TRANSFORMERS: Towards Peace - Episode 1: What's So Funny 'Bout...

[Justin OOC]

Arsenal nodded.  "I wish to see within the ship, so I will agree to get chipped."   The larger decepticon thought he'd already made this clear.   He waited his turn to be chipped, and once the process was done, made his way within the ship.

[Kayda Vayawn]

Raker gives a Artemis a bit of a glare, "Having trouble with your audio receivers? I already agreed to be chipped, but i am not agreeing yet to join this mission. That depends on Heatwave and what he has to say."

[Charlotte]

"Once you're vetted, you can pick out a cabin." She nods to Raker. "Well then, let's get this holovid on the grid."

Once agreement was reached, the chipping process was brief, and Raker, Redline, Arsenal and Algorithm proceeded into the ship.

The ship had that new-fabrication tang to the air, for those with developed olfactory sensors; it couldn't have been more than a month off the fabrication process. Inside there were Transformers from all factions, with a somewhat tense atmosphere to the proceedings. A few of the more jovial 'bots were trying to break the ice, but to little avail.

Not far from the entrance, there was an expansive holographic display of what looked like a job postings board. It had openings for:

• Diplomacy corps
• Assistant to diplomatic corps
• Internal security
• External out-of-atmosphere scouting
• Navigation
• Medical
• Assistant to medical
• Engineering and maintenance
• Assistant energex bartender

Standing in front of it was a robot that had Something Of a Reputation - a big robot, covered in blinking lights, that despite his size was supposedly the worst fighter in the history of the Cybertronian race. Went badge-blind in a fight; missed unerringly what he was aimed at; got scared when a weapon was so much as waved near him. His altmode of turning into a power generator on Cybertron had, by a quirk of fate, been reformatted as what humans called a "Ferris wheel" on Earth. His name was Roustabout, and what the Autobot lacked in courage he made up for in gregariousness.

"Howdy howdy! Name's Roustabout. I'm head of internal admin. Sure is a nice big bucket of energex to meet you all. You got any questions about what kinda job you're in the mood for, you just let me know - "

Nearby, a pair of doors slid open, and in strode Heatwave, with a significantly thinner Decepticon at his side - a spindly robot that also had Something Of a Reputation. Even in the glorious cause of Megatron's Seven-Phase Plan, someone had to keep track of where all the energon went and who had enough bullets and whether everyone was performing to peak capacity. The Decepticon formerly known as Vindicator had risen to this task with such relish that he had formally changed his name to Timetable. He turned into a long-range artillery plasma cannon, but he preferred to bury his enemies in the Decepticon cause in datawork instead - and given his demeanor, he didn't have many friends to begin with.

"Heatwave, we are getting complaints from all over the ship and I am formally ready to declare this outing a disaster. The vetting process is only slightly behind schedule, thank Primus, but the diplomacy corps has already had a row about the size of their recharging station quarters, Lord Starscream thinks we have taken on too many Autobots and unaffiliated, Rodimus and Megatron are currently standing on opposite sides of the ship due to their mutually professed hatred of each other and Optimus Prime is nowhere to be seen - "

"He's probably channeling the wisdom of the Matrix or something. Hello all." The bright red robot smiled at each of the newcomers, shaking hands in turn. "Welcome to the Nova Praxis. Glad to have you on board. This is my administrative assistant Timetable, and I see you've met Roustabout - "

"Howdy!"

"... Roustabout, are you ever going to get deformatted back into a - never mind, we'll discuss that later. And I'm Heatwave, and I'm in charge of the ship. I imagine you have about a googleplex of questions. I'm here to hear them."

*   *   *

Outside the ship, Artemis was giving out patrol pattern assignments.

High Lift had been partnered with a Decepticon hoverjet named Mach One, who had been marooned on a planet his very first assignment, and had only succeeded in flinging himself off world in the general direction of Cybertron before going into stasis lock to converse power. He had been picked up four million years later by a passing deep space shuttle, having missed Cybertron entirely. His response to all of this had been "well, it figures." Bad luck seemed to follow Mach One around like a rust infection.

After giving out ground assignments, Artemis turned to the pair. "Now, you two are both fliers. Mind flying a scout patrol, seeing if anything's out of the ordinary down there?"

[Kayda Vayawn]

Raker observed the action abord the ship but nothing she saw gave her that feeling of belonging that she had had when she had first witnessed Megatron speak oh so long ago. When Heatwave showed up that inspiration she need wasn't on display, at least not yet.

"Lets star with why are we here and what are we being vetted for?"

[Sunstar]

Highlift shakes her head.  "Nah I don't mind.  Come on, Mach One.  See if you can out fly a space shuttle!"   High Lift said cheerfully to her assigned partner, wanting to take the edge off of things  before transforming.

[Charlotte]

"You're all here because the Unfolded Nebula space station is a very, very long ways away, and the Galactic Council wants to oversee the talks to make sure that you all are serious about the end of the war. We have charts, but actual physical navigation is still a little untested. And there are a lot of threats out there to the Cybertronian race that would love to attack the ship while it's on its way, and of course, anything else could happen.

"Essentially: I want you people here to make sure that when something goes wrong - and it will - that we have good 'bots ready to handle it.

"Now: if you're all up for it, I'll take you all on a quick tour of the ship, then later we'll get you vetted and squared away with whatever jobs you select and get you assigned to a hab suite. In the meantime, I'm late for the general assembly. It's this way, if you'd care to join us?"

Meanwhile

"... and then when I get back Megatron's not even a Decepticon any more. Now I gotta work with the Autobots and make nice. Meh." 

High Lift had been working with Mach One for fifteen minutes tops and it had felt like fifteen years. The two of them were in altmode, flying a scout patrol over the skies of Iacon.

It was High Lift, trained to recognize the badge on sight, that spotted it first. From a distance it looked like a Decepticon symbol the size of a building, only visible from the air, half-covered in a tarp...

[Neeva of the Katjaa]

"You're all here because the Unfolded Nebula space station is a very, very long ways away, and the Galactic Council wants to oversee the talks to make sure that you all are serious about the end of the war. We have charts, but actual physical navigation is still a little untested. And there are a lot of threats out there to the Cybertronian race that would love to attack the ship while it's on its way, and of course, anything else could happen.

"Essentially: I want you people here to make sure that when something goes wrong - and it will - that we have good 'bots ready to handle it.

"Now: if you're all up for it, I'll take you all on a quick tour of the ship, then later we'll get you vetted and squared away with whatever jobs you select and get you assigned to a hab suite. In the meantime, I'm late for the general assembly. It's this way, if you'd care to join us?"

"If this is where we'll be spending the next several weeks or months, then we may as well get familiar with it. The sooner we get through the formalities, the sooner we can get this show on the road. Lead on." Redline says relentingly to Heaywave.

[Justin OOC]

"I echo her sentiments.  Let us be through with the formalities, so we can begin our journey."  was all Arsenal would utter aloud.   This was not how things were done, but evidently it was the new order.

[SalmonMax]

Algorithim paused at the mention of a tour. He didn't really fancy the idea of wandering around the ship like a senile old Terran, having to ask for directions. Presumably there were deckplans or schematics he could download and memorize, but there was something to be said for actual experience. The construction of a ship was a vast thing, and it rarely matched the blueprints exactly in its finished form. And the plans would show a given room's intended use, but not necessarily the use the crew put it to.

Yes, a tour would be better. He had nothing but time.

He filed in to follow.

[Charlotte]

The tour was relatively brief, with Heatwave and Timetable giving a quick rundown of the five decks of the ship, including the engine rooms, the comm networks, the labs, the hab suites and recharge stations, energon storage and processing, senior staff's offices, and the ship's bar, the Grindhouse.

Then came time for the ceremony. It turned out that Heatwave had gotten religion sometime in the last four million years, and so everyone on board was gathered in the ship's auditorium to share in the commencement address and to watch Heatwave consecrate the walls of the room where everyone was gathered as a sign of blessing and good fortune.

That came later, though. Right now Heatwave was giving a speech, thanking everyone for coming on board, and speaking of the worthiness of the coming mission. Timetable used this time to catch up on paperwork. Starscream was there, his face frozen in a grin that never fully looked sincere. Optimus Prime and Megatron were having some kind of discussion, and Rodimus was doodling on a datapad.

Meanwhile

"Hey, I recognize that," said Mach One over the radio, as the Decepticon and High Lift scouted. "It's a - it's big. Huh. I wonder what kind of 'bot THAT goes on - "

High Lift and Mach One's sensor suites lit up, as the tarp was ripped away, revealing a giant flying Decepticon symbol - one that High Lift recognized immediately. A symbol ship - a ship in the shape of a giant Decepticon insignia - used as both propaganda and heavy weapons support in the early days of the war. It rose into the air, and then Mach One spoke.

"Huh, my inter-Decepticon radio must still work since they just said 'they've seen us' in the clear - "

The air was filled with blaster fire.

High Lift, right now I'll treat this as a pair of obstacles to overcome. You need to overcome a +4 level obstacle using Quick, Sneaky or Clever approaches to avoid being hit by blaster fire, and also overcome a +3 obstacle using Clever, Careful or Flashy approaches to get word back to Artemis and the rest of the patrols that you're under attack.

Details on how Overcome works are on page 16. Good luck!

[Kayda Vayawn]

Raker joined the tour of the ship making note of the Transformers she saw and  other important factors. Her mind was still in a bit of a fog with her world being upended and all. She kept thinking, Who am i now without Megatron to give me orders. Autobots, Decepticons, she didn't want to be either now. she needed something to define her to make her whole.

She left the Tour after being asked to select a position and naturally made her way to the security area of the ship intending to offer her skills to the head of Security but balked when she arrived. Raker had been feared for the better part of the war as Megatrons personal bloodhound and executioner. Now free, Released by the one Transformer whom she trusted in all the universe, the cause she had served had killed countless time for, was now no more than a dirty stain on the long history of The race. How could she give herself to someone she didn't know, how could she take the orders of someone who in all likely hood despised her. No, she couldn't do it. She would decline the offer to join the crew would go out into the wilderness and live or die on her own terms.

Raker turned and began to make her way to the ships exit fully intending to leave a message to heatwave , when she passed the Bar and heard a strange sound, whistling. She entered the bar a quick survey revealed that it was empty save for one other old Transformer, Grinder, the Ships Bartender.

"HI there, welcome to the Grindhouse! As new crew first one is on the house so what'll you have?"

"Nothing, I heard a sound I was investigating..."

"HAHA nothing to worry bout just me whistling away, I do that when im in the zone, as they say. But come on in and have a seat I was just about to have a shot and i hate partaking by myself so do and old 'bot a favor and join me. Names Grinder by the way."

Raker shook her head and was half turned to leave when Grinder put two cubes of energex on the bar and cocked his head.

"Ok, why not. I'm Raker." She crossed to the bar and joined him.

"So, how do you like the ship..."

That was how the conversation started but it went far longer and Raker revealed much to the Old miner turned bartender, in fact after only a few sentences it seemed Raker did all the talking and Grinder the listening. after more than an hour and a couple of more drinks.

"...and so I'm really not sure what to do with myself anymore." Raker finished the last of her energex and stood to leave. "Thanks for your time Grinder, but i better be on my way." She touches her forehead in a salute.

"Anytime Raker It was a pleasure to meet ya, and i wish ya the best of luck." Grinder puts away the frames that held the energex and wipes down the bar as Raker makes her way to the door, thinking it takes all kinds.

"You know, this place can get pretty busy and it's a handful doing everything myself, you know waiting tables , extracting, grinding, mixing. Sometimes it's more than i can do by myself."

Raker stops at the door and looks back at the older 'bot.

Grinder doesn't miss a beat. "I think I'll have to ask Heatwave if there's a way he could see to getting me some help down here. Don't suppose...nah, your off to go explore the wilderness."

Raker's mind races this was not something she had even considered.

"Are you offering me a position?"

"Well, that's a bit more formal than i would have put it but, yeah."

"I dont know any thing about Energex though" Raker protested mildly.

"HAHAHA, well after four million years of eating and drinking it don't ya think it's time you learned?"

Grinder comes out from behind the bar and extends his hand to Raker who comes forward taking it.

"I can learn."

 

 

 

 

[Sunstar]

"MACH ONE! "  The space shuttle bot quickly transformed and tried maneuver better though the laser fire  in her robot mode and pushed the other bot out of the way as she dodged

Sunstar *rolls* 4d6: 1+1+6+3: 11  (Used Quick, +3)

"We gotta back and warn the ship! C'mon!"

At this point trying to go for the careful route will only give them more time to get shot down.  No, have to send word Now and make sure it's not intercepted.

Sunstar *rolls* 4d6: 1+5+5+4: 15 ( Clever, +2)

High Lift eschews the flashy route and sends off a message directly to the Artemis

 

"Attention!  Me and Mach One are Under attack!   The enemy is using a Symbol Ship!"

 

[Charlotte]

Success on the communication, failure on the attempt to dodge blaster fire. High Lift succeeds in getting the distress call out but is clipped by a blaster bolt. High Lift takes 2 stress (target number of 4, roll of 2.)

You can mitigate this by invoking an appropriate Aspect and paying a FATE point to tie the roll and hit "Succeed with a cost" level of success. You can also mitigate the stress by taking a Consequence, to simulate getting clipped by blaster fire. Let me know what, if anything, you decide.

Artemis looked skywards towards the airborne fracas, and activated her comms. "Artemis to Heatwave. We are under attack. Symbol ship, two decikliks to the south. Repeat, request backup, we are under attack. It's a symbol ship!"

Inside, in mid-speech, Heatwave glanced at a blinking light on his wrist, frowned, and tapped it. He then turned to the general assembly. "Everyone, there's a disturbance outside. I want everyone to move as quickly as you can towards the hab suites, please. Not you." He pointed towards the group, and a few others besides. "Raker, Redline, Arsenal, Algorithm, Greasepit, and Timetable, with me."

Once those who obeyed were pulled aside, Heatwave tapped his datapad and there was the tiny click noise of everyone's inhibitor chip being deactivated. Heatwave tossed Algorithm's multi-tool to the older robot. "Your leaders all swore as to your reliability, so listen: there is a Decepticon symbol ship on its way here. It's armed and we don't know what it plans to do, but if it attacks the ship while it's in drydock this mission is over before it's even begun. I'm going out to meet up with Artemis and do what I can to stop it. I need backup. If you're in, come with me."

[Neeva of the Katjaa]

"A symbol ship?" Redline asked, her surprise obvious.

"Well, I haven't had an action in a good while." she added and then looked to Arsenal and Raker.

"Let's show'em how Decepticons roll." Redline said to her fellows using a bit of Earth slang with a grin before turning and following Heatwave with the anticipation of combat making her transformation cog hum with excitement.