| abstract
| - Nation(Color) Agent # a.k.a. "Codename" was created by Username on Y!Gallery for the club Rookie Mistakes.
- Until the 1700's everything done was purposeful. One would awake in the morning to tend the fields. One would tend fields to harvest crops. One would harvest crops to give to the king. One would pay one's crops to the king so as not to be tried for treason and executed. One would go to bed at night to avoid the toxic night air. Each task was a method of survival, no more, no less. Then one would die, toothless and worn out, at age 35. Trouble began in 1732 when so-called "intellects" began to spend time seeking what they called knowledge. For the first time in human history, time was being spent on tasks unnecessary for survival. It began to undermine the only truth of the universe as established by the clergy to ensure the lower classes' safety. After all, what would happen if there was no Divinely Appointed monarch to make all the correct decisions for those who could not?
- "Useless" is an original GUMI song. It is Killjoy-P's debut song as a VOCALOID producer. They claimed they "tried to make it some[thing] depressive but it turned into something emo", in an attempt to make the song deeper and more somber. The song tells the story of a girl who is disappointed in both herself and the world, wishing she could disappear from the mediocrity of being useless every day.
- Dyson Ring - Jungled Region Ancient trees reach up from the ground, their roots an iron network that infiltrates the soil. Their thick, sturdy branches jut outward and their leaves form a dense canopy of green. Occasionally, a beam of light will focus through a gap or two, illuminating a particular patch of brilliant, exotic blooms. Keep your eyes on these blooms and you'll see a reptilloid or mammolok leap from a branch and gobble at the succulent fruits that hang from them. Razor-edged fronds arch out from the soil, threatening to nick and scrape any hardy adventurers on foot. Don't linger -- the vicious vulpinars, a predatory fox with nine tails studded in talons, might fancy you to be an easy snack! Contents: Control Bunker Obvious exits: Spinwards [S] leads to Dyson Ring - Industrial Zone. Antispinwards [A] leads to Dyson Ring - Scrapyard. Orbit [O] leads to Dyson Ring Periphery. Sandstorm arrives from the Dyson Ring - Scrapyard. Sandstorm has arrived. Sandstorm zips into the air, rotor kicking up clouds of dust. Backfire has arrived. Blurr transforms at a depressingly average speed into a hovercar. Motormaster has arrived. Blue Hovercar [Blurr] speeds through the forest, swerving between the trunks of the trees at the stunning speed of... oh, a hundred seventy-five, two hundred miles an hour, tops, as he moves from the scrap yards behind them towards the space port far ahead. He activates his radio to chat with his companion. // Just how big /is/ this place? // he asks, exasperated. He's speaking not at his normal, accelerated pace, but something that most Autobots would call 'normal.' // Since my power rectifier got destroyed, everything else has seemed so fast, but this is taking /forever/. How do you people stand it? // //Most of us don't know others!// Sandstorm replies as he veers between two trees, actually going up on two wheels to squeeze between them. His raised wheels bounce off one trunk but he just laughs at it as he thunks back to the ground on all-fours. //And we don't really know, that's why they want more people to explore it... Most of the focus here has been on those silly floating cubes after all.// Being assigned to 'watch after' a slower than normal Blurr was kinda like babysitting... But the weird alien jungle terrain was taking his mind off of it as he navigated through it. Motormaster just got shipped out from Cybertron and the first thing they do is put him on the spacebridge to do a shift out on this staggeringly vast orbital platform thing the Decepticons somehow lucked into, which the Autobots, no surprise, have been sneaking around on from time to time as well. "What I don't understand," Motormaster growls to Backfire, frustrated, "is why if we have this thing which already has a fully functional 1:1 replication of Planet Earth on it, we still need to fight over Earth. Why don't we just keep this? It's Earth plus several others and it's already built and we already control it!" A trespasser alarm starts going off in the watchtower. "...more or less," Motormaster finishes, looking at the light. Looking to Motormaster, Backfire shrugs and gives a pretty blank expression that yells: They don't keep me around because of my thought process. "I know not comrade, but what I do know ... is that the Autobots will never gain control of our duplicate Earth!!" he shouts, striking a Captain Ginyu pose. Then the light goes off, pulling the Seeker's attention away from himself. "It looks you've spoken too soon!!" he cries out, jumping into the air to rocket off towards the location of the disturbance. A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Motormaster hefts his sword from where he set it by the door with a grunt of annoyance, and goes out to follow Backfire to the scene of the disturbance. Motormaster slams his great mass to the ground, converting into a big black cabover semi. "Don't get me wrong, it's... kind of nice to be able to... well, interact with people normally." Blurr occasionally pauses as he speaks. Actually, he does this even when he's normal, but usually his pauses are done far too quickly for most listeners to even perceive them. "But... wow, I can't believe how long this trip is taking!" Another pause. "Trip here went a lot faster than usual, though," he adds thoughtfully. The trip wasn't, actually, but shuttle rides are the sorts of things that Blurr can't normally make go faster. Combat Dunebuggy [Sandstorm] laughs a bit. "If a shuttle trip is too long, you just sleep through it." Or at least that's his method. "Whoa, look at that." The dune buggy skids sideways to stop at the edge of one of the bloom patchs, and then pops up into Sandstorm's robot mode. "Check it out, those are some pretty trippy flowers!" With a lightning fast flip and twist, Sandstorm lands in his robot mode, ready for action. F-16 Falcon [Backfire] throttles through the air, kicking on the afterburners and twirling with little care in the world. Up in the air, there wasn't any worry about serving the empire or pleasing Lord Galvatron. Watching what you said around superior officers with arm cannon attachments or the grind of daily routine duties. No, up in the air ... that's where Backfire felt at ease.
* SPLAT* The sheer impact of the avian creature alone sends the Seeker simpleton into a downspin, his wipers are in a flurry of movement to clear the clear glass over the cockpit ... however futile. He makes impact with the ground soon afterword, a large resounding crashing can be heard in the surrounding areas. Transforming into robot mode, he lies in his newly formed impact crater and stares up at the sky. "Why me?" The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] catches up soon to Backfire, gears grinding as he slows to have a look at the accident. But Motormaster's not one to stop for an accident unless it's to laugh at it, and THAT he can do while still driving. Diesel puffs rise from his stacks as he accelerates away on his original bearing, chuckling hollowly to himself. "I do take naps!" Blurr protests to Sandstorm. "It just... doesn't take up enough tim- hey, you're right about the flowers!" Blurr stops instantly - as a hover-vehicle, he's still capable of very sharp starts, stops, and turns, even without his power chip - and transforms, crouching to examine one. "Should we take a sample?" he asks, staring at it. While he's generally known for being easily distracted, that's because he usually has to focus on things going much slower than he does. Thus, when he's at a normal speed, he can actually focus surprisingly well. Sandstorm opens up his chest compartment/cab and pulls out a small clear plastic case. Having a vehicle mode with a cab and not often having riders is handy for stashing things you don't to ditch into subspace. "Yeah. If nothing else, the boys like Beachcomber might find it interestin' to look at what's livin' out here." He hands the case down to Blurr... but then his head snaps up at hearing a crash in the distance? "Did you hear that?" He asks the other Autobot, squinting a bit to look past the treetops and see if he can see any smoke in the air. It -sounded- like a crash, but it could just be some weird alien animal roaring, too. Blue Hovercar [Blurr] is totally stationary and vulnerable if any VILLAINS are approaching! Blurr transforms at a depressingly average speed into robot mode. Blurr is also a robot. He posed transforming last pose. Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] eventually finds the trees getting too dense to drive through, transforming to go the rest of the way on foot so that he's not an obvious mark flying (slowly) over the treetops. He checks the range to the waypoint and deploys his massive double-barrelled rifle from its stowage built into his right arm. The gun swings up and locks into place around his wrist, following the track of his arm. "Backfire, you goon," he grumbles, basically to himself. "If I can't hope for competent help I can at least hope that you get to them first and create a diversion." With a loud clacking and grinding sound, Motormaster pulls himself up into his grim humanoid form. Backfire scrambles to his feet, chasing after the Kenworth K100. "Hey, ya know ... you coulda asked to give me a hand comrade." he cries out. Bending over in exhaustion, the Seeker simpleton pants like a marathon track runner. "Oh Straxus, I'll never catch him now ... oh wait." Boot thrusters ignite as Backfire takes to the air, remembering that he can fly. Overhead, he can pinpoint with relative ease the location of Motormaster. However tracking down the Autobots isn't a simple process, but this isn't just any simple minded Seeker ... oh wait, yeah it is. Regardless, Backfire is able to discern the two forms in the foilage below. He opens up with some laser fire from overhead, "You are trespassing on Lord Galvatron's private property, cease and desist IMMEDIATELY!!!" Combat: Backfire misses Blurr with his Warning Shot! (Disruptor) attack! Combat: Backfire (Backfire) used "Disruptor": A Level 1 RANGED attack. Blurr turns around to look as Sandstorm points out a strange sound. "Yeah, I did hear something. Should I ch-?" And it's because Blurr's facing in that direction that he catches a glint. He throws himself flat just quickly enough for Backfire's blast to skim over him. (Normally, he'd have already been in vehicle mode and racing towards the source of the sound.) "Decepticons!" he shouts, pulling his gun from subspace to fire back up at the Seeker. Combat: Blurr strikes Backfire with his Electro-Laser attack! Combat: Backfire has been temporarily incapacitated. Sandstorm ... honestly forgets about Blurr's slowness at the moment as he hears incoming laser fire, or he might of pushed him out of the way. Instead he's dropping the specimin box as he dives and rolls to the side as lasers punch the ground, coming back up on his knees. Despite the ambush, he's grinning. "Good, I could use some theraputic pummeling!" Not to mention Impactor's little 'challenge. He raises his blaster, but the tree cover is a bit annoying. "I need to find a better opening to shoot from!" Sandstorm turns a bit and sprints off between a few groves and spotting a glint of light out of the corner of his view, turns to dart around a large tree towards it. Only the glint turns out to not be another clearing, but a flash off armor of a very big Decepticon he quite literally comes face first into, with possibly humerous results if he doesn't stop quick enough. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Motormaster with his *CLANG* Who put a wall here?! (Grab) attack! Backfire is struck from below, sending his systems into dissarray and non-compliance. "Curr...you'll rue the day you shot the glory of the EMPIRRREEE!!!" he calls out, plummeting down towards the ground. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Backfire has 'skipped' his action for this round. Motormaster HAD been lining up an atom-smasher shot on Blurr through the trees, but his hand is forced when Sandstorm runs straight into him and spoils his shot. "You OAF! I should be ashamed to have enemies like you!" Motormaster snarls down at Sandstorm, rounding on him and swinging for him with an open hand, to try to fling the hapless Wrecker into a tree. Combat: Motormaster sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Motormaster strikes Sandstorm with his By the Convenient Handle (Punch) attack! Blurr tends not to aim so much as fire lots and lots of shots wildly in the general direction of the Decepticons and hope that one hits. He's still using that ill-considered 'strategy' now, despite the fact that his fingers no longer allow him to squeeze off nearly as many shots as he would have normally. And yet, he gets lucky with just the first few. "Ha!" he shouts, transforming into alternate mode to roll straight for Backfire, and then past him. Too bad he's no longer capable of going fast enough to break the sound barrier. Blurr transforms at a depressingly average speed into a hovercar. Combat: Blue Hovercar [Blurr] sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Blue Hovercar [Blurr] strikes Backfire with his Subsonic Whisper : attack! [Pulled -4] Sandstorm stumbles back a step and looks up at Motormaster's likely sneering face. "Well, fancy -running into- you here..." Followed by a second clunk as the Stunticon flings him backwards into a nearby tree. Is that cracking noise the tree or his back struts? Sandstorm lets out a 'OOMPH' either way at the impact. "Oh of course, leave me the big-un." Sounds more like he's pleased and complaining though, leveling his blaster back at Moto and firing off a quick burst of abrasive grit. "And I thought this was gonna be a boring trip!" Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Motormaster with his Sandblaster Gun attack! [Pulled -2] Motormaster leans into the blast of high-pressure air and grit, his heavy armor plating etched into interesting and attractive patterns by the scouring barrage. "I wouldn't call it interesting YET," he grunts through the noise, spitting out sand. His cannon arm crackles and hums as the particle accelerator spins up, and with a resonating CHA-DOOM it spits a bolt of blue-white light which rips through the trees, reducing a six-inch channel through them into glowing dust as it streaks downrange. Combat: Motormaster strikes Sandstorm with his Atom-Smasher Cannon attack! Falling ever faster, a growing fear grips the Seeker as he plummets. One being the ground, that's steadily getting closer. The second facing off against the sultan of speed, Blurr himself. Not one to be easily gripped by fear, or intimidated by opponents ... this is another matter. The Seeker has witnessed the Autobot disarm and disable a squad of gumbie soldiers, with relative ease and a jovial side conversation all the while. "What the blazes?" he remarks, when much to his surprise ... the tiny gale does nothing more than shake him out of his temporary illment. "Ahoy, what's your game fast one? Why toy with an opponent, when you're capable of a much more glamourous display of speed?" he asks, regaining his bearings and firing off a shot from his arm-mounted laser. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Backfire strikes Blue Hovercar [Blurr] with his Arm-Mounted Lazorz!! (Laser) attack! "YOUCH!" Blurr screeches as the laser blasts his back window, his voice still high-pitched even if it's not at high speed. He spins in a way that would be impossible for a wheeled vehicle and then transforms, once more drawing his laser from subspace. "I c-can beat even without that speed," he stutters, though the fear in his voice is unmistakable. Blurr transforms at a depressingly average speed into robot mode. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Guarded. Sandstorm pushes himself up from the tree, only to get slammed into it a second time as the cannon hits him square in the chest, causing it to dent inward and several other bits of metal and bark scatter about from how hard he's punched into it a second time. Urf. "Don't worry, no shortage of interesting here." Pushing himself off the now battered and likely to fall over tree -again-, Sandstorm takes a few steps and lunges at Motormaster -- this time intentionally head-on. With the snap of an arm a wrist compartment pops open and flicks his combat knife into his hand, the blade already starting to glow brightly as he tries and plunge it into a spot roughed up by his blast. "WRECK'N'RULE!" Combat: Blurr strikes Backfire with his Electro-Laser - Damage Mode (Laser) attack! Motormaster converts his cannon back into its stowed state and whips his huge two-handed sword off his back, charging Sandstorm at the same time that Sandstorm charges him with his red-hot knife. The Cybertronian runes on Motormaster's sword ignite as he grasps it, revealing the coincidental inscription: BY THIS I RULE. The knife plunges into Motormaster's slab-like torso without much hindrance, but it doesn't slow him down even a little bit as he brings the sword sweeping down and across with a whooping sound of displaced air. "SUFFER!" is all Motormaster has to say. Combat: Motormaster strikes Sandstorm with his Overhand Cleave attack! The laser blast impacts off his upper chest plate, causing some minor stress fractures and cracks ... but nothing of great importance. "Haha, so the reports are true ... you've lost your speed!" he cackles, glaring down at the Autobot. Grabbing a launcher from subspace, the Seeker hefts it to his shoulder and takes aim.
* FWOOOOOOSH* "Your head will make a great piece in Lord Galvatron's gallery!!" Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Backfire misses Blurr with his Rock-It Lawn-Chair attack! [Pulled -2] .. Oh, crap, he's got a bigger blade. Sandstorm ducks and twists a bit as he stabs, not enough to avoid the sword but it does make it dig into his shoulder instead... which is still unpleasant to say the least as it rips away some more losened armor as he knocks him off again. "Heh." Pushing him to his feet, Sandstorm reachs up to pull another piece of rent metal out of the gouge and tosses it off. "Finally, a fight I can sink my grille into." He charges in for another attack.. by jumping up to grab one of the larger branches and swing on it to thrust both his feet at Motormaster's chestplate. "Banzai!" Combat: Sandstorm strikes Motormaster with his Using the environment (Kick) attack! [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "How ya hangin' there Blurr?" [Autobot] Blurr says, "... So far so good, actually." "Hnf!" grunts Motormaster, stumbling backwards with Sandstorm's bootprints clearly dented into his weakened chest armor. He catches himself against a tree, his sword stuck into the ground nearby where it fell out of his hand when he was knocked back by the double kick. "So you like to test your strength? You like to challenge yourself? You've MET your MATCH, BOY!" [Autobot] Blurr says, "Maybe my speed is starting to come back on its own? Erm. Uhm... maybe this guy just has really really bad aim." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "... Well, you are fighting Backfire" Blurr throws himself to the ground and covers his head as Backfire fires a... lawn chair at him? He looks around, confused, as he manages to avoid getting shot. Is his speed coming back, or... he stares at the Decepticon. "Wow, your aim is horrible!" he exclaims. The worst part is, he's not saying it to taunt Backfire - he's making what he considers a genuine observation. From his lying position, he starts to return fire. "At this rate, you might as well just give up now!" Combat: Blurr misses Backfire with his Laser attack! "Hnf!" grunts Motormaster, stumbling backwards with Sandstorm's bootprints clearly dented into his weakened chest armor. He catches himself against a tree, his sword stuck into the ground nearby where it fell out of his hand when he was knocked back by the double kick. "So you like to test your strength? You like to challenge yourself? You've MET your MATCH, BOY!" Collapsing onto the ground, Motormaster revs his engine, rumbling forward on a collision course with where Sandstorm landed after delivering the kick. He doesn't have much room to build up speed at this range, but the sheer weight he brings to the table might be bad enough! Even the semi-metallic trees can't stop Motormaster (a question he is pleased to discover the answer to); he crumples them with a cracking and screeching noise in the same way he would collapse a bridge support back on Earth, or run through a Cybertronian house. Motormaster slams his great mass to the ground, converting into a big black cabover semi. Combat: Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] misses Sandstorm with his Trucks Watch For Falling Trees attack! [Pulled -6] "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME, YOU ... You ... handicapped Autotard!!" Backfire roars from his advantageous position up in the sky, narrowly avoiding incoming laserfire. "I'm the -bump- in the night, the glint of fear in your optic, the terror in the twilight, the dusk before dawn, the GLORY OF THE EMPIRE ... I AM BACKFIRE!!" One hand extends towards Blurr, a light greenish or yellowish globule of super heated plasma grows in his palm ... streaking through the air at his opponent a moment later. Combat: Backfire strikes Blurr with his Tainted Love! attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Backfire (Backfire) used "Solar Assault": A Level 1 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Backfire's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Blurr. By a stroke of luck it helps that Sandstorm actually swung himself up onto the branch, planting his feet just behind his hands and crouching a bit to keep his grip, so he's not directly on the ground when the semi starts smashing through the trees. "Man, if Beachcomber was here he would be sooo sparked off..." Just as the Stunticon plows into the tree he's in Sandstorm leaps off in the other direction and transforms himself. He hits the ground with a bounce on his tires and motor already revving. "Who's met who's match?", he retorts back as he takes off... and the spew of dirt and grim kicked into the air by his tires and blasted out as the exhaust pipes fume goes flying right for the front of the semi as he speeds off in the opposite direction. And starts zigzagging through the trees in hopes of a bit of cover. Sure Moto can just slam through them, but it also means every hit slows him down losing momentum, so maybe he can outwit him with a combination of speed and maneuvering. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Guarded. With a quick flip and the roar of an engine, Sandstorm takes off in dunebuggy mode, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Combat: Combat Dunebuggy [Sandstorm] misses Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] with his Eat My Dust! attack! Blurr's optics widen and he attempts to roll out of the way, but with his slower reflexes he cant avoid the attack. The superheated plasma eats away at the armor on his chest and upper arms, leaving him screaming, even though the circuits beneath are relatively undamaged. "YOW-HEY!! THAT HURT!!" he yells, pushing himself to his feet. He starts running towards Backfire and firing wildly, attacking as he always does - haphazardly, sloppily, with the expectation that his natural reflexes will make up for it. Whoops. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blurr strikes Backfire with his Haphazard Shot (Laser) attack! [Autobot] Sandstorm woops, teasing, "If you really want you could have Motormaster instead!" [Autobot] Blurr says, "HE ATE OFF MY ARMOR!" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Since when did he become an Insecticon...." [Autobot] Blurr says, "It was with some goo!" [Autobot] Blurr says, "Hot goo! His hands are hot goo guns!" [Autobot] Kup says, "Innit more like dissolved, then?" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, ".. Oh, yeah, he shoots crap out of his hands like that. You're supposed to dodge i... errr... sorry, forgot for a moment there." [Autobot] Blurr says, "Ate, dissolved, it's gone and I'm TRYING!" Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] sweeps around in a great skidding arc, ploughing up dirt and trees and things sort of halfway between wombats and rabbits as he reverses direction and chases after Sandstorm, ripping down trees and churning them under his wheels as he goes. The dust cloud isn't high enough that he can't see over it, and he bears down on the nimbler dune buggy with evil intent, his chrome bumper closing in on Sandstorm's rear end to try to give him a nasty shove and perhaps spin him out! Combat: Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] misses Combat Dunebuggy [Sandstorm] with his Fender Bender attack! [Pulled -7] Combat Dunebuggy [Sandstorm] skids violently, looking for a moment like the semi did just catch him in the rear... Only if one saw close enough to see the split-second where Sandstorm actuall hits spins -himself- out to look like it as he wheels around a full 180 and flips backwards into the air! ... Except the flip is actually transforming, the rush of air catching his rotors and hoisting the Wrecker up into the air between the giant trees. While he aims the gun mounted under the copter nose down and start peppering the truck in a volley of bullets, maybe catching him off-guard in the few seconds he's thinking he actually hit him or something. Jumping to the air, Sandstorm twists around rapidly, rotors whirl to life and he takes off in his helicopter mode. Combat: Sikorsky S-61R Copter [Sandstorm] strikes Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] with his Fake Out! (Pistol) attack! Sometime, firing wildly works ... because your opponent doesn't know any better to dodge. Such is the case here, as Backfire is too busy glowering over his latest attack's effects, that he's caught unaware when Blurr goes all crazy on him. The blast sends him shooting backwards, further fractures and cracks forming on his upper chest. The green tainted energon seeps from his wounds, down onto his cockpit's shield ... mixing with the avian creature's blood from earlier. "Of course it hurt, you curr ... it's supposed to!" he whines out, fumbling for his laser pistol and firing off a couple of shots. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Backfire strikes Blurr with his Potshot! (Pistol) attack! Blurr is blasted as he runs forward. "Ow ow ow!" he shouts as the shots land. He automatically throws his hands up to protect his face, but it doesn't prevent the shots from hitting his chest. By this point, he's closed the distance between himself and Backfire (and it took /forever/, sheesh!). "I'll hurt you!" he shouts, swinging his fist towards Backfire's face, although the move can more easily be described as a directed flail than a punch. Combat: Blurr misses Backfire with his Directed Flailing (Punch) attack! Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] puts on his brakes as Sandstorm takes off and stitches his trailer along the side with a stream of bullets. He throws the wheel sideways and goes into a deliberate jackknife which folds his cab into his trailer and converts them both into something like an artillery piece which wants to be a trash compactor when it grows up. Or possibly the other way around. The gun mounted on the base's turret swings up and unfolds a cavernous muzzle, screaming and roaring like a jet engine as a swirling vortex of wind spirals into it, sucking leaves off the trees and churning them into mulch in the grinding wheels of the compactor. "Come to me, Sandstorm! Come down and meet your DOOM!" Rearranging himself with a loud grinding sound, Motormaster transforms into a piece of large industrial machinery sporting a menacing crane. Combat: Hydraulic Press [Motormaster] misses Sikorsky S-61R Copter [Sandstorm] with his Cyclone Gun attack! [Pulled -2] Backfire floats back, waving one finger at Blurr as the flailing misses him altogether. "Tsk tsk my Autobot friend, such Tom foolery will get you no where!" he laughs, charging forward with a lit thruster boot. "So, how does it feel to be moving in real time? All our actions and words must be traveling -soooooo- fast for your primitive cog to decipher!" Combat: Backfire misses Blurr with his Fire Kick!! (Kick) attack! "AAAIIIIEEEE!" Blurr screams in a panic as he throws himself out of the way of Backfire's kick. It works, but that's more luck than anything. He stumbles back a few feet and shakes his head, obviously frightened. He gathers his courage and looks up at Backfire, then gasps out, attempting to sound confident and failing miserably, "Everything /else/ seems faster, sure, but you're still pretty slow!" And then Blurr flail-punches again. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Blurr misses Backfire with his Flail-Punch (Punch) attack! Sikorsky S-61R Copter [Sandstorm] bucks and rocks in the wild winds... but the way Sandstorm whoops sounds more like he's enjoying the ride. He does manage to twist and bob to avoid the debris being flung at him with the wind-tunnel though, so that helps. This is one of those times he's glad he's a helicopter instead of a jet, that's for sure. "Yeeeeha!" When the tail end of the winds churn by, the Wrecker ducks back down towards the treetops Sandstorm snaps back. "Oh, I'm comin' to doom alright, but if it's mine is debatable!" As he ducks down into the trees he transforms again before his rotors snag on anything, dropping back down to the ground. He's already got one of his knives out when he lands, which after taking a moment to peer at the machinery churning away over there, plants his heels to keep from getting sucked in and flings the knife in hopes of it jamming into some moving parts. With a lightning fast flip and twist, Sandstorm lands in his robot mode, ready for action. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Hydraulic Press [Motormaster] with his Not a wrench but still good for getting in the works attack! [Pulled -1] Backfire laughs, dodging the punch once again ... this time without the help of ignition of boot thrusters. "You really are pathetic, little play thing." he muses, bobbing and weaving towards his opponent in some sort of union between Zumba and Taibo. The Seeker simpleton stops about ten feet or so short of Blurr, "Such a frail warrior, now that you've lost your precious connection to the SPEED FORCE ... you're basically useless." While babbling on and on, Backfire has grabbed up his signature weapon and loaded a new battery charge into the stock. "I bet your teammates wouldn't even notice if I put you out of your misery, here..." Bringing the Buck Rogers space-gun up to bear on his target, he pulls the trigger. "NOW!" A multitude of circular rings pulse out from the weapon. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Blurr with his Hypno-Ray Rifle attack! Hydraulic Press [Motormaster] grinds up the thrown knife in moments, although the hot shards might do a bit of damage to the gearing, who can say. It's hard to see in there. Motormaster was hoping that Sandstorm might get close enough to grab with the claw, but this seems not to be the case; Sandstorm is not that dumb and realizes he can just throw things. "Well now," rumbles Motormaster. "If you won't come to me, then I'll have to make a HOUSE CALL." Already moving even as he's still transforming, Motormaster hopes to catch Sandstorm by surprise with a sudden reconfiguration into a truck! The mighty horn blares as he bears down on Sandstorm, whose reflection wavers in the gleaming chromium grill. Motormaster slams his great mass to the ground, converting into a big black cabover semi. Combat: Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] strikes Sandstorm with his King of the Road attack! Blurr gapes at Backfire. "Speed... wha-?!" he asks, baffled. The MYSTERIOUS CIRCLES float towards him, confusing him furhter, but... really, he's pretty darned confused anyway. He draws his weapon and tries to shake it off, firing in the direction that he's /sure/ Backfire is in. "Wow, you really talk a lot, don't you?" he murmurs in bewilderment, not really realizing the irony in his statement. Combat: Blurr's Electro-Laser attack on Backfire goes wild! Combat: Blurr misses Sandstorm with his Electro-Laser attack! Sandstorm wasn't expecting Motormaster to be able to move very quickly from a stationary mode, this much is true, and really was expecting him to go to robot mode or something. He starts backing up a few steps, but gets distracted when a blast flies just overhead from Blurr's dazed firing, forcing him to stop and duck. "Hey, careful over the--" The rest is cut off as Motormaster goes to his semi mode instead, and the resounding *CRUNCH* as he slams into the Wrecker in a moment of distraction. Then while he's plastered across the front of the truck he gets slammed through several more trees during the ride before finally being knocked free and tumbling off to the side into the dirt. "... I thought he wasn't a Mack truck? 'Cuz that sure felt like one..." Ugh. He really, -really- feels rough right now. But still manages to roll over onto his back and sit up enough to aim his blaster at the truck and squeeze off one more shot, aiming for the lower carriage in an effort to tear up his tires and underbody or something. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] with his Sandblast Torrent attack! [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Y'know, I really hate to be a spoilsport, but this ain't goin' so well." [Autobot] Blurr says, "I. Uhm. I noticed." [Autobot] Blurr says, "Sandstorm?" [Autobot] Sandstorm groans. "Yeah?" Backfire stands there, unmoving. Hands held out on hips, legs spread apart ... he had nothing to fear. Usually, if the Hypno-Ray Rifle doesn't blow up in his face; his opponents have little to no chance of retalliation. Towards him at least. "Even now you wrestle against the tide, little one. Are you that surprised that your only truly positive contribution to your wretched faction, was that of glorified messenger?? Tell me, have they asked much of you ... since you've lost your gift?" he inquires, smiling all the while. The Seeker thrusts forward, launching an upraised knee towards Blurr's midsection. [Autobot] Blurr says, "What's a Speed Force?" Combat: Backfire strikes Blurr with his Rising Knee! (Kick) attack! [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Slag if I know!" [Autobot] Blurr says, "Ow!" Having struck home, Backfire whispers "Tell me, little one ... how effective do you feel now?" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "As much as I hate to wreck and run, it may be time to ditch these creeps" [Autobot] Blurr says, "I... I..." [Autobot] Blurr says, "... You're right. I'm useless like this." [Autobot] Military XO Impactor says, "Storm, sitrep ASAP!" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Hey, I didn't say that!" [Autobot] Blurr says, "You didn't have to." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "We were exploring this forest on Dyson, and got ambushed by Backfire and Motormaster." [Autobot] Blurr says, "Impactor?" [Autobot] Sandstorm huffs. "Who hits like a truck. Literally." [Autobot] Military XO Impactor sighs, "Seriously kid? Ya shoulda called in fer backup, he's no slouch to laugh at! Whaddya need Blurr?" [Autobot] Blurr says, "What's a Speed Force?" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Who said anything about laughing?" Kenworth K100 Aerodyne [Motormaster] roars with hollow, mirthless laughter, like the tolling of a great cracked bell, even as the hissing sandblaster peels off the sidewall of two of his tires on the side facing Sandstorm, causing them to blow out. "You're SCRAP, Autobot! Nothing but TRASH! And you KNOW what we do with that." With a loud clacking and grinding sound, Motormaster pulls himself up into his grim humanoid form. [Autobot] Blaster suggests gently, "Speed Force sounds more like your area than any of ours, Blurr." [Autobot] Blurr sounds broken. "Not anymore." [Autobot] Military XO Impactor says, "Uhh, no clue Blurr. Storm, if I haveta git off my aft and come save yah out in the Dyson Ring ... yer not gonna like the consequences." [Autobot] Blaster says, "You mean 'not at the moment'. You'll get your mojo back. You'll see." Motormaster skids through the soft soil as he transforms and loses speed, charging back the other way towards Sandstorm. He raises one of his heavy feet and brings it slamming down to try to crush and pin Sandstorm beneath it with his monstrous strength. "We CRUSH it! That's right." Combat: Motormaster misses Sandstorm with his Stomp (Kick) attack! [Autobot] Sandstorm despite all manages to chuckle a bit. "Y'know I'd wonder if you could do worse, but I don't wanna give you any ideas!" [Autobot] Military XO Impactor says, "Hell, last time I had ta collapse a tunnel on Motormouth ... just ta stop him momentarily!" Blurr cringes forward and covers his midsection as he's knee'd in the lower trunk. He lifts his head to look up at Backfire, eyes wide in fear. For a moment, it looks like he'll recover, mount a final counter-assault... and then, shamefully, he breaks. "T-t-time to go, Sandstorm," he squeaks out, likely not loud enough to even be heard as he stumbles backwards and falls clumsily into vehicle mode. "I'm not doing any good here, anyway," he says softly, almost a whisper. He spins and drives away, instantly accelerating to his top speed of... oh, around 200 miles an hour or so, darting away between the trees to escape. Where he's lost his speed, he still has his smaller size and the manauverability of his hover-form with which to escape the Decepticons. Blurr transforms at a depressingly average speed into a hovercar. Combat: Blue Hovercar [Blurr] begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. [Autobot] Blurr says, "I- I- I hope so. I'm useless like this." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Go on Blurr, get outta here." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "I'll be right behind you" [Autobot] Patchwork says, "What's wrong?" Sandstorm brings up his hands and manages to catch the metal boot being thrust down at him. You can almost hear various parts screech and grinding together in protest as he resists, the stomp ending just barely away from his face. Much to close for comfort. "Ugh, did you step in doo on your way here, yer feet stink!" On the brink of being crushed to a paste and he's still making snarky remarks. Typical Wrecker. He pushes the foot up and away again, but it's not even really enough to be called an attack, just to get himself enough time to roll out from under Motormaster's huge shadow before it hits the ground again and get onto his proper bearings. "Seeya, wouldn't wanna be ya, cog sucker." Then transforms and takes off ... It's kinda sad that he can actually catch up to Blurr if they go far enough, but we won't actually mention that. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Protected. With a quick flip and the roar of an engine, Sandstorm takes off in dunebuggy mode, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Combat: Combat Dunebuggy [Sandstorm] begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Blue Hovercar [Blurr] and Backfire Backfire remains standing there, glowering in his temporary victory. "Yes, run along Autotard..." he motions with his hand forward, flicking the wrist and fingers forth. "Shoo shoo, away with you. Come back when you're ready to actually accept your fate!" Turning his attention to the Wrecker and the Stunticon, the Seeker simpleton ignites boot thrusters and casually floats over towards the pair. When Sandstorm zooms past, Backfire's attention is piqued and his zeal for combat returns instantly. He charges up a shot in his palm, then sends the sickly yellow/green plasma ball forward. "Same for you, Wrecker trash!" Combat: Backfire misses Combat Dunebuggy [Sandstorm] with his Tainted LOVE! (Laser) attack! [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Don't worry Blurr, we'll make you useful again someho... eeer wait, that came out wrong." [Autobot] Patchwork says, "Blurr's useful!" [Autobot] Grimlock says, "Him Blurr fancy deliveryman!" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "We.. ah.. oh torque it, I'm not the one for fancy pep talks." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Let's just get back to the Steelhaven" [Autobot] Blurr sighs. [Autobot] Patchwork says, "Yes, come back!" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Uh, my head is still ringing from kissin' Moto's grille." [Autobot] Grimlock says, "NO KISSING ALLOWED." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "But at least he didn't leave unscathed! ... It's a figure of speech, Grim." [Autobot] Blurr says, "... That sounds like a really strange way to fight, Sandstorm!" [Autobot] Grimlock says, "You mean talking dolly? Him Sludge have one of thems 'til Slag light it on fire." [Autobot] Jetfire deadpans, "At least it wasn't hugging Scorponok." [Autobot] Tailgate says, "DON'T DENY THEIR LOVE!" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "... Oh nevermind, I'm too sore to deal with translatin' for Dinobotese." [Autobot] Tailgate says, "Though I can't vouch for his taste." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "I -can- vouch that the bottom of Motormisfit's feet smell like poo." [Autobot] Blaster whispers, "Psst! Too much info there Sandstorm." [Autobot] Tailgate says, "A thing for boots huh? Can't say I blame you, but WHAT THE SLAG IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "Hey, he almost stomped on my face, it was a little hard to miss!" [Autobot] Rodimus Prime says, "... You've got some /strange/ kinks, Sandstorm." [Autobot] Sandstorm says, "I think I hit my head harder than I thought" [Autobot] Tailgate says, "Hey, don't sweat it, we're an equal opportunity faction."action."
- Useless (役立たず, Yakutatazu) is the twentieth chapter in the D.Gray-man series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino.
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