Pride Comes Before a Fall

++ Kaon ++

Arcee is in a particularly bad section of Kaon. While it's true that all of Kaon is pretty bad, even Kaon has a 'bad' side of town. She's on a rooftop, making final preparations for her trap. Blurr is probably someplace nearby.

Many of the buildings here are in severe disrepair, occupied by criminals, addicts, empties, and everyone in-between who are able to 'squat' in these squalid conditions. Arcee's done the prep work to set this particular trap by cleaning it out, laying out the 'bait', and shielding the interior with a substance known to block radio transmissions. All that can be seen outwardly is a single rusted trap-door on the roof. Arcee goes through her check-list, and nods. "Time to do this. I'll give him a call."

Blurr is right there with her, still posing as her very ordinary photographer/assistant, 'F-Stop'. She knew he'd give her grief about the name, right? << 'F-Stop'? I mean really? Was that the best you could think of, or were you just trying to give me a hard time? Because I'm starting to think it's the latter. >>

"<< I might have given you that name on purpose, >>" Arcee counters with a smirk. "<< Just remember, you could have picked your OWN name at any time. Okay. Time to get into the persona. >>"

After a moment's pause, Shutterfly patches in a transmission to Blast Off's frequency. "<< Blast Off, are you there? It's Shutterfly with KNN. Forgive me if I'm interrupting anything, but I discovered something I think you MUST see. >>"

Blast Off is here, too, completely unaware of the trap being laid out for him. He's just returning from a trip to Kalis, where Torque replaced his feet after they were damaged in a battle. He stares at them as he walks, admiring the finish and feeling like... like a proper \*shuttle\* again. He needed those rockets to be space-worthy, and while space travel is illegal... it still calls to him. He WILL get up there again, one way or another. But for now he just needs to maintain a low profile. The long arm of the law keeps reaching for him, but here in Kaon he appears to be safe. It's not surprising though- he's smarter than any of those fools who have been in pursuit for so long- and what could they possibly throw at him that he couldn't handle?.

That's when he received a radio transmission. Shutterfly- the sophisticated femme who enjoys wine AND might know where some treasure is buried. What's not to love? He stops, then replies calmly, <<Oh? What is it?>>

<< Ugh, that's what I thought. >> Blurr grumbles, but doesn't say any more. The time has come.

"<< Blast Off, I went back to the Hall of Records and did some backtracking on the mechs Arcon knew in Vos...remember, the legend of Arcon? Turns out, one of his 'buddies' during the height of his wealth and popularity...was a mining magnate, and he also had a hand in developing District Beta in Kaon. I investigated archived maps on a hunch, and...I found something you're going to want to see. Just come to this location, I have something remarkable to show you. >>"

The operative who has a name that sounds like a fictional cartoon pony says this.

Blast Off perks up at this. << I see. I am on my way, then, Shutterfly.>> And he starts to head to the given location. Which is easier, now, with fixed feet. He walks proudly towards the coordinates, still wary for trouble- but eager to hear this news. This could lead to riches, which would mean he could have some \*comfort\* again. No more living in poverty and disrepair. He's a \*shuttle\*, he deserves better anyway! Plus- Orion Three Orchards wine stash? That alone could make this worth it.

<< Here he comes, >> Blurr says, probably stating the obvious just to annoy Arcee as much as she's annoyed him with the silly name.

"<< Thank you, 'F'. Stand by. >>" Shutterfly chuckles to herself. If she can't be in conjunx endura with Blurr, well then, she'll just have a little fun with him and send him back to his beloved in that 'bouncing off walls agitated' kind of condition. See how that works out for him.

Moments later, when Blast Off arrives, Shutterfly is completely in her element and not at all nervous. She's put a LOT of work into this project. She knows Blast Off's no dummy, so she's taken the story of an actual person, and attatched a fictional possibility to him: what IF he left behind some of his treasure? It could have happened. No one really knows what became of Arcon or his fortune, so it was fun to speculate. And convenient to use as a background.

"So. I think I've located something significant," Shutterfly says quietly, keeping her voice down in case there are still some unsavory types lingering around. "Here's articles...actual maps...and I've located this particular building that belonged to Beta Teragon, one-time mining magnate and fellow gambler often seen with Arcon. He built out this Beta district. Named after him, naturally. I found out that this building, which is slated for demolition soon, has several false walls, and one entrance...here." She gestures toward the grated passage.

Blast Off gives Shutterfly and her assistant a courteous nod as he arrives. He greets her, then comes over to peruse the assorted maps and charts. The Combaticon pours over the assorted items, noting, "Interesting. Quite interesting." He glances back to her. "I'm just... a little surprised no one pieced this together before." Then again, maybe journalists have better info-gathering skills than most. He frowns under his faceplate at the comment about demolition. "Then I suppose we should act soon, then?"

Ugh, Blurr just knew she would call him "F." Pssh. It sounds like such a fail. He just folds his arms and tries to look excited about this whole treasure thing, instead of cross.

"Whatever's in there will either be completely demolished along with the building, OR...anything in there \*will\* get looted prior to the demolition," Shutterfly states. She knows by now, Blast Off will be intrigued, but probably skeptical, so she's made some provisions to sweeten the pot for him. She turns to look at 'F-Stop'. "It's not going to be worth risking going down that narrow passage if it's a wild goose chase of a lead, however...say, could you get the remote light drone prepped? It should be in the equipment satchel. I'm thinking it might be worth sending that thing down into there, and see what kind of shots it brings up. Less risky."

Blast Off glances to "F-Stop". He stares at the mech, something seeming just a bit... odd about him. "....Is something wrong?" The shuttle lsitens to the rest, bringing up an arm to tap his chin thoughtfully. "Ah... good idea."

'F-Stop' nods and hurries over to the equipment, though he tries not to be -too- fast. He quickly begins preparing the drone, getting it warmed up and making sure it's working properly.

Indeed...is there something odd about him? He's never spoken a single word in front of Blast Off.

Shutterfly nods, trying not to look anxious but /excited/! This could be the soft feature story of the millenium, after all. "Okay...feeds testing, power okay?" Once F-Stop has prepped the drone, she opens up the narrow hatchway, and drops it down into the dark aperature. She then takes out a tablet device, and a video feed appears on it. It's filthy in there...looks almost like the inside of a million year old refinery chimney. The drone continues to descend...

Eventually, the drone comes to a large door. There's a window on this door, but it's caked with aged grime.

"Why would there be a door down there...that's basically a vent, WHY is there a door there," Shutterfly chatters excitedly, looking toward the others with wide optics. "What do you think??"

Blast Off is starting to feel like he just doesn't like this "F-Stop" character. He's just... rubbing him the wrong way, or something. He looks suspiciously at him, crossing his arms, then turns back to Shutterfly. Soon he's watching the live feed, alternately shuddering at the claustrophic, cramped quarters, then perking up with interest as the door appears. "That looks... horrid down there. Wait, I think... there's something there. There is! Well. Hmm. Iiinteresting." His chin tapping only increases.

"Tell you what, I think I can fit down there, do you have a small blaster or something I could break the door down with? Better yet, maybe a grenade or something? Then we wouldn't need to mess with that door very much at all...just chuck it down there and blow it in," Shutterfly suggests.

Blast Off hrrms. "I... have a pistol." He doesn't really care to actually \*give\* anyone his ionic blaster- he's had too many attempts on his life to want to EVER be too far from it. He brings the pistol out of subspace. "I'm not sure if it would help, though." But better HER go down into that horrid place than HIM.

All of this pageantry is probably making Blurr anxious, but Arcee doesn't much care, because she's worked very hard to get Blast Off to this point where he's going to stroll right into this trap, and all they'll need to do is slam the door down on him. He won't be able to call his Combaticon brethren...and if he tries to blast his way out, the building will collapses in on him.

So this is all a part of getting Blast Off to walk into that dirty, dank trap, all by himself. It's the least risky option.

Shutterfly nods, takes the blaster, and shimmies into the dark passageway. "...OK, it's gross in here," she admits as she drops down out of sight.

Moments later, she appears on the video feed, the drone conveying her movements as she braces her back up against the wall, turns the blaster to lowest setting, and begins shooting at the door.

The door heats up, begins sizzling and smoking, and then it makes almost a sighing noise as it falls off the hinges. "Got it!" Shutterfly says excitedly, pushing the drone into the passageway beyond the door. "Oh, PRIMUS...LOOK!! LOOK AT THIS," she exclaims, as she steps around the broken door and into the passage.

The drone's footage reveals cases of ancient enerwine, luxurious capes...there's riches in every direction.

Blast Off watches as she goes down, frowning and still crossing his arms. NOPE NOPE so much NOPE about that place. He has absolutely NO desire to go down. NONE at all. Primus no, what kind of nutjob would WANT to go down- Then he stops and stares at the screen as riches beyond his dreams are revealed.

His violet optics go pale and he just stands there and... stares. Slowly, very slowly, he starts leaning towards the screen. The Combaticon is practically drooling on the screen now. "...... Is that.... is that a Steller Cycle 56-678 Orion Three Orchards?" His cultured voice carries a higher-pitched note of giddy surprise. Then he leans way in, grabbing the screen with both hands. "Is that a bottle of Orion Three, Cycle 34-1996?!?" Now he IS drooling.

Shutterfly wipes off a label on one of the soiled bottles, holding it up to the drone so Blast Off can see it's an authentic bottle of Orion Three Orchard's inaugural batch. Some of these bottles are real, on loan from a collector. Many are convincing-looking replicas. She hopes he doesn't come down here and begin guzzling them immediately...it was diode-wracking enough to actually dump carbon and other filth on these bottles to make them appear as if they hadn't been touched in ages. "Is this amazing? Is this not AMAZING??"

Blast Off is practically beside himself. "Yes! NO! I mean yes! I mean...what, wait?" he shakes his head, placing a hand on his face to calm himself and collect his thoughts, then looks at the screen again. "Yes, it is amazing. Hold on, I'm coming down." And with that, he begins to make his way out of the building and towards Shutterfly's location. Arcee better keep hoping he doesn't partake of any of this, because he can practically \*taste\* that 34-1996 right now...

"You need to see this, there's credsticks all over this place! Clean them up and see what's on them!" Shutterfly calls. "And stacks...STACKS of enerwine bottles...crates! Capes! Just...there must be millions of shanix of things in this room!"

At this point, she very...gradually...begins moving back toward the broken door, and the passage to the surface. She's picked up a credstick that she already knows will show a balance of 4.2 million shanix when checked. This is actually a fake credstick, because all that \*really\* needed to be genuine for this trap were a few very rare bottles of enerwine. As Blast Off makes his arrival down the passage, she shines a light on the dirt credstick in her hand. "4.2!! 4.2 Mill," she shows him, laughing giddily.

'F-Stop' seems to just watch Blast Off climb down into the depths with a neutral look on his face, though he does peer curiously at the screen a couple of times. Moving over toward the trapdoor, he just watches the Combaticon go down into his trap like sleep to the slaughter, waiting for the signal from 'Shutterfly'.

Blast Off takes one look at that grungy, grimy, CRAMPED passageway and stops a moment. He stares into the void, and one side of him tells him to flee. That is NOT where a flier like him belongs. It's cramped, it's dangerous and difficult to fight or evade in. Especially for him. Someone like Shiftlock would feel at home here- but this is NOT his home. Something tells him he should turn around and not look back. But another voice calls out about finally living in comfort again. About the most amazing collection of enerwine he's EVER seen. And what's he afraid of? He's a Combaticon; he's faced far worse than this. This... This is just final, almost baptismal immersion into the dark and the dirt in order to rise into something far better, far more... glorious.

He sighs, braces himself- and enters the passageway, wing elevons twitching nervously as he goes. As he approaches Shutterfly, he stares at the credstick. "We... we are going to be rich." His optics light up the dark passageway. "We can live like Kings! And Queens!"

Shutterfly laughs excitedly. "This is insane. We need to gather up this stuff and find out just what we have...but we'll need to do it before any rumors get out. You should see all the enerwine back there. Just...cases. Watch your head, the door's kind of low."

What she's waiting on before giving Blurr the signal is for Blast Off to be completely engrossed in the discovery. Because if he thinks for a moment that any of this is a set-up, the chance is gone forever.

Blurr continues to wait for the signal. Ugh, he -hates- waiting. Just get your aft in there already, Blast Off! It's all you ever dreamed of!

Blast Off nods... much more enthusiastically than she's probably seen him do before (for that matter, more than ANYONE has probably ever seen him do before). "Yes! I'd hate for a bunch of hooligans to get their hands on something like this..." He glances up, still looking a little cagey and unsure about being \*down\* here (there's even a quick glance down at his feet and ugh- his brand new, repaired feet are FILTHY now, ewww). But hey, a little discomfort is worth it, isn't it?

There's one last little pause as he looks at that doorway. Another little echo of a warning... but his desire for wealth, and comfort, for enerwine, and for being \*respected\* again.... is just too much. That brand new foot that Torque just placed on him steps into the room.

Soon, he's over at a crate, looking in. His optics gleam. "And this... \*this\* is a Cycle 48-342! This was the year they had a Cosmic Rust plague that wiped out most of the vinyard workers who cultivated wine! It's a rare year as a result... I never though I'd actually see a bottle from it!" He goes back to rummaging through the bottles excitedly, looking a bit like a kid in a candy shop despite himself. HA. Shiftlock will be SORRY that she stormed off in a huff and missed this!

Arcee feels a little bit sad. A little...tiny bit. But no regrets. She's worked hard for this. If other mechs do bad things and go to jail, then Blast Off needs to do the same thing. He isn't exempt from the law.

Once Blast Off's focused on the enerwine, she looks up the passage to the rooftop to make optical contact with Blurr, which should be his signal to come down, grab her, head back up the passage, and seal the vent shut. She isn't sure how long it will take, but she suspects it will take less time for him to actually do it than for her to figure it out.

She's right about Blurr doing it faster than the time it takes for her to figure out how an estimate of how long it will take him. He's in motion immediately, darting down the passage in a flash. He grabs 'Shutterfly' and pulls her out, then slams the trapdoor shut, sealing it from the outside. Ha. Will Blast Off even realize right away he's now trapped, or will it take him a moment to pull his face out of obsessing over the piles of old bottles? Whatever, it doesn't matter any more. Mission accomplished. Now all that was left to do was call the cops.

"Fantastic work, and...I'm sorry I called you F-Stop, I'm not good at making up names," Arcee admits once she's gotten her bearings. Then, she wastes no time herself, immediately getting on the radio to call the police.

Blast Off is busy rummaging through bottles and dreaming of grand days ahead- but he's not deaf. There's an odd \*swooosh\* sound, then a \*SLAM\*. The shuttleformer immediately looks up. "What was that?" Then he blinks, realizing he's suddenly alone in here. Wait, what? Where'd she go? He stares towards the doorway. "Shutterfly?" Slowly, he places the bottles down, then walks towards the doorway and looks out- only to see the light is gone because the entrance is CLOSED. "....Shutterfly?" He just stares at this a moment, and fights a growing sense of panic.

Arcee sends a radio immediately back to the Decagon. "<< Backup requested immediately in Kaon's Beta District. Repeat, backup requested immediately. Blast Off is apprehended. >>"

Blast Off walks up to the closed door, still fighting that sense of panic. "Shutterfly? Can you hear me?" He presses a hand against the door and shoves. It doesn't budge. Then two hands, and he shoves with all his might. That doesn't do diddly-squat. He just stands there and... stares at the door a moment as confusion starts to become mingled with a nauseating sense of suspicion. His optic ridges furrow down. "SHUTTERFLY." He reaches into subspace and brings out his ionic blaster, shooting at the doorway once.

"You're...probably not going to want to do that too much, Blast Off," Shutterfly speaks through the sealed door. The door itself seems to be reinforced. "I don't want the building collapsing in on you, and it might do that in the state its in."

Blast Off freezes as Shutterfly's voice comes through. He stares at the door, and indeed, the shot did rattle a few of the more rickety bearings in the ceiling. The shuttle steps back, that nauseous feeling getting worse. A pebble comes down and bomps him on the head, and this causes him to look up in a sudden panic. He steps away. The walls are closing in, aren't they? He's sure he just saw them doing that!

No, wait... the walls are stable. More or less. They're NOT closing in. He tells himself that, at least. Then raises his blaster towards the door, aims.... but doesn't shoot. No, she's right. "WHY. What is going ON, Shutterfly?" His voice is more angry now.

The door cracks a little bit when Blast Off fires at it, but the walls also shake slightly, little bits of debris falling from the ceiling. The structure of this building is not very good, anyone would be able to tell that from what just happened.

Meanwhile, 'F-Stop' just gives Shutterfly a slightly exasperated look. The response from the Decagon is almost immediate. << Copy that Arcee, a unit is on its way. >> It's not long before she can see them approaching from a distance. << What's the target's status? >>

Arcee doesn't answer this time, she's waiting for Prowl. Why can't Prowl be fast like Blurr is fast? That would be so very, very helpful right about now.

Finally, feeling some guilt for saying nothing at all, and realizing how frightened he must feel in there, she answers, "You'll understand in a few astroseconds, okay? And I promise, you'll be out of there, soon." What else can she say to him? She's done more than enough already.

Once Prowl responds on the radio, she moves away from the door to answer it quietly. "<< He's trapped in a building, conscious, armed with his ionic blaster, and very angry, >>" Arcee responds. "<< But at the moment, he has no safe way to transform and exit the structure without it falling in on him. >>"

Heh. Prowl has to admit, he is quite impressed with Arcee's work. Blast Off is certainly no idiot. If she's managed to trap him in that building, she is certainly a clever bot. He may not be as fast as Blurr, but it isn't long before he and his unit arrive.

"So he's inside, then?" he asks, glancing briefly at the older building.

Blast Off looks around nervously as more debris falls. Wait, maybe the walls ARE closing in? The shuttleformer's ventilation systems start to kick in, cycling more rapidly. He places his hands on the door, then jerks them back, suddenly afraid the place will fall in on him. He hears the response, but it doesn't really TELL him anything. Slag... oh slag... she must be collecting that bounty on him. He steps back once, twice, vents whirring. His grip on his gun is tight, but he doesn't try shooting.

He stands there, thinking of what to do. He's a Combaticon, he can fend for himself! Well... except when... he can't. He frowns and looks towards the door again. No, there MUST be a way out of here. He sharply turns and heads inside the room again, now searching for another way out. There MUST be! There HAS to be!

Arcee nods, leading Prowl to the rooftop area where the sealed door is in place. "The inside was once the generator room," she says quietly, keeping her voice down so Blast Off can't hear her. "I realized that if I could find a way to get him in there, he'd have the power to break out, but no safe way of doing it without bringing harm upon himself."

Prowl allows himself a small smirk at that, and nods once. "Impressive work, soldier." He compliments, and he actually does mean it, which is a rare thing. "I knew you had potential. Right then, let's get this over with." he says, turning to the rest of the squad. They throw the door open and charge in, their weapons raised and ready to fire if need be. "Don't move! Drop your weapon, or we will shoot!"

Blast Off ...doesn't find that exit he's looking for. The shuttleformer is truly fighting off panic now. He darts from one place to another, looking for an exit, some way out... \*something\*. He CAN'T let them capture him. He can't let them win. They'll kill him. Or worse...

The thought of Garrus-1 and spark extraction drives him to a new frenzy of activity, but there is no escape. Finally, Blast Off winds up near a crate of wine in the corner. He's... trapped. He... he doesn't want to admit it, but.... he needs help. It's one of the most difficult things he's had to do, but.... he swallows his pride. This one time. And he radios for help. <<Onslaught.... this is Blast Off. I... I require some assistance. Come in, Commander.>>

But he receives static in return. The... radio signal isn't working? There's a fresh wave of panic. <<Vortex? I KNOW you're there, come in! You're always watching me when I don't WANT you to! Don't you DARE not be watching me NOW, you slagger!>>

<<....Brawl, come in. Brawl? I know you can just smash your way through this. For once that idiotic thick head of yours would come in handy! Here's your chance to make yourself USEFUL for once!>>

He starts sinking down, as one attempt after another is met with static and silence. Placing a hand to steady himself on the wall, and brace against it so it won't close in any further, he hesitates at first, then tries another frequency. << ....Shiftlock? I... I know you're probably angry at me, but.... just come here and... and tell me that, alright?>>

But nothing except dead space responds. There is no one. Unless? He hadn't seen her in along time, but maybe?... <<Arcee? ...Are you still there?>> Nothing. He finally even tries last-resort Swindle, the only other individual he can think of to call.... but no reply. He's alone here. He's all alone... and trapped, and there's no one to even /miss/ him.

Suddenly the door swings open, and Blast Off finds himself with far more company than he ever wanted. The instant the door swings open, he's already back on his feet, weapon aimed and ready to fire. He blinks as all the police come storming in. There's a moment time seems to stand still, and Blast off weighs his options. Should he go quietly? Or go down fighting? In the end, there's only one choice for a proud Combaticon warrior. His optics flash and he answers with a burst of gunfire.

The officers open fire in return, but Blast Off will find that he is quite outnumbered and outgunned. And trapped with nowhere to run or hide. He has very minimal chances of escaping arrest. "Give it up, Blast Off!" Prowl calls amid the sound of laserfire. "You've got nowhere to run. You're just making this process more painful for yourself than anyone else by trying to fight back."

Arcee, still disguised as Shutterfly, remains a short distance away since she didn't bring her laser-pistols to this party -- her main objective under this guise was to trick Blast Off under a credible cover, and she's managed to do that. Should the police take Blast Off in alive, she doesn't want him to know who was responsible for bringing him in. Let him think it was a reporter informant. This really wasn't personal, and she didn't want it to become that way. He was clever, perhaps someday he would figure it out for himself.

Blast Off gets struck by several volleys of laserfire. The Combaticon staggers back from the blows, circuitry getting exposed, tears ripped into his armor plating. He grits his dentae under his faceplate. "And you're \*oof\* a FOOL, Prowl! I am a Combaticon! You won't \*arrrgh!\* take me without a FIGHT!" He suddenly stops, looks at the officers, and starts trying to TRANSFORM RIGHT THERE and NOW. Yes, he might bring the building down on them all, but he's a huge shuttle in alt mode... maybe he can just power his way through the rubble with his thrusters. The police better stop him pretty quick, or they may ALL perish. And right now, Blast off is convinced he's likely to die anyway if he's arrested, so.... might as well be on HIS terms if he does.

"No, Blast Off. -You- are the one refusing to listen to reason." Prowl retorts, his face a wall of stone. He notices that the shuttle is trying to transform right there inside the warehouse. He's not letting -that- happen. Raising the diffraction beam he often uses as a stun weapon he fires it straight at the injured Combaticon, hoping to knock him into stasis lock before he can bury everyone including himself. "You like to think you're on some level of sophistication higher than everyone else, don't you? Well this just -proves- you're no better than the -rest- of them."

Blast Off gets slammed by Prowl's diffraction beam. It knocks him back, ending the transformation process as quickly as it started, and he crumples against a wall. Still trying to fight, he reaches for the blaster which fell from his fingers, but all his systems are locking up. "Errrgk\*K\*k\*..." He strains against the shutdown, trying to focus on the weapon and not his once-again rising sense of panic. But it's all to no avail. "I...\*kkkt\* I...AM better, and I....\*zkkkt\*" It's getting hard to say much, and he can't quite reach that gun.

Once Blast Off is down, Prowl signals the other Autobots to cease fire, and walks over to him to slap stasis cuffs on his arms and inhibitors on his shoulders. << The target has been secured. Good work, bots. >> Especially you, Arcee.

Arcee feels a sense of relief, of achievement, and...and other things, too, she can't readily define. But one thing's for certain: Shutterfly is no more. She's headed back to the Decagon to get this disguise removed as soon as possible.

If Arcee thinks she's done with disguises...well she couldn't be more wrong. Now that she's proven herself skillful in covert operations, guess where Prowl is going to send her? On -more- covert operations!

Blast Off can only glare as handcuffs and inhibitors are slapped on. What an awful sense of deju vu for the former prisoner. And now, now there is truly no escape. He glances stiffly at a nearby bottle of wine- wine that only seems to be mocking him somehow. Back to Prowl, a brief flash of sinking, haunting dread at the thought of what horrors might await him in prison in the hands of his enemies.... then nothing at all as his systems shut down, energon pooling from his wounds under the crates and credchips he was so eagerly sorting through only moments before.

Prowl watches Blast Off with disdain, and signals the others to drag him off to Kolkular, where he would be held while Prime and the Senate deliberated over what exactly do to with him. He may or may not have caught a glimpse of the officer picking up one of the bottles and opening it before he passed out--just to see what it was exactly Arcee had drummed up. Tipping it upside down he dumps it onto the floor, and shrugs. Blast Off might be able to tell now that it's definitely -not- actually the real thing, just the cheap stuff. "Heh. Certainly impressive." he mutters to himself, before leaving the building with the others.