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Nary Squander an Opportunity
Date of Scene: 19 February 2017
Location: Kaon - Central
Synopsis: Onslaught and others seek to convince Hookshot to help them expose Autobots and help clear his name.
Cast of Characters: Quantum, Blast Off, Onslaught, Hookshot, Vortex, 72


Onslaught has posed:
It wasn't long after Blast Off had escorted Hookshot into the ramshackle facility, an old, unused capacitor station within the citystate of Kaon.

tag(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJMGuB1KL2A)

Hookshot was benignly introduced into the facility, specifically chosen to be disarming, to be foreign without being overtly hostile. Even now, an vorn after use the hoses and pipes of the junction housing still drip coolant on the flooring, marring the metal with a thousand years of colorful spillage. It gives the darkened room a bit of much needed color...

Upon Hookshot's arrival, there was a one-armed mech to greet him. Soft-spoken and without much ambilance, the mech introduced himself as Graspor, offered the prisoner a bit of energon or oil, and then humbly apologized for the wait.

Twenty astrominutes passed before the door opened, a brighter light than the room provided, and in that light there was a silhouette of a mech. A mech with two cannons upon his back. Onslaught wasn't smoking his ceegar, even though he damn sure needed another one. He was a calcuator, and he thought best when he had something to fidget with. Even now his fingers rolled absently against his hip.

"Hookshot?" He tried to modulate his voice as he stepped into the room, shying away from the callous and gruff tone, the one that demanded respect. He focused on his proper posture, indicating health and presence, he shifted his weight a bit more slack than normal, trying to avoid the crisp ambulance of a military officer. It wouldn't be relatable, not if he was simply Joe Con 'Freedom Fighter'.

He raises a hand as he steps into the ambient light. "I'm glad to see you made it here in one piece." That's right, show care to a mech's wellbeing, express concern, it puts them at ease. Now, make yourself seem relatable. He follows up before Hookshot can continue, "I know the situation you just came from must've been...fearsome. I can only guess that your entire life has been turned upside down since the attack on Dai Atlas." Onslaught gestures to the room, "Its not much, but its safe here. For now."

Acid Storm (72) has posed:
The effort to appear like professional military is aided in having the staymark of the Decepticon army present. Though wisely it's just that obscure green Seeker and not one of the famous ones that would possibly be too intimidating. Or just annoying, if you're talking about Starscream's voice.

Regardless, Acid Storm just keeps the good soldier effort there, following Onslaught into the room with a brisk stride and stance while keeping to himself unless spoken to."

Vortex has posed:
Just a step or two behind the enormous mech that is Onslaught, is a scrawny little shadow. No neon paint to make it stand out, like certain seekers. It slips off to the side, staying on the fringes of the room, only a dim glow of a visor giving away its location. The red light doesn't look away from Hookshot. Vortex cants his helm and crosses his arms, unusually quiet. Don't mind him, he's just watching and listening for now.

Quantum has posed:
    Another mech follows Acid storm and Vortex in. He also appears to be a flight form not unlike Acid Storm though the design is a little different. "Yeah, for now." Quantum echoes Onslaught's words for emphasis. "What happens next here is going to depend a lot on what you do next."

Hookshot has posed:
     Patience is a virtue, and one of the few that Hookshot seems to command. The mech, from being brought to Kaon up to being placed in this rather aesthetically unpleasing room, has maintained a neutral expression, revealing little about his emotional state or thoughts on his current situation. He waves dismissively at Graspor when refreshment is offered. "Not now, but maybe later. Thanks for asking," he responds in a vaguely pleasant tone.
     When Onslaught enters the room, he would be right in feeling his every nuance is being observed and scrutinized. The results of this analysis, however, Hookshot does not seem eager to share. He faces Onslaught with the same veil of neutrality he'd shown everyone else (except Blast Off who he was purposely unnerving with unwanted overtures). His white optics stray only a moment to note the green (and boy is that GREEN) seeker and Onslaught's little shadow. Then he slowly shifts his gaze back to Onslaught. The most subtle of smirks appears on his face when Onslaught describes his current location as safe. But whatever snarky remark is chomping at the bit to be released into the land of the hearing, he holds it back. Quantum can do the snarking.
     "Yes, you could say my life has been upheaved by this whole affair. It's an unpleasant disruption, you could say, to my life goals. So... cards out on the table. What do you want, and what do you have to offer?"

Onslaught has posed:
Onslaught regards Hookshot for a few moments, then draws out a metal crate from a corner. He had placed it there earlier just for this particular moment, when he slowly drew it out, and sat on it. First off he gestures vaguely towards Quantum, his main mech Vortex, and Acid Storm, "Well, I think you understand who we are...and you seem to be an intelligent mech, so you know what we want." He gives Hookshot a vague answer, the type that helped a mech make rash decisions, as well as just a little bit of confidence. He wanted Hookshot to be holding all the cards, so he offers from a position of weakness. He slouches a bit, then leans forward and draws his ceegar. With a subtle motion towards it, Onslaught admonishes himself, "Hope you don't mind...I think better when I've got one of these lit." Expose personal weakness, its relatable. He lights it and takes a half-puff, before withdrawing it. For a quarter second he reminds himself to have his air filters checked out, he had been hitting the ceegars a lot recently. There was an awful lot of planning to do after all.

"And as for what we offer...well, I think that it depends on what you want. Whatever proof or testimony you can give us...well, that'll help the cause against the Functionists and their lackeys. We don't have much, but I can promise you one thing."

Onslaught takes another drag from his ceegar, adding "We can't just lock you up and forget the access code. We...might be able to get you off-planet if that's your wish."

Acid Storm (72) has posed:
Acid Storm raises an optic ridge slightly as Onslaught lights up a ceegar. Not at the reason in doing so, he can imagine how stressful being a high ranking officer can be, and the usual vices of getting drunk off high grade or such would be much too impairing.

He's just trying to figure out how that works with the mouthguard look the Combaticon group seems to prefer. Except Swindle, but he's the sort that needs a visible smile to charm you out of whatever he wants.

"An unfortunate effect of the current state of affairs." Not wanting to appear fidgity he just crosses his arms over his chest. "A shame that these frauds keep putting their own ideals above the wellbeing of the ones they so arrogantly claimed to be watching out for."

Quantum has posed:
    Quantum sighs. "We know you didn't try to kill Atlas, but...only you and whoever actually did it knows the truth. The Autobots are trying to use you as a scapegoat, because you're easy to blame. But if we prove to the public that you're innocent and what's more, show them who was -truly- responsible, you could be free of all these false accusations that only -look- real from a distance."

Vortex has posed:
Vortex finds himself more entertained by Hookshot than he first thought he would be. This ought to be fun at least. Moving on quiet feet, he slides from one corner to the other before stepping closer. He approaches Onslaught from behind, stopping at his left elbow- being on his left felt unusually right. He stays partially hidden by Ons's large frame.

The ceegar trick, very nice- though with subordinates like his, who can blame him for such a hobby- and Vortex lifts a servo unseen to Hookshot to rest upon his Commander's back. You can communicate a lot with touches, so that's where his hand stays. He peers at Hookshot with wide-opticed curiosity, rotors ticking behind him. Why speak when everyone else is doing that for him? He simply tips his helm in a subtle, quiet greeting.

Hookshot has posed:
     Hookshot continues to keep his gaze locked on Onslaught, even when others in the room make their verbal contributions. "I know your reputation. But reputation is hardly ever the truth. I'm no mind reader," Hookshot responds assertively to Onslaughts first few comments, but then quiets down for a spell. However, a soft huff of a snort can be heard follwing Acid Storm mentioning Functionists. Otherwise, the mech keeps a mostly neutral expression, with only a subtle smirk betraying his efforts.
     There is a pause. Hookshot finally breaks his gaze away from Onslaught to survey each other member in the room. Vortex even gets a wink from the mech. Ah, the good times they had with glue. Then Hookshot raises a hand, palm out. "All I want is no longer to be in their sights, but I doubt that will happen." The neutrality begins to melt away and his grin broadens unhindered. "...I have not lost my touch; I am still very popular. But I suppose it can't be helped." Hookshot shakes his head, chuckling softly. "I have no love for the Autobots, but I'm no more in your corner either. But this isn't about your or Autobots, this is about me, and making sure I don't go down for their own silly games. And if you are willing to allow me some of your resources to set this straight, and make the Autobots look foolish in the meantime... but... what assurances do I have that I won't be disposed of once I play my part?"

Blast Off has posed:
There's another shadow in the room, but perhaps because he's a little further away and even darker in color than his teammate Vortex, Blast Off may not have been that noticeable until now. The shuttleformer steps a little closer, rolling his shoulders to ease just a bit of the tension he acquired from nearly winding up back in jail himself during his daring "rescue" of Hookshot. Then he finds another wall to lean against, crossing his arms, dark brown and purple still nearly blending with the dim light- only his violet optics easily seperated from the shadow. Like Vortex, the Combaticon lets his Boss speak for now.

Acid Storm (72) has posed:
"Doing so would make us no better than the ones we are making effort to styme," Acid Storm remarks with a vagely sour tone. But other than that the Seeker leaves the majority of the talking to Onslaught.

Onslaught has posed:
Onslaught 's miracle is simple really. Whenever he goes to puff from his ceegar, its always placed on the wrong side of the panel to view. Simple enough really. He does exactly that, taking in another short pull of it, then vents out some of the smoke. Absently he taps the end of it off, as flakes disintegrate into nothingness. "I don't rightly consider basic Cybertronian rights to be a 'silly game'." The nonchalantness of Hookshot's capricious nature grated on him, but after a moment, he reigned it in. "But we want what you want. We want the actual guilty parties to be held responsible. Someone's trying to do a hatchet job on us, trying to villify us....Its easier that way." He supinates his wrist, as he explains, "Its like that whole thing with Shellformers. First, people start questioning the kibble...and then everyone starts thinking its amusing to call em names...names like "Shelf warmers". Its easy then to objectify them, hell, they're not even people anymore. So sure they stomp on sparks or drain Inner Energon from protoforms, whatever the Senate needs to say to make it easy to hate."

Onslaught stands up, his fist clenched. There's a hint of anger in his voice, manufactured anger but its close enough. "And I say its too easy to hate the wrong people, too easy to objectify the wrong people. And here's the truth of it Hookshot." He leans in a hair towards the Neutral, then gives a sidelong glance to the crew. "I have problems to fix. Big problems. And I'm looking at Big Pictures here. So you need to do the same. I didn't drag you down here to Kaon because I wanted to kill you for telling the truth. No. I want you to do exactly that. If you were to die afterwards, that means we lose credibility, and some assassins go free. Now. You say you want resources to set this straight. Well, I say that suits me right down to the ground."

Without even looking to the side, he calls out, "Acid Storm. Quantum. Blast Off." He not-so-discreetly leaves Vortex off of that list. "Clear your schedules. You might be put on escort." He jerks a thumb towards Acid Storm. "He's right. Not everyone's a saint, some of us just have a justified grudge against the Senate and everyone associated with em...but you know that we're not responsible here. So lets shed some light on this and rise up." He raises the ceegar back to his lips, "As it were..."

Quantum has posed:
    "Of course you'll need resources." Quantum nods. "In order to recover the evidence--the -raw-, unadulterated footage of the incident, you'll have to hack into the Sky Spy network's primary data hub. No way to get past it remotely, not with the level of encryption they have...need local access. Which means we'll have to break into one of the strongest fortresses on the planet. If we're successful, we might even be able to prove that the Autobots orchestrated it themselves by hacking into their comms network," he shrugs slightly. "If in fact they did. Though I count it pretty likely." He glances at Onslaught momentarily, then nods at Acid Storm. "A mech of your talent is an asset that shouldn't be wasted."

Vortex has posed:
The ends of Vortex's rotors twitch as Hookshot winks at him. Mmmm... Servo still splayed on on his Commander's back, he raps his claws against the broad armor before moving his arm down. He plucks at a few wires in a small gap to further his message. He wants this one. Wants to be in charge in overseeing him. Very much so.

Taking his servo away from Onslaught, he leans in closer to Hookshot. He shutters his visor in a return wink before saying in a low voice, "We keep finding ourselves in such sticky situations." Its a tease. "My turn to help you now, hmm?"

Hookshot has posed:
     Hookshot straightens his back somewhat, retreating from Onslaught without moving when he leans in closer, idly waving a hand in front of his own face as if fanning away residual smoke. His smirk dies down as Onslaught continues to speak. After a while, when the fist clenching and justified anger set in, Hookshot looks around, seeming more interested in observing the rest of the room that listening to the mech. Disrespectful? Absolutely. If his lack of interest wasn't obvious enough, he lifts a hand, waving his fingers almost sheepishly at Blast Off. However, once Onslaught mentions being fine with expending resources, Hookshot seems to be raptly paying attention to him once again.
     "Save your gripes and pitch. I hear it everywhere I go. Everyone has some tragedy because of one faction or the other. All I need to know is that I..." he pauses, looking over at Quantum, snapping his fingers and then pointing at him. "...have what is needed to get that raw footage. I'm confident in my abilities to sneak and steal, but that is beyond my capabilities without help. Manpower, information, possible insiders... and most importantly, time to canvas and plan."
     Hookshot breaks from his vague list of required resources to glance back at Vortex, nodding and grinning at the mech. "I hear you are the Emperor of sticky situations," he mutters quietly back.
     Making a noisy, vent-clearing sound, Hookshot nods his head slowly. "Give me time to put together a more specific list of what I need to get this done. We'll expose them, I'll be free of blame, and you benefit."

Blast Off has posed:
Blast Off watches Hookshot, though nothing the mech says really surprises him, given his past experiences with him. Then he watches his Commander, admiring how the other Combaticon conducts business, how eloquent and convincing he can be, how intelligent he is. Though Vortex's touchy-feeliness is somehow annoying. So is Hookshot's apparent disrespect. Consequently, Blast Off does not respond when Hookshot waves at him, expression remaining blank.

Onslaught's comment on Blast Off playing escort receives a blink of mild surprise, violet optics flickering in the darkness. He glances to Vortex, who he noticed did NOT get mentioned... why does HE play escort and Tex doesn't have to? Then again, it's probably because he's a far better host. Then again, if HE is a great host, how come...? Blast Off's optics narrow to give Quantum a slightly sour look. Acid Storm gets a quick glance, but he doesn't have any real opinion on the Seeker, yet, other than a mild sense of superiority because shuttle > Seeker, /obviously/.

Acid Storm (72) has posed:
Acid Storm uncrosses his arms to resume his proper 'soldier' stance. "I will be ready for operation at your discretion, Commander." Again, not much to add out loud. Even as he's been watching the entire exchange rather astutely. He just makes a point of not being as mouthy as some of his better known Seeker brethern.

Quantum has posed:
    "Yeah, I guess escort makes sense, but what he really needs is a diversion." Quantum replies, nodding toward Hookshot. He sighs. "We can give you everything on that list, except time. At least not a lot of it. You'll be safe here for a while, but the Autobots will be gunning for you, and I don't doubt they'll send their best agents to sneak in here and take you away again. The more time they have to plan -their- next move, the more likely they are to succeed with an infiltration mission of their own. To be honest we're at a disadvantage. It's easier to break in and grab someone than it is to break in and hack into a database, download intel, and leave without losing any data."

Onslaught has posed:
Onslaught had expected some of this, after taking a measure of Hookshot's demeanor. He wasn't entirely sure, but he figured there had to be a moment of intentional infuriation coming, and received it as expected. The whimsical troublemakers love bristling at proper authority and discipline, and Onslaught had specifically led him into a situation where Hookshot had control. It wasn't a level 4 - Detainment Action with Camoflet and Sapper Action, but there was some satisfaction in how the situation turned out. Hookshot got a moment to be petulant, and was on board.

He took a moment to evaluate his staff's reactions. No doubt Blast Off was hackled by being lumped in to do guard work, but will quickly self-rationalize his situation. Quantum chose a bit of flattery, but was on point with the necessities of the mission. He was a bit forward, but given his comments were agreed upon, that momentary slip could be forgiven. Acid Storm was capable enough, and had the proper bearing. Wryly, Onslaught considered a roster change in the ole lineup. The pleasant thought lasted three microseconds. What interested him, more now than the details was Vortex' interesting relationship with the former prisoner. That was worth investigating.

"Alright." He says after a moment. "We'll play this your way." Or at least close enough to it. Onslaught shifts, pulling away from Hookshot, giving Vortex plenty of time to slip aside without incident. "But I get Lead on the mission itself. Quantum's right, you'll need capable mechs to run screen and surveillance on the data hub. You may be primary insertion, but there needs to be a support structure."

His optical visor narrows, "We're officially on the clock...let's get this operation in gear."

Hookshot has posed:
     Hookshot inclines his head, glancing downward for a moment, listening. "I can get in and out, but hacking is not my forte. I can usually manage pattern locks and get through basic security procedures, but this will be beyond what I can do. I usually steal more tangible objects. I would either need to bring someone with me, or have a pre-programmed data extraction device I just need to physically bring to their main database, insert, and extract with a few simple commands..." Hookshot glances around at the people present, a thoughtful expression coming over him as he strokes his pointed chin. "Ah... well.... enough about that. Further planning can be made once I have a gander at whatever intel has already been gathered..."

Blast Off has posed:
Blast Off may not like playing guard, but Onslaught wanted him to do it, so he'll do it. Just not at the same time as Quantum. He looks over at Hookshot and gives him a nod. The shuttle is not the most talkative person in the world.

Quantum has posed:
    "Pre-programmed device is probably most likely." Quantum replies. "Can't risk losing an actual specialist...though there's a chance we won't be able to anticipate the kind of encryption they have there given we don't actually know exactly what we'll be up against." He shrugs. "Still, it's Onslaught's decision."

    Blast Off just keeps giving him dirty looks. He just gives the shuttle mech an incredulous glance.

Vortex has posed:
Vortex cants his helm to the side, clearly pleased with that title. 'Emperor.' Yeah. He likes that. He nods to Hookshot before standing straight. He needs to speak with him, would very much like to, but with... Significantly less witnesses. Hmmm... "Well, I'm not much for planning so I'll take my leave while you all glower and glance around." He gives Hookshot a little whirr of his rotors. "I'll see you later," he promises before strutting out of the room.

Hookshot has posed:
     "Well..." Hookshot casts a glance around, flourishing a wave as Vortex makes his exit. He claps his hands together, then rubs them. "As little time as we have, I think more importantly, I need some down time to recharge. Now then... where's a safe place for me to do that efficiently?" Hookshot looks to Quantum expectantly, as one of the named escorts. "We'll put our pieces together soon and come up with a plan."

Blast Off has posed:
Blast Off gives Vortex a look like *don't let that name go to your head*, then back to the others. He returns to a vaguely aloof, superior demeanor towards Quantum over there, instead focusing on Hookshot. He finally speaks. "See? I didn't spring you out of there just to become scrap metal." He gives him a small nod, then lets Quantum and the rescued was-prisoner figure out sleeping arrangements. "I should be on my way, as well." He heads after Vortex.

Quantum has posed:
    "'Course." Quantum nods. "I'll show you to the barracks." He motions for Hookshot to follow him out. "Might not be the most comfortable place on the planet but at least you'll be safe there for now."

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