Transformers: Alone and Unafraid

[rhoenix]

Farshot nodded. "Understood," he said, as small ports on his forearms opened up, and a greyish-silver mist sprayed innocuously outward for a few moments, appearing to dissipate within a few centimeters. "Smartfog deployed."

Closing his eyes at the sudden massive influx of information bombarding his senses, his first criterion for the search was all Cybertronian life in the vicinity, as the swarm was spreading outward.

[LadyTevar]

"Laserbeak and Ravage were exceptions," Shimmer said, her head turning to give Deathstrike a small grin. "I was thinking more of Rumble and Frenzy." The 'twin' minicons were well known for being just as Shimmer described: small processors, big mouths.

Talking did not interrupt her concentration in the least, as the prop Shimmer was using to scan the natives was not her true sensor suite. It was a distraction, something that drew the eye and hid the fact she was actually scanning 360* around her.

Farshot's smartfog appeared on her sensors, expanding outwards from around him to do his own search. Once identified, she filtered it out of the incoming data.

[General Havoc]

And this, thought Cavalier, is why he preferred solo operations.

Not that there was anything wrong with sweeping the station for minicons or infiltators. Primus knew that there could be any number of things present here, and it was probably only good sense. Probably. To be honest, minicons weren't high on Cavalier's list of things to worry about. Any minicon who wanted to jump him by surprise was, as Cavalier saw it, welcome to give it a try. Obviously, given an army of organics around, not to mention a space station, that was just not an option. As he said, there wasn't anything wrong with sweeping the station, but it wasn't his preferred modus operandi. One of the advantages of being a tank was the ability to ignore anything not capable of harming you, and as far as Cavalier was concerned, minicons fell into that category.

"I'm wasted on scanning," said Cavalier, trying to sound as laconic as he could. Most organics saw Cybertronians as machines first and foremost, and that was usually the first step Cavalier took with new ones. "But I wouldn't mind taking a look 'round. Just to see the sights and all."

He wouldn't have been Cavalier if he hadn't added a bit of overconfidence.

"I think I can manage if a minicon decides to show himself in my presence."

[rhoenix]

Farshot's golden optics opened, as he glanced toward Cavalier with a smirk. "If Commander Deathstrike and the good beings gathered here are right, Cavalier, you should be far more concerned with the Minicons you don't see. We'll have the place scanned soon enough, and we can go from there."

The smartfog (a much better term than "sensor-swarm," Farshot thought idly), had annotated Shimmer's scans already as their area expanded. The data was added to her profile within Farshot's encrypted database, and filtered out of the scan results. Farshot had to admit to being impressed at the versatility of Shimmer's sensors though - made for a far different use than his smartfog, but just as effective.

[Lys]

"I used to work with a couple of Minicons," Blastcap said nonchalantly, "a long time ago. Their names where Chrome Viper and Subtle Knife, both specialists in infiltration and sabotage. In the lead-up to the Valores Campaign, I had them infiltrate the enemy's HQ above Valores IV. It was an impressive thing: a huge rock clad in armour plating under multiple layers of energy shields. I had them go inside a good eight months before we actually started the assault on the system. Them and 20 kilos of antimatter. Few days into the campaign, and the enemy's nerve centre was suddenly gutted in a flash. They never recovered the initiative. That is what concerns me."

[Cynical Cat]

"Rumble and Frenzy almost always got the job done and that counted," said Deathstrike. "They were not the brightest warriors to grace the ranks of the Decepticons, but with Soundwave leading the team they didn't need to be."

[frigidmagi]

The scans found nothing, but that only meant that the surrounding area was immediate clear. The troops in the bay shifted slightly, only a Cybertronian would have noticed, the VIPs muttered among themselves at this revelation.

The System Commander was silent for a time before finally speaking.

"Force Commander Deathstrike, perhaps I could conduct the introductions while your... Signals Officers conduct their search. We have much to discuss, strategics, logistical and otherwise." System Commander Father Dai said.

[Cynical Cat]

"Please do," Deathstrike replied. "My officers are quite capable of handling these matters independently."

[LadyTevar]

Shimmer put away the prop scanner, turning away from the gathered beings to look at Farshot. "My results are negative for Cybertronian tech, other than our own. Do you concur?"

The other data that she had acquired during that scan she saved to analyze more depth later.

[rhoenix]

Shimmer put away the prop scanner, turning away from the gathered beings to look at Farshot. "My results are negative for Cybertronian tech, other than our own. Do you concur?"

Farshot looked down at Shimmer, and shook his head. "To my scans, the only Cybertronian life here in the immediate area is us. I concur."

Turning his head, he looked at Deathstrike. "Commander, I would like to make it a project to thoroughly sweep this entire ring when we have some downtime. Assurances that there are no Minicons or remote listening devices here would help everyone breathe a little easier."

Not to mention, he could get a thorough map of the station, and get to know it as well as he'd know other places in the past. Granted, this was the single largest construction he'd encountered so far - but that's exactly why he wanted to get to know this place so well.

More and more, engineering began to appeal to him, Farshot realized. Perhaps he should look up some materials when he got the chance, he thought, as he began a background process to dredge up all manuals and files on engineering within his long-term storage. It wouldn't be enough, but it would be a start.

[frigidmagi]

"Please do," Deathstrike replied. "My officers are quite capable of handling these matters independently."

"Of course." A trio of Hamura stepped forward at a wave of one of Father Dai's lower arms.

"These are the Admirals Jaiten, Rotwo and Caione. Admiral Jaiten is senior and commands the task force that met you in deep space. Admiral Rotwo commands the local defense force and Admiral Jaiten is commander of the space defenses." The Hamura, all vaguely identical made elaborate gestures as they were introduced, stepping forward one at a time.

A Lamia stepped forward, in bulky metal armor.

"This is Gav, Pack of Nevian. He leads the assault infantry." Father Dai continued. A pair of Adunii stepped forward.

"And these these two are our administrators. Torreilan Mickal, is our industrial administrator. Orwellison Wellian, is our logistic administrator." Father Dai finished.

[Cynical Cat]

"A pleasure to meet you," Deathstrike replied.

[LadyTevar]

Names were matched to face scans, their ranks and responsibilities noted for future reference. As she expected, the Humara were in charge of Space, the Lamia were assault, and the Adenuii were the administration. That left the question of where the Trea fell in the equation.

[frigidmagi]

"Now, the command center was honestly built to be unapproachable by beings of your size Force Commander Deathstrike, but we have built a terminal station that is accessible to you. If you will follow me I will take you to it." System Commander Father Dai said.

[rhoenix]

Farshot unobtrusively was filing away each new item of information about the power structure here, the species, and their roles as events unfolded.

The scans he'd saved from his smartfog scan would prove to be quite intriguing, as well.

Outwardly however, he simply followed Deathstrike's lead, while saying nothing for the moment.

[Cynical Cat]

"Thank you," Deathstrike replied. "It will suffice. I image you have a number of concerns regarding sharing intelligence and command integration. They are not unreasonable. We are prepared to engage in direct military action against the Greater Decepticon Empire as a demonstration of our worth and sincerity. Many of us are warrior forms and all of us hate what Starvous has built. We came to help and to advise, but most of all we came to fight."

[LadyTevar]

A nice tactic, making the corridors too small for the normal Cybertronian to fit through. It would force the GDE to use Minicons or the altered biologicals mentioned. It would not hurt to give the FWA scanners that would specifically search for Cybertronian tech. Of course, the false positives from themselves and their own tech would have to be dealt with.

However, Shimmer knew it would also hinder their own communications with the leadership. So many details, so many problems to work out. First thing would be to clear the external terminal of all possible viruses, then set up as many firewalls as possible.

Deathstrike's speech had the perfect tone and determination that made so many follow him on Cybertron. Shimmer was sure the same tone would work on the FWA's leaders, as Deathstrike meant every word. Cavalier could sulk all he wanted, Shimmer would follow Deathstrike's lead.

[Lys]

Blastcap left her little robots to handle themselves and followed after Deathstrike. She expected that her input would be needed for matters relating to her area of expertise. Especially on the subject of fortifying the FWA while industrial and infrastructural upgrades were conducted. Demolitions were her speciality, but in order to take down structures of any kind one needed a working knowledge of how to build them, so any specialist in one was almost as good as a specialist in the other. In end, Blastcap was an engineer first and foremost.

[frigidmagi]

Deathstrike and those following him were brought through a heavily guarded stretch of hallways before they were brought into a large room with two exits, both facing each from a distance of almost a 100 meters.

"This was an outer supply room before we converted it, increased the security, rerouted some passways and such. It's purpose is to serve as a link to the command center that you and your officers can access. If you will approach the terminal we will need to set up codes for you." Father Dai explained.

The Terminal was set up against the far wall, away from the exits. It had a small keyboard and monitor set into the side of a large round disk shape, that came up to Deathstrike's knees.

"The main terminal is holographic in nature, it was the best we could come up for your use I'm afraid. Once I activate it, which requires DNA and other samples from me to do, it will go into user log mode, which will set up your access. The system we have set up is using sensor scans of the user and voice recogization as the primary security methods. If you believe that you can upgrade this, I will inform the techs and we can start as soon is best for you." Father Dai continued.

[Cynical Cat]

"We are ready now," said Deathstrike. He had not forgotten the frailties of organic creatures, their need for rest and food at frequent intervals or suffer a rapid degradation in capabilities and health. It was a weakness that was, for them, a constant in their lives and undoubtedly part of these elaborate courtesies. "Most of us have suffered a period of unproductive inactivity and are eager to begin productive labor."

[frigidmagi]

"Good," Father Dai began typing and a beam of light swept over Deathstrike, a voice asked him to speak, for the records. After that the disk lit up and a complete interface sprang into being. Like a giant touch screen.

"The techs are coming and will start retrofitting it to your language they may require some assistance with that. Meanwhile, is there anything we can do for the rest of your fleet? I believe we can dock the troops ships and allow your ground troops to strech their legs a bit if you would like?" Father Dai asked.

[Cynical Cat]

"Neither is necessary," Deathstrike replied. "Learning your languages is a simple task for us and will be necessary for further relations. Subjectively, we have only just passed through the space bridge. R&R is not a priority. Moving to a useful deployment zone is."

[rhoenix]

Though he said nothing, Farshot stood silently at attention. His smartfog was given the signal to prematurely and quietly detonate, leaving no sign the nano-scale robots were ever present, apart from a slight buildup of dust in the area. Simultaneously, the process of constructing a new smartfog device was begun.

[frigidmagi]

The hours turned into days, the days into weeks. The troops of the League were unloaded from the troop ships, many of them ending up on the planet, the planet itself had no colonists, or native sapient life. Although if Aduneii scientist were to be believed, there was a multi-limbed tree, tree climbing invertebrate that showed possible signs of evolving into a sapient creature in a perhaps another hundred million years. But that was trivia. Deathstrike and Crankcase were worked nearly constantly in organizing the armed forces and beginning a program of industrial upgrades, each race had different interests, the Hamura for example pushing for a concentration on space, while the Trea pushed for preparation for assaults on their taken worlds. But for 3 weeks, everything stayed quiet. Perhaps to quiet.

It was "morning" on the ring, the 4th shift had gone off to bed and 1st shift had just taken their stations, the ring served as a command and control center for the theater, a section of space that contained a dozen systems, including the lost Trea worlds. The Alarms were harsh and loud, lights flickered in time with each bray.

"Alert, alert, Decepticon fleet has been sighted in System Blue-32. All commanders report in. Alert, alert, Decepticon fleet has been sighted in System Blue-32. All commanders report in." The alarm repeated over and over.

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike halted, one thousand three hundred and seven red and purple holographic icons frozen in front of him. His processors stopped calculating outcomes from the war game in front of him and addressed the datafeed regarding the alert.

"Ship crews, prepare for launch. Cybertronians, join me on the datanet so we me evaluate the data."

He switched channels to the command frequencies. "This is Deathstrike. Requesting download of relevant data regarding Decepticon Fleet and System Blue-32."