Enter Centurion

Log Title: Enter Centurion

Characters: Axegrinder, Sean Berger, Peter Anthony Morris (@emitted), Phillip Grady (@emitted)

Location: Berger Building, New York City, New York

Date: 31 July 2018

TP:

Summary: Berger introduces Axegrinder to two men who bring a technological advance that might just give Concurrence an edge over the Transformers.

As logged by  Axegrinder

Sean Berger, Jr., waits on the landing platform for Axe's ship to arrive. Berger is wearing jeans and a $200 black T-shirt with an abstract design on it. With him are two other men - An older gentleman with a longish grey beard, and a younger man in a white lab coat over a cheap suit. The older man is carrying some sort of green helmet under his arm, and the younger man is carrying a briefcase.

Axegrinder brings the Stratus into the landing bay expertly, shifting to VTOL as she sets the plane down. She opens the cockpit and climbs down, giving her jet a pat on its fuselage once her boots are on the ground. She removes her flight helmet and gives Berger a cocky smile. The strangers with him get guarded, suspicious glances. "G'day, Mr Berger," she greets. "What's the occasion? An' who're yer friends?"

Sean Berger, Jr. smiles broadly. "Gentlemen," he says broadly, gesturing to the pilot. "This is Axegrinder! Axegrinder, please allow me to introduce Professor Peter Anthony Morris, new Director of the Bureau of Transformer Affairs, and Phillip Grady of the Intelligence and Information Institute. I think they might become your new very best friends." He chuckles. "Shall we head up to my loft?"

The cocky smile reserved for Berger is now transferred to the two newcomers. "Nice ta meetcha," Axegrinder drawls. She grins toothily at Berger. "Hope yer bar is fully stocked, Mr Berger."

"Always," Berger assures Axegrinder with a smile, and leads the three upstairs to his expansive loft. He immediately walks over and starts drinks for the four of them. "The new administration has been very generous in allotting funds for Transformer monitoring and deterrence, and Mr. Grady here has some news that you might find both interesting and useful." He walks over and hands out drinks to each of his guests.

Axegrinder accepts a whiskey on the rocks and unceremoniously plunks down on one of Berger's expensive leather couches. "Oh yeah?" She takes a sip of her drink, nods to herself in satisfaction, then smiles over at Grady. "Do tell, Mr Grady. I'll be happy ta deter some Transformers... considerin' the price is right."

Grady accepts his own drink, and gives Axegrinder a sly smile. "Oh, I'm sure you'll find this both personally and professionally rewarding," he grins. He takes a long drink, and then sets down his glass on a coaster. "A few months ago," he begins. "The Decepticons launched an attack on Autobot City. From everything we can tell, the city was badly damaged - as bad as we've seen in years." This seems to please him greatly.

The ice cubes in Axegrinder's glass tinkle as she tilts the glass from side to side, listening to Grady speak. She snorts, grinning. "Bout time they kept their damage to themselves. So you figure the Autobots are in some strife, eh?"

Grady's shark-like grin widens. "They closed the city for a while, and when they re-opened it, there's still only allowing in a small amount of vital personnel. Which tells us two things - the city is still vulnerable to attack, its defenses offline - and that there are only a small amount of Autobot loyalists on the premises. So, should there be another attack ... no innocent bystanders to concern ourselves with."

Axegrinder chuckles. "Sounds like a peachy situation," she says, lifting her glass in Grady's direction. "Fer us." She takes a drink, her gaze never leaving Grady's face.

Grady points at Axegrinder. "That's not even the best part." He glances at the other two men, and Berger gives him a nod. "Grab your drink and follow me." He heads out of the back of the loft, down a short flight of stairs, to a massive service elevator. Not the kind that moves furniture - the kind that moves cars and small aircraft up to the hangar. Grady walks quickly, but then waits for the others to join him, grinning like a rich kid on Christmas morning.

Axegrinder hops up and follows Grady, her drink glass held protectively close to her chest as she breaks into a lazy jog to catch up to him. "Can't wait ta see this..."

Grady laughs. "You won't be disappointed." He glances again at Berger, and then goes over to pick up a large controller with two buttons on it. He presses one of the buttons, and then lift begins to rise. Slowly it opens. Inside is a massive robot, with a gold visor, blue paint job, red spikes, and an impressive cannon on its right shoulder.

"Now, before you react, Axegrinder," Berger butts in, "This isn't a Transformer - it's one of ours."

As the giant robot appears, a hostile sneer appears on Axegrinder's face. "The hell is this...?" She turns to squint at Berger, then Grady, finally staring at the robot as it fully rises into place. "One of ... /ours/?" She takes a quick swig of her drink and frowns.

Berger laughs. "Yes, Axegrinder, and we're taking no chances - this thing has less of an AI than your phone. It'll be completely remotely controlled by Professor Morris here, who's developed an advanced neural interface regulator. Since MacLeod made him Director of the Bureau of Transformer Affairs he's been using his new resources in complete... Concurrence with our goals." Berge gives his own shark-like grin.

"Well, if it didn't come from another planet an' it ain't gonna step on any buildings, I s'pose it can't be all bad." Axegrinder knocks back the last of her drink, the ice cubes clattering in the bottom of the empty glass. She looks over the robot, then looks to Morris, smirking. "So how you gonna control this thing? You got a fancy tv-clicker thing, or you gonna..." She holds her free hand up near her temple and waggles her fingers as she moves it away from her. "...think stuff at it?"

Morris holds up the green helmet he's been carrying around, and then slowly places it over his head. "I'm going to 'think stuff at it'," he replies with a slight smile. The helmet covers his head but leaves his face exposed. "Now, Centurion," he says. "Wave to the nice lady." Morris narrows his eyes in concentration, and the robot raises one arm, giving a somewhat ridiculous wave for an over-weaponized death machine.

A broad grin splits Axegrinder's face. "That's spectacular!" she enthuses, as the robot waves its arm at her. "Just one problem though," she adds. "I ain't exactly a 'nice lady'." She bursts out laughing at her own joke. "It ain't built fer character judgement though, I reckon."

Berger smirks. "Well, I figured I'd let Grady and Morris make their own judgements about your character. What I have told them about is your skill. We'd like to strike at Autobot City soon - while it's still vulnerable. What we'd like you to do is escort Centurion there and provide air support while the two of you murder every Transformer you can." Berger breaks into an evil laugh just at the thought.

Axegrinder makes a husky noise of approval, beaming at Berger. "Oh, Mr Berger, ya sure do know how ta get this girl's heart poundin'." She too gives a haughty, malicious laugh. "With this guy, this Centurion, on our side, me an' my jet'll make mincemeat o'those bloody robots, no doubt."

"Good girl!" Berger booms. "I knew I could count on you." He looks at Morris. "You can take that damned ridiculous thing off, now. You look like bargain basement Magneto. Just make sure it's working when we need it." He turns to Grady. "Get that thing as close to Autobot City as you can without being detected - we want them to have as little warning as possible." Finally he turns back to Axegrinder. "What else do you need from me?"

Axegrinder snickers at Berger's 'bargain basement Magneto' comment. "Just the usual: fer him, fuel an' armaments. Anything you got specially designed ta crack armour would be a great help, obviously. Those Transformers got thick skin. An' I don't mean it's hard to insult 'em." She chuckles. "Fer me, the roof over my head I got here suits me just fine. And there's plenty of pizza joints that deliver, so no worries. Other'n that, just lemme know when it's time ta go an' we'll be there."

Berger nods excitedly. "As soon as we can move the Centurion into position, we'll launch the attack. You two -" he directs Grady and Morris. "Get moving immediately. You," he smiles at Axe. "Are welcome to join me in my loft for further refreshment until we're ready to move." Grady scowls at being summarily dismissed, while Morris narrows his eyes at the Magneto comment. Nonetheless both follow orders and climb into the lift, riding it down out of sight.

The melting ice in her empty glass clinks as Axegrinder swirls it around. "Yer on, Mr Berger. I never turn down a free drink."