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Corridors

After leaving the med bay, Smokescreen walked beside Blaster as the two mechs headed for the communications center. Smokey couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Blaster’s reaction to NASCAR. “Yeah, I know it’s not that exciting compared to grand touring or rally racing or even Formula One. Personally, I prefer street racing which is far more dangerous as it takes place in an uncontrolled environment. Unfortunately, as it was back on Cybertron, street racing is illegal here on Earth, as well. Therefore, the humans don’t televise it.”

As they rounded a corner, Smokescreen thought for a moment. Perhaps there was a way to enjoy street racing after all. “Although, there is a movie that the humans made called Fast and Furious that centers around street racing. I haven’t had the chance to see the whole film yet, but the parts I have seen looked pretty good considering it’s not actually real. Maybe if we can’t find anything exciting on the sports channels we can check that out, instead.”

Communications Center

Smokescreen entered the room and immediately saw Eject sitting at the control board enjoying a variety of sports on the 25 screens that were spread out in front of him. “Hey, Eject, how’s it going little buddy?” Smokey said cheerfully as he approached the cassettibot whose fingers were flying furiously across the keyboard. “So, you watching Earth sports I see? What kind of auto racing does the Speed Network have on now?” The diversion expert queried as he stood beside the smaller mech and glanced across the many monitors before his optics. It was then that Smokey noticed a brief news report broadcasting on the lower left screen just before Eject switched it back to ice hockey.

“Hey, what was that news report you had up there an astrosecond ago, Eject? Looked like something was going on in Chicago? Anything serious?”

Medbay.

"That fraggin' Astrotrain is going to pay." Trailbreaker thought as his optics opened. He scanned the room, and looked at the mechs in the medbay.

He stood up, and walked towards Ratchet, who was giving some repairs. On his way, the Black mech saw Bumblebee's body lying there, lifeless. "Bee." 'Breaker thought as he approached the medic.

"Ratchet, what happened to 'Bee? What happened in Area 51?"

Corridors

“That’s where you’re wrong Smokey,” Blaster laughed. “The humans televise everything… well sorta. There’s this thing called Youtube on their Internet. They upload random videos of just about everything on it. It’s pretty weird when you think about it – video of everything and nothing, but there’s racing of all sorts on there if we can’t find anything televised the regular way.”

Blaster would have continued talking - he loved to talk about human culture, music especially, but he found it all pretty fascinating. He could go into Bluestreak-esque monologues about it, but this time he was cut off when they arrived in the communications center and Smokescreen noticed something on one of Eject’s monitor screens.

Smokescreen had only caught a glimpse, but Blaster could query the communications subsystems directly. So, while Smokey was questioning Eject, Blaster had reviewed the broadcast, and was no more enlightened than before – some sort of traffic mash-up in Chicago? What did that have to do with anything? Since the broadcast itself wasn’t any help, he too listened intently for Eject’s reply.

“Hey guys,” Eject said, spinning around in his chair. “That scrum in Chicago? Prime had me looking for large-scale traffic accidents. The Stunticons are supposed to be in town for the game, and that looked like something straight out of their playbook.”

“Stunticons – Great. I wonder what they’re doing here? I mean it’s not like Megatron doesn’t have enough troops on this planet already, so there’s got to be something going on,” Blaster remarked.

Auxiliary Control

Auxilary control, in the bowels of the ship, was simply a stripped down version of the main bridge. Two control boards, one for navigation and the other for weapons and sensors, sat in front of a much smaller screen than the massive bank that dominated a whole wall of the main bridge. Around the perimeter of the room were secondary control panels for security, engineering, communications, and transporter subsystems. Essentially if the top of the ship were somehow blasted into space, everything could still be run from down here.

Ironhide reached the auxiliary control room before Jetfire, and, as his presence was detected, the systems hummed to life. The old red mech seated himself at the security terminal and took the few moments before Jetfire arrived to download his video and sensor logs of the battle and resulting explosion into the ship’s computer, and to call up a map depicting the battle’s location on the main screen.

He was editing together the various data feeds into a coherent report when Jetfire arrived.

“Hey Jetfire ol’ buddy. When ah said we should get together and talk about old times, this wasn’t exactly what ah had in mind,” the veteran laughed and turned back to the screen. “Ah’m just puttin’ mah report together now. I dunno exactly what you need, but all mah video is here and the readin’s from mah sensors. Just tell me what you want and ah’ll help you sort this out however ah can.”

Command Center

Having placed the mission to deal with the Stunticons into Hot Spot’s more than capable hands, Optimus turned his attention to Prowl as the tactician approached. Prowl, of course, wanted a logical and well thought out plan of action. Getting one was his job, and he always attempted to do his job. Prime, unfortunately, couldn’t always provide that for him. Because of the nature of the accords with the Decepticons, the Autobots were often forced to react to their plans, and that made long-term planning very, very difficult.

“What did you have in mind Prowl?” Optimus asked, gesturing towards a seat on the far side of the status table. “I have some time now if there’s something specific you wanted to discuss before we start planning the move of this facility.”

Optimus rarely said anything simply for shock value. Though the statement could possibly have taken Prowl off guard, he was simply fishing to see if Prowl had been thinking along with him. Usually Prowl saw the necessity for these things before the others, and sometimes before Optimus himself.

Medbay

His sizable injuries finally healed, Hound steps out of the CR chamber and looks about him. "Uh, haven't had a CR stay like that in a while. And what was with that terrible noise, was there some equipment failure or something?"

The scout looks around at the other Autobots in the bay, and waves to Ratchet and Axle. He sees Trailbreaker getting out of another chamber. "Oh, Trailbreaker, haven't seen you in ages! Have you been out of action? Oh!! Hardhead, you're ok!! I was afraid you mighta been still in repair. Shucks, this is all great to see!"

Command Centter

Prowl was surprised that Optimus actually had some time for him, which would work out fine. Prowl's ideas did not necessarily include the relocation of the ship, but it might be one necessary eventually. Still, it was not the Decepticons he was focused on, but the humans.

“My intent is not really to draw up more effective plans for dealing with the Decepticons in this case. However, I did some research on the humans upon my arrival and after seeing what the the Decepticons have been doing to them, I think looking at alternate approaches to future dialogues with them will be a necessity, a course we will have to pursue.” he said.

He activated a projection from the main console, displaying various events that had occurred thus far since their arrival.

“I have been thinking for a bit regarding the situation. The oil platform, the military facility where we found Grimlock's team, and most recently the ocean floor. We've only been here a short time, yet already the damage this planet and it's people have sustained as a result of this war is considerable.” Prowl said, having chosen a lesser word over 'catastrophic'. He had seen 'catastrophic' in his time. What had been done thus far was no where near in comparison. They had yet to engulf an entire city, or major region in one of their battles, something he knew was inevitable given the nature of their enemy. There was also the potential for escalation, which would cause even more damage. He was certain that that would play a role in the future, if not aleady.

“My concern is that when the time comes for us to reveal ourselves to the governments, whether or not we will be fired upon in response to the Decepticons actions. I highly doubt the leaders of this world know we are at war with our own. It is highly probable that they assume both sides one entire alien species that is hostile to them.”

What he was about to ask Prime would determine whether or not he could present his plan. Prime was usually open and his idea, he was certain, had merit as it was one that would be lengthy, require little resources and robot power, and orchestrated to be incapable of interfering with the infiltration protocols.

“Have you considered the idea of eventually approaching and establishing an understanding with one, or perhaps two humans, before approaching their leaders?” he asked Prime.

Auxiliary Control Room

Jetfire arrived to find Ironhide already waiting for him. He smiled upon seeing his old friend greeting him.

“I thank you for your time Ironhide.” he said. “I was hoping to get some first-hand knowledge of what transpired down there. Prime wants me to develop some means of preventing damage of a comparable level as a result of our war. If I am to develop some counter-measure, I'd need precise readings. Fortunately, I think what you've provided will be of great help.”

He examined the recordings and even sensor readings. It astonished him. Certainly there was nothing left of the ship itself. And the surrounding environment was certainly changed forever.

“Do we have any idea how much and what type of energon was on board that ship?” he asked. “From what your sensor readings and visual imaging tells me, there must have been a sizable amount on board. This will definitely be a challenge worthy of study.”

Med Bay

Hex had entered the Medical Bay quite some time ago and, with the help of his primary function, the young mech melded perfectly into the background of the busy facility. From his location he could see the entire goings on, including the Bots exiting the CR chambers. He listened intently at everything that was being discussed, and took note of everything; he never knew when he would need the information.

The silver mech turned his attention towards the chambers when he heard one of the medical devices open. His optics followed the large black mech as he made his way over to Ratchet. Hex rolled his optics as he heard Trailbreaker’s desperate questions aimed at the Chief Medical Officer. But before Ratchet could respond a voice came from the nearby shadows.

“What happened was you and the other screw-ups lost. And not only did you lose, you let the Cons get away with one of your own.”

Hex slowly emerged from the darkness to stand in front of Trailbreaker
.
“Your little ‘buddy’ over there was taken prisoner. He was rescued only when I joined the team. And when he was brought back here the Cons detonated a bomb and blew his body to the Pit.”

The youngster crossed his arms over his chest. He tilted his head to one side as he continued.

“Now, you tell me, is losing a battle and letting a comrade be taken prisoner the Autobot way?”

Ratchet slammed down his wrench and stalked over to where Hex was standing. The medic grabbed the young mech by the arm and forced him away from Trailbreaker. Ratchet then eyed Axle who quickly made his way over to Hex.

“I’ve had it with your slag!” Ratchet glared over at Axle. “Get him out of here or so Primus I’ll deactivate him myself!”

Axle took hold of his young ward and began escorting him out of the med bay, but as they got to the door Hex looked over his shoulder and offered another one of his observations.

“This whole faction is a farse!”

Communications Room

“Stunticons!” Smokescreen exclaimed, a bit surprised by the news. If the Stunticons are here, then Drag Strip is probably with them, Smokey thought, having heard that the yellow mech had joined up with that motley crew of roadsters under Motormaster’s command. There was a time long before the war when Smokey actually looked up to Drag, who had been a member of the Cybertronian Racing Circuit. Back then the diversion expert wanted to join the legal competitions knowing that he had what it took to beat the likes of Drag Strip. However, Smokey’s penchant for participating in illegal street races prevented that from happening. Street racers were frowned upon at the Cybertronian Raceway and were never given the opportunity to shine even if they had the talent necessary to be a star.

Of course, it was all very ironic when Drag Strip eventually sided with the Decepticons while Smokescreen joined the Autobots. It was a true testament as to who the better racer really was. Drag may have once been a star to the masses while Smokey was only known to the local security forces, but it was the diversion expert that ultimately made the right choice when it all came crashing down.

“Well, they certainly didn’t waste any time in creating destruction and mayhem in their wake, did they?” Smokescreen commented to Blaster, returning his thoughts to the here and now. “I bet Prime is assembling a team to engage the Stunticons. I’d love to get out there and help stop those brutes before they cause any more damage.”

And to finally have a chance at challenging Drag Strip to a race! Smokey thought, keeping his true motives to himself.

Med Bay

Hardhead sat quietly as energon flowed into his systems. He felt a lot better now, almost like his old self before the decapitation. His rest was interrupted, however, when Hound exited his CR chamber and noticed that the veteran soldier was doing okay. “Yeah, I’m fine, Hound. It’ll take a little more than losing my head to keep me down for long.”

Then Hardhead bore witness to the verbal tirade coming out of Hex’s mouth in response to a few simple questions that Trailbreaker had asked. The young silver mech had a major chip on his shoulder there was no doubt about that, but it made no sense to take things out on ‘Breaker, who had been in stasis since Area 51 and had nothing to do with anything that happened after that, good or bad.

Thankfully, Ratchet and Axle had a handle on the situation and quickly escorted Hex out of the medical facility, but not without one last verbal jab from the young punk’s mouth. “Never a dull moment around here, huh guys?” Hardhead said, shaking his newly reattached cranial unit. He then looked over at Trailbreaker. “Don’t worry about it, ‘Breaker ol’ buddy. Everything’s fine now. Glad to see you operational again.”

Medbay.

As he was about to answer to Hound, 'Breaker heard a voice coming nearby. He turned and saw Hex speaking. He couldn't beleive what he was hearing, but before he could answer, Ratchet lost his patience threw him out of the medbay.

But even then, when he was being scorted out, he still had something to say. As he thought about what just happened, Hardhead spoke to him. "Yeah, this place is always interesting buddy. There is always something to do. But looks like that kid has a stick in his aft, don't you think? Hahahahaha."

"But he's right. Maybe if I would have been there, 'Bee wouldn't be like that. Or maybe someone else would be like that too." The Black mech thought.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see you too buddy." He then looked at Hound. "And don't you think that I forgot you. It's great to see you guys. But, what happened? What happened in Area-51 and afterwards? How long I have being in stasis lock?."

Command Center

Hot Spot saluted smartly with a smile on his face when Optimus gave him his new orders. He hadn’t been happy to just sit around the base waiting for something to happen but it seemed fortune was smiling on him today. He would finally get a real shot at Motormaster and his little team of goons and thugs. After all of the carnage he had seem them create on other worlds it was going to feel real good to return the favor.

Unfortunately he knew that his team wasn’t prepared for this type of mission yet. He would probably have to goad Groove and First Aid into action and none of the others had taken on an alternate mode suitable to this planet yet. He wasn’t about to waste time on either of those tasks. The Stunticons weren’t going to get away this time.

The Protectobot contacted the ship’s main computer and studied the current active roster. There seemed to be some Autobots he could put together to form a suitable team against the Stunticons. He would miss having his own team out there, but it would also probably be nice not having to make sure First Aid and Groove were actually fighting and keeping Blades under control.

Hot Spot jogged back down the hallways to the bounce chamber. He tapped into the vessel’s communications and used it to contact the Autobots he had selected. “>>Smokescreen, Hound, Lore-Lock, and Hex, report to the bounce chamber immediately for mission assignment and deployment!”<<

He was in the chamber before he even finished the communiqué. The Autobot quickly punched in the coordinates before he was forced to stop and impatiently wait for his team to arrive.

Medbay

Hound is a little taken aback by Hex's outburst, to say the least. "Hex, what's wrong? Shouting at 'Breaker won't help, he's barely out of the CR..." He trails off at the young mech is all but thrown out of the Medbay. Hound scratches his head, clueless as to what sparked all this.

Thankfully, the silence doesn't last too long, as Trailbreaker starts to speak up. "Oh, right, you've been out all this time. Truth is, 'Breaker, Area 51 was ages back. We managed to get the Dinobots back, but the 'Cons got Shockwave too. Last I hear, the Dinobots have flown off to scout the ruins of Cybertron or something. Since then, we've been trying our darnedest to hold back the 'Cons here, but the-" He pauses as Hot Spot of all people, sounds over the comm for him.

"Well I'll be. It's like everyone is coming out of the weldwork today. Duty calls, sorry 'Breaker!!" With this, the scout heads off towards the bounce chamber, hoping that this time, he'll be able to make enough of a difference...

Med Bay

Axle wrestled with Hex as the medic tried to remove him from the Med Bay. As it was tensions were high, and Ratchet certainly didn’t need another distraction. Half way to the door Hex let up slightly, but only to hear what the Bots present had to say. He shot each of them an icy cold stare before he spat out another torrent of hate.

“Never dull when you lose your head, Hardhead!” Hex’s attention then turned to Hound. “Bite me, nature boy!”

Axle let out a grunt as he covered Hex’s mouth and lifted him up off his feet in a bear hug. Now that he was in full control, Axle was able to exit the med bay.

Corridor outside the Med Bay

The smaller form of Hex hit the opposite wall with a resounding clang. He slid down until he was seated on the floor. With a smug smirk etched on his face, Hex looked up at his keeper and let out a quiet chuckle. Axle’s features hardened as he stared down at his ward. He had witnessed many of Hex’s tirades, and this one was no different. However, the timing left a lot to be desired. The kid needed something to occupy him, but with Axle so busy assisting Ratchet, finding that something was just not feasible.

Axle placed his balled fists on his hips as he turned his gaze to the ceiling. He let out a heavy sigh before he reached down and helped Hex back up to his feet.

“Hex, you can’t keep this up. You’re going to say something to wrong mech, and I might not be there to look out for you. You need to put the past behind you and accept your role. We need as much help as we can get.”

Hex snorted in response and shook his head.

“You know as well as I do that there is NO way I can put what happened behind me!” He jammed his finger into Axle’s chest to emphasize his next point. “And you, YOU helped to cover it up! Now you tell me, why is it I put up with YOU?!”

The silver mech backed away slightly. He knew he wasn’t going to get an answer, he never did. Hex leaned his back against the wall as he started to calm down. It seemed they were always doing this. Maybe this is how it would always go.

Axle placed a hand on Hex’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for my part in what happened, but Hex, things need to change.”

Just then Hot Spot’s voice came over the ship wide communications. When Hex’s name was called Axle looked down and smiled. Hex’s optics widened as he shook his head.

“Oh, no. I am NOT going on any mission with any of those goodie goodies.”

“Hex, please. Do this as a favor to me.”

The young mech let out a sigh before he finally nodded in agreement. “Fine. But I’m not promising that I’ll get along with any of them. I’ll go, do what I need to do and come back here.”

Axle gave a nod and went back into the Med Bay. In turn, Hex made his way to the bounce chamber.

Med Bay

Once Axle removed Hex from the room, Ratchet was able to focus on more pressing matters. Since Hardhead was up and running the chief medic turned his full attention to Brawn. The tough mech had taken some serious blows, but his injuries were nothing Ratchet couldn’t handle. Axle returned, and soon they had replaced his missing arm, installed replacement audio receptors. After a little while his internal damage had been repaired and he was put into a CR chamber.

Training Room
Lore-lock was getting ready to blind side a monstrous behemoth when he heard his name over the comm system. He then opened a response channel, >>This is Lore-lock, will I be needing any special equipment, before the bounce?<<

He then thought, half out loud, "I sure hope this has got very little to do with the war. I was sick of the war before this planet, I will be sick of it after. If there is an after? Why can't I just go back to being a simple records-keeper?!?!"

Communications Room

No sooner had Smokescreen made his comment about taking on the Stunticons, especially Drag Strip, than a message came in over the comm line from Hot Spot, ordering him and a few others to the bounce pad for reassignment and deployment in the field. >>"Roger that, Hot Spot. I'm on my way!"<< Smokey then turned his attention back to Blaster and Eject. "Well, guys, looks like I got my wish. We'll have to watch racing when I get back, Blaster. Save me a seat!" And with that, the diversion expert left the room, heading for the orbital bounce platform.

Orbital Bounce Chamber

After making a brief stop by the armory to reload his shoulder-mounted rocket launchers along with his electro-disruptor rifle, Smokescreen entered the chamber where he found Hot Spot waiting for the team to arrive. Smokey walked up onto the bounce pad and saluted the Protectobot leader. "Reporting for duty, sir! I didn't know you were on planet, Hot Spot. If I may ask, are you here alone or will the rest of the Protectobots be joining us, as well?"

Med Bay

Hardhead grumbled under his breath at Hex's remark about his recent decapitation at the underwater crash site. "That young punk's gonna lose more than just his head if I get a hold of him!" The war veteran spoke in a firm but controlled tone. He wasn't about to lose his cool again like before and risk one of the medics sticking him in the neck with something sharp. Instead, Hardhead let Hex's comments slide and turned his attention back to Trailbreaker.

"Well, 'Breaker, you've been out for quite a while, several deca-cycles I think. I've only been on Earth for a short time so I don't know all the answers to your questions. Hound filled you in on some stuff, but if you want more details on what else has happened then I suggest downloading the data records on recent missions from the ship's archives. They should help you catch up on things in no time."

Bounce Chamber

Hot Spot had finished inputting the appropriate coordinates when the message from Lore-lock came in. He had hoped everyone would have just come running after he had called out for them. The Protectobot leader sometimes forgot that not all other Autobots were as eager as he was. It had taken a good amount of time to whip his own team into shape, he certainly shouldn’t expect the same from some random Autobots on a backwater planet/

>>”We will be engaging the Stunticons in an urban setting with Infiltration protocols in effect. We’ll try to herd them out somewhere where we can fight them more openly. Just bring your weapons and be ready to get knocked around on the roads Lore-lock”<<

He looked up as Smokescreen entered the room. The Protectobot offered a smile and returned the other Autobot’s salute. “We just arrived in orbit. The rest of my team is still on the ship, but they haven’t gotten their Earth based alternate mode yet. Since we are going to be going right into an urban center those are going to be a necessity, but I’m not about to wait for them to all get modified.” As he spoke he began drumming the fingers of his right hand on the console. Maybe he should talk to Prime about the response times of the Autobots on this planet, maybe start some sort of training program to get them more up to snuff.

Orbital Bounce Chamber

Hound hears Hot Spot explaining the situation to Smokescreen as he enters the room. "The Stunticons? Oh boy, this won't be pretty...." The Autobot scout needed no introduction to the handiwork of those lunatics, he'd seem them practically carve roads across planets as they engaged in their psychopathic pastimes.

He sighs, and looks to his teammates. "Smokes, you and me will be critical here, to draw them off while Hot Spot leads the others into position to herd them away from the humans. Think I should take one flank while you take the other?"

Command Center

Prime paused a moment for thought. Prowl’s idea was certainly not what he had expected to hear from the ever-stoic military analyst. Normally Prowl was focused like a laser on matters military. To see him taking an interest in the diplomatic side of things, even if it was from the perspective of future military benefit, was a surprise indeed.

“Why don’t you tell me exactly what you have in mind Prowl,” Optimus said. He sat down in the chair opposite Prowl and focused his full attention on him. Whether or not he decided to go forward after hearing Prowl’s plan, Prime would give it the attention it deserved. He had long ago learned that he couldn’t do everything himself, and he had to rely on the talents and ideas of his subordinates if they were to accomplish anything.


Auxiliary Control Room

“Heck, I dunno,” Ironhide replied. Jetfire had wanted specifics as the the make-up and quantity of the energon aboard the transport Blaster had brought in, and the old red mech was utterly clueless. “Mah sensors are pretty good when it comes to armaments - that’s what they’re designed for. But unless ah’m specifically lookin’ fer somethin’ like energon signatures, they just don’t pick it up.”

Ironhide wracked his data banks for any other information that might be helpful, and all he could come up with was: “Ah do know that it was Ravage’s proton bombs that set off the explosion to start with, but that’s about all ah can tell ya. Wish ah could be more help buddy, but everything ah got is in mah sensor logs. Ah’m pretty sure there’s some good readings of the blast itself in there. Maybe you can work backwards from that or somethin’.”

Orbital Bounce Chamber

After making a brief stop at his secure hideaway to grab his crossbow and arrows, Hex made his way through the corridors towards the Orbital Bounce Chamber. He was in no hurry to join Hot Spot’s team, but he did make a promise to do what he needed to do. After some time the young silver mech made it to his destination.

The doors slid open and Hex nonchalantly strolled in and over to the Bots who had already assembled. So far Smokescreen and Hound were there, and now with him the only one they were waiting on was Lore-Lock. Hex let out a heavy sigh. He stepped away from the gathered group.

“Okay so, is there a time limit to how long we have to wait for the straggler before we can leave?”

Training Room

Lore-lock flashed a grin at Blackstrike, "I'll be back to finish this soon enough. It's become clear that I'm needed elsewhere." With that, he froze and saved the simulation before heading to the primary bounce chamber.

Corridors

The grey scout moved with all the speed he thought the mission called for. He arrived at the bounce chamber in time to hear Hex make the comment about time limits.

Orbital Bounce Chamber

With his crossbow over his right shoulder, and his axe in his left hand, Lore-lock nonchalantly made his entry. He then addressed the room, "I sure do hope this won't dent my armor too deeply. I really don't want to lose my aerodynamic advantages, to a fight I didn't actually have a choice in joining." Only after having voiced his opinion did the scout move onto a pad. "Now can we get this over with, I'd like to be able to go back to my active meditations, sooner than later."

Bounce Chamber

Hot Spot looked back down at his console as the other Autobots began filing it. It looked like the Stunticons had separated a bit in an effort to cause as much damage and chaos as they possibly could, typical Motormaster tactics. Now though it looked like they were all toning it down as the trails of wreckage and destruction had decreased significantly. Still, even a significant decrease in destruction for a Stunticon was enough to leave a trail. It appeared that all of them were converging on a single point, one that was fairly deserted. The Protectobot smirked. ‘Big mistake Motormaster, and I’ll make sure its your last,’ he thought to himself.

He looked up as both Hex and then Lore-lock filed in. Hex seemed annoyed but eager to go. The Protectobot leader could certainly work with that. He was used to channeling his own energy and the energy of his Protectobots in a wide variety of projects. Lore-lock seemed the exact opposite though, disinterested in the mission and annoyed to have been pulled from his meditation to go on it. Hot Spot had to stifle a sigh. He was VERY familiar with that type of attitude.

The Protectobot looked over at Lore-lock. “None of us asked for this war, let alone this battle. I doubt the humans asked for the Stunticons to begin tearing up their roads and cities either. Its not a matter of us choosing to go into battle, its about us doing the right thing, as it always has been. I’ll trust you to do that when we get out there. I trust all of you to do that.” He briefly looked over at the other Autobots as she spoke the last part.

With the speeches now out of the way Hot Spot could launch into his quick mission briefing. “Alright, we are going up against the newly arrived Stunticons. You probably know them all by reputation, but if you don’t they are a band of reckless hooligans mainly interested in causing random destruction and mayhem. There standard alternate modes are sleek and fast moving land vehicles, save their leader Motormaster who will turn into something heavier and more imposing.”

He tapped the console to bring up a map of the Chicago area. Red lines indicated the pats of the various Stunticons. “They have already torn a swath of destruction through this urban area. It looks like they are all converging on one point now though. We are going to come at that point from the opposite direction and engage them. Full infiltration protocols are in effect but if the area is deserted enough we will take it to them in robot mode, but not until I give the order or they transform first.”

Hot Spot glanced down at the console again, making sure the coordinates were all input right. He then darted up on to the pad, a timer on the console set. “Now lets get moving!” The others quickly joined him and they bounced out of the base.

OOC: The team now moves to the ‘Stunticons Have Arrived’ thread

Auxilliary Control Room

Jetfire nodded as Ironhide told him about the readings of the blast and suggesting a course of action. However, Jetfire was probably going to have to ask one of the other Autobtos who saw the energon first-hand. It was as good as start as any. He still needed to survey the area itself, especially if he was to determine a means of eliminating the residual energy.

“Perhaps. What Autobots were inside the ship when the fighting occurred. They may know something regarding the subject of the energon itself. Do we have any samples aboard?” he asked the veteran, hoping they had managed to acquire several cubes before the ship itself blew up.

Command Center

Thus far, he got Prime's attention, now he had to make sure he had covered every possible detail that could cause this mission to go horribly wrong. This was indeed a risky one. In fact, he had spent many years working it up just in case the Decepticons forced them into their particular scenario. Everything had to be precise. he sat down and began typing in commands to the console.

“While there are diplomatic goals invovled, there are also military goals that can be achieved, if this succeeds. I spent a few years preparing in case the Decepticons brought about such a scenario.” he said “My primary concern is that we do not end up being fired upon when we finally reveal ourselves to the leaders of this world. The only one who would benefit from such an inncident would be Megatron.”

Indeed, everything, thus far, was working to Megatron's favor in regards to the humans. The actions of the Decepticons were simply going to make dealing with the humans, a problem for the Autobots instead. Prowl was certain Megatron had considered this as one of his long-term goals. Prowl was simply going to counter it in a very risky way, one in which he saw paying off for the Autobots, decisively, if things went well.

“The goal should be to generate an understanding with them through indirect means. The leaders of this world must be made known that a war has been brought to their world, one that is not theirs, and the ones committing crimes against them are the Decepticons. In this case, one, or perhaps two humans that could be taught everything needed to help in initiating a dialog process. Additionally we could learn from them, as well.”

With the basic explanation out of the way, it was time to get to the plan itself, one which Prowl was certain covered every detail down to Decepticon intervention.

“This plan consists of several stages covering a lengthy time-frame, allowing further stages of Infiltration to pass before such contact can be permitted. The first stage could be initiated immediately, if desired.” he explained just before pressing a button on the command console to bring up a file, containing his plan in a text format.

A more summarized version of his plan was projected, as his original draft had consisted of numerous and detailed paragraphs. This was a matter he took very seriously, but even he knew Prime was busy. It was always better to summarize things and to the point. Fortunately, he had made a file containing what was necessary, in his view. The following read:

Stage 1: Scout: A small team of Autobots is deployed across this country to several densely populated areas. This team will be disguised and will scout out possible candidates for interaction. This stage flexible enough to where we can recall the team if required in Decepticon-related activity. They can resume this operation upon the completion of engagement unless specified. In the scenario that two candidates are selected, a human with affiliations to the initial selection will be selected.

Stage 2: Elimination: The initial list of candidates will be minimized, eliminating individuals, from the list, that do not meet the specified parameters for a successful contact. Both their biographical information and psychological backgrounds should be reviewed to ensure the person(s) selected would not run off upon seeing us as we are.

Stage 3: Observation: Another field team will observe the remaining candidates and learn everything they can about them ranging from interactions, to routines, down to life style. It will executed this in a manner similar to stage one. The information gathered will help in planning the fifth stage.

Stage Four: Selection: Optimus Prime, alone will select all details pertaining to the next stage, from the final selection(s), to the Autobot to make contact. Any Senior staff involved will provide Prime with suggestions and ideas. From here, a plan will be formulated to initiate contact, in a thorough manner. The mission itself will commence on Optimus Prime's order alone.

Stage Five: Contact: The assigned Autobot will be sent out on this critical mission to find a means to acquire the candidate(s). This could take some time depending on circumstance. Once the candidate(s) is/are acquired and brought to a remote area, contact will occur. The Autobot will not engage in any action that could further frighten the candidate(s). He or she needs to know harm will not be brought to themselves.

Final Stage: Interaction: Optimus Prime and a select group of three other Autobots will arrive at a specified area and reveal themselves. From there, the first explanations can begin.

“Additionally, I have included a safety protocol.” Prowl said, while giving Optimus time to read through.

“Given the team will be spread out in densely populated areas across this country, it will make finding each team member extremely difficult. We don't want the Decepticons finding out what we are doing. If a Decepticon were to discover one of the team, that team member will abort and signal the ship for an emergency bounce back.”, the strategist explained, anticipating Optimus to bring up the possibility of the Decepticons discovering their plan, let alone locating them. Needless to say, he wasn't betting on Megatron to send Soundwave out on a search mission, not when there were other Decepticons capable of performing such tasks.

Auxiliary Control Room

"Samples. Now that ah can help you with Jetfire," Ironhide replied with a smile. "Just take yer time with those sensor logs and ah'll be back before you know it."

The old red mech didn't wait for Jetfire's reply, he simply got up and hurried from the chamber. As promised, it didn't take him long to return with a small vial containing a sample of the energon the strike team had recovered from Blaster's crashed freight shuttle. Luckily for the scientist, Ironhide not only had sensor logs of the ship, he was one of two mechs on the base that could access the energon without going through Prime first.

"Here yuh go Jetfire," he said, passing over the vial. "Hopefully that's enough fer what yuh need. 'course if it ain't you'll prolly have to make do anyway," he added with a laugh. "Stuff's too valuable to waste."

Command Center

Optimus reviewed Prowl's documents as he listened to the strategist speak. Prowl's plan was, of course, logical, and detailed, but it did have an inherent problem, one Prowl was ill equipped to see. The strategist tended to view everything and everyone as an analyzable quantity, a simple variable. Unfortunately, in Prime's experience, reality didn't always work that way.

"I'm on board with your concept Prowl, I'm just not sure of the implementation," Optimus said finally. "With few exceptions, we Autobots have very little experience in understanding and predicting human behavior. I'm don't think most of the observations we would gather would be all that worthwhile for creating an accurate prediction. I'm afraid we may have to be a bit more direct and take a few more risks rather than take the time to gather a lot of data that may end up doing us no good."

"My instinct would be to find a mid grade officer in this nation's military with a preference for reading science fiction and the like on their internet isolate them and approach directly. If initial contact goes well then we can use their advice to press forward. If not, then his reading habits will make him less likely to be believed should he report the encounter." As he spoke, Prime stood and walked slowly to the main viewer. He turned to face it, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I'll admit I hadn't been thinking down this path before now, and you obviously have, so if you think I'm wrong, tell me now. Otherwise I'd like you to find me a candidate for first contact."

Communications Room

After settling Steeljaw in for his oil treatment and maintenance cycle, Rewind made his way to the main communications room. As he'd expected he found Eject watching innumerable "sports" broadcasts on the monitor screens, and Blaster busily scanning the local frequencies for more of the ridiculous noise the locals called music. With a long suffering sigh, Rewind ignored the others and their recreation, and settled in at one of the auxiliary consoles to actually work.

The first order of business was reviewing the base's communications logs to catch up on what had been going on here and with the war in general. The files were, mercifully, small due to the short time the base had been in operation, but the volume had increased dramatically since Prime had made this his primary command center.

Most of the information was quite mundane. Supply requisitions, personnel reassignments and the like, but several fairly recent coded transmissions caught the archivist's attention. It took him only a few moments working from inside the security firewalls to isolate and decode the baseline encryption to get some idea what was going on. A lot of personnel had been shifted and there were some major resources being spent, but no details were included other than a name. Now Rewind was wondering - what exactly was the Grail?

Command Center

Prowl through for a moment. While he had sometimes questioned, and even disagreed with Prime, he felt his leader was on to something. Indeed, while his plan was devised and well-thought out, it lacked that one thing that separated the strategist form his leader's line of thought, the unpredictability of human behavior. It was a dynamic nobody could ever expect to predict. Prime pretty much took his idea, eliminated some steps, and sought a somewhat more direct approach, aiming at someone inside the country's military. He had to admit, his idea was indeed risky, but it came with benefits they could eventually utilize against their Decepticon foes if it worked. Prowl was certain of one thing, the key to defeating Megatron on Earth, was by allying with the humans and the sooner they made known that there was a war going on, the easier things would be when actual contact finally came.

“You might be on to something Prime.” he said, agreeing. Going with someone in the military would save them some effort and bot-power. “I can begin a search for people stationed domestically that would fit, or come close to, the specified criteria. However, I might add we'll probably want someone that is more technologically 'savy” as the humans say.”

Medbay

The CR Chamber opened with a loud hiss. Brawn stepped out, finding himself in the Med Bay of Ark-19. His last memory was of being at the bottom of the ocean floor, bracing for the blast. But he could remember nothing after that. Th warrior did take notice that he could hear again and his arm had been fixed like new. He did a diagnostic check and say that Ratchet and Axel had fixed him up. He smirked and felt like that an Autobot fresh off the Assembly line. He found Ratchet and Axel still at work on Bumblebee, though the Medbay was rather deserted. Brawn was certain there’s be more Autobots present, with damage, though he got the impression someone probably didn't want the place crowded with Autobots that didn't need to be there at the given time, especially with Bumblebee still being rebuilt.

“Thanks for the fix up guys. The bay's look'in good since that explosion. I'll leave you guys to Bumblebee.” he said. Though he did walk over to where Bumblebee's spark was, looked down and smirked.

“I gave that shrimp, Frenzy, a wallopin' for ya. Get well soon little buddy! We're gonna need ya.” he spoke in a softer tone before walking out of the medbay.

--------------

In the corridor's Brawn decided to head for the Lounge. He could use a well-earned round for his efforts.

Auxilliary Control Room

Jetfire examined the recordings while Ironhide got the Energon sample. When the Veteran brought it, Jetfire turned his attention to it. He thoroughly examined the energon and was astonished by what he saw.

“Fascinating. Prime wasn't kidding, unadulterated energon. I've not seen such energon since before Cybertron shut down. Though, as much as I'd like to know where Blaster got this from, it's probably better off being left alone. Still... it's a remarkable sight to see in this day and age. With one of theses, and the generated output from the blast itself, I should be able to figure out the range of contamination. Hopefully, with a little more first-hand information formt eh site itself, I can devise a proper means of adding to your team's spoils or energon from that ship.” he explained to Ironhide.

At this point, he really had no further need for his help and could proceed. Though, he did have one lingering question, regarding a certain, former affiliate of his.

“So... have you encountered him lately?”, he asked Ironhide, purposely neglecting to mention the name of that Decepticon, though Ironhide would know well who he was inquiring to, every Autobot did: Starscream.

Auxiliary Control Room

Ironhide's lip curled in distaste at Jetfire's last question. It was all the security chief could do to master his expression and not let Jetfire know how disturbing that question was and on how many levels. The scientist's whole tone sounded like a jilted femme still pining after the one that got away, and it really gave Ironhide the creeps.

"Er, uh - not personally," Ironhide replied finally, then raised his comm as if he were receiving a message. "Sorry Jetfire, looks like they need me down at the med bay. Ah'll talk to you later," he added, then hurriedly exited the room.

Ah prolly shouldn'ta done that, Ironhide thought ruefully as he made his way through the corridors. Ah prolly shoulda set him straight, but listenin' ta him talk about Starscream like that makes my armor crawl.

Command Center

"I'm sure you'll have a report for me soon enough Prowl," Optimus said, a smile evident in his voice. The statement was friendly, but obviously a dismissal as well. As intriguing as he found Prowl's new project, Prime did have other things on his mind. He had a war to run, and there was plenty going on.

Not only was Megatron obviously up to something here, their intelligence network had managed to lose track of Scorponok's second expansion fleet, and that was worrisome on several levels. He'd shifted people around for their new project, taken some key 'bots off of their usual assignments, and this was the price they were paying for it. A whole wing of the Decepticon fleet off in space somewhere probably bringing ruin to a whole civilization, and so far he had no idea where that might be. It was enough to give a 'bot nightmares.

And of course, Hot Spot and his team were engaging the Stunticons somewhere in the midwest right at this very moment. Prime itched to be out there in the thick of things himself, but he knew as soon as he entered the fray, Megatron would as well, and then things would escalate, quite possibly out of control. He hated working through intermediaries like this, but if there was any hope, however slim, of keeping this world from undergoing the ravages of the later phases of conflict, he had to take it.

Command Center

Prowl nodded as Prime dismiessed him. While prowl wanted to move quickly, he did not wish to make a reckless move in haste.

"You'll have it within microseconds of it's completion, sir.", he replied to Optimus as he took a seat at a terminal.

Prowl began accessing the Pentagon military personel files, using his search parameters to look for mid-ranked perosnel. However, he took some liberty in where to look. Intuition told him he'd have more success searching for someone stationed domestically, perferably in an operations center. He began sorting through the various profiles as the search began.

Corridors

Brawn walked the halls, comming up to the Auxilliary Control Room where here found Ironhide waiting outside, seemingly bothered by someting.

"Why the long face Ironhide?", he asked the veteran. "You look like you just emerged from a bad diagnostic."

Something was bugging Ironhide, Brawn was certain of it, though he was certain it was probably nothing serious.

Auxilliary Control Room

Jetfire took note of Ironhide's rsponse. There was hesitation and the timing of a signal from the medbay was too cooincidental told him he probably shouldn't have asked to begin with. He'd apologize to Ironhide later. His only reason for the inquiry to Starscream's whereabouts was out of a desire to settle things with his former colleauge when the timing was appropriate. Their last confrontation had been some time ago, before Jetfire had been assigned to deep space.

Many Autobots had their own demons, yet Jetfire was one who felt a greater burden, because he was powerless to stop the 'now' seeker commander when he betrayed him and their fellow scientists to Megatron. Their own tehcnologies they created, used against them and the Autobots and many Autobots fell to Starscream over the years. Jetfire long blamed himself for those deaths but always used each one as his motivaiton to put down Starscream for good.

He turned his attention back to his work as he began implamenting calculations to determine the estimated contamination range and contamination levels. Afterwhich, he'd report to the blast site and then compare his calculations with his findings. Once done, he could re-evaluate his calculations. Then it would be a matter of devising a proper device to isolate the energon from the water. He rubbed his chin as he sorted through his math.

As for blast containment, he had all the information he needed from the sensor readings Ironhide had provided. He already had a counter-measure in mind using forcefield technology that could contain a blast and then fade upon the blast's dissipation. But he would need to develop a working blueprint and run tests on a smaller scale before going full scale to ensure the operability of such a device.

Corridor outside Auxiliary Control Room

"Aw it's nothin' Brawn," Ironhide replied. "Jetfire's on about Starscream again - he's obsessed with ol' Screamer, and ah just had to get outta there. Couldn't make mahself sit through another one uh those conversations," he gave a mock shiver and clapped the stocky warrior on the shoulder.

"Anyways, that's enuff of that, lets head on down to the commissary and grab us a brew. Ah got a special blend percolatin' in the back - oughta be ready about now."


OOC - Optimus and Blaster after work...