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Ark 13 – Bridge

Bumblebee smiled broadly at Ultra Magnus as the huge Commander made his way over to the tactical station. Turning in his seat, the yellow mech looked up to the blue warrior. Bumblebee respected everything Ultra Magnus stood for. Freedom was an issue the miniscule mech took very seriously. It was something he and Optimus Prime had in common.

A sense of reverence came over the minibot as he prepared to make his point.

“Well, sir, I was just thinking, what do you intend to do with the carbon-based life forms on AC488? What I mean is, should an opportunity come along where someone is needed to gather intelligence on the sentient life on the planet, I gladly volunteer to be the one to gather said information.”

With a nod and a smile, Bumblebee gave the Commander a genuine salute to seal the deal.

“In fact sir, I believe that it would be in our best interest to keep a close optic on them to make sure we aren’t discovered.”

With his peace stated, Bumblebee eagerly waited for Ultra Magnus’s response.

Ark 13 ~ Bridge

Carbon-based life forms? That sounds gross.

With all the talk about the inhabitants of AC488 going about, Windcharger was getting distracted form his task at the helm. He had never seen carbon-based life before so he was having a bit of trouble imagining what it would be like, though he had heard that they would be smaller. In a way it made the AC488lings sound like bugs, which would probably be how the Decepticons would perceive them.

"Hey Perceptor. What do we know about the life forms on AC488? Will they be anything like us, but smaller? It'd be strange if they didn't have any arms or legs, ot if they couldn't communicate."

Windcharger laughed at himself. Perceptor would probably think he was just being wierd, but these were the kinds of fanciful thoughts that often ran through his mind. If he wasn't actively participating in an activity he would come up with many 'what if's', much to the annoyance of whoever happened to be around. If he was a bit smarter he could make a good scientist because of his curiosity about the world around him, but as it was he'd rather just have Perceptor explain it to him. He always seemed to have all the answers.

Ark – Bridge

“You’ll get your chance Bumblebee”.

Ultra Magnus allowed himself a small smile as he spoke too the much smaller Autobot. If the Minibot was lacking in anything, enthusiasm wasn’t it. He did raise a valid point however. While the initial primary objective of this mission was infiltration, the more they knew about the carbon life forms they wanted to protect the better. The trick would be finding a balance of gathering intelligence and staying out of sight.

Considering the isolationist nature of this world, its inhabitants only just barely beginning to explore their own solar system, it was unlikely they had yet encountered alien life. Given the overall size of even the smallest Cybertronian, not to mention his own likely intimidating stature compared to their own, it was possible the dominant species of the Planet would be as initially fearful of the Autobots as they were of the Decepticons. Infiltration was their first step on an alien world for a reason.

Ultra Magnus momentarily rubbed his chin in thought.

“There is a population centre close to our landing site, once we have acquired appropriate alternate forms a recognisance mission would be prudent”.

Insecticon Shuttle - En Route to BW778

"Agreed," Ransack nodded vigorously at Chop Shop's suggestion. "The gaskets on that guy, saying that we should be dereconstructed. I really didn't have a problem with him being leader until then. Call me touchy, or overly sensitive," he drawled sarcastically, "but I don't like it when people suggest that I be tortured!"

A chime emanated from one of the consoles in the shuttle. Ransack looked to the console's monitor, and then to Shrapnel.

"Boss, we're about one-point-five cycles distant from BW778 at current transwarp speed," he reported. "We're almost there!"

Almost to our new home...our new kingdom!

The Ark - Bridge

"Indeed, Ultra Magnus Sir. I will designate that as our drop point Alpha, and collate all the data on it." It seemed isolated, but it was centrally placed between several population centres and resource deposits. Grimlock's data was comprehensive on the planet as a whole, but it wasn't incredibly detailed on a local level, and wasn't sorted particularly well. So Perceptor set to work isolating the relevant information.

Silverbolt and Swerve both began asking questions, which Perceptor began tracking down answers to. "Well, in terms of metallurgy, the are is about average in mineral content, but the main issues would be extraction. The crust of the planet is dominated by oxides of all different kinds, which will be much more difficult to remove metals from than the alloy-ores of Cybertron. It would be an interesting exercise, I would very much like to assist you in this, Swerve..."
"Er, as to the potentially more relevant point of avoiding detection...It seems the native lifeforms primarily use Radar for detection, but their detection network is much more encompassing in side their atmosphere than outside. They have some optical sensors as well, but they are not optimised for perimeter security maintenance. If I can possibly remodulate our shields to refract radio-spectrum radiation, we should be able to slip through their sensors and land undetected. However, that would be a risky manuver in a military situation, as it would leave us vunerable to weaponry not based on radio-spectrum radiation. So, er, I'd need permission."

Windchargers question immediately cheered Perceptor up. "Ah, intruiging and multilayered question there, Windcharger. The native life of AC488 comes in an abundance unheard of on Cybertron. Even the most cursory list of species groups boggles the processor, let alone individual variations. But the primary lifeform is similar in bodily structure to a cybertronian in Robot mode, but substantially smaller, comparable to a micromaster. They are constructed of carbon-based materials, mainly naturally occuring polymer chains, thus affording them orders of magnitude less resistance to weaponry than a cybertronian lifeform of their size. Conversely, the reduced weight and transmaterial pliability of their construction makes them superlatively more fuel-efficent than us, and they can survive on the most impure organic energy sources. There is little wonder why they number in the billions, even sharing their planet with so many lesser species."
"As for communication, I'm currently running what language data we have through the computer core. It's inconsistent and fragmented, but I hope to have something workable to incorporate into the upcoming trans-scanning procedures. Hmm...that's something else I should be doing..."

Thanatos - Bridge

An orbital bouncer, a machine used to teleport transformers from orbital ships to the planet below or to other non moving targets not protected against it within limited range. Motormaster had gone through few bounces, none of them all too pleasant. The bounce usually meant a drop of few centimeters to several meters and disorienting feeling for a moment. It wasn't something that could be used to send soldiers directly into combat zone but sending an infiltration unit to this blue planet seen in the horizon was another thing.

"So what do we disguise ourself into? Don't we need to go through modifications so we can blend in before the bounce?"

It was perhaps a stupid question and Shockwave likely just assumed everyone onboard knew what they were doing but Motormaster knew his men. Without proper instruction, trouble would ensue. And truth to be told, Shockwave or Starscream were far better choices than him to tell the unit what kind of alternative modes they should get for this mission.

Thanatos - Bridge

"That," Skyjack said to Motormaster, "is a very ggod question. I think there's a CR chamber involved, right Shockwave?"

Thanatos--Bridge

Shockwave brought up a display on the primary viewscreen. Various images of what the Insecticons had observed on AC488 were cycled for all the Decepticons to see.

"Delarative: You will find alternode mode possibilities stored within the datafile I dispatched to each of your personal registries. Some may prove effective; however, the information acquired by the Insecticons was not exhaustive. In order to assure complete accuracy throughout the infiltration process, it is recommended that you not select your alternate mode until we have made direct contact with our surroundings. From the information I have seen, the utilitarian modes of transportation employed by the natives can vary significantly from region to region. This will be ours," Shockwave said, indicating the display in front of them.

The viewscreen narrowed in on a largely deserted region of the world. The natives referred to it as the United States--more specfically, the Mojave desert. They would establish a base of operations there and branch out as the mission dictated. Shockwave at last rose from his seated position, several wires and other cables retracting back in to the gerth of his bulky, purple design. It was time for them to reestablish contact with the planet and initiate the infiltration process in earnest.

"Imperative: prepare to employ orbital bounce technology and proceed to planet designate AC488."

Thanatos – Bridge

A mission that had initially looked like it was some sort of lifetime sentence to some primitive world where they would die was looking all the more imminently suicidal. Darkwing and Dreadwind.

Darkwing was disturbed at the thought of taking on the primitive form of a human aircraft and then sharing the skies with them. These disgusting little bags of bone, flesh and fluid couldn’t even fly without the aid of separate machinery. They probably careened their aircraft through the skies, smashing into each other and the ground constantly. With their vast population and apparently rapid breeding processes they could probably get away with that as a species, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. If any of those things got close to him he was blowing it out of the skies.

Dreadwind was more horrified at the idea of an orbital bounce. It was a technology that had been used infrequently during the war. When your entire planet was a warzone it wasn’t wise to use the inexact teleporting system. Now they were going to use it to teleport down on to the watery mudball covered with psychopathic flesh creatures. If that weren’t enough to guarantee death, there were also the stories of people never completing the bounce. Their molecules ended up scattered between the point of teleportation and the target area. It was in his personal list of the worst ways to die. Maybe he should just go into stasis before they bounced, that way he at least wouldn’t feel himself being pulled into his base components and scattered through space.

Ark-13 - Bridge

Poring over the data that Grimlock's mission had gathered, Skydive was, predictably, quite interested in the various flying technologies that the denizens of AC488 possessed. As a natural flyer, it was most likely that whatever alternate mode he would take in his reformat would be some sort of aircraft. By sheer necessity, it would probably be a military aircraft. There appeared to be few non-military aircraft whose designs could accommodate the sort of maneuvers in which Skydive regularly engaged. As he looked through the designs, a chime from a nearby console drew him from his research.

"We are two-point-three breems from termination of transwarp journey," the Aerialbot stated from his post at the navigator's station. "Our emergence point is approximately three breems from high orbit of AC488."

He waited to see what the mission commander would order the crew to do next.

Thanatos - Bridge

Starscream studied the intelligence the Insecticons had provided following their own excursion to this backwater blip at the far end of nowhere. Who would have imagined the scuttling rattletraps could be so useful? The data was hardly exhaustive, but it was adequate for their purposes. More than adequate. The Seeker's optics flashed with malicious enthusiasm, his processors whirring with the possibilities. A diamond in the rough, this AC-488. True, it was infested with primitive, carbon-based life-forms, barely evolved beyond the level of bacteria, but those were far too simple in intellect and feeble in construction to present a serious impediment. Certainly, they would be no threat if the infiltration protocols were to be observed.

Establishing a Decepticon presence on this rich bit of cosmic flotsam should prove simple enough, even taking the limited capabilities of the assorted defectives comprising Shockwave's command into account. Once that was done, the disposition of these . . . humans could be re-evaluated. Their capacity for--and apparent infatuation with--random internecine violence could make them useful tools. Why fight a second war when the underdeveloped simpletons were all too likely to exterminate themselves, given the right incentive?

His mouth did twist into a disdainful sneer, however, as he came upon what passed for aircraft on AC-488. Misshapen blocks of glass, plastic, and crude alloys, for the most part, hardly more flightworthy than the average Throttlebot. There was nothing that even approached the lethal elegance of Starscream's natural Tetrajet alternate mode.

Still, he supposed a certain degree of personal sacrifice was to be anticipated.

Digits flying across the command interface built into the arm of his seat on the bridge, he glanced toward the Military Operations Commander. "Orbital Bounce standing by, Mighty Shockwave," he said with only a mild trace of irony coloring his use of the High Commander's customary honorific. "Ready to engage at your command."

* * * * *

Dead End had been content to pass the long journey from Cybertron in silence, tapping listlessly on the cartography station controls as needed. There had been very little worth noting as the battlecruiser had hurtled through the void like an enormous, transwarp-powered coffin, which was perfectly fine with him. Why shouldn't his last cycles among the functioning be relatively quiet? Surely that wasn't too much to ask, after all he'd been through already?

It was, as he had expected, an all-too-brief respite. AC-488 hung in space before the Decepticon warship, a strange blob of water and minerals and biological life run amok. How could they possibly hope to go unnoticed there? If Breakdown didn't start shooting the moment they landed, then surely Wildrider would expose them with his conspicuously maniacal tendencies. That was assuming the Orbital Bounce didn't rematerialize them all up to their faceplates in solid rock, or possibly in the heart of an active volcano, of course.

Personally, Dead End didn't believe their termination would be quite that neat. More likely, it would be a lingering, torturous demise drawn out over the course of many vorns stranded on this Primus-forsaken dust pile. Perhaps energon starvation. Or a lack of compatible spare parts for maintenance and repair.

Any way one looked at it, they were doomed. It was only a question of when.

"Ready for Orbital Bounce," he reported despondently to whoever might be listening. "Let's get this over with before the engines fail and scatter our component molecules over half the ionosphere."

Thanatos - Bridge

Blitzwing sneered at Motormaster's comment. The primitive machines on this wet planet were an insult to Transformers as a whole. He was about to comment only to have his thoughts interrupted by Shockwave's logic. Landing and Alt shopping didn't sound any more appealing to the purple mech. Starscream gave the heads up for Orbital Bounce, causing Blitzwing to turn his visor towards the flier. Blitz was grateful he had a ground vehicle mode because had he been a seeker and under that bucket head's command ... he would have killed himself just to escape the pain of being called a seeker.

“I'm ready, you can test it on me first.”

Blitz spoke as he stood and took a few steps toward Shockwave. He could see the expressions on Deadend, Breakdown, and the Gloom Twins. They were all such Fraggin Cowards. He had a right mind to pull a Motormaster on them with the mech right there to watch.

******
Breakdown groaned as his superiors mentioned Altmodes and cringed at the words Orbital Bounce. The humans would see him if he had to wait until he was on the surface before choosing a camoflauge. What if these primitive beings were intelligent enough to discover they were “Robots in Disguise”?


[size=85]((OOC: Sorry couldn't resist ))[/size]

Thanatos, bridge

After much deep spark-searching, Skyjack turned to Shockwave. "I'm ready. Let's do this." He could only hope he survived the bounce.

Thanatos--Bridge

For all of Starscream's faults when it came to ambition and priorities, the Seeker Leader unarguably had a talent for cutting through the excess and getting right to the heart of a situation. Here they stood at the onset of their latest, full-scale infiltration. There was no infighting about procedure or protocol. The Decepticon unit was simply prepared to carry out its mission, just as Megatron would want.

"Engage," Shockwave commanded simply.

He, like the others, was ready to begin assessing the strengths and weaknesses of this particular location firsthand. The opinions of the Insecticons carried only so much weight.
___

The three components of Reflector each made their way in to auxilliary positions near the Military Operations Commander. Reflector understood that where he went, they would also likely wish to be.

From the images on the datafile provided by the Insecticons, this was a lush and diverse world. It would be most satisfying to compile a visual database of much of its varied landscapes and indigenous populations as a record of what life was like on this planet prior to the final stage of infiltration. After it was all said and done, of course, it would be a much different world.

Thanatos - Bridge

Motormaster wasn't exactly happy about the lack of first hand instructions considering how volatile their crew was but if that was how it was going to be he would gladly leave fixing things to Shockwave and Starscream.

Pushing Wildrider and Breakdown out of his way, Motormaster walked into the orbital bouncer and activated the device, promptly disappearing from the sight of the others as the orbital bouncer disintegrated his body, only to materialize it again few meters above the designated location in the Mojave desert.

Thanatos--Bridge

Blitzwing snorted as Motormaster disappeared.

“Showoff.”

Following suit the Purple triplechanger stepped into the orbital bouncer and felt a rush as he was transported. Materializing at the designated coordinates the mech grinned.

“That was fun let's do it again.”

---------------------------------------------
Breakdown fell to the floor as Motormaster gave him a hard shove. The paranoid con was not enthusiastic about following him down there.
Can't I stey here and man the ship. He whined to himself silently. Slowly his optics came to rest on Shockwave and Starscream ....... perhaps down there was better than up here after all?

With grudging steps the Stunticon entered the bouncer and followed his Boss to the surface.