Scene #8707: Cybertron: Behind the Blast-3

Owner	Pose
Combaticon	Today's summons is not to Kaon; it is to Iacon on the far-flung northern continent. For those who had been to Kaon previously, Iacon somehow manages to look worse and better at the same time. For those whom this is the first visit to Cybertron-- Iacon is a city of steel streets and towering spires, well-lit and spacious. There's an artistic twist to the architecture here, the silvery metal shot through with accents of brass and red. There are deep-seated scars from the war here, though. Entire blocks of demolished structures still being cleared. Rubble pushed into side-streets and alleyways to keep the main arterials clear. Occasional flickers of power as the energy grid fluctuates blink through the city one district at a time. Entire sectors are closed off with metal fencing and guards while clearing and construction efforts go on behind them. Through Iacon's streets is a towering fortress of blues, whites, and golds. Sporting several heavy gun emplacements, multiple defense positions, and clearly heavy armor; it is no wonder this place is called Fortress Maximus; Home of the Decepticon Justice Division's sister organization-- the Autobot Peace Brigade. Onslaught ascends the ramp to the main gate, his hands folded behind his back beneath the cannons. Having been fully repaired since the throwdown with Lugnut and Blitzwing, he seems to have gone to extra effort to shine up his exterior. To his left is Brawl, the colossal Decepticon is the same as she ever was. Tucked under one arm is a jet black storage container. To his right is Swindle; here by request though he had little to do with the investigation beyond the initial interrogations. Standing at the top of the ramp is a chunky red 'bot who looks like a tank just decided to stand up. The cannon even protrudes from the sloped armor of his chest. And to his left is a primarily white and much smaller robot with blue stripes and gold accents. Warpath and Strongarm's postures each reflects how they are approaching this meeting. Warpath holds his arms at his sides, leaning at a slight forward angle with his back arced. This puffs out his chest and makes it tough to ignore the gun sticking out from it. Strongarm however has her hands folded behind her back in a similar manner to Onslaught, feet firmly planted a shoulder's width apart.
Bowser	Unfortunately, Bowser has already used his once per plot showing of his Air Superiority and general measuring contest of how much larger his scale of power is compared to the various Transformers in his investigations. So it's just Bowser, a couple of Koopa Troopas, three goombas, five buzzy beetles, a Lakitu and two Shyguys. Bowser himself is standing with a plate of chicken wings, tossing them in one by one into his mouth. Whether they are boneless or not, it doesn't seem to matter to Bowser. "HEY! GO GET THE GUY WHO BLEW UP THE BRIDGE!" He does not look up from his plate of chicken wings.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine arrives just a little behind schedule, having wound a route through the more drab areas of the unfamiliar city to avoid her curse's effects. She doesn't conceal her grimace at the brightly-painted APB headquarters, but manages a more neutral expression by the time she's within earshot of the Transformers waiting outside. "Hey Brawl," she says with a small wave. "How are the orchids holding up?" After hearing the green Decepticon's answer, she walks past Bowser, grabbing a chicken wing off the far end of his plate as she goes by. Once she finishes the impromptu snack she licks her fingers clean and eyes the Autobots with visible suspicion. "So what did this lot want us around for, anyway?"
Combaticon	"The orchids? Well, I changed the soil and started double-filtering the water. It'll take a while to see if that works," Madeleine gets her answer pretty straightforwardly. Brawl glances up the facade of Fortress Maximus, "The filters are definitely catching a lot of dissolved metals though." Once at a respectful distance for a conversation, Onslaught stops and plants his feet, meeting eye to eye with his contemporary. Bowser shouts a command, drawing Warpath's gaze for a moment before his eyes return to Onslaught. "Warpath." The Combaticon commander's voice is firm and professional, perhaps a little on-edge. "Onslaught." It sounds like Warpath is talking through a gas mask, the way his synthesized voice is encoded. Lifting a hand, he gestures, "Strongarm will keep records. Now tell me what you were so reluctant to mention in communications." In this, Onslaught actually just glances aside to Brawl and jerks his head with the subtle wirr of servos. With a buzzing sigh, the bigger 'bot steps up and shifts her container to both hands, "It was Cadresteia's idea," she acknowledges, "I spent so many stellar cycles digging through the wreckage that the Junkions were dredging up out of the Sea of Rust and piecing all these tiny parts together." When she opens the case, it emits a faint blue light-- a forcefield, holding twisted pieces of scrap metal into the vague shape of the back half of a missile easily as long as Brawl's own forearm, "I got your saboteur's weapon right here, and it isn't from a Decepticon." Swindle hangs back, supporting Bowser's eating habits by holding the plate for him, but cranes his neck to get a better look. After a moment, his eyes shift upward in thought, "Let's see... It's been orbital cycles, but I never forget a weapon... Just from the hull type, I'd guess that came from a C-type Seeker mold. Earth-type vehicle mode... Oh, but the colors are all wrong for Dirge, Ramjet, or Thrust." "The only three active C-type Seekers left in the Decepticon ranks were all stationed off-world long before the incident occurred," Onslaught shifts his gaze back to Warpath. "Oh, it's no mystery," Brawl says with a laught, "This came from Cloudcover. I've been shot with these before. See the checkerboard pattern on the tailfins? Only Cloudcover does that." Warpath shifts his posture, placing his hands on his hip actuators, "So your suspect is an Autobot." Beside Warpath, Strongarm dutifully records text into a datapad held in one hand. Every so often she glances towards Madeleine, then past her towards Bowser, before resuming her work, "And you were able to clear all potential Decepticon suspects? Was there any chance of cross-camp collaboration?" "We are actively investigating the possibility," Onslaught states, "Though given the suspects we have, it seems rather far-fetched."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"It came down to a couple of Megatron fanboys. Lugnut and Blitzwing, right? Wouldn't shut up about the will of their supreme leader or whatever. Does this... 'C-type seeker' model fit with the security stills of those two jets? If one of the folks behind this is an autobot, the other one might be too - those two didn't sound keen on collaboration, though they still probably know more than they let on."
Bowser	Bowser is always willing to share with his Concord Compatriots. Because they are all his friends until they prove otherwise, and Bowser enjoys having a camp. "Here's what I figure," Bowser says down to Madeleine, though loud enough to be overheard by the robots. "They are gonna be all mad that one of their goody goody two shoes robots did a crime. And so what are going to have to do is go in there, grab this guy, bring him out here, then punch him until he confesses, and then throw him in robot jail or whatever." With a toss of the plate, Bowser flicks the rest of the chicken wings into his open mouth, crunching them down in three bone cracking bites before thrusting the plate at Swindle. He then makes an elaborate show of cracking his knuckles. "Alright, tinheads. Here's how this works. You hurt friends of my friends. So bring out this Cloudcover guy!" If one of the folks behind this is an autobot, the other one might be too A frown crosses Bowser's terrible visage. This is getting way too complicated for his two neuroglobin.
Combaticon	"Blitzwing and... Lugnut?" Strongarm shoots a confused look at her boss just in time for Warpath's eyes to close and the bulky red 'bot to start laughing. The whole action prompts his shoulders and chest to bob, somewhat unnerving Onslaught who consicuously steps out of the line of the cannon. "Yes. Lugnut disobeying Megatron's command to seek peace seems unlikely to me as well," Onslaught states in a tone that masterfully hides his rattled state. "Even I know that 'bot would rather extinguish his own spark than disobey Megatron, Warpath lets his laughter peter off. Raising a hand, he waves the thought away, "Seems like a waste of time to investigate him for treason, but I get it. Due Diligence." As Bowser talks, the bulky 'bot approaches Brawl to get a closer look at the missile fragments, leaning down over the case with a thoughtful noise. One hand stays on his hip, the other taps at the mouthless armored plate one might consider a 'Jaw'. > "You hurt friends of my friends. So bring out this Cloudcover guy!" "Bam," Warpath straightens, glancing at Onslaught, "Where'd you find this guy?" Onslaught merely shrugs. "Arresting renegade Autobots is the job of the APB," Strongarm clarifies for Bowser's benefit, "We'll take this evidence and begin our investigation where you left off. Cloudcover hasn't been seen in Autobot airspace for over a lunar cycle. If he's gone to ground, we'll find him and his accomplice." The plate is thrust at Swindle. He closes his eyes with a sigh, taking it and shoving it into his abdominal compartment. A moment later, he produces a new one, "I'm starting to run out of these, you know. Though-- Concord currency is always good, ha ha." "Any leads on the accomplice's identity?" "We'll have to dig into his contacts and check alibis. It's out of your hands now, either way. This is officially now an APB matter." Strongarm dips her head respectfully, then reaches out to take the evidence case from Brawl, close it, and depart for the armored gates of Fortress Maximus. Warpath raises two fingers to just above his eye in a casual salute, flicking them outward slightly before he also turns and enters the Fortress. It is somehow easy to tell that Onslaught is scowling more than usual when he turns his back on the APB commander. Something about the way his headpiece casts his eyes in shadow. They always glow red, of course, but this makes his expression so much more severe than usual, somehow.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	<J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia says, "With a little help, I could probably find the guy." <J-IC-Scene> Combaticon Onslaught says, "Officially, the DJD is off this case. Unofficially, you will have what you need." Madeleine cracks her knuckles theatrically. "Let's get to it. Bowser, I'll need some helping hands." A readily intuitive fact about living machines is that, as with all living beings, they have comfort zones. Engine RPMs and electronics temperatures and fuel mixes that just feel right to them, that they'll default to over time whether or not they produce optimal performance. It's the last of those that Madeleine looks at to start her search. With Swindle's help she accesses transaction histories at fuel depots across the Southern Continent, skimming for Cloudcover's last visit south of the Sea of Rust. Once Madeleine has an idea of what fuel additives (and pollutants) the Autobot prefers, a squad of Ninji are dispatched to swipe similar records from Energon suppliers on the Northern Continent, records which are scanned for anyone purchasing the same fuel mix. Once the search is narrowed to a few cities, it's time to hit the streets. Madeleine can't go just anywhere on Cybertron without attracting tigers, but she knows someone whose minions can.
Bowser	Bowser puts his fingers into his mouth, forming a stirrup of his tongue. This takes a minute until he realizes he doesn't have his airship here and then he mutters, "Stupid..." He pulls out his iphone 11 with Princess Peach cover and a little Bowser insignia dongle on it. It's miniscule in his palm as he taps out on it. A moment later, a true horde of Ninji appear, pajama clad and star shaped, perfectly black, and perfectly silent. "Alright! You are going to go out and look for magna knees and ten miles per hour fuel!" This takes a moment of Madeleine's prompting for them all to salute at once. They filter out into the continent, running into the shadows and then out into the world beyond. Not PERFECTLY silent, but as long as they aren't going into any high security places. Second, Bowser calls the brute squad. The brute squad is six Chargin' Chucks. Six foot tall linebackers in football uniforms, helmets, they are mighty lads who can take a beating. Among them, one magikoopa, some of Bowser's minions who can actually think and formulate plans.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is visibly surprised by the Chargin' Chucks - she thought all of Bowser's minions would be Goomba-sized. Even so, she nods in approval. "We can work with this." The next step in her plan is a bit of a long shot, but it's one she thinks will pay off. Over the next week the Chargin' Chucks tour the Northern Continent - specifically, those cities in which someone is purchasing the right mix of fuel. In each city they play a day of exhibition football games, or a three-versus-three approximation thereof. In each city they are accompanied by a horde of football-hooligan Goombas, enough to draw an audience of local Transformers to the spectacle as well. And in each city a clutch of those hooligan Goombas stay behind, lurking in alleyways and back streets. With these eyes and ears in place, it's only a matter of time until Cloudcover slips up, and they or an accomplice show themselves. Once Cloudcover's position is confirmed, then... the real hunt can begin.