Brigaduped

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

OOC: Day 17, after Brigadone. People who were in that thread can go ahead and post in here, if they want.

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The mountains are crumbling and barren. Something is deeply wrong here. Even in the most extreme environments, something should be able to survive, but there's nothing here, not even single celled organisms. There's no radioactivity; no toxins to explain this peculiar sterility. Even the rocks are falling apart at the touch, as if the fractures run deep, deep into the mountains.

At the top of the tallest peak, there is a flat platform that seems to be artificially made and an altar shaped like a great-winged alien predatory bird, looming ominously, perhaps protectively, but the altar is empty. At the back of one's mind, in the corner of one's vision, there's just the slightly hint to the posing of the statue of a parent bird's rage at an empty nest.

But Bambi doesn't see that. Bambi, exhausted by the climb, just flops on the flat platform, perilously near the edge. She doesn't even bother to check if anyone else is here yet. She'll get to that when she gets to that. Ooff.

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus does his best to lose the Decepticons, taking advantage of the underbrush when available. Still, he is dogged the whole way by Shockwave - at times he manages to shake the Decepticon Commander, but never for long enough, and once he reaches the deadzone at the top, he loses what little means of hiding he had. So instead he puts the pedal to the metal, racing directly up the mountain at his best speed, even if part of him wants to cry out at the state of this place.

He reaches the top and transforms, immediately landing on one knee, looking around at the death, the utter rot around him, eyes wide.

"No... no... even I didn't know it had gotten this bad," he murmurs, for a moment battling hard with despair.

But just a moment. Rodimus can help this place. He knows it.

A quick glance around reminds him that he's not alone, and that the other here is friend, not foe. But the one with the egg isn't here.

// Botanica, where are you? // A beat, a pause, and then, privately to her frequency (but is her radio working where she is?) he adds, //And please tell me you or Perceptor or somebody's managed to figure out something to help Bambi?//

[Shanodin]

Botanica's radio is working, and she is actually present, curled up behind a rock near the altar, the still faintly shimmering egg wrapped protectively in her vines. She doesn't answer Rodimus, however, not at first. She can't.

Sick. So sick. The travel through the poisoned ground, the exposure to the decay, it's almost too much. Perhaps if she did not carry the egg, she might not have survived at all. As it is, she feels brittle, wilted, her colors are dulled. It takes what little strength she has left to drag herself partially into view.

//Y-y-yes. Have... an idea.//

"I... can't make anything grow" she breathes, the words soft enough that even in the still air, they might not carry far.

[Victoria Raines]

Shockwave touches down lightly a short distance behind the kneeling Prime. The Decepticon commander certainly has looked better. Getting into a fight with a Prime, getting run over by said Prime, and then scuffling with the Prime throughout a chase up a moutainside are not part of recommended exterior maintenance routines.

He does not attack.

This place disturbs him. It seems... more than empty. Null. Even a Cybertron covered in inanimate bodies had not disturbed the gunformer this much.

He looks over the area, at the altar, the exhausted Dinobot, the broken plant witch. Shockwave looks down at the young Prime.

"We all must perform our functions to the best of our abilities, Lightbringer. I will interfere no longer in yours," Shockwave leans forward and murmurs, "But we are more than just His canon fodder. You should remember that."

Shockwave steps back and crosses his arms under his chest, waiting and watching.

[Prowl]

Prowl had found that having powerful jump jets were always useful. This instance was no different. He was using them to jump up the mountain side, opposite to where the others were possibly running up, and keeping a careful watch of where he was going. Each jump was precise.

Under a quiet request from Rodimus, Prowl had gotten a call to come in. He had followed specific directions to the mountain itself.

He stops near the top and then listens a bit carefully, before making his way around the side face of the mountain and peers around to the side. Shockwave! The commander is not hard to miss. He stiffens a bit before looking over and then carefully jumps to the top. He sees Bambi, then Botanica and steps over, worry crossing his face for a moment. He turns and looks over.

//Rodimus, sir. I've arrived.// He reports, quiet even over his radio.

[Swindle]

Swindle follows a winding trail up the mountain. He didn't start up as soon as the others, so it'll be a while before he arrives, even going at top speed. And he is driving up at his top speed. He has no intention of losing a payday of this magnitude just because Shockwave has decided to stop fighting the Autobots or something.

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi decides that laying around and doing nothing is pretty great. She might just keep on with that.

From behind the altar steps out a tall, well-built woman. She might be Femaxian, but she simply oozes noir. High-heeled leather black boots up to her thighs, a black minidress with a bare midriff, a rich mane of brunette locks, bright emerald eyes, and ruby and gold earrings, necklace, bracelets and belt. One jump, and she's crouched next to Botanica, a laser pistol in her hand, pointed at Botanica's torso. With her other hands, she pries away the egg, murmuring, "At last."

Keeping the gun pointed at Botanica, she stands, all grins, and proclaims, "I suppose I should thank your little gang for retrieving this lost object of mine for me, but I really need to go. Forever's awaiting."

---

OOC: Ran this by Botanica's player.

[Rodimus Prime]

"I know, Shockwave," Rodimus answers the gunformer coolly. "I don't do this for Him. Not entirely, anyway. I do this because it's right." And even impetuous, reckless Hot Rod tried to do what was right, when he wasn't making trouble.

"Botanica!" Rodimus cries out as Botanica shows herself. He starts to rush at her, then stops short when the woman appears. First his optics widen in surprise, then they narrow angrily.

"You'd sacrifice a whole planet for that, huh?" he asks, tone dripping in disgust. His fist clenches, then he lifts his good arm, pointing the pipes along it towards her. "You're not going anywhere. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, but you've got about a second to choose."

Over the localized Autobot frequency, he transmits, //Prowl, take her down, but try not to kill her.// Hurting her? That's allowed.

[Shanodin]

"No...don't...," Botanica weakly protests as she tries-and fails- to hold on to the egg. "It needs to go home."

Botanica doesn't even seem to notice the pistol pointed at her. She tries to clutch at the woman's legs. Perhaps trying to keep the woman in place so that a certain ninja can take her down.

[Victoria Raines]

"Some day, Prime, you and I should have a discussion on the subject of ethics," Shockwave murmurs as he watches the bold newcomer,"'Right' and 'wrong' are purely relative concepts determined by one's own personal ethics and needs."

He does not attempt to stop the woman, preferring instead to see how ruthless the Prime will be to save the planet. Shockwave does, however, shift his cannon arm so that he has direct line of sight on her.

He will not lose this prize to some bit player.

[Prowl]

//Yes sir.// Prowl stops moving completely to focus on the task at hand... But only becomes even more aware of the stagnant air, the terribly sickening feeling of the area. He grimaces and clenches a fist.

The good thing about this job is being able to take ones frustrations out elsewhere.

Prowl crouches down and then lightly jumps... But aims to kick down at her with some added power from his booster jets to help propel him down.

[Cannonball]

Soon, Cannonball will be side-by-side with Swindle in vehicle mode - it's amazing what a bit of Burning Justice can do to get you back on your feet, and to help you catch up with your comrades.

The pirate's a good bit wore down - his shiny new paint job is all singed and blackened, thanks to Botanica.

However, once he's caught up to Swindle, he fishtails for a moment. //Guh, gettin' that weird protecty feelin' again,// he transmits to Swindle. //This whole day 'as just been weird.//

[Swindle]

Burning Justice sounds like an energy drink in this context.

//Cannonball, buddy! Good to see you back on your stabilizing servos again. And tell me about it. First an auction goes haywire, then we're pretending to work with the Autobots, now we're actually working with the Autobots or something? Weird doesn't begin to cover it,// the arms dealer transmits as he rounds a bend in the trail.

//Any word from Skystrike?//

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Miss Fatale is noir, born and bred, but one thing noir never reckoned on was ninjas. Suffering a bad case of genre whiplash, she goes down, hard, on her back. She gets off a shot of laser her pistol, but it's not aimed at Botanica anymore. Maybe it'll hit someone; maybe it hit no one. She screams, "No, the egg's mine by rights!"

So who wants to take it out of her hot little hands?

[Needlenose]

Needlenose may or may not have dropped off Skystrike somewhere safe (if not, he had to check on the thug he picked up two threads ago), which delayed the jet more than he'd prefer. However, he's far faster than his alternate mode would suggest, and so now he's able to overtake Swindle and Cannonball below as he tears high speed towards the mountain top.

Shockwave ordered the Decepticons back to go work with the Autobots? That's disturbing. That's very disturbing for the Mayhem. It's not that Decepticons can never ever work with the Autobots. Heck, there are even justifications for Decepticons to work with Autobots without intending to betray them inevitably. He is, after all, the one who made the call to surrender to the Autobots after that Thunderwing business!

No, the problem is that Shockwave ordered the other Decepticons to stand down before heading back (sadly, Needlenose was getting his information second hand, and so doesn't know that he was ordered to follow - that'd have him feeling a lot better about all this).

It's these thoughts (and the thought that he is really going to have to discuss this business with Spinister later) that race through the Mayhem's mind as he pulls up over the mountain top, transforms, and touches down. His weapons aren't drawn, but he's a Targetmaster - they can leap to his hands or even fire themselves if need be. He has enough sense not to open his metaphorical mouth just yet, but he does look questioningly between Shockwave, Rodimus, and the girl on the ground.