698/Report on the Swarm

Report on the Swarm
Date of Scene:	29 September 2014
Location:	Cybertron-2
Synopsis:	There's a mysterious signal coming from a dead Cybertron, and the Swarm has been displaying some strange behavior recently. Who or what could be behind it all?
Cast of Characters:	Blurr, 568
Tinyplot:	Out of the Silent Planet

---

Blurr has posed:
    Cybertron is a dead world, for the most part. But lately, Autobot orbital surveillance probes have been picking up on a rather strong signal coming from the surface. A signal that shouldn't exist on such a decrepit scrapheap. There -shouldn't- be anything down there capable of creating such a signature, right?

    Shouldn't. But there definitely is, and it is definitely coming from somewhere planetside.

    So High Command has sent Blurr to investigate the source, but he's run into a bit of a problem. One that he'd expected, granted, but one can only prepare so much for a massive horde of ravenous, mech-eating Insecticon savages. He may be fast, but he can't exactly teleport. He might have been able to orbital bounce if that signal weren't jamming everything except basic communications, but such was not the case.

    For the time being, he's been sneaking around the Swarm, observing them and searching for any clues as to how he might be able to trace the signal to its source. And hoping the bugs won't see him.

Optimus Prime (568) has posed:
Blurr had not report in for a bit and that was starting to concern Optimus. The swarm upon Cybertron's dead surface was a major problem and having very few Autobots on the surface kept things easier for those to move around undetected, but it also meant if something went wrong---

This now means that Optimus Prime now arrives on the world he once called home and some part of him still does. He will never forget the betrayal, the sorrow, watching as so many left--- while he held onto a dead hope-- a hope he had to come to face. Some part of him... perhaps still does. Maybe it is for this reason when he returned to Earth at last to join with the rest of his Autobots, he-- never wanted to look back here really, but he had to at times. Had to keep searching.

Hope. It was a driving force.

Just like right now, Prime is hoping Blurr is alright, but with the swarm around, even in trying to follow the speedsters tracks, it wasn't easy. Each step had to be calculated. Each movement careful. Rifle at ready and keen observation required. Only when times looked safe, did he tap his comm trying to break through the silence, break through the signal jam to reach Blurr.

Something had to give here. Either that signal, blurr, or getting jumped by a hundred hungry metal munching bugs.

Blurr has posed:
    Fortunately not -everything- is jammed, communications seem to punch through, at least. <<Prime?>> Blurr's voice comes through, and he might catch a glimpse of the speedster--a blue and white streak, moving across the ruins ahead.

    Strangely enough, the Swarm haven't yet attacked, though plenty of them can be seen prowling about. <<They didn't tell me they were sending any backup.>> he says with a slight chuckle.

Optimus Prime (568) has posed:
Optimus catches glimpse of the speedster in the distance, he almost takes a moment of relief in seeing he is alright, but he does keep his own voice down as he observes a few of the bugs on the prowl near his own location. <<"That is because for once, Blurr. You were taking longer then expected.">> There was a mild case of relief in Prime's voice as he then went to take a few more careful steps to see if there was a mean to cut across to get over where Blurr was-- or is-- depending on how fast the speedster moves.

Then again, give Blurr time and he'll get over here!

<<"Any luck finding the source of the signal?">>

Blurr has posed:
    Give Blurr some time, yes, but not a lot! He doesn't need that much. It isn't long before Optimus finds the speedster at his side. He glances about their perimeter to make sure no more bugs are headed their way, then turns to his commander. "Well, I can trace it, but--" he pauses, looking back over toward the ruins of a building that was once a large hotel. "We shouldn't talk out in the open. Fortunately I found an old safe house I used to hide in before Zeta Prime was killed that's still intact."

    He transforms, folding up into a hover speeder. "Follow me." He starts moving toward the former hotel fairly quickly but not so fast that Prime wouldn't be able to keep up.

Optimus Prime (568) has posed:
The Autobot Commander pauses, his optics flicker and then he looks directly at Blurr who is now by he side. Hello there. He gives Blurr a firm nod, though when Zeta Prime in brought up, Optimus-- looks off toward the distance to examine a few of the movements of the swarm.

Yet when Blurr goes to transform, Prime responds with a calm, "Lead the way." Before he too transforms and follows suit. Thankfully, he can move slightly more faster then the alternate mode he is based off of-- though sadly no where at the speeds Blurr can, but Blurr at least is making it easy to follow suit.

So-- to the old safe house they go!

Blurr has posed:
    Among the ruins of that massive hotel, a trapdoor in the ground retracts to reveal a hole with a series of rungs installed into the sides of it. Blurr climbs down into it, and activates the keypad next to the door at the bottom.

    All these vorns, and the access codes are still in the system--no one else has touched it, because no one else every found it.

    The doors retract as well, sliding open to reveal a fairly decent-looking room. Not large, but at least it isn't in ruins like the rest of the city. There's comfy seating, a couple of recharge slabs, and even a small stock of energon rations. Wouldn't last forever, but certainly better than nothing. Small armory with standard weaponry and grenades, cleaning drones for repaints if necessary. Never know when you might need to erase evidence of a scuffle, at least in the business of information warfare. They have yet to see if the drones are still functional, however.

    Lights flicker on as they enter, and Blurr sits down at a workstation that lights up with perimeter surveillance. "Incredibly lucky this was still here. I'd have imagined it would've gotten destroyed, but I guess the cloaking field that was just designed to keep running idefinitely has done its work. And is still doing it. Anyway, yeah. The signal. I can trace it, and it seems to be coming from the catacombs. Somewhere underground. So Kaon's the best access point if that's the case, right? Only every time I get anywhere close to heading down there, the Swarm just...amasses there. It's like they don't want me to go down there." he frowns. "Which doesn't make any sense, because they've always just been mean eating machines, but now it's like they've got some other -purpose- in mind."

Optimus Prime (568) has posed:
Optimus Prime follows Blurr to the location and down the shaft, he also makes sure it locks up nice and tight-- just encase. Once down there, the Prime may first have to watch his head only cause sheer height difference, but he finds himself a place to sit down and resting his arms across his legs as he listens to Blurr.

His optics narrow at some parts of it. It was-- confusing. Why would the swarm switch gears like this? What would cause they to act defensively when, Blurr was right, they have been just munching angry machines.

His pose changes as his 'elbows' come to rest on his 'thighs' and his hands clasped in front of his battle plate. The Autobot Commander seemed to deep thought at the information he was presented, including a very gentle tap against the plate. His true blue optics flickered for a moment before he looks to Blurr. "And so far-- up until this signal activated, the Swarm has been acting as primitive as primitive can be... correct?" He was pretty sure Blurr already answered that, he already knew the answer in his head, but to double check, maybe even triple check the facts.

"And now with this Signal on, they are.. protecting perhaps the one best entrance to where the signal is... This is.. concerning.. deeply so."

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr nods. "I'll say. The Swarm was never on -anyone's- side but their own. They never acted as a cohesive unit, they were always just after food. Devouring anything and everything. Now they seem to be trying to do something -other- than devouring. Which can only mean that someone or something's got a hold on them, and whoever it is doesn't want us going into the catacombs. And I've been watching them, Prime. They've been organized into groups, almost as if someone's put them on patrol routes. It's crazy."

Optimus Prime (568) has posed:
"That is what concerns me." Prime says to Blurr as they seem to be maybe on the same line of thinking here. "If someone or something is controlling the Swarm, it then turns into not only a question of who, but for what reason."

Optimus closes his optics in thought, as they dim to no light as his tapping on the plate comes to an end at last and only resting his plate against the edge of his index finger. He is silent for a moment in thought, before moving his hand away and sitting up a bit more straight before he goes back to talking again, "There could even be a probability that the signal itself could be controlling the swarm-- but then that comes back to the whys and whos."

Prime then shakes his head gently. "We will need to get a larger team on this then just a simple scout unit. Perhaps one group to try and distract the swarm, while another then goes down to the Catacombs. Though no way to know if such a plan would work. I'll need to run it over with Prowl and see what he thinks. But that seems like the best option we have at this juncture. A team to distract and a team that descends."

Optimus then looks directly at Blurr, "..and that also means putting full trust in the Union in aiding us with this matter, because if someone... or something.. can organize the Swarm in this manner.. there could be a chance then that sooner or later, they could turn them on the Multiverse itself."

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr keeps watching the perimeter surveillance. A few bugs wandered close, but none of them seem to have gotten any ideas yet. Good. He nods, listening to Optimus.

    "I know one thing. Whoever this is, if they've managed to create something powerful enough to control the entire Swarm, they're a force to be reckoned with. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing I know for sure at this point is that they don't seem to want us going underground." he shrugs.

    "It could be that they're trying to avert disaster or that they're trying to hide something. Or both. The signal itself could be controlling them, but we can't know that for sure without some real evidence. Black Arachnia would know how to figure that out." Or Soundwave. But of course, the Autobot is not exactly eager to ask for his help. He's not exactly sure what's going on here. For all he knows, the Decepticons could be behind it. "If we get a team of Elites here, we might be able to break through. Maybe. There are a lot of Insecticons. Someone small -might- be able to slip past them, though."

Optimus Prime (568) has posed:
Optimus gives a faint nod to what Blurr has to say, before he goes to stand up. "Well. Let us get back and see what we can plan up. Try to get a team together for the operations and do this with a larger group."

Prime then looks around before he looks to Blurr, "With no idea what is going on and the high possibility that whatever is commanding them could not be an ally-- we need to solve this quickly, before it does somehow get out of hand."

Blurr has posed:
    "I would have to agree." Blurr says, standing up as well. "I just hope no one gets eaten. I'll stick around here for a little longer, do a bit more recon. Maybe find a different way down that isn't so overpopulated. I'll report in with whatever I find."