| abstract
| - Babel! Library of the galaxy. A planet completely covered in buildings, its every inch full of stack upon stack of room-sized hexagons. Upon each wall of each hexagon is a myriad of books, forming an almost impenetrable maze for those without a map. But... you brought a map, didn't you? Contents: Sandstorm Goldbug Red Spaceship Rodimus Prime Scourge has arrived. "So here's what we know:" so says Goldbug to Rodimus Prime (and any other Autobots that happen to be along for the ride in the shuttle. "The location of the Foundry World, the world where the lenses were developed...it's been lost. Sort of. If anyone's found it, it'll probably be a guy by the name of Tilx the Navigator...and if there's anywhere to find a complete set of his star-charts...it's here." so says the little minibot as Planet Babel rises up in the viewscreen! "Any questions?" "How are we sure we're getting the real star-charts and not some weird alternate universe ones?" Rodimus Prime asks. He's heard a few things about how Babel works, and he really doesn't have much faith in anything that comes out of this planet. "We'll just have to be careful." Sandstorm replies, folding his hands behind his head as he leans back in his seat. "Y'know, check what's on the map against places we do know and see if they line up or not, and stuff." Goldbug nods to Sandstorm, and then taps at the side of his head. "I've downloaded a couple of terabytes of astrogational data into my CPU- it shouldn't take me too long to validate a genuine Star-Chart from an alternate universe one. Or even one that's close enough to ours to be useful. It's-" Goldbug pauses as Grimlock's voice comes over the radio. "...is he always like that?" Darkwing has arrived. "Hmmm, point," Rodimus answers, considering. "And besides, I suppose even an alternate universe galactic layout would be more or less the same. Random planetary theft not withstanding." He leans forward and looks over the controls. "Coming in for a landing." Then he turns to glance at Goldbug, studying the smaller robot for a moment before nodding. "Usually." Sandstorm chuckles a bit. "You have no idea." The Autobots had gone to Babel, to try to locate information on the lenses several members of both factions had 'picked up' escaping from the clutches of the Collector, more than likely. Not his preferred hunt, the hunt for information, but it was still a hunt, and the leader of the Sweeps had gone, with a cadre of other Decepticons. He would have preferred to have his Sweeps with him, but they were otherwise occupied on matters of some importance, so he had brought others who could probably be trusted to help in the search. Red Spaceship is probably flying through space, as the Decepticons catch wind of the Autobot's grand plans /to go to the library/. surely this is important enough for the Decepticons to stick thier noses in, since if it wasn't important, the Autobot's wouldn't be going either! <> <> XF-35B Astral Lightning flies along the familiar course, having been to Babel before, a few times, actually. She has a dark, secret shame of reading things when she isn't punching people in the face. Catechism lost a poncho here, once. She warns, <> Windshear has arrived. Oh great, a hunt for books. Scourge was sure become a scholar with all his sweeps missing. Darkwing had agreed to accompany Scouge becuase he was bored, he hoping for more action and less having to watch the Autobots read 'See Spot Run'. "Okay!" So says Goldbug- and as the shuttlecraft shuts down, the eager little golden guy is the first one at the ramp. "Here, take these." he says, handing makeshift maps of the library to Sandstorm and Rodimus. "They'll help- I've highlighted the regions we'll probably be able to find the star-charts we need. If you find anything, give me a holler on the radio." he taps at the side of his helmet- and would grin, if he didn't have the faceplate. "Should be a pretty easy gig, provided no Decepticons show up!" Windshear is following Scourge for whatever reason, cause hes bored. Its his day off so sure, lets go to a library? Sandstorm snorts a bit. "Don't count on it being that easily." But then smirks a bit. "But that's why we're along for the trip, after all." Rodimus Prime accepts the map and unfolds it. He frowns, and turns it to the left. Then he turns it to the right. Then he shrugs. The map - and the planetary layout itself - is as confusing as all get out, but Rodimus has always been one to barge in where angels fear to tread. "Got it," he answers, then exits the shuttle hatch himself and starts to briskly approach the nearest building that's been highlighted on the map. Approaching the library planet, Scourge enters orbit and looks at the place. It was a maze, from the looks of things. Maybe this would prove a challenge to the huntsman. As he orbited, his sensors scanned for signs of the Autobots. They were surely already here, having had a head-start on the Decepticons. And there they were. Looked like three of them, just landing. <> Sending the coordinates of the Autobot shuttle to the others, the Sweep descends into the atmosphere and begins to thoroughly scan the buildings in the area of the Autobot's landing. Best to be certain of the numbers they could face. <> Redshift replies, as if this were a good thing. The jabbing and impaling doesn't sound quite as fun, however. <> The spaceship inquires, flying closer as the Decepticons approach the mysterious planet. <> XF-35B Astral Lightning explains, <> It was surreal, and she's not really sure how to describe it. She scouts out the planet from orbit, trying to see if she remembers any of the landmasses from her previous visits. Windshear decends in his shuttle and looks at the weird planet surface... <<"Whats this about lenses? I keep hearing talk about lenses but know nothing about it...">> he thinks tht perhaps if he read reports more he'd know but tht wont help now. He heads down toward where the Autobot shuttle is and sets his shuttle down to disembark. Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet heads down behind the others <> Darkwing responds, that being about all he really knew about them as well. <> Rodimus Prime, having moved to a different hexagon from the one they landed in, is not yet aware of the hordes of Decepticons descending upon them. He reaches one of the hexes highlighted on Goldbug's map and enters in, looking around at the walls of books. Then his shoulders slump and he shakes his head, muttering, "Should have sent Ultra Magnus on this one." Goldbug wastes little time! He tromps through the hexigonal stacks- occasionally taking a moment to take a book off a shelf and leaf through it before carefully replacing it and heading on further. "Just keep your optics open, Rodimus." Goldbug offers, "You never now what you might find out. I mean, here-" he opens up a volume, leafing through it- and then turns it towards Rodimus. "It's a full history of the Galactic Scrumball tournament for the last 40 cycles or so. Fascinating stuff, if you've got the time!" Sandstorm takes a few mental notes of were they've gone, for the sake of not getting lost later. Following Rod into the building, the Wrecker takes a look around and lets out a low whistle. Then shakes his head a bit. "Time isn't really something we have, though." Idly he pulls a book off a shelf and flips through some of the pages. Only way they're going to find anything is if they all look. As he scans the buildings near the Autobot shuttle, Scourge lets out an irritated sigh. <> Continuing his path around the library planet, the Sweep Commander chuckles as his sensors pick up three Autobots, in a large structure. Relaying the coordinates of the hexagonal area they occupy to those with him, he smirks...Well, he would, if he had a face in Sweepcraft mode. <> Having located three of them, Scourge continues his search of the planet, to make sure there aren't others, searching in other locations. XF-35B Astral Lightning narrates about the lenses, <> ...oh, the end of the world. That's why she came here, one time. She vectors off closer to where Scourge has indicated Autobots to be located. Windshear heads to the hex where the Autobots are and closes in on his targets. Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet flies down toward the Hex the the Autobots are in, his idea of just torching the place seemign to be ignored; which figures. <> He suggest, but expects to be ignored again. <> Not that Redshift is especially concerned with how his weapons work, but... No moving parts? No /parts/ at all? That's some bad mumbo jumbo. The red crescent fighter craft follows Scourge's lead, heading for the Autobots, sequestered in a book-containing structure. Redshift descends upon the sub-unit of the library, and flies in through the door, transforming into his robot mode in the process. "AUTOBOTS! The secrets of the library world will be /ours/ and ours alone!" He threathens, and his lens upon his chest flashes with black flecks of light, and wavering beams of pitch black energy streak out towards the Autobot leader, Rodimus Prime, and his yellow comrade that is not Bumblebee. The sleek red spacecraft transforms into the winged warrior Redshift. Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Redshift strikes Goldbug with Lense of Malice's Destabilizing Blast Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Goldbug's Agility! (Crippled) Combat: Redshift misses Rodimus Prime with Lense of Malice's Destabilizing Blast Area attack! "Decepticons!" So cries out Goldbug, just as the door opens to show Redshift! And as Redshift fires, Goldbug springs forward- brave little guy he is, and takes the blast full on before it can strike Rodimus Prime! "Agh!" he says, and crashes to the ground. "I'm okay!" he coughs out- and then raises his standard-issue Autobot sidearm, snapping off a few blasts at Redshift as he scrabbles backwards. "We've got to hurry and find the star-charts before they do!" Combat: Goldbug misses Redshift with its Laser attack! Rodimus Prime leaps out of the way of the energy beam, rolling and coming back up on one knee and one foot even as Goldbug leaps in the way of the beam. His optics widen. "Goldbug!" he exclaims in concern when the little guy gets hit, but he seems to recover well. "Agreed, but *I've* got this," he says, lowering his right arm to fire at Redshift as well. "*You're* the one who seems to know this place!" Then his lips pull up into a quirky grin. "Just don't get too wrapped up in reading about Scrumball, hmm?" Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Redshift with his Arm Blasters attack! [Pulled -3] Sandstorm happens to walk off to the side to check a different set of shelves at the right time, so he's not in the path of the incoming fire coincidently. The familiar sound of a lense firing makes him whirl around though with a snarl. "Great, knew we'd get company." He pulls out his own weapon, but seeing Rodimus has Redshift covered, stands back to the side and waits. Because you -know- Decepticons tend to come in packs. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Protected. Windshear sees Redshift head into the building he was heading for and transforming, he lands and come in firing at the first Autobot he sees. Cybertronian Tetra jet transforms into the pretty boy Decepticon, Windshear. Combat: Windshear strikes Rodimus Prime with his Laser attack! Unicronian senses. Love them, hate them? One would suppose that would depend on which side of them you're on. Having satisfied himself that no other Autobots were present in the immediate vicinity, at least, Scourge had turned and come back, coming close enough to catch the mention of star charts from Goldbug. So, they were after star charts? But for where? The Sweep wasn't here to hunt the Autobots, yet, so he was going to focus on the information. And if star charts were what they were after, then he would find them first. <> After giving his orders, the Sweepcraft swings around and Scourge transforms, entering the building and finding a way around the combat, to get ahead of the Autobots. If the star charts are in this section, the Sweep should have no problems finding them as he stalks through the stacks, scanning each one visually, and thoroughly, as he passes. Turning as it approaches, the Sweepcraft seems to split in places, the arms and legs of a robot emerging, then the demonic wings unfurl and the menacing visage of Scourge makes it's appearance, completing the transformation from Sweepcraft to robot. XF-35B Astral Lightning guesses that she should perhaps provide Redshift a bit of backup, since he seems to be feeling like he wants to draw down all the Autobot aggression on his head. Redshift has a lense, huh? She wouldn't mind getting a better chance to study his - Air Raid didn't do anything interesting, really. Just shot up some stuff. She swoops down, transforms, and follows in the entrance, drawing her... library card, which she flashes conspicuously. "Well, hello, boys. You got one of these? I figured I'd just drop by for some light reading. Might want to keep the noise down." XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. "You've got me, Rodimus. but can you KEEP ME?" The red space replies, clutching at the smoldering wound on his arm, courtesy of Rodimus's arm blasters. He takes a good look at the little gold guy, and Redshift backs away from Rodimus cautiously, as the lense on his chest flickers strangely. "Who's your little pal, Rodimus? Bumblebee and Wheelie get killed off?" Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Redshift takes extra time to aim his next attack. Hot Spot has arrived. Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet turns to fly towards the Autobot shuttle and begins to open fire on it, pumbling it with all the firepower he has on him. As the rain of fire pelts down, one blast gets through the hull aand gets off the enginecore leading to a rather spectacular explosion. See, in packs. Well, pairs. Same difference. They all seem to be focused on Rodimus and Goldbug though, but that just works in his favor, see. Having stepped over out of the direct line of view when Redshift came charging in, Sandstorm makes his move a few moments later by lunging in from the side and swinging a fist at the Seeker while he's shooting. "Hold still so I can punch your card -- Permanently!" Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with his Suckerpunch (Punch) attack! "Got it, Prime!" Goldbug says- And then Redshift's comment earns a somewhat...bemused look from the throttlebot. "You're not THAT lucky, Decepticon!" he quips- and then transforms! The little gold bug backs up a couple of feet- and then, with a shifting of gears, he takes off at a surprising speed, whirring around bookshelves as fast as his wheels can take him! Goldbug transforms! Combat: Goldbug sets its defense level to Protected. Combat: Throttlebot takes extra time to steady itself. [Pass] The engine of the shuttle does, indeed, explode, rocking the shuttle on its landing struts... and perhaps alerting its final occupant to what's going on! Though the explosion subsides, the craft remains on fire. Oh, if only there were a fire fighter available to take care of the mess! Meanwhile, inside the octogon... Rodimus Prime snorts. "They're *both* a lot tougher than you Decepticons give them credit for, but then, underestimating the little guys always has been where you guys trip up!" Rodimus Prime rushes towards Redshift, leaping towards the Decepticon in an attempt to tackle him. "But if you think I can't keep you busy, you're underestimating the big guys, too!" Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Redshift with his Tackle! attack! [Pulled -7] The door of the shuttle opens for some reason, who else is left on that shuttle? An Autobot jumps out of the shuttle and the one bot, by the look of it, is the fire fighter Hot Spot! Landing on the ground and bending his legs, he straighten his body afterwards and stared at Darkwing. "Decepticon Jet, you weren't expecting to get away with your actions that easily, were you?" Turning towards the shuttle and transforming into his firetruck mode, he sprayed the flaming shuttle with water from the nuzzles. Hot Spot slowly goes down to the ground and transforms hastely into his cool blue fire truck mode. He's ready to terminate those fires! Combat: Hot Spot sets his defense level to Protected. Windshear sees his shot hit Rodimus and as usual, the Autobot igores it. No fun in a target like that but before he can fire at someone else the Seeker gets sucker punched. He spins around to see who hit him and sizes up the Autobot with a smirk, "My turn." Windshear rasps and hawls off with a heymaker from left field aimed for the Aubotos chin. Combat: Windshear misses Sandstorm with his Punch attack! Catechism pockets her library card, and she notes, tone lofty, "I've been here before. I'm sure I could find that star chart you're looking for, faster than you can alone. You'll be looking for days!" And then she can steal it, duh. "But if it's a Brawl you want... well, I don't even have Vortex on hand." Catechism snaps off a shot at Rodimus Prime, now that Windshear is busy fighting Sandstorm Combat: Catechism strikes Rodimus Prime with her Disruptive Behaviour (Disruptor) attack! Listening to the sounds of the combat going on just a few rows away, Scourge continues his visual search of the stacks, moving quickly, but not so fast that he misses anything. At the sound of a small vehicle speeding through the bookshelves, the Sweep pauses a moment and the perpetual scowl on his face deepens. So, one of the Autobots must be trying to continue their search for these star charts? That would not do at all. But if that one found the charts before the Sweep, he would be dealt with appropriately. So Scourge continued on, hunting for the appropriate section. <> Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet watches the powder blue fire truckk exit the shuttle "No not really. In all honesty; I had expected the explosion to have been so grand that it would have consumed me as well and finally remove me from the darkness of this universe. So it is not surprising that their is an Autobot trying to put out the first before they can consume mme and everything else on this planet." Darkwing replies in his typically bright outlook on life. <> Darkwing radios as he switches over to his Electro-Kinetic Blasters to confuse the protectobot. Maybe he'll drench some of the books while he doesn't know what to be aiming at. Combat: Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet strikes Blue Fire Truck with his Electro-Kinetic Blasters attack! While Redshift's eye was watching the little yellow guy throttle away. Even a /fast/ little car isn't too fast for Redshift to pursue! but before he can chase after Goldbug, Rodimus tackles him, making Redshift tumble to the ground. "Ugh! Meddling where you're not wanted, as usual Rodimus? Who's your new little friend, huh?" Redshift struggles to untangle himself from Rodimus, and can't get a clear shot at Goldbug! Rodimus himself will have to do! Combat: Redshift misses Rodimus Prime with Lense of Malice's Lense Flare attack! [Pulled -2] ' *Vrrrrrm!* The little gold car tears through the library- finally popping up back into his robot mode some distance away. "Hmm. Let's see..." he says, and ducks down a bit, silently padding through the stacks, running his fingertips along the spines of the books. "If I remember correctly, it SHOULD be around here...somewhere." he says, taking a moment to grab a book off the shelf and leaf through it before he puts it back. Not yet! Sandstorm hahs as he ducks and shifts to the side to avoid the punch thrown back at him. "Com'n, is that the best you can do?" He twists, throwing his hand to try and grab Windshear by the back of the head. Then yank the Seeker down as he thrusts his knee up to leave a real impression. Goldbug transforms! Combat: Goldbug takes extra time to steady itself. [Pass] Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with his Jerk-Knee Reaction (Kick) attack! Thanks to bizarre time dilation effects, Rodimus is finally hit by Windshear (or he finally notices that he's been hit. Ow!), but a glance around shows that Sandstorm has interceded on his behalf. Besides, tangled on the floor as he currently is with Redshift, he can't really deal with the Seeker, anyway. Make that /Seekers/ as Catechism zaps him with a disrupter! "Ung!" he grunts as he's hit again, and then he sees Redshift's lense powering up fully! He pushes himself off the spaceship-former and rolls out of the way before he can be hit, answering, "Meddling?! We were here first! You're the ones getting in the way!" he snaps, making a grab for Redshift. If he does succeed in grabbing the Decepticon, he'll try to slide him across the floor and into Catechism's feet, but if he fails, he'll just grab a book off the shelf and throw that at her! Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Catechism with his Thrown Book or Sliding Redshift Area attack! [Pulled -5] Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Buzzsaw": A Level 1 AREA-MELEE attack. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Redshift with his Thrown Book or Sliding Redshift Area attack! [Pulled -5] Getting hit by the Electro-Kinetic Blasters, the attack effects Hot Spot's system; making him unable to think straight. <> After the last flame was diminished, Hot Spot drives around the shuttle and stops, the front of the truck almost parallel to Darkwing or at least that's what he thinks. This shuttle is our only way out of this planet and if I fail to protect it no, I will not fail at all, Hot Spot thought with difficulty to himself. Unsure if he's aiming at Darkwing or, hopefully not, at something else, he sprayed the water at whatever he aimed at. Combat: Blue Fire Truck 's Water Cannon attack on Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet goes wild! Combat: Blue Fire Truck strikes Sandstorm with his Water Cannon attack! [Pulled -2] Windshear gets yanked down and a knee to his face. Not the face slag it. The knee jab smarts and ignoring a brief flash of static in his optics, the Seeker clenches his right fist, a panel slides back on the back of his writs and a wide double edged black extends. With a smirk he swings at Sandstorms midsection. Combat: Windshear strikes Sandstorm with his Arm Blade attack! Catechism takes off after Goldbug on foot, holding her hand to the sides of her cone, desperately trying to think where the star charts might be. This place, however, is so very confusing, and she thinks they have moved some of the stacks... Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Catechism compares her Intelligence to 70: Failure :(<> Is all that is replied to Darkwing, as Scourge continues through the shelves, narrowing down his search considerably as he goes. Turning a corner, the Sweep chuckles. The little gold Autobot seems to be doing much the same thing that the Sweep is doing. Well, let us put a stop /that/, shall we? With typical Sweep sneakery, Scourge moves around to another shelf and begins to track the small gold Autobot, scanning him for weaknesses he can exploit when the Autobot has found what they seek, so it will be easier to steal it. Always easier to take something from a corpse. Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet luaghs darkly as he watches Hot Spot spray someone off in the distance. "You Autobots realy need to learn how to aim better..." Darkwing replies as he begins to assualt the shuttle, figuring if he can cuase more fires it will continue to keep the fire truck occupied, and who knows maybe that water won't be too good for its systems either. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet has 'skipped' his action for this round. Before Redshift can voice his protests, he is picked up and tossed clear across the room! His small frame is easily thrown by Rodimus's monkey-like strength, and the red warrior crashes through some shoddy Space-Ikea bookshelves, snapping off one of his wings and ruining his swell paintjob. "FINE, Rodimus! You want me, got you got. time to turn up the heat!" The battered and one-winged little Decepticon snaps, firing a billowing blast of yellow-orange flames at Rodimus(and maybe some innocent books) Combat: Redshift strikes Rodimus Prime with his Flamethrower attack! "Aha! Got it!" So says Goldbug as he comes upon one particular volume- he immediately starts leafing through it at a surprising pace- occasionally taking a quick picture via a mini-camera (that is not Reflector). *clickclickclick!* He soon snaps the book shut and takes off- his feet shifting to put his wheels to the floor as he skates through the stacks! Of course, he rounds a corner to see Catechism- but he doesn't slow down at all! "Sorry lady, I'm sort of in a hurry!" he says, building up speed- he attempts to zip by her- one hand lashing out in a golden arc as he *chops!* his hand at her knee in passing! Combat: Goldbug sets its defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Goldbug misses Catechism with his Pressure-Point Strike attack! Rodimus Prime is a truk, not munkey! And actually, he's an are-vee, not truk. But these are all minor details, ones that become even less important as he's blasted with a FIRE. He automatically lifts his forearms in front of his head, letting their paint get singed off and perhaps sending the corners slightly molten for a moment, but worse, the bookshelves behind him *do* catch fire. He hisses, realizing that the whole library could catch fire, and if it does, the librarians and other locals can be hurt. Unfortunately, the firefighter is *outside* the building, so Rodimus just makes do as best he can... he grabs the corner of the bookcase and pulls it forward and down, sending the books crashing everywhere but effectively (if clumsily) smothering the flames. Granted, all this means that he's for the moment vulnerable to another attack from Redshift! Sandstorm grunts, staggering backwards as he gets jabbed by the Decepticon... and right in front of a window as water comes splashing through it. Augh, friendly fire! well, at least it wasn't actually fire. Now he's just soaked and got it in some of his joints. "Ugh, I knew this mission was all wet," he mutters. Drawing his gun, he aims it at Windshear and fires. "Well, seeing as we've got water, how 'bout some sand to go with it!" Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with his Sandblaster Gun attack! After his systems were restored, Hot Spot shakes his head and looks straight ahead, noticing his attack was aimed, or at least he estimated, at Sandstorm through a window while Darkwing is behind Hot Spot. Embarrassed to attack his own, ashamed of himself to let such an attack to mess with his mind, Hot Spot becomes a bit angry at the Decepticon jet. Making a u-turn, he now faces in the right direction. However, as soon as he faces Darkwing, the jet dashes by him and starts to cause havoc on the shuttle again. I got to focus on one thing or else I won't get anywhere, he thought to himself, with the shuttle's current state I'm sure I can focus my attack on the jet. <> he lies to the jet. Making another u-turn to face the shuttle, Hot Spot aims not at the shuttle, but at Darkwing and sprays. Combat: Hot Spot sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Blue Fire Truck strikes Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet with his Water Cannon attack! [Pulled -3] Moving along with Goldbug, a shelf kept between Scourge and the little golden Autobot, the Sweep tracks him past Catechism, falling a little behind by quickly scanning the shelves he passes for star charts. Then he has an idea. This place is huge, and there's plenty of room up high for him to transform and fly along /above/, and use his advanced sensors. Using that method, he should be able to spot the appropriate section of the library more quickly, and arrive before the Autobot. So he activates his anti-grav's and does just that, taking a few moments before he starts his search to again scan the little Autobot for weaknesses, but instead transfers the data to Catechism, who is within striking distance of Goldbug. <> Leaping into the air, the traditional sounds of transforming splitting the air, Scourge twists as his body folds into a nasty looking Sweepcraft. Combat: Scourge analyzes Goldbug for weaknesses Windshear can exploit. Catechism is not Vulcan nerve-pinched by Goldbug, because she is distracted looking at a rack of star charts, which chart the courses of stars like Kevin Bacon. So not what Catechism needs! She protests, "Hey, what are you doing, man? I'm just looking for-" she pauses, takes a look at what he's holding, and draws her whip "-that." Catechism snaps the whip at Goldbug's wrist, wanting to drag him closer and steal his prize. Who needs to be smart when you can just take other people's work? She shrugs and replies to Scourge, "Feet're all right, but I think you see where I'm going with this!" Windshear sees water coming in through a window in his general direction and scrambles back to avoid it. In doing so he leaves himself open for the return fire by the Autobot and gets nailed. A warning flashes across his HUD that his armor is damaged. Like it helps anyway... He jacks an arm cannon around at Sandstorm and fires. Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Catechism strikes Goldbug with her Whiplash Whirlwind attack! [Pulled -4] Combat: Windshear strikes Sandstorm with his Slow Ray attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Sandstorm's Agility. (Crippled) Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet is hit by the water makign him rock abit. "Your lil squirt gun would work better if you were facing Windshear, Autobot. Or maybe if you were fighting Blot, but I'm clean enough as it is." The Powermaster says and he continues to focus on trying to make the shuttle go boom rather then bothing with the Firetruck the continues to try an rain on his parade. Redshift has set Rodimus Prime on fire, which is totally awesome. "Catechism, get the little guy. I'll keep big red here!" Redshift quips, drawing his plasma rifle. Rodimus is busy trying to smother the flames, but Redshift has no compunctions to save this moldy old library. He opens fire with his plasma rifle, before ducking behind a row of books to avoid the return fire. "Gah!" Luckily, Goldbug manages to keep ahold of the star chart! Unluckily, Catechism also happens to keep ahold of HIM. The little Autobot is jerked through the air by Catechism's attack- but he rolls with it- twisting about in the air with surprising deftness! He curls his feet beneath him, then springs off of a row of alien encyclopedias for a little added momentum as he hurtles through the air- swinging a chunky foot right at Catechism's coned head! Combat: Goldbug strikes Catechism with his Kick attack! Combat: You took 11 damage. Combat: Redshift strikes Rodimus Prime with his Incinerator Rifle attack! Sandstorm gwuhs, for a brief moment confused as getting shot with the ray doesn't seem to do any damage, yet he gets several system malfunction warnings going off from his internal readouts. "Oh.. that's.. just.. primus..." the Wrecker finally stammers out from assorted systems starting to lag and slow his systems. But he grits his metal teeth in determination to keep fighting, switching to a more generic setting and unloading another round of fire at the now armor-shredded Seeker. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with his Scatterblast setting attack! [Pulled -2] Rodimus Prime is zapped in the chest with a bolt of plasma, sending him stumbling backwards and into some books. He rights himself quickly enough, however. He charges... not around the bookshelf that Redshift is hiding behind, but right towards it! While he doesn't want the place to catch fire, he's got no problems with knocking bookshelves over, especially if they're knocked over on a Decepticon! Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Redshift with his Bookshelf attack! [Pulled -7] Blue Fire Truck cannot let the shuttle be destoryed, now focusing back on the shuttle. But if he should do that, then another blaster attack will occur and impair his thinking process again. Then enough playing cops and robbers and, with that, he transfroms out of his truck mode and into his robot mode. Replying nothing to the jet, Hot Spot runs and jumps into the air. Folding his hands and bring them behind his head, the Protectobot tried to strike, or rather smash, the jet, hoping he will. Hot Spot transforms back into his robot mode. He's ready for anything now! Combat: Hot Spot strikes Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet with his Smash attack! Catechism is booted in the head by the Minibot - and it hurts! She frowns and asks, "Are you from the same factory as Brawn?" If so, she'll totally go for his shoulder. Catechism twists and yanks her whip arm hard, trying to reel Goldbug in closer, so that she can snatch the star charts from him with her outstretched free hand. Combat: Catechism strikes Goldbug with her Whiplash Whirlwind attack! [Pulled -3] Windshear gets hit again. One of these days he has to learn 'dodge'. Yea it hurts. Yea he ignores it. In combat its almost as if his pain keeps driving him in the battle and he decides its time to get up close and personal again. Though the Seeker does keep an optic out on the waterworks going on around him especially with breeched armor. Thats the last thing he wants to deal with right now. Closing in on the tripl-changer he extends the arm blade again and with it, its twin on the other forearm. Then coming in he swings with his left then cuts in with his right aiming to catch the bot in the stomach. Okay, now THAT one hurt... The Powermaster jet is knocked from the sky, but unfortuantly for Hot Spot it sends him crashing into the shuttle. Now Darkwing is annoyed. He transforms and stands up, rotating his neck joint to get a burr out of it from the crash he glares at the protectobot leader through the hole in the shuttle he made, and pulls out his trusty blasters. Seem that Hot Shot's tactics for not wanting to get blasted again might have failed him as the dour jet pulls the triggers. Combat: Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet strikes Hot Spot with his Electro-Kinetic Blasters attack! Combat: Windshear strikes Sandstorm with his Arm Blade attack! Sweep Spacecraft watches the scene below him a moment, then mutters his annoyance. Yes, Catechism had hit the Autobot, but she had failed to actually /stop/ him, or remove the chart from his hands. So the Sweep decides to make it easier, and hold Goldbug better, so the Seeker could just walk up and /take/ the chart. So he moves in closer and his laser lasso whips out towards the brightly colored Autobot, to entangle his arms. Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Goldbug with his Laser Lasso attack! Combat: Goldbug has been temporarily incapacitated. "Erk!" And Goldbug is coiled and ensnared- not by one, but TWO cunning Decepticons! He struggles against the bonds- crashing to the ground. He tightens surprisingly strong fingers into a vicelike grip around the star-chart...but then Catechism gets ahold of it anyway, and- '*RIIIIIP!* So now there's two, not quite as legible star-charts. Oops. Rodimus Prime buries Redshift in books, or something like that. Either way, Redshift is no longer a problem, which gives him time to go help Goldbug... if he can find the little guy, anyway! He darts into the maze of books. Though he has no special tracking senses, it's not like Goldbug was trying to hide his progress, and besides, they group are making an awful lot of noise. Maybe he'll get lucky! Combat: Rodimus Prime compares his Intelligence to 70: Success! Sandstorm snarls as Windshear digs into him again, but the system is finally working out the rest of the lag from that laser. "Now you're really getting on my nerves." With thinks working like they should again, he reels back his arm and throws another punch at Windshear with all his might. Ouch! Hot Spot was hit while in the air with another shot from the blasters and, once again, his systems are impaired; unable to think straightly to be exact. The Shuttle is damaged enough as is and why should it be protected now that there is a hole in it? Upon landing and radioing in, he runs wildly into the library, saying nothing back to the jet. After Hot Spot entered the library, he looks around the place with his right hand on his head. "Dang, there has to be a way to prevent these impairments to my thinking processor," he says, shaking his head. He sees figures in the room, but he isn't sure which one is which and, because of that, he must use an attack that would do minimal damage. He takes out his pistol with his left hand, right hand still on his head, and aims it at what he thinks to be a Decepticon. Windshear possibly? Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with his Punch attack! Combat: Hot Spot's Pistol attack on Windshear goes wild! Combat: Hot Spot misses Goldbug with his Pistol attack! Catechism is mildly irked. She has Goldbug bound by her whip! There was no need to lasso him again. That is redundant and inefficient. She comes away with half a star map in her hand, and she stashes that in her cockpit for safe keeping. Disgruntled, she releases Goldbug and reels in her whip, grunting, "You wanna handle the little bugger? Be my guest." Catechism won't get between Scourge and his quarry. Windshear is gettng tired of this Autobot. And now here comes the waterworks one shooting at him. But that went wrong obviously. Looking back at Sandstorm he suddenly transforms and rams the triplechanger. Pretty boy Windshear transforms into a Cybertronian pyramid/Tetrajet. Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Windshear misses Sandstorm with his Ram attack! <_< Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet stalks out of the rather damanged shuttle with a jet-sized hole in the side. Figuring that the shuttle is very well trashed, the Powermaster decides to take a moment to recharge. With the sound ot turnign gears ans shifting metal, Darkwing changes into his ever blue robot mode. Combat: Darkwing sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Darkwing takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Combat: Darkwing uses up a charge on his High-Throttle Energy Drink booster pack! Watching the star chart rip, Scourge growls and drops to the ground, transforming so he can help Catechism out some more. But apparently, Catechism doesn't share the Sweep's thrill of tearing an opponent to pieces with multiple bindings. Standing opposite the Seeker, Scourge reaches down to pick Goldbug up off the ground, his fingers closing (hopefully) around the little Autobot's neck. "Your whip was inefficient in restraining him." Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Goldbug with his Grab attack! Sandstorm smirks as the seeker transforms and shoots towards him, the Wrecker juking to the side in what looks at first to be a dodge. Only to try and grab -onto- the tetrajet as it flies past, ignoring the potential danger to himself as he tries to throw Windshear off-course and crashing into something other than himself! Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with his Borrowing some of the twins' Jet Judo? (Smash) attack! "You know-" Goldbug says, even as he's lifted up off the ground, feet dangling comically from the floor. "I don't think your laser lasso's very efficient either!" And then, with that, Goldbug flexes surprisingly strong arm-servos, and snaps the bonds that bind him! This done, he flashes a hand up towards Scourge's wrist in an attempt to grab hold and *TWIST* it in a direction it certainly shouldn't- even as the Minibot swings himself forward, feet planting on Scourge's chest! He pushes off, backflips, and then lands a short distance away, falling into a trained fighter's stance, the ragged, crumpled bit of star-chart still dangling from his clenched fist. Wasn't this guy supposed to be just an archivist? Combat: Goldbug sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Goldbug strikes Sweep Spacecraft with his Master of Circuit-Su attack! Rodimus Prime comes barreling through the halls of the hexagonally-roomed library, running at his top speed. In fact, the only reason he hasn't transformed is so that he doesn't have to worry about his engine drowning out the sounds of the battle. He turns a corner just in time to see Goldbug's impressive display, and skids to a stop. Then he smirks. "You sure you needed my help, Goldbug? Looks like you've got this covered!" he says, though he eyes Catechism in case she might be planning something. With his senses restored, Hot Spot lifts his right hand off his head. "Well that's better now. I feel one-hundred percent restored." He missed his target with his pistol, however, and who knows where that shot hit. But hearing some fighting going on in the other section of the library, Hot Spot quickly runs towards that direction. It must be Goldbug in the room and it sounds like he is in trouble, he thought to himself. Upon bashing the door down and aiming his pistol, he noticed everyone presented in there room. He was wrong about Goldbug in trouble, thank goodness, but, to his surprise, he sees Scourge in the room. "Well, well. I never thought to see you here, Scourge. I thought you were in many pieces that were beyond repairable the last time I saw you. Hmph, I guess I was wrong." He turns the direction of his face towards the minibot, "You better get out of here. I know you can handle these two, but right now you have something too important to lose. I'll defend you from these Decepticons along with Ultra while you run." Catechism is not a psychic and thus was not aware that Scourge entertained thoughts of halving Goldbug. She could point out that the really inefficient thing is trying to throttle a Throttlebot, since robots don't breathe, but, instead, she simply says, in a cool tone, "Let me know if you get the other half. I'll safeguard this half for now, before anything else can go wrong." That said, she makes a break for the nearest exit, transforms, and sets course for home. Catechism transforms to her jet mode, which is quite astoundingly simple for the coneheaded model that she is. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. That wrist twists around, loosening Scourge's grip, and making that hand a bit useless, but the Sweep Commander doesn't particularly enjoy being damaged, though it seems it's happening more frequently these days. Paying no attention at all to Prime as he comes barrelling around the corner, the Sweep leader draws his rifle and sprays a stream of acid at Goldbug. "Why do you Autobots insist on trying to win?" Turning as it approaches, the Sweepcraft seems to split in places, the arms and legs of a robot emerging, then the demonic wings unfurl and the menacing visage of Scourge makes it's appearance, completing the transformation from Sweepcraft to robot. Combat: Scourge strikes Goldbug with his Acid Ray attack! Windshear can not believe the day hes having.... this is just a nightmare... seems his last combat situation was a comedy of errors too. Hes at the point where hes beginning to think the upgrades Soundwave did on him recently were degrades instead... this is just getting silly now. He falls back into robot mode as he crashes through a few books shelves. Then stumbling among all the scattered books he gets back to his feet and realizes more systems are screwed up now on top of it all. The Seeker again heads for Sandstorm to attack yet again. He wont give up thts for sure. Combat: Windshear strikes Sandstorm with his Punch attack! Darkwing listens to the sounds of battle coming from in the library; and for once decides to just wait it out, its likely not gonna end well anyway. Dreadwind would be so proud. Combat: Darkwing takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] "Well, I've got a few tricks-" Goldbug says in that typical, playful-heroic way common to many a brave Autobot. But then he's struck by an acid laser. "Gah! And so do they!" he clutches at his chestplate for a moment, and then glances around. "...but we've got what we came for, Rodimus...half of it, at least. I suggest we get outta here- and quick!" And again, Goldbug transforms- zipping off through the library, and barreling out the door as fast as his four wheels can take him! Combat: Goldbug sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Goldbug begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Hot Spot, Scourge, Rodimus Prime, Darkwing, XF-35B Astral Lightning , Sandstorm, and Windshear Rodimus Prime raises a brow-ridge as Scourge goes from outnumbering Goldbug two-to-one to being outnumbered three-to-one, and yet still sticks around. "You really should have run after the Seeker, Scourge," he observes calmly, and then... Goldbug runs away. He smirks. "But it looks to be your lucky day. I've got better things to do then wreck this library. Autobots!" he calls out, voice louder, "We've got what we need. Withdraw to deeper in the library!" Sandstorm brings up an arm to shield himself, but there's a painful sounding crack as some framework breaks inside the limb from his previous damages, similar to an organic snapping a bone more or less. Oh smeg it all. With a snarl he jerks back, keeping his attention focused on the Seeker. "You just don't give up, do you? Fine then." His expression grits in determination, and his artifact lights up, unleashing a burst of energy almost as if driven by that determination. "WRECK AND RULE!" Rodimus Prime transforms into his Winnebago mode. Combat: Winnebago begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from XF-35B Astral Lightning and Windshear Combat: Sandstorm strikes Windshear with Lense of Determination's Lense Flare attack! Cybertronian Tetra jet transforms into the pretty boy Decepticon, Windshear. [Log cuts off here, due to needing sleep. If anyone has the rest of the poses, please add them.]
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