| abstract
| - Saturday, June 23, 2012, 7:32 AM Undersea Base - Docking Bay The docking bay is a large, long, partially submerged room. Floors extend from the exterior walls, but in the centre, there is nothing but water. The mixture of water and air pressure has been carefully calibrated to remain constant, so that vessels capable of travelling underwater may dock here. There are crossovers, but as all Decepticons can fly, they are more for moving equipment than anything else. The floors are lavender, with fuchsia lines that serve some purpose, although it seems quite random to Decepticons unfamiliar with dock work. And the walls are purple. There are usually Decepticons in the process of loading or unloading supplies and equipment, most often both is the case, as once they've unloaded one set of goods, they fill the cargo hold with another. There are quite a number of unusual vessels moored here, some that don't look Decepticon, some that look like they could even break orbit. The Autobot cargo vessel eases into sight of the Undersea base, Ultra Magnus pulls back on the steering column and flicks off the exterior lights. Inside the hub of the craft, the lighting pipes down for a moment.. then comes back on in a red hue. "We're approaching target." Magnus says through the ship's comm systems, his fingers dancing over the controls to open up a secure line with the Docking Bay of the base. Speaking through a voice synth, the City Commander hails the base and transmits the stolen codes for authorization. His co-pilot, Greenhorn, looks nervously at Magnus. "You better hope that Intel was solid Magnus, or this'll be my first -and- last mission!" he gushes, big dumb smile on his mug. "They'll work kid, don't worry." Ultra Magnus replies, hoping that they do. INSIDE THE DOCKING STATION.. Some Decepticons dock workers, lowly grunts without names (which makes their deaths almost certain), work on uploading one of the last shipments of refined Coral deposits as per Submarauder's request. Few of them even bother to look as the bay doors swirl with that emergency yellow light.. signaling a ship's arrival. Foxfire is not happy, not at all. No, he can't swim, so stop asking. At the moment the little foxbot is huddled in a seat in the middle of the vessel, trying to pretend that he is not underwater right now. Scared as he is, he's positive Magnus won't let him fall into the water...right? Amber MacKenzie is wearing her environmental suit, but one designed for underwater instead of space. She sits quietly, waiting for instructions. Her pistol, in a nice new holster, rests at her side, and it's been modified to work when wet... considering where they are. "Anyone who can shoot a gun..." he said. She expects that her ability to sneak around will be more useful than her small gun. A side glance is directed towards Perceptor, eyes narrowed suspiciously. She moves as far away from the guy as she can. Perceptor tries to keep from glaring at Amber as she shifts away from him and gives him suspicious looks. First Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, and now /this/? Certainly this was some sort of punishment for his discontent at being treated as he had been of late. He groans inwardly and watches as the base comes into view, immediately beginning to use his scopes to analyze it for weaknesses and whatever other targeting data he can obtain. There's something...wrong. Snaptrap watches Nautilator approve the codes, but the Seacon leader has been in charge of the undersea base long enough to know when something is...off. "Command room is yours, Nautilator." He says, rising from the command chair. Nautilator swivels around, looking at him. "Sir, where are you going?" Snaptrap stops in the doorway, and smiles. "Hunting." Misfire continues to stand around the Cargo Bay as he was ordered to bring supplies to the Undersea Base. He looks down at Aimless, who is leaning against the crates of supplies. Misfire stretches, "Pretty light duty...plus, I think the Seacons are going to have a shindig later, that is why we snuck in some of the good stuff." Aimless looks at him, "You woke me up for this?" The pair start to bicker. Within the undersea base, the Decepticons know only the lash of their cruel master--AMERICON! "Wait," one of them says, dropping the crate he had been carrying. "Why the hell are we taking orders from HIM?" And he points upwards at the red, white, and blue eagle sitting overhead on a light fixture. "Because if you don't," Americon says, "I'll peck your optics out... IN AMERICA!" "YEAH!? I'd like to see you try!" the gumby yells back. "ORLY!?" Americon shouts before diving down onto the poor gumby's face. There's a brief scuffle and flailing of limbs and wings, and before long Americon hops off again, landing on a light fixture, swallowing the optic he just plucked from the gumby, who collapses to the floor screaming. "Om nom nom. 'Sides, guys, it's not ME you have to worry about..." Americon says, looking ominously to the side. No one shows up. "Huh. I thought for sure Snaptrap would have appeared just then." "Uh, Americon, sir?" one of the gumbies says. "We got someone coming in. They're not scheduled, but they're transmitting access codes. Hm... it's an older code, but it checks out." Americon shrugs. "Eh, let 'em in." "Advise Decepticon shuttle Revan, proceed." the automated voice of the docking assist program transmits to the craft. "Look alive Bots, docking preparations underway." Ultra Magnus mutters into the comm system, as the craft lines up with the bay. Two large rectangular steel rods slide out from the base, magnetically locking the vessel into place.. then rescinding with the craft in tow. Inside the craft, the occupants are slightly jostled from the contact. Instinctively, Magnus seals the front windshield (seashield?) just in case they've got some onlookers when first docking. Greenhorn enthusiastically unbuckles himself and picks up a Killzooka near the door, "We ready to do this??" he asks the occupants, as all are pretty quiet so far. "Just remember your roles, do your job, and this'll be over soon." Ultra Magnus sternly dictates, picking up his own weapon and approaching the door. "Someone please explain why I'm here," Foxfire pipes up, attempting to sound calmer than he is. "Magnus...I'm not at risk of getting wet, am I? Please say no..." The rest of the troops in the craft unbuckle and grab their weapons, hanging onto the rafter that runs along the inside of the craft. Greenhorn looks to Foxfire, "You're a cloaker, right? Get the jump on these Decepticreeps!" he smiles. Perceptor resists rolling his optics at Foxfire. They were attacking a base that was /underwater/. There wasn't exactly a way to /completely/ eliminate the risk of becoming wet. However, he simply sighed and moved to exit the craft after Foxfire and Ultra Magnus. Amber MacKenzie doesn't want Perceptor behind her, so she waits in stony silence, obscured by the larger-than-human seating, until he leaves ahead of her. The guy still gives her the creeps, and she doesn't trust him. As she waits, she checks her gear and supplies again; that oxygen will be critical for her. Her doubts, she pushes aside as she focuses on the mission. Once Perceptor is out, she follows, smoothly taking advantage of any cover to hide her movements. Robotic Bald Eagle hops off the light fixture and lands down on a railing near the docking port, watching with a smile as the ship is pulled inside. He wonders who's in it. Maybe it's someone important doing a surprise inspection! Ooh! Oh, wait... an inspector might find his miniature Statue of Liberty made out of fish bones tucked away in Sector 4! People have been complaining about the smell from that thing, but they just don't understand!!! He turns. All the gumbies are staring at him with looks of disbelief. "Did I say all that out loud?" Misfire continues his bickering with Aimless until the Klaxon of an incoming ship, distract the pair. He slaps at Aimless, "Come on, that should be the last shipment, with the Dirge's Special Brew..." Aimless rolls his mechanical optics as he pushes off the crate and follows Misfire to the docking hatch. Aimless smirks. "Now these are the missions I like, in the rear with the gear." Misfire now shakes his head. Snaptrap stands in a room adjacent to the bay, watching the ship. His eyes flash as he sharpens a blade, which he puts on a counter next to 17 other sharped blades of various sizes. He's pretty sure this is an attack, but he raises no alarms. Because he's insane. "Alright, here we go!" Greenhorn smiles, arming the energon flash-bang grenade and tossing it out the door.. quickly slamming it back shut afterwards. Outside, the Docking Bay itself is showered in a show of pink and cyan lights.. musta been a confetti flash-bang? Most of the workers reflexively take cover from the sight of a rolling grenade, those that don't however are soon suffering from optic overload and reeling in pain. Shoving the door open with a heave, Ultra Magnus leads the crack squad of Autobots (and hyooman) out of the ship and into the docking area. "Seahammer, mission is go!" the City Commander mumbles into his radio, taking the butt of his rifle and *THWACKING* it across a dazed Decepticon's helm. All around him, small minibot sized soldiers take up the call and storm the bay. Amber MacKenzie is pleased that there is so much cover, but then this is a docking bay. Bloody hell, who's their interior decorator!? Trying to ignore the eyesore that is their color scheme, she dodges behind a stack of boxes and tries to get an idea of the numbers and positions of the enemy in this area. Entrances, exits, personnel, even the merchandise; knowing these positions are critically important. Loadout was in the back. Like, the -very- back. Way the heck back. He's got no business being up on the front lines and he knows it, and others usually know it too. This isn't the sort of thing the Autobot technician enjoys doing. Far from it in fact, but he's a technician and a medic first, and worried about his own thoughts second in cases like these. Keeping low behind the others as they fan out, he tugs a case full of medical supplies behind him as he goes. If there's one thing that's usually guaranteed on these sorts of missions...he'll have plenty to do soon enough. Foxfire does the Cybertronian version of taking a deep breath. He follows the others momentarily, activating his cloaking device, then proceeds to head out in front of his companions. He does not yet attack; there's no point in that now. Perceptor follows the others, but hangs back as well. Like Loadout, he isn't very effective on the frontlines or in close quarters combat. He searches for a strategically advantageous position behind cover, and begins scoping out the area and the enemies' various positions Snaptrap is all smiles as he steps into the bay. Evil, crazy robotic turtle smiles. He walks through the chaos of Decepticon drones and lackeys scattering through the smoke, rifle in hand. "Ultra Magnus! You dare? You step into my world? The realm of the Butcher? You cross into a place of certain death with a team of nothings? I would be insulted, were I not so pleased at the prospect of forcing you to watch each of them die slowly by my hand." He opens fire on Perceptor, still moving forward towards the invaders. Combat: Snaptrap strikes Ultra Magnus with his Atom-Smasher Rifle attack! Robotic Bald Eagle , it turns out, since he was perched on the railing next to the ship, had the flashbang go off *behind* him, thus sparing his optics from getting dazzled! "Inspector!?" he crows. "That's a very odd way to greet us--" He gasps as Ultra Magnus steps through. "ULTRA MAGNUS! What have you done with the inspector!? He was going to look at our facility and I was pretty damn sure he was going to at least give us a B! Ooooh, you've gone too far, this time! DIE, ULTRA MAGNUS!" He hurls himself bodily at the City Commander's face. Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle misses Ultra Magnus with his Ram attack! Misfire looks at Aimless, then up at Ultra Magnus, then back at Aimless. "Is that?" Aimless' optics flicker as he leaps up into the air transforming into is gun mode, flying towards Misfire. Misfire scrambles to catch his weapon, upon catching Aimless he begins wildly taken shots at the huge Autobot. Combat: Misfire misses Ultra Magnus with his Blind Firing at the Magnus! attack! Rampage charges into the chamber, from somewhere inside the base. "Hey, what's going on? What happened to my TV show?" The angry Predacon thumps a fist into an open palm. He sees Magnus and bristles. "OH so you're behind this! I should have known!" No matter what anyone says, Amber knows that her peashooter is less than useless against a room full of trained warriors. All it will do is give away her position and set her up for retaliation from something a lot bigger, and her without any armor. So she tries to make herself useful in another way. Slipping through equipment and supplies, she makes for the terminals, and thanks to the flashbangs, one might be unattended and unsecured. She's not a hacker, but she may be able to figure out the applications... Bugger, they're in Cybertronian. She sighs and starts experimenting. She clicks on all the icons with what looks like big, flashing warning images. After all, a distraction is needed. Storming the dock, Ultra Magnus barely has enough time to lift the dented-helm Decepticon up to somewhat block the shot from the Seacon Commander.. somewhat, as some damage still manages to seep through. "I've got better things to do tonight than die." he laughs at Americon, pointing him out to Greenhorn and a host of gumbies. Still ever charging forward, Magnus utilizes the half shot up Con corpse to bowl through a regimen of workers.. then casts it aside at Misfire. "Foxfire, engage!" he shouts, on his way to meet the 'Butcher of the Bogs'. "I'm afraid you'll have to take a.." the City Commander jests, lowering a shoulder. "Rain check!" Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Snaptrap with his Low Shoulder attack! Perceptor watches as Americon flies at Ultra Magnus. He's confident that Magnus can take the hits, but he is also acutely aware that they are outnumbered. Yes, yes, Amber and Foxfire /are/ present...but they do not count for much, unfortunately. In fact, he is more inclined to come to the conclusion that Ms. Mackenzie is actually more of a liability than an asset. He is not quite sure why Ultra Magnus allowed her to accompany them. He sighs at this thought, charging his concussion rifle and firing it quickly at the irritating bird. Combat: Perceptor misses Robotic Bald Eagle with his Concussion Rifle attack! Foxfire had no idea Magnus even knew how to make jokes. He glances back at him momentarily, optic ridge raised. Then he shakes his head, and dashes over to Snaptrap, going visible less than a second before he comes into contact with him, snapping his jaws at the Seacon's leg. Combat: Suddenly, Foxfire appears out of thin air! Sneak Attack!! Foxfire strikes Snaptrap with his Bite (Kick) attack! Loadout ducks low as a series of stray shots go past over his head, impacting the wall behind him before he can take proper cover behind a series of crates. It doesn't take long before he has his first casualty to deal with, one of the other Autobot warriors going down after a serious shot to the torso. Without even missing a beat, Loadout leans out from behind his cover and drags the injured warrior behind with him, immediately setting to work with his medical tools to seal off the blackened hole and stabilize him for hopeful eventual transport out of here. For now he can do nothing more but simply prop up the prone figure and start advancing after the others. As he goes, he keeps his medical kit close with one hand, the other raising up as he unleashes a spray of shots at anything Decepticon shaped or otherwise. Combat: Loadout strikes Misfire but misses Robotic Bald Eagle and Snaptrap with his Ineffective Spray and Pray! (Full-Auto) Area attack! COME AT ME, LESSER THAN PRIME!" Snaptrap shrieks, and then gets sent flying by the much more powerful Ultra Magnus. Several drones break his fall, but before he can stand, he has a fox on his chest: A fox with a kick! That kicks him in the face! Snaptrap wipes the leaking coolant from his mouth and smiles. And then, crazy fast, he grabs the fox by the lower jaw. Well, that's where he's headed: the idea here is pulling the fox's snout until something snaps, and then tossing him aside for a drone to kill. Combat: Snaptrap strikes Foxfire with his Time to pull your face off! attack! Misfire lets out a yelp as the half dead Con, hits his side from Magnus' toss. Aimless emits. "Oh, it’s SuddenDeath, good...I owed him credits." Misfire grunts at his weapon. "You owe everyone credits..." He is then nailed by Loadout, sending him to the ground. He lets out a grunt. "HEY!!!" He lifts Aimless and points it at Loadout. "DIE AUTOSCUM!" Combat: Misfire strikes Loadout with his Hey now Die Attack! (Laser) attack! Robotic Bald Eagle just flies past Ultra Magnus instead of hitting him, which is not what he planned. In fact, he flies into the Autobot vessel! He pokes his head out after a minute, blinking. "Er. I meant to do that... CRAP!" He ducks his head back in just before a laser blast from Perceptor nearly takes off his head. "YOU SON OF A GLITCH!" he says, flying back out. "Well, then, since Snaptrap has Ultra Magnus well in hand... I'll deal with YOU, Perceptor! Tell me... what good is a microscope... when you have no eyes!? CAWW!" And he streaks out at Perceptor's face, trying to latch on with his talons and peck at Perceptor's optics. Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle strikes Perceptor with his O' Say Can You See attack! That attack has temporarily affected Perceptor's Accuracy. (Blinded) Rampage throws a fit and moves to tackle Ultra Magnus. "I'll teach you to come in here and ruin my satellite reception!" Transforming to his tiger mode, the Predacon snarls savagely. Combat: Robot Tiger strikes Ultra Magnus with his I WANT MY MTV! (Grab) attack! Amber MacKenzie listens to the raging combat, occasionally leaning over to peer behind the high backed chair that's shielding her from view. It's not a pretty sight, and she feels a cold pang of fear stabbing through her mission focus. She bites her lip and takes in a deep, unsteady breath before continuing to click on whatever looks like it has a warning. Things blink and ding, alien characters scroll frantically on the display, but she has no idea what's happening or even if anything's happening. One of these days, she really needs to learn Cybertronian. The Decepticons aren't so considerate as to keep their records in English. Foxfire can't even yelp as he's grabbed. He struggles in Snaptrap's grip, attempting to escape before the Seacon actually breaks something. But PRIMUS does that hurt. Desperately, he activates his hologram systems to emit a bright flash of light, hoping to blind Snaptrap long enough to break free of his clutches. Combat: Foxfire strikes Snaptrap with his Holoprojection attack! That attack has temporarily limited Snaptrap's Accuracy! (Blinded) Following through with his charge, Ultra Magnus lets fly some shots from his Blaster Cannon and knocks another Decepticon silly with an elbow. Harking a look behind him, Magnus only barely catches Snaptrap's drabble.. but what really catches his attention is his forceful hold on Foxfire. You see, there's this unwritten rule among the Autobots. Hurt one of theirs, okay.. this is war. Hurt one of their tapes? Okay, time for pain. Without a moment of hesitation, Ultra Magnus flicks the level setting on his Cannon up to max and aims to let fly with a powerful shot towards Snaptrap's left shoulder. "If you'd so kindly, drop the fox." Until Rampage's untimely pounce throws off his aim, sending him staggering backwards. "One at a time!" he aims a backhand at the Predacon. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Robot Tiger with his Backhand (Punch) attack! Amber's actions did have some effect, apparently. Some of the docking bay's stationary unloading arms whirl to life.. mainly clinking around uselessly. Though one does manage to snatch up a Decepticon like one of those Bowling Alley games with the claw, crushing his legs. "EGAH!" the gumbie cries out, dropping to the floor. Looks like another Decepticaid case. Loadout is struck by Misfire's counterfire, sending him thumping onto his backside in the process. "Ugh!" He grips briefly at the blackened scorch mark on his shoulder, but it isn't too bad thankfully. Normally this is when most Autobots would get worked up and start returning fire on the Decepticon in order to get a little payback. But Loadout is totally different as he ducks down and tries to -keep- behind cover, circling along behind the crates and closer to the position where Ultra Magnus has been drawing all of that aggro. No sooner has he slapped away the Predacon than the technician has moved up alongside the large Autobot second, his optic visor pulsing as he quickly scans Magnus for any sort of serious damage. There isn't any yet but...well, it might do best to get Magnus a quick pick-me-up at this point. So without a word he pulls out a small metallic pack and proceeds to slap it onto Magnus' backplate, pushing a button before he dives for cover again. A sudden *HISS* is heard as a stream of nanite-style repair bots are injected into the big Autobot's systems, quickly giving him a boost of figurative energy. Kind of like a surge of adrenaline, while also going to work to help deal with any internal irregularities. Perceptor resorts to something he only ever does if absolutely necessary. But now it /is/ absolutely necessary, since he is unable to aim and shoot at anything else. He tightened a hand servo into a fist and shoved it upward into Americon's abdomen with as much force as he could muster. Combat: Perceptor strikes Robotic Bald Eagle with his Smash attack! "BAH!" Snaptrap jumps to his feet, optics frazzled. "How dare you, pathetic creature! I will feast on your life force! I will use your liquefied spark as wax to shine my shell!" He transforms into a massive robotic snapping turtle, which is awesome. And then like 45 photon beam ports open up all over his shell, and Snaptrap just starts shooting energy beams in all directions. Decepticons, Autobots...he can't see and he's pissed and he's crazy. And pissed. Snaptrap turns into a turtle and murders everyone! Combat: Reptilian Siege Tank strikes Ultra Magnus, Foxfire, Misfire, and Robot Tiger but misses Loadout with his Photon Beam Ports Area attack! "HEY watch where you're aiming that thing!" the tiger snaps towards Snaptrap, and ends up getting tossed aside like a ragdoll by Magnus. "If anybody's going to 'drop' a fox, it'll be ME!" He picks himself back up and fires his gun ports at Ultra Magnus. Combat: Robot Tiger strikes Ultra Magnus with his Gun-Ports attack! Misfire lets out a cheer as he hits Loadout. "Yeah, Aimless!!!" He then takes a step towards the Autobot as he fixes Magnus. "Ugh, you Autobots and your silly nobil...." His voice trails off as Snaptrap hits him in the back. "THE SLAG?" Aimless emits. Aimless continues, "That is my thing." Misfire stumbles face forward, hitting the ground, Aimless skitters out of his hands, spinning in a circle...Laser fire pours out of Aimless as he spins! Combat: Misfire strikes Loadout, Perceptor, Reptilian Siege Tank , Foxfire, and Ultra Magnus but misses Robotic Bald Eagle and himself with his Random Barrage Area attack! Robotic Bald Eagle is smashed upwards into the ceiling by the ferocious punch... and promptly bounces off the ceiling and back at Perceptor! Whether he should collide or not, he eventually winds up on the floor, and grins up at Perceptor. "HAHA! I am like a bad case of AMERICAN HERPES, Perceptor! You can't get rid of me, and there is NO KNOWN CURE!" He doesn't notice Snaptrap murdering everyone in the room. Maybe he was too small of a target for him. Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle strikes Perceptor with his Herpes Smash...? (Smash) attack! Amber MacKenzie's green eyes darken and intensify. Ah hah. Focusing on repeating the sequence that produced the successful attack, she experiments for several minutes before gaining some control over the flailing arms of the docking bay's automated cargo system. The relentless claws grab a hapless Decepticon, and she hesitates, tempted to mercy for the first time in quite a while, but she hasn't the time to spare on better control. The Con is crushed as weapons fire fills the air. Scaring the hell out of her, the minibot Hellebore is suddenly at her side, eagerly offering to download from the Decepticon terminal. After replacing her pistol with a shaking hand, Amber is more than happy to let him have at it, though a bit worried about the firefight. He plugs in a datapad and eagerly gets to work. Loadout is suddenly in the middle of weaponsfire flying in every direction possible. And though he's fortunate to avoid some of it, inevitably he gets tagged by Misfire's crazy random shots and is thrown off of his feet once more, crashing against another pile of stacked crates and coming to a halt. "Ugh..." Noticing that he happened to crash down near Foxfire, however, who looks like he's quite the worse for wear from all the punishment, Loadout grits his jaw tightly and sits up, reaching out to take hold of the tape and yank him closer. "Hold on a moment, Foxfire. This won't be pretty but it should help keep you going for the time being!" His right hand retracts into his forearm, replaced by a nozzle which he uses to fill some of the holes cratered in Foxfire's armor with a quick drying and hardening foam that acts as a stopgap 'plug'. Foxfire escapes from Snaptrap's grip, only to find himself in the Seacon's line of fire. Ow. This time, the little saboteur emits a barking yelp as he's struck by the energy beams. He recovers quickly, however, as tongues of flame flicker in his jaws. Before he can attack, Misfire strikes him with weaponfire. "Ow! Hey!" He snarls in irritation, but brightens somewhat as Loadout comes over to tend to him. "Thanks, bud," he says. "Now if you'll excuse me for a sec..." Surprising, Foxfire has forgotten that he's still underwater. Must be the excitement of the battle. Either way, he chooses his next target, and it's Rampage! FIRE BREATH! "Anyone up for a barbeque?" Combat: Foxfire strikes Robot Tiger with his Fox Fire attack! Pushing his way closer and closer towards the Geothermal Core, Ultra Magnus barely has time enough to thank Loadout for the helpful little nanites.. when Snaptrap goes loco and fills the Docking Bay with laserfire. The damage smelts some of his forearm's armor plating, as Magnus winces in pain. No sooner than he can react, the place goes wild. Random shots coming in from all over, the best the City Command can manage is forcefully ripping the thick steel hatch to the Core room off its hinges and try to use it as a shield. It's not super effective. Bringing up the rear, Greenhorn clomps up the deck with almost half his weight in thermal charges.. all hanging loosely from a pack strapped across his back. "Ready when you are boss-bot!" he smiles. "One moment." Ultra Magnus asides, rushing up to Snaptrap in speed that defies his size. First a series of blows are delivered via the thick steel 'shield' to the Seacon's head in downward strikes, three to be precise. Whirling around on his back foot, the steel door is smashed up against Snaptrap's left side.. effectively sending the giant turtle flying into a nearby communications system. From across the room, Ultra Magnus tosses the door to the side and takes careful aim with his Cannon. Not at the Seacon himself, but the support wire above him.. suspending two kilotons of heavy refined coral, condensed and ready for shipment. "This is for Foxfire." Ultra Magnus mutters, the shot from the Cannon severing the cable.. literally burying Snaptrap. Perceptor hadn't fully recharged his energon stores from the previous battle, and hence is finding himself at a disadvantage--especially after taking a hit or two from Misfire's barrage. Not too bad, but he couldn't take much more punishment. He is aware that he'll need to find better cover soon, but now that that annoying little bird is on the floor in front of him, he decides to send a nasty foot servo his way before taking off. Thus, he attempts to drive his foot down onto Americon's head. Combat: Perceptor misses Robotic Bald Eagle with his Kick attack! Misfire scrambles and jumps on top of Aimless, finally suppressing him as he screams at his weapon. "STOP!!!!" He struggles with Aimless on the ground, Aimless slips through Misfire's grasp and transformers, running behind a large crate. Misfire stands and lets out a scream at his weapon. "COWARD!" Misfire then turns and charges at the Medic. "Stop that! Healing them is cheating!" Aimless peers around the box. "You're just mad, because no one will heal you in battle!" Misfire pulls back his fist and swings at Loadout! Combat: Misfire misses Loadout with his Punch attack! The alleged barbecue merely singes the tiger's armor, not doing much else except annoying him. "Next time you should try cooking with gas," he tells the fox, "Now go away, you bother me." He returns his attention to Ultra Magnus, who it seems has just buried Snaptrap! He lunges at Magnus, intending to maul the Autobot. Combat: Robot Tiger misses Ultra Magnus with his Angry Tiger s ! (Kick) attack! Robotic Bald Eagle , like any proper bird would, is up in the air the moment Perceptor moves against him, flitting between the support structures overhead. "Too slow, Perceptor! That's what you get for BEING BRITISH!!!" Then he sees the sad fate of Snaptrap as he is buried under coral! "NO! SNAPTRAP! I kind of sort of liked you! That's it, Ultra Magnus, I thought you went too far before, but then you WENT FURTHER! It's time to put an end to your terrorist spree ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Landing in front of Ultra Magnus in robot mode, Americon whips out a bazooka-like weapon that's even bigger than he is! In fact, he's stumbling a little bit as he struggles to hold it! "Just... uh... just hold still..." he says, his aim wavering, trying to peer down the sight... Is that Ultra Magnus? Kinda looks like him... Combat: Americon strikes Ultra Magnus with his Americannon attack! There's an incredible amount of fire going on, and Amber has to drop to the desktop to avoid a ricochet. She actually doesn't avoid it; it was going to miss anyway. By the time she pushes herself to her knees, she hears a crash beside her as poor Hellebore falls over. She was missed; he wasn't. She stares down at the smoking body, eyes wide, and covers her mouth to keep from screaming. For a moment, she lets weakness take her over and sways in place, tears dripping from her eyes. But only for a moment. Another deep breath, and the mission takes over every thought. She slithers to the floor via the chair leg and crouches in the cover of Hellebore's body, next to that datapad. It's still connected and downloading, and BLOODY HELL, it'd better be worth it! The impact of the two kiloton shipment wasn't without its other repercussions, however. The prolonged engagement added to the weight limitations being exceeded -and- the sudden shipment impact, has quite the effect of the docking bay. From tiny crevices, cracks, hairline fractures, bolts, sealed hatches, and a myriad of other places.. water begins to slowly trickle in. Not a huge amount, but from all the entry points.. it's going to add up quickly. BACK NEAR THE GEOTHERMAL CORE.. Ultra Magnus sidesteps a lunge from Rampage, only to be confronted by Soundwave's greatest creation. No, not Laserbeak.. his other greatest creation! Okay, not Ravage either. Well, Soundwave's most PATRIOTIC creation! Americon. "And I'm supposed to?" the City Commander begins to mutter, before the rocket detonates across his chest and splays him backwards on his rear section. Smoke trails across his frame, as Magnus stands to his feet.. albeit shakily. "Greenhorn, Seahammer team is in the clear.. are your charges primed?" he yells into the communicator, as the rookie demolitions expert lines the base's Geothermal Core with tiny Negacore explosive packs. "Almost boss, t-minus seventeen astroseconds!" "Good, Autobots.. stand your ground just a little longer, then we'll have the pleasure of sending this piece of scrap to oblivion!" Ultra Magnus cheers on his troops, turning to Foxfire. "Show that Predacon who the -real- animal in here is!" Loadout is, of course, being pursued by Misfire at this point and he doesn't like it one little bit. "Gah! Go away already! I don't -want- to play with you, believe me!" Scrambling as fast as he can, the technician tosses his medical kit at Misfire while leaping in the other direction, hopefully to buy himself a few seconds to get away from the punch-happy Decepticon. And indeed, it seems to work as he tumbles and rolls and comes to a stop, sitting upright as he skids to a halt right next to Perceptor in the process, who seems to have gotten a respite from Americon at the least. Though at this rate Misfire is going to beat Loadout to a pulp sooner or later, as he's no match for the Decepticon and knows it. "Nnngh. I -hate- doing this." Without even any warning to Perceptor or the like, Loadout already is transforming as he goes, reconfiguring and climbing upwards as he latches on and starts to actually swallow up Perceptor's right arm. Onward Loadout's transformation goes as he bolts securely into place, merging with and effectively transforming Perceptor's entire right arm into a weapon in itself...so large that he'll need his other hand to brace Loadout with the convenient handhold that's available. Last, but not least, a holographic display suddenly emits from Loadout's surface, superimposing itself over Perceptor's right optic as a targeting reticle.... Foxfire's ears twitch as Magnus speaks to him. He looks up at the much larger Autobot and nods firmly. "You got it! I'll show 'im!" That said, he rushes toward Rampage and bites at the tiger's neck! Combat: Foxfire strikes Robot Tiger with his Bite (Kick) attack! Perceptor finally reaches an adequately strategic position, but is startled by Loadout's sudden decision to transform into a new weapon for the scientist. He wobbled backward, off balance for a moment, but then managed to steady himself with his other arm, determined not to disappoint Loadout. He takes quick aim at the bird-bot and fires, hoping to take the Casseticon out. Combat: Perceptor strikes Americon with Ion Assault Cannon 's Ionic Blast attack! Misfire stops in his tracks as Loadout eludes him and transformers around Perceptor. "What the..." He looks back at the crate Aimless is hiding behind. "Why can't you be useful like that?" Aimless peers around the crate and shakes his fist at Misfire. Deciding he needs his weapon, Misfire charges at Aimless and leaps behind the crates in order to capture his weapon. The pair roll and choke each other until Misfire finally gets Aimless to transform into his weapon mode, Misfire stares as the Bots begin their charge again! Americon is flung all the way across the facility once he fires, landing in the heap of coral. Fortunately, he wasn't buried as deeply as Snaptrap was so he's able to pop back out without much effort. "HAHA! Taste the wrath of America--" Suddenly a massive ionic blast strikes him dead center in the chest. Sparks fly everywhere, and Americon is flung back into the coral. It takes him a bit longer to reemerge. When he does, he's got a gaping in his chest. " Ahem. *Rude.* What was I saying... ah yeah. Taste the wrath of America, Ultra Magnus! And if you thought that was all I had in my bag... YOU THOUGHT WRONG!" And he rushes up to the huge City Commander and... begins to punch him in the shins. "AAAAHHHHHH!" Combat: Americon misses Ultra Magnus with his Punch attack! Amber MacKenzie notices the trickling, dripping water and growls. She'll have to disconnect the datapad to keep it from being water damaged. And she needs to ask someone if they actually waterproof their equipment, too, so she'll know if she was just wasting her time. The datapad is large for her, too large to easily move. First things first; she pulls the plug on the jack connecting the datapad to the terminal. Second, she peeks out from the cover of Hellebore's body for transportation, as in an unentailed Autobot. Ion Assault Cannon is primed and ready the moment that Perceptor pulls the figurative trigger...even though there is no trigger as the Autobot technician has quite literally interfaced and merged with the scientist's right arm. Nonetheless, there is a heavy *FWHOOOMP* of power and a blindingly bright flash of light as the ionic blast was discharged in Americon's direction. A loud hiss of escaping steam fills the air as his coolant systems kick in to bring his internal temperatures back down again, even as status display readouts show power levels in the yellow. "Hnngh, that's always a headclearer..." he mutters, his status panel flashing in time with his voice. "...replenishing energy reserves!" As he says this, a panel at the back of Loadout's frame opens up and begins to feed more power into his systems, quite literally generating more energy from the very air. OUTSIDE THE BASE.. Team Seahammer, consisting of the numerous (not really) aquatic specialists at the Autobot's disposal, finally finish rigging up the final charges. <> Subsea mutters into the comms link, giving both Longtooth and Seaspray a thumbs up. In the time Ultra Magnus and crew stormed the Docking Bay, the Seahammer team was able to use the distraction to line the ocean floor surrounding the base and certain seams with the explosives.. all connected via Greenhorn's toggleswitch. INSIDE THE DOCKING BAY... Ultra Magnus is set upon by not one pounce, but two! Narrowly avoiding either.. the City Commander attempts to make way for Greenhorn upon his exit. "Foxfire, get Amber into the ship!" he commands, trying to buy the little tapeformer some cover by way of lumbering battering ram into the Predacon. Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Robot Tiger with his Making a Path.. attack! "We're not even IN America!" Foxfire shouts at Americon. He flicks an ear in Ultra Magnus's direction as the command is given. "Okay!" He darts over to Amber, urging, "C'mon, Miss MacKenzie, let's get outta here!" Perceptor then switches the weapon to its rapid fire mode, using his scopes to acquire some cursory targeting information on the enemies' position. He then fires again, spraying all the Decepticons within range of the weapon. But he also takes the time to appreciate the technician. "Excellent move, Loadout...thank you for assisting me." Combat: Perceptor strikes Robot Tiger and Misfire but misses Americon with Ion Assault Cannon 's Ion Rapidfire Area attack! Robot Tiger had been all this time trying to GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF and finally the fox lets go. It was in an awkward place! Kind of like trying to scratch an itch you can't quite reach. Misfire prepares to fire a shot at Perceptor and Loadout, when Aimless emits, "Amber MacKenzie? HERE?? Zigzag and Sunbeam told me about her, she is a reporter! I am so going to get her Autograph! Singe and Hairsplitter are going to freak!" He launches out of Misfire's had and runs in circles around the cargo bay. "Ms. MacKenzie! Ms. MacKenzie! I want your Autograph, I am your biggest fan!" Misfire just stares at his weapon. "Oh for slag sake!" He shakes both of his fists at Aimless and then looks around, he spies a gun on the ground from a dead gumby. "Score!" Just after that, Perceptor strikes him with the Ion Blast, sending the big target master to the ground. "Urk!" He stammers out, he rolls to his chest as he pulls himself towards the small weapon, he picks it up and weakly aims at Perceptor. He pulls the trigger, sending a small blast at the Nerd Bot. Combat: Misfire misses Perceptor with his Gumby Pistol! (Pistol) attack! Americon hops away from Ultra Magnus. "Damn! That armor's too strong for punches! I'll have to attack someone smaller, weaker, and British! I got it!" Transforming, he leaps into the air just as a stream of ions blasts the ground he was standing on, and hurls himself at the scientist. "Sorry, Perceptor, but the newest attachment you're putting on is a FULL BODY CAST! Because you'll be in TRACTION! And... I think that's how it works for robots, too? I dunno, whatever. DIE!" His talons rake at Perceptor's head! Americon's robot legs pop out metallic feather-like objects as they and his lower torso split apart, also revealing an eagle head. The arms and robot head join the main body, and his guns convert into tail feathers and rocket launchers. Americon is now a bald eagle! Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle misses Perceptor with his I'm Talon You How It Is (Kick) attack! Ion Assault Cannon suddenly explodes...almost literally in fact as his frame 'blows' out from Perceptor's arm for a moment before starting to reconfigure itself back into a normal shape once more, flipping in mid-air as he completes the transformation and lands with a heavy *CLANK* of metal on metal behind Perceptor, who seems to be gathering all sorts of attention again. "You’re welcome, though I loathe getting into these kinds of altercations in the first place. I wasn't given much of a choice!" Reaching behind himself, Loadout immediately pulls out another one of those small nanite packs, reaching out to slap it on Perceptor's chestplate and give him a quick injection of nanite repair droids to help stop the leaks and give the scientist a boost of energy. "Though I feel our time here is quickly coming to an end. We had best prepare to extract ourselves as quickly as possible." Amber MacKenzie is relieved to see the familiar form of Foxfire, though he looks the worse for wear. She taps the datapad with a hand, grateful to surrender custody of the object and trying hard to ignore the shouts by her crazed fans. Leaping astride the Fox for her own transportation, she tells him grimly, "You're up, dude. We're almost free and clear, and the Decepticons are going to lose." Foxfire takes the datapad in his jaws. "Don't worry, I'm pretty swift," he says, his voice muffled. "I'll get us out of here quickly." With Amber on his back, he takes off toward the exit, careful not to draw attention to himself or Amber. Greenhorn storms out of the Geothermal Core.. minus former pack of explosives, a wide grin splayed across his face. "Mission accomplished!" he thumbs up, then hurries after Magnus. Ultra Magnus sails past the Predacon, but simply continues his charge toward the ship. "Autobots, pull back immediately!" he yells into his comm system, bowling through a line of Decepticons on his way. Taking a potshot at Misfire, who seems goo-goo over Amber, the City Commander holds the line while the other Autobots retreat into the ship's confines. On his way through, Greenhorn smiles to Foxfire. "Swift? I heard you were Uniswift!" he cheers cheesily, boarding the ship. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Misfire with his Pew-Pew Coverfire!! (Laser) attack! Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to Misfire: Sorry, luv, but I'm busy right now. Maybe later. Perceptor dodges Americon with some difficulty due to the large ion cannon on his arm. He wasn't sure why this Decepticon kept insisting on attacking him--he really wasn't a match for /anyone/ in the room. Especially not Ultra Magnus. He nods at Loadout. "I believe it is nearly time." he said, standing to leave. The 'Cons were losing this one. Aimless approaches Amber and Foxfire. "Wait, I just want an Autograph! Then, the guys would let me hang out with them!" He hangs his head as Amber and Fox, speed away from him. Aimless' radio chirps at him. He listens to it, a small smile forms on his face. Misfire gets plastered with Ultra Magnus' laser attack, knocking him to the floor again, his armor broken in numerous places, energon leaking out of his wounds, he weakly raises his found weapon and points it at Ultra Magnus. "Ugh..." He says as he fires at the much bigger Autobot. Combat: Misfire misses Ultra Magnus with his Last Ditched Blast! (Laser) attack! Over the loudspeaker, Nautilator's shaky voice comes through. <> he announces, red warning lights flashing throughout the craft. Not only in the Docking Bay, but other areas of the ship as well, Decepticon soldiers are rushing for lifepods.. practically fighting each other to board them. In the Docking Bay, Tentakil digs through the coral for the unconscious Seacon leader. Finally finding him, well the biggest piece that consists of a head, chest, and arm.. Tentakil hugs tight and exits the base. Amber MacKenzie receives a radio message from Misfire: Not now Misfi...Oh hey! Yeah, So..anytime...call me, maybe? "YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!" the Tiger shouts as the Autobots start retreating, and firing after them for good measure. "GIT OFF OUR LAWN!" Robotic Bald Eagle narrowly misses Perceptor to his annoyance, but then he sees something even more annoying--Loadout repairing everyone in the damn room! "What's in those things!?" he says, gawking at the nanite packs. "They heal as if by magic! Or perhaps... they heal through the power of America! Yes, that is it! Those packs are filled with HOT DOGS, the most American of foods! I enjoy hot dogs! Give me your hot dogs, or you will die!" And he unleashes a veritable death blossom of rockets at Loadout, each streaming a different color of red, white, or blue smoke! EARLIER Americon is sitting alone in his room in bird mode, surrounded by open packs of Oscar-Meyer weiners. "I wish I were an Oscar-Meyer weiner, that is what I truly want to be..." He snatches a weiner like it was a worm and swallows it whole. "'Cause if I were an... HURRFFKKK!" He immediately vomits it out as a pile of meat. "Argh... it just won't stay down!" Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle strikes Loadout with his Rockets' Red Glare attack! Misfire's shot.. well, it misses. Though that's the least of Magnus' trouble, as the shot instead strikes the ship's door hatch. With a fluid movement, the City Command throws himself under the door to prevent its closure. "Just.. a little." he grunts, as the last bit of troops file into the ship. And quickly behind them, Ultra Magnus follows. Loadout staggers back as the rockets blast against his torso, and his forearm as he raises it to shield his face from harm. "Ugh! Magic, -really-? I've never heard of anything so preposterous in my..." And then Americon goes on about hot dogs. "...well, I stand corrected." Reaching down to scoop up one of the injured Autobot troopers from earlier, Loadout transforms on the go, reconfiguring around the wounded Autobot as his large roadwheels hit the floor, his engine roaring loudly as he partakes in the general retreat. Inside the ship, Greenhorn has temporarily taken over piloting of the ship while Magnus still makes his way inside. "First bot off, last bot on.. Classic!" the young rookie smiles, toggling all the pre-flight switches and powering up the main engines. Foxfire almost breaks the fourth wall by asking how anyone knows about his player's screen name, but he doesn't. Because that would just be silly. He carries Amber to safety, the datapad still in his mouth. And no, Americon STILL doesn't make any sense to him. Amber MacKenzie misses the worst of the sloshing water thanks to Foxfire, and once in the shuttle, she slides off his back. "Thanks, Foxfire." She's still rather solemn, thanks to seeing an Autobot killed before her eyes. Making her way over to a seat, she straps herself in. Depending on when the explosives are detonated, they're in for a rough ride. Perceptor sees Loadout as he is struck by Americon's attack, and quickly rushes to his side, whipping out a few of the field repair tools of his own invention that he's thought to bring along. After all, the technician had been repairing everyone /else/ up until now Foxfire whispers "Don't worry, ma'am; Hellebore's death was not in vain." RED lights continue to flash, Decepticons scurry around trying to desperately find any way off the craft. Some have simply submitted themselves to fate, others attempt to diffuse the charges set in the Geothermal core, and others have submitted to exiting the craft and taking their chances solo. Aimless saunters over towards Misfire, he pulls out two flasks and hands one to Misfire. "You look terrible...what the slag happened?" Misfire looks at Aimless and just sighs as he takes the offered flask and takes a long sip from it. "I hate you Aimless..." Aimless waves his now free hand at Misfire. "Hush, and listen...she called me Luv!" Misfire stares at his friend. "WHAT?" Aimless looks at him. "Her!" Misfire just stares at Aimless as he takes another sip. "Why Primus why..." Misfire just stands there bleeding. Loadout may have retreated, but Perceptor unwisely did not. "Haha, too slow to run away, Perceptor! Now you will die in great pain!" And so Americon fires a volley of... more missiles? No, not more missiles--these munitions attach to the ground and create seismic vibrations intended to knock Perceptor over! In his battle lust, however, Americon hasn't noticed the impending catastrophe... Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle strikes Perceptor with his Seismic Anti-Giant Torpedo attack! Robot Tiger figures out he has to get out of the base and FAST, so he makes his way to an escape pod! Not that he minds water, but the pod would be faster. Still holding onto the busted door, Ultra Magnus grunts "Perceptor, in here NOW!" he orders, taking the brunt of gumbie laserfire of those who haven't abandoned ship already. Greenhorn revs the engine, looking at his data-wrist watch. "Come on Magnus, you're cutting it close!" he grates his teeth together. Perceptor takes hits from Americon, but they don't do much damage. He staggers a little, then begins retreating toward the ship he had come in. He can't help but smirk a little over his shoulder at the Casseticon, though. "I suggest you examine your surrounding a bit more thoroughly, Americon." he said, referring to the shrieking alarms and just about every other Decepticon scrambling for the escape pods. And with that he disappeared behind the port back into the ship, joining Ultra Magnus and the others. Armored Truck gets himself, and the wounded Autobot he was carting, aboard the ship in record time after Perceptor helps see them on their way, transforming back to his robot mode just in time before the door slams shut, and setting his patient to one side for now. There'll be plenty of time later in the repair bay to take care of injuries in a more proper fashion at the least. "Ugh, I'll never get used to this sort of thing. Never..." he mutters a bit, but otherwise stays quiet as he leans with his back to the wall. Misfire looks up as the Klaxons are going off..."The slag?" He pulls out his Decepticon Field Manual and flips through it. "Oh primes...oh no...oh no..." He stands quickly and yanks Aimless by the arm and runs for the emergency exit. Aimless yelps as he is yanked and drops his flask. "The slag Misfire! Let go!" Misfire continues to run, his voice now ragged. "Base...gonna...blow...up!" Aimless emits a howl and wraps around Misfire's arm. The pair reach and dive out of the emergency exit, hoping the avoid the BIG BOOM BOOM! Amber MacKenzie sits quietly, thinking about the deaths she's seen today. Maybe she shouldn't be so gung-ho about combat missions. Bloody hell, she shouldn't even be on combat missions. She doesn't look at the viewscreen or out the portholes; there's no need to see more deaths. It's enough to know they're happening. Robotic Bald Eagle yells, "HA! That's right you run... IN AMERICA!" Seems he didn't take Perceptor's advice. But now that he's gone, Americon is free to share some post-victory thoughts with his fellows. Except everyone is running away. "Guys, chill, we won! Geeze, act like it's the end of the world!" Robot Tiger says, "If you don't get out of here it WILL be the end of the world...for you!" With all Autobots aboard, FINALLY, Greenhorn ignites the ignitions systems and pulls back from the Docking Bay. With the bay itself already half drowned in water, what little sprays from the seals isn't adding much. Inside the craft, Magnus takes his seat next to the rook and gives him a thumbs up. "Good job, kid." As the Autobot ship pulls away, they're swiftly (or UNIswiftly) greeted by team Seahammer. Escorting the craft topside, Broadside is there to pick them up and transport them back to base. BACK AT THE UNDERSEA BASE.. Grasping Americon, a gumbie lets go a salty energon tear. "It was good knowing you, friend." The warning lights still resound through the area, putting everything in a red hue. "In America." he adds. In an orchestra of explosive bliss, the Geothermal Core's explosives are the first to go off.. setting up for the chain reaction that leads to first the base's exterior, then the actual Undersea Base's base being blown up from beneath it. Not only does it send a tremendous plume of dirt, debris, and sand up into the sea.. but the Undersea Base actually collapses on itself, quickly falling into the crevice that was just made for it. Robotic Bald Eagle gawks at the gumby grabbing him. "Good knowing me? Now hold on a min--" KABOOOOOM! LATER Naught is left of the Undersea Base but a pile of debris and dirt, which will soon be reclaimed by the ocean. Everyone still inside, killed instantly by the blasts. Or were they?... A single red, white, and blue fist punches out of the dirt. DUN DUN!!!!
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