Halloween Event: A Very Spoopy Base

[cyberformedmods]

THE ABANDONED BASE
With the medical staff dealing with the Red Rust, a team of uninfected Cybertronians will need to venture outside of the ship to find the supplies needed to make a cure. The good news is that the R1’s scanners started picking up an alarm from a Cybertronian base on Earth, so the Away Team has a location to search that will likely have supplies. The bulk of the volunteers will need to meet in the Bridge on the first deck of the ship. From there, Soundwave will remotely open a Ground Bridge for them to the base.

The area surrounding the base is much like what was found around Hungary. Everything is metallic. All the plants in the area have died, and the bones of long dead animals can be found with a little exploring. The base itself is nestled into the side of a now metallic mountainside - while trees might have shielded the base before, now the color of it just makes it blend in. From the cracks and dents on the outside of the building, it’s a safe bet that it has been there a while and hasn’t been well cared for. Scanning won’t pick up any signs of life in or around the base.

Inside? Inside the base is trashed. It looks very much so like something was trying to claw its way out of the base, but couldn’t get through the thicker doors. The power to most of the base’s functions is shut off, save for emergency functions like a few lights and alarms. Computer terminals around the base have been badly damaged though might still work if they had proper power. Plenty of supplies like energon, medical equipment, and weapons can be found around the base, strewn about and knocked off their proper shelves.

There’s also corpses. Not many, it looks as if the base was a bit understaffed when it was attacked, but they can be found in various rooms. Most look old. One corpse that can be found near an opening to the ventilation system is fresh, with a data pad in hand, broadcasting the alarm signal the R1 picked up. However, all the corpses have one thing in common: their chests have been ripped open.

The bad news? The base has a Spark Eater in it. Or maybe a few Spark Eaters. Best find the supplies the medics on the R1 need quickly. Given the number of people on the Away Team, it would be faster to split into small groups to find what they need.


THE R1
For those that remained on the R1, it’s just a matter of waiting until the Away Team returns. Luckily communications with the Away Team aren’t lost, despite the state of the base they find themselves in. Though noise could attract unwanted attention for them.

((OOC plotting post is here should anyone need it!))

Comments

abandoned base

[staygoldponybot]

[sentinel had decided to go because he wanted to. he doesn't care about any idiots getting themselves infected, he doesn't care about finding stuff for a cure. sentinel just wants to get out the base for a bit. stretch his legs. maybe murder something.

he can be found making his way around the base, moving surprisingly quiet for someone his size. maybe he'll stop when he finds one of the corpses, carefully turning it over to trying assertain how it died.

maybe he'll just rip any weaponry off the corpses and move on. he doesn't have any goals, really.]

rude

[iseedeadbees]

[Starscream was here pretty much for the same reasons Sentinel was. He didn't particularly care about the whole infection thing, but he was perhaps a little more willing to help out finding junk for the cure if only because he didn't want to have to deal with becoming infected himself.

His first priority was finding himself some weapons, though. Because of course it was. He'd found himself a nice pair of blasters and had stopped to examine one of the poor dead suckers (because seriously this was kind of creepy and fucked up) when he spotted Sentinel up the hall doing much of the same. He almost just starts firing at him. Almost. Maybe once they're out of the creepy abandoned base.]

Have you found anything useful or are you just wasting time?

Re: rude

[staygoldponybot]

[the only reply starscream gets, at first, is a grunt. sentinel is busy inspecting a corpse that's quite a bit bigger than the others he's found so far. maybe a captain or a guard.

he turns it over with his hand, then grabs something off the front of the poor dead mech and tears it off. he holds it up out of starscream's view, then tosses it aside. energon splatters across the wall where it hits.]

Of course I've found useful items. I'm not stupid.

R1

[spidersgeorg]

[chop shop hadn't even realised he was infected until he detached lefty to go and get something for him.

the moment the little spider hit the floor, it screeched in pain and chop shop felt a sharp jolt in his spark. he'd barely made it across the room by the time the poor thing had started writhing with red rust pouring out his optics. chop shop allows himself a few minutes of panic before he forces himself to calm down - not easy, seeing as there's basically four voices screaming in his head - and head for the medibay with lefty in his arm.]

Oi! Where's that quantine, huh? We're gonna need a hand. Or, uh. Five.

OOOOOOHHH

[automobileenthusiast]

[Knock Out, now sporting a tacky red X on his cheek because SOMEONE had to go and get himself INFECTED, looks up from whatever sciency looking medic shit he's doing. He only allows himself a second or two to be just a bit devastated by the sight of the poor tiny spider leaking all over the place before he jumps up and makes his way over.]

Here, I'll take him. The rest of you absolutely can not transform under any circumstances, apparently that's what activates the virus. He wasn't attached to you when this started, was he?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH

[spidersgeorg]

[for a couple of moments, chop shop looks hesitatnt to give lefty away. the little spider certainly impotently waves his little pedipalps at the bigger combiner when he's given away.]

He was. It was when he jumped off that--

[GOSH HE'S SO UNCHARACTERISTICALLY UPSET. chop shop cuts himself off, putting a hand over his spark.]

baseeeeeee

[primest]

this one closed to oppymoose

[when he gets a moment away from everyone sentinel activates his comm, pinging optimus immediately. he clearly sounds nervous. he's out of his league.]

H--heeey. I didn't... didn't see you coming with everyone else! [deep down, sentinel knows why. but he's too jumpy to really accept the idea of it.] Didcha miss the bridge or what?

everyone else what's up

[sentinel is noticably jumpy and stressed - he's never really done anything with stakes this high before. it's not like a training exercise simulation. if you get fucked here, you're fucked.

despite all this, he's honestly fine until he comes across an actual body. at first he thought it was just someone unconscious, they looked like they still had their colour!]

Are you oka-- [he's cut off as he notices the guy has no legs. or face.] --oh...

[aaaand then he shrieks.]

what's up INDEED (also I'm sorry. but only a little)

[alwaysadrift]

[ Isn't 'never split up' some kind of unwritten rule in fictional versions of this situation? The thought crosses Drift's the mind well after he's quite a ways down a different corridor than those he entered with, responding to some sort of high-pitched noise you only hear in those fictional version of this situation.

He's creeping down the hallway, hand on a sword hilt, a tingle of excitement running up his backstrut and through his field. He might talk, and even believe with his whole spark, that violence shouldn't be their first answer to everything; but the deep truth of it is that this is what Drift excels at. Fighting the good fight.

He might even be a little over-exuberant. Enough that when he rounds the corner in one smooth, silent motion, prepared to strike an enemy if necessary, his footplate kicks at someone else's prone on the floor. Hey Sentinel, he found the legs of your dead guy, which are seemingly twitching behind you now. No big deal, right? ]

JESUS CHRIST DRIFT

[primest]

[sentinel yelps again and immediately activates his shield, holding it with both hands to try and hide how he's shaking slightly.

his lance clatters to the floor, deactivates and rolls out from under the shield.]

Slag! Hey, don't murder me just yet! Let me get my stupid lance!

[Same lock]

[2b_a_hero]

Sentinel. Ah...no. I'm in the medbay. I'm fine! [said a little too quickly, maybe] But...

I came across fluids in the hall outside of the bridge room. Apparently it was shortly after Pipes' arrival and Wing took him to the medbay.

[He's calm, but . . . if anyone knows this Optimus well enough to read him, it's Sentinel. Optimus has been given the full disclosure of what this infection does, and he's /seen/ what it's doing to Pipes. If he's honest with himself - which...he's not being, of course - he's scared.]

Take care out there, Sentinel. Stick with the others and be on high alert. There's no telling what's going on at that base.

Re: [Same lock]

[primest]

[optimus probably doesn't remember sentinel sounding like a scared, lost child because he always hid it. truthfully, he never really did. not with optimus and elita around.

he definitely sounds like one now, though. the bluster is clearly forced.]

What! W-well, if you, uh. If anything h-happens and you leave me on my own I'm... gonna drag you out the Well myself! Kicking and screaming!!

I am also sorry

[quietone]

[Soundwave had some serious doubts about the group that had come with him. Maybe two out of the bunch looked capable of handling themselves.]

[Case in point, Sentinel. He had gone to check if anyone had made any progress with finding anything when he heard the scream. He stopped himself from huffing, just in case the little Autobot actually was actually dying or something. Soundwave made a shushing noise as he approached, looking around. He didn't see what the fuss was.]

-drawing too much attention-

[primest]

[it's a goddamn miracle he doesn't start screaming again when he sees soundwave. really, it is.]

From what?! The dead guys??

Base!

[crankycat]

Outside the base

[Yeah, Ravage pretty much scooted right through the groundbridge. Making him probably one of the first through. It was awkward enough just seeing the other Soundwave, but using his 'bridge? Yeah that was weird too. Plus after being cooped up in a ship underwater for months, he was eager to get out onto the main land.

Once out there, he got down to business. Doing what he did best, tracking, as he focused on the job at hand. Weird awkwardness or not, they were here to do a job. Lifting his head for a moment as he scented the air, then lowering it to scent the ground as he went.]

Not smelling any fresh scents. No one's been this way for a while.

[Cybertronian or otherwise. Once closer to the mountain however, there was enough fresh ones to help him track down the entrance.]

The horror--I mean inside the base

[Once inside, there's so many scents that he just focuses on finding ones he knows. Which turns out to be---]

Not picking up anyone familiar so far. [Just a whole pile of corpses. This is reminding him way too much of that alternate Lost Light.]

Re: Base!

[headless_seeker]

[Hellbender isn't necessarily the second or the third through the ground bridge, but he eventually gets through it. He's not too sure about this--in his universe, the space bridge was a unique, highly unstable piece of technology. Even the guys from the other Cybertrons had at best, a reliable space bridge... though that useless layabout Demolisher had claimed to be able to ground bridge from point to point using their base's space bridge circuits. Too bad there wasn't one of those on Gillan III. They had to go places the old-fashioned way, by shuttle and ship. However, these guys seem familiar with the tech, and expect it to work, so Hellbender finally goes through]

Huh. So it works. [Looks around, listens, feels the metal under his feet] Cyberforming goes deeper here--feels like the depth of the base. Might be related.

[Outside isn't very interesting, though Hellbender wonders what caused the extra damage to the exterior. Even unmaintained, Cybertronian construction is incredibly durable--starships can be buried under a mountain for millions of years and retain internal power and functions. Maybe it was attacked?]

all ur base

[heroicpose]

[ Unfortunately, Rodimus has seen plenty corpses in his time. It came with the territory of the war. The base is a grim sight, but he's not squeamish about it, gingerly stepping over bodies when he had no other choice but to do so. Luckily, there didn't appear to be many.

Funny how problems from their journey were cropping up here in this place as well, as if their past was chasing after them. Red Rust had never made it to the Light Light, but Rodimus was familiar with it due to the reports of the incident given by Ratchet and Drift. He'd nearly lost his friends to the plague. He wouldn't let that happen again.

Roughly around the third body, he starts to see a pattern. One he was familiar with as well. Rodimus crouches down over a gray frame, studying the cracked chassis and the stress marks around the mech's mouth. No... it couldn't, could it? ]

Huh.

belong to us

[alwaysadrift]

[ Drift has, unfortunately, created plenty of corpses in his time. But then that's part of why he's here, right? To make sure there's less of them in future, by a blaster, a sword blade, an infectious contagion, or...whatever the hell is killing these poor sparks.

Drift pulls up behind Rodimus, craning his neck to peer through the dim light at whatever his friend finds so remarkable. It's moments like this that he actually misses his old orange low-light optics from the gutters. ]

What do you see?

R1 Medical Bay; prose or brackets welcome!

[shitflashpointsays]

[Who the hell almost dies and doesn't clean up after themselves?

All right, an unfair complaint, but being stuck here in medibay, under quarantine with a reportedly fatal contagion, after receiving what was most definitely not a luxury-level spa treatment foot bath to remove the red goop she'd stepped in, was making Flashpoint surly enough to complain that the air itself was too stale. How dare it be thrice filtered and only circulated in these few rooms?

She opens her mouth to say something--anything to distract her from feeling caged and useless--but then the near death rattle--gurgle?--that comes from Pipes' room silences it. A restive ex-vent punctuated by a grumble escapes instead.]

They better hurry....

[The heel of her restlessly swinging foot thunks against the leg of the circuit slab upon which Flashpoint still sits post examination, trying not to think about the others, out there actually doing something about all this. She glances at the medics also going about their business, like she might offer to help; the generally surly and malcontent expression shifting into something softer and more uncertain for a moment...

But then it's gone again, overshadowed by something old and bitter. Instead she looks away and pulls a flask from her storage, not really caring if she's seen.]

text/image from the abandoned base

[primest]

[anyways here's a picture of sentinel with sunglasses on, crouched in front of a jagged, rusted tear in one of the base's walls. his hand is curled in front of his face dramatically.]

its ur face

[old_school_medic]

[ Oh, she wants to feel useless? Welcome to Ratchet's club. He's got to deal with more than red goop, missy. ]

Why? Don't want to ruin your pedicure?

[He didn't quite call her princess, but almost.]

[2b_a_hero]

At least she's not alone in that experience. Guess who also came across the remains of Pipe's arrival, first stepping in it and then crouching to examine and try to figure out what the frag it was. Yep, this dork.

He's currently standing leaned on a nearby repair berth, reading a datapad. Well, trying to read. Fact is, he can't concentrate, not with so many infected (true to "Optimus Prime" formhe's more worried about everyone else than himself), and the rest going blind into who knows what kind of danger. And one of those is Sentinel. Yeah, he's six hundred degrees of worried all around.

He flinches visibly at the disturbing noise that comes from Pipe's room and finally puts down the datapad, giving up on the attempt at distracting himself, at Flashpoint's grumble.

"I'm sure they're doing everything they can as fast as they can." That said, by the look on his face, he shares the sentiment. "So . . . you've indicated before that you're a veteran?"

He's not good at "small talk", but he's figuring she could use a distraction of sorts too.

Why hello there.

[knight_light]

[Wing was getting restless. It's been so long since he's been in the sky, and now he's under quarantine and stuck in this small area while everyone else was off getting what was needed to cure him. He'd been through his own "spa treatment", considering he was the one who found Pipes and ended up...spewed on.]

[He finds himself just...moving around, until one of the medics grumps at him for being in the way. And so he finds himself over by Flashpoint. He just sits down by her.]

I'm sure they will.

DA BASE

[quietone]

[Watching Ravage peer warily at him before shooting through the Bridge, and then putting as much distance between them as possible had make Soundwave's tanks churn in an unpleasant way. But he had a job to do. From what he had gathered about the Red Rust, Knock Out and the other medics would be infected from working on Pipes. He might not have been the most caring Cybertronian in the universe, but he knew that they needed their medics alive. And Knock Out was... something like a friend? Was that what people would call it?]

[Well, either way, the ship full of infected Cybertronians wasn't where he wanted to continue living. So searching for a cure it was.]

[Soundwave made his way over to the source of the alarm being broadcast inside the base first. He had scanned over each corpse he passed, though his posture remained as aloof as ever. It wasn't his first time seeing mangled bodies but the way they had been killed was... odd. Most mechs who went for the spark chamber to kill punched in and crushed. These were more like something trying to peel them open. When he reached the body by the air vents, he pulled the data pad out of the mech's hands, starting to tap through it. With luck, he could find some information about the layout of the base, and maybe what had happened...]

[a_little_red_in_the_face]

[Breakdown was a grumpy, worried mess. Knock Out had ended up quarantined before Breakdown could join him in the Medbay, and that meant Breakdown couldn't get in to the Medbay now. Fine, he could do more out here anyway.]

[He followed Soundwave along, unsettled by the corpses if only because of the oddity of how they seemed to have died. While Soundwave pokes through the datapad, Breakdown is studying the dead body at their feet.]

Never seen a body mutilated like this before...

[triggerhappycopter]

[ You know those scenes in horror movies where the monster slowly stands up behind an unfortunate teenager?

Yeah, so, Spin's doing that. ]

Whatcha doin'?

[ Well, at least he announces himself. ]