| abstract
| - Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 8:42 AM Promontory Point, Mars The vast red planetscape of Mars extends for thousands of kilometers, uninterrupted by little more than dust, rocks, and the occasional geological feature, at least until this particular area. Formerly the site of the Terran compound, it was the resting place of the massive city-Transformer Trypticon for a time, and of the compound itself, there are few traces; Trypticon parked himself right on top of it. To the southeast is the largest canyon system on the planet, Valles Marineris, dwarfing even Trypticon himself. A relatively calm 'day' on Mars, with the red dust of the planet's surface being barely stirred by a stray breeze coursing through the valleys and over the sandy hills. Keeping the dust off of important equipment is a never-ending chore that has come to be associated with appropriate punishment detail for unruly Decepticons. At least for those who've done something that isn't serious enough to warrant a cannoning or similar brutal punishment from their superiors. The last few weeks have been relatively quiet, with all of the activity more or less happening on Earth. That quietness is about to come to an abrupt end, however. The distant rumble of flight engines echoes off of the canyon walls of Valles Marineris, followed mere seconds later by the surge of a white, blue and red form rocketing along the surface at a slightly more than dangerous speed-to-altitude ratio. Having made an orbital re-entry on the opposite side of the planet, Sky Lynx had quite literally put the figurative 'pedal to the metal' and spent the last half-hour burning across Mars' surface as fast as he could, keeping a low profile to avoid any radar sweeps from random seeker patrols. It's an incredibly difficult flight path only made possibly by the fact that for all his boasting about his skill, Sky Lynx actually -is- almost as good as he really says he is. The first hints of what is coming straight at the Decepticon base would be found not by the radar control towers, but rather through visual spotting of a pair of unlucky seekers, currently pushing large wire-brushed brooms along Trypticon's upper battlements as they try to clear the titanic T-Rex of red dust buildup. One of the Decepticon soldiers idly elbows his pal and points out over the valley at the distant dust cloud that's getting closer with each passing second. "...hey, whassat?" Deep inside of Sky Lynx's lower 'cargo bay' pod, the small team that have volunteered for this mission huddle close together, as Rodimus goes about the last parts of the plan. "Alright, there's nothing fancy here. This is more or less a simple smash and grab. Although I guess you could call it more of a 'smash and look' in this case. Sky Lynx and those of us with the biggest partypoppers are going to kick up as much ruckus as possible. And those who are more inclined to be able to slip around unnoticed need to get a good look at what's down there." With that, he turns to look at Amber, who apparently is what he's speaking of. If he's a little unhappy at the prospect of a human jumping into the fray again, he doesn't show it, as his face is all 'business' mode right now, "We're going to deploy with Sky Lynx's lower half. Amber, you sit up in his upper half a little longer, and you'll have to parachute into that main shaft. We should have enough firepower going around you shouldn't be noticed. Get anything you can in there. Pictures, scans, commit to memory, anything. Heck if the Decepticons kept paperwork I'd even recommend snatching a folder, but we'll have to make do. We need stuff we can analyze proper and even feed to Teletran 2 when we get back." With that, Rodimus stands up straight and peers back to the other Autobots in turn. "Any questions will have to be fast ones, because we're about to make landfall!" "Ah-ha! Ruckus! Now that's what I'm POW, talking about!" Warpath cheers, "I'll make such a racket, the Decepticons' audios will blow out!" He's ready to go. "Now, BLAM, who's with me?" Sideswipe leans against the inside wall, his arms crossed, head down a little. He's not said much of anything since taking off from earth...is he in recharge? No, there, he just looked up and looked around, a bit of a frown on his features. Today, Amber hopes for some payment for the millions who died in that attack and its aftermath. Wearing the same old environmental suit she wore before, which was left at the EDC base, and with extra oxygen cylinders and a backpack, she's ready to do her own part in making this happen. The thought of parachuting into Trypticon frightens her, but it's expected. She bows her head and murmurs, "Right, sir," as she hides her fear and sternly focuses on the mission. One hand briefly touches the pistol at her side, the other goes to her camcorder, hanging round her neck but anchored to keep it from being jostled. Currently, Cyclonus is sitting in his office within Trypticon, working on bureaucratic busywork on his computer. It's the usual--authorize this, send this person there, promote this guy, demote that guy, execute that other guy--and Cyclonus has done it over a thousand times, all in Galvatron's name. He is not doing anything about the suspicious dust cloud because no one has notified him of it. So, odds are if the Autobots don't kill those two gumbies stupidly gawking at it, then Cyclonus will. Cyclonus is also the one who organized the group that's currently scrubbing down Trypticon for dust, as they all displeased him in some shape or form. Is he joining in, you wonder? What, are you serious? That is SO beneath him. "Umm....yeah. Sir?" Hairsplitter is in a floating holo-cubicle near Cyclonus pointing at a heads up display of the Martian landscape. "Yeeah...if this is Autobots, we'll need most of the detail to fill in overtime and hazard requests." He didn't alert Spinister before speaking up to Cyclonus, but the Target Master is suddenly there all the same, Singe in tow. He folds his hands behind his back, waiting for orders. A Seeker sits in a makeshift creation of two chairs and a tables at what passes for a security monitor inside Trypticon these days, given the surroundings. The odd construction is meant to resemble a lazy boy recliner, though it's form and function is actually more of a hindrance than it is a help to the Seeker's comfort. Idly tapping his fingers on the console, their *clik clak clik* is the only thing that brings noise inside the almost barren base. "Go to Mars they said." Backfire moans out loud. "Bring glory to the Empire they said." he whines, slamming a fist down on the console. "Straxus forsaken dust ball." Backfire laments, dropping in his seat.. which falls apart, depositing him on the ground. "Don't worry." Rodimus offers a reassuring smile at Amber as he nods quickly, "We're going to -really- get their attention. They won't have time to notice a human poking around. As soon as you think you've got something, let us know and we'll snatch you out in an instant." With that, Rodimus leans down to give Amber a hand, lifting her to an overhead hatch that leads into the upper part of the 'shuttle' portion of SKy Lynx's body, just as the huge shuttle-dinobird can be heard speaking. "Alright chaps, no more pleasure cruising as it's time to get down to business. Fear not, as with my presence here bolstering our forces we cannot possibly fail! Heads up you Decepticon lowlifes!" Rocketing just over Trypticon's outer wall, Sky Lynx's cargo pod careens into the two unlucky Decepticon seekers, sending them crashing down into the courtyard even as the huge Autobot gains a bit more altitude. His lower cargo bay half detaches a split second later, tumbling end-over end once before it crashes down heavily into the red dust, its armored frame weathering the harsh impact with nary a scratch. No sooner has it come to a halt than the side opens up and the passengers can disembark, Rodimus stumbling out first as he holds one hand to his head to clear the cobwebs of the 'wild ride'. As the Autobots disembark, the 'Lynx' half of the Dinobird transforms upwards and bounds after them to join the fray. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that," Rodimus grunts, shaking his head and finally getting focused. "...okay Autobots, let's go! If it's got a purple evil grinny emblem, you know what to do!" Indeed as he says this, Rodimus transforms and roars forward, smashing through a collection of crates and sending another pair of seekers comically running for cover. Sky Lynx's upper half transforms the instant he separates from his lower body, becoming the 'bird' part that everyone knows so well, "Alright Ms. Mackenzie, I believe this is going to be your stop!" Angling down, the Dinobird suddenly banks harshly to one side, releasing his 'hold' on the tiny human directly over the shaft, "Happy landings!" A moment later, he's already swooping back to gleefully join in on the sudden chaos. Warpath whoops and charges at the Decepticons! "Hey, Decepticons! Come here and tangle with me if you're not ZING, chicken!" The backpack/parachute package is bulky, but under Martian gravity, Amber can handle it easily. When Sky Lynx releases her, she falls far enough both to clear the Dino Bird and to make sure she's on course into that gaping, black, monstrous shaft waiting to swallow her. As soon as she passes inside, she pulls the ripcord and really hopes there are no workers inside today. The parachute opens as designed, slowing her fall enough that she can snag onto one of the catwalks that ring the dark shaft. Hurriedly pulling in the billowing cloth before it falls to the unseen bottom, she lashes it into a bundle and discards it. Then she stops to watch and to listen. Red Lambo of Doom transforms down and follows behind Rodimus, saying nothing still. All he wants is to fight....he's been itching to fight, to get off that mudball for a few cycles, anything. Now's his chance. But he's not going to let Rodimus out of his sights if he can help it either. Hey, someone's got to watch his back when the metal shavings fly. Starfighter looks up at Hairsplitter as he pipes up, annoyed at being interrupted... but that changes to surprise when he hears what Hairsplitter has to say. "What? Autobots? Here? I thought they were occupied with helping their human pets!" He stares at the oncoming dust cloud. "Why is this the first I've heard of this!? How could they have taken us unaw...are?" It's then that he notices Spinister is in the room with him. He wasn't there just a moment ago. He's pretty sure his door was locked. "...how did you DO that? Bah--never mind. Decepticons, to battle!" Mere minutes later, Cyclonus is bursting out of Trypticon's launch pad. "A grandiose entrance as usual, Rodimus Prime--" Cyclonus rumbles. "Pity your EXIT shall be so ignominious!" And he promptly begins strafing the Autobots running all about the city like they own it--which they don't, of course. Combat: Starfighter misses Red Lambo of Doom, Warpath, and Flaming Winnebago with his Full-Auto Area attack! Attack Helicopter quickly follows Cyclonus, turning up the heat as Singe activates his flammable napalm spray attack! "Buuuuuurn, baby!" Singe adds, super wishing there were more chicks at this sausage fest. Combat: Attack Helicopter strikes Red Lambo of Doom but misses Flaming Winnebago and Warpath with his Flamethrower Area attack! Lying on the ground rubbing his head, Backfire looks up in startled attention when Cyclonus comes over Trypticon's loud speakers. Staring at the screen in shock, the Seeker makes a run for the exit.. making a side stop by records. Only after having changed the log to denote SOMEONE ELSE was on monitor duty when the Autobots snuck up on them, Backfire manages to find the exit and confront this most vile menace. Pulling up both arms to aim at his would be adversaries, Backfire laughs. "Taste the power that we Decepticons wield, you treacherous dogs!" Attempting to fire, the Seeker realizes he didn't actually activate his weapons systems.. they'll need another minute or two to initialize. So Backfire does the next best thing, "PEW PEW PEW PEW!" he shouts. Combat: Backfire strikes Warpath but misses Flaming Winnebago and Red Lambo of Doom with his INVISIBLE LAZORZ!! Area attack! The shaft is, thankfully, relatively quiet. Although Amber is forced to immediately take cover as a pair of Decepticons rise upwards, transforming as they go into their Pyramid seeker forms to join the fray outside. Somewhere, alarm klaxons can suddenly be heard blaring out their warnings as the attack gets underway on the surface. Hopefully Rodimus and company can keep the Decepticons occupied long enough without biting off more than they can chew. Unfortunately the descent into the shaft isn't as simple for Amber as just moving down a series of stairs shaped like a fire-escape until she meets bottom. There's not even any ladders for her to use to get up and down...though that would make sense for Decepticons given that all of them can fly. Still, with a combination of well-spaced protrusions in the side of the shaft and Mars' low gravity, Amber can probably get down there so long as she's not careless in her jumps. Maybe it would help if she thought of it as being like those old vintage sidescrolling video games from before the 21st century. Warpath manages to avoid getting hit by two attacks, but a third from backfire hits him! "Hey, POW! Take this, you scatterbrained seeker!" He fires a blast from his tank barrel at the Decepticon. "You need a ZOWIE, lobotomy!" Combat: Warpath strikes Backfire with his COUNTERPEW! (Disruptor) attack! Flaming Winnebago jinks left, then right as shots impact the ground all around him, kicking up sparks where they make contact with metal surfaces and small puffs of red martian dust where they don't, "Oh come on, Cyclonus!" Rodimus Prime grunts, transforming on the move and flipping end over end before moving into an outright tuck and roll forward as he crashes through another series of crates and slides along to a stop next to a bulkhead wall as part of the facilities that have been erected here. It didn't -look- very impressive, but that evasive maneuver brought him through all of that chaos without a scratch, miraculously. "Give me some credit. I'm sure that I'll be making grandiose entrances and exits for years to come! If it wasn't for me, who'd light up your boring guard duty hours huh? What was it this time? Didn't jump fast enough when Galvatron wanted his cannon polished?" With his arms punching the air at random intervals, Rodimus sents up a torrent of low-yield but optic-scrambling electro-blasts into the Martian sky, more to try and sow chaos than anything else. Yeah he's looking to make a BIG light show. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Backfire with his Arm Blasters Area attack, temporarily affecting Backfire's Accuracy. (Blinded) but misses Starfighter and Attack Helicopter with his Arm Blasters Area attack! Amber MacKenzie is a bit out of practice, but she *is* familiar with rock climbing, and she's even familiar with Martian gravity. Scowling at the protrusions, she realizes she'll have to plan her path of descent as far as she can see before actually taking it. She listens intently, but the klaxons really screw things up for that. Chance-taking is sometimes required, like, uh, now. A leap of faith takes her some twenty feet down; she doesn't want to try for a greater distance without some practice first. If a protrusion is large enough to rest on, she'll bring out her camcorder and scan both up and down. Even with just Earthly technology, it can handle low light conditions and some magnification. Sky Lynx rockets along the battlefield at high speed, his avian half re-merging with his lower half as they form his much larger and more power dragon-like self. With laser blasts chasing after him like angry wasps, he banks around several of the guard towers of the Decepticon cityformer, his mind racing with possibilities and certain plans. "So, Rodimus wants a distraction does he?" he mutters to himself, an idea forming that makes Sky Lynx even MORE pleased with himself than usual. One has to wonder if it's even possible. "Well now lucky I'm here because I'll give him -exactly- what he wants!" And with that, the huge dinobird banks hard and goes straight down. Compared to Trypticon, even Sky Lynx seems small by comparison. But he's still a -huge- Autobot, and when he lands with all four paws right about where he thinks Trypticon's head usually goes when he transforms, there's still a heavy *BOOOM* of metal against metal, soon followed by the dull roar of flames licking out to wash over the purple armor, starting to superheat it. "Come on, Trypticon! Are you afraid to face -ME-? Sky Lynx is here to challenge you!" Red Lambo of Doom follows behind Rodimus at a quick pace, keeping his distance but yet close enough to draw fire if needed, and be a possible distraction. He zigs the first attack thrown his way, then yelps as he's hit with a line of flame from Spinister's flame thrower. Not slowing down though he races across the dust covered surface of Mars and the Decepticon base as he avoids the next assault thrown his way by transforming and going into a roll that brings him upright. Bringing his shoulder rocket launcher to bear, he takes aim and fires off one of his flares, hoping to do a little blinding of his own, following Prime's example. Combat: Sideswipe strikes Backfire with his Magnesium Phosphorous Flares attack, temporarily affecting Backfire's Accuracy. (Blinded) While his systems engage and charge up, Backfire is knocked between two blasts.. one knocking him left, the other right. Spun around like a drill, the Seeker's heel makes a nice gouge mark in the dirt before he can right himself. Well, as much as Backfire can actually 'right' himself. "Aha, you hid in a self created sandstorm?" Backfire muses aloud, taking to the skies with the help of antigravs. "Tell me, red one!" he roars at Sideswipe. "WHERE IS THIS WEATHER DOMINATOR TECHNOLOGY???" intending to tackle the Lambo of doom. Right before contact, a flare gets stuck inbetween his helm and the bridge of his nose.. magnesium igniting and buring through his optics. "I'M BLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNND!" Combat: Backfire strikes Sideswipe with his Car Tackle! (Grab) attack! "Please, Rodimus Prime," Cyclonus replies as he circles around Rodimus, moving too fast for the Autobot leader to track him properly. "Mars is not even half a day's travel for me. Do you seriously believe that I would be here as part of a disciplinary action, like I'm some washed-up seeker with an overglorified opinion of himself? I'm simply taking care of the tasks that are beneath Lord Galvatron's notice, as I always do." And that might even be true! "Personally, I think you're here to fight while Ultra Magnus does the work of actually leading the Autobots," Cyclonus sneers as he bears down on Prime. "That sounds about right to me." Transforming into robot mode, he descends towards Rodimus, trying to slash him across the gut as he whips past. "Though I would have preferred to fight *him.*" Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with his Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword attack! Trypticon had been slow to wake... until Sky Lynx slams down on his head. Before, Trypticon might have been content to just transform into battle station mode and handle this attack that way. It would have been less exhausting and less draining. But now... it's *on.* "..rrrrrrRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!" Trypticon's rage thunders forth, and the massive cityformer begins the transformation into his robot mode. Inside and outside the city, Decepticons panic and scramble to get to "safe" zones before they are caught between moving parts and crushed. Many of them simply fly out of the city, wailing in terror. Cyclonus will pimpslap them for cowardice later. "TRYPTICON... FEARS... NOTHING!" the cityformer booms as it slowly rises up. The protrusions are various things like power relay points, more catwalks to hold monitoring equipment, or in some cases little more than hanging power cables to bring energy down to the lower levels of the shaft and the machinery the Decepticons have set up to monitor and control the device that caused such chaos to Earth weeks ago. The entire facility is huge, down here, even full sized Decepticons able to move about freely. And as Amber makes her way down, she gets some good recordings of the height of the shaft, both up and down. Getting down inside the shaft is the easy part...how she's going to get out quickly after this is a bit of a mystery, but one problem at a time, right? Unfortunately, Amber soon discovers that she's not alone down here too. "I don't care what sort of alert is going on out there, I have to monitor this equipment and I'm not moving unless a direct order comes from above!" The agitated voice belongs to what looks like a seeker, but a very -old- seeker given the fact that he has that mysterious metal beard-and-moustache that some older mechs seem to get for some strange reason. The image that he must be up in years is further enforced by the fact that he's walking along with the help of a large metal 'cane', hobbling from one terminal to the next and studying the readouts before him as he continues his conversation with whoever's on the other end of the line. "Then deal with it! This job is too important for me to turn my back on it. Let the younger mechs run off for the glory, I'll continue with these power relays until I'm satisfied and not a moment later. If Galvatron wants this machine ready to fire again and put an end to that disgusting mudball civilization once and for all then I stay -here-!" Tossing the handheld radio (another evidence of his age) to one side, the old Seeker grumbles and complains as he hobbles over to another terminal. "Blasted useless slagheaps for soldiers these days. I remember when it -meant- something to be good enough to be a Decepticon...now just a bunch of turbocharged half-wits with more engines than processing power!" And so the old mech keeps grumbling away, moving about and unaware of Amber's presence even as she sets down on a catwalk about twenty feet or so above his head. Even Sky Lynx is briefly caught by surprise at the sudden fury as Trypticon starts to transform beneath him. The entire area setting to rumbling with a small earthquake as the huge Cityformer takes on his more upright form. Nonetheless, with his mission accomplished and -then- some, Sky Lynx is quick to capitalize on this heck of a distraction. "What!? Is that it Trypticon! Come on!" He quickly orbits around the saurian super-titan's head as he finishes transforming, popping off quick and random laser shots to keep his attention. "Is that the best you can do? You're too slow old boy! Come on, try to take me if you have the -guts-!" "I'll let Ultra Magnus know, I'm sure he'll be eager to give you a proper go next chance he gets!" Rodimus leaps backwards as Cyclonus comes lashing in, lunging just out of the way as the sword tip slashes by where he was a split second before. "But hey you're right about one thing. I never -could- resist a chance to give a Decepticon a proper thumping." Dropping into a half crouch, Rodimus suddenly transforms again, engine roaring as he covers the distance between himself and Cyclonus with a squeal of tires. "Especially when it involves Galvatron's favorite toy soldier!" Combat: Flaming Winnebago strikes Cyclonus with his The Power attack! Warpath transforms and his turret starts rotating in a 360 degree spin, firing at intervals. "I'm going to BLAM, blow all you Decepticons away!" Combat: Red Tank strikes Backfire with his Random shot out of NOWHERE! (Grab) attack! Amber MacKenzie immediately focuses on the most important thing: that bloody handheld radio. Though tempted to simply shoot at it until it dies, there's still the possibility of someone hearing, so she'll have to do it the hard way. She watches the Viator clone hobbling around - and pegs the cane as another potential target - to get a feel for his movements. A sigh marks her regret that she can't mime Fusillade's voice to order the old guy out, which would make this a whole lot easier, but she has no talent for voice mimicry. As soon as the Decepticon's movements are predictable, and he's not facing towards the radio, she drops lightly to the floor and snags that radio. Another leap takes her back up to the cover of a hanging piece of equipment, where she hides the radio. Ah, but she still has to finish recording and get out. Sideswipe watched as his flare blinded Backfire. What he wasn't prepared for was the falling Decepticon to make a grab for him at the last minute. Going down in a pile of arms and legs, he blinks once in surprise and as he goes to grab the 'Con and try to dent his helm a little, Warpath gives him a whollop! "DAMN Warpath!" he yelled, "That was too close for comfort! Few more inches lower and you would have grooved the armor!" Seeing Backfire next to him, he decides to give him a little 'drop kick' before he rolls to stand back up. Combat: Sideswipe misses Backfire with his Drop Kick (Kick) attack! It's Hairsplitter's turn . The Apache makes a second pass, the Neb's energy expulsion systems whining to life with a standard charge. "Let's see if you've got what it takes to be a Legend among Females, Hairsplitter!" Singe cackles, still preening that he hit one target out of three. Hairsplitter doesn't respond: he's busy prepping a Powermaster Point report on the attack that he's current fending off. Also, aiming at Warpath. Combat: Attack Helicopter strikes Red Tank with his Lock-Target Laser Rifle attack! "Wunnfft--" Cyclonus grunts as Rodimus slams into him, and the space warrior finds himself tumbling into the air in Prime's wake. "--engh, minor damage at best, Prime!" Just as he pulls himself up, however, he notices Trypticon transforming into robot mode! "Oh, no--" he groans, before transforming and rapidly accelerating away from the cityformer. Even if he's not ON Trypticon per se, no one expected him to transform today and thus the cityformer's body is littered with scaffolding, equipment, paint cans, and various tools, all of which goes tumbling off of him and onto the ground. Numerous Deceptigumbies who thought they had been safe get beaned by these objects, and despite the reduced gravity a few of them are pinned by scaffolding or knocked out by something really heavy. One tape-former with a suspicious red white and blue paint job even has an open paint can fall onto his head, coating him in purple paint and causing him to stumble around blindly (and avoid alt-interaction, naturally). "I don't know what you hope to gain by attacking Trypticon, Prime," Cyclonus says, "But your efforts are for naught. Without Metroplex any such assault is futile. You'd attack him with Sky Lynx instead, but that is even more foolish! Trypticon could obliterate him with one blast!" And as if trying to demonstrate his point, Cyclonus strafes the ground after Prime. Combat: Cyclonus misses Flaming Winnebago with his Oxidizing Laser attack! After the crash collision with Sideswipe, though he totally did mean to do that, Backfire rouses to his feet.. only to be assaulted by Warpath. Still visibly shaken, and blinded, Backfire pushes away from the tankformer and stumbles back toward Sideswipe. Or where he hopes Sideswipe would be. "What's the big idea, loaf? Are you that concerned with keeping your WEATHER DOMINATOR technology a secret? Ahahahaha, no -fooling- me!!" he jests, feeling behind him.. he touches something. "Ah, Sideswipe.. there you are. Take this, and that *HRMPH* and a little of THIS!!" he calls out, throwing his fists wildly. After Sideswipe rolls to his feet, a full ten cliks away.. he'd notice that Backfire is currently punching an oversized Mars rock. "And some of *HRMPH* this!" "NO, PUNY AUTOBOT," Trypticon booms. "THAT WAS NOT THE BEST I CAN DO!" And he promptly proves it by opening up on Sky Lynx with almost everything he's got. The bland Martian sky quickly becomes a terrifying light show as lasers streak outwards in every direction and mortars and plasma bombs explode in mid-air. And worse yet, should Sky Lynx stray too close, Trypticon will snap at him with jaws large as skyscrapers, an almost certain death for Sky Lynx if he is not quick enough to escape it. Any pilot with any damn sense would get the hell out of there. All the while, Decepticons are still trying to get clear of them, but one poor guy is tangled up in the cables of his suspended scaffold, screaming as he swings about like a pendulum. The old seeker keeps hobbling around, and complaining the whole time. He may be old and cranky like Viator, but at least Viator still seems solid enough to be able to contribute to a fight when need be. There's something decidedly...frail about this old Decepticon. The fact that he's even still operational in a brutal regime where 'survival of the fittest' is often the rule of law is nothing short of a small miracle. He must have some sort of technical skills that still makes him useful enough to keep around. As the ground shakes slightly above from another explosion from Trypticon's rampage, the old mech glances up only briefly before giving a grunt and reaching out to stab a few buttons on the console, "...how's a mech supposed to get any work done under these conditions, eh?" Interestingly, he's using a datapad to plug into the various consoles, and each time he's taking readouts that he feeds into a portable terminal that he has set up on a metal table next to him. Not unlike a large version of a laptop computer. The place is a mess, but functional, with the terminals obviously jury rigged to monitor the alien superweapon's power fluctuations and state of readiness. Cables are strewn all about here, even with some of them not having been properly insulated and with bare wires open to the Martian air. Some of the cables aren't even fully hooked up yet, still laying with one end unconnected to whatever piece of machinery was supposed to be brought down for them. Luckily not much dust gets down this far. "...now where did I put that radio?" He starts groping about absentmindedly. Flaming Winnebago accelerates again as the ground starts to explode around him from Cyclonus' strafing attack. Dust kicks up in a great cloud to either side from the near misses and from his own tires struggling for purchase, before he transforms again, erupting upwards and blowing free of his trailer as he lunges straight ahead and comes crashing down ungracefully in the dust. Though thankfully unharmed. Rolling over onto his back, Rodimus looks straight up... ...and sees the huge foot of Trypticon coming down towards him. Optics wide, the Autobot Leader gets up and scrambles free, just as the giant limb crashes down with a heavy thundering shake where he used to be a split second ago. "WOAH! Hey come on, Cyclonus! What's the matter, haven't you got a good hold of the leash on your pet here? Don't blame me if Trypticon's lacking in self control!" Rodimus points up at Cyclonus' form with one hand...but it's not from that direction where the attack comes. It's from Rodimus' trailer, which has unfolded open and raised the weapon turret at the ready, turning in place and letting loose with a staccato of high speed blasts after the roaring space fighter. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Cyclonus with his Sneaky Trailer attack! "Hey, OW!" the red tank exclaims, upon a surprise attack from Spinister, "I'll take you down, whirlybird!" The still rotating turret belches out a shell at the Decepticon, aimed at the rotors of the hovering helicopter. Combat: Red Tank strikes Attack Helicopter with his Conventional Shells attack! Sideswipe gets to his feet, stumbling a little sideways as Trypticon unfolds himself and tries to slam a foot down to smash Rodimus. Wincing, hoping Rodimus has got things somewhat under control, he turns to find someone to go after and ....BLINKS... as he sees Backfire punching a rock, yelling at it like its... him. Doing his best, he moves up to the half blind Decepticon and then grunts and makes noises like he's being hurt, "No! Stop! Don't! PLEASE!" he pretend begs as he takes aim to give the 'Con a little 'love tap' of his own. Combat: Sideswipe strikes Backfire with his Piledriver Arms attack! Sky Lynx really -is- almost as good as he likes to make himself out to be, darting left and right as explosions tear through the sky where he was a split second ago. "Missed! Missed again! Come -on- old chap, surely you're able to HIT what you're aiming at, aren't you?" As the jaws come lunging in, the Dinobird almost playfully darts around the open mouth as it closes with a heavy crash of those mighty jaws coming shut. "Not today, old chap!" And right then he catches a direct hit from Trypticon's optic lasers, blasting straight into his midriff and blowing the Dinobird into his two separate halves. "WAUGH!" Spinning off in separate directions, they both crash down into the dirt, the Lynx landing splayed out, and the bird half ending up upside-down in a sand dune, clawed legs comically pawing at the air for a few seconds before he can extricate himself. "...ouch. Alright, I'll give you that one then." Shaking off the brief disorientation, he then launches himself -back- into the attack. One thing can never be said about Sky Lynx...he's not a coward. "Come on then big fellow. I'm over here!" The bird rockets up past Trypticon's head, circling behind him. "AND down here!" The Lynx adds, bounding between the giant's legs. There are a number of thing that need to be recorded. The protrusions, which translate to equipment, cabling, relay points, monitors, and the like, plus the equipment at the bottom, over which the senile Viator II is mumbling and grumbling, the terminals and readouts he's looking at. Amber can't record all of the latter, not being positioned correctly for it, but she can get some of them. Also stored in the back of her mind is that careless, off hand comment that this is the weapon that took Earth's defenses and energy grids down. Then something else catches her attention... Her gaze focuses on the guy's portable terminal. Can she snatch it, too? Not without being caught; it's just too big. And if she's caught? Her restless gaze returns to her surroundings, and she studies them with narrowed eyes. A possible trap leaps into her mind. Uninsulated cable... metal cane. Shrugging out of her backpack, she leaves it behind another piece of equipment and waits for Viator II to turn his back. Once he does so, she drops silently to the floor again, but this time she doesn't hide. Instead, she steps stealthily over to those bare, uninsulated cables and waits for him to turn around. When he does, she smirks insolently at him and rudely tips a table of equipment over with a dusty CRASH. "This place is a mess." Attack Helicopter starts to pull right to avoid the shell, but finds himself in a shower of falling Custodialcons! Maneuvering shot, the shell hits just under his wing, disconnecting Singe, who loses his connection and falls- "If only Ember MacKenzie was here to see my noble ennnnnnd-" only to be caught in one smooth and bad ass move by Spinister, who transforms into robot mode, twists, and catches Singe with one hand while he takes aim with Hairsplitter with the other, opening fire on Warpath with a barrage of laser charges! "I'll take the bad ass safe though, too!" Singe exclaims, returning to flamethrower mode in the most suave way possible. Combat: Spinister strikes Red Tank with his Rapid fire middle management! (Laser) attack! Twin-Nosed Jet is busy performing Repair and cleaning work on the very tips of Trypticon, his constant companion, Aimless was right there beside him. The pair are balancing on top of some rickety window washing scaffolding. Aimless is busy ignoring, the squeegee in his hand as Misfire glares at his walking/talking weapon. "For slag sake Aimless, for once could you do some work. We are in Mayhem Attack Squad now, this special focusing assignment is designed to build focus." Misfire mimics the timeless Wax on/Wax off motion to Aimless. Aimless shakes his head as he continues to slack off. "They assigned us this job...." Aimless stops mid-speech as he points behind Misfire. "I think Trypticon is under attack!" Misfire stares at Aimless. "I'm not falling for that for a 5th time..." Warning Klaxons sound as Trypticon begins to transform. The pair stare at each other for a moment, when Misfire grabs Aimless and leaps off the washer scaffolding, plummeting to the ground, near the edge of the battle. The pair quickly scramble to their feet as they prepare to help defend the base. Misfire tosses a crisp salute to Spinister's flying form. "Reporting as ordered, sir!" Aimless grumbles as he leaps into his gun, mode landing smoothly in Misfire's right hand. "Trypticon is... *temperamental,*" Cyclonus rationalizes as he jinks left and right, evading every blast from the trailer. "But to be honest, we prefer our gigantic killing machines to be that way, and not like some lout who throws himself in front of the humans' puny landmarks even at risk to himself. Oh, and a nice trick, but I've seen you do it before, Prime." The space warrior then decides that if he can't land a hit on Prime, he'll go for his trailer, instead. That should be an easier target, surely? And besides, if he's like his predecessor, any pain felt by his components will be felt by him as well. It's also probably for the best that Cyclonus hasn't noticed how badly Backfire is faring so far. Combat: Starfighter strikes Rodimus Prime with his Incendiary Bombs attack! After 'Sideswipe' finally calls out cries of pain, the blinded Backfire grins. "Ahaha, reel before my might Autobottom!" the Seeker laughs in delightful debauchery, and he's suddenly blindsided out of nowhere! Head still spinning, Backfire gets up and attempts to make out the blob that he thinks is Sideswipe.. but he's still looking at the rock. "If I didn't know any better, that was a suckerpunch from your much more talented brother.. SUNSTREAKER!" the simpleton barks, looking up to the sky to notice a blobbish flailing tape-former form. "Quick, Ratbat.. sap the fuel from this one's lines!!" When nothing happens, the Seeker shrugs and backs up a pace or two. Lowering his shoulder, Backfire attempts to tackle the rock formation.. whether it knocks into the REAL Sideswipe is another matter entirely. Combat: Backfire strikes Sideswipe with his Rock Tackle! (Punch) attack! Meanwhile, Trypticon laughs loudly as he scores a hit on Sky Lynx, a deep, bassy laugh that echoes for miles on a planet more used to eerie silence. But Sky Lynx is soon back to harassing him. Now faced with two irritating targets, Trypticon tries first to track the bird, his head turning with Sky Lynx as he flies by, then down as the lynx runs between his legs. "STOP THAT!" Trypticon roars. For a moment he just stands there, looking between the two pieces as he's briefly confused as to how to handle this. Then a thought occurs to him. What is it Rumble once said? "DESTROY WHAT'S BELOW, ABOVE WILL FOLLOW!" Close enough. And on that note, the massive cityformer LEAPS up after the Lynx--hang on, everybody that's inside!--and tries to slam down right on top of him. However, Trypticon had grown too used to Earth's gravity, so he overestimates how much force is needed for the leap and goes hurtling right over the lynx! "Eh? What was that?" The old seeker suddenly pipes up, looking left, then right, then turning around and taking note of the small figure standing nearby. His optics narrow slightly, as if struggling to see just -what- she is before it seems to click with him. "...gah! What are you doing here, you organic pest! Get out of here. Shoo!" Grabbing up his cane he starts to hobble towards her, lifting his other arm to point an old arm-blaster in her direction....which promptly fizzles and gives out before it can even fire a single shot. "...blast it all. This place if off limits to inferior organic species! Now sit still so I can properly step on you!" Hobble hobble hobble, closer he comes. It's kind of sad to watch, in a way. Cyclonus' hypothesis turns out to be correct, as the explosion and the flames wash over the trailer, and Rodimus can be seen to stumble briefly, even as the trailer blasts over onto its side with a heavy crash. "Augh!" A moment later, the trailer vanishes back into subspace, even as Rodimus gathers himself and sets his jaw tightly. "Yeah you're right Cyclonus, you -have- seen me do it before. I guess I just gotta keep coming up with new things!" Lunging into a full run, Rodimus brings his rifle up in one hand, the other grabbing onto a long spool of cable that he manages to slip over one arm. Now what's he planning to do with -that-? Either way, he doesn't act on it just yet, instead pointing his rifle upwards and letting loose with a series of low-yield rapidfire blasts into the sky as he keeps moving along at a dead run. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Starfighter with his Photon Eliminator: Low Yield attack! Sideswipe blinks as he watches how Backfire reacts to him, calling him Sunstreaker. And in a flash, he finds himself bowled over, tackled to the ground. Playing along, at least until the Con can see again to tell the difference again, he yells, "GET OFF ME YOU SLAGGER! YOU'RE SCRATCHING MY PAINT!" and does his best to imitate his brother's voice. Struggling back to his feet he takes a few quick steps towards Backfire and attempts to give him a one, two piledriver punch. Amber MacKenzie is in a very focused state of mind, and possibly not a good one. He's not a person to her, pathetic or not: he's the enemy. Either he dies, or she does, and she decides that he's the one to die. She goads him, both with words and actions, knocking better insulated equipment over, swiping dust into the air, kicking table legs, and generally being a horrid brat on his lawn. However, she never goes far from that live cable, though it forces her to dodge and dodge again. "You are an incompetent! Old, decrepit, and useless. Even a pathetic human can take you on! The Decepticons won't even recycle your worn-out, useless parts!" Combat: Sideswipe strikes Backfire with his Piledriver Arms attack! Well Sky Lynx wasn't quite expecting Trypticon to get airborne like that. It's not too hard for his aerial half to take some evasive action, but for a few lingering heartbeats in time, the Lynx...as huge as he is, is suddenly feeling -very- very tiny as a gigantic shadow casts over him. "...oh bloody hell...MOVE!" Running like he's never run before, the Lynx takes off with several heavy bounding motions and JUST barely makes it clear before Trypticon touches down again with an earth shaking *KAABOOOOOOM* that causes the entire area for a mile around to lurch violently under his weight. Even the Lynx, having gotten clear, is picked up and tossed like a tinkertoy in the shockwave of Trypticon's landing, riding on the waves of a sudden high-speed dust storm that sends him bouncing over several sand dunes and finally coming to a halt at the base of a red dusty mountain. Once again, he has to dig himself out of the dust and shake out the cobwebs, even as his bird half lands nearby and they look to each other, then back over to Trypticon. "That was quite a head clearer. I -say-, have you ever considered losing a bit of WEIGHT!?" "YOW, gotcha!" the red tank remarks, but then takes another shot from the other targetmaster component. "Come on down, the both of you!" His barrel points at the offending Nebulan component of Spinister. Combat: Red Tank strikes Spinister with his POW POW POW (Laser) attack! Having bowled the standing rock over and into the real Sideswipe, Backfire smiles and snatches up a piece of the rock in one hand.. the other grasping out for who he thinks is Sunstreaker. "I will BLUDGEON you to death with the broken remains of your brother!" he laughs, the blindness wearing off. Swinging wildly, Backfire's vision finally comes back into focus.. and he realizes that he's definitely not swinging around Sideswipe's leg and he's definitely not swinging at Sunstreaker. "EGADS.. SUNSTREAKER WAS BUILT OUT OF ROCK???" Backfire stammers, "And I thought -we- were the bad guys!" Combat: Backfire strikes Sideswipe with his Gettin' a LEG up on the competition! (Kick) attack! Starfighter scoffs, "Shooting at me isn't that new, Rodimus. In fact it's disappointingly unimaginative! At least give me one of your 'clever' quips!" Once again he's moving too fast for Rodimus's aim, and his random adjustments in heading ensure that Rodimus's shots only light up the air. "Hm, but what do you think you're doing there? Do you think you're going to trip up Trypticon with that tiny cable? Face it, Rodimus, you've only now realized your predicament and you're getting *desperate.*" Cyclonus transforms, landing on the ground behind Prime. Pulling his Oxidizing Rifle forth, he fires a multitude of high-power blasts at him. "And besides, you won't get there before I fuse your circuits together!" Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with his Oxidizing Laser attack! Misfire levels Aimless at Warpath, his arm completely still as he focuses on his attack. He takes a couple of deep breaths, as if to help on his focus, he says a soft mantra to himself, be the target, be the target, be the target. He takes a slight step forward, when Aimless emits. "Slag it! Let's shoot!" Misfire's finger doesn't move, but yet a blast comes pouring out of Aimless. Misfire grimaces a moment before shouting back to Spinister. "I gotcha Boss!" Combat: Misfire strikes Red Tank with his Self Shooting Guns should be Outlawed. attack! Trypticon lands on his arse, having somewhat lost his balance when he realized he had put too much oomph into that jump, but still, surely he has crushed that tiresome Autobot by now! Unfortunately for him, the Cityformer hears Sky Lynx's voice taunting him yet again, and when he looks up he can see both components are just fine. "HNNNH... MAKE FUN OF TRYPTICON! TRYPTICON LAUGH AT YOU NOW!" Then, the clear orange panel on his snout pops up and the insidious Hypno-Beam slides forward! Rings of energy emanate from it at Sky Lynx's halves. "FRIENDS ARE ENEMIES! FRIENDS ARE ENEMIES!" That one usually works pretty good. Two swipes from the cane follow, one that forces Amber to duck low to avoid, then another that she's relatively easily able to jump over. The old mech's frustration is evident on his face as he does his best to try and squash this impudent little organic being. He may not be as strong as he once was, but he's still made of superior metal. All he has to do is make connection, but those darn limbs of his aren't reacting as fast as they used to. But then it comes...he thinks he's got her cornered. He lifts the cane up and overhead, "Stand still you little..." And brings it smashing straight down towards her. It -is- close...but he just misses the mark, and a sudden shower of sparks kicks upwards as he smashes into the live cable...which really -was- life as a sudden surge of electrical power blows through the metal cane, up into the metal hand and coursing through the old seeker's body. "AAUUUUUUGH!" His entire form lights up brightly as the electricity courses through him, his frame spasming and twitching in an almost grotesque manner as his bodily controls are completely lost to him. The first thing to go are his optics, as they explode in a shower of crystal-shards...the next is his metallic 'beard' which immediately alights and begins to melt off of his face...along with the paint on his body as well, which begins to melt off. And all the time, he continues to scream as it drips away, literally being cooked to death as the electricity keeps coursing through him again and again and again. Until finally, the source of power shorts out...and the old Decepticon seeker's burnt out frame stands freely for just a second, before it topples forward onto the ground with a heavy crash of metal on metal, his scorched facial features all but unrecognizable as he comes to a halt literally next to Amber, the empty optic sockets staring at her and the jaw...open and slack, almost skeletal. Even though she cannot smell it 'in the raw' her suit's sensors still register the heavy odor of burnt wiring in the air as the old Decepticon sizzles his last. The grinning emblem on his torso twisted and scorched into a blackened husk. How did Amber imagine it would be, one might wonder? A simple shot of some sort, and a dead Decepticon? Die he did...but he did not die quickly and cleanly. Nor did he die quietly. Sideswipe was having a great laugh at Backfires little mixup until he realized the 'Con finally could differentiate between rock and Sideswipe. "Scrap!" he said and before he could advance on the 'Con again, he felt the impact of the kick that seemed to come out of nowhere. Snarling, he scolded himself for being lax in his attentions. "You were funnier when you were blind. Maybe I should try to make that disadvantage more permanent." he snarled and closed the distance, aiming a couple of punches right for Backfires face. Combat: Sideswipe strikes Backfire with his Piledriver Arms attack! Rodimus Prime ducks low as the Oxidizing laser is fired straight at his back, dropping to one knee, then coming up with the cable in hand, already spinning it about in a quick looping motion. "Actually it was neither, Cyclonus. It's what I call...improvisation!" Without missing a beat, Rodimus immediately wrenches his arm upwards, sending the makeshift 'lasso' curling up and up...and up. Indeed, Sky Lynx is already starting to fall under the effects of the hypno-beam. If he'd kept his two halves separate he wouldn't have been affected, but Trypticon caught them both in the same place. "Friends...enemies...friends...enemies..?" They both start to chant. Right about that the lasso, seemingly tiny by comparison, suddenly snags around the end of the 'barrel' of that insidious hypno-beam device. Without a word, Rodimus immediately jerks down, HARD with all of his might. He couldn't hope to move Trypticon on even his best day, but he gives it everything he's got to jerk his head down, just ever so slightly to ruin his 'aim' for the beam. At the same moment, Rodimus is also jerked up and off the ground, swinging back freely, then suddenly lunging forward again as he picks up momentum, swinging Tarzan-like straight towards Cyclonus, every bit of strength and now momentum put behind a two-booted kick of truly epic proportions aimed at the Unispawn's chin. "Improvisation and a little bit of that unpredictability we mentioned!" Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Cyclonus with his THE BIG BOOT attack! Amber MacKenzie wasn't expecting that, no. As hardened as she's become, she still can't watch that without flinching. Her pistol is suddenly in her hand, but she can't deliver a coup de grace with all the twisting and flailing of the old Decepticon's death throes. It *does* wake her, however, from her nearly fanatic focus on the mission, and she turns away with a sigh. There's time enough now to finish her recordings and to pack up the portable, though she stays away from the fallen body, telling herself that he would've killed her if he could. True to Sideswipe's intent, the Piledriver attack knocks his head back not once, not twice, but thrice! Like one of those Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robots, Backfire's head is temporarily struck up a couple notches as he reels backwards.. grabbing the top of his noggin and shoving it down violently. "You cur, how DARE you damage my GLORIOUS visage??" he curses, transforming and taking to the skies. Whirling around on the red clad Autobot, <> As Backfire debates the lethality of acid rain, a sidewinder missile drops from his bay and ignites.. spiraling down towards Sideswipe. Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes Sideswipe with his Missile & Debate attack! Cyclonus smirks. "Unpredictable, perhaps, but not infallible," he says dismissively before firing another shot at the cable Rodimus had been hanging off of. Then Cyclonus reels back his left fist and thrusts it forward just as Rodimus flies at him. With any luck he can turn Rodimus's momentum against him, but then again, Prime's flying at him pretty damn fast and he might knocked onto his aft anyway. Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with his Smash attack! Misfire stares blankly as he hits Aimless. "The mantra worked!" He exclaims with joy, Aimless, less impressed emits, "It is a tank, of course we can hit its broadside..." Misfire, stumbles to his left avoiding the blast as he falls to one knee, he points Aimless at Warpath, mumbles his mantra and pulls the trigger, a small thin blast heads towards the tank. Combat: Misfire misses Red Tank with his Round 2 Fight! (Laser) attack! Spinister, Singe, and Hairsplitter end up behind Misfire suddenly. How? Mystery. You know the score at this point. Spinister gives Misfire a nod as he surveys the battlefield, deciding his next move. Trypticon's booming laugh issues forth again, certain that Sky Lynx will be running off to slaughter his friends before long. Then something tugs his aim astray. Not a lot, just enough to break the beam's hold on Sky Lynx. Enraged that anyone would interfere, Trypticon's head rears up as he roars, pulling Rodimus upwards, at least until the line is cut. He spends a few moments trying to pull the tiny cable away, but to him it's like grabbing at spider silk. The dead old seeker continues to sizzle and spark, tendrils of smoke rising up from his frame as the last of the current running through him dissipates. There's nothing to stop Amber from helping herself to the items that she can carry so she can get clear of this place. As a bonus, she even discovers that part of the controls here are for a lift system attached to one of those 'cables' running down the length of the shaft. At first it looked like it was meant for transferring power of some such, but it's really attached to a small cargo pod that acts like an old style 'dumbwaiter' that can allow small bits of cargo to be quickly lowered and raised into the shaft. Just the right size for small Decepticon cargo. Or for small humans.... Rodimus Prime's plan didn't exactly go the way he wanted it to. Looks like this really -isn't- his night, is it? The cable snaps and a moment later he's in free fall, tumbling straight towards Cyclonus as the unispawn winds up and prepares to clobber him for all he's worth. And all Rodimus can do is twist in midair, just barely out of the way of the fist as he lands right up in Cyclonus' face, his feet making landfall with a harsh thud. The rest is pure instinct, one hand reaching up to seize Cyclonus' forearm, and his body keeps twisting as he quite literally goes into an age-old Judo move of using your opponent's momentum against him to flip him up, over and back down onto the ground. *HARD*. "You always did talk too much, Cyclonus..." Rodimus grunts. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Cyclonus with his The old one-two hip flip attack! Rock-Em-Sock-Em Robots...that's a good one. Uh oh... Sideswipe sees he's pushed his luck a little too far with this one as Backfire takes off and changes into his alternate form, babbling something about rain and acid rain. Primus only knows..maybe he knocked a few bolts loose inside that bucket brain of his. Reaching for his pistol, he tries to dodge the missile heading right for him but no such luck this time. The explosion rocks his world as he's blown forward to land face first into the Martian dust with a loud grunt. "That's not good...," he groans as he rolls over, trying to stagger to his feet, looking around for his pistol...hoping to find it before Backfire can make another pass. He found it, yup...clear over there. With a bit of a limping run, he heads for it, trying to keep an eye out on the sky for incoming. Amber MacKenzie collects her backpack from one place, the Decepticon portable radio from another, and the portable terminal from the floor, though she almost trips over that melted strip of metal that used to be a cane. Once again, with time, she can do a better study of what's here, check her recording, and burn a spare disk of its contents. The small lift is discovered by accident when she was poking at a mysterious structure, theorized its purpose, and traced the leads to the controls. It'll be a little tricky... she has to load the lift with her equipment, start the ascent from the controls, and then dash over to the lift and leap up to it before it gets too far, but that's fine under Martian gravity. As she rises towards the surface, she begins recording again, since the view from the lift is a lot better. Sky Lynx recovers from the hypno-beam attempt, shaking his heads...both of them, then looking back between his halves and immediately merging back together once more into his largest form. His radio is buzzing and he knows that pretty soon they're going to have to pull some fancy maneuvers. "Alright Trypticon...enough games!" Reaching down, Sky Lynx actually scoops up a heavy mouthful of Martian sand before taking to the air once more, coming to a sudden hover in front of the gigantic city-saur as he struggles to try and get that cable loose. "Pfwah! PTOO!" Immediately, Sky Lynx spits forward two globules of the Martian sand, hitting both of them over each of Trypticon's optics. "Gah, the taste is even worse than I thought. Nonetheless...LIGHTS out you titanic terrorsaur!" And just like that? Sky Lynx breathes forward a thick gout of flame right over Trypticon's face...turning up the heat for all he's worth. Even with his superheated breath, Sky Lynx hasn't got much of a hope of doing much damage to Trypticon, even in a sensitive place such as his face. The huge city-saur has been known to stand in pure volcanic lava for extended periods and even survived a close-range nuclear blast. But then there's that Martian sand that Sky Lynx spit onto each of his optics.... "Nice try!" the red tank says, as Misfire's next shot goes wide, "NOW take this!" He lobs another shell at the misaiming Decepticon. Combat: Red Tank strikes Misfire with his Conventional Shells attack! Spinister points towards Rodimus as the Prime gives Cyclonus a solid thrashing. "Redirect defensive efforts." The trio leap into the air, flight thrusters firing to extend their jumps Springer style. The Nebs land first, on either side of Rod, while Spinister descends with a massive momentum fueled PUNCH! Combat: Spinister misses Rodimus Prime with his Glass Jaw Sissy Prime (Punch) attack! Misfire turns to look at Spinister for a brief moment. "Heya, Boss! So far so good with the new mantra!" He turns back to look at Warpath, just in time to see the blast. He quickly stands, in order to shield Spinister from the blast as the shells knocks him on his aft. Still clutching Aimless, he lifts his weapon and points it at Warpath, he chants his mantra a few times as he steadies himself. "You are asking for it Auto-scum!" He curses after his last mantra, firing a blast towards Warpath! Combat: Misfire strikes Red Tank with his Ion Particle Blaster attack! Cyclonus expected to rattle his arm something fierce, but he didn't expect to get flipped head-over-heels and onto his back. "ARGH!" he bellows angrily, teeth clenched. "If you fear my words so much," Cyclonus growls, pushing himself up onto a knee. "Then you'll have more to fear from THIS!" And he springs up from that position like a linebacker, trying to tackle Rodimus. He knows he's no match, physically speaking, for Rodimus in this mode, so he's quick to transform into fighter mode and rely on his powerful engines. Cyclonus tries to catch Rodimus under one of his forward-swept wings and drag him all across the sandy Martian terrain. "Less than you deserve, Prime!" Cyclonus bellows. He might have thrown off Spinister's aim, though. Not that he'd apologize. Combat: Starfighter strikes Rodimus Prime with his Ramming Speed attack! Trailing his prey from the skies, Backfire quickly transforms and hits the ground with a *THUNK*. "Silly Autobottom, do you not know who you are dealing with? I am the SULTAN of SIN, the MAYOR of MAYHEM.. the QUEEN of CALAMITY!!" he shouts, displacing his Hypno-Ray Rifle. "Here simple one, have a TASTE of thine GLORY!!" The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Combat: Backfire misses Sideswipe with his Hypno-Ray Rifle attack! The sand isn't bad at first, but once it's melted, well, that changes things. A thing reddish sheen appears over Trypticon's optics as the sand melts, and quickly fuses onto his optics as a thin film of almost opaque reddish glass. Trypticon roars in indignant rage at this, but he's not deterred so easily. "TRYPTICON DOES NOT NEED TO SEE TO DESTROY!" he roars, and now the slag hits the fan, as mortars and plasma bombs and lasers begin flying around and exploding everywhere. The cleaning detail had been hoping for something more exciting, but as the landscape explodes around them, sending them fleeing in a great panic, they collectively realize this isn't what they bargained for! Sideswipe had been running to grab for his pistol when Backfire drew in close for a fly by, to fire his riffle at him. The round boiled up next to his feet as the round missed him as he dove to grab for his gun. Rolling over onto his back he aimed upward and took a pot shot at the Con as it flew on by. Combat: Sideswipe misses Backfire with his Pistol attack! Rodimus Prime is unfortunate enough to get dragged by Cyclonus in that short period of time. Having turned in place to meet Spinister's punch by simply jinking out of the way, he didn't have enough time to realight himself before Cyclonus has transformed and is soon taking him on a crazy ride, all but grinding him down into the red dust and doing a murderous job on his finish, not to mention his paintjob. "Gyaagh!" Holding on for dear life lest he get ground down -too- harshly, it's all Rodimus can do but to dig his hands in as tightly as he can, actually digging grooves into Cyclonus' airframe as the ground keeps smashing past him. And then he's aware of explosions alighting to either side in brilliant plumes of red dust, prompting him to finally act. An exertion of purely Herculean proportions follows as he hauls himself up, and over into the clear, launching up and into freefall for a split second above the starfighter, a moment that seems to hang forever in time. And then he comes down, HARD, smashing with both fists to quite literally try and send Cyclonus' airframe crashing nose-first right into the ground. No words, just sudden violent action. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Starfighter with his The Touch attack! "You POW, got lucky again!" the red tank protests, as Misfire manages to make another lucky hit. "I'll ZING, freeze you in your tracks!" A cold shell flies out of the barrel now, aiming to turn Misfire and Aimless into popsicles. Combat: Red Tank strikes Misfire with his Cryo Shells attack, temporarily impairing Misfire's Agility. (Crippled) Amber MacKenzie emerges from the Shaft O'Doom in one piece, though a bit heavily laden. She immediately ducks into cover and has a look around. Wow. The landscape has changed. Trypticon up and shedding munitions like fleas, frightened Decepticons running away, and the fight still continuing. She spots the enemy: Cyclonus, Spinister (she shakes a fist at him from her hiding place), Misfire, Backfire. Now where is her evac? Ah hah... "You -do- seem a bit agitated, old boy! Perhaps you need to take it easy for a little while." Sky Lynx can't resist getting in another taunt on Trypticon for good measure as he...well, goes utterly ballistic, before he's forced to take evasive action again. Bombs and explosives hurtle past him as the Dinobird goes into an incredibly steep dive, angling down towards the mouth of the big shaft that leads into the surface of Mars. Transforming into his shuttle mode, he sets down in a big puff of red dust, his retro rockets firing as its brings him to a halt and allows his loading ramp to drop down for the Autobots who came on this mission to start getting aboard as soon as they can. "Chop chop now ladies and gentlemechs, if you would kindly get aboard as quickly as possible please! That trampling titan isn't going to be blinded forever and I'd rather have you all safely out of here before he recovers from that little impromptu blindfolding. Not that -I- would have any trouble dealing with him of course, but your safety is paramount to my concern!" Spinister glances at Hairsplitter. "Make note. As suspected, Prime has The Touch." Spinister says, "But we've got...The POWER!" Singe strikes a pose. "YEEEEEEAH!" The Nebulans transform, and Spinister turns his attention again: This time back towards Warpath to give Misfire a bit of a break. It's quarter after LASER!" Combat: Spinister misses Red Tank with his Blood/Will/Mighty Hands of Steel (Laser) attack! Misfire gets blasted by the Cryo-Shell, he takes a step forward after the blast, the Cryo-attack causes his armor to become brittle and crack. Misfire topples over as he fires his next blast, blindly at Warpath. "UGH!!!!" Combat: Misfire strikes Red Tank with his Falling blast! attack! Starfighter , immediately after his nosecone touches the ground, flips through the air, bounces off the landscape, bounces again, and finally slides away for a few feet across the sand. "Unnngh..." Cyclonus grunts, not transforming at first. Eventually he does, with great effort, the nosecone especially shuddering before it snaps away onto his back. "It... it's not over, Prime..." Cyclonus grunts just before a mortar round lands close by and flings him through the air. "Hunngh....enngh... you can defeat me, Rodimus, you can infuriate Trypticon, but you still will have lost!" He staggers up as munitions continue to rain down everywhere. "Futile--why did you even try!?" And with a quick flick of the wrist, something metallic flies at Rodimus! Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with Screw You Prime's Small Explosion #245 attack! Trypticon, meanwhile, just continues his blind rampage, stomping around heedlessly and blasting everything in range, and if he should happen to hit something while under the throes of his rage, well, sucks to be that guy. While Sideswipe takes another potshot with his pistol, Backfire begins to get -very- angry. Not because the Autobot was shooting at him, no. Because he's ignoring his verbal assaults. "NOW that's just poor form!" Backfire shouts, stomping up to Sideswipe. "These wonderful verbal lashings don't just roll off the vocal server you know, I SPEND QUALITY TIME THINKING THEM UP!" As the Seeker lashes out verbally, a noxious ball of toxic energon balls up in his hand. "Next time someone makes fun of you or points out how AWESOME they are.." Stuttering and stammering, Backfire makes an attempt to grab Sideswipe and shove the toxic globule of tainted energon in the Autobot's face. "PAY ATTENTION!" Combat: Backfire strikes Sideswipe with his Tainted Love.. In and All Around Sideswipe's Mouth attack, having strange and mysterious effects on Sideswipe. That attack has temporarily affected Sideswipe's Accuracy. (Blinded) Optimus probably would have pulled off an amazing move after that and landed dramatically on both feet, followed by single handedly blasting down a half a dozen more Decepticons in the process. Rodimus has to settle for crashing down on his aft end and skidding along like a rock skipped over the surface of a pond before he comes to a stop in a dug groove in the Martian dirt. Taking several deep 'breaths', he lifts his right arm up just in time as Cyclonus throws the metal explosive towards him, a quick and accurate triple-shot from his arm blasters meeting the sphere in mid-air and causing it to detonate in a brilliant explosion just short of its mark...but close enough to still pepper him with bits of metallic shrapnel that thankfully bounce off without any real effect other than cosmetic. Though it's still murder to his paintjob. "And I'll bet that just -really- burns you up inside, Cyclonus, doesn't it? Why -did- we try? You're a smart mech aren't you?" He turns just slightly in place, enough to peer over his shoulder as he spots Sideswipe gathering Amber up and making a run for Sky Lynx. "...you figure it out." And with that, Rodimus transforms again, engine roaring even before his tires have all touched the ground as he peels out at full speed and roars towards the waiting dinobird shuttle. A few moments later he's ascending the ramp in short order, disappearing into the large blue cargo pod beneath. Sideswipe was looking around for some reason, distracted and as he heard Backfires ranting, he staggered back a step, realizing the 'Con was too damned close for comfort. What the 'Con did next almost made Sideswipe want to lose his last serving of Energon he'd consumed before the mission. Unable to move away in time, he ended up with a facefull of...UGH PRIMUS! Staggering backwards, he tried to wipe it off with his arm, snarling. Hearing something in his com, he gritted his teeth and quickly turned, transforming down into his car form, but not before trying to spit out whatever the hell that was, trying to wipe the rest off with his other arm, leaving flaming trials on both arms now. In Car form he quickly took off and headed for an area that seemed...odd? Why would he be heading that direction? But with a quick twist of the wheel, he slew dust and sand up to make a bit of a cover as he flung open his side door. Amber MacKenzie has to leap out of the way as the blinded Sideswipe nearly runs her over, but she recovers as he pulls to a stop. She saw what happened, so she's not entirely surprised. Out of cover now, she scoops up the luggage and tosses it inside, but she doesn't follow it this time. Instead she hops over the car and knocks on the driver's side. Looks like she'll be doing the driving this time. "Open up, Sideswipe. I can see; you can't." When the door swings open, she slips inside and pulls the door down before stomping the accelerator. "Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" No more picking on Sideswipe for Lightspeed being faster. Sideswipe doesn't even make a token protest as Amber takes control...not that he can see anything. He lets her do the driving, taking them where they need to go. The whole time, grumbling to himself and praying he doesn't end up with a hole in his backside! "Hey that's HER! EMBER! EMBER!" Singe starts chasing after Amber and Sideswipe. "EMBER I HAVE YOUR BLOUSE!" Spinister takes to the sky, transforming with his Targetmaster partners for an awe inspiring Dragon Ball esque WEAPON CHARGING SCENE! A massive blast of fire and laser and...fiery laser open up on Sideswipe! Spinister, it seems, is tired of the same old human spy during a distraction act. Combat: Attack Helicopter strikes Sideswipe with his MASSIVE BURNING LASER DEATH BLAST attack! Cyclonus stumbles onto his knees as another stray blast erupts behind him. "Nnngh... damn you Rodimus Prime!" Cyclonus booms, shaking a fist at the departing Autobot leader. "Get back here and face me you coward! I have not yet destroyed you!" Then he remembers--he CAN'T destroy Rodimus Prime even if he had the power to do so. Galvatron would be furious that someone besides himself did it. Well. It still feels good to--*BOOOM!* Another blast nearly topples Cyclonus just as he gets onto his feet again. "TRYPTICON! The Autobots are gone, STAND DOWN NOW!" The massive cityformer finally relents and scratches at his optics irritably. "HNNNGH. TRYPTICON DESTROY EVERYTHING!!!" he boasts. "Yes, Trypticon," Cyclonus says dryly, eyeing the devastated landscape. "Yes you did." Misfire watches as the Autobots flees, he lifts his arm so Aimless' barrel is pointed at the sky, he makes like he is going to blow out the smoke from the barrel like a Western Gunslinger, when Aimless emits. "Still alive." Misfire stops, forgetting his weapon was a sentient being. He let's go of Aimless and the pair look away from each other awkwardly. After the Lambo transforms and peels out of there, Backfire thinks about making chase.. but shrugs his shoulders. "Meh, he finally GRASPED the concept of my GLORY." the Seeker muses to himself, walking back over to where they were originally scuffling. "Guess that will have to suffice." he absent mindedly kicks at a rock, a light bulb appearing over his head. A CYCLE LATER.. "Ooooo nooo Backfire, don't PULVERIZE my face!" the Seeker squeeks in a feminine Autobot sounding voice synth. "I'm Backfire and stuff, you lowly Sunstreak.. Haha, I shall call you Sunsmear instead." Backfire laughs, punching the tiny piece of rock held in his other hand. "Cause you smear, instead of streak.. get it??" The scene fades with Backfire pummeling the rock some more. "Owie." Sideswipe can't see a damned thing at the moment, relying on Amber to get them where they need to go. He can only hear what's going on around them...and that's when he hears the sound of a chopper closing in fast. Before he can call out a warning to Amber, he feels the heat of the laser riffle hit him in the back, the blast arching down through the back panels and roof into the floor boards. He lets out a yell of extreme pain as he keeps going though, knowing he has to deliver the precious cargo that he carries. Even inside the Lamborghini and inside an environmental suit, Amber feels the wave of heat. Her suit hums into high gear, trying to dissipate the heat, while she stomps even harder on the accelerator. "Hang in there, Sideswipe," she murmurs to the guy. "We're almost there." The onrushing vehicle does slow a little, as the heat doesn't help the tires any, but the lightened gravity provides some relief. Finally, they shoot up the ramp and into Sky Lynx, skidding wildly as Amber tries to bring it to a safe halt on a short runway. She really hopes that Sky Lynx has a lot of room to maneuver... After a 360-degree spin or two, they come to a halt. The huge shuttle waits until the last of the Autobots (and human) are aboard before retracting his ramp and sealing the airlock once more. With the faint white-hot glow of engines, Sky Lynx takes off just in the nick of time as some more stray munitions from Trypticon's blind rampage detonate right where he was a moment ago. Wasting no time, he angles skywards with his precious cargo, heading straight for open space in short order. "All safely aboard, and I'll have us underway for Earth momentarily! Thanks to my sterling efforts with Trypticon and your bravery we have achieved our objective quite handsomely!" And just like that, like a rocket, Sky Lynx digs into his reserves and goes full throttle, blasting straight up into orbit and leaving the scene of chaos behind. ============================== Autobot =============================== Message: 3/65 Posted Author Recon Mission to Mars Wed Jun 20 Rodimus Prime Rodimus Prime on screen, reporting from what looks like the interior of Sky Lynx's cargo bay. "Alright guys, mission successful. Myself, Warpath, Sideswipe (after Ultra Magnus gave him permission) and Amber Mackenzie returned to Trypticon's landing point on Mars aboard Sky Lynx. More or less this was a smash and grab mission, with the rest of us kicking up a big ruckus while Amber snuck inside the facility and got a good look at that alien superweapon that the Decepticons have been fielding. She's got recordings both visual and audial, and she even got her hands on a radio that one of the Decepticon technicians was using down there. I don't know if it'll have anything useful but maybe Blaster can see if it's one of those fancier models that keeps some logs. The real goldmine was the computer terminal Amber was able to snag, that was also being used by the technician. It was directly hooked up to monitoring equipment that was used on the machinery, so I'm hopeful we're going to get something useful out of it. As soon as we make planetfall we're turning this stuff over to Intelligence, and I expect you guys to go round the clock until we've figured something out. I want to know some way to disable or destroy that machine before the Decepticons get a chance to fire it again. We didn't go through all this hard work and recovery efforts just to have them flick off the lights once more and plunge the Earth back into perpetual chaos and darkness. Good job to everyone all around in the meantime. Get ready Autobots, cause the Decepticons have been pushing the last while and soon it's going to be our turn to push back." Rodimus vanishes from the screen in a burst of static. ==============================================================================
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