almost instictively. Perhaps he just subconciously preferred his two-headed alt. form. There was no denying that the two sharp toothed maws allowed him to feed faster. Destruction-wise though, his both modes were equally able.

As his Terrorcons had managed to rip and tear large enough opening to the entrance for Mindwipe to push through, Hun-Grrr was quick to follow the hypnotist. If there was anything worth of looting, he wanted the first digs. The entrance however, was still too small for his Algean razorbeast mode. Thus, only one of Hun-Grrr's heads pushed into the darkness of bunker entrance and began pretty much eating the opening to be wide enough to allow him to pass through while the other head turned to address his troops.

"Blot! Ripperrrsnapperrr! Sinnerrrtwin! You will stay here and keep watch! Protect the bunkerrr! If Cutthroat shows up, show him what I think of deserrrting!"

Before the head could continue, it had to practically throw up a large pile of scrap metal and soil that had been processed through Hun-Grrr's internal machinery. The scrap being leftovers of a process that turned the most useful metals the large Terrorcon had eaten into projectiles to shot through the mass effect accelerators in both of his mouths.

"Ripperrrsnapperrr, you're in charrrge! Inforrrm me if trouble rrrises. Rrrememberrr, we have no rrreinforrrcements to call upon, so yourrr threat analysis betterrr be accurate." Hun-Grrr finally managed to add before the second head attacked the entrance as well and in matter of nanokliks, the Terrorcon leader pushed his massive form through the opening.

Unlike many other Transformers, Hun-Grrr was far more adapted to use all of his sensors to read his surroundings rather than relying on sight alone. The enormity of the tunnel behind the entrance was the first surprise Hun-Grrr felt as his sensors adapted to the lack of light. The tunnel was large enough to allow several Omega Destructor to stand there in line - although the size of the doorway in the end of the corridor suggested this area was the only place large enough in the bunker for something as large as an Omega. Perhaps whoever had lived here had had an Omega Sentinel to guard the bunker. This corridor could easily have been used as a shelter and maintainance location for such an immense guardian. Hun-Grrr however, did not marvel the size of the tunnel for long as Mindwipe had posed a valid observation. The walls indeed held strange glyphs that Hun-Grrr's universal translator unit could not decipher either. If it was Cybertronian, it had to be tens of millions of years old dialect that for reason or another had been erased from the databanks of Cybertronian society. Perhaps it even wasn't Cybertronian. However, they did have a specialist with them that was expected to make sense of this writing.

"If so, we betterrr not waste more time." One of Hun-Grrr's heads told Mindwipe as the beast turned and the other head poked out of the tunnel to face the Decepticons outside the entrance. "Cipherrr! Get in here! There's some odd writing on the walls we need you to decipherrr!"

Mysterious Research Bunker

Now that the boulders and debris had been removed from the entrance to the structure, Rippersnapper moved in closer to have a better look, but it seemed that the Terrorcon commander had the same idea effectively blocking the hole. The terrorist let out a low growl as he attempted to look around the hulking mass that made up the Algean razorbeast.

The white and blue mech backed off suddenly when one of Hun-Grrr’s alt mode heads turned to look at the rest of the team and growled out their orders. Figures. We can’t even head in there to tear whatever resides in there to shreds.

Nodding to his commanding officer, Rippersnapper moved back and took up a position just outside the bunker entrance. He drew his weapon and set it to its highest setting. He looked back to Hun-Grrr when the larger mech mentioned the inevitable return of Cutthroat. With any luck he would return and the rest of the team could teach him a very intimate lesson in desertion.

With a broad smile etched on his face Rippersnapper turned back to face any oncoming threats to the bunker…Cutthroat included, but at the growling tone of Hun-Grrr the terrorist looked over his shoulder. The last bit of the commander’s orders brought a renewal of his previous smile.

“As you command. And not to worry, my threat analysis is never wrong, commander.”

Cipher grew slightly nervous when he overheard Hun-Grrr’s order for the entirety of his team to stand guard outside the bunker…which meant his body guard would be staying while he advanced alone. Well, not entirely alone he did have Mindwipe, but there was still Hun-Grrr himself. Cipher was sure the Terrorcon commander had it in for him.

The scientist let out a quick yip of surprise when Hun-Grrr bellowed out his name from one of his heads. Cipher twitched his servos slightly before he carefully moved to tunnel’s entrance. With his smaller stature, Cipher was able to squeeze past Hung-Grrr and the wall without any trouble.

“Well now. Let’s see. Mmm. MMhm. Yes…”

The scientist had moved directly to the highly stylized glyphs that adorned part of one wall. He hadn’t seen this particular writing in some time, but that did not mean he couldn’t decipher them. With his hand gently rubbing his chin, Cipher got a much closer and longer look at the wall.

At the beginning of the message the scientist stopped and placed his hand a top the carved glyphs. Feeling them seemed to put them into perspective. After a bit of quiet contemplation, Cipher turned around to face Hun-Grrr and Mindwipe.

“This was an ancient Cybertronian language that fell out of fashin with the elitists. Since they were the majority leaders on the planet initiating a new more streamlined language was a very simple task.”

He turned back around to look at the wall once more as he went on.

“There are actually two different messages here. One is a warning along with a description. The other is a list of directions.”

He motioned to the first set of glyphs as he read through them aloud.

“Housed within this atrium the great Omega Destructor. Guardian to those within…destroyer to those without. And here…”

From the first grouping of stylized lettering Cipher moved to the other.

“This one mentions directions through the bunker, but they seem to be incomplete. Part of the directions is missing. Let’s see, wind away through the forum, drop below land, take heed in gait…”

Cipher shook his head gently as he stared at the last line of the message. There just wasn’t enough information. However, the rest was easy to understand. He turned around completely to look directly at Mindwipe and Hun-Grrr.

“Based on this we’ll need to move out of this area and find a set of stairs or something that we could use to go below ground. Whatever was housed here is set below the surface. Once we get down there we’ll need to watch where we walk. Unfortunately, with the missing information I cannot determine whether there are traps down there or if there is a certain count to each of our steps. If it’s the latter we could miss what we’re looking for. The former, however, I’m sure we could make it through…especially with you, commander.”

Research Bunker

After he and the other Terrorcons had haphazardly torn themselves an entrance in to the building, Sinnertwin took the opportunity to plow his path the rest of the way inside as quickly as he could. The external threats had been dealt with, much to his voracious satisfaction, and he was looking forward to dealing the same sort of vicious mauling on anything that might try to do the same in here.

Padding forward down one of the darkened hallways, he could hear the others speaking of glyphs and languages, none of which was any concern to him. Sinnertwin wanted to find something that meant to do them harm--and harm it first.

Between his optics and the glow of the flames churning in each of his sets of nostrils, the Terrorcon was able to trek forward without incident.

"Peace and quiet. Won't last. Can't last. Something will try....and that something will fail," he grumbled, one of his heads occasionally dropping to absorb any olfactory data that he could while the other remained focused strictly on the optical.

Bunker Entrance

Wheelie looked at Mindwipe with curiosity at the Decepticon's explanation. A weapon? Here? All of this time, he had a means to protect himself from the nasty monsters of the night?

Better late then never.

"What does it do? Do you have a clue?" Wheelie asked while keeping stride with the Bat.

He paused when he heard the shredding of metal and the collision between steel and stone. They had broken through. It was sad, though, he had been there before on a salvage mission and he had explored the stable areas. He had blocked the door so no creature could come in. It was old, but it could hold up a Chaosterous standing on the ground above it. In most places, that is.

Wheelie stepped forward and picked up a stone, then walked into the open room. While Cipher was deciphering text on the walls, which Wheelie never attempted to look at, Wheelie walked past Cipher and tossed the stone. It flew forward and struck the ground, then slid for a few inches. Suddenly, a pair of metal jaws burst from their long sleep to close around the rock, where they laid to rest. The clash of metal rang throughout the room. This was the sign of a barbaric bear trap.

He leaned back to Hun-Grr, "Watch for a trap, wouldn't want someone turned to scrap."

"Since you don't know any more, Wheelie should tell you that he was here before!" Wheelie said before saying some more, "I will share what I know, but I need to know where you wish to go!"

Mysterious Research Bunker

"Seriously? Who the slag writes inscriptions that fragging melodramatic?" Hun-Grrr growled in response to Cipher's translation of the glyphs written on the walls. "Orrr adds permanent instructions to the walls of his hidden lairrr? All codes are eventually cracked. Unless. Diverrrsion?"

Just as the Terrorcon commander ended his sentence, Wheelie decided to spring one of the ancient traps that seemed to be still functioning despite all the odds. And it had caught Hun-Grrr's attention, "The rrrunt has been here?! Does the rrrunt know what powerrrs the traps then?!" One of Hun-Grrr's heads roared and moved to face the small Transformer. "Mindwipe claimed this facility is overrr 100 000 vorrrns old! If it is still powered - I want that powerrrsource!"

At the very same time the right head of the two-headed beast was demanding Wheelie to provide him answers, the left one was still surveying their surroundings. "Marrrks and signs of a battle everywhere. A commando unit went in once. And apparently got out as well. Not without casualties." It spoke up, "You are standing on someone's nearrrly incenerated corrrpse Mindwipe."

Giving some time for his words to sink in, Hun-Grrr continued, "Most of the traps must be eitherrr disarrrmed orrr destrrroyed. Unless the whoeverrr that constructed this place was a genius that could arrrm traps that could last epochs until triggered. Traps that could rearms themselves..."

The left of the massive Terrorcon had hardly finished though, "Forrr whateverrr it is worrrth, the Omega Destructorrrs neverrr went deeperrrr."

Suddenly Hun-Grrr's gaze stopped wandering from wall to wall and began to stare at something in the far end of the hall. "There... do you see it?" He asked from no one in particular and activated a powerful spotlight that illuminated even the far end of the hall. And with it, a massive surprise.

Against the far end wall of the hall sat what was left of the giant guardian of the facility. The enormous Transformer that made even Hun-Grrr look like a mouse in comparison had been torn open and practically soldered into the wall. The damage had been so throughout that the Omega had practically become one with the facility. Were it not have been for the Terrorcon's acute sensors and knowledge of the being in question, Hun-Grrr would likely have missed the giant's remains himself. It really was no wonder that Wheelie had not taken notice of something so much larger than he was in his salvage trip to the facility.

"As for that Omega Destructorrr, there's your answerrr." Hun-Grrr's left head spoke up while the right one grinned viciously in front of Wheelie and more or less continued from where the left one had stopped. "Most interesting you neverrr noticed this rrrunt."

"Then again... these two would have likely overrrlooked it as well." Hun-Grrr added, his gaze passing by both Cipher and Mindwipe, "They wanted it bad. The ones that assaulted this place. They had 2 or 3 Omega Destructorrrs rrreading frrrom the damage that one has suffered." Indeed, the massive amount of force and heat that could cause something like that could only have been generated by the claw arms and plasma cannons of other Omegas. There also appeared to be an elevator shaft next to the dead giant but it had collapsed from the force of the Omega being smashed against the wall.

"Typical, the quickest way has been sealed." The Terrorcon leader grunted and turned both of his heads to face Cipher and Mindwipe. "Stop loitering and tell the rrrunt where you want to go!"

Research Bunker

To say that Mindwipe was enthralled....well...even the word "understatement" did not quite do justice to the Decepticon's current level of intrigue. A facility with this much history and it was now theirs? Uncontested? Mindwipe could hardly have asked for more.

Though, that wasn't to say it had always been uncontested ground. It most certainly had been during its extensive history. The evidence was all around them, even as Mindwipe clung to Cipher's every word since the meaning of the glyphs was beyond his capability to understand.

"How fascinating..." Mindwipe began, trailing off as he watched Wheelie spring one of the bunker's traps. Likely only the first that they would encounter. It was a shame. This Wheelie might make for a fine Decepticon scout. But he was hardly going to make it to the branding process if he kept triggering everything as he seemed to have a penchant for doing since they arrived, be it sentient or otherwise.

Better him than me, of course.

Mindwipe turned to look as Hungrr had indicated another point of interest further down the hall, as well as the corpse that he was standing on. He backed curiously away from the rusted ruins, running a hand gently along them, opening his mind to anything that might try and commune with him. No such luck, in this instance. Hungrr's new destination caught Mindwipe's attention just as quickly and he was in the shadow of the massive Terrorcon's footsteps with all necessary haste. When he had entered the much larger room, Mindwipe's metallic jaw dropped slightly. It was practically a battlefield--albeit contained--the likes of which would not have been seen since the early days of the Great War. Mindwipe had never even heard of stories of Omega-level resources clashing against each other. Whoever wanted this--they wanted it badly. Whoever owned it wanted to keep it just as badly.

"By Primus....," Mindwipe began again, though his reverie did not last long, as Hungrr's command quickly jerked him back in to the here and now. "The juiciest morsels are clearly locked away below."

Mindwipe absent-mindedly picked up a piece of rubble near the destroyed elevation system before casually tossing aside. He looked to Wheelie. "You must know another way. Quick or not, we did not come here just to sight-see. Commander Scorponok will expect results."

And I will deliver, or my end will not be far behind.

Mysterious Research Bunker

The trap that Wheelie had sprung was a surprise to Cipher as were the reasons behind providing a map of the entire location. The smaller mech took another look at the scripts and glyphs scrawled over the walls. They had seemed melodramatic, but one had to remember they were written centuries ago by Cybertronians who were now extinct. At least their culture, which still remained shrouded in some kind of mystery, was now nonexistent.

Still he couldn’t help but feel how alive the site actually was. Of course there were presence of the Terrorcons, Mindwipe and Wheelie, but there was also more. Cipher looked around the room spinning in place as he took in every nook.

The scientist's face contorted into a shocked expression. That shock soon morphed into pure fright. There were images right in front of his optics. Compressed flashes, but they were there. The Omegas. Cybertronians moving about. Everything, but only brief glimpses, right before him. Cipher shut off his optics desperately trying ti will them away. It must have worked because when he on-lined his optics everything was gone save for the mechs that had been with him.

The slim mech shook his head just as Hun-Grrr’s questions to Wheelie caught the scribe’s attention and he turned to look at the large Terrorcon and the young mech. If the traps were still in use then, yes, there had to be some kind of power source. Cipher moved to stand in front of the little mech and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“The last time you were here, could you detect any kind of energy signature? Even a faint one?”

The musings of the Terrorcon Commander caught his attention as Hun-Grrr mused on the signs of a battle. Slowly Cipher took a couple of steps back and lowered his gaze to the floor where Mindwipe happened to be standing. The mention of the hypnotist standing on someone’s corpse made Cipher twist his face up in disgust.

“Gah! I am by no means superstitious, but corpses littered within a bunker we know nothing about, with the exception of knowing whoever occupied it had been able to keep it from falling into their enemy’s hands by having an Omega presnet, just might fall into the bad omen category.”

The scientist's optics moved in the direction Hun-Grrr's spot light shone in and gasped at what the bright illumination was highlighting. Good Primus!

"An Omega."

His voice was low and shaky.

When the shock of the sight wore off Cipher backed away and stopped next to the group’s little guide; he bent down so that he was face to face with him, his voice was desperate when he finally addressed Wheelie.

“There has to be some way to reach the lower levels. Perhaps some kind of access shaft, or…or…I’ll go out on a limb here and say, a hidden entrance?”

He looked up from the little orange mech and scanned the walls once more. There was nothing of use. Nothing but erratic and cryptic messages that either ran on or simply made no logical sense. Cipher let out a low sigh before sweeping his optics back toward the shaft that had collapsed under the sheer weight of the Omega. Nothing's ever easy is it?

Research Bunker

Though he had traveled off in another direction, eventually Sinnertwin's senses lead him back to where the others were gathered. Though the majority of them continued to have their attention focused on the almost protoformic Cybertronian that they had managed to encounter on this planet, Sinnertwin's path and curiosities were still driven primarily by his senses. That, he knew, was what would lead him to the most interesting prey. If there was any to be found within these walls.

"There is life here. Below," Sinnertwin snarled, one of his heads still eagerly taking in any available olfactory data from the ground.

Whatever it was, it had found a way to eke out a living within the enclosed walls of this bunker. Whether it was native to this planet or not, Sinnertwin did not know.

What he did know was that he wanted to be the first to encounter it.

Bunker

Wheelie soon found himself at the center of all attention. It seemed that they still needed a guide after all, much to Wheelie's joy as he did not want to be devoured by Hun-Grr.

He turned to face the area where Hun-Grr lit with a spotlight, apparently the statuesque figures were the infamous Omegas.

"So that is the thing you have respected, it is smaller than I expected!" Wheelie stated with a gleeful skip over to the large foot of the giant, which he promptly sat upon.

He listened to Mindwipe, dangling his legs forward and back. He leaped from the foot and made his way to a vine covered wall.

"Follow me and you will see!" Wheelie said as he pulled out his slingshot and deposited a stone into it.

Pulling it toward his faceplate until he felt the heat of the stone, he aimed for an unseen control pad covered by vorns of vines. Firing his shot, the red glow of fire began to erupt from the wall as the vines burned off, revealing a circular door.

"Before we go deeper into this tomb, we'll need to get to the main circuit breaker room!" Wheelie said as he motioned towards Hun-Grr.

"The door is too thick, would you care to punch or kick?" Wheelie asked the Terrorcon Commander with a smile, a stark contrast to what he felt towards the Commander.

Bunker

"Punch and kick. Punch and kick," Sinnertwin growled heavily, one head looking up at Wheelie as the Terrorcon walked by while the other focused on the newly-revealed door. Surely this would help lead them to the life smells that Sinnertwin had come upon only a few moments before.

"Do neither," he grumbled, before the optics on both heads began to glow fiercely. In the next instant, white-hot flames began to spew forth, pelting against the door.

Sinnertwin then backed away, circled around and then charged at the door, slamming his heads and his entire body weight against the blockage and forcing it to give way, singed metal, stone and all crashing out of his way.

Mysterious Research Bunker

Hun-Grrr enjoyed the passing moment of shock in the faces of his fellow Decepticons followed by his revelation of the long dead Omega's remains. They all had seen Omegas before but one had to respect the power that could bring one down. The initial shock did not last for long though. In the ranks of the Decepticons there was one common trait most of them shared - they all had been conditioned to fear their own leaders more than the enemy. The sight of a dead Omega would not stop even the likes of Cipher from seeking the answers demanded by the High Commander. Here, despite the danger - even the weak had a chance to make it through. The alternative offered no chances, only suffering. Hun-Grrr himself had carved himself a pretty comfortable niche in the ranks of the Decepticons. He had only a handful of superiors, mostly because the others dreaded to even share a same ship with him and his group. But those whom he listened to, had all earned his respect. And the respect of the Terrorcon of Yetron was not easily earned.

"Grrr... No wonderrr you neverrr returned. You sprang a trap and sealed yourrrself out." Hun-Grrr's dragonic heads smirked in unison as Wheelie lead the group to a door that had been hidden by the nature for eons. Still Hun-Grrr could only wonder why Wheelie had selected this particular direction. The ones that had assaulted this bunker tens of thousands of vorns ago had forced their way into the heart of the facility. Could it be that they had collapsed the route they had used after they had left with their price? Or had they been able to get their hands on access codes that would have made their charge through the facility child's play?

No matter. There was a door standing on his way and he was determined to reach an energy source that had been able to keep this facility alive for longer than humankind had existed. The sonic stun rifle was not an option with it violent vibrations it caused. There was no telling how fragile the bunker's structures had become during such a long time. A weapon such as it would be a sure way to bury them all alive there. The door however, was clearly designed to resist the advances of even powerful Cybertronians. Then again, how well it could stand sustained heat?

Determined to solve that riddle, Hun-Grrr set his flamethrowers to work. Slowly but surely the door began to glow from the heat. Turning from red to bright orange, from solid matter to molten metal. With the whole door on the verge of melting, Hun-Grrr saw his opening and transformed into robot form and summoned his shield. Taking few steps back, Hun-Grrr brought the shield between him and the glowing door and rushed forwards. The force of the impact from the massive Terrorcon hitting the door caused the now very malleable door to give in, losing its original form and finally falling to the floor from its hinges.

"After you runt."

Mysterious Research Bunker

Cipher’s optics swept the entire expanse of the space and stopped when he spotted the location Wheelie fired his weapon at. The small burning projectile effectively burned away the overgrowth of vegetation and seemed to connect with some kind of panel. The result was the appearance of a circular door. A hesitant smile slowly grew but was quickly replaced by a deep frown.

“I knew there had to be another way. However there’s one probl…”

He hadn’t even finished his observation when he suddenly heard the tell-tale sound of a flamethrower igniting. The scribe took a few steps back and away from the sealed backdoor so as not to become a singed wreck. Astroseconds later Hun-Grrr let loose a torrent of searing fire.

The door was significantly weakened by his barrage making him cease his fiery advance and transformed back into his Root mode. While Cipher waited patiently Hun-Grrr drew his shield and rushed the door taking the obstruction down with but one heavy hit. Cipher’s face welcomed that almost forgotten grin he sported earlier as the Terrorcon Commander ordered Wheelie to precede before the remainder of the small group.

From the imposing from of Hun-Grrr, Cipher looked to the now exposed passageway that would lead them to their quarry in the levels below. The scientist took a few tentative steps but halted his advance quickly. The dark space beyond the mangled door was not the cause. Instead it was the sound…or sounds that he could make out.

Cipher cocked his head to one side as he took in everything he could make out. The sounds made little sense but from what he heard he could tell they were indeed voices. Some screams others spewing what sounded like orders.

The slim lithe scribe’s optics widened and brightened in concern at what he could not only hear but now see. Cipher back stepped while shaking his head his mouth ajar and his focus on the location of the entrance.

The flashes, broken pieces of the bigger picture, laid out the foundation of what had occurred all those millions of years ago. That immense hand, large enough to crush even the most heavily armored Cybertronian…bodies rotting, decaying until they are no more. Unimaginable fear on the faces that bore witness to what had happened. And the light…the light just ceasing as if consumed by some unseen force.

And then the sounds drift away. The screams, the orders, the decay the faces…everything gone. The room is still empty only the team he had accompanied remained. Cipher let out a heavy sigh and allowed his tense shoulders drop. He raised a hand and placed it shakily over his optics hoping what he witnessd was finally over for the remainder of the trek.
The scientist stayed his position for a moment before he finally lowered his hand and looked to the others in the room an uneasy expression on his face.

“Someone let loose a living hell. And this…this place was ground zero.”

Research Bunker

"Follow me and you will see!" the Cybertronian proto had said, with no uncertain degree of enthusiasm in his voice. Mindwipe was only too eager to do just that when it seemed as if his youthful gumption had thrown another obstacle in their path. Alas, there was no obstacle so big that the Terrorcons could not force their way through it, as they had shown yet again.

Mindwipe, for his part, still occasionally let his drift focus from the way forward to the way they had come. The way that had been littered with the now dysfunctional remains of resources that he could only barely comprehend as once being functional in the first place.

Picking up his pace alongside Cipher once again, Mindwipe nodded agreeably at the scientist's most recent words.

"So many paths. So many clues etched out in the open, lighting the way. We..."

When Cipher stopped, Mindwipe stopped almost immediately afterwards, one hand reaching for the wall before they had even begun to truly descend the stairwell leading down in to the true bowels of this facility. There was so much energy here. So much connection to what lay beyond this world. He wondered if its original owner was even remotely aware, or if their efforts were focused on the here and now. The tangible.

Mindwipe could hear the screams. The crying out for help that never came. Or...came too late, it seemed. There was sadness here, but also anger. Wrath.

So delicious.

"Come. Our answers lie ahead. And below," Mindwipe said, stepping forward and beginning to descend the massive spiral stairwell that looked as if it might drill in to the very core of the planet.

OoC: I mae this post while listening to the Reorchestrated Lavender Town. Seems to fit the mood.

Abandoned Bunker

Wheelie stared at the sudden flames that aroused from the mouths of those in his company directed towards the door. Then, once weakened, the door was promptly knocked until it gave in.

Wheelie gave a smiling nod to Hun-Grr, still lying without words, walked into the room next to Cipher, who was speaking about how this room was ground zero for something.

He did not care.

Wheelie followed Mindwipe, who was now walking down a flight of spiral stairs downward.

He didn't want to walk all that way down! Ugh, he had walked a long way already just to find the Decepticons. Thankfully, there was a pole going down the middle of the stairs -- Standard for Spiral Staircases -- and Wheelie knew what to do.

He jogged over to the Staircase and leaped at the pole, then hugged it. He began to slide down the pole at a much faster pace than Mindwipe, then suddenly, he saw a red light below. His stop was coming up soon.

Whipping out his Tripple-Bladed Knife, Wheelie stabbed the pole and slowed his decent to a literally screeching halt. He looked back up to Mindwipe and leaped off the pole into the Main Breaker Room.

"While you're making you're way down the tower, I'll turn on the power!" Wheelie called back up to his fellows.

He walked to a large metal box connected to the wall, then opened it. There was a large black pump and two buttons inside the box. One button was red, and the other green. Remembering his past venture down into the bunker, Wheelie pressed the red button. The red emergency lights grew dim, then winked out. Wheelie grabbed the pump then pushed up with all of his strength. The Pump was obviously for someone of a greater size. Wheelie repeated this process four more times until he pushed it back down. Then, he pressed the green button and several other white buttons lit up on the left side of the box. Wheelie pressed them all, lights and power springing throughout the bunker.

One light in the room burned out when power was surged to it, but that was normal.

Wheelie walked over to the pole and removed his knife, then gave his comrades a thumbs-up.

Wheelie heard a sound behind him, it was one he couldn't recognize. He turned to see an empty room. Wheelie shrugged and turned back to waiting on his comrades.

Mysterious Research Bunker

Cipher and Mindwipe seemed to be so enthralled over whatever was waiting for them down the spiral staircase that both abandoned caution and rushed past the Terrorcon commander. However, neither made it too far before stopping on their tracks just in front of the entrance Hun-Grrr had forced open. Cipher in particular began to act uneasy, as if he had heard something that the Terrorcon's superior audio receptors hadn't. Even Mindwipe had clearly sensed something as well given how the hypnotist clearly hesitated for a moment before beginning his trek down the stairs.

"Superstitious garbage." Hun-Grrr snarled and attached his somewhat singed but otherwise undamaged shield to his back and stepped on the fallen door as he pushed past Cipher, leaving a foot print into the still hot metal.

"There's nothing here scribe. Get moving." The large Decepticon added with a baleful tone in his voice as he began to follow Mindwipe's descend down the stairs. There was no other way for him anyhow given how he was unable to use Wheelie's shortcut due to his sheer size. And letting Wheelie out of his sensor range was not something he was going to do.