New Year's Day Adventure

On New Year's Day my 3 daughters, baby boy and I hit a local public forest and traversed its unpleasantly frequented depths.

Lupita is 5'2", 117 lbs at 10 years old. You've seen her pictures on teh interwebs, and they are up to date (if not, make with the clickies, she's a cute kid). She is my Tiger.

I bought her a real, authentic Swiss Army Knife for Christmas and she took her first opportunity to use it (we were following a creek in the forest) to find out just how sharp Swiss Army Knives are and lanced her thumb. She didn't cry, she just said "Ow!" and then looked at me, and I could see this wave of shame wash over her face, and then she cried, not for the pain, but because she felt she'd done a bad job: I had trusted her with the knife. Mistakenly, she thought I didn't think this would happen.

I told her, "I knew that was going to happen." "You did?" "Of course. I had knives explained to me but it only made sense after I cut myself with them. Trust me, it's not a mistake you make often after the first time."

I hadn't, however, thought to pack bandages, antibiotic cream or anything else I used to take with me on horseback rides other than lots and lots of water. So I cut my undershirt and made a bandage and wrapped her thumb well.

So we hurried back; I had all of my kids with me. Alejandrita (alay-hon-dree-ta), my 5yo daughter, waited to trip until we were out of the forest and on the paved sidewalk, and Dulce Maria ("Sweet" Maria), my 8yo daughter, went down with her as they were holding hands. They screamed. Alay had a skinned elbow and Dulce a skinned knee. So I cut my shirt up some more after licking the wounds clean.

We came back home (this was all on New Year's Day) and Maria Alejandra, my lovely Latina, was much amused. Everyone but the two boys (myself and my son) were hurt.

Lupita also noticed that Jose Francisco found his younger two sisters' reactions perplexing. She caught the look on his face, he peered at their wounds, and then looked at Maria's thumb, which had bled a bit through the impromptu wrapping.

I put powdered vitamin C on Lupe's cut, which BURNED, but worked great. It was much better this morning. Dulce was terrified of it, so Maria applied neosporin.

So it was a good day. Life is not complete without crying daughters.

Penny Arcade Artist's WWII Veteran Grandfather Speaks

"Gabe" / Mike had his aunt conduct an interview with his grandfather, a World War II navy veteran. Please read it.

At the end I noticed three important things:

1. Everything he had from the war was lost. He came home with the clothes on his back - his medals, his souvenirs, his diary were all lost. This creates a larger disconnect when you have nothing to hold on to; it's all in the mind, and coming home to the United States was different than Great Britain.
2. Once home, he married, returned to his job and stayed there his whole career.
3. He doesn't like WWII "First-Person Shooters" because the only interactivity is killing each other with guns (phrased differently but this is the core).

This made me think of the cyclical nature of the human experience. Prior to The Great World War (One), war was romanticized. Many Europeans wanted to fight. They were in for a rude awakening thanks to modern warfare and outmoded military generals and their tactics.

Here too, we see a new generation, unfamiliar with real war, experiencing it as they can. Instead of books, we now have First-Person Shooters.

I, for one, applaud that the (statistically) ignorant masses, victims of the American Public Education System, are seeing something, learning about the weapons, the uniforms and a bit about the places and battles, however imperfect (the proliferation of sub-machine guns in these games is completely unrealistic).

I embrace the fact that we have yet another generation unfamiliar with war, because that is normal. They will go and face (the 2nd Gulf War) and come home different, like Ralph did, amidst a public who still has no freaking clue what it's all about, what they went through, and what life really means.

Most people, unless their eyes are opened in this manner, are just destined to never understand.

10yo Girl versus Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 Online Players

MoH:H2 is the first 32 player online Wii game.

Capture the Flag, in the map entitled "Sewers", 32 player map (16 people per side)

Kills	Deaths	Kill Steals*	Flag Captures	Team Rank
10	3	5	2/3	1st
5	0	0	3/3	1st
5	3	10	3/3	3rd
20	3	5	3/3	1st
1	0	0	3/3	2nd

* Kill Steals are approximate because Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 doesn't track that, but everything else Lupita copied down from the stat board at the end of each match.

These scores are incredible for an adult let alone a 10 year-old girl.

The last match, where she got 1 kill and all 3 flag captures, she said someone shot at her with a sniper rifle and she saw the direction it came from thanks to the heads-up-display, so she chucked a grenade that direction and found cover, and the sniper went "boom."

The 4th match (20 deaths, 3 kills) she got lucky and killed 4 or 5 people with one grenade. I asked her about that round, asking how'd she rack up so many kills, and she said "Well a shotgun and grenades go well together."

Gee, I think every red-blooded man would agree with that.

I asked her how she netted so many flags, and she said "The people on my team were so dumb. They'd run to the other side and then stop to shoot at anyone they met. So I'd just run past them and collect the flag while the enemy was busy shooting at them."

Another trick she'd pull was shooting in one of the two doorways at the spawn point of the enemy side and then ducking for cover; they'd look and see the people she was with, open fire, and then she'd go get the flag, effectively making the people around her targets. But, since they were stupid, this seemed an appropriate use for them.

I remain amazed.

Random Musings at the Drive-Through

It's after 10pm (pitch night here). My 10yo daughter, Maria, and I were parked outside a fast-food store waiting for it to finish closing to pick up my brother and observed a customer pull up to the drive through. He pressed the button and sat there. We started laughing, sitting in the van. He just sat there, his truck's engine idling, for about four minutes, alternatively staring at nothing and at the voice box. Mind you none of the lights on the displays were lit, even the big "what you can order" sign was dark.

"Gee!" I mocked, "I pressidy button. Whie don't it vork?"

Maria laughed; then he pulled forward and tried the pick-up window. Finally he drove off.

Maria remarked "We should buy some of those 'OPEN' signs with lights and put them on other places and see what people do."

I think I laughed for about five minutes on that one alone.

N'gai Croal on Nintendo

N'gai Croal is awesome:

"Nintendo, the company for which records were made to be broken. It's now the second most valuable company in Japan, behind only Toyota. Yes, I did say wow. It took the third coming of Jesus the third entry in the Halo series for the Xbox 360 to surpass the Wii, yet the gap was a mere 26,800 units. I expect the Wii to resume its lead in North America next month and do so for the foreseeable future."

Read the full thing.

The Iraq Affair

Dr. Earl C. Carlson wrote this piece before the media hoopla about the upcoming Iraq war. I found it interesting, so I am posting it here.

A Fairy Princess: Lisell

Fairies are cool. Out of all the games at www.y8.com (don't go there without Firefox and NoScripts and don't allow y8.com to run scripts on your computer), I pick the fairy dress up game. I must be gay.

Actually I prefer to think that I just like fairies. Fairies and mythological dragons are my favorite, but they don't have a "layout the Dragon's horde" game. :P

Lisell:
I can't make a character without making a story.

Lisell is the 9th daughter of Lynay. To avoid sexuality in my stories, fairies either procreate asexually or any two fairies can sprinkle each other with pollen and get the job done, effectively meaning all fairies are both genders at the same time; it all depends on the mood I'm in at the time.

All fairies are poisonous and most are herbivores, much to the plant family's chagrin. Moss & algae are fit for some, while others prefer fruits or leaves. A few kinds of fairies are omnivorous and opportunistic, eating bugs and things small enough not to be a threat and slow enough to catch.

Lisell is a Vasp fairy, the most venemous. As is custom among fairy keepers, she's been trussed up a bit by her owner and her venom glands removed, which precludes her from ever rejoining the wild.

Still, she goes outside with her owner's family on a wire string, gets plenty of food, and loves digging her tiny fangs into anyone who tempts her temper, especially strangers. She doesn't like most of the owner's children much, except the oldest, who is the most calm.

Her white hare is a tell-tale sign of her species, the Vasp Fairy.

She responds to many verbal words and gives the wry smile you see here when she chooses to ignore them, which is often.

Fairies, after all, aren't really domesticatable.

William Bouguereau

One of my heroes.

• ARC Biography of William Bouguereau.
• Bouguereau and the Real Nineteenth Century.
• Bouguereau at Work.
• Bouguereau student's book on technique.

My Belruel - Jam Sessions

Because no one seems to get it right, I have posted the musical notes / music chords to "My Belruel" (actually Tycho's Ode) here:

A A - A
'twas the twelving day of Everfair
E E - E
when fell my maid of raven hair
D D - D F#m F#m F#m
beneath her cloven standard of the wren
E A A - A
and damn that roiling goblin horde
E E - E E
we'd almost slain the overlord
D D - D D F#m - E E
but i could never roll an elf again

A A - A
"The Queen of Bells and Battle-Downs"
E - E
she wore the title like a crown
D D - D F#m - F#m E
Foes so deep a man would drown, but she still stood alone
A - A -
a princess and a duchess both
E E - E
and sworn to nine prestigious oaths,
D D - D F#m E
her duties, they would take her to that twisting spire of stone

A A - A
Against his tower, a silhouette
E E - E
She called like a coronet
D - D D
And the green sea of his armies burst from warrens far below
A - A
The pacts he'd made with demonkind
E E - E E
Had rent his thin and tattered mind
D - D - F#m E
And hellish princedoms occupied the arrow he let go

A - A
They took her through the crowded square
E - E
And laid her at the temple stair
D D F#m F#m E
The sorcelled barb of Arudair beyond their healing arts
A
there stands a circlet on her brow
E
that turns the blades of men around
D F#m
But if Belruel could hear me now
E
This song would pierce her heart

A A - A
'twas the twelving day of Everfair
E E - E
when fell my maid of raven hair
D D - D F#m F#m - E
beneath her cloven standard of the wren
A A - A
damn that roiling goblin horde!
E E - E E
and damn their hell-bound the overlord!
D D - D F#m F#m - A E A
but i could never roll an elf again

Tycho from Penny-Arcade said this tune was based off of a default song in the preview build of Jam Sessions - I can't find any song that matches it in the final release.

He seems to poetically, or randomly, intersperse extra notes or fewer notes, and I have not annotated where he'd strum the guitar without holding a key, which makes a sound but produces no note.

NO one on TEH INTERWEBS has bothered to really try to write down each note on each line, just the notes that are on that line in the order they appear. I'm quite disturbed at the lack of interest of this particular piece - it is one of the finest pieces of work the author has ever done, and it's like it's just something he did and tossed, and so has everyone else.

In a way, that's the saddest fate of Belruel.


I am currently trying to practice this with my 10yo daughter, but without a proper music sheet and knowing what timing to set the metronome, it's about near impossible. I shall have to involve my lovely Latin wife, who plays classical piano, for aide. We spent almost two hours tonight (1:45) playing THE FIRST THREE LINES. After the first half hour even my well disciplined child asked "Do we have to keep playing?" I told her "This is drilling, sweetie." She was a trouper the rest of the time, no questions asked; we got our yucks in with all of our bloopers too.
or more)

A Wii Bit of Domination

Grits, Jackalopes and Snow Snakes

So Dulce, who just turned 8 on the 15th, calls me at work and asks me "Papa, what are grits?" as I'm holding the phone with one hand and trying to type with the other.

"Uhhhh," I answer, "Grits are small animals that live up north."

"Oh." she says. Emboldened, I continue "They look like little rabbits, with antlers."

"Oh." she says.

I continue "They're related to Jackalopes, who live in Texas, which are part Jack Rabbit, a large kind of rabbit, and part Antelope, because of their antlers."

"Oh." she says.

I say "Do you know what eats grits?"

"No." she says.

"Snow snakes." I tell her.

"Snow snakes?" she asks, puzzled.

"Yes. They live in the snow." I say.

Dulce asks "What color are they?"

"White, of course." I reply.

Dulce asks "Are they easy to see?"

"Oh, no, they burrow under the snow." I reply "but fortunately they don't like to come near people."

"Oh." she says.

I tell her she should go tell her older sister what she learned about Grits, Jackalopes and Snow Snakes, and then call me back.

No sooner do I tell Dove what I just did, then my phone rings. I answer.

Lupita says "Dulce just told me something about grits and snow snakes but she got me all confused, what is she talking about?"

So I retell her everything, and she says "PAAAPAAA! And she actually BELIEVED YOU?"

I cackled "Every word, apparently. You'd better to re-educate your sister before we do irreparable harm."

---

Kevin: How did grits come up anyway?

David: She didn't say, which made her question seem quite random to me, which is actually what made me feel like giving her an equally random response.

Kevin: Well just sort of an odd question in general, mainly from the fact that grits don't normally come up in conversation hehe

David: Yes, especially since my Latin wife hates them and refuses to cook them. The only time I get to eat grits is when I eat out, mostly. Not that it's some burning hole in my life, it's just something I select as a side when offered.

Transformers RP Session #16

I'm late in posting this:

• Transformers RP Session #16 part 1 of 2
  
• Transformers RP Session #16 part 2 of 2

Transformers RP Session #15

RP SESSION LIST:

• Transformers RP Session #1
  
• Transformers RP Session #2
  
• Transformers RP Session #3
  
• Transformers RP Session #4
  
• Transformers RP Session #5
  
• Transformers RP Session #6
  
• Transformers RP Session #7
  
• Transformers RP Session #8
  
• Transformers RP Session #9
  
• Transformers RP Session #10
  
• Transformers RP Session #11 & #12
  
• Transformers RP Session #13
  
• Transformers RP Session #14
  
• Transformers RP Session #15 part 1 of 3
  
• Transformers RP Session #15 part 2 of 3
  
• Transformers RP Session #15 part 3 of 3

Transformers RP Backstory & Setting

Gender:
In our fiction, Transformers don't understand gender very well. Most default to male personas, but there are notable exceptions. Since they don't reproduce sexually, relationships are based on a need for community rather than procreation.

Campaign Setting Goal:
Even in a Transformers RP game, you have to know your setting and what you are setting out to do.

In Dungeons & Dragons, my goal was always simple: Create a consistent, believable world and let the players interact with it and change it. At the end of the campaign, redraw the map of the land to show how things had changed. "Draco" saw 7 campaigns, 5 of which had proper endings. It accumulated enough back-history over the course of ten years to fill a small wiki.

Here, however, I found I have a different goal: Make my children grow and learn by putting carefully constructed problems in front of them; more specifically, encourage my firstborn's (Maria de Guadalupe) natural aggressiveness, nurturing and bossyness and hon it into learning to be a leader, of which she has all the natural traits needed; in constrast to Dulce Maria, whom is a follower and I want her to learn more decision making and discovering her identity outside of what her older sister does, and making her own decisions while keeping to the Golden Rule of Sisterhood: Always sticking by each other. This is something I have drilled into my girls since birth; no girls were ever on Papa's team, it was, and is, always them against Monster Zombie Tickle Papa, or whatever incarnation I take.

Campaign Setting Basics:
AHC = Autobot High Command
DHC = Decepticon High Command

Why is travel to Earth forbidden?

• Because Transformers have a real problem with being inventors, but humans don't, AHC and DHC were scared at how quickly the humans adapted what technology of theirs that they came into contact with, as well as human history of invention (ever watch "CONNECTIONS"?). This is the real reason AHC orbitally smart-bombed and used digital warfare against all human records of Transformer technology, and why AHC and DHC made travel to Earth or the Sol solar system forbidden.

Why are Decepticons Here?

• (Armada) Battle clone Megatron had an idea to gain immense personal power - since Decepticons had already broken an ancient Cybertonian law and melded flesh creatures into cyborgs (the Dreadlords, or "Meatformers" as true Decepticons call them), why not use humans to invent new weapons and technology? He came to abduct scientists and attempt to have a controlled population. Human history shows that no one can retain control of a vast breadth of humanity for very long, but a smaller group seemed more manageable to him.

How did DHC know about Megatron's plan, or that he came to Earth?

• Astrotrain betrayed him.

Why did Optimus Prime return? How did he know? Why not just alert AHC?

• The real answer to this might blow your mind. Optimus Prime got an anonymous tip (who it was may blow your mind); he knew that AHC's response could be a full-scale war, which would decimate human cities and possibly destabilize Earth's fragile ecosystem, or it could be more purposeful and better handled.
  
  The reason Prime chose not to tell AHC is because he has a different reason for returning: he believes that human beings, with their short lives and uniqueness with each individual, stand to teach the Autobots a lot about individuality, the value of freedom and life, which is something Autobots in general have handled largely by themselves and observing lesser lifeforms.

Who tipped off Optimus Prime?

• **SPOILER ALERT** If you really want to know - Astrotrain betrayed Megatron just after he left; he told Soundwave, a Lieutenant Commander, because he was a survivor of the Earth wars and worked in DHC. Prior to forming his group that would usurp command from the battle clone of Megatron, Soundwave sent a coded message to Optimus Prime and warned him. He then deliberately didn't bring enough forces with him to destroy the Autobots he calculated Prime would be able to bring. Optimus Prime doesn't know who sent him the message, only that someone from Decepticon space sent it.

What are the Dreadlords / Dreadbots / Meatformers?

• Ancient Cybertronian Law forbids any and all cyborgs and augmenting either alien races with Transformer technology, or grafting Transformers with living tissue. Decepticon High Command has, within the last 18 years (after the Earth wars closed and Earth was evacuated, only Starfire (G1 Skyfire) and Soundwave escaped), overturned this.
  
  Decepticons came across a planet long since torn apart by war; the surviving intelligent species had so drastically genetically altered itself that they have incredible powers of regeneration; however, they'd also nuked themselves into the stone age.
  
  Because Transformer brains are so difficult to make (the core of them are comprised of materials that are of extremely limited supply), DHC decided to create the "Meatformers", as true Decepticon soldiers call them, in order to augment their ranks and push back the Autobots.
  
  This campaign has been effective in areas that the Autobots do not have a substantial defense network set up, enough success for AHC to view these creations with a certain form of... dread. Autobot brains are still hard to come by, just like Decepticons, yet Decepticons are throwing creatures intelligent enough to handle their bodies (dumb computers can just be outwitted or hacked, these can't), but more replaceable than Decepticon brains.

What's with Windrazor? Why does he idolize Optimus Prime? What is AHC doing wrong?

• AHC has started to warp the phrase "For the Greater Good." Individuality, indeed the rights of expression and, of course, objection, are considered contrary to the greater good of the war with the Decepticons. This movement within AHC gained ground when, completely unrelated to the Earth-bound Transformers I grew up with, a treaty with the Decepticons fell through with drastic consequences that the current power-holders in AHC managed to stop (hence, their new found respect within AHC, and the willingness to accept a harsher way of doing things from other Autobots in general).
  
  Optimus Prime, like a Bishop in Africa, was completely apart from all of these changes, and when he returned from Earth with his memories and adventures, was aghast at what he found. AHC tried, convicted and destroyed Starfire (Skyfire/Jetfire) for being the Autobot who fired upon Autobots from AHC who attacked the humans; Optimus Prime never got a chance to himself, but Starfire could fly fast and get into space. It was just their way of making an example of him. They stripped Prime of his command and made him a citizen, which Prime found out is now considered a "lower class" from soldier Autobots.
  
  Optimus Prime dispersed his entire memory set, abridging only what he wouldn't want in Decepticon heads, as a way of making the Autobots remember what they stood for. AHC declared his actions against the war effort, and notified him that if he was ever destroyed, he was not to be rebuilt.
  
  Around this time, as Prime was continuing to be engaged in this new underground movement, he got the anonymous tip that Megatron was heading to Earth.

Why did Starfire show up?

• Ratchet remade Starfire with the memories Optimus Prime secreted within his own brain's memory banks. Starfire himself backed himself up before his trial (this one became Nightfire, and since it came from the source is, by Autobot law, the new original, not a clone). Both of them came for the same reason: their best friend called them. Starfire brought Jazz with him, an Autobot who has grown to know Prime over the last 18 years (I never had Jazz as a boy).

Why did Autobots Ratchet, Skyblast & Downshift come?

• Ratchet needed a ride, so he found a willing taker in SkyBlast. He left after Starfire because he wasn't anywhere near Starfire at the time, and received a separate message from Prime. Downshift was recreated from the G1 Omnibot on Earth. Nobody knows it, but Grimlock and the G1 Omnibots are all still alive, just in hiding, possibly deactive in hybernation. Camshaft and Overdrive didn't want to revisit Earth and all the painful memories there. These guys don't know they are clones, they think the originals died on Earth.

Why did the Decepticons call in the Dreadlords?

• DHC asked Soundwave what he needed to handle the Autobots on Earth without drawing attention from AHC, since DHC isn't dumb and figures that, if Prime's best friend was waxed by AHC, and Prime was stripped of his command, then Prime isn't there in an official capacity. Soundwave lied and told them he needed less forces than he actually did.

Clarification on Optimus Prime's Goal:

• He's there to counter the Decepticons, for sure, but he's also there to continue learning from humanity. He was confident that, even if peace couldn't be reached with human governments, individuals would help change things. Daniel's betrayal has confounded the Autobot leader for the moment; he has realized that he is still a machine, and reading humans is difficult for him.

What does the "new" Megatron want?

• To follow through with the old one's plan of using humans to invent new technology, only with the official sanction of DHC, and to crush the Autobots, especially Optimus Prime, since he's an Autobot folk-hero.

What does Soundwave want?

• Good question. He's currently relaying orders from DHC to Megatron and keeping tabs on everything that happens.

Transformers RP Session #14

It's here! [read the session]

Told from the Autobot's side; Once again there's no combat, although there are some dice rolls this time and the introduction of a new Autobot!

I apologize for entering a kind of "Dragonball Z" story phase where a lot of nothing happens, but little girls seem to enjoy things that boys would likely skip over until they're at the next battle or conflict.

I am also worried that the Cyber Spawn and other Todd McFarlane mecha character might be a bit much for folks to swallow, but there's a hidden truth to them and a reason they don't transform and appear to have... flesh! All to be revealed in the next episode of...

The Transformers RP Session!

Transformers RP Session #13

It's here! [read the session]


Learn more about Soundwave's plan and what he is going to do with Megatron. The answer may surprise you, but reaffirm Soundwave's character. Plus! What are the Constructicons up to? That's not answered, but alluded to...

Transformers RP Session #11 & 12

Read all about it.


RP SESSION LIST:

• Transformers RP Session #1
  
• Transformers RP Session #2
  
• Transformers RP Session #3
  
• Transformers RP Session #4
  
• Transformers RP Session #5
  
• Transformers RP Session #6
  
• Transformers RP Session #7
  
• Transformers RP Session #8
  
• Transformers RP Session #9
  
• Transformers RP Session #10
• Transformers RP Session #11 & 12
  

The Extra Degree

At 33 degrees, water falling from the sky on a Saturday is a rainy day. At 32 degrees, children are building snowmen, riding sleighs and promising their parents that they're warm enough to stay outside five minutes longer. A beautifully uncomplicated metaphor that ideally should feed our every endeavor; you can reach exponential rewards in life by applying one extra degree.

From the book "212 - The Extra Degree" Author S.L. Parker.

I love this because it is so stupid. The extra degree gives exponential rewards in, as the example illustrates, very rare and specific circumstances. There are degrees 34 through, say, the surface of the sun (10000°F/5000°C, and even hotter above and below the surface). None of those lead to frozen water, although a great many of them lead to a molten surface on Mercury.

Transformers RP Session #10

Transformers RP Session #10 marked the beginning of using a proper Photo Blog.



RP SESSION LIST:

• Transformers RP Session #1
  
• Transformers RP Session #2
  
• Transformers RP Session #3
  
• Transformers RP Session #4
  
• Transformers RP Session #5
  
• Transformers RP Session #6
  
• Transformers RP Session #7
  
• Transformers RP Session #8
  
• Transformers RP Session #9
  
• Transformers RP Session #10

Transformers RP Session #9

Maria controlled Ratchet, Optimus Prime, Jazz, Brute and Chip; I controlled Mirage, Downshift, Recon & Chaser. Brute, Chip, Recon & Chaser are Knock-Offs we gave names to.

Maria was contemplating what to have Optimus Prime do. She could feel something was wrong in the 9th session (the 8th we had Ratchet, Skyblast & Downshift arrive). Daniel, the son of the human they knew before the Great Cataclysmic War, had given the Autobots a safehouse - an empty warehouse his company owned. In return, the Autobots agreed to help refine his factory and its computer systems so the company could make more money - money which, in turn, Daniel would use to help procure supplies for the Autobots.

The warehouse base the Autobots inhabited and set up with Teletraan 1 was in Denver, Colorado. Daniel's factory was outside of the city.

Optimus Prime had all the jets and spacecraft stay at the base; Starfire (Jetfire / Skyfire), Harrier, Firefox, Skyblast & Rescue. Emergency asked to stay as well. Prime, Ratchet, Jazz, Downshift, Mirage, Chaser, Brute, Recon & Chip formed the convoy for the trip.

The convoy headed to Daniel's factory and noticed an un-marked helicopter following it from a great distance.

I made repeated rolls as the Game Master silently, and Maria tried to see if any of the Autobots saw or noticed anything, but kept rolling low scores. I'd tell her "Ratchet doesn't notice anything, but that's not the same as there being nothing to notice."

Drawing ever closer, when Prime spotted the factory far off with his amazing spot-check, he noticed it was made of reinforced concrete - concrete mixed with steel bars, like a bunker, and had a giant door tall enough for the original body of Starfire (Skyfire / Jetfire) to walk through. She made a intelligence check, and rolled a 6 and a 4. Plus Prime's Intellect score of 10, that was 20.

I asked her "Is your result higher than two?"

"Yes, of course." she answered.

"Twenty is higher than two?" I joked.

"Yes, Papa." she said.

As the Game Master, I said "It's rather obvious that no factories you know of are made of reinforced concrete, it's just too expensive to make."

Then Downshift noticed he couldn't reach Starfire. Maria asked "What can stop our communication?" "Well," I answered, "the curvature of the Earth, even Autobots can't send signals through the Earth's core, and Decepticons. You're not sure if humans can block your signals now or not, it's been 18 years since any of these Transformers have been here."

Still, she couldn't make a decision, so the Autobot rolled inside past the blast doors (which was the entrance). The doors closed behind them.

Once inside, the road went down. Still, she couldn't make a decision as to what to do. Then they met this:

Inside the tunnel, not in an opening but along the narrow four-lane road inside this bunker, they met a giant robot.

"I am a Super Fighter," the robot blurted at them, and marched forward with incredible weight; even the heaviest of Transformers could feel the ground tremor. Optimus Prime knew that the last time he felt that was when Omega Supreme was still alive. He was one of the Autobots whose memories was not backed up, and died in the last stand against the United States Army & Airforce.

"Enemies detected." the behemoth continued.

Over an intercom, a human voice said "Autobots, this is General Brad Langford. As you have come to the United States of America unannounced, and have already begun aggressive actions with your enemies in our cities and on our streets, you have left us no choice but to continue the War of Independence against alien aggressors bringing their wars to our shores. Allow me to introduce to you our solution. Perhaps you recognize it. If you don't, you should..."

General Langford finally shifts from his monotonous voice to one of force, "it's made of the melted-down bodies of your dead comrades."

(Cliffhanger ending)

Game Notes
The Robot: The toy robot really does blurt out "I am a Super Fighter," and then ambles forward a bit before saying "Scanning" and does a scan sound and looks left and right with his torso and then says "Enemies detected... FIRE!" but Esteban cut off his power just before he said that.

The War Reference: What the Transformers (Decepticons and Autobots alike) know as "The Great Cataclysmic Earth War", the humans know as "The War of Independance." Human governments spun it as ousting the alien aggressors from their planet, which, indeed, there was cause for doing.

Betrayal: It should be obvious, but Daniel has lead the Autobots into a deadly trap. One can assume that Starfire and the others are about to have some fun, too.