| abstract
| - THX 11 At the centre of this system is a brown dwarf star. A number of planetoids orbit at various distances from the sun, ranging from gas giants to small balls of dirt and ice. None are particularly suitable for anything larger than an outpost, but the star itself is highly desired for astronomy scientists wishing to learn more about the nature of the universe. A sparce but wide asteroid field is located at mid-range. The high radiation levels make sensors a touch sketchy. It's been some time since the incident on large planetoid #103524 in the THX-11 system, and since Scattershot had determined that the mysterious device Perceptor had previously discovered should be moved to a more secure location. But there had been so much to do, and so little time! Retoris was to be rebuilt, nanites disseminated, and of course there was still so much research to be done, particularly on those nanites. Perceptor had since discovered the possibility of further application--beyond forcefield projection for the purpose of counteracting the late Cross' 'cybercidic' weaponry. Despite all that, it was still of equal importance to him that the Decepticons did not get their hands on this ancient device--for whoever found a way to properly manipulate it, they could use it to spacebridge themselves to just about anywhere in the galaxy -from- anywhere in the galaxy. If the Decepticons seized control of it, he was certain Shockwave would have no trouble discerning this. Especially since he himself had already come close to grasping it. He's found a way to interface a more familiar control panel array of Cybertronian design with the foreign one that the device had, and is currently attempting to find a way to recalibrate the quantum field such that the portal would open back to Cybertron, which would make the task of transporting the device much easier and more efficient. He also had a theory that it must have a way of folding in on itself to become more compact...he had reason to believe that those who had originally built it had intended it to be transportable. But, he would have to deal with that after he'd either succeeded at creating the desired spacebridge terminus or determined it was impossible. Still, it -had- to be possible. All the appropriate quantum states were in place, it was just a matter of actually doing it. So, as per usual he's requested a patrol to accompany him down into the ruins to watch the perimeter while he worked in case the Decepticons showed up, while the Autobot shuttle transport The Golden Age waits on the surface of the planetoid. All this Autobot activity was certain to attract enemy scouts, at the very least. Hopefully there he's right about a way to make it more compact, though, otherwise it's going to be quite the task to haul the thing up and out of the subterranian ruins and into the shuttle's cargo bay above. Ultra Magnus stands a short distance away from Perceptor, scanning the horizon. He taps his com. "Golden Age, this is Ultra Magnus. Keep your optics sharp." Prime's Second stands more or less at attention, laser blaster at his side. "I apologize for the small response team, Perceptor. With the Decepticon hit on the Maintenance Center, we were unable to spare a larger force. If luck is on our side, we'll be in and out before the Decepticons even notice." Because that would make a super exciting episode of the show. Decepticon Space Shuttle has always had a disdain for things like spacebridges and the like. Sure you get things travelling across vast interstellar distances 'instantly' but it's always got a bit of an instability factor to keep in mind. Not to mention the junctions at either end of the 'bridge' being tempting targets, and of course the things have a tendency to gobble energon like there's no tomorrow. Heck no, he much prefers the more laid back and glamorous detail of cutting through the distances between galaxies all by oneself without any need for fancy things like spacebridges or even seperate starships. Astrotrain -is- a starship! And an overglorified transport tug at times, by his reckoning. "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" The irony would probably not be lost on certain occupants of the Decepticon triplechanger's cargo bay and cockpit, given that it's Astrotrain's own navigational computers being used to enter the star system and approach the planet, and yet he's the one who's been asking the question consistently through the trip. If -anyone- knows how close they've been to the target all through this trip, it's him. That doesn't stop him from conveying his boredom and irritation in the only way he knows how, by spreading his irritation around. Defending an ancient device on an alien planet from the inevitable attempt at stealing it? (otherwise it's going to be a boring episode) Check. And that is why Spindrift is here. But Spindrift, one might ask, how's a mere cassette-bot that does a great dodgeball impression possibly going to matter when you've got several notable bigger, tougher Autobots present? To which I say, how many of them have a forcefield? I didn't think so. And that is why the mechadillo is milling about the feet of the big guys. Standing out further away from the main team, Elita One keeps sharp lookout, anticipating various lanes of travel and skyborn routes. It's a vague job, but there are a few landmarks to work with that help anticipate directional need. Her receptors flicker as she radios in to the team. <> The modular subspace systems Elita One had found back near the Core, an area she named the Forge, had easy ways to store most types of equipment, but a good deal of it was outdated as well... Contrail is freeloading by riding around inside Astrotrain. She looks over her orders and then looks over them again. She sighs. She shrugs. Contrail announces, "Whelp. For the glory of the Empire, today we are going to be capturing dragons. A silver and purple one is specifically requested. Yeah, I don't get it, either. So let's get out there and bust some Autobot faces!" Needlenose has a way simpler view of all the stuff that's happened previously: He and Contrail went to smack around some Autobot nerds. It was hilarious! The End. S'pretty good story in Needlenose's opinion, and this is why he's telling it to Astrotrain even as he rides within the cockpit of the Decepticon shuttle/school bus. "...and then I shot Perceptor and then Contrail shot Perceptor and Perceptor sat down and started crying. It was pretty sad, really." To Astrotrain, he replies dutifully, "Nope, not yet. Nope, not yet. Nope, not yet. Nope, n- oh, wait." he checks Astrotrain's navigation instruments, "Actually yeah, we're there." Beside Needlenose is none other than everyone's favorite Targetmasters, Sunbeam and Zigzag. The former is sitting by the front window, absorbing the awesome rays of the THX 11 brown dwarf star. Light like this isn't a common thing, you know. Zigzag on the other hand is in a chair, reading a magazine. He looks over at Contrail, "Are you /sure/ Hubcap isn't just playing some trick on us again?" Oh, but it's more than just scouts whose attention has been attracted, after what happened here the last time. Mindwipe stares eagerly at planetoid below, while Vorath works on a datapad, muttering technical details to himself. Perceptor is only barely aware of his comrades talking to him over the comm, as he is quite absorbed in his work. He keys an execute and the device fires up, igniting the strange spacebridge-generating substance. However, the terminus ended up in the same place as it had last time, that other planetoid in the THX-11 system that had been home to those mantis-dragon things. He sighs and shakes his head. The quantum field must not have been resonating at correct frequencies. "That is quite all right Ultra Magnus, I appreciate the effort and understand the necessity for further reinforcements on Cybertron." But Elita One's words catch in his audio receptors. <> He considers this for a moment before responding. <> "Let's just not blow it up," Spindrift drawls. "Place's finally puttin' itself back together after all." Ultra Magnus glances down at the Cassettebot by his side while Perceptor chats about primary power conduits. "Good to have you in the field, Spindrift. I would apologize to you about it being a boring assignment, but that would suggest that we're thrill seeking action junkies, and that isn't particularly Autobot." Magnus glances around again. It's a good thing the assignment will be boring, because there's not a lot in the way of cover in the area... E1 shrugs, not that anyone can see it from her distance. She crouches in her makeshift trench...It's homemade too! Always lauding the need for bunkers that work against the air, this Cybertronian freedom fighter always sees to it there is something nearby in case of a raid...except on Earth. Earth doesn't like it when you furrow a quarter mile, twenty foot deep trench in their cities. She idly responds to Perceptor, <> She squints her optics against the light, <> Her large cannon at the ready as she patrols, a mused smirk hits her face as she catches Ultra Magnus' words... Decepticon Space Shuttle idly listens to Needlenose's stories, which means he's really just blowing them off as much as possible, "Yeah. Uh huh. I don't care. No really, don't care. Do you -ever- shut up?" But now there's something else to focus on, namely Contrail's talk of capturing dragons and such. "Really? -Really-? This is what we're doing now? An overglorified jungle safari? I couldn't be doin somethin way better than this, like oooooh ANYTHING!?" A few moments later, his grumbling gives way to concentration as he begins to approach the planetoid before him, cutting to the side to set up his angle of approach so he slices down into the atmosphere with a minimum of fuss and heat buildup. As the air outside the cockpit begins to glow orange and the triplechanger shuttle buffets a bit while thrusters compensate for his approach vector, he resumes grumbling all over. "What's so fraggin important about this place and stupid dragons and whatever other stupid stuff we're here for anyway?" Contrail sighs and answers Zigzag, "No, no, these orders are from Shockwave himself!" and probably were forged by Soundwave as revenge, but that doesn't matter at the moment. "Uhm... apparently we're going to ride these dragons into battle after we capture them, and... Shockwave wants to brush his dragon's mane?" She stares at the orders some more. "...yeah, whatever, just open up so I can get of here and go hurt some Autobots." Vorath glamces around himself at the shuttle and sighs, shaking his head. "Firstly, the battlefield possibilities of this secies suggest great potential, secondly, the method of transportation utilised to acquire our current specimen is... intriguing." Then he frowns. "Don't ask me what the brushing is about." Most likely there is something about this that Shockwave knows but isn't telling his minions. Er, troops. Right. Anyway, if you asked Mindwipe or Vorath it was probably all about the mantis-dragon things, but really, if the logician had -any- bit of a clue about what Perceptor was doing out there, the mission he had sent them on was most likely more about the variable-terminus spacebridge than about the dragons. Meanwhile, Perceptor is still trying to figure out what went wrong with the portal. <> He answers Elita over the comm. <> With a smooth, practiced motion, Elita puts her hand on the makeshift ditch/trench wall and vaults out of it. <> She kneels down, transforming into her altmode, then starts covering ground on the planetoid as best she can. Only about an earth minute passes before she ends up at main base, the pink techcar skidding for a moment before she returns to her robot form, skidding to a stop a few feet away from some of the extra equipment, "Hrmmm, Dampener gear...That'd do a good job scrambling circuits I think..." She wonders aloud, adding, "I need to do some more design work, get something operational." With a frown, she adjusts a static field, "Now, I don't know much about space bridges, Perceptor, but I think I see what might be working against you here...." Spindrift gives a vage wave towards UM with one foreclaw. "Duty's duty, boss, don't think nuttin' of it. Sides, it's the sorta mission other than knockin' stuff over I'm made for. Keepin' Decepticons out." Points a claw towards the machine. "Or keeping that thing contained if somethin' weird comes outta it again." Ultra Magnus gives Spindrift a solemn nod. "Well said, Spindrift." He glances in the direction of Elita's position. "Hold the fort here. I'll assume the southern watch." Magnus steps forward and transforms into his car carrier mode, heading towards the empty position. Ultra Magnus transforms into his inspiring ARMORED CAR CARRIER mode! "Ride dragons? Brush manes? What the -frag- have you been taking your orders from, a trash compactor?" Astrotrain growls as the air outside stops glowing as he begins to rapidly decelerate. "You drag me halfway around the galaxy for a mission that probably involves getting a new pet for some freak that has a fetish on for organics, right?" Yes he doesn't care that there are Nebulons currently on board him as he insults the organics. Astrotrain has always been more than a little bio-racist and doesn't hide it in the least. "Bah. That's it, EVERYBODY OUT!" And like a runaway rocket, Astrotrain overflies the scene even as his back ramp opens up and with a strangely inappropriate *PPFFFRT* noise, three Decepticons and three Nebulon partners are all forcibly ejected out into the open air in the Decepticon shuttle's wake. That wake is how the Decepticons all but announce their presence, as it cuts across the sky followed by the steady *BOOOOOM* of Astrotrain still breaking the sound barrier. Needlenose and Zigzag exchange a look at Contrail's insistence, and the former just mouths the word 'Hubcap'. They both nod knowingly. Sunbeam meanwhile finally looks away from Astrotrain's front window, having absorbed everything he's going to need for this mission. "Dude, you should, like, totally listen. They're good stories," he tells Astrotrain. "And dragons, man. Dragons! Dude, I said dragons. Didn't you ever see Dragonheart?" Sunbeam takes a seat and folds his arms, "I rest my case, man." Just before his self-satisfaction can sink in, though, Astrotrain ragequits the conversation by flipping open his rear compartment and letting everyone slide out. "Aiiiieeee!" "ARGH!" "Heeeeelllllllp!" the three scream. Then one of them remembers that he's a jet plane, and so even as he's in freefall, Needlenose transforms into F-16 mode, blasting forward and, with a half-barrel roll, snags Sunbeam out of mid-air, lodging the Targetmaster under his right wing. Then he dives down after Zigzag, who's screaming bloody murder. Fortunately, Needlenose catches up just in the nick of time and latches onto Zigzag and pulls up, barely avoiding smashing against the ground! "Way uncool, Astrotrain!" Needlenose shouts. Robots in disguise! Needlenose transforms into his F-16XL Jet Fighter mode! Snowblind folds inwards at the knees and torso and her arms extend into wings as she transforms into a high-tech aerial drone. Contrail is dumped out of Astrotrain, who is rightfully disgusted by their orders. She protests with three simple words, "Big purple gryphon." She rests her case as she transform and starts to fly off to where the Decepticons last snagged a mantis-dragon. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Vorath ignores Astrotrain's blatant bio-racism, returning his attention to his work, then both he and Mindwipe look around in alarm as the hatch opens. Snatching out an arm, Vorath latches onto Mindwipe as they get hurled out of the shuttle. Mindwipe loops gracefully around then turns a look at Astrotrain. "You think he's coming back?' Far in the distance, high above the surface, a ghostly silhouette resembling a long-winged, X-finned missile is silently flying towards the Decepticons' position. The round black dome on the bottom swivels, one of the multiple camera eyes extending and fixing on them. Armored Car Carrier didn't need to be in the proper position to recognize the sound barrier breaking...The alarm goes up from the Golden Age, and Ultra Magnus is on comm: <> The carrier begins a wide turn torwards the Decepticon raiding party. "Autobots, let's give Perceptor the time he needs to secure this strange alien technology. Transform, and roll out!" "Dampeners?" Perceptor repeats when Elita arrives. "Hmm, that is unlikely to be the source of the issue, but what exactly did you have in mind?" He asks, still unaware of the Decepticons arriving on the surface of the planetoid. Hopefully the others are a bit more on top of their game this cycle. Knowing Perceptor, though, they -should- be. Combat: Armored Car Carrier inspires Elita One, Spindrift, and Perceptor with noble and wise words! Elita One nods quickly, <> She hefts her rifle as she puts herself into a defensive position, "Perceptor, I need to know what is unstable, and what can be shut down, I don't want to get timey-wimeyed by the space bridge going off-kilter." She braces herself against the shuttle, "The shuttle can provide some cover, but we can't risk it if they've got missiles." With a scowl, she prepares for battle, "Remind me to bring in some turrets next time." Spindrift ... doesn't really transform into another useful mode, but he can certainly 'roll out'! Go go self propelling armor ball! If anyone can even see the tan and orange sphere tumbling through the ruins to help Magnus out. Diversion? Okay, he can probably handle diversion. Decepticon Space Shuttle loops back after disgorging his passengers in the most undignified way possible. Wing contrails stream behind him as he pulls a turn far tighter than any space shuttle has a right pulling off, but he makes look all but effortless in the process. The maneuver continues bleeding off speed until such a time that he can finally transform and come to a hover overhead of the soon-to-be battlefield. His rifle in hand, he looks down at his selection of available 'targets'. "Let's see. Eeney, meeney, miney...I got a little ball of stupid Autobot, I got a turbonerd with a giant mecha-probe on his shoulder, I big a red white and blue loser and I got..." Pink? "Helloooo..." No good can come of this. A few moments later, all but silently, Astrotrain glides down behind Elita One with nothing more than a soft metallic *CLANK*. He takes one moment to reach up with his hand to wipe it along his bald head, and then a moment later the big burly Decepticon is reaching out with his other hand, trying to 'sweep' the Autobot femme leader around and dip her over into a half tip maneuver like you'd see in a waltzing move. Imagine Pepe le Pew the skunk dipping the female cat over as he mumbles sweet nothings to her and you wouldn't be far off. And in Astrotrain's case, what sweet nothings is he going to use this time in an attempt to charm Elita One once again? "`...so ya ready to move on from pining over a rusting wreck in a tomb and get with a -real- mech? I'll make ya totally forget whatisfaceplate Prime ever existed." Truly is there any class that can match Astrotrain? Ladies may swoon whenever they feel like it. In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. F-35B Lightning II gets the impression that the Decepticons are pretty demoralized by their admittedly stupid orders. She should cheer them up! Rally their killing spirit! Contrail does a textbook-perfect aileron roll, a hammerhead, and a humpty-bump, and she shouts out, <> Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-35B Lightning II inspires Astrotrain, Aerodrone, Giant Bat , and F-16XL Jet Fighter with wise and heroic words! F-16XL Jet Fighter , having collected his little buddies, transforms back into robot mode, with a Targetmaster in each hand. "Alright then. Snowblind? Snowblind? Come on over here. I'm gonna show you how to do it." Needlenose takes aim with Zigzag, trying to see which Autobot hasn't been snagged yet. What's going to impress his fellow Cons the most? Shooting the toughest Autobot around? "Hey, Magnus! Tell me the truth: is the car carrier mode so you can haul Autobot bodies off the battlefield in bulk?" A jagged lightning bolt-like effect shoots down towards the Autobot second in cmomand. More Than Meets The Eye! F-16XL Jet Fighter transforms into robot mode! Combat: Needlenose strikes Armored Car Carrier with his Zap! (Disruptor) attack! Giant Bat is slightly relieved to see Astrotrain return to the field of battle, until that ... unique attack. Well, whatever. Inspired by Contrail's speech, the Giant Bat swoops down, peering for a target. Vorath feels less inspired, glancing at Contrail disdainfully. The smaller, daintier aircraft keeps a hover above the battlefield, dropping down closer to the action but attempting to keep well out of the Autobot's firing range - it seems to want to intentionally avoid the battlefield. The multicamera attached to its undercarriage turns and adjusts, cameras extending and retracting with faint mechanical clatters and hisses. "I am observing you," she replies to Needlenose. Elita One leaps back as Astrotrain makes his appearance suddenly, and dramatically! He grasps her right out of the air, a look of disgust on her face as the mech whispers words to her audio receptors. She grunts as she moves to free herself, "You must've confused me for someone else, Astroturf." She raises her pistols to the mech's face, "I'm not helpless at all." Taking advantage of the distraction her pistols cause, she slips out of his grip, ducking backwards, "So keep your Targetmaster in its altmode!" Combat: Elita One strikes Astrotrain with her Battle Pistols attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Astrotrain's Accuracy. (Blinded) Suddenly, Magnus is shouting over the comm that Decepticons have arrived topside. Well, Perceptor couldn't say he hadn't expected this would happen. He keys some frantic commands into the auxilliary control array, attempting to open the space bridge to Cybertron once again. However, he is again unsuccessful and the terminus ends up in the same place -again-. That is, the neighbhoring planetoid where that organic had come from last time. And -then-, Astrotrain shows up and grabs Elita One. "Hold him off, I will attempt to apply mass displacement to the device's outer structures." And by that he meant skip figuring out the space bridge to Cybertron for now and just try to activate the compacting mechanism so they could just tote the thing back up to the shuttle and get the slag out of there. He immediately gets to work on that, but still allows for a little time to send Elita a few scans of Astrotrain's armor, revealing weaknesses. Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Protected. Perceptor folds down into his microscope secondary form. Combat: Perceptor analyzes Astrotrain for weaknesses Elita One can exploit. Armored Car Carrier revs his engines as Needlenose strafes him. "Actually, Needlenose, I use this carrier to transport heroic Autobots to victory against sniveling Decepticons like you!" Two small laser turrets activate on either side of the carrier and return fire. "But I have a feeling we won't need the additional help to bring you down." Combat: Armored Car Carrier sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Armored Car Carrier strikes Needlenose with his ORANGE LASERS (Laser) attack! Spindrift was following Magnus, so when the commander slows down to return fire at Needlenose, he rolls right up behind him. "Pardon me!" And right up the back ramp of his carrier, launching himself skyward. And towards the jet trying to perk her comrades up, unrolling mid-air to try and latch on. Combat: Spindrift sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Spindrift strikes F-35B Lightning II with his Nobody expects airborne hitchhikers (Punch) attack! "I -love- it when you play hard to get..." Astrotrain says, strangely enough, even when the pistols ARE shoved in his face. Of course at that point even he has to let her go as they go off, somehow managing to avoid a direct hit to his face (that would be bad) but still at such a close range that when they go off he's seeing spots in front of his optics. "Auuugh! Blind, BLIND! You want to play hide and seek, is that it? I can handle that, I know how to play rough too! C'mere baby...let's wrassle!" Oblivious to Perceptor's attempts at analyzing his armor and such for Elita One to exploit, the big triplechanger simply attempts to reach out with a big hand and try to seize it around one of Elita One's legs as she scrambles away. He's not very gentle about it either, funnily enough, given how his attentions for her seem to be of the -wrong- sort. If transformers were into relationships the way humans were, one might get the feel Astrotrain would probably be on the worst end of the spectrum as far as potential boyfriends went... Needlenose flashes a grin at Snowblind, always glad to have an audience watch him be awesome. "Then you saw the way Zigzag and I totally blasted Ultra Magnus," he says in a half-question, half-statement. Looking back down at Ultra Magnus, Needlenose just rolls his optics. "Ugh. That was /terrible/. Do you even hear yourself? If Superman and Scrappy Doo had a baby, and that baby grew up and married Ned Flanders from the Simpsons, /you would be that baby/. Could you be anymore of a boy scout?!" Needlenose doesn't get an answer right away, however, as he's too busy getting blasted by laser turrets. Forced to take evasive action, Needlenose winces as one shot glances off his forearm. "Ow! That /stings/. Sunbeam, repay him in kind!" Taking aim with his light discharger gun, Needlenose and Sunbeam fire a bright flare at Ultra Magnus. Upon impact, it explodes in a dazzling array of light! Clearly this keeps Magnus out of the battle for, oh say 20 minutes. "Hah! Take that you stupid boy scout!" But before he can cheer too much, suddenly he has a little Auto-twerp flying up towards Contrail. "Ha ha ha. Maybe go help out the illustrious Commander," he suggests to Snowblind. Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Astrotrain misses Elita One with his Breaking the 'no touch' rule. attack! F-35B Lightning II suddenly has an armadillo on her. She grouses, "Argh, who do you think you are, Sideswipe and his jet judo!?? Ugh... Snowblind, make yourself useful and get him off me! His weakness is probably being run over by cars." Contrail /has/ driven the roads of Texas, thanks. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Contrail analyzes Spindrift for weaknesses Snowblind can exploit. Giant Bat is, sensibly, looking for Perceptor, keeping the mission in mind. Let's see, from what he recalls, the portal location in the ruins was juuust around ... there. Ah-ha. And there's the portal, with Perceptor trying to shut it down. With a snarl, he throws himself towards it. Not pausing to consider that this /might/ not be such a good idea. Combat: Giant Bat sets his defense level to Fearless. Snowblind raises altitude further to avoid combat. It's almost like she doesn't want to get shot at or something. "As you command," she replies to Contrail coolly. A pair of small energy turrets open from underside of her wings to take aim at Spindrift and open fire. F-35B Lightning II falls down a plot hole for the remainder of the scene! Elita One scowls at Astrotrain, "Listen Honeybot, if you like being blinded, then you're going to adore this." She tumbles off to the side, out of the way of his huge hands, She wonders aloud, "Do the Con girls just not do it for you? Or maybe you secretly like the 'good girls'?" Elita snorts to herself as she leaps again away from his next grab. This sort of talk was pretty much stupid, but a lot of mechs seem to have an interest in it. Powerglide, Grimlock...Astrotrain. "I think...it's because everyone wants to measure up to Optimus." She summons her digistruct cannon, then takes a kneeling position well off to Astrotrain's Combat: Elita One strikes Astrotrain with her No White Knights No Grrl Power attack! [Pulled -2] Bell UH-1 Iroquois was always in the background! The animators were just lazy about drawing him! Ugh, this mission is so nerdy. Blades is almost excited when a fight breaks out, but seeing all the flying Decepticons makes his fuel pump sink. That means Blades is going to have to stick to the air to do his duty to the Autobots. He takes a pot shot at Needlenose for lack of a better idea. Combat: Bell UH-1 Iroquois strikes Needlenose with his Super Flashlight (Disruptor) attack! Spindrift does his job of being a distraction!... and then shot off of his victim, fortunately before they disappear out of the scene. Laser still hurt, though. As he falls towards the ruins he grabs onto the remains of a structure with his claws, sliding partway down as he breaks his momentum. And then climbs back up to the edge of the formation. "Oh well, jet's still a jet." The launch pods on his sides rotate upward partially, and fire off a few small explosive shells towards the jet. Drone. Whatever. Combat: Spindrift strikes Aerodrone with his Mini Mortars attack! Actually, the portal wasn't too bad of an idea. The planetoid on the other end of the spacebridge had a rather harshly hot and radiation-ridden environment, though not too much more so than the larger one Mindwipe just come from. Upon arriving on the other side, Mindwipe would find himself standing near the edge of a cliff overlooking a vast pool of boiling lava. A hot jet shoots out of the middle, striking the underside of the plateau he's on. It's a good thing for him that he can fly... But, a short distance off and beyond the lake of lava is a small gathering of organics like the one he had previously acquired, apparently feasting upon a carcass of Primus-knows-what. Meanwhile, Perceptor notices Mindwipe swooping through the portal and wonders to himself what exactly it is he is after. The system THX-11 wasn't much of a home for anything, really, thanks to all the radiation from the brown dwarf star. He doubted the Decepticon would much more than hot lava and lightning storms over there. However, he doesn't have much time to think about that, as there is a battle going on, -and- he needed to find a way to activate the mass displacement mechanism before the Decepticons could overpower them. So, he is busily tampering with the various consoles he has set up while firing off a few shots at Astrotrain every once and a while to ensure that Elita can keep the upper hand. Combat: Microscope misses Astrotrain with his Distracted shots here and there (Laser) attack! Armored Car Carrier hits his brakes, the blast from Needlenose impacting harmlessly about 50 yards or so from him. He stands for about 20 minutes, and then loads his laser blaster. "Talk all you want, Targetmaster, but if you want to try and take this technology from us, you'll die trying!" He starts to jog sideways, blasting away at the airborn Decepticon. Ultra Magnus transforms into his inspiring POWER-ARMOR ROBOT mode! Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Needlenose with his Laser Eyes (Disruptor) attack! Astrotrain takes the shot right to the knee joint and crumples towards the ground, crashing down to the knee and hunched over. Oh yeah, it hurt...it was a good shot right to where it would have the most effect and the triplechanger is hunched right over, shaking for a moment. And then... "...HOOOO YEAH!" Straightening upwards, both hands clenched into fists, it's almost like Astrotrain didn't even hear a word Elita One said as she continued taunting him. Or rather, he heard the words...but they went right in one audio receptor and out the other as he simply hears only what he wanted to hear. With his knee joint still smoking, still crouching in place, the triplechanger pulls out a long glowing sword that ignites along the entire length of it with an evil vermillion glow. "I -knew- you'd be a fun time! I'm totally getting PUMPED now! But don't worry baby..." Gripping ths sword in both hands, he brings it arcing up and overhead in a massive two-handed swing. "I got plenty of endurance to keep up, you'll see!" The blade itself is of course a danger with its massive, cutting edge, but just as dangerous is the way the weapon suddenly extends in length as it arcs over by another half of its total size. And the fact that even if it misses Elita, when it hits the ground there's a heavy *BOOOOM* and explosion of impact like a small, localized earthquake. What kind of freak -enjoys- this anyway? Combat: Astrotrain strikes Elita One with his Zord-Sword attack! Astrotrain totally disappears in a huge dust cloud kicked up in the aftermath, of course, making it difficult for a stray laser shot from the side to make solid contact on his body. "Technology?" Needlenose asks, genuinely confused. Oh, that's right, they were here to actually steal something. To Snowblind he says, "Yeah, well, sometimes that's just how we roll." Sadly, chitchatting in the middle of a battle is really poor strategy. Or no strategy, as the case may be, and soon Needlenose finds himself overwhelmed as both Blades and Ultra Magnus double team him. "ARGH, my eyes!" Needlenose shrieks as he's blinded. His head snaps back and he tries to cover them. "That's only funny when Sunbeam does it, damn you!" It gets worse when Ultra Magnus shifts into his awe-inspiring robot mode and takes a few potshots with his laser blaster. "Dang it dang it dang it!" Needlenose stammers, trying in vain to dodge the shots while being unabele to see. The Targetmaster fumbles with Sunbeam and Zigzag, trying to shove the latter into the former. Soon, he manages to connect the pair, turning the two Nebulons into the all powerful rifle mode! "If that's how you're gonna be, Magnus, know this: MINE'S BIGGER!" He takes aim--which, since he's blinded, means /Sunbeam and Zigzag/ take aim--down towards Magnus, firing high powered light blasts that cause blinding explosions. After pumping three shots Magnus's way, Needlenose quickly shifts his aim towards Blades. "See how YOU like it, Protectobot!" Combat: Needlenose strikes Ultra Magnus with his Light Burst Discharger Area attack! Combat: Needlenose uses up a charge on his Double Targetmaster booster pack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Ultra Magnus's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Needlenose strikes Bell UH-1 Iroquois with his Light Burst Discharger Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Bell UH-1 Iroquois 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Snowblind is struck along the right wing by Spindrift's explosives. A bit of the armoring tears off and she suddenly banks hard to the right, sweeping out of the way of the main conflict and headed off towards where Perceptor and Mindwipe are - but after coming within a short distance of travel she fears for the structural integrity of the wing. "... Weapons have improved," she notes, before transforming in midair, dropping to the ground and into a crouch. Needlenose's chatter is ignored as she draws her laser and assesses the situation with the bat and the microscope. Combat: Aerodrone sets her defense level to Guarded. The drone splits in two places and unfolds into a female robot. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Mindwipe pauses on the other side of the portal and, landing, stares around with interest, The Bat looking one way, Vorath looking the other. Then he leaps back into the air to avoid the hot jets of lava. Both components frown slightly as they wing their way over to examine the creatures from a high altitude. Ultra Magnus throws his arms over his optics to no avail: Needlenose connects and Magnus' visual systems go completely haywire! Magnus stays calm, because he's Magnus: <> Allowing his optics a chance to reset, Magnus takes a step back to observe the battlefield. "Whatever the Decepticons want here...we can't let them have it." "You've got it, Ultra Magnus!" replies Bumblebee, who is an animation error. Combat: Ultra Magnus takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Elita One keeps on the defense, ducking and weaving, but when the weapon collides with her, it catches her in the side finally. She growls in frustration, "You...are worse than that Junkion wrestler." Elita retreats to higher ground, the wing of the Golden Age shuttle for a moment, then thinking better of it, uses it for a launching point. Her cannon aimed downward, she twists in the air, firing three quick shots at the triple-changer, landing several yards away from him. "Nice blade, does it have more than a stun setting?" Combat: Elita One strikes Astrotrain with her Plasma Cannon attack! [Pulled -1] As Mindwipe approaches the creatures, it becomes more evident that they are indeed the same species as his beloved "Alfred". Their bulbous insectoid-looking eyes turn up toward him and their heads tilt to the side with curiosity, as if sizing him up or trying to decide whether he was a threat or not. He'd better make his move soon though, in case they decided he was dangerous or would make a tasty snack or something. The things were huge, and they had to be -tough- in order to survive out there in that radiation-riddled hellhole. At the same time... Aha! There! Perceptor has finally figured out how to activate the mass displacement mechanism. He hits the execute on the program as quickly as possible, and suddenly the strange disc-shaped device is folding in on itself, almost like a Cybertronian transforming into his (or her) vehicle form. The sequence will take some time, however, as the massive structure will actually wrap itself around its subspace power conduit, displacing at least 80% of its mass into subspace and effectvely shrinking it to only a fraction of its size. So now...uh...he just had to wait until it was finished and then get past Astrotrain, Needlenose, and whichever other Decepticons were out there, dash aboard the shuttle and take off before they could steal the technology from him. It's bound to be harder than it sounds. Well, at least he can focus on the fight fully, now. He turns around, drawing his weapon from subspace just in time to see another Decepticon descend into the ruins. He fires upon him...or was it a her? He didn't really have time to think about that, since Magnus was commanding a status report on the comm. < Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Perceptor strikes Snowblind with his Preemptive strikes attack! [Pulled -2] Now where is she going?... Wait, duh, that was a stupid question, Spindrift realizes. Of course she's going closer to the device and Perceptor. With a grunt he jumps down from the ruins and dives to the ground. Or more accurately, dives -into- the ground as he burrows into it. Because he can travel faster this way. Thus its only moments later that the ground buckles slightly closer to Perceptor then mounds upwards to make a hole for him to climb back out. "I think its time we take a more defensive approach to things." Slots in his armored shell flick open, and emit a faint glow as the emitters power up. With a few flickers in the air a wall of dimly luminicent energy forms to help warm away Decepticons from the artifact. And hopefully keep any stray shots from causing a movie cliche malfunction, too. Combat: Spindrift sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Spindrift creates a forcefield shielding himself from damage. Bell UH-1 Iroquois continues to harry and harass Needlenose, despite the soul-crushing ennui that he feels. Needlenose's Sunbeam is just so amazing compared to Blades's own photon pistol. Blades couldn't even kill himself if he put his photon pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger because it is just a flashlight. He has to get in close, given his blurry vision, to try to nail the fashionista. Combat: Bell UH-1 Iroquois sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Bell UH-1 Iroquois strikes Needlenose with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! Astrotrain finally gets to his feet again, 'shaking off' the effects of the shot to his knee earlier...just in time to take three solid blasts to his torso from Elita One's weapon. Staggering back under the impact, he straightens up again just as she lands behind him, pausing to reach up and touch at his chestplate for a second. A solid *HISSSS* issues out, as he seems to ALMOST look like he's savoring it. "Pfft, Junkions are no good at wrestlin. You hit them, they fall all to pieces, then pull themselves back together. It's like cheatin! Not that there's anything wrong with cheatin..." With his back still to Elita One, the triplechanger suddenly starts to shift, and contort as he twists end over end, and transforms backwards up until his huge metal wheels touch down... ...and Elita One is staring down the front end of an entire armored locomotive. "I always prefer the more direct approach! Yeeehaw!" With an explosion of blue flame, Astotrain rumbles forward then with a rocket booster assisted surge as he hurtles straight at her. With body twisting in place while folding up on himself, Astrotrain slams to the ground as a huge armored locomotive. Combat: Armored Locomotive sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Armored Locomotive strikes Elita One with his Train Crossing attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Elita One's Agility. (Crippled) Needlenose grins as Ultra Magnus gets blinded. Alas, the Autobot second in command completely fails to run back and forth, flailing his arms comically while shrieking. This, Needlenose suspects, is because he's a huge /killjoy/. But even as he watches Magnus, his second foe moves in for another shot. The missile homes in on him and gets him dead to rights, exploding right in the Decepticon's midsection. "ARGH!" His arms swing back, though he barely manages to keep hold of the Sunbeam-Zigzag fusion. "Ugh, you're so uncool, Blades. You're actually trying to outshoot me? Outshoot /me/? A Targetmaster?!" Needlenose takes aim with the rifle and pumps another concentrated blast at the chopper. Despite his mocking of Blades's long ranged tactics, he's doing his best to stay in the air in order to keep it this way. Combat: Needlenose strikes Bell UH-1 Iroquois with his Blinded By The Light (Laser) attack! Snowblind takes a couple of shots to the upper torso thanks to Perceptor and is shoved back by each strike, shoulders shrugging backwards; she regains her footing, scraping against the rock and digging her claw-like feet into the ground for better support. The rifle in her left arm is brought up to the sensor mound on her chest; it rotates for a better view. "It's nothing personal," she says without malice to Spindrift. "But I must have you out of the way. Orders are orders, and they must be obeyed." The focus of her sensor array, however, is not on the armadillo. Combat: Snowblind analyzes Perceptor for weaknesses. The portal flashes, and soaring out of it like a bat out of hell, comes Mindwipe, both components optics/eyes wide with panic. The reason for this becomes clear very quickly, as hot on his heels charge several more of the Mantis-Dragons. "Clear the way!" He screeches. The impact of the train bearing down on her sends Elita-One reeling! She arcs through the air, then lands on her back with a solid thud. A hand is held to her head as she regains her bearings. As she surveys the situation, her receptors flicker again in nonvocal communication. The path set, she transforms into her altmode, tires squealing as she attempts to outmaneuver the train, which...shouldn't be too hard. The techcar fishtails about in defensive maneuvers before reaching the shuttle. Once inside, she starts the cycle up sequence to get that machinery out of here! Ultra Magnus transforms, doubling back to site of the ruins to cover Perceptor while Elita One breaks for The Golden Age. He's about to open fire on Astrotrain to keep the triplechanger away from the ship when..."I..." Dragons. Not what Magnus was expecting. "Autobots, maintain pressure on the Decepticons! Do not fire on these...beings until action is approved!" He points at Snowblind with a laser blaster that's several times larger than she. "Decepticon, by the power invested in me by Matrix Code 74.8, subsection B, I'll give you this opportunity to clear the area without further harm." Combat: Ultra Magnus takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Finally, the device was finishing up the displacement process, having folded most of its mass into the subspace conduit. It was now not much larger than the conduit itself. Unaware of Snowblind's scans, he dives for it, snatch it up quickly and beginning to rush back up toward the surface where Elita One is waiting with The Golden Age. But now an angry horde of giant organics is hurtling out of the portal, chasing after Mindwipe. One of them tramples over him, knocking the scientist to the floor. He manages to maintain his grasp on the shrunken tech, though. This...complicated matters even further. <> He shouts over the comm. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Spindrift looks up as Mindwipe goes flying past, one or both components screaming. After looking back he doesn't bother trying to figure out which it is yelling. Because that's a whole lot of bad company right there. Guess Mindwipe's new friends didn't like him very much. Turns his attention back to the matter at hand. Perceptor grabs the device and makes a run for it. So it's time to run a little interference. Snowblind's sharp sensory abilities may pick up the thrum from the dillo-bot as the vibrations of his internal gyroscope set off a sonic shockwave to try and knock her off her feet before she can follow the scientist. Combat: Spindrift strikes Snowblind with his Shake Rattle Roll attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Snowblind's Agility. (Crippled) Bell UH-1 Iroquois gets one of his guns blown off by Needlenose's Targetmastery. He growls, "Sure, be proud of your shooting, you coward - you don't have anything else going for you!" The Protectobot snaps and tries to fling himself at Needlenose to try to throttle the Decepticon. Bell UH-1 Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. Combat: Blades strikes Needlenose with his Hands Meet Neck attack! Armored Locomotive COULD have been about to pursue after Elita One. In fact, he was all set to take off after her, not being as maneuverable but being shockingly fast in his giant armored alternate form. Rising up as he transforms once more, the tripelchanger brushes himself off, shaking his head a few times to get the cobwebs out. He got rattled good during those last few hits, though thankfully he's built of sturdy stuff and still has quite a bit left in him. No sense getting careless though, is there? The only thing stronger than his puffed up sense of ego and false bravado is his own sense of self-preservation afterall. And speaking of which, here come a bunch of giant organic...critters rumbling out after Mindwipe, causing Astrotrain's optics to go wide. "...are -these- the 'dragons' you were spoutin about? Slag this! You ain't stuffing one of those things in me!" As he says this, he takes to the air after a running start, thrusting arms forward as he flies up up up and awaaay! It would probably be faster to transform to shuttle mode, but every so often you gotta make your exit flying superman-style. And like it or not, Astrotrain COULD end up having an unwanted passenger when this is all over. In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Combat: Astrotrain begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Ultra Magnus, Giant Bat , and Spindrift "Bull's eye!" Needlenose exclaims as Blades's gun gets blasted off. He totally isn't paying attention to Perceptor, but the horde of monsters coming out of the portal? "Holy crap!" He points at the portal behind Blades. "Look at that, Blades! Look! Dude! Behind you! Dude, it's totally right there OMG you totally have to look and I'm not just lying to you so you'll turn around so I can shoot you aga- ACK!" Needlenose feels Blades's hands wrap around his throat. He instinctively lets go of his rifle and tries to grapple with Blade's hands, but the Protectobot is a wee bit stronger than he is. "Aghghdghgghgraaaghghrrhggnghgrhghfghghgddfjgh!" Needlenose gurgles, anti-gravs still keeping both of them in the sky. Sunbeam and Zigzag break apart, transforming in mid-air before landing neatly on the ground. Combat: Needlenose takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Giant Bat ignores the trampling and keeps flying, spinning in mid-air now and again to try his hypnotic gaze on the creatures. Vorath just tries to hold on. Spindrift's sonic attack does it's job and the ground loosens enough under Snowblind's feet that the material beneath crumbles; her left leg ends up wedged firmly between two rocks and partially crushed. She staggers for a moment, barely able to stay on her feet at all. Crouched forward, she does not raise her head as Ultra Magnus lowers his weapon on her. Instead, the camera dome on her chest cycles the widest lense upwards towards the Autobot leader. "While I do not follow the code of your Matrix, the offer is sound. I can do little to you and there is no advantage in pressing my attack any further. This is a futile and fruitless mission. I yield." She slowly holsters the weapon behind her, her other arm up. Combat: Snowblind takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Perceptor is doing all that he can to bolt for The Golden Age, but he just isn't fast enough! He is one of the smartest in the galaxy, and he certainly shoot far, but speed isn't one of his virtues. Especially with all those giant organics going wild all over the place. Speaking of which, they are screeching and howling and blowing flames everywhere and at everyone. Thanks, Mindwipe. -Thanks-. Anyway, Perceptor speaks over the comm. <> With that, he tosses the slightly enlarged subspace conduit up toward Blades, hoping he will catch it and not Needlenose. Meanwhile, The Golden Age's sublight thrusters power up with Elita One in the cockpit, and the ship maneuvers toward Blades, hopefully facilitating the delivery of the object of interest. As for Mindwipe's hypnotic gaze, it works on a few of them, but the Decepticon would need some sort of mental booster if he wanted to gain control over -all- of them simultaneously. Blades does not believe Needlenose and, as, a result, get trampled by dragons. So Needlenose is free now, Blades's hands no longer tight around his neck. Blades is about to reach for one of his blades to start playing dragonslayer when he gets orders from Perceptor. Nerdy orders. He tries to struggle up from the stampede to grab the conduit - but will Needlenose beat him to it? Combat: Blades compares his Accuracy to Needlenose's Accuracy: Success! A Decepticon with some sense? Well that's a first. Trying to not look too surprised at that, Spindrift lowers his forcefield now that the device is out of the field, but keeps a wary optic on the femme just in case. Needlenose closes his optics. Is it because he's getting throttled /oh so hard/? Partly, but it's also because he sees all those dragons coming and doesn't want to see what horrors await Blades. There's a loud CRASH as the pair are wrenched apart. Needlenose hovers in mid-air, trying to figure out what to do. He sees the conduit, but he also sees his two Nebulon buddies needing help down on the ground. "Sigh," he says, diving down and rescuing the both of them before they can be crushed in the dragon stampede. Swooping back up into the air near Snowblind, "Ha ha ha!" he says loudly, "Good idea. Lull him into a false sense of security with the good ol' fake-surrender trick. Autobots fall for that one all the time." Needlenose glances down at Magnus with a huge grin. Well, Autobot? What say your precious codes now?! Giant Bat ' always happy to help, Perceptor. At this point, the hypnotist isn't trying to establish direct control, just provide sufficient brief individual contacts to soothe the dragons, or, possibly, distract the ones after him onto other targets. Snowblind's head still isn't coming up. The chest camera whirls towards Needlenose. "Fake-surrender?" she asks. "I have been living on one sixteenth energon rations since Cybertron went into stasis and I am now damaged enough to impair my capabilities. Further more I am not a front line combatant, as you, it seems, are. My continued participation would be suicidal - particularly in the presence of these creatures." She points to the monstrosities that are rambling about. "Autobots tend to be men of their word. This incident is only a minor setback to the cause. We have millennia to consider our options." She tests the buried foot. It doesn't want to budge, at least at first-- -- so she jerks her knee upwards, leaving half the foot behind. She doesn't even visibly flinch - then again, with no face, that's probably not hard to do. "I am in need up updated status as it is. The abrupt dismissal of my querries concerning Lord Megatron is suspicous." Blades hands the thing to Perceptor, Spindrift, or Ultra Magnus at the shuttle, and then the animators cease animating him. Ultra Magnus opens fire in the general direction of all the Cons with his laser blaster while the rest of the Autobots secure the tech on board the Golden Age. "You heard Perceptor! Let's move, Autobots! We can't *deal* with these dragons right now! "Don't gotta tell me twice." Considering he's bitesized to those things, Spindrift is all for hurrying his way back to the ship to get the hell out of here. Perceptor hurries toward the approaching shuttle, once he sees that Blades secured the conduit. Back down among the ruins, the portal he had created earlier begins to collapse in on itself once the substance that burned to keep it open had been exhausted. It looks kind of like a miniature black hole, and even acts like one because it starts to pull the terrain around it into itself. The walls and floor of the ruins begin to crumble and crack while the ceiling starts to cave in, and thus the terrain above the ruins trembles violently as it is pulled forcefully downward. The ground is now falling away beneath their peds. Primus, how far will the thing go? The celestial body they are standing on isn't even large enough to be called a planet, it won't take much to consume the entire place! "The space bridge singularity is collapsing, we must evacuate the planetoid immediately!" Perceptor calls out as he grabs a sharp rock to keep from being swept down with the terrain, though perhaps he was stating the obvious. He waits anxiously for Elita to bring the ship near enough for him to enter it. Once the doors open he is up and inside as fast as he possibly can. As The Golden Age flies away, the dragons wail and screech as many of them fall down toward the collapsing portal. "I, uh," Needlenose says, genuinely taken aback at Snowblind's reply. "Well I guess when you put it that way." Eeesh, low energon rations? Been in the dark since before the Dark Ages? "Ok, yeah, I guess they /do/ sometimes tell the truth, but-- um." Luckily for Needlenose, this conversation ends immediately as Magnus fires in his direction. "Aw, frag it! Come on, Snowblind! Lets get you back to base. You got a loooot of debriefing to go through. THEN you can make whatever decisions you need to make!" Needlenose transforms into F-16 mode and soars off, hoping that the newbie Con follows him. Robots in disguise! Needlenose transforms into his F-16XL Jet Fighter mode! Combat: F-16XL Jet Fighter begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Snowblind really doesn't have anything to say to that, so she agrees by transforming and immediately leaving the area. Snowblind folds inwards at the knees and torso and her arms extend into wings as she transforms into a high-tech aerial drone. Combat: Aerodrone begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Giant Bat and F-16XL Jet Fighter As The Golden Age speeds away from the planetoid, the small body collapses in on itself just like poor old Vulcan in that new Star Trek movie, except smaller. Well, as far as he could tell, there hadn't been anything sapient living there for a good long time. Still, Perceptor sighs and shakes his head at the destruction of large planetoid #103524. So many research opportunities, gone! If only the Decepticons hadn't shown up and caused problems, he would've had the time to realize that the spacebridge would collapse like that if left to itself. "Apologies for the trouble, Magnus." Ultra Magnus clasps Perceptor's shoulder warmly. "Perceptor, we're just doing our duty. But it doesn't help to be doing it for an old friend." He gives the scientist a nod, and heads to the bridge, escorted by a miscolored Seaspray.
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