Epsilon began to walk forward into the Ground Bridge.
(@Chromeharpoon). The Heretics may notice that Zepar was glaring at them, the anger in his eyes not directed at them but at Bludgeon’s plan and how it was much alike the one Nova, who was never called a Prime by the Angelicons because the coup attempt failed and he was never actually given the title, had.
Gatecrasher followed, but Laslow lagged behind, waiting to see what would happen first.
Gearbox shrugs.
“Dunno,” he says. “He was never really specific on that part.”
“Most of us were good with the ‘get somebody with a mostly-working brain module running the Empire’ part of the plan,” Shakedown adds.
The Savant’s AI studies the diagrams and miniatures in the control room, their gaze lingering on a model of its vessel within the components of the replica of Salvation.
“Huh. Is that right?” Salvo reacts. “Heh, I’ll bet Starscream set him up to get fragged; wouldn’t be like him to share all that power of his, after all.”
“Anyway, how’d that all play out? With you and the rest fighting Nova Storm, I mean.”
“Aww…” Thrift sighs, disappointed.
@BlackBeltGamer98 @Jcton @ProfSrlojohn
Deus palms a button on the control pillar, and the ground bridge hums to life. V-shaped panels on the inside of the ring flutter as a green and blue vortex materializes inside the structure, swirling rapidly and sending out tiny bolts of energy that arc along the shallow water.
Deus looks around the lagoon, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. The homunculus faces the group and shrugs his shoulders.
Guess it works, his facial expression reads.
“Splendid!” Thrift congratulates him.
Zepar looks at the AI, “What’s on your mind?” He asked, looking at the diagrams.
“Let’s go.” Epsilon said, “Seems safe enough.” He began to walk through the vortex.
“You first,” Laslow gestures with a sweeping arm motion.
Gatecrasher steps into the bridge.
“Then tell me about his entourage. Start with… Let’s say Strika.”
@Chromeharpoon
“Well, in the first months to a year we didn’t even knew that it was him leading the action. We were traveling from a corner of the planet to another slagging his army, which was mostly made out of Seekers, but also volunteer Decepticons, like this renegade: Roadkill.” she said, introducing the guy into her story.
The chamber was a cavernous room built from black and grey metal, marbled with veins of varicolored cybermatter, like the rest of the facility. The ornately-crafted walls curved high overhead, forming a vast dome with a round hole at the top, allowing sunlight to fall into the room. Apart from the cybermatter and the natural light, there were no other sources of illumination.
Thirteen gargantuan columns rose from the floor, cracked with age, adorned with gigantic silver statues of the original Primes and their weapons- the Star Saber, the Requiem Blaster, the Enigma of Combination, and so on. Liege Maximo’s monument, however, had been smashed to pieces- likely a deliberate action, considering the Prime of Lie’s role in bringing about the fall of the Golden Age.
Facelift and the kidnappers step into the room, and they cyclops whistles as he surveys the chamber.
“Wow…” he breaths, stupefied.
Then, overhead, a flickering blue light flashes between the pillars as myriad of holographic rings materializes in the air, accompanied by strings of white cyberglyphics and fields of stars. The rings spun, leaving an array of empty circles in their midst.
The reason for the empty spaces would become apparent, if Spectrum noticed the massive metal spheres resting in craters on the floor all over the room. Some were clearly meant to represent the cybertronian worlds- the largest of the spheres bore the likeness of Cybertron’s sprawling megacities, and features of Gigantion, Junkion, Hecate, and the rest could be seen on nine others throughout the room- but eleven orbs scattered along the edges of the chamber were featureless, save for each one bearing the sigil of one of the Thirteen, excluding those of Optimus Prime and Liege Maximo.
In an instant, the party would emerge from another ring perched above a high cliff overlooking the ocean. Waves crashed against the rocky shore far below, heard just barely above the hum of the ground bridge. The green glow of the machine’s vortex bled over the surrounding earth and techno-organic plants, which rustle in the soft wind.
Our heroes had emerged facing the ocean, where beneath the waves, they could see more of Planet Omega’s vibrant fissures, woven between great chasms of white light that threw wispy curtains of energy up into the afternoon sky.
OOC: sorry I didn’t have any music for you earlier, Meep. I couldn’t find one that fit 'til now.
IC:
“…With the technology here,” the AI says after a pause, “it is possible that we could dismantle the Inquisitive Savant and integrate some of its components into the Salvation.”
The hesitance with which the AI said this made it sound like there may have been some sort of catch to this… outside of the obvious.
“What’s to tell?” Shakedown says. “Built like a d*mn fortress, she is. I heard she could beat Grimlock senseless on his best day.”
“That big gun on your ship’s nose better be working,” Gearbox quips. “You’ll need it to take her down.”
“Uh-huh…” says Salvo, nodding.
“No, I mean, don’t you know anything about why she joined Bludgeon? Anything about why any of his generals joined him?”
Blackbeak was looking curious at the two, as if trying to understand thrir story.
Delta sat down next to him.
“Roadkill and Aridocara were like these weird duo. You know those old cartoons in which the good guys kill all the generic bad guys except for a select few that were too expensive to render, and so they show up in every episode, even if it doesn’t make sense to be there? Yeah, that’s them.”
Gatecrasher stood, looking out over the ocean.
“Beautiful” he says simply.
“What are you afraid of?” Zepar asked.
Epsilon tried contacting Facelift again.
The four Decepticons look to one another.
“Well, he bought Lockdown, so he’s pretty easy to figure out…” Gearbox says. “…I think.”
“Obsidian… well, I thought he hated Bludgeon, so that beats the Pit outta me,” Tossup comments. “And I think Strika just followed him along.”
“And Thunderblast,” Shakedown adds, “well, it wouldn’t shock me if she’s got her own plans for the Omega Lock.”
“…Okay,” Salvo says, “I’m not sure I’m tracking that analogy exactly, but okay.”
“Among those components…” the AI says carefully, “are certain parts from an AI core. To enhance the Salvation’s computers…”
All Epsilon would get in return was static. Their were powerful energies at play here- our heroes could feel it in the air- and that was likely wreaking havoc on their comlinks.
Gatecrasher continued to stare out over the ocean, drinking in the beautiful sight.
“What if your AI program was installed into the Salvation completely?” Zepar asked.
Epsilon growled and asked if anyone had a flare they could send up to try and see if Facelift was in visual range.
“My shells would be fairly bright, but they might alert hostiles in the area.” gatecrasher responded, not looking away form the ocean.
“Well, do you have any other ideas of how to find Facelift?” Epsilon asked, genuinely wanting to hear any ideas the others would have.
“I’m the fastest one among us.” Stated Laslow form behind him, “I could take a loo around.”
“Those of us who can fly should probably head up to see what we can find.” Gatecrasher added.
Epsilon was definitely considering those ideas as he looked around for any nearby clues as to where Facelift may be.
Gatecrasher turned back to the ocean.
@Jcton
A gold cybertronian jet swoops down toward the bridge, assuming robot mode and dropping down onto the metal before Corona. The bot whispers quietly into the prophet’s ear, and she listens carefully.
The AI solemnly shakes their head.
“Yours is a fine ship,” they say, “but it could not sustain me as I am, even with all these upgrades. But my core’s components could be broken down, reverse engineered to enhance the Salvation’s automated systems, defenses, computer networks…”
“…And perhaps give Motherboard something of a personality,” the construct quips with a sad chuckle.
Thrift steps forward.
“On it, boss man!” the junkion accepts. The trader transforms into a human-made aircraft with two great turbines hanging off its sides, and begins to climb into the sky.
Behind the ground bridge ring was a wall of techno-organic trees- the entrance to a thick jungle. Shafts of varicolored light could be seen shooting up into the sky from beneath the canopy far ahead. But of Facelift, there was no sign.
Far into the horizon, Gatecrasher could see the twin cliffs between which Salvation had landed. The silhouette of the dismantled Fleetcarrier herself may even have been somewhat visible, too. The ground bridge had taken them to the mysterious continent in the south.
“What if you had the ship upgraded so it could sustain you?” Zepar said after chuckling at the comment about Motherboard.
Epsilon looks for tracks that weren’t able to be attributed to the local fauna, perhaps such a find could lead them to Facelift?