Looney Tunes

Log Title: Looney Tunes

Characters: Counterpunch, Cynosure, Honeytrap, Imager, Ravage, Spike (emits by Cynosure [with help from Incognito] and an emit or two by Imager)

Location: Ruins of Helex

Date: Oct. 31, 2025

Summary: After some Broadband chatter about a strange signal from the ruined city-state of Helex, Ravage goes to investigate, only to find a Decepticon who's been MIA for a little over a decade (1.275 decivorn) apparently entertaining herself amid waiting for rescue. Ravage may or may not have been slightly broken mentally in the process.

<<Broadband>> A blip of a signal is heard briefly, though quickly gives way to white noise.

<<Broadband>> Interrogator says, "Um... Hello?"

<<Broadband>> Ravage says, "Moving towards ruins of Helex. Request to the Queen of Helex for permission to investigate. Lady Insecticon, do I have your authorization?"

<<Broadband>> The signal tries to come through again, only to devolve into what sounds like garbled screams before the white noise mercifully cuts it short.

<<Broadband>> Spike says, "Ravage... you're not on mute."

<<Broadband>> Ravage says, "Autobot, I believe we have unfinished business."

<<Broadband>> Ravage says, "So please do feel free to joins o I can properly gut you"

<<Broadband>> Spike says, "That we do - if not for me, for my friend who you savagely attacked for no reason."

<<Broadband>> Honeytrap comes over the channel. "There's another Insecticon queen around? I thought Helex was abandoned. Besides, I'm in Stanix, if you're referring to me. But far be it from me to humor you, Ravage, so... permission granted."

<<Broadband>> Spike says, "I would, but I'm taking my kid trick or treating tonight."

<<Broadband>> Ravage chortles, "It never hurts to be polite if you had extended your hive out to here, Madame."

<<Broadband>> Honeytrap laughs. "Oh, Ravage, you charmer. Alas, I have not. Helex has had a bad reputation since the whole Silent Grill debacle. I may not have many limits on who I deal with, but Silent Grill is one of those exceptions. I've found it wise to simply steer clear. Plus, we all know how Megatron would get if I had delusions of grandeur and tried to extend my reach beyond my hive in Stanix."

<<Broadband>> Ravage says, "At some point after Vigilem is cleared we'll have to use here as a practice ground for atillery bombardment. Thank you regardless Madame. But, we do have airstrikes on standby in case this is another trick."

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "... huh. There's that damn signal anomaly again. I picked it up several cycles ago, just before talking with Ratbat and Starscream about our MIA Decepticons."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "Appreciated. Is there a satellite you can put into orbit for better tracking, Counterpunch? At least one that won't be vulnerable to interception."

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "I'm counterintelligence, not communications. This is why we need Soundwave back in the fold. But... the signal's coming from... yes. The ruins of Helex. There's not supposed to be anyone there, not since it got bombarded to the Pit."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "Regardless, you're the highest ranking officer available and have the code authorizations if any. But fair enough. And our current intelligence of Helex is.. Quite minimal."

A few minutes ago, a faint signal -- unfortunately not a very stable one -- began to emit along general broadband frequencies. Echoes of it have also been on Decepticon frequencies, but not reported originally. At least, not until Counterpunch said something about it. Damn counterintel types, always playing things close to the chassis. And Helex itself... well, it still looks like the same warmed-over slagheap that it has since it was bombarded. But, there is apparently a few ergs of power being pulled from somewhere, given the faint and ghostly glow of a few lights that flicker at random.

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "Hmm. Looks like... huh. Slight thermal bloom at the ruins of the Power Base. Good place to start."

Ravage is carefully going forwards, his stealth systems online. Just as Helex seems dead doesn't mean that it is. IT could be quite literal given that they had faced an onslaught of the dead and inert there before, after all. So better safe than sorry. Particularly if there were stirrings of Deadites. Ravage turns grim as he moves to pick up faint power readings.

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "Picking up faint power readings and light systems. There does not seem to be a large scale powering of the surface but that does not mean that it is not deeper. Have some airstrikes on standby."

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "...oh, great. Looks like Psyclone's squad is up. Where is Thundercracker or Skywarp when you need them?"

Above in the sky over the darkened city, the absence of light in one spot is the only sign of Unicron's Head being present, high in the sky. Already legends state that ill luck befouls anyone who crosses his gaze...

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "Likely whining and pushing Astrotrain down the stairs"

Ravage would glance up at the giant floating head, "Lovely. At some point that -thing- will need to be dealt with." Not that anyone had the firepower to do so. Or the courage.

The dim lighting, which flanks either side of a caved-in wall, continues to flicker eerily in the growing darkness of evening. There are also strange sounds -- moaning kinds of sounds -- that seem to echo through the area. But surely that's just a breeze blowing through, right?

Ravage would move to scan, going ever so quietly. Thanks to his cloaking device, almost without sound at all. He would move to pause over and then go to take out a small portable scanning drone about the size of a pebble. He would flick it forwards as it would expand to a miniature diagnostic drone, going through the area to sweep passive sensors ahead.

The drone finds almost nothing of import. Almost. The initial chamber that could be entered through the caved-in wall looks virtually bare, devoid of much of anything at all. Most of it would have been melted down, but there should still be some debris around, some panels that might have actually survived the destruction. Except there isn't. Granted, it's entirely possible that scavengers have come through and tried their best to pick clean whatever might have been salvageable. But it doesn't look like it. Indeed, the dust seems only to be disturbed by a single set of footprints, tracked over themselves several times, back and forth from a barely-lit hall that descends down to the next level.

As he goes to move along, he gets ready to give another comm burst.. And it goes to static. Tricky. It could be background disruption. It doesn't seem like jamming. Something inherent to the area. he's not deep enough underground for there to be blockage, nor do tehre seem to be the signs of energy disruptions that would accompany the Silent Grill. So, Ravage creeps forwards, and his optics would glow a bright red. Announcing his presence like a silent ghost creeping through.

As Ravage reaches the hallway, there's a sudden cacophony of sound from below, like several heavy metal objects falling to the ground. A faint plume of dust billows out from the bottom of the hall. He'll also see that there are some stairs going down the hallway, which are covered by some sort of fluid. Not energon, thankfully.

GAME: Ravage PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Above Average difficulty.

Ravage moves slowly. he hears noise. Someone falling. Or some things being knocked down. Oil... Someone damaged, perhaps? No... Not in sufficient amounts. Coolant or for a generator? He goes to stalk ahead. HE still only runs on passive sensors, just to be safe. It doesn't seem like the Cult. They wouldn't be making any noise. Nor would they be falling over. Ravage goes to follow along the trail slowly... And then he's leaping along. Bouncing off the walls, still skulked in stealth mode. Keeping himself high up so as to hopefully avoid anything, barely making any sort of noise as he does so. The walls are hopefully solid enough his almost nonexistence does not register a tumble.

<OOC> Ravage does generic Ravage jump pose

Once Ravage makes it down to the bottom of the hall, he can see the hall continuing down a short distance before a dim light denotes a chamber to the right. Of course, then he'll hear... music. Strange music. Like something out of a 1970s cult movie classic from Earth. Whoever it is down there, they're apparently a decent way through 'The Time Warp' from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Oh sweet Primus, it's the Junkions. Sweet crafter of their creator. Well, at the very least this means that he has no qualms on calling in that airstrike to collapse the place after he gets out of here. NO one will mind the vanishing of a few Junkions. Someone has to get them out of the program after all. Ravage goes further along now. In this case, his attention is more so on places where he can plant bombs to collapse the tunnels.

GAME: Cynosure FAILS an AGILITY roll of Immense difficulty.

As Ravage draws closer, he can hear what sounds like... tap-dancing? It's as if someone's trying their damnedest to nail Columbia's dance routine.

CRASH!*

Sounds like whoever it was messed up, given the muttered cursing. By the time Ravage reaches the doorway to peek inside... well, there's good news and bad news. Start with the good news: it isn't Junkions. Or even a single Junkion.

And now, Ravage knows exactly where all the scrap and missing wiring went, given the dim, sickly green lighting in the room and what looks like someone's makeshift attempt at building a transmitter -- and not a very good attempt, at that. Certainly explains the static and all. Now for the bad news: it's a femme, mostly charcoal-gray and glossy black, but with some metallic silver detailing... and electric-violet lighting as additional detail. Worse... there's a Decepticon sigil on each shoulder. Where the hell did this femme come from?

Ravage would let out a sigh. On one claw, it would seem to be a Decepticon. On the other claw, it was one that seemed insane enough to have picked up habits of the Junkions. Or worse had bene adopted by them. At least they're not singing. It's just a dance number. Not a song and dance number. There are limits to that he'll accept. If she starts singing like a Disney Princess, Decepticon or not he's going to just bury her in the place with everything else. He has to have dignity after all. But he has to try. Even as she's twirling to 'Let's Do The Time Warp aaaggaiiinnn' he goes to drop his cloak over, appearing out of nowhere in a flash as he would state, "Identification! Name, Rank, Tech Specs."

"Whoawhatthefrickinsprockinpit?" High-pitched voice with an accent. The femme whirls around, a heavy plasma pistol flashing into hand out of subspace as she stares wildly at Ravage. "Who the--" she begins, before stopping, her arm lowering and the heavy plasma pistol disappearing back into subspace again. "Umm, Cynosure! I... don't know what my rank might be at present. I've been rather indisposed for the last decivorn or so. I do Diversionary Tactics when I'm not showing off the latest stunts. Man, I'm a bit out of practice with those." Her electric-violet visor flashes. "You... wait... I know you. I saw you before on Earth when I was allowed to transfer to Earth for a while." She glances left, then right, then back at Ravage again. "You, uhh... you didn't see me bust my aft a minute ago, right?"

Ravage would glance over at Cynosure over, "You have been listed as MIA to the point that your quarters were given to another unit, your access codes canceled, and your belongings taken by Chopshop before anyone could intervene." There were risks when things happened. "You've been gone for a decivorn. And don't worry, all of that practice has been recorded and is available for mass release. I'm sure that a few edits can be made if you prove less than cooperative." All it needed was 'Yakkety Sax' put back on it. "How long has it been since you escaped Junkion custody?"

"Aww, sprock! Seriously? Chopshop took my stuff?" Cynosure huffs. "Well, at least he didn't get my hoverboard and my heavy plasma pistol -- I still have those, thank Primus." She stares at Ravage for a moment, then snorts. "The Junkions? No, no, no. The Triumvirate! They locked me away because they apparently found out I'd been sent to keep an eye on them. I had to ration my energon for... well, most of that time. I guess they forgot I was sent there or somethin'."

Her lips twitch. "And as for that practice... well, there isn't all that much to film. I finally managed to bust my way out of my cell about ten cycles ago. I'd show you where, but I got a little overzealous... and I might have collapsed a couple of levels in the process of finally getting out of the Castle. Then I came here to try and cobble something together to send a signal. Took three or four cycles for that. Damn thing's as much on the fritz as some of my systems are."

She holds up a hand, then moves over to the transmitter. "Ahh, slaggit." The heavy plasma pistol appears again, and she shoots the transmitter. Static on the comms? All gone. "I was never very good with the communications stuff. Definitely no Soundwave, that's for slaggin' sure." Cynosure turns around. "So, uhh... I get to come back home now, right? I never thought I would miss Kaon."

Ravage would glance at Cynosure for just a few moments, "How many times have you seen it and are you at a psychometrical risk of speaking in the voices from it? I just need a few things cleared up or see if I have to send you to Doctor mindwipe for some processor tweaks." Just keep it simple, see if she still had fear in her or she was past that point of rational thought processes. "And the Triumvirate has been offlined for at least a twentieth of a vorn after the place was prone to having exploded. And they deserted. If you're been down here that long I'm guessing that they forgot you existed. And.."

Ravage would glance together at the cobbled together transmitter. "That looks like something that Mixmaster made to put on his shrine to Hook. Adequate craftsmechship." And then comms are open. "Do forgive me when we depart, you'll have to go into quarantine for a while if you've been underground this long and been doing song and dance numbers."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "Located individual claiming to be MIA Decepticon designate Cynosure. Have a spark scanner on hand and proper quarantine protocols readied. She claims to have been a captive in Helex for a decivorn but has been mobile. Given... Events at Helex I have reason to doubt her timeline."

"Mindwipe? You want to send me to that kook?" Cynosure mutters. "Well, probably better than Bombshell or Venom. They're tricksy, especially Bombshell with those cerebro-shells. Yuck. I hate mind control." She sighs after a moment. "Personally, I'd love nothing more than to introduce all three of those slagheaps to... well... heavy plasma pistol, the monowire, hit 'em a few times with my EMP projectile system... of course, I gotta recharge first before I do that." She pauses. "You mean a decivorn plus of quarantine and being all alone wasn't enough already? Ah well, you'll forgive me if I go all chatterbox with myself. Up 'til now, it's been the most intelligent conversation I've had in /years/!"

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "Cynosure? Hold on a moment. Accessing records..."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "I want to make sure that we have her properly identified and.. Given this is Helex, ensure that she's kept under observation. I also require it if I have been exposed."

Ravage would glance at her, "Mindwipe is.. Somewhat better than the rest. We'll need to have one of the technicians look you over. You look like you spent a few rounds too many with a Rock Lord. We'll need to make sure that your circuits aren't sizzling too much." Poor, desperate femme if she thinks that the evil catbot counts as intelligent conversation. "Hopefully you'll be repaired and sometime soon rearmed and then back on field duty at the discretion of whatever department you end up in. Much... Has changed since you were a prisoner."

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "...ahh, here we go. Cynosure. Forged five million years ago. Apparently was given an Autobot transformation cog, because she transforms into a high-performance cybercar. Originally Assault Infantry... good battlefield improvisation skills. Got transferred to Intelligence after someone gave her a chance, probably to see her fail miserably. But she's... huh. She's apparently pretty good at it. Diversionary tactics, infiltration, computer hacking... extreme stunts. Probably hit her head a few times doing some of the things I'm seeing here in her file. Cyclonus sent her to Earth in 2005, came back just over a decivorn later. Got sent to Helex at that point to observe the Triumvirate. According to the logs, lost contact with her a matter of cycles before Silent Grill attacked. MIA since that point, until now."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "She could have been reprogrammed in that case. We'll have to be sure. isolate her and do as protocol says."

"Could have Nemesis look me over. He's pretty good with his hands, if you know what I mean." Cynosure grins. "Kidding. But he is good. I'm sure he's still around, right? I remember when he was little Aries, always trying to impress Shockwave after Megatron pursued Optimus off of Cybertron. I was such a young, impressionable femme back then."

Ravage would shake his head softly, "I'm sorry. Nemesis was Killed in Action shortly after you were declared Missing. He went out like a true Decepticon and I have no doubt that in the Inferno they are singing his praises while fearing he will slaughter them all." He would continue to cock his head. "While you're under repairs I'll have you given an update on events while you were a prisoner. Things have been... Desperate for a while on multiple fronts. Worse even than the Dead Times."

<<Decepticon>> Counterpunch says, "Possible... though I'd have to look more in-depth into Legonis, Octus, and Seizer to see if any of them possess the expertise to do something like that. Lazy as they were, though, I'd be more surprised if they did have the capability. They probably didn't have a chance to throw her in the Arena before all the nonsense with Silent Grill."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "She mentioned she was their prisoner, so perhaps."

GAME: Cynosure PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

Cynosure opens her mouth to say something, then stops, looking closely at Ravage. "Wow, laying it on a bit thick, aren't you? I mean, he was pretty slaggin' smart and all, but I also remember how pissy he was when I was on Earth. Having a chip on his shoulder as Aries was bad enough, but then he became a Sweep like Scourge. He was always on edge as Harbinger. Finally seemed to calm down when he decided to be a recolor of some Optimus Prime design variant and called himself Nemesis." She shrugs. "Shame he's dead, though, if that's the case. Who's running the show in MedTech, then?" The heavy plasma pistol disappears back into subspace again as she starts walking over towards Ravage. "You might want to let me take the lead. I didn't hear a 'whoosh' or anything, so you musta missed the pressure plate I set up to spark on the stairs. Don't wanna singe our paint jobs, after all. I wasn't sure who'd be coming, and if it was an Autobot, I'd have given 'em a, heh, warm welcome."

Ravage would let out a sigh, "One that has been MIA longer than you have. I doubt she would be in your records system. She works as Shockwave's Adjunct and experiments on the side. You have a great deal to catch up on." He would chortle softly. "And some extremely crazed circumstances. While you were offlined, for a time Starscream was leader. And did a reasonable job of it. And had most of the warriors willingly following him out of reasons other than complete desperation and grief. And as for your traps.. I got down here without an issue, didn't I? But very well."

<<Decepticon>> Ravage says, "We're departing the ruins of Helex. Have an escort ready."

GAME: Cynosure PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Above Average difficulty.

Cynosure leads the way out, heading down the hallway to the bottom of the stairs. "Starscream? Lead? And he was actually /good/ at it?" She kneels down, turning back towards Ravage with the visored equivalent of a wide-eyed stare. "Clearly, the end is extremely sprockin' nigh." Shaking her head, she turns back around, a thin steel file sliding out of a fingertip like a claw and gently lifts the plate up. Then a couple of quick flicks, and the wire is disconnected. "There," she says, letting the floor plate drop back down and standing up. "All safe."

Ravage would nod, "All right, we're heading up to the surface, and I've called for an escort. You will be put under quarantine for a while given you have been missing for a decivorn until medical clears you. You'll be given updated chronological briefings to review and when you're cleared put through an evaluation for placement."