8136/Transformers: Awakening!

Transformers: Awakening!
Date of Scene:	02 July 2019
Location:	Main Bridge, CSS Ark, Mount St. Hillary, British Columbia
Synopsis:	Megatron awakens the Decepticons and retrieves his fallen soldiers. Unbeknownst to him Arcee has awakened too and will soon help as many of the others as she can. Having left with his Decepticons Megatron is unaware that his enemies will soon be reviving as well.
Thanks to:	Thank you to Claremont for facilitating!
Cast of Characters:	Megatron, Reflector, Soundwave, Knock Out, Arcee
Tinyplot:	Transformers Earth: Awakening!
Tinyplot2:	Transformers Earth!

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Megatron has posed:
Megatron has taken his time reaching the Ark's location. Caution is hardly the word for it. So far though there has been no sign of human activity other than a rare helicopter moving overhead to look at the caldera which is still substantially distant enough from the overhang under where the Ark rests in shadow just above a rocky valley.

Traveling as his holomatter avatar, and hiking the entire distance staying under as much cover as possible to avoid human detection, or any Autobots for that matter. Though by now he is completely convinced they are all in stasis lock or dead.

Carefully he makes his way inside, edging his way past the rubble carrying his real self inside the hardcase attached to Zolten Rex's arm. Once inside though the holomatter disolves away and Megatron transforms into his primary form standing inside the Autobot Hangar bay. There are a few unconscious or dead Autobots here. One very large one indeed... but none of his own people. Traveling further into the ship's interior he discovers its layout is standard for its class of vessel making his guess as to where his liutenants location fairly simple. They would have headed to the bridge right away after boarding.

He passes inert forms strewn throughout the ship. He would pause considering destroying the enemies for good ensuring their never becoming a problem ever in the future... but the warrior in him balks at the idea. No, this is not a worthy end for the Autobots. They must be defeated utterly... truly. They must LEARN the error of their ways, their WEAKNESSES and CORRUPTION! They must come to understand the truth HIS TRUTH as he sees it or the long faught war would have meant nothing! Despite everything, Megatron fights for them as much as anything. Their deaths in battle are only a necessary evil. A means to an all too vital end. With him as their rightful ruler.

He passes into the command center. There they are! Such a battle it was! Even there, Optimus is prone... it would be so easy... but no! Never, not this way! No there is work to be done. Let them rot here in obscurity. Let fate decide if they ever return. For now Megatron will return to Cybertron soon and win the war. Then perhaps he will return and revive them to their new reality.

The computer systems are intact... a single probe... and enough power to lauch it! "Yes! Now..." he operates the computer controls. "Revive the Decepticons only. Find them appropriate Alt-modes for this planet and re-energize!" he instructs Teletran One.

Reflector has posed:
Normally the main battle aboard the Ark would not of been a place Reflector would of been. But when you were storming the heart of the enemy craft, it paid to have optics watching your back. So the trio had been the rear guard with their formidable optical capabilities to keep tabs on the other Autobots and help hold the security trying to corner the Decepticon assault team on the bridge between them.

That was a long, long time ago. But Reflector had not fallen far from that position when knocked off-line in the crash.... Though there was only one of the robots, the one with the closed aperature in the middle of his torso, sprawled amongs the other inactive Cybertronians. The other two... Well, Megatron is one of the few that know the real story behind that.

Considering his peculiar non-vehicle alternate mode, it might take the probe a bit to find a suitable reconfiguration...

Soundwave has posed:
Soundwave's inert form lays pressed up against the downed form of an Autobot the two piled against forward wall of the bridge, all of his recordicons that joined him on the boarding attack laying scattered about him while his face plate impassive as ever, minor scorch marks of wounds covering his armored plating as his eyes barely glow, a dull almost lifeless throbbing as they have for the decades the Ark lay buried his currently dormant shoulder cannon lined up with the entrance to the bridge..

Megatron has posed:
From deep within the Ark, a series of machines come to life. A port opens within the computer center of the Ark and a small satellite drone comes to life. It lifts from its storage recepticle and launches itself through a network of conduits out through the Ark's launch bay and then finally into the sky where it takes on fantastic speeds. It begins scanning the planet Earth taking in information about its population, technological levels, and other relevant data. Soon it begins to scan for appropriate alt forms as a second probe comes to life within the ship and begins hovering over Reflector, then Soundwave, and finally Knockout. It had scanned others but they were not responsive and were in need of further repairs.

At each Decepticon an energizing beam lances out transmitting information to be stored in their T-Cogs and giving them just enough energy to take them out of Stasis lock. They will have whatever energon reserves remain to them after their long respite. Enough perhaps to awaken fully and gather more. Along with the alt-mode data comes some basic Earth information allowing them to access language files and a general geographical and navigational outline.

Megatron watches carefully as this process takes place. Nodding with approval at each form the computer chooses, interrupting only if he thinks it is too... unusual for the cuture of this planet or useless in design for his needs.

Unseen by Megatron is Arcee's presence partially buried underneath Knock Out. She is obscured by fallen debre and a large portion of Knock Out himself. She doesn't get the direct beam from the energizing ray but it is enough to rouse her slowly enough to let her realize her situation. Internal chronometers from a quick stellar scan, and are updated and the long Earth years, surprisingly almost identical to that of Cybertron, that have passed become known almost immediately.

Knock Out has posed:
Against all better judgment, Knock Out had joined the boarding party from the Nemesis to the Ark. Back home, he was a peaceful enough mech, having made the move from Velocitron to Cybertron. More specifically, Ibex, where he had a successful thing going managing the racing circuit and body modification industry on the side.

Then, the Decepticons came, made him an offer he couldn't refuse. In truth, the choice was rather easy: accept it or wish he had. The chance to do more of the things he enjoyed in the 'lab' was a nice side benefit, and he got to work on creating things for himself and others, along with running numerous..experiments.

Which led to here and now. When the Decepticons boarded the Ark and attacked the Autobots, Knock Out and Arcee had been in the midst of combat when it happened. A crash. Stasis. Cycles and cycles of stasis. He'd been just about to jab at her with his energon prod when everything stopped.

Now, it was starting up again, wonder of all wonders. Red eyes flickered back on, he saw his target, prepared to finish her off...and promptly toppled to the floor of the bridge, creaking, stiff, nowhere near optimal. The prod itself? Empty, apparently.

"Scrap..."

What was happening? Where was he? It looked familiar. Everything was so low-power, though. That never would have been a problem on Velocitron, not with the solar energy they harvested. They didn't even /need/ energon like the slower robots. "Hmm. Initiating surface scan." Even that wasn't working the way it should have. A panel in his arm seemed to fight with itself just to slide open, and that's when his eyes began to widen. "No," he whispered, fear clouding what came from his voice center.

Then, the truth: 200+ years of dormancy did a number on that paint job. 200+ years, and whatever filth had somehow made its way into the Ark via some unknown breach. That pristine paint job: ruined. That glossy finish: dull and beyond average. And were those..was that..did some creature build that in one of his vents? With what little energy was coming back to him, even as he began to download an alt mode for the planet he was on, Knock Out let the entire Ark, no - the entire /world/ know his pain:

"My finish! NooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Arcee has posed:
Energon Prod indeed. I mean when someone starts getting desperate I suppose it calls for desperate measures. At least a couple of the Decepticons that will not be getting back up scattered in the rubble of the bridge are Arcee's fault.

Honestly Arcee was about to poke Knock Out back with her dual plasma swords, which would not have helped his shiny paint job at all. Nor his love of keeping limbs or his spark intact.

Then it all went to hell and cycles of stasis. Emergency systems. Damage. Problems. Like a console falling on her as they crashed partially burying her. The computer starting to cycle and awaken, well things happen and maybe that is it. That or maybe it was the cry of Knock Out in peril of needing a good waxing. Baby.

On any regard Arcee starts to cycle aware, the eye buried by the console flickering on and then after a split moment flickers back off.

This is not the time to try to stab anyone Arcee.

Reflector has posed:
Somewhere out there in the world the probe searches. Earth has nothing easily found on the same technical level and capability, but the probe finally finds something with a similar form at least. It would serve as an alternate mode in appearance well enough, and the Cybertronian technology within would maintain Reflector's advanced abilities.

The unit inside the Ark goes about it's business, scanning, transfering information, and then moving on it's way. It takes a passing moment before the main Reflector unit's optics flicker a few times and then finally solidify in their red glow. "Ugh." One hand rests on the deck to push himself to sitting, the other going to rub the side of his helm. "What hit us?"

And then Knock Out starts freaking out over his appearances. Some things do not change.

The green and purple Decepticon climbs to his feet. Knock Out's tantrum is also a good attention getter, and by the time anyone is looking at Reflector again a few moments later it would appear as the rest of the trio must of been nearby in the myrad of bodies lying about as they've also recovered. "Lord Megatron, it is good to see you functional." They're doing the slightly creepy speaking as one thing at the moment, mostly because it takes less processing power than individualizing his dopplegangers right now.

One of them is making sure to at least get a few shots of the medic's haggared state though. It's the way Reflector is. Always watching, and hording what they see.

Soundwave has posed:
Consciousness is slow to come to Soundwave as the energy washes over him. Even before fully conscious the split in his chest plate pops open a large iris like opening sliding open with the sound of steel on steel as several inch thick cables start snaking out reaching even the furthest recordicon as the energy he receives is split among his Recordicons as the glowing pulse in his eyes starts to grow brighter, the pulses more rapid.

There's a sudden pulse of mental 'static' as well as the last five seconds of the events in the bridge broadcast out to everyone around him before he's conscious and moving out of sheer reflex. A veteran of the war he quickly rolls to the side and up to one knee the new and foreign data upload automatically getting shunted to a quarantined sector of his data stores for safe perusal at a later date. The thick cables forcibly causing his recordicons to shift and shrink into simple spheres before they vanish into his chest his shoulder cannon flaring to life before sputtering and powering down again.

"Lord Megatron." comes the monotone voice of Soundwave as he moves to stand, the energizing probe shifting to continue feeding much needed power to his weakened form as he slowly lifts himself up to his feet.

Megatron has posed:
Megatron rolls his eyes. ((That would be Knock Out.))Oo. he thinks to himself. He turns as the others begin to awaken. "Ah good, Reflector is online. He can make drone copies to carry the others outside." he says to himself as he waits to be noticed. Unlike them, his own paint is back in proper order. There are a few battle marks from recent events, but otherwise he is in perfect condition. Nearly fully energized and ready to go into battle if necessary. He turns and looks at Teletran One's readouts on the conditions of his other soldiers. He frowns as the data pours in. "Very well, Teletran One, transmit alt-modes to their T-Cogs anyway, we can repair them later on the Nemesis." he instructs to the computer. He then adds, "Teletran One, delete all records of the recent activity as soon as we depart this vessel. Then proceed to return to standby and power-saving mode."

Again Megatron turns and raises his voice to be heard clearly, "Yes, awaken, my Soldiers! Gather close much time has passed and we have much to do!" he says with authority in his voice. "Ah good, Soundwave! You will be vital! Reflector! Come and get some extra energy from me. We need your cloned drones to extract the others outside. Quickly. I do not wish to remain here any longer than necessary!" He raises an arm extending his hand to Reflector offering to transfer energy directly to him.

Knock Out has posed:
"..Lord Megatron?" Knock Out cannot believe his optical sensors, for the supreme ruler of the Decepticons has come to finish off the Autobots? "We're..leaving? When you have them right where you want them? Did we not board them to.../Reflector are you taking images of my horrid state?/"

Huff, huff! The nerve! The ignominy! The embarrassment! "Delete those!"

It's probably to his benefit that he's already more or less kneeling in the right position to show proper fealty to Megatron, but that's not really the foremost thing on his mind right now. "I need my best buffer! Where is it? Oh no, it must be back on the Nemesis, and these..these /Autobots/ wouldn't know a good finish if.." He goes about trying to cycle through to form at least something he can use on himself, one saved for spot touch-ups in the field, then he realizes it's going to take far more than that to put him to rights again.

"Nevermind. We must be away from here immediately!" Staggering to his feet, grinding sounds lead to him looking aghast once more. "Am I../creaking?/"

Arcee might as well not even exist as he tries to use the dead prod as a cane, a walking stick.

Reflector has posed:
"As you command," the lens-bearing Reflector robot replies as he walks up to the much more formidable figure of Megatron as ordered.

Manual labor wasn't high on their list of duties, but desperate times. It was critical they did not dwaddle around the enemy craft long. The body doubles could use their shields as makeshift gurnies if need be to carry the unresponsive out. Plus Reflector could use their infra-red scanning and his archives of information on various faction members to identify others and ensure they only take Decepticons with them.

One of the others turn to look at Knock Out at his pouting. He doesn't say anything, just gives the medic a knowing look and hint of a smirk before going to fufill Megatron's orders.

Soundwave has posed:
Feeling better by the deciklik Soundwave says nothing, scanning the bridge and making note of all he sees "Shall I access the ships computers to set it's core to overload Lord Megatron?" He asks in the same emotionless tone he greeted their leader in, his eyes fixed looking down at the dormant form of Optimus Prime. "With the damage the crash must have taken, it should not take me more than a breem to set the cascade failure." He offers calmly the functioning near sociopath making the offer the same way as an organic would offer someone tea.

Arcee has posed:
Lord Megatron and at least three Decepticons. No noise or such to make her think there are any autobots that are active right now. Also one of them Reflector and his drones.

Not good odds Arcee.

She continues to play dead there under half a console as she steels herself and waits to see if she has to try to take all four of them.

Not good odds.

Though if they decide to start blasting the downed autobots or blow up the Ark's core.. well that will be a problem.

Megatron has posed:
Megatron says, "Leave the Autobots! Leave their systems as they are. We may need to return to salvage more from this wreck. This is not a fit end for them. No... WHEN they are defeated it will be utterly, completely, and they will KNOW the error of their ways! We will return and awaken them once the war is over. Then they will see the better world we will have waiting for them and they will know their sins for what they are. Weakness! Corruption! Autobot ideology and LIES!" He then looks over to Optimus Prime, "Prime... Prime especially will be made to answer for his crimes! But not now. That is an Order! Understood?" he says with as much venom as he can muster in his voice.

He then turns and looks at the computer's readouts once more. "Soundwave, gather as much data as you can from Teletran One. It may prove useful in the future. Now! Quickly! The rest of you, siphon some energon from my reserves. I need you capable of battle if necessary. After this we will go to a staging point to prepare for deep salt-water submersion. The Nemesis, or what is left of it, is located in one of this planet's oceans. The waters are occupied by a race of sub-humans called Atlanteans. They are territorial and aggressive. We will avoid encountering them if possible but I want us ready. With luck some of the Nemesis may be left intact." He does not say any more lest some portion of recording devices remain active on this ship separate from Teletran One. Though he gives a nod to Soundwave to see if he can see it resting on the surface of his synaptic processors and tacitly giving the mind-reader permission to peek... Limited in scope.

Great plans he has. Many and varied. Some short term some very long term indeed. Permutations and calculations. A confusing array of possibilities and outcomes but all leading to one inevitable conclusion. His supremacy. First order is to discover what remains of the Nemesis, first and foremost in his mind along with its location. "Now hurry. I said I did not wish to remain here any longer than necessary. The volcano is unstable, and I do not wish to be caught buried in another landslide. Get our other soldiers out of here now." he states clearly, calmly, and with all authority."

Knock Out has posed:
There are hands aiding Knock Out back to more of an upright position, and he positively /grimaces/ at the sound of something of his scraping against something else of his. "This is..the worst thing imaginable," he laments, at least capable of displaying a very 'woe is me' expression, if nothing else.

Realizing who it is guiding him along, a Reflector clone to either side of him, the medic and inventor turns saccharine sweet with him, voice lowering for only his auditory receptors. "Oh, Reflector. I did not /mean/ to snap at you, but when I saw the state I was in..surely you understand. If you'll do me one small favor and erase that footage, I'll make it worth your while. A free modification or two once I'm myself again? I'm certain I can upgrade your zoom capabilities. What do you say?"

Creeeeeeaaaaak.

"Oh, the horror."

Was Megatron saying something...? No matter. As soon as he can transform, he'll be gone from this nightmare, hopefully never to return. Just a little sip from Megatron first. "Oh, yes. That will do nicely."

Another pause. Another look of shock. "Did you say...deep salt-water submersion? If that's where the Nemesis is, and my best buffer, I..can live with this."

As soon as he's able, he transforms - an Aston Martin - and sputters on out of there. So this is what it's like to be slow.

Reflector has posed:
It's actually a tempting offer. Who knows what dangers this world will hold for them. But Reflector was too shrewd to jump at the first oppritunity, plus there was the little matter of time. Or the lack of therefor, to make a proper negotiation and take advantage of Knock Out's own vanity. As well as Megatron making very convincing/intimidating orders to work quickly.

"We can discuss.." "Arrangements at a less.." "Critical limit of time." The two assisting Knock Out go back and forth with their murmured response.

The medic would be needed to assist in getting others functional again, so it made sense to get him clear first and foremost.

Once he's gotten the additional charge from Megatron to keep his replicants operating longer the main Reflector salutes, replies with a curt "As you wish Lord Megatron," and hurries off to assist his clones in their task.

Arcee has posed:
By the Primes.

Well maybe not they were mostly power hungry assholes.

Still maybe Arcee will get a wish to come true and Knock Out will rust out in this planets salt oceans and she won't have to ever hear him whining again. Or maybe Soundwave will blast him. Or maybe these Atlanteans.

Still she stays very still and keeps her optics powered off as she lays there. She has intel and hopefully once they leave she can revive some of the others. It would be a pain in the chassis if she is the only surviving Autobot.

Soundwave has posed:
"By your command." he responds to Megatron, reaching into the mind of the Decepticon leader doing it imprecisely so his presence is felt before nodding and moving over to one of the intact stations of the ship, his hands splitting open to allow small cables to flow out and insert themselves into the console. Lights start flickering and he starts copying, the spy and hackmaster working through the firewalls as quickly as he can splitting his attention between the task given him, and giving the last few minutes of footage an extra scrub that'll help Teletran One's erasure.

Megatron has posed:
Megatron watches his soldiers move in a flurry of activity. Extracting information. Retrieving the fallen and removing them. Yes, if he were inclined to call them friends he would... but that is not in his nature. No, but it certainly feels good to see them moving under his command again. This experience on this disgusting and terribly vermin infested wilderness called Earth has not been a good one. He will have to remain for a time, and even later when preparations to depart are made he will have to leave a contingent here to keep an eye on these Humans. They involve themselves too easily in the affairs of others, even somewhat out in the universe abroad despite their non-spacefaring level of development. They are not to be trusted. With luck they will destroy themselves. They seem on the verge of that even now, but he doesn't trust them to do the job all on their own.

In short order the Ark is evacuated and Megatron soon follows giving the final command to Teletran One to wipe its records. Once outside Megatron orders everyone some distance away... he then raises a small human-made transmitter. He activates it and there are a series of detonations far above the Ark itself and a landslide begins to descend raining boulders, mud, dead trees and foliage, and ash from the recent volcanic eruption down over the overhang. It buries the Ark concealing it completely but not so deep that any awakened Autobots inside cannot dig their way out with a little effort. Megatron assumes that it is buried well enough now to prevent the possibility of human discovery. Good, let the Autobots slumber. There is a war to win!