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| - The Zombie colored Tetrajet flys to the right of the Pyramid in formation and simply sends a quick beep through his radio in acknowledgement to the orders as the close in on the space port. His weapons are online and hes ready for what he knows will not be an easy hit and run. That was Windshear... The A-10 Thunderbolt II is hanging low, weaving through the wreckage of buildings and sweeping over the Memorial square as he darts towards the Spaceport, his weapon systems at full charge and ready to rock. Blockbuster replies to Photon << Whatever you say, jus' point me in a direction an' watch the carnage spread. >> The thundering sound of his engines echo's between the buildings as he throttles up, moving quickly out ahead of the other Decepticons for a few moments, though he's not nearly fast enough to maintain such a position. Slugfest has his two front feet firmly planted on Windshear's console, while his back feet are perched on the edge of the seat. That gives his tail plenty of room. He peers out of the glass. "Where Autobots? Want saw them in pieces! Let out when find Autobots!" he says excitedly, revving his chainsaw plates a little. "It isn't that," First Aid is telling his fellow Protectobots. "It's more that I worry that with Omega Supreme with the Autobots again, he may start to feel a little depressed again." First Aid and the others are currently in one of the spaceport's hangar bays, out of sight from prying eyes. One of the old shuttles salvaged from the Crystal City Spaceport is undergoing an overhaul. It's in pretty bad shape, but with some TLC they just might be able to get it operational again. "He fought so hard to get himself out of the war, remember." Even in a city that's engulfed in the flames of war one can still be tasked with the mundane task of base patrol duty, but that's not something Streetwise will complain about. He's rarely the type to complain about the assignments that he's given. Although he'd prefer it if he was still out on the field tracking down Decepticon terrorist cells, but ever since that stunt Swindle pulled hours earlier the security at the spaceport has been raised. So here he is standing around with the other Protectobots, this time in the hangar bays, "He'll have to get over it just like he did in the past. War is like a fire, it only spreads unless its put out. It's a tragedy what's happening here in Crystal City but this reminds us all that trouble always has a way of finding its way to your doorsteps." He then begins sifting through obscure areas in the hangar bay, "Hmm... no signs of any Decepticon intelligence device. Hard to believe that Swindle might've actually just been at the spaceport trying to peddle his wares." Streetwise comments in his usual suspicious tone. So far it had been quiet on the homefield frontlines... but a quiet hour was just the calm before an inevitable storm as far as Hot Spot was concerned. Living up to his usual endevours of being on the clock as much as possible to be ready, the Protectobot chief stood with one foot propped on a crate of supplies, resting his arm on the knee-joint as he watched the others work. Supervizing was pretty much his job when it came to Operations work, seeing that his own technical skills outside of emergency operations and an odd third mode were limited. "I think he's more likely to be depressed by the revelation he's had over the whole matter than being back with us. But I'm sure you medics will do your job to keep that from happening," he adds in jovial encouragement. Then assides to Streetwise, "Sounds like typical Swindle to me." Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie sits perched atop one of the towers around the spaceport, his turret scanning around as the scoutcar looks for signs of trouble, engines shut down. Behind him there's the ramp he used to get up this high. He spots Photon and the others, snarling quietly and starting to cycle his autoloader, engines growling back into life. <> Foxfire is not in the hangar with the Protectobots. He's outside some distance away, idly watching the skies. Eventually the sound of jet engines reaches his ears, which twitch, and he narrows his optics, the approaching Decepticons coming into his line of sight. Thinking quickly, he turns and darts into the hangar. "Guys!" he calls as he bolts over to the Protectobots. "We've got incoming Decepticons!" <>. The golden jet then slides to his right as he descends towards the spaceport. Autobot defences starts firing but he manages to obliterate one of their AA turret as he dives towards the ground. Photon is forced to execute a couple of daring manoeuvres around the buildings to avoid being hit by all the laserbeams flooding the airspace. Suddenly, he spots a hangar that looks like a suitable target. He gets a lock on it and unleashes all his weaponery on it. Combat: Pyramid Jet misses First Aid with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Pyramid Jet strikes Hot Spot with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Pyramid Jet misses Streetwise with his Full-Auto Area attack! It doesn't hardly matter that the Autobot's have spotted them, the A-10 is closing with such aggression that he'll be on top of them in no time. His targeting system is sweeping over the forward defenses, pinging out Autobot signatures as he moves, sweeping this way and that to keep himself a bit harder to hit, "We've got a sniper on a tower. That one's mine to start with... I'm gonna blow that tower right out from under him." Blockbuster drops lower and pops open the laser ports on his wings, the lancing cutting beams slicing through the air, trying to cut Backblast right out of the tower with his first attack, "Not this time, autobrats!" he calls, "Let's rock'n roll!" Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II misses Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his Wing Laser Ports (Laser) attack! Dead colored Tetrajet lifts up suddenly as the pyramid jet neers toward him and orders the attack. Windy doesnt think anything of it as he veers hard left and starts firing nonstop with both his wing lasers. Hes not slowing down but speeding up as he attacks. "Get ready Sluggy" he says onhis internal speaker and unlocks his canopy for the tape to push it open and jump out. Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Backblast uses up some of his Recoil Compensator shield booster! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes First Aid with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Streetwise with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Foxfire with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet misses Hot Spot with his Full-Auto Area attack! Slugfest scrambles as the lock is popped and his little front feets fumble with the canopy lid so that he can squirm out. As he falls out of the cockpit, he attempts to land on someone! Maybe a fox? Combat: Slugfest strikes Foxfire with his *thud* (Grab) attack! "Well, it wouldn't surprise me if Swindle was just out to troll us," First Aid replies to Streetwise, trying his best to use Internet lingo in day-to-day conversations. "Sometimes I think the Decepticons live just to be mean to us." He nods to Hot Spot, "Yeah, we'll do our best," he says. Inwardly, though, First Aid is still terribly worried about the big guy. He isn't confident that they'll be able to raise his spirits. Ultimately the worries of Omega Supreme are replaced by a new worry as Backblast shouts a warning over the Autobot broadband. Decepticon fighters, inbound! The doctor freezes. First Aid hasn't even time to leave the hangar before Backblast is telling everyone inside to brace themselves. The ground shakes violently, and First Aid is nearly knocked off his feet. Part of the salvaged shuttle cracks, and debris begins to rain down from the ceiling. One small shard of metal strikes him on the shoulder. Looking up, though, First Aid can see the entire ceiling starting to collapse. "Ah!" he shouts, throwing his hands up defensively. The Global Pose Tracker marks that First Aid has 'skipped' his action for this round. Combat: First Aid sets his defense level to Protected. Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie's engines snarl into life and he backs up FAST, heading down the ramp. Unfortunately for him, while Blockbuster's attack misses, Windshear's strafing run puts a few dents in his armour and causes the ramp to collapse, slamming the Autobot down onto the ground, hard. He snarls quietly, his turret tracking the apparently leader, the first one to strike. He's ignoring, for the moment at least, Windshear... Or is he? His machine gun opens up on the three Decepticons he can see! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie misses Dead colored Tetrajet with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun Area attack! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie misses Pyramid Jet with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun Area attack! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie strikes A-10 Thunderbolt II with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun Area attack! Foxfire is inside the hangar, of course! So as the Decepticons attack it, he's hit by a blast from Windshear, causing him to yelp, though it's more out of alarm than pain. And then Slugfest lands on him, probably after falling through the roof. "Get off!" he grunts, squirming his way out from underneath the enemy tapebot, who isn't his concern right now. "Move it, First Aid!" Foxfire yells as he rushes toward the medic and slams a shoulder into his leg, attempting to shove him toward the exit. Of course, Foxfire isn't very strong, so that might not work. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Foxfire has 'skipped' his action for this round. Only shortly after the Autobot radio chatter flares to life with reports of Decepticon presence does the roof of the hangar on top of Streetwise begins to rattle and shake! Streetwise shoots the other two Protectobots a grim look but makes a surprising light hearted commentary, "Well at least now we know which hangar they're after." Any other comments from Streetwise is cut short though as the steel beams and other miscellaneous objects jarred loose from the Decepticon attack begins dropping down on them! One of the beams slams across Streetwise's left shoulder, throwing him onto one knee momentarily before popping back up onto his two legs, "Doesn't look any safer in here than out there." He then sees more debris coming down towards his fellow Protectobot comrade, First Aid. Normally he'd take initiative to push another fellow Autobot out of harm's way, but this is the Protectobots and they've racked up millions of years of experience working with each other. They can pretty much anticipate what each other will do. Hot Spot will save him. Streetwise needs to do his own duty, and that is to get out and hold their ground, to set the stage for Hot Spot and First Aid's arrival! Soon the Protectobot interceptor bursts out the hangar doors and expertly pulls out his photon gun before quickly letting loose a few quick shots at the Decepticons in the area. Combat: Streetwise sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Streetwise strikes Pyramid Jet with his Photon Pistol Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Pyramid Jet 's Accuracy! (Blinded) Combat: Streetwise strikes Dead colored Tetrajet with his Photon Pistol Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Dead colored Tetrajet's Accuracy! (Blinded) "I knew they were up to something!" Hot Spot is in full gear and running hot as soon as the alarm goes out... And then the hanger is being shot at! Multiple blasts pummel the hanger, knocking out several large portions of the ceiling that come crashing down towards the shuttle workers as they scramble for cover... And the shadow stops just short of slamming down on top of First Aid, courtesy of a pair of very broad blue shoulders. Literally as Hot Spot catchs a support beam and several large chunks of debris across them, winces a bit at the strain. Plenty of time for the medic to be pushed out of the way. "Careful, they've taken knocking very seriously! Get all non-combat personal to shelter!" As the workers scatter there's another rumble as more of the building starts to give away. Moments later a large cloud of smoke and dust belchs out of the doorway as a result of the collapses inside, billowing around and obscuring Streetwise from view moments after he fires, and the other two Protectobots who had been standing guard outside the doors as well. After a few moments more, shadows move within the slowly settling cloud of rubble and ash. And then one very -big- shadow, followed by the titanic form emerging from it even in the process of pulling himself together in the convergence of the five Protectobots. "DECEPTICONS!" rings the voice that had bellowed over the streets of Crystal City just days prior. "LEAVE NOW OR I WILL BE FORCED TO ELIMINATE YOUR PRESCENCE WITH JUSTIFIABLE FORCE!" Looks like the Seekers woke up a very big, -very- angry poppa bear. Defensor has arrived. Pyramid Jet accelerates as he passes over the hangar that's falling on the Protectobots. The bullets fired by Backblast miss him by a few inch and they hit nothing but the air. However, the retaliation comes from that very hangar as Streetwise strikes him, overloading his sensors. Not seeing where he's going, the golden jet is in danger of crashing into one of the numerous building surrounding the spaceport. Quickly, Photon transforms into his robot mode, which allows him to hover into the air, which is much safer when you can barely see what you're doing. He aims his arm cannons at the ground, in the approximate direction of Streetwise and fires. This should be more than enough to take down a single protectobot....right? The Pyramid jet unfold into Photon's robot mode. Combat: Photon strikes Defensor with his Laser Cannon attack! [Pulled -2] Dead colored Tetrajet gets hit as hes passing over the collapsing hanger. He /was/ in the process of banking around for another scraffing riun but now hes been blinded and his orientation to the horizon is off kilter. And that basically says that Windshear has no clue where hes heading now. Lovely. He hears the roof coming down and his sensers pick up the cloud of dust shooting up into the air. He follows the 'scent' of the debris and fires both wing laseres in that geneneral direction. Of course Windshear has no idea just how far off the ground he is of if hes even level but thats waht medics are for if he slams into something. Slugfest falls through a roof and lands on a fox! Once he realizes where he is and what he's sitting on, he starts trying to trample Foxfire! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet misses Foxfire with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Defensor with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Slugfest misses Foxfire with his Stego-tramplings! (Kick) attack! The shot from the bren gun splatters over Blockbuster's armor, doing some damage but not penetrating very far, "Haw haw..." he emits, screaming over the top of the truck before climbing into the skies while he arms his rocket pods. Swinging in a wide, slow arc around while plotting new firing solutions, his attention is drawn by an unfortunate happening, "Oh good... All 5 of 'em were hiding around there it seems." he utters, "This will make things challenging." Backblast is forgotten, the rocket pods given a new target, "I've always wanted to stamp a big ugly on my kill card. Guess today is as good a day as any." settling into an easy gliding cruise the A-10 starts to open up, a spray of rockets pinpointing the join units that make up the different components of Defensor fired. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Defensor with his LAU-61 Hydra Rockets attack! Foxfire digs himself out of the debris after the Protectobots merge. He should have known Hot Spot would save First Aid, but Foxfire's lack of physical strength has never stopped him from trying to help those in need, even larger mechs. As he stands on the rubble, he has Slugfest attempt to trample him. Annoyed, the little saboteur slashes at the stegosaur's face. "Beat it, you creep," he snaps. "I have other things to worry about." With that, he darts along the piles of debris to help the workers who were unable to escape the hangar's collapse. Combat: Foxfire strikes Slugfest with his Claw (Punch) attack! Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie snarls quietly, but smirks as all the Cons concentrate on Defensor. He begins to track and lock onto a target, his turret following the Decepticon's maneuvers exactly as he loads his main gun. He bounces over the semi-destroyed roadway beneath him as he works, settling himself hull-down behind one of the destroyed AA emplacements.. <> he mutters. <> Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Backblast takes extra time to aim his next attack. First Aid closes his optics, sure that the end was near as the huge shard of metal from the ceiling. Luckily he has a pair of guardian angels looking out for him. Foxfire nudges him out of the way of the initial shard, and Hot Spot practically bowls him over, protecting the doctor with his own ultra hard blue hide. "Whew... thanks Hot Spot. That's another I owe you. Come on, lets go rescue Streetwise." From their vorns of teamwork, First Aid already knows that the interceptor is on his way outside to ensure the Decepticons don't escape. 'Escape', you say? 'Why would the Decepticons flee when they only just arrived', you say? Because mere moments later, First Aid and Hot Spot has joined the others, and Defensor rises. The Protectobot combiner is already armed, but with endless patience he lets the Decepticons have their chance to leave peacefully. His offer to them was completely genuine, if perhaps futile. Predictably, the Cons open up on him. Defensor tracks Photon as the Tetrajet screams over the ruined remains of the hangar. The laser blast indeed hits Streetwise, leaving a deep scoring mark on Defensor's left leg. windshear and Blockbuster quickly join in, strafing the combiner from above. The auto-cannon leaves Defensor riddled with bullets, but the rockets damn near knock him off his feet. The Protectobot takes a heavy step back to restabilize himself. He doesn't act just yet - there's fellow Autobots in need of protecting. Leaving the Decepticons who are shooting at him alone, he focuses on the one that *isn't*. Defensor steps towards Slugfest, placing his right foot in between him and Foxfire. Gently, he lifts Foxfire up out of Slugfest's grasp. "If you want a fight, Cassetticon, try me on for size." The Global Pose Tracker marks that Defensor has 'skipped' his action for this round. Photon's optics finally recover from Streetwise's assault. Of course the sight didn't improve since Defensor is now standing in front of him, "Well I guess it's time for a death by a thousand cuts..." While still hovering in the air, the seeker starts to circle around the autobot gestalt, making sure to remain out of his reach and firing his laser cannons at him. Slugfest stomps a foot impatiently. "Nonono! MY Fox!" he snaps. The little stegosaur tries sawing off Defensor's leg, ill-advised as that course of action is! Combat: Photon strikes Defensor with his Laser Cannon attack! Combat: Slugfest misses Defensor with his Chainsaw Plates attack! Dead colored Tetrajet was greeted by the gestalt, Defensor when his vision came back. His quick bank down to avoid running into the Autobot takes him down low to the ground and not one to let an oppotunity go by he takes a run and anything moving on the surface below. Blockbuster screams over the head of the combiner after having unleashed his rocket attack, "HAW! Didja see 'im stumble? He ain't nothin'..." he calls to Windshear, "Go fer th' legs, we can get 'im on the ground and pound the join locations. They're always weak points, an' if we shake 'em up enough, this fight'll be over in a slaggin' moment." His words delivered, the A-10 wheels away, using his burners to throw himself a good distance away while he spins up his main cannon. Swinging around slowly he dials up some new firing solutions, accounting for positioning and windage as he settles back onto an approach run, "Cut 'im off at the knee's boys!" and with that, the heavy GAU-8/A Avenger opens up, the smoke and recoil bringing the jet nearly to a stop before he ceases fire and pulls away again. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Defensor with his GAU-8/A Avenger attack! Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Foxfire with his Laser attack! [Pulled -1] Foxfire wasn't actually expecting Defensor to protect him, but on the other hand, he really shouldn't be surprised. As he's lifted into the gestalt's hand, he glances up at him with a grateful expression, then turns his attention back to the battle. He gives another yelp as Windshear manages to shoot him again, but he quickly shakes it off. "There are still non-combatants in the vicinity," he informs Defensor. "We need to keep them out of harm's way." Combat: Foxfire takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie grins quietly to himself as he tracks his target - Photon - and readies his big gun. He cackles to himself and brings his recoil compensator systems online, the breech of his 90mm gun slamming shut. <> he mutters with a grin, before firing. The big cannon lets fly with a loud report, fire and smoke blasting out of the muzzle brake. He grunts in pain at the recoil of his main gun, which spits a metre-long tungsten dart towards the Decepticon flier, showering the area with pieces of sabot! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie misses Photon with his 90mm Sabot attack! By now the cloud of smoke that had been thrown up into the air by the collapse of the hangar bay has begun to settle down around Defensor, draping down across the massive amalgation of Protectobots. It might possibly look intimidating for some, witness two large blue optics can be seen piercing through the cloud of settling dust and all. Thus far though the giant Autobot has yet to make a move despite Photon's laser cannon striking against his armoured form, Slugfest's impotent attack upon his foot, and it would seem that only the explosive force of Blockbuster's missiles had nary as much phased the towering gestalt at all. It looks like Defensor continues to be true to his words. Even under all these assaults against him he has yet to retaliate, as surely as the Decepticons were given their first chance that they quickly squandered, Defensor passes them a second chance... but will there be a third? Suddenly a cerulian blue energy field spontaenously materializes around Defensor, crackling with potent energy for a moment before becoming invisible once more. Defensor has activated his forcefield. Things just might get serious soon. Combat: Defensor sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Defensor creates a forcefield shielding himself from damage. Photon observes the effect (or non effect) of his attack on the autobot gestalt, which distract him from anything else around him. Suddenly, just because of an intuition, he looks down and spots Backblast as he's about to fire at him. The seeker cuts off his anti grav and starts falling towards the ground. Well before he crashes into the ground, he transforms into his pyramid jet mode and dives towards the autobot firing his heat guns at him. Photon leaps fowards and shifts into a golden pyramid jet. Combat: Pyramid Jet misses Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his Heat Guns attack! Slugfest flies into a rage and starts beating on the forcefield with his little stubby feet. (or trying to). "NO NO NO NO NO! No stop me from stomping Foxfire!" the little stegosaur rants. Combat: Slugfest misses Defensor with his Festival of Slugging attack! Dead colored Tetrajet watches his shot hit the Foxbot Defensor is holding and he tilts up on a wing and slices by the Autobot Gestault. then banking around he draws a bead on Defensors back and fires. Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Defensor with his Laser attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs Dead colored Tetrajet's attack. The GAU-8 winds down, clattering to a stop as Blockbuster safes the heavy gattling gun, his engines throttling up to throw him past Defensor once again - so far he hasn't be molested hardly at all. The A-10's weapon systems shuffle, ports opening around the nose as smaller calibre guns come into view, "Hmmm... seems a bit silly, but lets see how they handle it..." he banks hard around and moves to dive towards Defensor's legs. The lighter weight chatter of the guns fills the air as Blockbuster presses his advantage, small puffs of smoke bursting from the myriad of small calibre guns. His wings rock side to side as he starts strafing across the joins that hold Defensor together, staying right on target until pulling off at the last possible moment. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Defensor with his Small Calibre Nose Guns (Pistol) attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs A-10 Thunderbolt II 's attack. Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie snarls as his shot goes wide, dodging Photon's shot with a laugh. He decides to give Photon the ultimate insult and takes aim at a different target, his turret swinging around to take aim at Blockbuster, someone he knows he's got a good chance of hitting. His bren gun wakes up again, spitting 303 shells at the Decepticon A-10. Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie misses A-10 Thunderbolt II with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun attack! Foxfire makes a small sound in his vocalizer that indicates annoying. "Oh, Slugfest? I forgot to tell you--I'm not YOUR fox." He positions himself so that he can shoot the stegosaur from his perch on Defensor, twin lasers firing from his blue, flaring optics. Combat: Foxfire strikes Slugfest with his Optic Lasers (Laser) attack! Small flares of energy spark from every round of fire that hits the protective energy field, Defensor living up to his name all too well as the combination of the defensive measure and sheer size afford the titanic transformer all he needs to shield the retreating Autobot workers as they retreat farther into the spaceport encampment. As hard as they were working, they're not about to risk losing their lives over some old shuttles and defenses that can be more standardized and repaired than they are. Defensor would likely agree with the sentiment (though the First Aid part of his mind still feels a bit of remorse over having to leave even shuttles behind), but he's not feeling all that talkative tonight it would seem. Someone has gained, unfortunately for them, the attention of the behemoth guardian as he turns partially, optics glaring after the airfighters that have been trying to blow holes in him. One massive right arm rises up and swings out, attempting to knock both of the aircraft away from him and clear the air-space a bit. Combat: Defensor sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Defensor misses Dead colored Tetrajet with his Two Seekers With One Swing? Area attack! [Pulled -7] Combat: Defensor strikes A-10 Thunderbolt II with his Two Seekers With One Swing? Area attack! [Pulled -7] Slugfest is zapped by the hurty fox eye lasers. "ARE SO MINE!" he contradicts, jumping up on his antigravs and attempting to tackle the fox cassette. "Mine to stomp! Mine to saw up! Mine to take to junkyard!" He tries a mid-air trampling. Combat: Slugfest sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Slugfest strikes Foxfire with his Stego-trampling! (Kick) attack! Pyramid Jet mutters as his heat beams strikes the ground where Backblast was a moment ago. "Arg... well no time to play with you... there's a gestalt waiting to be taken down!". The golden jet turns around and heads at full speed towards Defensor, avoiding the incoming AA fire coming for the autobot turrets around the site. Photon circles around his target before firing at him, aiming right between the gestalt's shoulders. Combat: Pyramid Jet strikes Defensor with his Laser attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs Pyramid Jet 's attack. The A-10 had been enjoying a sort of omnipotence as he cruised around, buzzing like a gnat in Defensor's ear... of course, this time around his luck had run out. After only taking that one minor shot from Backblast early in the contest, the shot from Defensor hurt just a bit more, the Jet listing off to one side while smoking rather heavily before the internal redundancies kick in, "Good one big ugly, but I ain't done with you yet." Blockbuster climbs slowly into the skies once more, curling around in a tight arc and immediately opening up with his wing lasers again, strafing the forcefield and trying to break through - he wasn't about to be an idiot about this after all. Cut that shield down to size, and Defensor was going to be in deep trouble all over again. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Defensor with his Wing Laser Ports (Laser) attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs A-10 Thunderbolt II 's attack. Dead colored Tetrajet tilts to the side as the return blast from the gestault shaves right under him. "You missed..." he drolls dryly. "My turn." he adds and fires both wing lasers back at the large Autobot. Combat: Dead colored Tetrajet strikes Defensor with his Laser attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs Dead colored Tetrajet's attack. Foxfire blinks. Apparently Slugfest has finally remembered that he can fly. And Foxfire barely has time to react as the enemy cassette tackles him, sending him plummeting off Defensor and to the ground. He does not have time to right himself in the air and take flight, resulting in him crashing. With a quiet groan he gets to his feet and shakes his head. Then he snarls, and retaliates by sending a stream of flames toward Slugfest. Combat: Foxfire strikes Slugfest with his Fox Fire attack! Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie scowls quietly as he misses the A-10 too and decies that he needs to relax a little and take some time to aim and relocate. He rolls out from his position in cover and begins to roll to higher ground, intending to get a better shot at someone. Who that someone is... well that's unclear. Combat: Backblast takes extra time to aim his next attack. Defensor grimaces at the situation. Seekers. Why did it have to be Seekers (and other Decepticon planes)? The Decepticons are generally too fast for him to catch, and too agile even if they slip within slappin' range. The Protectobot glances behind him to see how the evacuation is going. He just needs to hold off the Decepticons for a little while longer. Smacking Blockbuster was a good start, but it has't slowed their assault upon him. Worse, it hasn't slowed their assault upon his fellow Autobot, Foxfire. Coming to the grim realization that the spaceport's destruction is all but assured, Defensor instead focuses on ensuring that no friendly lives are lost. He turns back to Slugfest, taking a heavy step towards him. Each step causes the tarmac to shake. Before he can cross the gap between him and the Cassetticon, Photon shoots him in the back right between the shoulders. Knocked off balance, Defensor's forcefield flickers. Photon's lasers are added to by Blockbuster and Windshear. The forcefield fizzles but remains up. Defensor raises his right arm, warding off the continued attacks. Finally reaching Foxfire, the Combiner 'swiftly' tries to give his rival a quick punt towards the ruins of the hangar first bombed by the Decepticons. Slugfest is fired on with fire by Foxfire mere seconds before Defensor's foot makes him go flying! "NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!" he screams as he sails through the air. Once he lands, he finds himself on his side. His feet move helplessly as he tries to right himself. "No can get up!" he says plaintively. Combat: Slugfest takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Dead colored Tetrajet makes a disgusted sound as his shot gets absorbed through the Autobots defense field. "Ive got something for this." he says to no one in particular as he heads for a nearby building roof. Once above it he transforms and lands then turns toward the Gestault and fires an arm laser at him. A thick white beam blasts out of it toward the Gestault and its then that he sees the Stegosaw go flying! Dead black and gray Cybertronian Tetrajet transforms into Pretty Boy Seeker Windshear. Combat: Windshear strikes Defensor with his Thermal Laser attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs Windshear's attack. Pyramid Jet curses as his blasts are absorbed by Defensor's forcefield. Looks like it will be harder than Blockbuster seems to think but at least they are still doing well even though they didn't scratch the gestalt. The seeker goes up and executes a couple of daring manoeuvre that would make any human pilot pass out, all of it to avoid being shotdown and then, he dives back towards the gestalt, firing his heat guns at him. Combat: Pyramid Jet misses Defensor with his Heat Guns attack! Blockbuster is getting sick and tired of that forcefield, and now... now HE was going to do something about it, "Priming my AGM's for maximum effect." the missile starts to smoke as he primes the launcher. His maneuvering carries him well out of the line of fire for the moment while the firing solution is programmed, the missile given the targeting data it needs, "This is gonna be good." Swinging around in an inverted parabola, the A-10's engines throttle back, bringing the crosshairs onto Defensor's head, waiting for the solid tone and then... FWOOOOOOOOSH the stream of smoke tells the tale as it streaks towards the giant. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Defensor with his AGM-65 Maverick Missile attack! Combat: Defensor's forcefield absorbs A-10 Thunderbolt II 's attack. Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie grins quietly as he rolls up a ramp towards a defensive emplacement, stopping about half-way up. He's completely silent as he completes his windage and range calculations, save for the whirring of the autoloader as it brings another round into the breech. It's unclear what this one is until the big gun speaks, again causing a grunt of pain from Backblast as it fires - spitting a steel APFS-DST training sabot round towards... BLOCKBUSTER, the Decepticon A-10. <> Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie strikes A-10 Thunderbolt II with his 90mm Sabot attack! [Pulled -2] Foxfire watches as Slugfest goes flying. Then he winces when the other cassette hits the ground and can't get up. "Makes me glad," he comments, "that I'm a fox, and not a Stegosaurus." Back in the safety of Defensor's hand and forcefield, he turns his attention to Photon. His hip compartments open up, revealing a pair of rockets, which promptly launch at the Seeker. He hopes that he can at least damage Photon's wings and send him crashing to the ground! Combat: Foxfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Foxfire strikes Pyramid Jet with his Rocket Pods attack! Defensor continues to fend off the Decepticon flyers' strafing runs against him, each and every shot that lands against his bulky form causes small cerulian blue energy crackles to flare up. Once more another missile detonates itself against Defensor's chest, producing a mixture of a small mushroom cloud of fiery red explosion against the tortured cerulian blue crackles of the forcefield protecting Defensor! Suddenly the forcefield fades as the last attack finally overwhelms and exhausts Defensor's primitive forcefield technology. Defensor's expression dims grimly as he surveys the progress of the Autobot workers that are still evacuating the area. So far so good, 80% of them have cleared the area and all that's left to do is to cover the remaining 20. The giant stalwart defender quickly strides into action, renewed by the sense of duty to protect the Autobot workers he sweeps up a piece of debris from the collapsed hangar near him and begins swinging at the Decepticon flyers! Combat: Defensor's forcefield protecting himself vanishes. Combat: Defensor misses A-10 Thunderbolt II with his Burning Justice Area attack! [Pulled -8] Combat: Defensor misses Windshear with his Burning Justice Area attack! [Pulled -8] Combat: Defensor misses Pyramid Jet with his Burning Justice Area attack! [Pulled -8] The A-10 is busy complaining about Defensor's shield when Backblast reminds him there's something else on, "Change of plans..." he says, "Lets give the big idiot something worse to worry about." he turns his full attention on the sniper, dropping down low and screaming towards the autobrat with murder on his mind. Ports in his wings open again, the laser generators coming online as he comes in close, "You're gonna regret gettin' my attention scrapheap. By th' time I'm done you'll -wish- I'd kept messing around with the big ugly over there." the cutting beams lance out, slicing across the terrain as he tries to carve Backblast up like a roast turkey. In the process of getting low and fast, he also manages to go right past Defensor's area attack, swish like a rockstar! Pyramid Jet keeps circling the autobot gestalt, keeping his distance when he is suddenly struck by a rocket coming from nowhere. It detonates on his left wing making him lose control of his flight. The golden jet starts falling towards the ground. Photon is totally out of control and he's falling... right towards Defensor! Combat: Pyramid Jet sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Pyramid Jet strikes Defensor with his Ram attack! Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II misses Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his Wing Laser Ports (Laser) attack! Windshear stumbles down to his knees after the shot he inleashed on Defensor. Slagging energon levels. But by luck when he fell he put himself out of the way of the Gestaults return attack so in that hes grateful. He also knows hes useless right now and instead he finds some cover and starts powering down as much as he can to build his energon back up as quickly as possible. He may not be in the thick of it right now but that will change as soon as hes able. Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Windshear takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Slugfest finally manages to right himself and returns to the battle. The angry little stego-cassette is now running mindlessly towards Defensor, attempting to literally bite his ankle in revenge. Combat: Slugfest strikes Defensor with his Stego anklebiter! (Punch) attack! Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie cackles at Blockbuster, his pilot hologram emerging to give the A-10 a double birdie. Cackling joyously, he begins to race away from the Warthog, still proudly displaying his insulting symbol. In fact, he even goes so far as to have the hologram stand up and drop trousers, mooning the Decepticon and slapping buttcheeks. Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie misses A-10 Thunderbolt II with his I shall taunt you VICIOUSLY! (Grab) attack! Foxfire snarls a bit. He's glad he's succeeded in hitting Photon, but not so much that the Seeker crashed into Defensor as a result. He steadies himself as he comtemplates his next move. "All right," he says at last. "The Seeker is mine." With that, he jumps off Defensor and attempts to latch onto Photon! Combat: Foxfire strikes Pyramid Jet with his Latch On (Grab) attack! The stego-tape nipping at his heels isn't really of much concern to Defensor, scraping bits of paint and metal but otherwise doing minimal damage with his gnawing. That and he has a spiraling out of control Seeker to worry about... and the combiner is quick to realize that if he moved out of the way, there was a chance of Photon crashing down into the remainder of fleeing workers! There is no way Defensor is going to allow that, so the titan holds his ground as the Seeker smashes into him, sheer momentum of the impact enough to cause the titan to stagger back with pavement shaking steps to keep his balance and not fall over. Once he's steadied, Defensor turns his attention back to the matter at hand. With a grunt of determination he raises one arm, a much larger version of Hot Spot's cannon appearing in his grasp as he does so.. and with the other fliers occupied, swings towards where Windshear is trying to catch his breath under cover. "YOU WILL LEAVE IN PEACE... OR IN PIECES." With a deafening thoom a single massive ball of explosive blue fire is belched from the weapon, hitting the already potmarked tarmack and sending gouts of flame blasting out in all radial directions. Instead of trying to blast him straight, the titan appears to be trying to get the fiery wash to spread around the cover instead of blow right through it. Combat: Defensor strikes Windshear with his Fireball Detonation attack! [Pulled -7] The lasers slice up a lot of terrain, but reflect wide of Backblast, and this only annoys Blockbuster more. As he sails over he picks up the hologram, and that is just about the last straw, "Right, you're going home in a body bag." he declares with an angry tone in his voice, another stream of smoke starts to show, another AGM being primed as he climbs into the skies aggressively. Engines throttle back, the A-10 going vertical and flipping backwards in a stall maneuver before spinning his wings around and diving hard and fast towards the Sniper. A click*FWOOOOSH* elicits as the target lock goes green, the deadly air to ground missile departing with extreme prejudice for it's target on the ground. The attack that Defensor unleashes wasn't even directed at him, but the flash of heat still gets the A-10's attention, "Whoa, pretty... why can't I make a pretty show like that..." he utters as he pulls up and way, his missile on target for it's destiny. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II sets his defense level to Fearless. Pyramid Jet crashes into Defensor and bounces off the gestalt armor and by some miracle, he manages to regain control of his flight but there's a catch, there is a fox riding on him! <>. Unefortunately, he seems to be unable to shake off the tape. <> The golden seeker accelerates at full speed...right towards a tower! He's going to attempt to ram through it to get rid of Foxfire. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his AGM-65 Maverick Missile attack! Combat: Backblast uses up some of his Recoil Compensator shield booster! Combat: Pyramid Jet strikes Foxfire with his Ram attack! Windshear hears the battle raging behind him as he sits behind some weird utility 'closet' thing on the roof of the building hes on. he clenches his fists as he reads the status report on his internal HUD on his energy levels. He hates being useless like this but is trying to be senseable. Sadly though when it comes to combat Windshear isnt always sensible. The Zombie Seeker has had enough of sitting this out and gets to his feet and stepping around from his cover he fires at Defensor. Of course he has no idea if his shot hits or not because his timing is so dead perfect. The moment he steps around his cover and fires he gets hit square in the chest by something bad and tumbles back to the other edge of the roof ... and flips right off the other side of the building. Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Windshear strikes Defensor with his Thermal Laser attack! [Pulled -3] An angry little stegosaur is still trying to gnaw off Defensor's ankle. Though he's probably not getting very far with that. Just the sheer amount of rage coursing through the dinocassette is what's propelling Slugfest's current actions. It's almost like he's got smoke coming out his ears. When he talks it's muffled. Combat: Slugfest sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Slugfest strikes Defensor with his Anklegnawing! (Punch) attack! "Who are you calling filthy?" Foxfire snaps at Photon. "At least I don't smell like an Earth dumpster!" Yeah, he went there. He sees the incoming tower and braces himself, somehow managing to keep his hold on Photon, probably leaving a few noticeable and possibly painful scratches in the jet. "I'm not done yet!" And with that, he shifts his position on Photon to snap his jaws at the Seeker's wing. Combat: Foxfire misses Pyramid Jet with his Bite (Kick) attack! Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie is blown sideways by the blast of the Maverick missile, rolling over several times and slamming into a building, before settling back on his wheels. Yet when the smoke clears, Backblast seems fine- the shimmer of a repair booster or similar technology visible on his form. <> Backblast mutters, laughing quietly. <> The hologram appears to shake his head a little and grab the handle of his Bren gun, aiming it in the direction of Photon and Blockbuster, unfortunately likely to catch the poor Foxfire with some of the stray shots! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie strikes Pyramid Jet with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun Area attack! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie strikes A-10 Thunderbolt II with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun Area attack! Combat: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie misses Foxfire with his Pintle-Mounted Bren Gun Area attack! The thermal laser burns into Defensor's chest plate, causing the black metal to glow red hot for a few moments as it's scorched by the assault... But in the same time, the Seeker disappears in the surge of flame caused by the exploding fireball, which is satisfying enough for the time being. The workers are almost cleared out.. good... because the titan is starting to run his reserves to dangerous levels as well. But every bit of expendature has been worth it... The Seeker ramming Foxfire into the building does not escape his notice though. In fact, it infuriates him quite a bit. While Foxfire was hardly weak -- No Autobot was weak in his optics considering all they stand to fight for -- seeing a massive air warrior picking on the much smaller tape-bot entices a resurgance of determination in the titan. Dismissing his weapon, Defensor instead raises his First Aid arm and opens his hand. The tips of his fingers glow briefly, and then a set of industrial sized versions of the medic's surgical lasers spray from them, some aimed at Photon himself, others aimed at slicing through the building left around him so he falls away from the room he's punched Foxfire into. Combat: Defensor misses Pyramid Jet with his Surgical Strike (Laser) attack! The incoming fire shreds more of the A-10's armor, smoke starting to pour from his frame, though - miraculously - he still has both of his engines so far! Clicking over to evaluate his standing, the Decepticon mutters, "Damn, out of AGM's... well, at least it was worth it." he grunts before dropping and swinging around towards Backblast once more, leaving behind a pretty trail of black smoke as he targets the Autobot. "I ain't done wit' you yet, holodip." Blockbuster announces, engines burning as he hurls himself down towards the gun truck's position, his gun spins up to life as he closes in on the Autobot, "You called down th' thunder, so lets jus' see how much you like getting burned by it." the rotating gun starts to belch smoke all at once, spitting ammunition down upon Backblast. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II misses Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his GAU-8/A Avenger attack! [Pulled -2] Pyramid Jet flies right through the building...losing the fox but adding some damage to his already damaged frame. He turns around the building to rejoin the fight and then BAM! He's struck by Backblast's attack. And then swwwwwoooom. A laserblast nearly cuts him in half. The golden seeker quickly transforms into his robot mode and retaliates with his laser cannons, "Why don't you go away before you get hurt!" The Pyramid jet unfold into Photon's robot mode. Combat: Photon misses Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie with his Laser Cannon attack! Combat: You are running low on energon! Windshear slams into the ground on the other side of the bulding. He vents some air through his intakes and lays there looking up the biulding he just fell off of. "If its not damage its.. energon." he mutters to no one in particular as he just lays there with his energon lower then it was when this all started. Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Windshear takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] All the chewing Slugfest is doing on Defensor seems to be about the equivalent of a flea-bite. The maddened stegosaur cassette revs his chainsaw plates and tries to saw off the Gestalt's ankle, rather than just trying to bite it off. Combat: Slugfest strikes Defensor with his Chainsaw Plates attack! Combat: Defensor dissolves into its component Protectobots. Streetwise has arrived. First Aid has arrived. Hot Spot has arrived. Hot Spot strides into view, eager and confident. Defensor has left. Foxfire loses his grip on Photon and ends up inside the building, debris falling all around him, but nonetheless, he is unharmed by it, thanks to Defensor's assistance. He hurries over to the destroyed wall of the structure, firing an optic blast at Photon. "Crash and burn, baby!" Combat: Foxfire strikes Photon with his Optic Lasers (Laser) attack! Hot Spot hits the ground on his hands and knees after clearing the demerging process, likewise panting to try and cool off strained internal systems. Considering how the combiner's strains are passed on to the parts of his whole, saying he's feeling sore and winded isn't exaggerating. After a moment he still raises a fist to shake at the assorted Decepticons, not about to let a run-down feeling slow him for too long. "Go on! Get outta here already you overgrown turbo turkeys!" First Aid lands in an awkward pose, but manages to keep his footing. "...nuts," he mutters. His photon pistol is already out, but he doesn't like the Protectobots' chances to take on the Decepticons at the strength they're at. "Hot Spot?" he says. He lets his question be a silent one: What do we do now?! Streetwise felt the sensation as if he's swept away by a strong river current, but in reality that's just his mind separating from the other four Protectobots as the splinter off to their individual components. He had felt powerful, unstoppable, an amazing surge of power, but at the very moment of demerging, the pains of battle damage and the heaviness of fatigue quickly overcomes him in mid-air as he too takes a share of Defensor's accumulated damage. The Protectobot interceptor finds himself on all fours on the ground, it takes a conscious effort to get himself back on his feet, "Ung... that forcefield really drained us, didn't it? We're still sitting ducks out here though." Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie pours on the power as soon as he's fired, surging forward surprisingly quickly - which, thankfully, means he avoids both Photon and Blockbuster's retalliatory fire. Cackling, he rolls up infront of Hot Spot and co, his big gun tracking around threateningly. <> "You're jus' lucky, powder puff." Blockbuster barks as he burns hard for his departure lane, "If I weren't so low on fuel, I'd turn you into scrap metal..." his engines throttle up full as he calls, "I'm gettin' outta here Photon... this was YOUR bright idea, so YOU get to explain how badly it went." he scans around, "Hmm, looks like Windshear already took off, not surprising I guess. He probably recognized how dumb this was..." Blockbuster is just annoyed about that blasted shield, he's POSITIVE he coulda done real damage to the giant if not for that thing. For now he needs to head back and get repaired and rearmed. He shows his tail to the con's all at once, punching an overdrive in his engines. Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. "Next times you won't be so lucky... We will be back!" says the golden seeker. He then transforms into his pyramid jet mode. <> The seeker accelerates at full speed towards the Decepticon camp. Photon leaps fowards and shifts into a golden pyramid jet. Combat: Pyramid Jet begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Windshear watches Blockbuster haul aft and then sees Photon follow not far behind. "Gee..." he mutters, "Wait for me.." he slowly gets his back off the road and is sitting there now trying to listen to what the Autobots are doing. Slugfest watches two of the jets depart, then remembers something. Where's his ride? "WINDY! WINNNDDYYYYYYY!" he shouts, starting to run towards the ruined building. "Where are? Need ride home!" The Global Pose Tracker marks that Slugfest has 'skipped' his action for this round. Hot Spot pushes himself fully to his feet, and grips a hand on Streetwise and First Aid's shoulders to help steady his smaller team mates. He may be sore and low on power, but the Protectobot chief is rarely ever slow on spirit! All the same, he looks just as relieved as the Decepticons appear to be pulling out. For a moment, before he frowns a bit. "He's right.. they will be back." Though when he looks to the other Autobots his smile returns reassuringly. "But we'll be ready for them, won't we boys? You all did exceptionally well, buying the workers time to retreat. Good job, Autobots." Foxfire is still in the building! Injured, he makes his way to the opposite wall, peering through the gaping hole at his comrades. He starts climbing down, using his anti-gravs to keep from falling. Sure, he could make things easy and just fly down, but he's not sure if he could handle doing so right now.
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