| abstract
| - Industrial Park - Crystal City These crystal-studded indigo steel/titanium buildings rise a mere four or five stories from the ground and are widely spaced in this variation from the usual city architecture. There are no true roadways, just plenty of open space between the buildings. As with the Emporium, the buildings are also rather nondescript with the additional feature of being relatively the same size as well, waiting for the personal touch that would come with their owners. One building is designed as a foundry, equipped with shiny new smelters and molds for refining and processing construction materials. Another is a drone manufacturing plant, with automated machinery that can produce generic automatons much like the ones that operate it. Others produce circuitry, communications equipment, repair parts, armour, etc.. One other thing they all have in common is the fact that they are highly automated. There are few Cybertronian workers to be found here, at least for now. Deep beneath Crystal City, in the many subsurface catacombs of Cybertron, the Autobots convene with ther Sentinel allies to briefly go over the plan of action and answer any questions that may be had, since everything said once they enter the city-state will necessarily be heard by Soundwave. Down here, they should be safe....should. "Okay, here's the plan." Blurr begins as they approach the entry they will be using to get up to street level, pointing at a holographic image of the city's industrial sector that is currently out of a small portable projector. "The reflectors we're after are at the top of this tower." he says, pointing to one of the taller structures in the area. "We'll need to keep complete silence until we get in, then we talk as if we don't know what it is, but we're aiming to find out. That'll for sure get them on our tails. We get a firefight, and we destroy the reflectors. That's our first objective." "Second, there's a CST drone shipment due inbound in exactly half a cycle." He takes out a small device about the size of his hand. "Someone will need to get in range and launch this at the drone shuttle while the Decepticons are distracted with the reflectors. If all goes well it'll scramble incoming nav signals and force the shipment off-course. Any questions?" Mirage stood around the holographic projection with the others, listening to the plan. "I could get that device on the drone shuttle even if the 'Cons /weren't/ distracted." He smirked, holding out his servo for the device. "No questions coming from me. Should be simple enough." Clarion regards the battle plans with a frown, "From the top of KNUJ? Phew, and here I thought you'd be asking a lot from us." The veiled sarcasm isn't lost in his words. After a moment he shakes his head, "Yeah, we've managed worse." The golden neutral looks over to his partner, a squat grenade-like mech. "Okay Powderkeg, feel up to a little high up action?" The small mech rubs his nonexistent chin, "Ermh...you guys gonna keep the Cons of uh us right?" He doesn't wait for answer, his gravelly voice, unmistakably Boston for some reason, picks back up "Howzthis supposed to help us free Crystal City? We're not doin your dirty work for ya, are we? Cuz I don't think I like that." Clarion puts a hand on his partner's shoulder, "Powerkeg, they're our allies. Sooner or later, you're going to have to trust them. They're here. Isn't that proof enough?" Sandstorm looks up from the device he was wiring together while the boring conversation was going on. Not that he wasn't listening. Of course he was, he's very good at multitasking though. Plus he was showing some of the Sentinels how the barest of supplies could still be constructed into a fully capable explosive package. "Sounds like me and you get the fun job then Blurr," the Wrecker remarms with a smile that is much bigger and eager than it should be. Crystal City has been quiet. It's had to be of late, at least in terms of the resistance. Throughout the city now are several sound reflectors, tall speaker-like objects that look foreboding to onlookers, with good reason. With proper amplification in place, and routed through a few hubs in the city, the Decepticons could literally hear all things that transpired here...provided that a few filters were set up and that Soundwave was on the job. Sitting up high on one of the buildings, lies one of these small hubs, several wires and cables connect in to a simple mount that a tape recorder sits in. Oh how such dangerous things are hidden in plain sight sometimes, even on Cybertron. For the cassette player springs to life as Soundwave, who stands at the tower's edge. "BUZZSAW, EJECT." He taps a button on his shoulder, letting the wily and dangerous condor move to assist. <> Of course, he's said that twenty times before, but the resistance here has been elusive, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Galvatron. He gives his orders to those under his command (for now) << INITIATE SECTOR SWEEP. 1-12-E >> Big Bad Blue would frown if he couldn. He glowers down at the city. "I WILL FIND YOU.... >> his words swallow up by the night sky... Buzzsaw is released upon a hapless society of fools, beggars, and lackluster beings! Fear him! He ejects out of Soundwave's compartment and unfolds his wings, engines engaging to catch him in mid-freefall before gliding alongside Soundwave. A lazy circle is all it takes to get his bearings and, with a soft 'chirp' of acknowledgement, he begins his sweep, stealth systems kicking on to mask his signature. Hey, mechs can be as loud as they want. That's not Buzzsaw's style. Combat: Buzzsaw slips into the shadows and out of sight... Contrail has been ordered to go patrol Crystal City. She rises out of her comfortable office chair, paces to the elevator, takes it to the roof, and takes to the air before dropping down to street level. Foot patrol. It's best to walk the city, unless they find out anything more specific. Her engines are too loud. And of course, Mirage volunteers himself when it comes to the more elusive part of the job, that being intercepting the nav signals on the CST drone shipment. Blurr smirks and tosses the device Mirage's way, aiming for his outstretched hand. "Go get 'em." He chuckles at Clarion's confidence and eagerness. "You tell him, Clarion." he laughs, glancing at the other Sentinel. "Don't worry, we've got your back, Powderkeg. Let's do this." He approaches the door to the streets above, and keys in the code to open it. It should get them into the same sector, not too far from the KN tower. Sandstorm opens his chest compartment to stow away his little package, snaps it shut again. Idly checks to make sure he's got a couple of his hidden knives in easy concealed reach should they run into trouble before its time. Satisfied he can be as ready as he can without giving away the whole 'silent run' part of the mission, he follows Blurr up to the surface. Yes, Sandstorm CAN be sneaky when he wants to be. Surprising, isn't it? It's just not his -prefered- way of doing things, but hey, there will certainly be plenty of fighting later. Arcee is a part of this entourage, as well, but not for her stealthy talents, because she doesn't really have any. She's just here to provide the backup firepower necessary to get the rest of the mission done. She's been keeping largely to herself today, as she got into a little shenanigans in the previous cycle, and just wants to put that behind her ASAP. Mirage caught the device and stored it in his subspace for the time being. He followed after the others up to the surface, but not before cloaking himself. If Soundwave really was watching, it was better that it looked like the Sentinels, Blurr, Sandstorm, and Arcee were the only ones there. Combat: Mirage activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Clarion nods softly, giving a single wave. In his other hand, he holds Blaster's doohickey he made. Silently, he looks over to Powderkeg, gives a nod then starts taking a different direction to the same area. The tunnels are winding and varied, and redundancy is a blessing here. The two Sentinels continue at a slower pace towards their destination, having quickly learned the need for silence when going above ground. Only apprehensive looks are shared as the two trust in the Autobot faction. Cassette Player , on the other hand, had more than just the want to put his subordinate through the mindless exhaustion of patrol. When Cons make themselves visible, mechs talk. Soundwave returns to his tape player form, datastreams glow bright as he starts to filter out words in that area. <> <> <<...why do you have a problem with me learning to speak Teevee? I'm just trying to better myself!>> <> Needless to say, Soundwave's search of the airwaves was boring and without any entertainment at all. Much like Soundwave himself, one could suppose. Contrail could totally be making herself even more visible if she knew the true purpose of her patrol. As is it, she's just walking a grid through the city. Contrail pauses at a shop that sells imports and stares at the window, muttering, "Celine Dion? Is that part of our regulated Canadian Content Quota?" <> The condor banks gradually, opting for a slow, steady sweep of the terrain below as he keeps a decent distance from the noisemaker that is Contrail. No sense getting caught in that jetwash, and it helps increase the coverage. Double-win! <> Blurr emerges onto the streets from below, his team following close behind. He motions for them to spread out but head for the KN tower, then takes a few steps and transforms to blend in with the regular traffic. He moves slowly (by his standards) through traffic toward the designated tower, as if he were just another worker headed to whatever job he might have. The speedster casually makes his way up a ramp onto an expressway overlooking the entrance to the building. As soon as the doors are in sight, he suddenly speeds up, dashing across the expressway and driving right over the edge, plowing over guard rails as he does so. Transforming, he aims for a landing near a window just above the main entrance. That will get their attention! Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected. Arcee also makes her way to the KN tower, but she takes an entirely different route from the rest. She realizes she's pretty obvious, so if she's spotted from a security cam, she can be a diversion from the rest of the group. Arcee darts ahead to gracefully transform into her pink Cybertronian Tech Car, enging purring, ready to go! Stylish! Combat: Pink Saturn Sky sets her defense level to Protected. Spread out and surround the place, good idea. As everyone else either scatters Sandstorm also transforms, except its into helicopter mode. It's a Decepticon city, air traffic is hardly going to be an unusual thing here. At least until he sees Blurr get into position. When he starts buzzing close enough to the tower for the wash from his rotors to rattle the crystal-polymer windows, that's a good sign it's not a typical Decepticon air patrol! Though he keeps circling the tower, because becoming a stationary target would be a silly thing to do right now. Sandstorm transforms into his Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter mode. Combat: Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter sets his defense level to Guarded. Mirage broke away from the main group. He didn't have to worry about blending in because he already was, technically. But he did have to be careful about not bumping into anyone. He headed for another building, starting to climb so he'd have a good position to throw the device onto the drone. When Buzzsaw makes his rounds and notes suspected Autobot activity, Soundwave takes to action! <> He quickly transforms back into his large mech form, his concussion blaster already in hand as he flies towards the activity. Steel pipes slam up in major city streets on his command, sending more than a few vehicles toppling. It seems he's started a new set of precautions to limit escape routes. Hearing the revving of engines and the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter, Soundwave grips his fist a bit tighter. He watches Sandstorm maintain his pattern for a few moments as he decides whether or not to go for their air support, or to find out who was inside. A memory crosses his face of a base attack months ago, Sandstorm laughing maniacally as he blew himself up just to do more damage.... The Tape Commander noted one of his sonic reflectors on the roof. Could that be the target? He monitors Sandstorm's position, waits for him to go by, then quickly lands on the ceiling, hiding back in tape form for a moment longer... Combat: Cassette Player slips into the shadows and out of sight... Buzzsaw is busy recording the disturbances happening within his realm of vision and relaying coordinates to response forces, as well as his own superiors within the area. <> He sizes up Sandstorm on the fly. <> Combat: Buzzsaw analyzes Sandstorm for weaknesses Contrail can exploit. Contrail transforms and takes to the air to the coordinates indicated. Her engines are a dead giveaway that she's coming. Buzzsaw transmits further data, beign already on scene. Sandstorm's in the air, and - soon, he won't be, because she tries to slam right into him like a lawndart. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35 Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-35 Lightning II strikes Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter with her Ram attack! True to Blurr's words, the drone shipment can be seen approaching the area. It won't be long before its hull will be close enough to the top of the building Mirage is scaling that he'll be able to use his missile launcher to fire the thing upward. He'll need to get to the top pretty soon, and time it perfectly--but he's Mirage, of course he can manage a perfect execution, right? Meanwhile, Blurr draws his blaster and smashes through the window he's just landed in front of. He can hear Contrail approaching and heading for Sandstorm. <> He keeps the comms short and vague. The speedster turns and fires a couple of a potshots back at Contrail before dashing toward a pair of elevator doors just down the corridor. He then blasts them apart and begins climbing the shaft, grabbing the cables for support. Yes, he is convinced he can move fast enough that he won't have to worry about getting crushed by the elevator should it come his way... Combat: Blurr misses F-35 Lightning II with his Pew Pew (Laser) attack! Pink Saturn Sky is heading down one of the main thoroughfares, nearing the tower when she very, VERY nearly misses getting skewered by a pipe blockade, which ends up taking out the car in back of her. "Whhaaa...?? ...Okay, that's...new. Not the best situation for the commuting locals, though," she muses. Other spiked barriers which jam the road ahead make her detour once more, but at least she's close now, and she's able to located a roundabout way of reaching the tower. When Arfcee gets there, she transforms and gains entry through a side door. The pink Cybertronian tech car splits apart to reveal Curvy Autobot Warrior Arcee! She's ready to kick aft! You receive a radio message from Arcee: They've put up some street barricades. They're suppose to get the Decepticons' attention? Hah, that's easy! Soundwave is supposedly listening to everywhere and everything, is he? Well then, let's give him an earful! As Sandstorm is buzzing around the tower a compartment opens up from his lower fuselage and deploys a bunch of loudspeakers jury-rigged to an old soundsystem. Almost immeadiately it starts blasting out some high energy alternative earth music at full volume, something to tick off all that follow logic and dystopian order nonsense the Decepticons try to enforce. o/~ Follow the leader, stay in the lines; What will people think of what you've done this time? Go with the crowd, surely somebody knows; Why we're all wearing the emperor's clothes Play it safe, play by the rules; or don't play at all - what if you lose? That's not the secret, but I know what is: Everybody dies but not everyone lives! I'm gonna ride like I've got the cops on my tail! I'm gonna live my life like I'm out on bail! I'm gonna be out front, gonna blaze a trail! I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna cross that line! o/~ And then Contrail comes rocketing into the sky to slam into him. Despite wheeling away from the impact he's laughing though. "I -knew- that would get their attention!" Transforming out of the veering path he hits the side of the building, snapping his knife into one hand to dig in with that and his feet to stop himself from falling after he brakes down the side a bit. With the other hand he pulls out his rifle and returns fire at the other triplechanger with his trademark abrasive firepower. Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter transforms into his Sandstorm mode. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Neutral. You send a radio message to Arcee: Get to the top ASAP Combat: Sandstorm strikes F-35 Lightning II with his Sandblaster Gun attack! [Pulled -1] Mirage could see the shuttle in the distance, but he was only halfway up the building. Behind him, he could hear the signs of battles and glanced down to see vehicles flipping and flying out of the way as large pipes erupted from the ground. In the air, he noticed Contrail bullrush Sandstorm from the side. Ouch, that had to hurt! Still no Decepticons near him, so that was a good sign. He finished the climb and pulled the device from his subspace. Positioning his rocket launcher so it was aimed at the shuttle, he set the device inside and fired it up. 'Alright, Mirage', he said in his mind. 'You got this. It's just a regular solar cycle in the wilds. The shuttle's just a giant turbo-fox. Yeah. Yeah, I got it.' With a smirk, he aimed and shot the device out. On Mirage's tail...in their own less stylish way, Powderkeg and Clarion raise their pistols as they sprint towards the same building. They barrel into the front windows of the KNUJ tower, Powderkeg tripping over the high window, which sends him rolling down towards the elevators. Clarion checks his firing lines, starting to vocalize but a warning gaze from Powderkeg silences him. Clarion nods to the elevator, then slams the up button. Soon the two are in transit to the roof, Clarion wielding his golden gun, and Powderkeg with another 'My First Blaster' that the Sentinels seem ever-stuck with. Combat: Mirage compares his Accuracy to 100: Failure :(Buzzsaw turns his attention towards the tower where Mirage is hidden, and climbing. Or, rather, the device that is unleashed from seemingly nowhere. <> He drops altitude, his optics cycling through various readouts and wavelengths to examine the area he believed the device materialized (most likely out of fat air). <> Combat: Buzzsaw appears from the shadows... Combat: Buzzsaw searches for Mirage. Combat: Mirage has been found! Up on the roof, it's just Soundwave still. Contrail had engaged Sandstorm, and it was only a matter of time before someone came up here. Still, there was a good chance to smack Sandstorm, cripple the air forces for the Bots, and while it takes a moment, Soundwave determines that was a worthwhile course of action. He transforms back into his root form again, staring down at the helicopter from the building's edge. Sandstorm's blasting some intolerable music. A trick learned from Blaster, most likely. The Tape Commander lowers his concussion rifle towards Sandstorm, eyeing his rotors, then peals off a shot at the mech, looking to ground him. Combat: Cassette Player appears from the shadows... Where once was a simple tape player, is the Decepticon Comms Officer, Soundwave! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Soundwave strikes Sandstorm with his Concussion Blaster attack! [Pulled -1] F-35 Lightning II transforms as she slams Sandstorm into the side of the building. She tries to push off the wall and land on another roof. As she's trying to stick the landing, Sandstorm abrades off her out surface, which is quite prickly and painful. Blurr tries to ping at her, and she snaps back the way that the shot came, not expecting much. In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Combat: Contrail misses Blurr with her Acid Strike attack! Combat: Contrail (Contrail) used "Acid Strike": A Level 1 RANGED attack. The scrambler launches away from Mirage and up into the air, not quite hitting the receiving directly but latching itself onto the hull of the shuttle drone. Immediately, it begins to broadcast a localized jamming field, scrambling any incoming navigation signals and causing the drone to suddenly veer off course and away from the city. Clarion has another scrambler though, so if Mirage wants to take a shot at another shipment that happens to be coming in from the western sectors and again attempt to hit the receiver directly, he could do so! In fact, if he nails it this time, the scrambler could route a false signal through the on-board comms array and send it to all the other drone shipments in the area, causing every one of them to fall into a series of erratic flight patterns. Hopefully they won't crash into a populated area, though... Meanwhile, Blurr continues scaling the elevator shaft, climing on the cables until he reaches the top where Soundwave is shooting at Sandstorm. "Hey Soundwave..." he smirks. "Nice to see you again." He taunts, and fires. <> he comms. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Blurr strikes Soundwave with his Quickdraw attack! In the lobby of the tower, Arcee gets Blurr's radio to get to the top of the tower. She looks down the hallway -- an elevator! Smiling slightly, she jogs over to it, but SOMEONE is already TAKING the elevator up to the top floor. "Oh, shoot." Even Cybertronians don't like the stairs, but they go to the same place the elevator is going, so Arcee runs up the flights of stairs. In times like these, she's really glad she doesn't have to breathe, because this would definitely tire her out if she had to do that. Darned Sentinels hogging the elevator! Eventually, Arcee reaches the top floor, and hops out of the stairwell. Well, at least he hit the ship. There were some bad shots sometimes. Luckily, he'd have another chance with the device the Sentinels had. He'd have to get to them first, though, since they were in the other building. He started the descent down the building he was on, transforming when he touched down on the ground. <> "Can you keep up with my speed?" Mirage transforms into a blue and white Ligier JS11 with the number 26 and Autobot insignia plainly seen on the very front, revving his engines. Looks like the sandblasting convince Contrail to break off and look for other Autobot interlopers, which is fine with Sandstorm. There will be plenty of time for busting heads later. He stows his blaster and grabs onto the side of the building, starting to climb his way up. Just like climbing a cliffside without the saftey ropes and harness. Not that Sandstorm would bother with such things. Unfortunately the sound rig is now laying in a pile on the pavement, smashed off by Contrail's collision. But Sandstorm's interal player is still going strong, switching over to Shinedown's rather apt to the moment Adrenaline as he's making his upward ascent. o/~ Give me the wheel, so we can move a little faster. I make it real, I'm not a glorious disaster. What part of living says you gotta die? I plan on burning through another nine lives One more for measure, that's ten for the soul that never sleeps, so are you ready to go? o/~ And then Soundwave appears over the edge of the building with his gun. Sandstorm really doesn't have much of a choice in options were to go, the concussion blast slamming into his shoulder, making it hard to tell if Soundwave actually busted off the rotor kibbled on his back in the bits that fall off. The blast does knock that arm loose from the buildingside though, leaving Sandstorm dangling by one hand. o/~Bloodshot against the clear blue sky! Tick tock, I think the well is running dry! My my! I can't lie! I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline! o/~ With a grunt narrows his optics, fingers slipping. Gritting through the painful damage he uses his now free arm to reach for something. o/~ Dead scared 'cause I'm fearless in the head! Bang! Bang! 'Cause the needle's in the red! Hand slips off, making it appear as if Soundwave has succeeded in knocking him loose. But as he starts to fall backwards Sandstorm pulls out a device, points it up at the roof, and fires to snag the side of the roof and suddenly yank him upwards. Psych! And the sudden upward motion brings him right up to aim a boot at Soundwave's mug as he comes up over the edge! o/~ My my! I can't lie! I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline! o/~ Combat: Sandstorm strikes Soundwave with his Action Hero Coming Trough! (Kick) attack! Ding A few moments later, as if on cue, Clarion steps out of the elevator on the roof. He points over to the other building where the firefight is in full view. "Look at them go..." Powderkeg simply humphs, ""er...aren't we on the wrong roof? Look, there's one of them drone ships." He points towards one of the sillhouetted crafts that zipped by the other building. Clarion frowns, "The Bots are counting on us, I just have to be a really good shot." He raises his sensor doohickey towards it, then pauses, ""Wow, that's a long ways off..." Buzzsaw watches as Mirage runs off, charging after. If someone's shooting random somethings at drone ships, then...well, he'd rather be safe than sorry. Trusting Soundwave and Contrail can handle Sandstorm, he rockets after the stylishly prim and overly proper snobobot. Once he's settled on a probable approach angle, the condor dives like a hawk ought to, going to take a nice little chunk out of the speedster's wheels for some 'you're not running quite so fast on my watch' have at thee. Combat: Buzzsaw strikes F1 Racer with his Have at thee vile sir! SQUAAAAWWWWK! attack! Soundwave turns his gun towards the roof access just before Blurr arrives, but the quickdraw artist is still too fast for him, catching Soundwave in the chest. His reactionary shot strikes too high to come close, and moments afterwards, a strange clicking noise causes the Tape Commander to turn his head, right into Sandstorm's big boot, which sends him reeling. However the Decepticons have several tricks left up their sleeves, Soundwave illustrates the most basic one as he takes to the sky. "DEMOLITIONS. EXPECTED. GO AHEAD, SANDSTORM. I'LL BUILD ANOTHER." He flies up a bit higher, "BLOW IT UP, AND YOURSELVES, YOU'VE NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO AVOID IT, AND YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FLY. IF YOU ALL FALL, WE KILL YOU BEFORE YOU HIT THE GROUND. SO BLOW IT UP, PROVE YOUR TERRORISTAGENDA FURTHER. DID YOU THINK THIS BUILDING WAS CHOSEN RANDOMLY. NO..." The mech continues, "BECAUSE IT IS OCCUPIED. SO BLOW IT UP, KILL THE INNOCENTS YOU CLAIM TO PROTECT, YET WON'T STOP ENDANGERING." Soundwave starts to hum, his hands curling as sound starts to build around him, then unleashes a powerful sonic pulse that hits the reflector, bouncing it onto the rooftop, leaving his faction unharmed, ""OR YOU CAN STAND THERE AND LET THE REFLECTOR ITSELF KILL YOU." Combat: Soundwave sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Soundwave strikes Arcee with his Sonic Pulse Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Arcee's Accuracy! (Blinded) Combat: Soundwave strikes Sandstorm with his Sonic Pulse Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Sandstorm's Accuracy! (Blinded) Combat: Soundwave strikes Blurr with his Sonic Pulse Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Soundwave (Soundwave) used "Sonic Pulse": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Blurr's Accuracy! (Blinded) Contrail is on the roof with a whole bunch of peopple. Her boss is being pretty intimidating. There's an inhabited building. Maybe she shouldn't be using her acid right now. Maybe she should use something less likely to drop through the floor, like... a whip. Combat: Contrail strikes Blurr with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! Combat: Contrail (Contrail) used "Whiplash Whirlwind": A Level 5 AREA-MELEE attack. Combat: Contrail strikes Sandstorm with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! Blast Off happens to be in the nearby area when an alarm is sounded. Autobot intruders in Crystal City. So the Combaticon space shuttle flies in to investigate and assist as needed. Zeroing in on the source of the commotion, he flies in closer, transforming and alighting on a nearby tower. Hmmm. Well, well, well. If it isn't Blurr. Long time no see. The Autofool apparently decided to crawl back up from whatever rock he's been hiding under. Too bad. For him. And who else.... Sandstorm... and is that... Arcee? The Combaticon frowns under his faceplate. The femme who *dared* call him "sick and twisted" recently? He *really* didn't appreciate that. He's a *cultured, civilized* mech.... and just to prove that, he whips up his ionic blaster and fires it at the femme from his sniper's perch! (It makes sense to *him* at least.... >_>) Combat: Blast Off strikes Arcee with his A Combaticon's idea of the civilized way of settling our differences. Really. attack! [Pulled -2] Blurr chuckles. "Oh, of course you'll build another, but didn't you know it's harder to build stuff up than it is to blow stuff up? I mean, I thought that was kind of a basic law of the universe, but I guess some people might miss it, though I never thought it'd be someone like you, Soundwave!" He shrugs at the Comms Officer's attempts to discourage him. "Pfff, we can take a blast or two, we're not afraid of taking some hits, unlike you apparently are. Your reflectors aren't exactly armored or anything--it won't take much to shatter them. The walls of the building, though, that's different." Leveling his weapon at Soundwave again, he aims to stun him and knock him out of the air just as Sandstorm deploys the explosives. Combat: Blurr strikes Soundwave with his Electro-Laser attack! Combat: Soundwave has been temporarily incapacitated. Arcee doesn't even get a chance to target anyone -- fresh out of the stairwell, Soundwave's sonic attack assaults her audials -- and then just as she's drawing her pistols, Blast Off takes a very opportune shot, getting her right in the chestplate. She's none too happy about this. A typical response to this would be to fold up into a fetal position and cry, but Arcee's just not that kind of femme. At all. "Oh yeah? Come on over here and try that. Bet you won't," she taunts Blast Off, as she fires off a volley of shots in his direction. Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Arcee misses Blast Off with her Laser attack! Mirage wasn't expecting Buzzsaw. Then again, the condor /was/ cloaked before attacking him. He spun out of control before transforming and catching himself. "I knew one of you would be prowling around here," he commented. Soundwave and his little minions.. Mirage looked to the top of the building where the Sentinels arrived. It was better that he distracted Buzzsaw so they wouldn't get pecked to death. But if he didn't get up to the roof by the time the next shuttle came, then the whole mission might get screwed over. <> he told Clarion and Powderkeg before doing just that and beginning the climb back up the roof. Buzzsaw shouldn't be too hard for them to handle ... if he decided to go after them. Before Blurr gets the shot off, he stumbles a bit thanks to the sonic blast, as well as Contrail's whip, but surprisingly it doesn't do much to throw his shot off. Well, Soundwave's pretty big... Mirage shifts back to his bipedal mode, dusting off his armor briefly. Combat: Mirage activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Powderkeg looks over the roof's edge, ""Oh mech, they're coming this way...we're screwed and welded." He points out Buzzsaw inbound, ""Its one of the tapes!" Clarion drops the scrambler device, shifting back to his golden gun, cracking off a few shots, ""Trust in the Autobots, Powderkeg, they'll get it done, but we've got to do our part too!" A flurry of...poorly aimed blaster fire goes towards Buzzsaw, but for the most part, inconsequential. Sandstorm crouchs to brace himself as Soundwave activates the sonic array to amplify his sonic attack, and goes about a bunch of rambling trying to play mindgames with them. The pulse rattles through the very core of his systems, but he's going to press on. Even as Contrail lashes her whip across his back, sparks flying as it hits already battered armor. "You wanna talk your way outta this fight, Soundwave?" Sandstorm makes a few remarks over the Autobot frequency. Yes, knowing Soundwave is likely listening to that, which he proves correct. Then makes a dash towards the reflector arrays. "You picked the wrong guy to try to do it to!" Oh, man, is he going to do it anyways? What he said sure sounded like it. He is a Wrecker, after all. Worrying about who gets caught in the crossfire isn't typically in their repitoire. "And to all that I only have one thing to say..." Then Sandstorm... jumps to grab the reflector array, the stuntmech swinging himself around it and using the extra momentum to fling himself into the air, just as Blurr is opening fire on Soundwave to keep him from flying off. Sandstorm, knowing full well getting close enough to Soundwave means he won't have the time to get away again, reachs out his good arm to grab the Tape Deck Commander as Blurr knocks him out of the sky. The other hand pulls out his demopack, holding it up for Soundwave to clearly see. "WRECK N RULE!" *CLICK* Will the blast radius hit the relay? Maybe, and still be far enough away now the blast radius won't damage the building as much. Or maybe it won't. Will that matter if it takes Soundwave out of the game instead? Either way, don't try to play morale mindgames with a Wrecker. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Soundwave with Wrecker Special Delivery's Huge Explosion #6073 Area attack! Combat: Sandstorm's Wrecker Special Delivery is destroyed! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Soundwave's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Sandstorm strikes himself with Wrecker Special Delivery's Huge Explosion #6073 Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Sandstorm's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Sandstorm falls to the ground, unconscious. Buzzsaw turns to as Mirage plays the role of the coward with precision execution. His attention turns to the neutrals opening fire on him. "You have just marked yourselves for summary execution." The leading edge of his wings exposes itself to reveal a rather signature blade and he just drives straight for them, not bothering to slow down... Let them all fall for transgressions. With that out of the way, he jets on to leave them in whatever state they manage to find themselves, because scrap's exploding back at the main building, and Soundwave is there. He kicks on the afterburners to drive straight for Blurr and to assist in alleviating the pressure on Soundwave proper. "Autobot scum, I shall rip out your optics and use them to decorate the halls of Trypticon." Combat: Buzzsaw sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Blurr with his Your optics are shiny and therefor I shall have them! attack! Combat: Buzzsaw (Buzzsaw) used "Diamond Beak": A Level 5 MELEE attack. Contrail has orders to refuel Soundwave. So she turns into a car and her refuelling nozzle pops out and... ...something mysterious happens, because Soundwave has no mouth. There's actually a commercial break while the refuelling happens. Buy Nerf guns, kiddos. And then Soundwave is refuelled. Turning into a police car, Contrail fights crime! Wait, that's not right. Contrail causes crime. Combat: Police Lamborgini Gallardo sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Police Lamborgini Gallardo deploys her reserve energon tank. Combat: Police Lamborgini Gallardo refuels Soundwave's energon reserves. KABOOM! Of all the possible moves, Soundwave would eventually crunch the numbers later and find it to be the most probable course of Autobot action to not call the bluff, to do a fighting retreat and slip into the city, moving to low tunnels to avoid easy pursuit. Then he took the same evaluation, lowered the estimated intelligence level by fifty and concluded that it was entirely in the realm of actionable events for an idiot to blow himself up on enemy ground eighty stories up in a stupid display of reckless bravado. All this was calculated as Soundwave fell in freefall from being system jammed by Blurr, and naturally shotgunned down by Sandstorm's divine wind attack. AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK (Grimlock and Shockwave were the two bumpers this time) Soundwave has recovered from his fall, and his explosive damage seems lessened as he must've fixed himself up off camera as well. Sloppy Editing, the Decepticon's greatest weapon. Wait, Soundwave's pepperbox is purple again. Dang it all! Combat: Soundwave sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Soundwave quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. Blast Off tchs at Arcee and replies dryly, "You'd be correct. Why should I come over there when I can just as easily pick you off right here? Good riddance to trash-talking riffraff, too." And indeed, the sniper is perfectly happy to do so. As always, he prefers to keep his distance, safely shooting his targets from far away. Just be glad he's not doing it from *space* right now... but then he'd probably be taking out the whole tower everyone's standing on currently- Bots AND Cons. That... might not go over so well with Decepticon Command. He places a foot up against the rim of the roof's edge, propping an elbow on a knee as he leans in to fire another shot at the roof across from him. Sandstorm ...blows himself up?... (typical Autofool... auto-foolery...) and Buzzsaw strikes Blurr! MIrage is about, but cloaked... so Blast Off just aims for Arcee again. "This is almost like shooting petro-fish in a barrel...." Combat: Blast Off strikes Arcee with his Petro-fish SLAP (Laser) attack! [Pulled -1] This is pretty grim, Arcee thinks to herself. Surely, she didn't just run right up here for *nothing*. Things started out pretty good; what the hell happened? Sandstorm's blown himself up, Blurr's just had his optics ripped out...where the smeg was Mirage? He probably cloaked and left ages ago. And now she was about to get henpecked to death, one shot at a time, because she had nowhere to go. Except one place. The stairwell area. The pink bot crouches in the one place she can take cover, trying to come up with something to salvage this situation in the meantime. Because as far as she can tell, this isn't going to improve for the Autobots anytime soon. Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Arcee takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Mirage felt bad for Clarion and Powderkeg, he really did. Maybe after this whole scrambling the shuttles thing, he'd avenge them and take out the stupid bird. But for now .... For now, Mirage finished climbing to the top of the building. He ran across the roof, picking up the device that Clarion dropped and plugging it down the barrel of his rocket-launcher. His optics dimmed and he cycled air heavily. Soon, they brightened again and he looked to the oncoming shuttle, a determined expression on his face. "This time. This time I've got it." And he fired. Combat: Mirage compares his Accuracy to 100: Failure :(Like most comic relief or non-combat characters not statted out, The two Crystal Sentinels end up smacking into each other as Buzzsaw comes in close, his dread talons and weaponry veers right overhead as Powderkeg smacks into Clarion, sending the two tumbling. Moments later Clarion reappears, growling, "No you don't, you darn...." He cracks off a few more shots before noticing Buzzsaw's change of direction, "Huh...he left." "Let's figure out where Mirage went and get out of here." Powderkeg pipes up. Clarion takes a moment to assess the scene, "Yeah...." Sure enough, there's the other drone shipment approaching their location and traveling fairly quickly. Mirage is able to get in range just in time, but hitting that receiver once again proves to be difficult. Again, the scrambler just latches onto the hull of the drone shuttle, activating its jamming field to scramble any incoming navigation signals and send the shipment way off course. Meanwhile, on the KN tower, Blurr's electro-laser finds its target and knocks Soundwave out of the air and into the blast radius of Sandstorm's detpacks. Blurr himself jumps out of the way, ducking behind the elevator access. Cracks on the reflector begin at the initial impact points of several large pieces of debris and spiderweb outward, though the device itself doesn't fall. Blurr shakes his head and glances downward disapprovingly at the Wrecker's fallen form. "Mech, you should really put more explosive in your bombs." he says, whether Sandstorm can hear him or not. He's about to finish the job with his own blaster, but Buzzsaw comes flying! Heh, way too slow, birdy. he thinks, because he saw the Casseticon coming a long time ago. But he's got a better idea, now. Instead of trying to dodge Buzzsaw's beak, he instead brings an arm up and allows the tape-bird to bury his claws into that intsead of his face. He then attempts to grab him and hurl him hard at the reflector. Let Soundwave's own minions be its downfall! Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Fearless. It was once said that Sandstorm is tough, fearless, dedicated.... and has about as much common sense as a retarded lemming. By Impactor, no less. As a -compliment-. He was pretty much right. Surprising how intelligence and sense can be two entirely different opposite things. I feel so right, doin the wrong thing. Seperated by the explosion, Sandstorm hurtles a mighty distance downwards. By the time he had gotten to the roof, he was already going on borrowed time. Contrail's ram had done more to him than he would let on; the concussion blaster had nearly taken off his arm, the combination of attacks damaged his rotor systems even if he could transform. The sonic pulse hadn't helped, and the whiplashing had just sealed the deal, he knew there wasn't any time left for him in this fight. Then Soundwave decided to try and play mindgames with the Autobot morality. Were there really inhabitants inside? Not really his job to worry about. But there wasn't time to try and check the bluff, either. So Sandstorm took the third option. He knew he wouldn't last any longer in the fight, so he went out with a bang to tell Soundwave to shove his jibber-jabber where the suns don't shine. The blast probably wouldn't take him out, but if it damaged him enough to keep him occupied from using the array for a bit? Just as good. He'd rather go down wrecking than let that chatterbox stay their hand. Relay didn't really matter anyways. So there's only one thing really to keep in his mind as he plummets from multiple stories up. Everything that kills me makes me feel alive. The end of the ride is always the harshest part. Sandstorm crashes... somewhere in the city. No one really cares by this point do they? Combat: Blurr strikes Buzzsaw with his Minion Ball (Smash) attack! Combat: Soundwave runs a diagnostic check on Police Lamborgini Gallardo Buzzsaw catches Blurr's arm, because he totally can do that (and Blurr's just too proud to admit he can't dodge a bird he saw coming a mile away). Though, the blow from the speed-demon sends him crashing off to the side. Though, he's not quite out of it. Not by a long shot. The condor rolls and is quick to recover, taking to the air as he puts some distance between himself and Blurr to dive back down again, blades digging in to aim for that little sweet-spot that he's learned oh-so-well when it comes to crippling his foes. "If you think I am through from that poor example of combat skill, you are destined to fail." Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Blurr with his Sit down fool... attack! Combat: Buzzsaw (Buzzsaw) used "Acute Vision": A Level 0 RANGED attack. Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Blurr's Agility! (Crippled) Soundwave slams onto the roof with authority, the ground cracking beneath him. So focused on Blurr, he turns his back on Arcee, confident in the other's ability to keep her occupied "YOU'VE LOST. YOUR WRECKER IS SOON TO BE IN SCRAPPER'S POSSESSION, ALL BUT HIS HEAD, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN TO LORD GALVATRON." Buzzsaw sweeps by, his talons flashing, all in coordination with Soundwave. The Tape Commander, while slow to respond, has enough in him to step forward, his leg sparking, to grab at Blurr, heft him right over his head and just throw him off the building, ending this debacle quickly, and without any fanfare. Combat: Soundwave sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Soundwave strikes Blurr with his A flight on Buzzsaw express! (Grab) attack! Combat: Soundwave (Soundwave) used "Grab": A Level 0 MELEE attack. Now that Buzzsaw has been flung away from Blurr, that means that Contrail has a clear shot on Blurr! She transforms and takes to the air, thankful that her model can hover. That gives her a nice, steady firing solution for... "Fox three!" Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35 Lightning II sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: F-35 Lightning II strikes Blurr with her AIM-120C AMRAAM attack! Combat: F-35 Lightning II (Contrail) used "AIM-120C AMRAAM": A Level 5 RANGED attack. Arcee's still crouched in the shadow of the stairwell, her mind still planning a way out. Because *someone's* got to retrieve what's left of Sandstorm. And Blurr might think he's a rock star, but it's only a matter of time before the Cons working as a group take him down just the same, and she knows this. So for the moment, she does what she feels is the best use of her abilities in this situation: She does what she can, at that moment, to assist Blurr with this pack of jackals moving in for the kill. Combat: Arcee takes extra time to assist Blurr's next attack. It would seem that Sandstorm was left to offline down there on the ground, vulnerable to attacks by the Decepticons. However, the 'Bots might notice his body dragging seemingly on its own out of sight. Mirage, having kept tabs on the battle, climbed down from the building now that his part in the plan was over and ran over to assist the idiot Wrecker. But man was Sandstorm heavy. Soundwave pages: and its perfectly 80s to happen. its cool if you do that, but if you were thinking otherwise, I'd have said no please, the cons get the win here, and shouldn't have to suffer a last minute loss just so the Bots have *something* because they already DID get things done Sandstorm is probably going to get chewed out for his stunt later. What's left of him to chew out, that is. But did you really want him to risk blowing up the building, even if he possibly didn't concern himself with it's occupation or not? Luckily for Mirage, there's only like half of Sandstorm there to drag! ... though he's still pretty hefty for a mech. It's that classic blocky genericness that allows a triplechanger to even pull off two different vehicle modes. There's a resounding CLANG as Buzzsaw's body smacks into the reflector, cracking the last intact support. Too bad the Casseticon is so slagging small, and it isn't enough to destroy it completely. And then ugh, Soundwave just grabs him and throws him off of the roof like a brute. Not that it bothers him that much, though, he just redirects all thruster power to his rear boosters and turns them downward to break his fall before he hits the ground. Unfortunately, he can't dodge Contrail's guns when he's busy trying not to go splat. ...Still, he's not quite down for the count. In fact, before he falls too far, he takes one last shot at the reflector's supports in a final attempt to knock it down---right on top of Soundwave. Combat: Booster Pack Jimmy John's is activated! It will use up a charge the next chance it gets! Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blurr strikes Soundwave with his Next time you'll be making them lighter... attack! Combat: Blurr uses up a charge on his Jimmy John's booster pack! Combat: Automatically deactivating booster pack Jimmy John's Soundwave glares down at Blurr, moments before the sonic reflector comes down atop him, crushing part of the small wall atop the building. After several moments, it moves...then moves some more. Soundwave, a bit battered from the damage, emerges from it. He turns his attention to Arcee, and without much preamble or showmanship, simply raises his weapon. The energy lights up from within, then opens fire, full power at Arcee! Combat: Soundwave misses Arcee with his Concussion Blaster attack! Buzzsaw turns to glide his way airborne and, well... there goes Soundwave again. Poor boss just can't catch a break.. He primes his mortars and keeps to the sky as he starts unloading pointed shots to drive the Autobot remnant back. Just looking out for the boss-man! Though, the damage caused to the reflector does catch his attention... hrm. He'll have to analyze the impact that had later. Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Blurr with his Run. Frun from Buzzsaw! Area attack! Combat: Buzzsaw (Buzzsaw) used "Twin Mortar Cannons": A Level 5 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Buzzsaw strikes Arcee with his Run. Frun from Buzzsaw! Area attack! F-35 Lightning II transforms and turns on her lights and sirens, giving chase as the Autobots run. Her machineguns pop out, brakka brakka brakka, to give a bit of a sting to their retreat. Sure is the noble Crystal City Police shooting down insurgents. Not really. Turning into a police car, Contrail fights crime! Wait, that's not right. Contrail causes crime. Combat: Police Lamborgini Gallardo strikes Arcee with her FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns Area attack! Combat: Police Lamborgini Gallardo strikes Blurr with her FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns Area attack! Combat: Police Lamborgini Gallardo (Contrail) used "FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns": A Level 2 AREA-RANGED attack. Blast Off watches Arcee take off and Soundwave throw that pest Blurr off the roof. He considers taking a shot as the Autofool falls (which wouldn't really be a challenge for someone of his skill, after all...) but Contrail takes care of that problem. With the other Autobots KOed or missing, he just looks down haughtily from his lofty perch as the remaining Autobots begin retreating. Sniper on a roof= Blast Off's natural habitat. (When he's not in space, of course.) Arcee decides, rather wisely, to leave. Via the stairwell. She really would rather not take the forced shortcut off the side, so into the stairwell she runs, half-running and half tumbling down the stairwell. She has a few choice words along the way, but actually makes it down to the ground in one piece. Now, to get out of this *city* in one piece, with her friends and whatever remains of *them*! Combat: Arcee begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Blurr, Buzzsaw, and Police Lamborgini Gallardo Blurr is taking a lot of fire as he transforms and turns tail to retreat back into the tunnels below the city-state, managing to break his fall enough to avoid taking any damage from the landing. But he feels mostly satisfied. The reflector wouldn't be back in working condition any time soon, that is if it's even worth fixing instead of replacing altogether. And of course, this was far from the end of it. They had that entire map thanks to Deaddrop. And...yep, it's much easier to blow stuff up than build stuff up. And faster. So wrecking them faster than Soundwave can fix them or replace them shouldn't be too difficult! Oh and Soundwave still doesn't know the real reason they were there. Which was to disrupt CST's drone shipments. And according to the remote monitoring programs, the scramblers had been successfully deployed and activated. No doubt Nitrous Armaments will be hearing of this soon enough. In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.
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