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Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 12:48 pm
by Mazinman
Kol System--The Avant Garde


Even before she entered the bridge Roulette knew that something was up. She could hear the voices in the distance and sense the excitement in the air. Whatever was happening she should probably be aware of it. She entered the bridge with a wave of salutation from her right hand.

"Hello everyone. What's new this cycle?" She said in a relaxed tone.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 10:27 am
by Foximus
Kol System - The Avante Garde

Chromia awaited their arrival impatiently. During that time, Flareup made her presence know rather...unnervingly. Chromia cast a sidelong glance at her ward. Playing with explosives again. Joy. It always made Chromia a bit nervous when Flareup tinkered with high explosives while she was in the potential blast range. Lancer voiced her thoughts on the whole rescue mission/trap. Chromia could only shake her head and chuckle.

"Could be, Lancer. But that will only make things more fun. Monitor duty is getting kind of old," Chromia said as she stretched her servos.

Primus, was it getting old. Chromia liked to be in the thick of it, moving and...shooting and...stuff! Sitting and staring at a monitor all cycle? Eyck. This distress beacon was a welcome change.

Yet another new arrival drew her attention toward the doors to the bridge. Ah. Roulette.

"Hello everyone. What's new this cycle?"


"Heyo, Roulette! We've found a distress beacon. We're going to check it out. Hopefully, it'll be a trap set by the Nemesis! Oh...and maybe rescue some Autobots if its real," Chromia explained. She found the prospect of finding the Nemesis more appealing. A little action would be nice. Plus, they could maybe fufill their mission and get put back on the front lines. That would be nice. Or Prowl would send them on another wild goose chase. He tended to be a prick like that.
________________


Nemesis - Hangar

Falcon prepared to open the bay doors when Skyquake entered the hangar. The predator dropped what he was doing to listen to their leader as he changed the orders about somewhat. Talon looked at him rather baffled by the sudden change, wishing for Falcon to translate them a little more simply.

"Uhm.... so... what we do now?"

"Stay near me and shoot any Autobots you see. Pretty much the same thing," Falcon answered as he clapped Talon on the shoulder plating and watched Skyquake slam down on the door controls and open the hatch out into the unforgiving atmosphere. As their fearless leader leaped out into the sky, Falcon stepped up to the edge and turned away from the void below to cast a parting glance to Snare, a sort of well-wishing look, before being sucked out into the skies below.

Plummeting downward, Falcon transformed into his stealth fighter alternate mode and soared away from the Nemesis. The aerial Vehicons quickly followed Skyquake's orders and formed up behind the Predator commander. The former predator leader took up a position near the rear of the formation. No need to cluster the Predators closer together to make for an easy target.

Yes...Now then. Where were those little Autobots?

"Come out to play, Thunderclash..."
_________________


Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Thunderclash listened silently to Road Rage's counsel. All of it was sound advice, though he'd expect no less from one such as Road Rage. Thunderclash had come to the same or similar conclusions about their situation. Fortunately, as soon as Road Rage retrieved the requested transformation cog, they would again be able to move locations. Thunderclash had considered seeking out a decepticon ship and repairing it, but with the Nemesis lurking above...Chances were slim that they could escape before being blown to pieces. Again. They would need to devise a distraction of sorts...and take the chance to run.

While Thunderclash again pondered their strategy going forward, Bumper suddenly became excited, drawing the regional commander's attention toward the smaller communications bot.

"B...boss! Boss!! I...I can't believe it. I...I think we got something! Y-yeah! Hah-haa! It looks like a signal matching our modulation! Someone's actually getting our call! I...I can't believe we got one this quick...!"

A look of surprise affixed itself on Thunderclash's faceplate, but it was soon replaced by a triumphant smile. Given how long they had been stranded on this planet, which was only a third of a deca-cycle, the response had been miraculously swift. They were spared from orns of work. Of course, if it was real. Being constantly hunted cast a shadow on any light of hope that they were given. Thunderclash looked to Road Rage as she offered her advice on the matter.

“I would advise caution, Thunderclash. It could be a Decepticon trap designed to make the signal look like it was from an Autobot source. If I’m wrong then perhaps our luck is finally changing for the better."

Thunderclash nodded to Road Rage as she exited the medical bay to hunt for the requested part. Looking down at his patient, he finished repairs on the other parts of the body, and cut off the energon flow around the area where the transformation cog rested. Carefully, Thunderclash cut out the damaged part and placed it gingerly on the table. There. All he needed now was the replacement and to close his patient back up.

Casting his gaze over to the excited Bumper, Thunderclash smiled and said, "Excellent work, Bumper! Don't answer them yet though. Analyze the signal closely, make sure it's genuine. We can't afford to make mistakes. Once you've verified it's authenticity, let me know."

Thunderclash turned his gaze back to the patient and then to the monitors beside the tables, carefully watching his patient's vitals. Though caution advised against it, he dared to hope that they would escape their dire predicament as free Autobots instead of prisoners of war or corpses. It looks like our game of cat and mouse will soon be coming to an end, Skyquake...

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:12 am
by Insidious
Kol System--The Avante Garde

Elita smiled to herself as she continued to peruse the holoscreens in front of her. She would be only too glad to give Flareup, Chromia and the others something to direct their pent up energies at. She would be lying if she said she didn't need the release herself.

Other Autobot Commanders could play it cool and detached, acting like the opportunity to smash a Decepticon's cranial in didn't give them a sense of raw excitement. Elita-1 harbored no such illusions. When her body had been changed, she couldn't help but feel as if something inside her mind had been tapped as well. Something that wasn't there previously. She didn't relish the act of destruction itself, but the opportunity to get another Decepticon killer off the battlefield? That was definitely a big part of it. Whatever it ultimately was, she was thankful for it. It made her a better field leader and she had saved more lives under her command than she had lost. It was a record she intended to keep improving upon.

As Roulette had entered the bridge and offered a quick introduction, Chromia cut right to it with her response. Elita really didn't see any need to add anything more.

"What she said," Elita added with a smirk, continuing to read about the war history in this region of space. The battles stretching from Varus Centralus to Clemency and any other unoccupied piece of potential war footing were extensive and violent. She supposed it should come as no surprise that this could be a possible location for the feared Decepticon flagship. Though why it would even be out here in no man's land rather than the forefront of the war was still a mystery to her. Be that as it may, she suspected some part of the answer to that mystery lay in what Prowl and Autobot Command had sent them to ferret out.

"What's our ETA to the origin point of that signal?"

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:31 am
by Mazinman
Kol System - The Avante Garde

"Just that? And here I thought it was something exciting." She said with a chuckle. She could appreciate Chromia's desire for action. Back when she was an enforcement officer there was always a part of her which would be hoping whichever criminal she was arresting would be stupid enough to run so she could enjoy a chase. As she looked around the room it seemed that was a common theme especially in the case of Flareup which she made a mental note of having another talking to later.

She sighed turned her head towards Elita.

"If we are going to broadcast our presence here then we should take some precautions. We should consider sending out a probe or scouting party to check things out before we commit the ship itself."

She really did not want to rain on everyone's parade here, she wanted action as much as the others, but when Elita put her in charge of security on the ship it did bring some responsibilities. She finished her remarks with a private message to Elita.

"We are going in too hot Elita. We all want this too badly. Rescue mission or battle, that does not work to our benefit."

She had a sympathetic look on her face. Having to be a voice of caution really sucked sometimes. Well... all the time really.

Nemesis - Hangar

Talon gave a hearty laugh. "That better!" He said and jumped after Falcon. He transformed into his fighter mode and followed Talon and the others.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 3:10 am
by Insidious
Kol System--The Avante Garde

Elita also chuckled at Roulette's initial response. She was the head of ship's security, but fortunately she had not sacrificed her entire sense of humor and irony when she had taken the post. Elita-1 was only too familiar with other officers in the Autobot ranks who had, if they even possessed such qualities to begin with. They both recognized that this was the most potential excitement that any of them had seen in a while. Dead end after dead end, and now this lead? It was stirring emotions in all of them.

"If we are going to broadcast our presence here then we should take some precautions. We should consider sending out a probe or scouting party to check things out before we commit the ship itself."

Elita was debating Roulette's proposed options in her mind when the private communique came through. If nothing else, it helped make her decision a little more quickly. They probably were going in just a little too eagerly. A speck of caution wouldn't kill them.

"Oh alright. Twist my arm. Send a probe out. We haven't used one in a while. I'd hate for Wheeljack to think we weren't playing with all of his fancy toys."

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 6:52 am
by Smokescreen85
Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Road Rage wandered the corridors of the downed worldsweeper in search of a replacement transformation cog, avoiding all sorts of debris as she went. The first few bodies the crimson femme had encountered revealed cogs that were too badly damaged to be useful. In fact, any damage would simply not do. She needed to find one that was completely intact and viable. After all, a T-cog was one of the trinity organs that all Cybertronians needed to function. If one failed for any reason, the other two would soon follow. Therefore, bringing a bad organ back to Thunderclash would not only be a waste of time but result in certain death for his current patient.

Rounding another corner and entering into an even darker hallway, Road Rage was forced to activate her cranial light on the left side of her head. “There, that’s better,” the former bodyguard muttered to herself as she continued forward. There were more bodies here, many smashed beyond recognition. “No, that one’s way too big. His cog wouldn’t even fit inside the patient’s chest cavity,” the red femme thought aloud, knowing that there was nobody around to hear her. Occasionally, she talked to herself as it enabled her to think more clearly if she could hear her own words. Thankfully, she never took it to the extreme of also responding to herself. That would then require her to see a shrink like Rung, a prospect the advisor did not find appealing.

“Ah ha!” Road Rage exclaimed to the shadows a she found a body whose head was missing, but everything else appeared to be undamaged. “This one should do. He’s even the right size!” Kneeling down, the crimson femme took out a laser scalpel and made a careful incision across the lower abdominal region. Within astroseconds the T-cog was exposed and the former bodyguard could get a good look at the condition of the trinity organ. “Looks good. It seems to be completely intact with no damage or scarring. Excellent!” Road Rage then used the scalpel and cautiously severed all of the appropriate connections around the T-cog. It probably wasn’t the best way to go about doing so, but considering she wasn’t a medic, her method would have to suffice.

Once the organ was separated from the dead body, Road Rage carefully removed it from the Decepticon’s abdomen and placed it into a clear square container she had grabbed before leaving the make-shift med bay. It should protect the T-cog from any unintentional damage while she transported the organ back to Thunderclash. “Perfect,” she muttered as she rose to her full height again. The red femmebot then turned around and headed back in the direction she had just come, retracing her steps and hoping that she did not get lost in these darkened halls in the process. Finally, after another half breem, Road Rage re-entered the medical facility, if it could even be called that, and quickly approached her superior who was still standing watch over his patient.

“Comman....” Road Rage stopped herself and took a deep breath, shutting off her cranial light in the process. “I mean, Thunderclash, I’ve found a T-cog that appears to be whole and viable. There weren’t many options out there as most of the bodies that I came across had damage to their abdominal regions and thus their cogs were useless. It was either that or the donor’s size was too small or too large to be useful. However, this one should do the trick.” Casting her commander an optimistic smile, the former bodyguard handed the container with the T-cog inside over to Thunderclash. Hopefully, she wasn’t too late and the patient could still be saved.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:18 pm
by BigTop
Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Bumper wasn't so excited at the news that he didn't take Thunderclash's order to heart. He doublechecked the origin thread on the response, all the modulations checked out on the right channels...but full contact was too risky. Too big a gamble, especially given that he'd only been able to set up a single decoy buoy. He started broadcasting fully? It'd turn into the shortest rescue mission since the 7 Second Conflict over Certa-Aklon.

Still...

Bumper rubbed his chin, and grabbed hold of the controls on the beacon. Fluctuation stopped, and Bumper began moving the frequency controller in short, even bursts. It was a crude system, but he was able to beat out an old non-audio radio response through the Beacon. It'd never meant to send old Cybertronian Number Code, or anything like it, so Bumper had to do it by hand, but if those coming were familiar with the old subspace communication method it'd read close to:

a.l.i.v.e.a.u.t.o.b.o.t.s.


He sent the message three times before setting the modulation back to automatic. Unless their pursuers were keyed to Autobot communications, there was little risk...but why take more risk than needed?


Kol System - The Avante Garde

Lancer grumbled a greeting to Roulette as she checked her Lance Thrower and mace. What had she done, what cosmic entity had she angered, to be stuck with just about the only group this side of the Wreckers that simply couldn't wait to get shot at?

And who were they gonna ask to repair everything when they were done having their fun? Lancer, that's who.

Grumbling, Lancer walked up behind Chromia and Elita to look at the information coming in from the planet's surface. If she was going into a fight (and it didn't look like there was much choice) rescuing other Autobots was about the least-dumb reason she could think to do it. And if they were going down there, she was going to get her optics on all the data she could. Maybe it'd help her get shot less. Probably not, though.


Clemency - Skies Above the Graveyard

It'd taken Snare all of about 45 microcycles to zero in on the massive battlefield, and one whole cycle to bank back across it. The thing was massive, and reminded Snare not to subtly of why is was the philosophy of those like Skyquake bothered him so much: that's how you ended up with massive graveyards of your friends unburied on the face of some unforgiving planet. He swore, sometimes-

An indicator light tugged at Snare's attention. There was...some kind of signal he was picking up. He didn't recognize it, and it was faint, but...

Snare circled back around, dropping his speed and altitude as he flipped on his communicator back to the command channel while his surveillance scanners hummed to life.

This is Snare. I've got...something. Only signal I'm seeing in the sector. Looks like a...beacon of some kind. I'm not picking up any lifesigns or weapon signatures, or even energy readings, just the beacon...

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:04 pm
by Marcus Rush
Bridge: Advant Garde

Flareup simply giggled and gave a nod as she set the Tetra Buster down at the base of her tactical terminal. She released a soft sigh as she carefully positioned the weapon upright so that her message remained legible. Once she was satisfied she turned her attention to the tactical monitor before her and allowed her nimble surgeon trained fingers to dart across the console as if they were nothing more than speeding photons.

"Whatever the debate is about, I don't really think it is in our very nature to ignore a distress call." She finally spoke, though the bubble still filled her voice. She brought up a stellar cartography map of the sector, with the primary cursor focusing on the planet Clemency. "So I figure that alone rules the whole ignore the signal argument rather moot at this point."

She began entering several scanning algorithms into the matrix in a desperate attempt to filter out the background solar radiation from the primary star, Kol. Several radiation spikes began to populate the stellar map, ranging from the X-ray to ionic distortions typical of solar winds or coronal mass ejections from the star itself. Using several tricks she had developed during her recent discovery of thermite and its over all blast radiation density ratio, with its correlation with isotope degradation... Flareup began to search for 'Wakes' in the stellar ion streams.

"Besides' Lancer, maybe its a distress call from a certain grumpy grouse of an orange engineer." The young Autobot looked over her shoulder to the orange and black engineer and gave a playful wink. "Course we could find out faster if there are any dangers if these sensors had been calibrated properly."

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 11:16 pm
by Insidious
Kol System--The Avante Garde

The probe launched itself into the vastness of space all the while Elita continued to thumb through the small assortment of holoscreens displayed in front of her. As Lancer had sidled up nearer to her and Chromia to look at some of the same information they were, Elita glanced over in her direction via her peripheral vision.

"Just....just on the off chance we do happen to run into the Nemesis....long shot, I know. But if we do, we're going to need to break out the heavy stuff."

Elita-1 knew that her compatriot had likely already prepared several steps ahead just on the possibility of that scenario, but it bore mentioning, if only to assure Lancer that Elita was not going in blind either and was preparing for worst possible eventuality. Or best. It all depended on one's perspective.

"Whatever the debate is about, I don't really think it is in our very nature to ignore a distress call. So I figure that alone rules the whole ignore the signal argument rather moot at this point."

"Absolutely. Not even Prowl could keep me from checking out this signal now. We just-"

A blip on one of the monitors alerted Elita to the fact that a fresh signal was transmitting. A maybe a fresh message to go along with it. Maybe something that would tell them something besides just leaving them a trial to follow.

"What was that? What do we got?" Elita asked, her attention having perked up and pulled entirely away from her holoscreens.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 2:00 am
by Foximus
Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Staring down at his critically injured patient, Thunderclash kept a constant vigil over the Autobot's vitals. Each of his crew was as family to him, and he had already lost more than enough to Skyquake and the Nemesis. The vitals were - for the most part - stable. Once Skyride was repaired, they would have to move and try to unite with the Autobots that had responded to the beacon. He only hoped that it was not too soon to move the injured...

“Comman...."

Thunderclash glanced up from Skyride to see that Road Rage had returned with the transformation cog.

“I mean, Thunderclash, I’ve found a T-cog that appears to be whole and viable. There weren’t many options out there as most of the bodies that I came across had damage to their abdominal regions and thus their cogs were useless. It was either that or the donor’s size was too small or too large to be useful. However, this one should do the trick."

The regional commander nodded to Road Rage with a reassuring smile, and took the container that the femme had handled over to him. Carefully opening it and picking up the transformation cog, Thunderclash gingerly lowered into Skyride and began the rather difficult process of integrating a T-cog into a new body.

There was the chance that Skyride's body might reject it altogether. Or...if he wasn't extremely careful, Thunderclash could botch the operation and turn Skyride into a monoformer. Or worse. Kill him. The severity of the situation only served to hone Thunderclash's concentration as he connected the T-cog to Skyride's internal systems. The pressure rolled off like water. He could only succeed. There could be no other alternative.

With a focus as sharp as his scalpel, Thunderclash connected the last series of relays. Pulling back, he renewed the flow of energon to the T-cog bit by bit until it returned to nominal levels with very minor fluctuations. Thunderclash sighed with relief. Skyride would pull through, granted that he suffered no more injures like he had sustained in the crash. Thunderclash replaced the armor plating over the T-cog and sealed everything up once more.

With that accomplished, Thunderclash override stasis lock. As much as he would have preferred for Skyride and the others to fully recover before being awoken from stasis, the circumstances would not allow for it. Skyride's optics flickered online as the Autobot flier emitted a low groan.

"Augghhh...I feel...like I got slugged in the gut by...Omega Supreme..."

"Close enough," Thunderclash said with a smile as he offered his hand to help Skyride up. The flier took it and slowly sat up with another pronounced groan. "How does everything feel?" Thunderclash asked.

"Eh. Could be worse. Could be dead. I'm fine, sir - er - Clash," Skyride said dismissively as he swung his legs over the side of the table and hopped down onto the floor. Snapping off a sluggish salute, Skyride awaited Thunderclash's leave, which promptly came in the form of a nod. Dismissed, Skyride limped off to see if any of his friends had gotten off a bit easier.

Thunderclash's optics Skyride, his reassuring smile fading into more of a concerned look. Finally satisfied that Skyride was not going to spontaneously fall apart, Thunderclash began shutting down their makeshift medical apparatus. He looked up at Road Rage, who he presumed to still be lingering nearby.

"Road Rage, prep everyone to move out. By now our decoy beacon will have gone off, drawing the Decepticons to its location. We need to make contact with whoever our would-be rescuers are and set up a rendezvous point. Around that point, I want a place for main force to wait in ambush in case it's a Decepticon trap. Bumper and I will initiate contact. Questions? Suggestions?"

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 3:51 am
by MasterSoundBlaster
[quote]>>This is Snare. I've got...something. Only signal I'm seeing in the sector. Looks like a...beacon of some kind. I'm not picking up any lifesigns or weapon signatures, or even energy readings, just the beacon...>"Commander Skyquake!">"Sir none of the teams have managed to find any sources of Autobot lifesigns in the vicinity, but a few of the troops have managed to locate tracks that are a few days old heading of towards the East.">"Skyquake to Stalker. The signal you pinpointed was a decoy, a deceitful trick Thunderclash and his crew set up to get us off their tailpipes. I want you to return your attention to locating anything remotely like an Autobot signal coming from the surface of this planet. And this time, I want you to be sure its the real thing before I embark on another hunting party. Skyquake out."<<

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:36 am
by Henry921
Decepticon Flagship Nemesis- Bridge


>>"Skyquake to Stalker. The signal you pinpointed was a decoy, a deceitful trick Thunderclash and his crew set up to get us off their tailpipes. I want you to return your attention to locating anything remotely like an Autobot signal coming from the surface of this planet. And this time, I want you to be sure its the real thing before I embark on another hunting party. Skyquake out."<<

Stalker suppressed the urge to cower or apologize. He sent out a simple reply of "Yes, Commander," and returned his attention to the hologram and topographical schematics. He might've been on his commander's good side a few cycles ago, but now Skyquake had evidence of Stalker's failure and incompetence, putting the surveillance bot in a very awkward position.

Stalker had considered the possibility the signal might be an Autobot trap, but a decoy? That thought had never crossed his mind. Were the Autobots trying to buy time? Trying to fool the hunting party while they had time to salvage and repair their ship?

Stalker's error had been in searching for communication signals. His particular talent was proving a liability at the moment, so he opted instead to stop actively searching for transmissions, and just let his current program monitor...

...while he took a different approach, and turned proactive.

"Computer," Stalker instructed, stepping towards his holographic display of the planet, and the isolated location on the continent. "Visual readout of exposed energon."

The spherical projection of the planet lit up, as thousands of tiny, blinking lights joined the holographic display. Stalker examined it closely, isolating the source of the decoy signal... and saw tiny projections of movement, as Skyquake and his team moved up through the atmosphere away from it.

"Expand image. Use existing search area data."

The hologram expanded and contorted, the planet replaced by the single continent, and its 319 points of light. Stalker narrowed his visor and watched them closely.

Most of the energon would be old and curdled. Some would be leaking from ships; possibly moving, but not a significant enough distance for his holograms to pick up. No, he'd only see it move... if someone was trying to siphon and carry fuel or space drive parts from one site to another.

"Isolate movement, more than five meters from starting point," Stalker instructed, amending the program. "Eliminate any signals that remain static longer than two breems."

Stalker watched and waited. No significant movement... no change...

...and then 319 points were replaced by 20. They were scattered about the landscape, but he could see them, just barely moving along the surface. He looked at the schematics again. Two of the energon readings were near sloped surfaces, and most likely innocuous. Several others were moving only slightly, just barely within his five meter programmed minimum. Perhaps a base camp?

Stalker continued to compile the data. He watched the lights flicker... he'd wait until he was certain to give Skyquake a full report.

But he was getting closer...

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:31 pm
by Mazinman
Kol System--The Avante Garde

Roulette gave Elita a sad smile. "Sorry" She said via private message. It was an honest apology. Truth was no one wanted to find that Decepticon ship more than her as she hoped that she might be able to find information about her sister's current status on it.

"No one is saying we will ignore the signal Flareup. I hope your paying more attention to your bomb that the conversation." She said with a sigh. Elita ran a light ship which she could appreciate. However, there were times that she wondered if Flareup should be sent to the brig because they lost the ship.

When Elita mentioned a reply from the probe Roulette walked up to Chromia's post and placed her right hand on top of her chair as she looked at the screen.

"Yeah, Chromia, what's the word?"

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:40 am
by Foximus
Kol System - The Avante Garde

The blip on the monitors stole Chromia's attention away from her young ward Flareup and the others. The new information made her optics narrow and a frown have itself plastered on her faceplate. This was...

"What was that? What do we got?"

"Well, it-" Chromia felt a hand on her chair and turned about to see Roulette looming over her station.

"Yeah, Chromia, what's the word?"

"If you'd give a girl more than three astroseconds, maybe I could tell you!" Chromia snapped before eventually sighing and having her frown replaced by a resigned smile. "Ok, so there are two distress beacons now. The first one is...transmitting something. Hm. Looks like its using an old subspace communication method...lessee..."

"a...l...i...v...e...a...u.t.o....bots. Alive Autobots. If it were the Decepticons, I don't think that they'd send something this elaborate just for a trap. Whoa, whoa!" Chromia suddenly cut off as some new information registered on the screens in front of him. "The second distress beacon is gone."

Chromia whirled around to look at Elita with a serious expression on her faceplate. Serious, because any other would have betrayed the excitement that she felt. "I think this is real. This looks like some Autobots are trying extremely hard not to get caught while they transmit back to us." The grin that Chromia had initially suppressed fought its way on the surface and manifested in the form of an ever widening smile.

"That also means there are Decepticons hunting them. Probably the ones we are looking for since they were last seen in this system. Orders, Elita?" Chromia asked with that same devilish smile plastered on her faceplate.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:12 pm
by Insidious
Kol System--The Avante Garde

Elita smirked at Chromia's initial response to their pestering. They all wanted this so bad, they could hardly contain themselves--battlefield-hardened warriors or not.

"a...l...i...v...e...a...u.t.o....bots."

And there it was. Something. After so frakkin' long they had finally found something that was just not another dead end or a wild cyberfox chase. The signal was one of two things: Autobots. Or Decepticons pretending to be Autobots. Either was absolutely fine with Elita-1.

"I think this is real. This looks like some Autobots are trying extremely hard not to get caught while they transmit back to us."

So the likelihood was that they had found Autobots in distress who were being pursued by Decepticons. Double trouble. Chromia, naturally, came to the same conclusion.

"That also means there are Decepticons hunting them. Probably the ones we are looking for since they were last seen in this system. Orders, Elita?"

"Lock on the last known point that beacon transmitted from. Get us there. STAT. Everybody else gear up," Elita said, her mind and attitude becoming much more centered and focused, losing some of its previous carefree air as she waved away the holoscreens and rose from her captain's chair. "We've finally got something."

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 8:40 am
by Smokescreen85
Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Road Rage watched with intense interest as Thunderclash took the T-cog from her and carefully transplanted it into the stasis locked body of Skyride. It was an extremely delicate procedure to be sure, especially under the current circumstances. These weren’t exactly ideal for an operation involving one of the trinity organs. One small slip up and the other two organs could be lost right along with the patient. Thankfully, the regional commander’s surgical skills were good enough that everything went off as well as could be expected. Skyride was awakened from stasis no worse for wear and hobbled off to check on his comrades.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Road Rage’s optics refocused on Thunderclash when her commander gave the order for the crimson femme to prep the others for departure. The Decepticons were likely drawn to the location of the decoy beacon that had been previously set up. Of course, it would not take the enemy long to figure out it had only been a ruse, and it was even possible that they had already ascertained that fact for themselves by now. Regardless, the Autobots here needed to move quickly and make contact with their potential rescuers. Hopefully, they brought a large ship with them that wouldn’t crash on this Primus forsaken planet like all the others.

“Understood, Thunderclash,” Road Rage replied with a respectful nod before turning to all those that were still functioning at optimal levels and mingling about in the confines of the make-shift med bay. “All right, everyone, listen up! We move out in two breems, maybe less! Gather only what you absolutely need to take with you that will either fit somewhere on your person or within subspace storage. We can’t afford to be bogged down with unnecessary items. Everything you don’t need, leave behind. Got it?”

With that said, the former bodyguard moved over to the row of CR chambers that still contained the most severely wounded of their Autobot brothers in arms. Unfortunately, there was simply no way to transport these units when they vacated the remains of the worldsweeper and thus, like Skyline, those within would need to be awakened prematurely. Checking the status on the first chamber, Road Rage initiated the manual override of the CR cycle and watched as the nanite rich fluid drained from inside the medical apparatus. The Autobot within slowly woke from his deep slumber and hesitantly stepped out once the hatch had fully opened.

“Easy there, soldier,” Road Rage warned her comrade as the wounded mech stumbled slightly, catching himself on the crimson femme’s shoulder plate. “We had no choice but to awaken you early. We’re moving out shortly as the ‘Cons are closing in on our location. Just take it slow and you’ll be okay.” The injured bot nodded before cautiously moving away and sitting down on a nearby stool, clearly out of breath already. The former bodyguard shook her cranium at the sight of an obviously hurting warrior who desperately needed more time to heal.

“I don’t like this, Thunderclash,” Road Rage offered as she turned her attention back to the regional commander. “These wounded need more time in cryogenic regeneration. Some of them might not even be able to walk on their own yet. If we move them too soon, too fast, it could do more harm than good. We could even lose them!” The red advisor then shrugged her shoulders before noticing several hover sleds off in a distant corner of the room. “With your permission, perhaps I could jury rig a few of those hover sleds into make-shift gurneys to carry those who are unable to carry themselves. At least then they could continue to rest while their internal repair systems finish the healing process. My flight mode should be able to pull one or two of them behind me. I’ll just have to fly low to the ground like a hover craft.”

A slight smirk then escaped Road Rage’s visage as she considered her other alt mode. “Needless-to-say, it would be best for me to avoid my car form while I’m carrying the wounded. Heh.”

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:32 am
by Mazinman
Kol System--The Avante Garde

Roulette smiled and playfully punched Chromia in the right arm.

"I thought you where in a hurry as well."

Her smile fades as Elita speaks. It was a clear sign that it was time to get professional. She turned towards Elita.

"Elita, do you want me to get ready too or man the ship's weapon station?"

Normally, it would be easy to say what someone with her position should do but Roulette's skills complicated things. Not only was she the best shot in the ship but was also among the best of all the Transformers. She could be devastating in the gunner's seat which often required she do that task instead.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 2:53 am
by Insidious
The Avant Garde--Bridge

Knowing Chromia as well as she did, she knew that their ship would be within bouncing range as soon as it was realistically possible to be. That freed Elita up to focus on readying herself and everyone else for whatever they might find. Not all of them were combat-hardened war veterans like she and Chromia, in particular, but all of them were at the top of their game in at least one respect. Sometimes more than one.

"Elita, do you want me to get ready too or man the ship's weapon station?" Roulette had asked.

"I'd rather have your skills on the ground with us, unless we run into the Justice Division or something."

There were very few scenarios right now where Elita could see her giving up the advantage of having Roulette on the ground with them, but that might be one of them. But the real possibility Elita was entertaining was the slim hope that they had discovered something of interest that might also be something of interest to the Decepticon flagship and its crew. And if so, that meant all hands on deck to break into that ship and accomplish their mission. Elita couldn't spare anyone. The ship would have to fend for itself.

Even so, Elita voiced her "orders", such as they were, as a preference more than an outright command. Unless they were already on the battlefield and the circumstances became more life and death, she tended to trust her subordinates, regardless of whether it was direct obedience with her orders or vehement objections.

Once she was out into the ship's corridors, she allowed more of her internal thinking to slip out.

"I'm not going to freak if it's just a few wayward rooks who got stranded out here in no-mech's-land, but I really hope it's a trap," she said with a smirk, her pace quickening with every step.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:58 am
by Mazinman
The Avant Garde - Bridge

Roulette nodded and looked at the others.

"Your heard the boss. Time to get to work."

She turned and walked with Elita out of the room. There was certainly an excitement in ship to ship combat but that did not match the thrill of a good chase so she was glad to be on ground duty. She could not help at chuckle at Elita's words.

"I can tell Elita, I can tell." She said. She could have given her another small speech about not being in such a hurry but she could not help but notice the quickness in her own step. Something dawned on her however.

"You know, after giving this entire situation some thought, we might be dealing with both those possibilities you mentioned." She said. "We are not exactly being stealthy. If there was a Decepticon ship out there somewhere hunting those 'Bots they probably should have spotted us already. I mean, one can only assume they must have their sensors on maximum coverage if they are looking for them. If they haven't then they must be busy with something."

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:33 pm
by BigTop
The Avant Garde - Bridge

Lancer groused a little less at Roulette's mention of Huffer, and nodded to Elita as she followed the commander out of the Bridge, "All Heavy Weapons are cleaned, primed, checked, and ready." She neglected to mention she'd gone through the weapons check protocol at least seven times since they'd last docked; everything on the Avante-Garde was working fairly well and she'd become bored several cycles back.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 11:08 pm
by Insidious
The Avant Garde--Corridors

"You know, after giving this entire situation some thought, we might be dealing with both those possibilities you mentioned. We are not exactly being stealthy. If there was a Decepticon ship out there somewhere hunting those 'Bots they probably should have spotted us already. I mean, one can only assume they must have their sensors on maximum coverage if they are looking for them. If they haven't then they must be busy with something."

Elita-1 nodded as she and the others made steady progress toward the armory. She had of course considered the very real possibility that both scenarios might well be in play. It would make for a conflicting mission, but Elita had her priorities in mind. Their mission was the Decepticon flagship and what lay hidden aboard it. Until that was accomplished, all else would be secondary. Besides, given what Elita had in mind for the Nemesis, if there did happen to be real Autobots in distress nearby, they could only welcome the distraction. And capitalize on it, if they were halfway competent in their functions.

"Very possible," she said to the marksmech, affirming that she was not worried about that possibility, but rather prepared for it. They had been preparing for an engagement with the Nemesis for so long, all of them had likely devised a number of variations on that scenario so that they could be ready for when it actually happened. With a ship of that notoriety, it was not a matter of if. Only when. "We'll be ready for it if they are. Moonracer lives for rescue missions. She'll be thrilled if we come across any lives that need saving. In the meantime, I'd like to hear your priority list. We know the Nemesis is believed to be crewed by Skyquake and his Predator unit--if Autobot intel is worth anything here lately. So if that's the case, who d'ya think needs to get taken out first?"

"All Heavy Weapons are cleaned, primed, checked, and ready," Lancer added.

"I expected no less," Elita said, approaching the armory doors and entering her access code. They slid open and she quickly stepped inside. For a ship this size, they had been allotted much more than the customary amount of weaponry, both traditional and developmental. But given the missions they were typically sent on, it only made sense.

"Looking good," Elita said, opening a locker and pulling out a massive assault rifle, not bothering to check its energy or ammunition levels. She trusted Lancer, just as she trusted all of them. She then reached for another weapon. And another.

It was always nice when you could just grab and go.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:31 pm
by Mazinman
The Avant Garde--Corridors

Roulette smiled at Lancer. "Thanks a lot." She did not often use heavy weapons, preferring more those that offered her the opportunity to put her skills as a marksmech to use. Still, they certainly had their uses.

She walked over to her own locker and took out her Sonic Blaster from the internal holster hidden in her right leg. She checked over its systems and made sure that it was fully powered up. She knew the gun was in fine shape, it had been her trusty friend for many cycles and she made sure it was in top shape but it never hurt to be sure before battle. As she did she responded to Elita's question.

"Well, normally, I would suggest taking out the head but, if I remember correctly from those intel reports the Predator's former leader is still in the squad only serving under Skyquake. Knowing 'Cons, that can't make him happy. If that is the case then we might be able to cause some friction if we can put enough pressure on the."

She put away her blaster then grabbed a sniper rifle from her locker, carefully calibrating the aiming mechanism to work best with her own.

"I think we should attack the Nemesis itself. A couple key strikes to its engines will get the 'Cons worried about them being stranded in the planet and shift their priorities which should cause some arguments."

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 11:16 pm
by MasterSoundBlaster
Clemency Airspace - Hull of the Nemesis

Skyquake's engines cooled as he broke through the cloud that stood between him and the Decepticon Flagship. With one final push of his boosters, the Predator commander glided over the hull of the massive Decepticon warship, transforming mid-flight and magnetically locking his boots to the outside of the ship. With clenched fists, Skyquake walked over to the bow of the ship, standing at the tip of the vessel and overlooking the vast graveyard that Clemency had become.

I grow tiresome of your little games Thunderclash... You run like Starscream would, reveal yourself and face me like a REAL warrior!

>"Stalker!"< Skyquake barked over the comm-line he had just opened with his communications officer, >"You have been quiet for too long now, what's your status on locating the signal?"<

Waiting on a reply from his more loyal subordinate, the Predator commander returned his attention to the war-torn planet as the vehicons under his command landed around him along the hull of the ship.

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 11:44 pm
by Henry921
Decepticon Flagship Nemesis - Bridge

>"Stalker! You have been quiet for too long now, what's your status on locating the signal?"<

Skyquake finally contacted Stalker again. The communications expert wished he had more to report, but hoped what intel he could gather in the interim would be enough. He took one last look at the holographic readout, saved the projection's data, and uploaded it to his own comm unit.

"Commander, I'm sending you a readout of the search area now," Stalker reported, sending the saved image of the planet's surface to Skyquake's utility communications device. An image of the holographic schematics projected above Skyquake's wrist less than a nano-klik following the dialogue.

"I draw your attention to these locations," Stalker continued, lighting up the two original communication signals, including the Autobots' decoy. "You already know what we've gathered from this, but I used these radio signals to triangulate the search area, and then set the Nemesis own scanning systems to find local exposed energon."

Shortly after he'd finished his statement, dozens of tiny blue lights appeared on the projection before the Predator leader.

"The areas illuminated here are where energon has lingered more than a breem," Stalker added. "Within the search area, I've found three likely possibilities... including two locations where Energon has transported within a localized, five meter radius.

"Commander, these two locations," Stalker removed the other lights from the map, leaving only two hotspots on the projection, "are the most likely places for Thunderclash and his crew to be hiding. I'm uploading the exact coordinates to your system now."

Stalker finished streaming the data and then disengaged his comm systems from the Nemesis computer. He took one last look at the projection... and steadied himself.

"I recommend... patience, Commander," Stalker finished. "If the Turbomasters continue to allocate local resources at either point, we can easily finish them with a coordinated attack."

Re: The Kol System - Hunter's Moon

PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:37 pm
by Foximus
Clemency – Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

“I don’t like this, Thunderclash," Road Rage offered as she turned her attention back to the regional commander. “These wounded need more time in cryogenic regeneration. Some of them might not even be able to walk on their own yet. If we move them too soon, too fast, it could do more harm than good. We could even lose them!"

“I know, Road Rage, I know! But we’ve been backed into a corner. We have few options,” Thunderclash hissed softly, clenching his fists in clear agitation as his mind raced to think of ways to prevent them from losing any more crew.

Damn you, Skyquake! Hovering above like some vulture waiting to pick us off…

It was then that Road Rage made the suggestion of transporting the wounded via hover gurneys. It was a good idea, but it was also one that made him remember something crucial: his trailer. While he had left it as a defensive measure near the entrance of the worldsweeper, it could be used to transport a fair amount of the injured in a protected space.

“My trailer could fit more wounded than you could carry in your aerial alternate mode…and if worse comes to worst, the injured could use its battle station form to defend themselves. If there isn’t enough room for everyone, then you can carry them, but I’d rather have you by my side,” Thunderclash explained before looking back at the medical bay’s occupants with a look of concern on his faceplate.

Thunderclash let out a terse sigh and assumed a confident demeanor to address the vast majority of the Autobots under his command. “Autobots! Now is our chance! Our distress beacon was responded to. It might be an elaborate Decepticon trap, I’ll not deceive you. But it could also be our salvation! I’ll be honest. We can’t stay trapped on Clemency much longer. We’re running low on energon and time. I’m willing to take this chance though. And if this does prove to be a trap, we’ll not go down without a fight! We’ll make them remember our names! What say you, chaps? Stay? Or take the chance?”

A unanimous chorus of “let’s go” and “take the chance” sounded from the Autobots collected in the room. The room erupted into more activity than ever before as others helped the injured get prepped to go and packed up their own supplies. Thunderclash smiled and nodded before turning to Road Rage. “And you, Road Rage? What do you say?”

- :CON: -

Clemency Airspace – Hull of the Nemesis

Falcon had followed Skyquake closely upon his leader’s hurried departure from the place where they had found the faux beacon. Alighting on the hull of the Nemesis, Falcon activated the magnalocks in his feet and walked over to Skyquake’s side. The Vehicons were soon to follow, landing about both Skyquake and Falcon. Falcon gestured for them to stand at a distance. They obeyed promptly.

With some privacy now given to the two Predators, Falcon swept his optics over to Skyquake to observe that their leader was growing increasingly frustrated with Thunderclash and his men. Falcon had experienced a similar emotion when it had been just Thunderclash and his Turbomasters, and it had led him to ruin. He did not want to see the same fate befall Skyquake, one so infinitely better suited to the position of command than himself.

Skyquake, sir,” Falcon said respectfully, “Be wary of your frustration clouding your judgment. Thunderclash is merely delaying the inevitable at this point. Don’t let him mislead you.”