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| - Golden Realm The interior of the mountain is hollow, vast caverns lit by a diffuse yellow light. The light seems to emanate from a tiny artificial sun glowing higher in the cave system, and is channelled into each chamber within the mountain by fiber-optic tubes. Orichalcum seems to be the alloy of choice for the Femaxians because their aptly-named Golden Realm is lavishly decorated with it. The Femaxians themselves are apparently a similar species to the brutes outside, as they are roughly the same size, being about twenty-two to twenty-nine feet tall, but they are well-formed where the villagers are gnarled, chiseled instead of corpulent, upright instead of hunched, and obviously possessed of intellect and at least some technological achievements. They dress in finely woven clothing decorated with armor of the same brassy gold alloy, and most of them carry ornate swords or pikes. Interestingly, there do not appear to be any male Femaxians. Throughout the Femaxian valley, the impending echo of distant war machines moving through the terrain can be heard. And whatever sound they would have made normally, is increasted tenfold by the booming echo that comes through the land and reaches the Golden Realm's defenses. Leading said army and devices, is none other than Galvatron's personal attack dog himself.. Cyclonus. Hovering high above the pack, the Decepticon overlord simply nods and makes mental checks as to who managed to show.. and who ducked out on a combat tour, again. "Blasted Seacons prove to fail me.. yet again." Three identical Siege Cannons slowly tread forward on their tracks, rolling over and through any land barrier.. instead of actual navigation. Gumbies surround the devices, armed with the latest in Cybertronian repellant arms. 'Officers' abound in the make-shift militia, milling two and fro.. casting uneasy glances skyside and try their best to whip the troops into some sort of marching order. Slugfest is there, for some reason. He looks a little too hyper and eager. And why is a "fun size" Good n' Plenty wrapper sticking to one of his tail spikes? "We go salt now?" he asks Cyclonus. With wind whistling over her ailerons as she descends with engines idling, Fusillade coasts over the battlefield between the advancing line and the defenders. With a lazy bank, the bomber assesses the Femaxian and Autobot joint forces. "Mmm, I see some toys that have my name written ALLLLLLLL over them. They've been busy while we were away!" Barkida would not normally be in charge of defending against a siege like this, as she is Fourth To Die. However, the Third and Second To Die positions in the realm's hierarchy of champions have already died, and the First One has taken the non-combatants to the relative safety of another subterranean realm. This leaves Barkida to hold the line with her household of warriors and their spear-carriers and fighting slaves. She cradles one of the Autobot-provided scatterguns uneasily in her arms as if it might bite her. "They are coming again, Galen," she warns Maximus at the sound of jet engines. "I hope your machine-men are ready for them." High above on an elevated position, Fortress Maximus surveys the sea of jungle ahead of him, taking mental note of every foilage that shakes and every tree that tips. Echoes of the Decepticons' war machine manifested in physical form is heard and carefully cross referenced with what can be seen by the Headmaster leader as he attempts to discern the exact nature of the Decepticons' advance. An Autobot scout flyer materializes beside Fortress Maximus and promptly lands down in robotic form, "There's a lot of them, sir, but items of note are what seems to be siege weaponary being brought along with them. I'm positive I saw at least three but I couldn't determine the exact nature of the weapons." Fortress Maximus rubs the bottom of his chin thoughtfully for a moment before nodding his head, "That'll have to do. Good job, man the defenses and buckle down." The Headmaster leader begins moving forward towards the front line, on the way he sees Barkida and responds firmly, "My people are commited, Barkida, we will give the Decepticons something to reckon with yet. Have your people also become accustomed with our defenses? We will need them manned shortly." Decibel is where he likes to be the most when things like defending and assaults happen, in the rear with the gear, so fails to spot the approaching mass of attackers. As the call to arms goes out he makes sure he's got everything he needs and then grabs a few extra items and makes his way towards the tunnel leading to the mountain exterior. "Figures they couldn't have waited a bit longer so I could have had the auto-defenses linked to fire form in here where it's safe." Hustling down the path he prepares for the inevitable. Emerging from the tunnel he looks out over the wave about to crash and wonders if anyone would notice if he slipped back inside. "We are quick studies in the arts of war," Barkida replies, racking the slide of the magna-blaster. While his primary function was technically breaking things, Spindrift tried to be helpful where he could be instead of fufilling a mere singular purpose. As to such he had been trodding around the defenses, packing down dirt and making sure the bases were stable so when the inevitable time came to use them they wouldn't knock themselves over from recoil or some other embarassing flaw. That time has come sooner than anyone really wanted, though. "Sounds like it's time t' send out the unwelcome wagon." The armadillo-tape glances one way, then the other, spotting Maximus' towering form back at the entrance and starts skedaddling back that way to answer the heed into looming battle. As the troops make it over the hill, the hoots and hollers from their vocal processors are quickly heard.. and swiftly moves through the remainder of the soldiers shortly. The frontline of Decepticons, no-name grunts mainly, charge blindly forward. Cyclonus, from his loftly height, hovers over the distance to get a first hand view of their opponents today. Garrison upon garrison is built up, weapon placements and shield generators placed throughout the area.. next to fierce and battle ready Autobots, as well as their Femaxian allies. "Decepticons! We have met the enemy forces, and they pale in comparison to our own. A quick, decisive, and complete success here will -end- any and all resistance here on Femax." Transforming, Cyclonus rockets forward and begins painting targets for the trio of Siege Cannons or one nefarious Space Bomber. <> Cyclonus transforms into his Starfighter mode, Galvatron must need a ride somewhere. Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Starfighter inspires Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Slugfest, and Snaptrap with dramatic and uplifting words! If it's at all possible, now Slugfest is even more hyper, much like a child in the aftermath of trick-or-treating. "Me go mow down bots!" he says, revving his chainsaw plates. He prepares to charge down the hill as soon as he sees the blues of their optics. <>Fusillade radios to the steward of the Empire, peeling off and strafing the more futuristic looking of the major Autobot-fortified positions. Bolts of magenta belch down from her forward mounted gun, stitching small craters and scores stitch along the heavily plated walls of the Golden Realm's defenses, until reaching the large double-barrelled weaponry. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Magravic Scatterguns with her Disruptor attack! The once lush green Femaxian hills have been marred by the tank treads of the trinity of mobile siege cannons. Each stops at a different hill, forming a kill zone below. Snaptrap had been sitting atop the centre one, while one of his Seacons manned the gun. Hoping off of it, he brings optical enhancers to his face, focusing on a suitable target. Over a narrow beam transmission, he begins to state a seemingly random set of numbers, giving the three dimensional orders of where to place the turret, and how much force to use. It seems the entire Seacon contingent is with him, as on the other hills, there is one Seacon pilot/gunner, and one to load the shells when need be. They are further protected by a small Decepticon grunt attachment, should they come under fire. <> <> Cyclonus transmits. Combat: Snaptrap misses Fortress Maximus with Siege Cannons's The Blitz Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap misses Magravic Scatterguns with Siege Cannons's The Blitz Area attack! Fortress Maximus nods approving in response to Barkida and continues forward, raising his left arm to rally the Autobot defenders who aren't manning the defensive batteries over to him, "Autobots to the ready. Fall into formation!" He then shifts his gaze over to Cyclonus, narrowing his optics for a brief moment before commenting, "Stand firm, stay with me. Strength and courage be with you all." First blood is drawn as Fusillade's strafing run causes some of the Magravic Scattergun turrets to detonate into a fiery explosion while others shimmers a blue hue as the portable shield generators withstands the glancing shots. Autobot defensive fire comes to life in the form of high pitched crackle of weapons fire accompanied by the thunderous deep booms of mortar fire as they track any Decepticons that opportunity presents. Upon watching Fusillade and Cyclonus penetrating their defensive lines, Fortress Maximus swings his left hand downwards and forward, "Zero in the long range defensive batteries on their siege weapons! Secondary defenses focus on keeping the Decepticon flyers suppressed! The rest of you, on me!" Soon acidic barrages crashes into the ground behind the Headmaster leader as he charges through the lines, slamming the first wave of Decepticon foot soldiers out of his way with a ram from his massive shoulders and firing off a well placed shots at the limbs of enemies, disabling them before shouting into his radios as he provides coordinates for the mortar crews to launch their shells. Combat: Fortress Maximus misses Snaptrap with Mortar Placements's Shell Barrage Area attack! Combat: Fortress Maximus strikes Siege Cannons with Mortar Placements's Shell Barrage Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Siege Cannons's Agility! (Crippled) Decibel leaves the tunnels and quickly makes his way towards a bunker and the relay station within to make sure all the Autobot units are getting proper situational updates. "There sure are a lot of them, hope we can hold. Would be nice if this mountain holds up too. Some of those this their dragging look like they could bring it down on top of us." As the first wave of aerial assault begins Decibel scurries out of the bunker and weaves through the defenders to take up a position where his talents can be put to better use. "And so it begins, the last great stand of the Femaxians." With the defenses already getting hammered he fires off a quick local transmission. <> Barkida stands on the battlements, uncowed as lasers and explosive shells come sizzling and whistling down from the sky towards the defensive line. "Load!" she shouts, Femaxian spear-carriers passing shells to the loaders, who pack the shells into the mortars and slam shut the breeches. "Aim!" At Barkida's next call, the gun captains measure the range to the Decepticon forces and set the elevation and traverse of their mortars, the crews spinning the cranks to adjust the giant cannons. "Fire!" The gun captains lower their raised arms and shout over the noise of the battle, the crews crouching and covering their ears as the cannons roar in a rippling barrage. Combat: Barkida strikes Siege Cannons with Mortar Placements's Shell Barrage Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Siege Cannons's Agility! (Crippled) Combat: Barkida strikes Slugfest with Mortar Placements's Shell Barrage Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Slugfest's Agility! (Crippled) Combat: Barkida strikes Snaptrap with Mortar Placements's Shell Barrage Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Snaptrap's Agility! (Crippled) Spindrift sits up on his hindquarters for a moment and grinds his foreclaws between each other, the closest he gets to being able to crackle knuckles. "Guess we're gonna have to get rough." Then plops down and scurries forward a few bounds before rolling up and tumbling forth into the ruckus. Getting underfoot is the best way for him to deal with bigger foes! ... it also ends up shooting him right towards the evil Soundwave spawn Combat: Spindrift strikes Slugfest with its Making the 'Roll Out!' literal (Kick) attack! Slugfest EEES as a mortar explosion hits him! As he's knocked sideways, he's rolled into by Spindrift! "Nonono!" he says, and angrily starts lashing out at the armadillo-tape. Stegosaurus raeg! Tail swings wildly, little feets beat, and chainsaw plates hum! Combat: Slugfest strikes Spindrift with his Festival of Slugging attack! [Pulled -1] Snaptrap barks out a few more commands, even before the volleys have hit and crashed upon the energy shield covering the anterior of the Femaxian-Autobot defence force. Behind him, the turret, adjusting its XYZ axis. The other two siege cannons on the flanks make similar adjustments. "FIRE!" he commands, and sets his binoculars down to light up an energon cigar, slip it into his mouth, and then bring the binoculars back in time to see where they struck. It is however at that stage that he gets a rather large pile of dirt in his face, as one of the Mortar shells explodes nearby. Quickly, he adjusts his plans, and has the Siege Cannon move on its tank treads, and adjust its cannon trajectory, which will take some pretty quick mental math to pull off. Combat: Snaptrap sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Snaptrap strikes Fortress Maximus with Siege Cannons's Triangulated Fire Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap strikes Mortar Placements with Siege Cannons's Triangulated Fire Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap strikes Magravic Scatterguns with Siege Cannons's Triangulated Fire Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap strikes Femaxian Warrior Tribe with Siege Cannons's Triangulated Fire Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap strikes Barkida with Siege Cannons's Triangulated Fire Area attack! Mortars detonate inside the inner line of the charging Decepticons, incinerating a handful and sending an equal amount spiraling through the air. Like shots land near and make direct impact with the trio of Siege Cannons, managing to decapitate the gumbie operator of the third weapon. Peeling through the air, the royal purple Decepticon starfighter pushes forward and through the air filled with laser blasts.. his sights set on the latter half of the defense. More notably, the line of mortar cannons. <> A cluster barrage of incendiary bombs drop from the starfighter's underside, dropping to the ground and exploding in fiery geysers. Combat: Starfighter strikes Mortar Placements with his Incendiary Payload! attack! [Pulled -2] As the weapon emplacements begin firing at each other, Fusillade sails overhead, opting for a higher-altitude modus operandi tonight! The Lancer cruises, relatively silent for now. The ramparts shudder with the exchanged salvos, but a few moments later, a more resonant sound reports through the valley -- detonations of high explosives. Fusillade lays down a stick of nearly a dozen 500-lb dumb bombs. The emplacements are enveloped in noise and flame, and with a spiteful "HEY CATCH!" Fusillade lobs down one to grow on toward Fortress Maximus, having not gotten enough from their last encounter. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Fortress Maximus with her Bombs Area attack! Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Magravic Scatterguns with her Bombs Area attack! Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Mortar Placements with her Bombs Area attack! One of the mortars is shattered by the counterbattery fire, its crew sailing through the air in a spray of dirt, blood and fire! Barkida grimaces through the ringing in her ears from the proximity to the incoming shells and yells at the gun crews from relative safety behind the battlements, hoping they can hear her. "First rank, reload! Second rank, fire!" The magravic scatterguns charge up with a whistling sound, metal debris like shell casings, loose armor, shrapnel and pieces of the destroyed mortar flipping through the air and sticking to the guns and their housing with little clanking sounds. With a subsonic thump, the scatterguns fire their airbursts, sparkling clusters of magnetized chaff exploding over the Decepticon end of the battlefield to interfere with the sensors of air and ground atackers alike. Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Barkida strikes Siege Cannons with Magravic Scatterguns's Mag Rounds Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Siege Cannons's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Barkida misses Snaptrap with Magravic Scatterguns's Mag Rounds Area attack! Combat: Barkida strikes Starfighter with Magravic Scatterguns's Mag Rounds Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Starfighter 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Barkida misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with Magravic Scatterguns's Mag Rounds Area attack! A crack squad of Femaxians makes their way through the Decepticon ranks, tearing and slashing with shield and spears held out. Led by Liiona, not fourth to die or anything.. but not too shabby either, they tear into the gumbies with reckless abandon. Coming to a pause, the Femaxian warrior orders her group to load up Jetfire's special arrowheads and slow down those Siege weapons. "Make the machine men pay for their offense to the soil of Femax!" Combat: Femaxian Warrior Tribe sets its defense level to Fearless. Combat: Femaxian Warrior Tribe strikes Snaptrap with its Explosive Arrowheads Area attack! Combat: Femaxian Warrior Tribe strikes Siege Cannons with its Explosive Arrowheads Area attack! Spindrift gets slapped with the flailing tail and rolls backwards, though it doesn't do much other than leave a dent in his armored shell as he unfurls finally. Already somewhat beady blue optics narrow farther at the stego-tape. "Shoulda known I'd run into the likes of onna you punks 'round here..." But the comments over the fac-bands get his attention before he can slap Slugfest back right away. "Deal with ya in a moment." Digging in the brace himself while expecting to get lashed out again, the grooves between plate sections light up, casting the glow of his energy blast shields... somewhere other than on himself, though. Combat: Spindrift sets its defense level to Protected. Combat: Spindrift creates a forcefield shielding Fortress Maximus from damage. The visceral shockwaves from the resulting mortar explosions bombards Fortress Maximus' senses as he pushes forward into the jungles as he moves in closer to the trio of large barrelled siege weaponary. Every step of the way he meets resistances, some of which he dispatches with a solid swing of his the back of his massive master sword, and using the inertia of the swing to spin himself into position to direct a precise hit against the weapon arm of yet another Decepticon using his dual barreled laser blaster. Just as the Headmaster leader is about to resume his charge against the siege cannons an explosion that's much too close sends the massive Autobot flying into the air as he's propelled by the shockwave, a subsequent carpet bombing serves to shatter more of the bulky Autobots' armour. A large cloud of earthy dust blankets the bombed area, and eventually a massive form can be seen rising out of it. It's not a robot, but rather a battleship, albit looking visibly roughed up. The battleship floats up above the treelines before its two mortar launchers activates from their slumber, one of the mortar launcher orients itself towards the direction of the siege cannons, the other swirvels towards the large flying bomber in the skies. The tip of the barrels rises and lowers momentarily as it gains a firing solution before four shells in total are launched towards their intended targets. Fortress Maximus transforms into his Interstellar Battleship mode. Combat: Interstellar Battleship sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Interstellar Battleship strikes Snaptrap with his Laser-Guided Mortars Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Interstellar Battleship strikes Siege Cannons with his Laser-Guided Mortars Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Interstellar Battleship strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Laser-Guided Mortars Area attack! [Pulled -1] !attacks Combat: Siege Cannons falls to the ground, unconscious. A cheer goes up from the Femaxian defensive line as the other side's guns go up in flames thanks to Fortress Maximus unleashing his apocalyptic firepower! Battlecruiser thunders down from the skies, his trajectory hinting that he must have flown in from outer reaches of the system and not the Autobot base ship in orbit somewhere above. His armor still glows dull red in spots from atmospheric entry, and a long column of smoke trails behind him. "All right, NOW it's a fight!" he crows, out loud and over all available radio frequencies. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Battlecruiser has 'skipped' his action for this round. Snaptrap swears in ancient Cybertronian as a mortar explodes even closer to him, raining shrapnel all over himself, the Siege Cannon, and his mixed Seacon-Gumby crew, but what really gets him going is the charging Femaxian Warriors. Reaching for his Sword, his begins defending the Siege Cannon alongside the regular gumbies, "Continue firing!" is his only order to the gunner. Hopefully the aim is still good. But Maximus' aim proves to be superior. "It's like the terrans say, if you want something done right," he transforms into his tortoise mode, "do it yourself!" Lowering to the ground, Snaptrap transforms into a turtle. Combat: Turtle strikes Mortar Placements with his Sonic Shell Cannons Area attack! Combat: Mortar Placements falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Turtle strikes Magravic Scatterguns with his Sonic Shell Cannons Area attack! Combat: Magravic Scatterguns falls to the ground, unconscious. Twirling, Cyclonus is caught by a shot of the Magravic rounds.. instantly doing a number on his systems and slowly forcing his descent. With his aerial advantage temporarily taken, the Decepticon tyrant transforms and touches down near the backside of the troops. Not neccisarily where he -wanted- to be, but nonetheless.. where he is. Immediately confronted by a ram-gang of Autobot gumbies, Cyclonus lines up his Oxidizing laser with the backline of weapon operators and fires off a beam.. strafing all the while, to singe anything in his wake. Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Cyclonus misses Barkida with his Oxidizing Laser attack! [Pulled -3] "Nonono! Deal now!" Slugfest clamors. The angry little stego charges at Spindrift again. "You no ignore me!" He swings his tail to swat the armadillo like a bat hitting a ball. Combat: Slugfest misses Spindrift with his Tailthwap! (Punch) attack! After savaging the emplacements, the Lancer pulls wide with a wild whoop as Fortress Maximus gives chase. "Hup! Got his attention! Ha ha G-OWWW!" There's a tremendous detonation, and a mostly intact bomber streaks away, trailing smoke and fire as several systems honk and bleat their disapproval at Fortress Maximus's firepower. "Aww, slaggitall," she utters to herself in disappointment as others dispatch the fortifications. She dips one tattered wing, and assesses the others present. As the Technobot leader arrives, she gamely regains altitude, whipping past him in the opposite direction. She partially rolls to give him a lovetap. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Battlecruiser with her Vigorous Midair Negotiation (Kick) attack! A cheer goes up from the Decepticon offensive line as the other side's guns go up in flames thanks to Snaptrap unleashing his aquatic firepower! Battlecruiser doesn't have much in the way of air control surfaces, but as Fusillade approaches, the nozzle of one giant engines cranks a fraction of a degree up, the other an equal distance down. Even before the adjustment is completed his hulking form begins to roll - and at their respective speeds, the minor evasive manuever causes them to pass without contact. Scattershot's ventral artillery turret rotates to point backwards at the bomber. On his opposite side another tracks just a bit to orient on that giant Decepticon turtle. "I like it when I don't have to choose," he announces grimly. Combat: Battlecruiser strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Turret-Mounted Artillery Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Battlecruiser strikes Turtle with his Turret-Mounted Artillery Area attack! [Pulled -3] Spindrift ducks his already low head down as the tail swings by, the tip bouncing harmlessly off the extra hard plate that adorns the top of his head. "If ya insist." Panels slide back shut over his emitters as they shut off and he pulls himself back up from the ground. If only so his weapon pods have enough clearance to open up, and with a dull 'thnk!' fire a small explosive at the flailing stegosaurus. Combat: Spindrift sets its defense level to Neutral. Combat: Spindrift's forcefield protecting Interstellar Battleship vanishes. Combat: Spindrift misses Slugfest with its Sapper Charge attack! Barkida has to hold onto her helmet as the racks of mortar rounds cook off and detonate under Snaptrap's barrage, destroying both the remaining mortars AND the EMP guns. She emerges from the battlements just in time to see Cyclonus taking aim at her with his rifle, and holds up her Autobot mag-pulse firearm, blocking the beam with it... moments after the hissing beam dissipates, the gun crumbles away into rusted fragments! Barkida discards the remnants of the blaster and draws her own weapon, a short black sword which flows like water and reforms into a single-bladed axe with a long haft as she grips it. "Let this be the hour when we draw blades together!" she shouts to Fortress Maximus, springing off the wall and charging towards Cyclonus in a heroic rush, singing axe carving through Decepticon gumbies on her way towards the towering enemy leader. "In the name of She Who Must Be Obeyed!" Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Barkida strikes Cyclonus with her Last Stand of the Noble Savage attack! Combat: Barkida (Barkida) used "Durandal": A Level 4 MELEE attack. Combat: Barkida's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Cyclonus. Combat: Cyclonus has been temporarily incapacitated. Some of the Autobot defenses operators looks to each other in confusion as an eerie light shines across them, but soon their confusion changes to horror as they convulse in pain as their internal systems are fused into many painful manners. As time goes by, more and more of the Autobot/Femaxian defenses are silenced by the Decepticon forces. The situation has turned so dire that the Autobots' secondary defensive lines have entered into combat against the invading Decepticons, some degenerates into fisticuffs while others engages in elaborate exchanges of weapon fire. Explosions rocks the entire base of the Golden Realms, the ground quakes endlessly that would rival even that of an actual earthquake! The large battleship begins to swing about as it cruises back towards the Autobot defensive lines, there's a slight trail of white plasma scattering behind the damaged hull of the space vessel. There is visible signs of damage, but the battleship proves to itself to be energetic and well as its numerous defensive batteries swirvels around to bear, blasting away at any nearby Decepticons, filling the skies with blinding yellow tracer fire as it continues descending towards the base of the mountain and eventually landing. The external speakers on the battleship broadcasts Fortress Maximus' voice, "Indeed, we stand together, Barkida. Strengh and courage, everyone! Hold the line!" Soon after the heavy bombardments began Decibel seems to vanish from the field of battle. Having managed to call in for some defensive support to hard hit areas he was back at his observation point when the bunker closest to him was struck. Sprinting to it to check for survivors he was able to pull one Femaxian free before the mountain above is hit. Landslide on the way he sighs and drags the injured warrior back into the remains of the bunker and braces himself for impact. After much bracing of supports and tending to those within the shelter he is now emerging from the burrow. Behind him is a bot tech and native warrior working together to help an injured Femaxian along. "Get yourselves back to a secure area." Taking a quick moment to survey the battlefield he hits his comm-link. <> Transmission sent Decibel spots Fort Max down a bit on the next slope looking the worse for wear. Leaping down and sliding the rest of the way he hoofs it over to the headmaster waving him down. "Maximus put it in park a second, you are leaking coolant all over the place. Let me seal up that up so you don't cook of yer own stores next time you try and fire." Combat: Decibel quickly patches up some of Interstellar Battleship 's minor injuries. Combat: Interstellar Battleship strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Defensive Batteries (Laser) attack! The trio of Seige cannons alight in destructive fury, their plasma cores exploding and sending acidic rounds shooting haphazardly through the Decepticon back lines. Chaos ensues, gumbies running around randomly.. some with acid rounds buried in the armor, quickly eating away any resistance. Cyclonus turns to catch the Femaxian bladed attack in the neck, severing a line to his main supply of the lifeblood of Transformers.. energon. The sweet substance flows from the wound, as the Decepticon overlord staggers backward. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Cyclonus has 'skipped' his action for this round. The turtle moves slowly after having knocked the Autobot weapons offline, suffering from Scattershot's bombardment due in large part to his lack of mobility. The head moves up, to take in the skies, and he transmits to his fellow Decepticons, "If Primus meant for Autobots to fly, he would have designed them with anti-gravity. Fusillade, why don't you teach him that lesson?" And he will transform, drawing his incendiary sword, as he rushes to Cyclonus' defence, "Not so fast, Autobot slave!" Snaptrap shifts into his imposing robot mode. Combat: Snaptrap strikes Barkida with his Incendiary Sword attack! [Pulled -2] Slugfest dodges the attack by Spindrift. "Yes me insist!" Slugfest says, "Me saw you up good!" The chainsaw plates start revving in earnest. It sounds like they're saying "rrrrrrrrrrun, spindriftspindriftspindrift, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrun, spindriftspindriftspindrift'. Combat: Slugfest misses Spindrift with his Chainsaw Plates attack! [Pulled -2] Drawing the attention of both Scattershot and Fortress Maximus, Fusillade grunts as a tremendous amount of weaponry hone in on her. "Smelt, it's hot up here! You folks quit playing patty-cake down there and MOW THESE INSECTS DOWN!" The words clatter down along with fragmented armor. The bomber's airframe groans audibly as she swings back around, lining up on the more nimble spaceship. "Cmere you bugger, I have something for you..." She closes in, and once she is satisfied with a firing solution, sends forth an obscenely large missile toward Scattershot's exhaust. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Battlecruiser with her Cruise Missile! attack! A firey sword slashes through Barkida's tunic, searing an ugly gash across her back as she finds herself bushwacked by one of the Decepticon heavies! "Soulless dog!" she curses Snaptrap, reaching out to hook Cyclonus with the beard of her axe as she spins out of the way, so that she can try to topple him over onto Snaptrap before the sinister commander can recover. Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Barkida strikes Cyclonus with her Timber! (Ruckus) Area attack! Combat: Barkida strikes Snaptrap with her Timber! (Ruckus) Area attack! Spindrift does what one would expect an armadillo to do with an angry lizard charging at him with jigsawing spines -- roll up, of course. The plate-saws cause sparks to fly as they grate against the armored ball, but it's little more than a fancy light show and superficial damage. Spindrift's got pretty tough armor for a tape sized Autobot. A subtle thrum emits from within the dillo-ball as his super-gyroscope cranks up, followed by the armored sphere spinning in place for several seconds before abruptly shooting forward under his own power in an attempt to bowl Slugfest over in the process of aiming back towards the Autobot defense lines. Now there's something your typical armadillo -can't- do. Combat: Spindrift sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Spindrift strikes Slugfest with his Wrecking Ball attack! [Pulled -2] Scattershot can feel the missile closing in on him. He adds power to his engines, turning his dive into a divebomb before pulling out a few meters above the ground and skimming along above the surface. The missile can't quite match his pattern and instead slams into the ground in a spectacular explosion. The overpressure wave flings Scattershot forward even faster, forcing him into the beginnings of an out-of-control tumble. The Technobot is forced to transform into his robot mode to avoid plowing into the ground, although he still stumbles and rolls a few times before coming to his feet. "Oughtta sell tickets for that ride," he growls, casting a brief glance skyward before scanning the ground for Snaptrap. "Got you." he murmurs, dropping to one knee and bringing up his rifle, peering through the tiny reflex scope. Battlecruiser transforms into his Scattershot mode. Combat: Scattershot sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Scattershot strikes Snaptrap with his Automatic Acid-Pellet Gun attack! Chaos and misery can be seen everywhere at the base of the mountains as its shared between Autobots, Decepticons, and Femaxians. The cries and groans of the wounded from both sides can be heard eminating from the bitter battlefield as they are dragged off the frontlines by their comrades. Earthern dirt as thrown clear into the skies, descending down as scattered dust as personnel-issued explosive shells are lobbed with reckless abandon. Pools of energon can be seen here and there as they represent the grim realities of war. As for the Femaxians? Surprisingly enough, there aren't many fatalities yet for the Femaxians as the Autobot defenders are charged with the duty of protecting them above their own lives by Fortress Maximus, as he adheres to strictly to the Autobot ideals and guided by the resolve of his own personal values. "Barkida, no! Those two are much too dangerous, you lead much of your people. If you were to fall in battle, half of our lines would collapse into confusion!" Fortress Maximus calls out as he transforms back into his robotic mode and rushes with a steel I-beam from one of the ruined bunkers and swings it heavily against Snaptrap and Cyclonus in an attempt to knock the two further away. Interstellar Battleship transforms into his Fortress Maximus mode. Combat: Fortress Maximus strikes Cyclonus with his I-Beam Area attack! [Pulled -7] Combat: Fortress Maximus strikes Snaptrap with his I-Beam Area attack! [Pulled -7] Decibel does some quick fixin' with a massive roll of duct taps and gets Maximus back on his way. Closing up the panel he was working in his audio's detect the shrill whine of jet engines over the sounds of battle. A quick glance up shows him exactly why. "Oh hell's bells. Move that fat aft of yers Maximus or it's going to take more than me to put you back together." Hauling aft the other way gets well clear of the incoming missile before detonation by diving over the burnt out hulk of a weapons platform. Popping back up on the far side he starts taking random shots at anything in range coming up the mountain. Slugfest gets bowled over, all right. He kicks his little feets and flails like an inverted turtle. Though unlike a turtle, it's when Slugfest is on his side that he's screwed. His feeble flailings may or may not strike the tape-ball that just hit him. Combat: Slugfest misses Spindrift with his FLAIL! (Kick) attack! Snaptrap defends Cyclonus against the Femaxian, and he pays the price for it, as Scattershot, Fortress Maximus, and Barkida decide to try and take a piece of his shell. He kicks up a lot of dust and debris as he tries to singlehandedly protect his lord, and in so doing makes himself a highly visible target. He blocks, he tumbles, he actually pushes off against Cyclonus' shoulder at one point to deflect a blast from behind. Reaching down, he shakes Cyclonus physically, and tries to force him back to his feet, "Get up, I can't fight this war for you entirely by myself." It seems he's forgotten the contributions of the gumbies, Slugfest, Fusillade, and Coldwar, or maybe it's just for effect. Whether he likes it or not, Snaptrap then decides to try and force the issue, shoving Cyclonus at Barkida and Scattershot, while he turns around to focus his atom smasher at Fortress Maximus. Combat: Snaptrap misses Barkida with his Projectile Unicron Spawn (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap misses Scattershot with his Projectile Unicron Spawn (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Snaptrap misses Fortress Maximus with his Projectile Unicron Spawn (Full-Auto) Area attack! Muttering to herself about stray missiles taking unscheduled vacations, Fusillade cuts her losses, paying no heed to the anguish sowed by her errant WMD. The bomber doggedly continues the fight, "Speak for yourself, Snaptrap! I've been bustin' my hump up here to cover you guys!" And, as if to prove a point, she pours power into her weapons capacitors, and sends a piercing laser shot at Fortress Maximus. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Fortress Maximus with her Nose-Mounted Laser (Laser) attack! Falling prey to the ole hook 'n topple, Cyclonus transforms into his altmode and blasts for the skies. But not before Fortress Maximus manages to knock him skyward, making his climb all the more.. swifter. Growing tired of the back and forth, the Decepticon overlord checks on the current status of the 'mission' at hand. The defensive parameters have been shattered, all their weapons are offline, and nothing stands in their way of stomping into the Golden Realm. But at the cost of casualties, a lot of them. Not to mention the Autobots themselves gaining an upperhand with Fortress Maximus' momentum swing. <> Cyclonus seethes, whirling back around to streak over the battlefield. Transforming again, the Decepticon freefalls and grabs an item from subspace. "Heh, a little something Carjack whipped up from spare parts. Let's see just how resourceful that mech is!" Hitting the ground running, Cyclonus primes the explosive and tosses it towards Barkida and the other Femaxians. "Catch." Combat: Cyclonus has created a bomb: "Mini Nega-Core"! Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Cyclonus strikes Barkida with Mini Nega-Core's Carjack's Gift Area attack! Combat: Cyclonus's Mini Nega-Core is destroyed! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Femaxian Warrior Tribe with Mini Nega-Core's Carjack's Gift Area attack! Scattershot has pushed back to his feet and his speed-shuffling towards Snaptrap in a hunched-over firing stance, still peering through his scope. That's when his field of vision is blocked by something - something grey, with flashes of purple and a hint of orange. "Frak!" the Technobot commander barks, looking away from the scope briefly. Cyclonus transforms and flies off, but Scattershot has already been shaken out of his shot. It's not all bad news though, as through a quirk of fate he's now close enough to get into personal combat with the Seacon. Only, Snaptrap seems to be looking the other way now, at Fort Max. Scattershot shrugs philosophically...and then reverses his rifle and tries to smack the high-value target in the back of the head with a quick melee. Combat: Scattershot strikes Snaptrap with his Smackdown attack! The detonation of the Mini-Nega-Core causes an implosion wave that sends relatively light objects (like Femaxians) tumbling through the swirling, supercooled wind. That's the lucky ones; the unlucky ones are either partially or wholly disintegrated by being within the sphere of the core's blast radius. Barkida is one of the lucky ones, who ends up bruised and dazed, lying in a crater where the implosion wave left her among the wounded and the scattered remains of the dead. Her knuckles are white where she was gripping the haft of her axe, and she only relaxes slightly as she pulls herself weakly out of the crater. She tries to stand and call the retreat to her people, but as soon as she inhales to belt out the order, the pain from her cracked ribs overcome her and she crumples to the ground. Combat: Barkida begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Scattershot, Slugfest, Cyclonus, Femaxian Warrior Tribe, Decibel, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Fortress Maximus, and Spindrift An Autobot gumby and one of Barkida's household spear-carriers come to pull her off the field, trying to get her to safety before she comes under attack again. Spindrift is surprisingly fast when he's rolling, fast enough that he's past Slugfest before the stego-tape can kick effectively at him. The explosion elsewhere on the battlefield doesn't escape his attention though, and as enjoyable as it is to smack around one of Soundwave's vile spawn, the duty as an Autobot calls first and foremost. Good thing he's already rolling steady so crossing the field doesn't take too long. Twisting to the side, he unrolls and digs his claws in to brake, positioning himself in between the advancing Decepticons and the retreating wounded. "G'on, get yer people outta here!", he barks over his shoulder at Barkida, even as the panels of his shell slide open and his energy shields hiss to life once more to help keep the Decepticons at bay Combat: Spindrift sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Spindrift creates a forcefield shielding Barkida from damage. Taking random pot shots at anyone stupid enough to charge up the path were somebody else just got shot brings an amused grin to Decibel's face. "How dumb can you people be? I just shot that other guy in that very spot. Geez!" Felling another idiot gumby his attention is demanded elsewhere as another explosion rocks the area. This time accompanied by the cries and wails of organic life forms in pain. Climbing from his foxhole Decibel charges forward slamming physically the next soldier trying to gain the path and keeps powering on. "Sorry, no time to stay and chat today." Paying little mind to incoming fire or the gruesome sight he comes upon he tries to do triage as best he can. Not being overly proficient in organic medical procedures does slow him down a bit. Pointing as he goes he calls out to those first over to assist. "Red tag! Yellow. Yellow. Red." As the oncoming horde steadily approaches he disengages the dish form his back letting it clatter to the ground. Extending it to its full diameter he starts loading injured into it before dragging it towards the tunnels. Combat: Decibel begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Loadout, Scattershot, Slugfest, Cyclonus, Femaxian Warrior Tribe, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Fortress Maximus, and Spindrift "Daughters of the Realm, retreat to... to the lower vaults!" Barkida calls out weakly, shaking off the Autobot and leaning heavily on the slave girl who is helping her off the field. "If you can walk, bring one of your wounded fellows and follow me! If you can't, call out or move so we can see you're alive and pull you out!" The forcefield gets an uneven smile. Moving with unnatural agility that belies his size, Fortress Maximus swiftly weaves away from the direction that Snaptrap's cannons is pointed as he closes in further towards the Seacon commander with each and every large unrelenting stride. As the Headmaster leader closes in, fist balled, ready to deliver a crushing uppercut his binary bonded partner, Galen, warns him of the impending sneak attack by Fusillade and is granted just enough time to lean back to avoid the high powered laser blast! However what finally gets Fortress Maximus' attention though is the sight of the deadly explosive held in Cyclonus' hands. Fortress Maximus' optics widens and his mouth opens to protest, "NO!" He throws his right hand into the air towards the explosive as it sails through the air, as it ready to take the deadly package within himself, and act that would certainly bring him certain death but even this selfless act fails as the explosive travels out of reach. And disaster. Femaxians fall either dead, wounded, or simply erased from existance in front of the Autobot Headmaster leader, causing him to shove the nearby Decepticons away from while he runs ahead to scoop up any Femaxians he can find with his two massive hands and attempt to ferry them within his protective arms towards the entrance of the Golden Realm. Combat: Fortress Maximus sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Fortress Maximus begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cyclonus, Femaxian Warrior Tribe, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, and Spindrift Slugfest is still on the ground, still flat on his side. But he can see the Autobots retreating! "Yay they going away!" he says, "Them losing!" Then he tries once more to right himself. After flailing a little longer, he pauses. "Um...help?" Stepping over half an Autobot corpse, the Decepticon's foot is brought down on the aforementioned robot's chest cavity.. armor weakened by the mini nega-core explosion, Cyclonus' heel breaks through the brittle chest and crushes the lasercore beneath. Scowling, the Decepticon overlord waves his troops forward after the retreating Autobots. "Pursue." is all he rasps off, before assessing the losses in taking this ground. And in gumbie fashion, they fill the skies with magenta laser blasts.. now that the enemy is in full-ish retreat. Combat: Cyclonus strikes Barkida with his Gumbie Assault! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Spindrift's forcefield absorbs Cyclonus's attack. Combat: Cyclonus misses Spindrift with his Gumbie Assault! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Cyclonus misses Fortress Maximus with his Gumbie Assault! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Cyclonus strikes Decibel with his Gumbie Assault! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Cyclonus misses Scattershot with his Gumbie Assault! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1] Snaptrap knows better than to take to the skies after retreating Autobots when there is an army of Decepticon gumby warriors. He knows who trained them. So he stays on the ground, checking in with certain key personnel, curious to see their condition. He pulls out a pad, which he writes some preliminary notes upon, and steps over a fallen Femaxian, "And the liberation goes on." Coldwar has disconnected. The stench of the dead wafts up on smoke, which slipstreams over Fusillade's battered airframe as she cruises at low altitude over the battlefield, snapping off shots at anything still twitching. Hying to Cyclonus's call, the bomber surges forward, still confident of her engines to zip her out of harm's way. She surges forward to heap more punishment on the Autobots, and to seal their decision to retreat. "I've got my eye on the broad side of the barn hoverin' round in front of me!" She cackles again, and sends a final barrage of laser fire after the subcommander. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Fortress Maximus with her Twice is the Charm! (Laser) attack! Spindrift holds his ground even as the swarm of Deceptigumbies take the sky in an attempt to hunt down scragglers from the air with automated weapons. Crackling flashes illuminate what little remains of the jungle around the fight as several of the bolts strike the energy shield behind him, but it continues to hold under the assault to ensure the Barkida and whomever else possible of her following can get back to safety. Several of the blasts rain down around the armadillo as well, sending plumes of scorched dirt and smoldering foliage flying through the air, the cloud of particulate becoming thick enough to briefly obscure him from view. And when it clears, Spindrift is.... gone. Was he?.. could he of been? No, wait. That's not a crater, it's a big dugout -hole- in the ground where he was. Sure enough he digs his way back up the surface a few moments later after having tunneled back from his impromtu foxhole. Seeing the others have already made their retreat with as much of the wounded as they can, Spindrift shuts off the energy shield and recurls up, speeding off to the gates before the can be closed.... Little guy is pretty fast when he's impersonating a wheel like that. Combat: Spindrift sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Spindrift's forcefield protecting Barkida vanishes. Combat: Spindrift begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cyclonus and Space-Going B-1R Lancer Scattershot turns and scans the battlefield, realizing he and Spindrift are among the few Autobots not already in full-ish retreat. The most aggressive of the Decepticon gumbies have already advanced past his position. "No sense in stayin' out here giving' target practice --" He pauses as Spindrift disappears, then barks a laugh. Finally Scattershot transforms, plowing through a few Decepticon gumbies on his way to rejoin the Autobot retreat. Scattershot transforms into his Battlecruiser mode. Combat: Battlecruiser begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. The Golden Realm's main entrance consists of two large slab of extremely durable metal made by the best alloys the female Femaxians can offer, one on the inside and one on the outside. Before it was to keep the brutes and other unwanted natural life on Femax out of the sanctum of the Golden Realm, now it serves as the very barrier that holds the Decepticons' invasion off, but for how long? All things eventually break down, and the Decepticons will stop at nothing until their objectives are met. Holing up within the mountain is certainly no solution either. However these sort of high level thinking seems to elude Fortress Maximus as he rushes into the Golden Realm's entrance site. The inner gates slowly slides open as the outer gates begins closing in unison. The pace at which these heavy slabs of metal are moved are slow, granting more than enough time for any straggling defenders to make their way in, while a team of determined Autobots form a defensive line behind the closing exit of the Golden Realm's outer gates, firing at any Decepticons that enters within range. Autobots and Decepticons drop down wounded or dead, as time passes. The battle ends as viciously as it began. As for Fortress Maximus. He stands just inside of the outer gates, having handed off the wounded he was carrying and directing the withdraw. One would think that he'd be visibly angered, but the stone cold expression on his face belies such assumption as he stands there directing while under fire. Eventually Fusillade's laser blast strikes home, burning a blackened hole into Fortress Maximus' left shoulder, prompting the Headmaster leader to level a cold look at the bomber. His gaze sweeps across the Decepticon lines, Fusillade, Slugfest, Snaptrap, Cyclonus, as he levels a deathly gaze at each of them it becomes finally apparent that the large Autobot Headmaster leader is consumed by tranquil fury. Impatiently tapping his foot against the charred ground, Cyclonus crosses his arms over his chest and just watches as the Autobots and Femaxians manage to retreat inside the confines of the Golden Realm. The apparent scowl turns into a faint smirk, as he eyes Fortress Maximus at the doorway. A swift about face later, the Decepticon overlord inspects the weapon damage and injured. "Pullstring, have the Hellbender land and all soldiers seen to. Repair and resupply, priority one. Oh, and get Carjack in medical.. we'll need his specific skill set." Slugfest continues to languish on the ground, until someone picks him up.
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* Brrrruuuum-CLONK *** There's a loud metallic echo as the Golden Realm's outer exit seals up. Being small does have its perks. Spindrift is able to zip in just before the doors slam shut. He tumbles to a stop once inside, unrolling as he does. And then sort of flops on the ground for a few moments. When a tech starts to come towards him he waves the guy off with a foreclaw. "Nah, go deal with the badly hurt. I'm just a little roughed up an' runnin' low on juice." Keeping that shield up isn't the most energon efficient task, but it got the job done. As ordered, the Hellbender swiftly steers into the vicinity and sets down well away from the mountain itself. The landing ramp extends as the doors pull up, medical and salvage crews rushing down to gather what they can and return to the appropriate areas. Cyclonus slowly strides toward the galactic cruiser, stepping on and over the fallen. Autobot, Femaxian, and Decepticon alike.. they all make that same gut-wrenching crunch.
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