Protihex-City state

[FrostWhisper]

Silentsong wandered around aimlessly. She was sure that she had received orders at some recent point in time, but she couldn't remember what they were. All she could think about was what had happened to her best friend. Silentsong knew that she should be feeling sad, even guilty, but she felt nothing.... She felt numb to everything.

[Laser]

Laser shook his head. "It is beyond me as well. I cannot fathom his capacity for resistance. Perhaps this good in some instances. This isn't one of them. I cannot even begin to explain the illogical reasoning behind Jumpstart's thinking. I can understand his concerns, however. We just can't act like this. Not now." He frowned and grumbled. "I do not wish to stick my neck out until me and Jumpstart have a more solid understanding of each other. Which means I am reluctant to get involved in this...'vision' business..." He kept thinking about it, honestly not knowing what to do. He was about to give a final verdict when he spotted something--

A massive lantern shone from Laser's chest onto a wandering bot, and he painted the target with a single laser, charging his photon cannon. After precautionary measures were taken, he shouted across to the bot:

"Who are you and what is your business here?"

****************

Chaos!

Room spinning....throbbing pain! Indescribable pain! My head...my head! There was a tiny hole in my chest...put my entire left back was missing--where is my arm? It's...it's gone. I can't find it...so much energon...painted on the back wall in a foggy orange cloud spurt. Gah! What? What's this tingling feeling? It's eating at my finger tips...it's spreading! My systems are on fire! Time is slow..vision is impaired...and everything is so bright...

2 nanocycles earlier....

I was laughing at Ptacon as he struggled in the nearby corner. He was wide eyed and terror stricken. Somewhere along the way, he had figured this was a one way trip. And he knew he was going with me.

"You lookin' nervous, General." I grinned at him from my corner, kicking my feet up.

He glared at me, finding some courage. "What are you doing?"

I answered dumbly. "Trying to relax, why?"

"No." He grunted. "I mean why are you doin' this here charade? It can only end badly."

"I'm the Painted Bomba, General. Things ALWAYS end badly." And with that, a stepped over to him and yanked him up, preparing to load him with explosives. "Lucky for you Ptacon, I'm feeling festive today. So I'm going to stuff a load of detonators up your aft, throw you out the window, and just before you hit the ground, I'll light up the streets like a Cybertronian Independence Day Parade. Down with the Quintessons!" I laughed and proceeded to flip him over as he screamed and protested.

And that's when the sniper shot cut me open.

I flipped off of Ptacon, crying out as my entire left side peeled away from me. The shot was so powerful that it alone drained my energy. I couldn't see where it had possibly came from. I just held on for dear life as I heard Ptacon quietly whimpering in the corner....

I was almost gone when the culprit stepped in. He was tall and muscular, and had the eeriest blue eyes that darted about the room. He walked up to me and injected me with a strange substance, one that brought me back, barely.

"Wake up." He commanded. "I have only a moment to speak with you, Aeron Clink."

"How do you know my name?"

"That is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, I've been watching you, and I've come to make a deal."

That's when General Ptacon interrupted. "Wait a minute...Sharp?...you sunnava glitch! You're dirty! Dirty!"

Sharp seemed calm as ever. "Oh. How forgetful of me."

He casually walked over to Ptacon and shot him twice in the chest with the heaviest pistol I had ever seen.

"Whoa shit!" I couldn't believe this. Why was he doing this? Why was he helping me?

Seeming to read my mind, he explained. "You have spent the last few years terrorizing the public through attacks on infrastructure, but there were good reasons behind all of these acts. Reasons hidden by the media."

I nodded.

"Yet the evil outweighs the good."

"So...why are you helping me?"

"Help? You think I am helping you? Oh, quite the contrary. You are helping ME. You have something I need....something beneficial for the future. You cannot even begin to understand...but I realize you are suffering from cancer, am I correct?"

"How did you know?"

"I didn't. I merely guessed you retracted it from the materials you practically consumed the past decade. Take this." He handed me a small tube filled with a sweet smelling residue. "Smoke it. It will slow down your cancer until I am ready for phase 2."

"...I don't know how to smoke."

"Learn. Your life depends on it." He roughly shoved his pistol into my right hand, forcing me to place heat signatures on it. "You're going to prison...at least until you are executed. At that time, you will pay your dues. Not to society...but to me...."

[Nightmare]

"I'm cold internal and external divided by the internal conflict of where is home and where is my wife taken from me when she was so young. I loved...love her she alive I know it my Gordelia is alive... she a fighter. Perhap, she just as cold as me." Legasus thought.
"Legasus....Legasus....Take the bloody shot and DON'T MISS!" said AI Director J
"Me miss not on your life" Legasus said as he took one shoot.
The bullet flew through the city and found a cosey home in a Decepticon prefect's skull.
"Bloody good shot, now for your reward direct below you is Volulin...he was directly involved in the mur...disappearance of your wife." said J
Legasus shot through the ground and land in an underground cemetry where a cybertonian sat tied in high energon fiber ropes.
" Where is Gordelia?.....or would you rather me just cutting out your memory processor and find out myself" Legasus said
"No..No..I'll tell you... " he said and then he took a deep breath"Me and some partners went hunt for some energon but instead we found a beautiful bot and when I say beautiful I mean beau..."he paused when Legasus gave him a look of disguist and was about to kill him."Ok back to the story we re going to rape her but, a bot landed and killed Charton Me and Vex ran for your lifes."

Legasus walked up to him and said" Where is she now?How do I find her?"
The prisoner said " That all I know the bot had a decepticon symbol on his chest that it.Thats all I know ....honest."
Legasus put his hand on the man's shoulder reasuringly and said" Oh, I believe unfortunately I do forgive you."
Then I he stabbed to energon line in his neck and walked away.
before leaving he said " To be honest death is to good for you so, when your spark explosed from all the excess energy it will reignite and start all over again."
He lefted with the screams of a forsaken man in his ears.
"Screams... how appropriate." Legasus transformered and went back to headquarters.

[FrostWhisper]

Silentsong heard someone ask her something and she turned to them. She saw the huge bot who had helped in the battles with the Decepticons, he was standing in a group of bots. For a moment longer Silentsong was still numb, then she had emotions once again. She saw the bot's weapons pointed at her, she had expected to feel fear, but instead she was angered, though she didn't let it show. "I am an Autobot," Silentsong replied calmly as she stepped into better light and showed the bot her Autobot emblem, the light glinting off of her dark blue and black armor. "My name is Silentsong, What's yours?" She asked, with a blank expression on her face, somehow almost daring him to shoot her.

[DarkXenith]

A solitary flyer scanned the area below for signs of life, the familiar whir of her rotary engine easily marking her position to those below. She was certain she'd heard the call to retreat from Iacon and regroup and equally certain these were the given co-ordinates. Life signs were sporadic, some stronger than others, visually though Aegis was convinced this area had been derelict for quite some time.

Dipping her port-side wing and flaring the opposing aileron, the Spitfire-esque femme banked neatly and began to descend in a smooth curve, broadcasting a standard ID tag that marked her as an Autobot to those she'd detected below:

"This is Aegis to all Autobot allied forces in vicinity. Please be advised I am presently airborne, I have visual on the area and am non-hostile. Repeat: non-hostile. Would someone please be gracious enough to direct me to the appropriate rendezvous location?" [/color]

[Laser]

"Greetings, Silentsong." Laser flipped his guns back offline and nodded in salutation. "My name is Laser. You are amongst friends, child. We are a squad of 10 Autobots."

Laser was beyond happy to see another ally. But he was absolutely joyful when he heard Aegis's transmission. He even through in an:

"Excellent."

He responded: "Copy, Aegis. We read you loud and clear. Our company is situated less than a klik from your location. Follow these coordinates...tag yourself as you come in. We are 11 strong...and we will be waiting."

[FrostWhisper]

Silentsong didn't really like being called child, even if the one calling her that looked ancient, but she held her tongue, it would be unwise to turn her teammates against herself. Silentsong hoped that some kind of defensive system was being set up, because she had a feeling that the days were only going to get worse from here on out. "So, are you in charge here?"

[DarkXenith]

Protihex Intraurban Zone:

"Acknowledged, with thanks," came the courteous response from Aegis, "Will taxi in short of the mark and RV at those co-ords on foot; ground space looks a little congested from up here. Glad to hear you're still functional, Laser. That was quite the skirmish you were involved in Iacon-side...very nasty business, all that."[/color]

Aegis herself had spent the greater part of the battle airborne, seeing off fliers from the opposing force. Luckily, she'd been nimble enough to avoid the heavier bombardments directed her way in the process. Her delay in reaching the RVP at Protihex had been purely down to her slower cruising speed to her airborne compatriots.

The roar of her engine could be heard quite clearly at a short distance as she reversed props and lowered gear and flaps to brake. Making ground, she continued to roll for a short distance, transforming and making her way toward the imposing figure of the guardian.

---

Protihex Medical Centre:

There were certain times Jumpstart would back down on one of his opinionated outbursts, however this wasn't one of them. With his background and the circles he'd moved in, he'd seen some truly horrific things and brushed most under the proverbial carpet given adequate time to process and acclimatise to the various situations.

Some of those horrors had been the direct result of medical experimentation, exploitation on those either too desperate or too incapable of standing their own ground and finding another way out of the situation. This idea of Laser's was teasing at the edge of that notion again and it left the medic feeling very uneasy indeed. What he needed was scientific proof that Vibro would escape the enforced situation unharmed, if that could be gained he'd probably be on side with the effort. Until that came about though, he'd stay firmly rooted on the opposing side of the fence, fighting for the safety of a patient.

True, there was some small comfort to be had from the notion that Vibro had apparently 'conjured' a Prime level being in his crisis delusion, but who's to say that would happen again this time in an enforced hallucination? Venting a low sigh as most of the gathering dispersed, the medic simply shrugged off the situation with a brief comment to Vibro:

"Your call, mech. Talk about takin' one for the team...well, good luck an' I'll be here if anythin' kicks off. Someone's gotta stop that crazy train from derailing an' takin' you with it, right?

That's what they don't think about when they volunteer a mech f' somethin' left-field like this - What are the consequences gonna be for the poor slagger when it all goes aft up?"[/color]

That said, he shook his head slightly and moved away to another area of the room to continue working on bringing the facility back online, leaving Vibro to his own devices and in the apparently capable hands of Tecton. He'd step in when and if needed, but he wasn't about to get directly involved in this episode from the outset. It felt too much like a bad idea that was going to be at someone else's expense.

After all, Laser's own comment had been that he'd been deeply traumatised by similar experiences enforced on him earlier in his life and look at the mech now? Cold, distant and emotionless with the notable exception of anger. The last thing Jumpstart wanted to see was similar consequences for Vibro.

[Towreck]

Towreck grunted. He never realized how stubborn his teammates were untill this very moment. I guess it makes sense though, everyone acting like they were...seeing as how they took a major beating in Iacon not too long ago. Hopefully, more refugees would find their way here, the Autobots were strong, but they lacked in numbers.

As if on cue, Towreck heard a broadcast of an Autobot flying over their airspace, requesting the RV points. Wreck smiled, it was as if Primus himself was reading Towrecks mind. Towreck paused, sliding the artifact, key thing, through his fingers. Towreck gave a small laugh. He wasn't the superstitious type, but he figured there was atleast someone keeping watch.

Turning on his heels, Towreck once again made his way out of the somewhat-still hostile atmosphere of the medical centere and out into the city. He figured he might as well go over to Laser and give a proper 'Towreck' greeting to the new bot. Towreck transformed, and drove his way over to Laser.

[Bivile]

"It's a good thing I found some hospitable life here," Watertight mused to himself.

Now maybe I can hide safely, He added in his mind in a somewhat sarcastic manner.

The ecologist was not ignorant to the recent victories on the Decepticon's side. The fact that they seemed to be winning made him a small bit nervous to say the least. While not violent by nature, Watertight wanted to help in any way he could to help at least even the playing field. Though honestly, he just hoped he could be useful; also not get his head blown off. Yes, being useful and not getting his head blown off sound like a good plan. He'd been aware of a small resistance building up nearby and decided by himself to set out to the location. After only a short time, he happened upon the place. In all honesty, Watertight was happy to see so many Autobots in one area. It offered a sense of kinship and protection. Even so, he was a little shy so he listened and approached sluggishly, especially after the towering guardian had appeared in view. Reminding himself of his alliance, the blue bot assured himself that nothing bad would happen.

Watertight scooted one clawed foot foreword before turning his head up to watch the flying Autobot go over head. As he was looking back down upon the slowly growing gathering of allies he commented to himself softly:

"Why wasn't I told it was a party?"

The mech cleared his "throat" and moved a claw behind his helmet, pretending to scratch away some dirt. Plucking up his morale, Watertight approached in order to introduce himself as a non-threat.

"Um, hello there," He murmured reluctantly, "I'm a friend."