| abstract
| - Ghosts in the Machine is the thirty-ninth episode of Power Rangers In Space. It continues from the previous episode.
- Ghosts in the Machine was the eighth episode of the first season of Caprica and the ninth produced hour of the series. It first aired on the SyFy Channel on March 19, 2010.
- Summary: The first coordinated combat action of the EDC 22nd TAS, also known as the Mechanical Ghosts (later just Ghost Squad). Along with Marissa Faireborn, they tangle with no less than 3 Sweeps, including Scourge himself. As you might expect, they get trashed and are run off in short order. Ahh, memories...============================= Terran =============================
Message: 5/1 Posted Author Mechanical Ghosts Sun Apr 13 Nate Briar Greetings EDC troops. I, Nathan Briar, proudly am reporting to inform you of the newest additions to the military; Jayson Redfield and James Bailey. Due to the nature of their skills, and that they are all from the same graduating class of recruits, they are currently assigned to 22nd TAS. I, myself, have been assigned to be their commanding officer. The 22nd TAS will be known now as the Mechanical Ghosts. To avoid confusion between General Briar and myself, we are using codenames. I will be 'Prototype.' Redfield will be Redspot and Bailey will be 'Beetle.' As new recruits are added to our squadron and ranks are officially assigned, I will update this information. For now, our chain of command is as follows: I lead. Beetle, you are to be an advisor to the group and suggest tactical changes where and when needed. Redspot, for now, your niche is to be heavy hitter. Current orders are as follows; read 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu, continue basic exercises, and I've been working on a surprise as ordered. Also, I have an incentive program for each recruit you are able to bring in to our squad. That will be all for now. Nathan Briar ============================================================================== Contents: Fireflight Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet streaks into the air in a high-angle ascent from San Fransisco. He wags his wings in salute to Fireflight before turning east and blasting off into the distance. You switch on your radio. You descend to Arizona below. Contents: Sideswipe Hazard's Arm Exo-Armor Warthog Hazard Peacekeeper Sunder Geist First Aid Arizona State University Grand Canyon Fireflight soars into view somewhat less than gracefully. Peacekeeper runs to the side and away from the weapon, dodging the 'Cannon' fire as well as attempting to dodge the firepower from Sunder--although failing in the latter. Deep potmarks riddle her left shoulder and side as she barks, "Owowowow!" She snarls as she glares at this one. Slowly but surely, she's starting to see the familiarity in this certain Sweep. "Missed you? Hardly. If you would simply crawl back into whatever Void you came from, that would make matters /so/ much easier for us all." And she fires again, this time switching to a three-burst shot. Peacekeeper strikes Sweepcraft with Laser Rifle . Glaive II - Prototype descends from the skies above. F-4 Phantom II racks his CPUs a moment before thinking to return the EDC exo's wing-waggle. These Terran jets all look so alike, it's hard to tell who's who sometimes without getting an extreme closeup view. Hey, waitanano, that wasn't a scheduled patrol, and EDC jets hardly ever just go flying without all sorts of advance schedules and orders. Curiosity piqued, the red and white F-4 turns and dives to catch up with whoever that was and find out what could be so interesting... probably something to do with those odd readings he's getting on his long-range sensors, in a direction the Aerialbot was definitely *not* supposed to venture this cycle. First Aid at last gets in close enough to one of the techs, "How do we shut this thing off?" First Aid asks the tech. The human points one of the pannels, "If you can get to that pannel, there is a command line that needs to be entered to shut it down." First Aid then watches one of the EDC pilots in a exo-suit get picked off by the weapon, which cuts through the exo-like it didn't even exsist and slamming into part of the facuility. "..what is the code line?" The weapon does indeed slice through an exo like it wasn't there, the beam, slamming into the facuilty, setting it into flames, and nearly heading skyward before it powers down and goes to select its next target. This thing was turning into a nightmare, and if it couldn't be shut down the 'nice' way, destroying it did look like a promising option about now. Geist's red optics flare as his face tilts forward enough to look more menacing. He is well aware of his position targetted not only by Faireborn, but the rest of her entourage. From her statement of how she wants things to go down he lets a long beat play out before saying, "I like you." The Tracker/Terminator/Hunter model of Decepticon, revelling in the panic sown by the uncontrolled human weapon is like blood in the water for a shark. He springs forth, boosters propelling him towards the would be firing squad, his stained pink talons flick out away from his palms, fingers hooked inward as he lunges to slash his claws at the Exo commander. Geist strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with Claws. Sweepcraft growls as the laser blast hits, but starts chuckling darkly soon after. "If you would just accept your lot--that you are prey--then it would make my life a whole lot easier. But then, I suppose life isn't always easy, now, is it?" the Sweep says mockingly, before charging towards Peacekeeper, intending to slam into her in Sweepcraft mode. Sunder strikes Peacekeeper with ram. Dreadwind arrives from the Southwestern States region. Dreadwind has arrived. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet drops down from the clouds and streaks down towards the base, just in time to catch Geist's attack on Marissa. Jason alters his Talon's course to fly over their conflict, at the last second diving in a firing run. He fires a just a few minor energy blasts, unwilling to risk opening up with heavy weapons while Geist is so close to Marissa's Warthog. You strike Geist with disruptor. First Aid gets the info he needs before it seems to lock onto him. His visor flickers, he quickly snags up the human and runs as the beam chases him, nealy hot on his heels before it shuts down, to try and re-target again, seeming to be heading in Peacekeeper's direction. First Aid places the human down before he runs over to the weapon. It was large enough for an autobot around Ultra Magnus' size or perhaps a large exo, to hold up and use, what he wanted to know now was-- why was this thing designed the way it was? Was the EDC planning to use this thing for something else? However the doctor had time to ask questions later as he kind followed it as it turned, going in to remove the pannel, tossing it to the side, and trying to enter the command line in, on the very small pannel. It wasn't easy, not easy at all, and by the way it looks and his screw-ups, he might have to use one of his tools. The Prototype Weapon starts to lock onto Peacekeeper before one of the EDC units on the ground notices it, "Look out!" he then chucks a rock at it, as if it does any good-- which it does.. and thus starts turn toward the small human who makes a run for one of the jeeps. "Sorry, feeling isn't mutual," Marissa mutters as Geist charges. The two Ares fire gauss weapons at the Sweep, but the mech is just too damn fast, cutting through the path of the bullets and reaching for Marissa herself. Rather than opening fire, she moves to engage Geist in hand-to-hand. Her left hand lashes out, smashing Geist's initial strike away with a vicious smack, but Geist's second set of claws sneak in past her defences and leave a deep scrape against the chest armour, leaving thick gouges on the bright EDC insignia. Taking a single step back, Marissa brings the arm unburdened by a laser cannon around, trying to smash her palm into Geist's face in order to push him back and into James's line of fire. Exo-Armor Warthog strikes Geist with Palm Strike. Peacekeeper finds herself between a rock and a hard-place--or at least figuratively speaking. She's got a Sweep barrelling towards her, but a building behind her that some of the humans had hidden in. "Frag!" She curses loudly. "Get out of there, you lot! Now!" Unable to dodge without allowing the Sweep to fly into the building (usually a good idea, except for the humans inside of it this time), all she can do is brace herself and hope that they evacuate. The pointed front of the Sweepcraft spears her, flaying apart her silver abdominal armor and nearly breaking her in half. She's slammed into the building back-first, the building barely holding up from the impact, and she coughs up a bit of mech-fluid as error messages scroll down her visor. Two attacks and she's in this bad of shape already. Not good. It's a good thing that weapon hadn't shot her, otherwise that might've finished her off--permanently. "Back... OFF!" She barks as she swings her rifle like a club at Sunder's headcannon. Peacekeeper strikes Sweepcraft with Rifle Strike. From Glaive II - Prototype , Nate Briar has the Glaive engaged in autopilot as he readies himself for combat. "Two Sweep class Decepticons? Well, I believe the Mechanical Ghost squad should be able to handle this..." His screen bleeps as it indicates that he neared the scene. He rolls his eyes as he watches 'Beetle' attack a Decepticon. "Oh, I guess I arrived now to kick ass and chew bubble gum." He pulls out a peice of Bazooka Joe gum and pops it into his mouth and figures he'd read the comic in a second. He clicks in to have the lasers mounted on the exo-suits arms start warm up. He smirks and clicks the controls to open fire. As he does that, he smirks and asks a random question, "How did Bazooka Joe lose an eye anyway?" Glaive II - Prototype strikes Geist with laser. Geist takes everything the EDC throws at him from above and below, keeping his red optics focussed on the Warthog containing Marissa as the impact damage from both fire power and her brute force knocks him around but he keeps his balance and determination. Smoke waifing off impact points all over his haunched back and wings. Geist drives right back in and sends a knee thrusting to make contact with his dance partner. Geist strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with Knee-Smash. A dark cloud appears on the horizon and drifts ever closer, perhaps the fight should be postponed until the rain has passed? No, wait an astrosecond, that's no gloomy cloud casting a shadow across the lands it's an aircraft. Sweet Primus maybe rain would have been better after all, well anything is better than Dreadwind showing up, which for some reason he has, still with any luck he'll just keep on going. Following the Terran jet's dive, Fireflight finally sees what was so special about this place. Wow, look at the flashy show that thing down there's putting out - is it not supposed to be doing that, or is everyone just flying and running every which way because of the Sweeps? It just goes to show, if you keep Aerialbots out of your airspace it's just going to fill up with Decepticons... Fireflight's musings are interrupted by an errant green-white burst flashing by. Wow, that probably could have taken his wing clean off - and hey, that's First Aid down by there, without his own teammates to look after him and with one of those Sweeps way too close by. Knowing the Protectobot's unlikely to defend himself whether or not he's actually doing something to that strobe light of pain, Fireflight draws a bead on the Sweep and opens fire. "Hey Sweep, pick on someone who fights back for a change!" Fireflight misses Sweepcraft with his Lasers, Lasers Everywhere attack. As the battle wages on, Sweeps attempting to gain ground, EDC and Military doing what they can in the choas and one human nearly getting turning to dust by a very powerful weapon. Arizona was slowly indeed turning into hell on this very base. The weapon fired on the human, leaving flames from the very tarmac itself. Then as soon has its next target comes into sight, which just happens to be an EDC exo flying to low, it gets blasted right out of the sky, sliced in half like it had no armor and it was paper thin. The two halves go crashing down into the desert ground, then explodes from the very impact itself. First Aid attemping to keep up with the weapon and staying out of its target range, his finger opens up as a small tool extends out and he tries to punch in the codes as it moves, "..this better work.." he says to himself. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet pulls up from the attack run and transforms into it's simulated 'robot' mode. Since Geist and Marissa are still in hand-to-hand range, James sends his Talon in close to try and grab Geist from behind. Twisting and shifting, the Talon exo-jet transforms into an exo-suit. Exo-Jet Apollo Class succeeds in grasping Geist, throwing him off-balance. Sweepcraft is barely fazed by the blow to the "headcannon", and he transforms. "Now why would I want to do that?" he asks sinisterly, a smirk spreading across his bearded face. "I'd rather get up close and personal!" Baring talons, he strikes out with them, hoping to either make some gouges in the Medic's armor, or even knock her weapon out of her hand. Sunder shifts into his fearsome-looking robot mode. Sunder strikes Peacekeeper with talon swipe. From Glaive II - Prototype , Nate Briar slams his fists onto the console several times s he seems to have a small panic attack. Finally he calms down and smirks. "Leave it to an idiot to bring a jeep to Transformer fight." He laughs slightly as he clicks some switches and aims some small gernade launcher at Sunder and attempts to shell him. "Redspot better be able to earn his keep." Glaive II - Prototype strikes Sunder with ballistic. Exo-Armor Warthog Robot is superbly trained at hand-to-hand combatant, but the Warthog combat armour is slow as hell, and it shows with Geist once again managing to outmaneuver him. The damaged Sweep raises his knee and catches Marissa in the gut. The Colonel lets out an audible 'Oof!' and doubles over, falling to the ground with the wind knocked clear out of her. It's hard to tell just how badly hurt Marissa may or may not be, however, and she manages to at least get a few step's distance between him and Geist with planned fall. From here, she raises up her laser cannon and lets loose with a quick blast of red energy. "You're outnumbered and outgunned, Sweep. Don't they teach you strategy at Decepticon U?" Exo-Armor Warthog strikes Geist with Arm Mounted Laser Cannon. It really, REALLY sucks not having an exo-suit. It also sucks being underage in the military. Of course, it's probably Jayson's youth that causes him to be reckless, even though he usually emerges from the situation unscathed. He also has a desire to protect others, a leading factor in his rash decisions. "I'll show 'em I'm not just a kid," he grumbles as he makes his way toward the battlefield. Sure enough, he's in a Jeep, which is pretty much the only vehicle he's able to use at this time. Good thing he has a driver's license. Upon reaching the site, he practically leaps out of the Jeep and tries to make himself unseen by the enemy. He doesn't look like he's in the best of moods at the moment. Peacekeeper fortunately has her weapon clear in her right hand, so the slashes instead slice ribbons across the upper part of her chestplate. She spits oil at Sunder's face as she hisses, "Freak." And, lookey here--she's got her handgun in her left hand nearly hidden at her side. It's definitely not for show or for a simple threat, since she fires a bolt of lightning from the small sidearm. Peacekeeper misses Sunder with her Sidearm attack. A Sweepcraft makes a sonic boom high over the stratosphere of North America. The whine of turbines and maneuvering verniers scream for miles around as he makes his way towards the southwestern portion of the United States. The ice blue craft streaking at supersonic speeds stands in stark contrast to the warm colors of the rocks below. His advanced sensor array already picking up the fight, Scourge waits until the last possible moment to transform. Knowing that no matter the species, a psychological edge is important in combat. He doesn't slow down one iota as he seems to break apart in mid air as his massive and imposing mech configuration is revealed to be the Alpha Huntsment, Scourge. "I apologize for my tardiness, Autobots and human germs - your doom has arrived." and with no further words than that he reaches out for the nearest available target which just happens to be one of those exo-jets, attempting to dig into the craft with his vicious looking claws. The Sweepcraft seems to break apart, bow sweeping back into majestic wings as the central turbine reveals the head and face of the Alpha Huntsmen, Scourge! Scourge strikes you with Slash for 12 points of damage. Geist is caught offguard and consequently handicapped by the restraint of the Apollo Class clad Bailey. His midsection takes Marissa's laser fire as he wrenches free from the hold of the jet-exo. Which Scourge, in his timely arrival takes off of his hands. "Strategy isn't a word you short lived organisms should throw around so lightly amongst your betters." He recovers his stance and opens his taloned hands, pointing them at the Warthog Exo. Electrical energy crackles between both hands briefly before lightning shoots from the Sweep towards Marissa. Geist strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with Lightning Hands!. First Aid punches in the last code with the small took, perhaps just in time as it seems there are allot more sweeps here then what started out with, however he was more focused on shutting down this death machine. The Prototype weapon, even once the last code is punched in, locks onto its last target and the green, bright, nealy white, energy beam shoots out at the newly arrived jeep(luckily after the human left it), and cuts it right in half, before the parts explode. That was such a nice jeep too-- hope had insurance. The weapon then at last shuts down, it seems to lower back down into its proper cooling cycle and allows First Aid to actually flump to his knees as he kinda relaxes. That was one headache done. First Aid then takes note of the battle and quickly heads over to get Hazard and his arm, till he hears a beep, then glances over at the weapon as he notices two of its warning lights flashing red, then he sees the insides of it start to glow bright white. His visor flickers as he notices the energy levels rising. Were those codes for a self-destruct sequence? Slaggin... First Aid tossed Hazard over his shoulder with an ouf, then picked up his arm and started to move it. Hazard was heavy, this wasn't easy, and that weapon was gonna blow. He sent out a call to the EDC and the autobots the area, <> So much for the decepticons getting it, well, perhaps that was the plan in the end. Those techs, scientist, and soldiers once again proved how well they were trained. Oh no it looks like Dreadwind is heading straight for the conflict though he doesn't appear to be in any hurry, well it's not like he's got any incentive to, "Typical, i go for a test flight to check on my repairs and i find the sweeps engaging some of those rust makers and an Autobot or two, why am i the one who has to get this lucky? Maybe if i keep going no one will notice me like usual and i can leave the suffering to others..." Yes Dreadwind is moaning out loud to himself, and yet even with those thoughts he doesn't actually speed up significantly. James Bailey grimaces as Geist frees himself, and then he hears a high-pitched tone signifying a collision alert. Even with the Apollo's sensors at his disposal, James barely registers Scourge's attack before the claws are carving large chunks of armor off of the back of his Exo-Armor. James spins his Exo around to face this newest Sweep-class enemy. The Talon's computer systems beeps urgently, and James flicks his eyes over new data coming up on his HUD-like screen. "Shit." He notes softly, before manipulating the controls again. The arms of the Apollo come up, cannons blazing. You strike Scourge with ballistic. "Betters?!" Marissa snorts even as Geist breaks free of Jason's grasp. "Betters?! You have a lot of nerve declaring yourselves to be BETTERS, Sweep!" The electricity crackles against Marissa's form, wracking her body and tearing at the circuitry of her combat armour. Still, she refuses to give up and forces herself up to one knee, where she promptly activates the Warthog's transformation systems and shifts down into tank mode. Now in the tank's cockpit, Marissa flicks several switches and begins bringing the heavy rockets online. "Lets think about that, shall we?" the Colonel's voice is heard over the tank's loudspeaker. "You invaded our planet after millions - millions! longer than humanity has even existed! - of years of STALEMATE and STAGNATION. Hardly any advances at all!" The tank's turret swivels about, facing towards Geist. This badboy turret consists of a massive barrel flanked by two rocket pods, each containing a full rack of eight missiles each. "So you came to our planet, you dick us around a bit," Marissa snorts, still working out the target lock against the Sweep. "And despite your so-called advances you FAIL to take over our planet. We, and the Autobots, fought you off TIME and TIME again!" There's a soft *beeeeeep* noise as the target lock is achieved. "And even since your original failure we've adapted to the point where we're a match for almost any of you." "All this in forty short years, Sweep! Not the f---ing MILLIONS of years it took the Decepticons to learn /anything/." With the lock achieved, Marissa presses the firing stud, and a flurry of rockets spew out of the rocket pods towards Geist. "I hope you've thought about how much we're going to kick your asses in ANOTHER forty years, because when that day comes there isn't going to be so much of a purple skidmark on the ground once we're done with you!" Exo-Armor Warthog folds each pod under itself and unfolds to lay down forming its hovertank mode. Exo-Armor Warthog misses Geist with its Refreshing the Tree of Liberty with the Blood of Patriots and Tyrants attack. Rising and banking to try to get that Sweep away from his fellow Autobots, Fireflight notes with dismay that that one's too close to Peacekeeper. Slingshot could probably manage the shot without damaging anyone but the Sweep, but hey, is that another...? Scourge's words remove any doubt as to the latecomer's identity, and Fireflight loops around, eager to get a target lock on when "Woo, look at that!" The odd new weapon blows up a Terran Jeep, deadly but beautiful, and the readings indicate there might be more of a show too - too much of a show, going by First Aid's yelling. The poor ground-bound Protectobot's even slower than usual, though, with whoever that poor bot was... "Need a hand?" Fireflight slows to near stall speeds as he dives back in First Aid's direction, but it's not a hand the Aerialbot offers - it's an arrestor hook and cable descending from his underside toward the other bots. Sunder turns and glares in the direction of the bullets that had started peppering his metal hide. Ah, so one of the exo-suits has dared challenge him? "I'll deal with you later," he hisses at Peacekeeper, leaving to deal with the new threat, and thus avoiding the attack she sends in his direction. He charges at Nate Briar's exosuit, then slashes at it with his talons. "I'll carve open the cockpit and pull you out, then take you apart!" the Sweep threatens. Sunder strikes Glaive II - Prototype with slash. From Glaive II - Prototype , Nate Briar assumes that Sunder is not just a wimp to deal with as he sees the blades cut into his Prototype Glaive. He kicks in an electrical current switch that allows for the Glaive to light up like a Christmas tree. "Sleep well, Sweeping Beauty!" Glaive II - Prototype strikes Sunder with tesla coil shield blade. Geist give Marissa a mock look of pity as she gets all that off her fleshy chest, circling her relatively slowly as she goes into her monologue and transforms. Oh he is ever so patient with her. Well prepared for the assault of a tank exo, Geist picks his moment. He rapidly crouch-springs up over the rocket barrage, soaring over in a flipping arch as her fire touches down exploding against the ground of the base a distance away. The laser mounted atop his head glows to life as he reaches the peak of his airborn flip over Faireborn and as he comes down the opposite side from where he launched he opens fire. Geist misses Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with his Laser attack. First Aid takes ahold of the cable and puts it around Hazard(and his arm), "Get him back to Autobot City!" First Aid barks, before he makes sure its good, and then glances over at the weapon. It was about then he noticed a few humans getting out of the way as well and cursed under his breathe. He transformed and drove over, opening his doors, "Get in!" The humans jump in, before he closes the door, sqweels his tires and takes off, lights and sirens going. he didn't know what the blast radius was on this thing and he didn't care to find out. His mission was now get these scientist to a safe zone away from this battle! As for the weapon, it glew bright white before it then exploded. Sending an energy wave into the air a few feet above and sending out a blast radius that was nearly nuclear like several yards out, burning up, or blasting anything back in the radius. The ground below it however, once everything came back to visual was about a mile deep crater. That thing, was as nasty of a beam weapon as it was for an explosion. Just what was the EDC cooking up? Was this really to protect the earth-- or was it something more? Who knows! Head dropping down, arms folding back behind him, legs folding over, hood snapping over, First Aid drops down into a 1980s Toyota white van Ambulance. His siren light flashes for a moment before ready to go. Still irritated, Jayson studies the situation. Okay, there are several Decepticons, and most of them are Sweeps. One happens to Scourge. There is also a self-destructing weapon nearby. All in all, it doesn't look good. Even worse, he's the most disadvantaged being here. There is no way he can take on a Decepticon without an exo-suit. Apparently the best thing to do is to flee. "...Aw, hell. I hate showin' up late." He shoots a glare toward the Jeep. "Time to run like hell." Scourge takes the exo-suit's cannon fire squarely across the chest. The rounds found their mark, and there are a trail of holes punched through the external armor plating. A couple of the holes are leaking energon, one of them sparking under the surface. His optics flash in annoyance and anger. His mouth contorts into a grimace of disgust. He spits out a mouthful of energon that had welled up when he took the hits. "There is something you don't know about me, human." his voice oddly soothing, and rumbling. "I don't play fair. I don't beat you into submission. I will not stop until you are paste under my boot." his shoulders begin a subtle transformation noise and a pair of viscious looking guns appear - a distant, more advanced cousin of seeker arm-lasers. "When I am through with you, there will not even be enough to identify you on a genetic level. Your death will only be confirmed by those who bear witness to its sheer brutality." Scourge says gravely, as if reading a death warrant. He opens fire on the exo. You evade Scourge's ballistic attack. Peacekeeper falls to one knee as Sunder goes after another target, peeling herself away from the building in the process. "Ghhhhn..." she groans softly, clutching one arm over her abdomen as she subspaces her weapons. /Self-repair systems offline... I'll have to be careful from now on./ She looks at the weapon, then sees Jayson Redfield lurking in the area. "What the--?! Humans are so /idiotic/!" She snarls softly as she sprints towards Jayson and scoops him up in her free hand without pausing. However, the shockwave from the explosion sends her tumbling helm over heels and all she can do is keep the human shielded the best she can and hope she doesn't jostle him too much. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot is struck by the shockwave from the prototype exploding and is knocked out of the way just an instant before Scourge opens fire. James checks his sensors, trying to figure out what's going on, and in a fine display of multi-tasking he also re-aligns the Apollo's targeting systems at Scourge. Two small head-mounted laser cannons, one on each side of the Exo's head, swivel down to face Scourge. They fire in alternating bursts, sending a brief barrage of lasers at the Sweep. Scourge evades your laser attack. Exo-Armor Warthog Tank may have missed, but it still felt good to shout at Geist. If the Sweep is able to see the likely long term results of the war, maybe it'll give him nightmares. Fleshy, human nightmares. The Colonel hopes so, anyway. As Geist takes to the skies, Marissa can't help but be relieved. She's more at home for a ranged battle against a Sweep. Those guys have frighteningly powerful claws, even if they do sometimes forget that they exist. Also, being hacked apart by nails that have such lovely nailpolish on them is kind of degrading. But no matter, Marissa eagerly focuses the Warthog's t urret on Geist even as the head laser blasts slam into the ground just below and to the side of the tank. Although dirt is kicked up, the hovertank maintains its position and isn't moved. With the rockets still reloading, Marissa switches to the gaus cannon and fires a single shell up towards Geist. The shell explodes in mid-air, hopefully consuming the Sweep with it. Exo-Armor Warthog misses Geist with its Main Turret attack. First Aid begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from F-16 Falcon, Glaive II - Prototype , F-4 Phantom II . Jayson Redfield is a bit stunned by suddenly finding himself in Peacekeeper's hands. He quickly returns to his senses, wincing as the femme falls over, instinctively attempting to shield himself even though she's shielding him already. Afterward, he straightens. "Hey...you okay?" Scourge is knocked end over end by the explosion. The laser bolts passed by him armlessly. The Alpha Huntsmen easily corrects himself, and faces the exo once again. "My advice to you, human, is to leave while you still draw breath. If you continue, I will end you." he produces his Scythe from subspace and flies past the Apollo, as he tries to open the tin can and expose the tender flesh within. Scourge strikes you with evisceration for 11 points of damage. F-16 Falcon flies closer as Dreadwind watches from above something explodes with a large bang causing quite a bit of destruction, "Well it's not like i didn't see that coming, wouldn't surprise me if that explosion used to be whatever it was what the Sweeps came here looking for. It's probably spewed out a load of contaminates too, oh Primus no! I avoided something disastrous, i'm going to suffer for this i just know it..." Geist fires a directional booters, swerving out of Marissa's range as the turret opens fire. He comes down and rushes the Warthog. Ofcourse he has not forgotten his claws. For it is time to open the tin can and partake in the puny meal inside. He leaps upon the tank and swings a clawwed hand down in a gouge-digging arch. "Your only chance for avoiding extinction is subjugation. Protection for your servitude to Lord Galvatron." Geist strikes Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with Claws. It seems to take an eon for all Hazard's parts to get secured at the end of Fireflight's arrestor cable - for a moment the Aerialbot is sure he's going to stall and crash right on top of First Aid. But if anybot has experience in barely evading crashes, it's Fireflight, and the F-4 manages to stay aloft yet close enough for First Aid to finish getting Hazard (and arm) into place. "Will do!" Fireflight doesn't need to be told twice, and happily accelerates up, up, and away, wavering a bit side-to-side - is that from the odd and unaerodynamic load, or is he trying to keep a sensor on everyone else as he's leaving? Fireflight takes Hazard's Arm. Fireflight begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F-16 Falcon. Peacekeeper slowly reactivates her optics once her cortex tells her that 1--she's no longer spinning around, and 2--that the danger is over, at least for now. She finds herself lying on her side on the ground, her back to the conflict and quite a distance away from it. She lets Jayson stand up again, but remains on her side for now as she makes sure that she's none the worse for wear--or any worse than she was already. "...Dizzy," she remarks with strained smirk. "Are you alright? This is hardly a place for a human to be at, especially one without weaponry or an exo-suit." Sunder yelps as the electricity courses through him. It does not knock him out, but it is very uncomfortable. Once the current has passed through him, his audios are still buzzing. "Curse you, flesh creature!" he hisses, then takes his dagger out of subspace, wielding it in a manner so as to try to pry or smash open the cockpit of the exo-suit. "You aren't so tough outside of those things!" Sunder strikes Glaive II - Prototype with blade. "You can't really believe that this is the best chance for our survival," Marissa says as Geist approaches once again. The Warthog sinks closer to the ground as its hover-shock absorbers struggle to handle the Sweep's added weight. Were Marissa a lesser soldier, she'd make a quip about Geist having to go on a diet. The claws rake against the Warthog, and Marissa struggles to keep the tank upright. Yanking a lever, the Warthog suddenly stands back up, either tossing Geist off of her or forcing him to jump/fly off. Either way, Marissa is back in her standard humanoid-form combat armour, raising her arm mounted laser cannon at Geist and cutting loose. Exo-Armor Warthog unfolds each pod under itself forming arms and legs, the nose folds down revealing a head which flashes its lone optic. Exo-Armor Warthog strikes Geist with Arm Mounted Laser Cannon - High. James Bailey watching clinically as Scourge slices easily through the Talon's armor plating. Piloting a 20-foot robot gives one a strange sense of confidence - there's no pain, he's mostly isolated from the sounds and sights of the battle, and instead being fed information filtered through sensors. It's almost comfortable...at least as long as he's got the Exo-Armor around him. James eyes the damage readings closely - so far, it seems like nothing critical has been hit yet. He triggers the Exo's foot thrusters and lifts into the air, turning to present his Apollo's undamaged left side to Scourge, then returns fire with his own arm cannons. You strike Scourge with ballistic. F-16 Falcon spies the two Autobots as they scurry from the battlefield, he even considers blasting them as they run but then if he did he'd probably miss and end up striking Scourge instead and setting of a chain of explosions that would take out everyone in the vicinity, so he lets them go. "You're not going to trick me that easily universe, i know a setup when i see one, you just try and make mne do anything." Geist lands on his hands and knees as he is bucked off from Faireborn Tank. As he rises the Faireborn Tank becomes the Faireborn Mech once again letting loose with her laser cannon fire. It burns across his chest and shoulder as he dives, tucking and rolling sideways. He comes up again with his head-mounted laser already aglow. "For some, yes, but not for you and whatever bloodline you may be chained to." ~pewpewpew~ Geist strikes Exo-Armor Warthog Robot with Laser. "M'fine." Jayson puts his hand on his hips, eyeing Peacekeeper. "And I have weaponry...dunno if it'll do much good though. Anyway, I'll get an exo once I, y'know...learn to use one." He looks a little embarrassed by that, but quickly recovers. "I gotta get that bearded freak off my comrade's back!" He darts off, ducking behind a boulder for some cover. Keeping himself (hopefully) hidden, he draws his gun, takes aim...and fires, right toward Sunder's optics. Jayson Redfield strikes Sunder with Pistol. Scourge gets hammered by another round of cannonfire. The trail along his right side - his arm and leg are like his chest: peppered with slugs and leaking energon, sparking. This does /not/ sit well with Scourge. Not at all. He sighs in a near lament, "I see, human, that you listen as well as the rest of your ilk. He slides his hand down his Scythe and the blade ignites into a glowing deep violet color. He falls silent as he doesn't merely pass the Apollo, but engages it head on, slicing at the exo as he tries to cut it clean in two - and the pilot inside as well. Scourge strikes you with energy_axe for 15 points of damage. Glaive II - Prototype succeeds in grasping Sunder, throwing him off-balance. From Glaive II - Prototype , Nate Briar tosses Sunder off of him for a second and he plans to help Beetle instead. He takes to the air and glances over at Scourge. He clicks on the frequency to communicate with this EDC comrades, "Mechanical Ghosts, let's fill up their leader's dance card for a minute and then head back to base. We can't continue to waste our time on this." He locks in his target and flies over to him to try and pick him up from behind as poor Beetle gets an axe... Nate only hopes he is able to distract the Sweep Leader long enough that the blade doesn't hurt the Apollo that much... Glaive II - Prototype misses Scourge with its smash attack. "My bloodline?" Marissa is surprised at the statement, but it doesn't stop her from rolling away from the head mounted laser, shifting in such a way that the laser glances off her right arm rather than taking off her head. The Warthog combat armour has suffered for this battle, and Marissa has as well. Technically there's no official reason that Marissa needs to stay and fight - the prototype has been destroyed and can be rebuilt at the EDC's leisure under better circumstances. But there's something about the smarmy attitude of Geist and just about every other Decepticon that makes Marissa want to wipe it off with a laser cannon. Oh, right, laser cannon! She still has the laser cannon. Its energy supplies are somewhat depleted, but Marissa's planning on shifting back into its tank mode after this anyhow, and so she utilizes the last of its energy to try and ward Geist away from her. Exo-Armor Warthog misses Geist with its Arm Mounted Laser Cannon attack. Off to the west, Fireflight becomes a receding, wobbling dot in the air, still with his bundle of 'bot parts. Peacekeeper growls softly as she begins to get up. Which... isn't easy when you're cut to ribbons, shot, and your abdomen's got a deep indentation of a Sweepcraft's nose through it. Her body feels like absolute dead-weight, especially from the waist down. "Fool!" She barks at Jayson as he shoots and actually hits Sunder, although she's sure that it did about as much damage as a thrown rock. "What if that Sweep decides to attack you? How will you protect yourself then?" Geist leaps up and almost beautifully backflips with the grace of an angel. The image dispelled ofcourse by his rough Sweep visage. Spinal Tap beard and mustache, Sgt Pepper high collar, pink claws, demonic wings and ofcourse the silly looking head mounted laser. :p He lands and rolls to continue outdistancing Marissa's trail of laser cannon fire. His own hands begin to crackle with electric energy as he moves and when they fully charge he rises up, unleashing his lightning upon the Warthog armor again. "If it already has not dwindled away leaving you as it's only surviving member, ofcourse." Geist strikes Exo-Armor Warthog Robot with Lightning Hands!. James Bailey slaps the override switch on a few blaring alarms. "I -know- he's slicing you in half. Better you than me." He yanks the controls, causing his Apollo to pull away as Nate Briar buys him some breathing room, then triggers a few more controls. Twisting and shifting, the exo-suit transforms into the Talon exo-jet. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet blazes it's engines, pouring on the speed as it blasts away from Scourge. Then it loops around in an amazingly tight mid-air turn to come screaming back at him, cannons opening up in a long sustained burst. You strike Scourge with gauss. F-16 Falcon starts to circle the area keeping an optic on the battlefield after all Dreadwind doesn't want complaints about how he ran from battle, especially as Scourge's complaints would be quite loud. He also can't be bothered to actually take part, especially since no one else appears to care if he does or not. Scourge's sensor array picks up the charging exo seconds before it reaches him. He smoothly and elegantly dodges it and lets it fly by before once again turning his attention back to the Apollo just as the guass tears up his left side. The damage on this side is a little more extensive than his right. Other fluids besides Energon leak, and there is massive sparks and arcing. He says nothing. There is, however, a high whine as the turbine on his head begins to spin up to speed and glows. There is a thunderous roar as it discharges a blast of super-heated plasma at the exo. Scourge strikes you with plasma for 20 points of damage. You are very conscious that your life is in serious danger in this battle. Exo-Armor Warthog Robot curses her luck. 'luck'. Right. Marissa is once /again/ outmaneuvered by Geist, and the lightning strike knocks her clear off her feet and sent skidding across the ground. Rather than landing on her ass, however, she's landing on the Warthog's repulsor systems. "Six billion and counting!" she shouts back, though really the estimate is conservative. The original plan was to shift into Warthog mode to annihilate Geist, but with the battle turning sour elsewhere, the objective /now/ is to stay in Warthog mode and get the hell out of here. Exo-Armor Warthog folds each pod under itself and unfolds to lay down forming its hovertank mode. Exo-Armor Warthog begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Scourge, F-16 Falcon, Glaive II - Prototype , Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet, Sunder, Geist, First Aid. Sunder hisses as he's tossed to the side by the Prototype, and doesn't even notice the bullet bouncing off of him. He's too focused on his current target. "You will not escape me that easily," he snaps, then warms up his headcannon. He fires it at Nate Briar's exo-suit, hoping to hit a critical system. Sunder strikes Glaive II - Prototype with Headcannon blast. Geist allows Marissa to flee without further scathing. Savoring the small victory amidst the loss of the primary objective. As she moves out of range, Geist turns his attention towards Sunder and Scourge... From Glaive II - Prototype , Nate Briar winces as the control panels spark. He looks back and forth as he watches the rest of the group make a tactical retreat. The damage from Sunder was rather impressive but this Briar knows he can do better. He has been given the orders to retreat but decides to change that order around. "Mechanical Ghosts, regroup at HQ! Regroup!" Glaive II - Prototype begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from F-16 Falcon, Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet, First Aid. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet completes it's attack run and then shudders violently as Scourge's plasma washes over it, but continues to fly, now passing by Scourge. From inside, James eyes the rear sensors, watching as Scourge falls away behind him. The Apollo swoops down to the ground right next to Jayson, popping the canopy open. James squeezes as far as he can to one side, the cockpit is roomy but this is still going to be a tight fit. "Get in." He calls out to Jayson. Then he smirks. "And keep your hands off the radio." Jayson Redfield quickly holsters his gun and darts over to the exo-jet. "I'm outta here!" He returns the smirk to James as he boards. "What, no music? Damn." Exo-Jet Apollo Class retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots. Peacekeeper watches as Jayson climbs into the exo-jet and huffs softly, grimacing as she rubs her visor with one hand. "You're welcome," she mutters under her breath before she also transforms and hightails it away from here. At least she didn't get hurt any worse than she already had... Peacekeeper twists around and backflips, her body folding together until an M997A2 lands on its wheels. Peacekeeper begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Scourge, F-16 Falcon, Glaive II - Prototype , Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet, Sunder, Geist, First Aid. Jayson Redfield has arrived. You leave the Exo-Jet Apollo Class . From Glaive II - Prototype , Nate Briar lands his smoking E-Frame that had thruster damage. He opens up the cockpit and jumps out. "I am just glad that this worked..." He smiles slightly and hopes the rest made it back alright. Nate Briar leaves the Glaive II - Prototype . James Bailey looks over the Glaive with professional interest. "Any systems damage? My Apollo class is down to less than eight percent armor, but nothing made it through except that axe." He grins briefly at Nate. "Thanks for getting him off of me, by the way." Jayson Redfield is *still* not in a great mood, but at least he's more cheerful than before. He casts a glance toward his teammates for a moment before starting off, hoping not to draw their attention while doing so. Most likely, he's off to sulk. Nate Briar smiles at 'Beetle' and points to his Glaive, "Oh, it has full systems still. Thanks to your suggestions. The damage to the armor? About halfway there. I will need to replace some burnt plating but hey, it happens." He then calls out, "Redspot, stand your ground. You did good. I wouldn't have been as brave to show up as you did against a fight like that." He then tilts his head to James, "I know you'd do the same." A man is walking along the flightline. He's dressed casually, but carries with him the bearing that he's someone who's been around a flight deck before. He's looking wistfully at the men working and the vehicles standing there being serviced. There's a look in his eye that says he misses this, but the weariness on his face says he's happy to see them gone, too. With a blink, Jayson comes to a stop, cocking his head. He smirks a little, looking triumphant. "Eh...it's what I do. I grew up in New York--I had to run headfirst into trouble all the time to save my bro's ass." He thinks for a moment. "'Course, fighting 'Cons is a lot different than fighting thugs...aw, whatever. Thanks, Nate." His attention becomes drawn to the casually-dressed man nearby. "Hey, mister!" he calls as a sort of greeting. James Bailey follows Jayson's look over to the casual man, then gives Jayson a slight nudge. "Don't you know who that -is-?" He stands a little taller. Spike Witwicky offers a hand up in greeting and a nod, "Hello there!" he says in a friendly tone. Nate Briar sits by his e-frame and lets Jayson feel encouraged. He wasn't about to tell the kid that charging after Sunder with just a gun was probably the stupidest thing possible besides trying that on Galvatron. "Greetings, Mister Witwicky." From what he knows about Spike... the formalities would be wasted. He grins slightly as James adjusts some plating on the e-frames to fix up the damages. "Sir, may I present to you... the Mechanical Ghosts? We returned safely." He kicks in a small salute to the elder. Jayson Redfield gives James an odd look. "No...I haven't met everyone around here yet." As Spike replies, he puts two and two together, recognizing his voice from the EDC frequency. "Oh, wait..." And then Nate confirms it. He stiffens. "Oh, uh...hello, Mr. Witwicky!" Spike Witwicky nods to Nate, "Kicking ass and taking names, I hope?" he asks, chuckling at Jayson, "Just call me Spike, please." he says. Jayson Redfield says, "Oh, uh, okay...Spike..." He rubs the back of his head ackwardly. "Uuuuusually I don't call my elders by their first names..." Nate Briar nods slightly, "You're a legend, Spike. Mikey bragged about working with you." He eyes the relic from his childhood with a smile as he leans back against the e-frame. "We have Guiltor, Scourge, and the Sweeps so far on our list of targets to take down." He then facepalms, "Jayson, Spike is not an elder. He's a living legend!" Andi Lassiter arrives from the hangar bay at a brisk walk, apparently heading straight for Spike. Or is she planning on scolding Jase some more? Jayson Redfield stares at Nate. "Living legend...but he...aw, never mind." A quiet eep escapes him as he spots Andi, and he looks like he's trying to hide behind Nate and James. Spike Witwicky blushes a fierce red and waves a hand dismissively. "I'm not a living legend, I just was lucky enough to be in the right places at the right times. It could easily be someone else here right now." he looks around, "Mechanical Ghosts, eh? Sounds like a pretty hardcore unit." he says, nodding. "Especially with the way you're piling up the heavyweights on your dance card. Scourge and his little minions aren't much to scoff at." "First thing we are going to do before engaging the heavyweights is gear up Jayson." Nate points to Jayson, "Codename is Redspot. He is brave and needs to learn that a mobile frame is better than a jeep. Our mechanically inclined strategist is James Bailey. He and I go back. His codename is 'Beetle.' I am Prototype." He smirks slightly, "I wanted to make sure if someone yelled 'Briar, duck!' the right one did. And heck, we could use a hardcore unit." His eyes trace over Spike for a minute, wondering how many of Mike's stories were true. Andi Lassiter walks right up to the "Ghosts" and then past them to Spike. "Spike, I just got in from the east coast. You wanted to talk?" Jayson Redfield feels a little awkward, likely being the only teenager in the entire EDC. Everyone else he has seen around were in their twenties or older. It probably explains why some of the other troopers call him "kid". He tries his best to ignore it. He studies Spike for a moment--the man is clearly old enough to be his father. Michael had been surprised to see Jayson, a mere sixteen-year-old, in the military. He freezes a little, looking startled, and hopes he's not in for another scolding. "Miss Lassiter!" Spike Witwicky glances over and notices Andi heading right for him. Aw damn. He looks around, hoping he's not busted. When Nate points out that the EDC needed a hardcore unit he nods. "That's for sure. The EDC couldn't survive with Mikey and myself self-detonating our exos all the time." when Andi speaks to him he looks visibly relieved. "Yeah, Andi. What the hell happened in Ottawa?" Nate Briar figures that now is a time to excuse himself. "Good night, Jay." He pats him on the back and heads out to retire. "Get some sleep, and be prepared for Spike's big party." He smiles at him and plans to sleep. Jayson Redfield tries to make himself invisible at the mention of Ottawa... Andi Lassiter says, "Honestly, I didn't see everything that happened, you might be better off asking Mr. Redfield for the full details. I can tell you this, though. Astrotrain was tearing up and down the streets like a demented SUV until I gave him a power line to play with. And two of those bearded weirdos were picking on Snarl until he finally lost interest and left. Then they got into an argument with Astrotrain and all three of them took off." She sighs. "They left the city in a complete mess, and I think they trashed the parliament building."" Spike Witwicky glances over to Jayson and cants his head, "So Astrotrain and a couple Sweeps turned Ottawa into their own personal sandbox, that it?" he asks him hoping to get a bigger picture of what happened. Jayson Redfield shifts a little. "Yeah... There was a report that Astrotrain was harrassing people. He was trying to learn French, apparently. Anyway...Snarl was there fighting the Sweeps, while I got Astrotrain's attention...not one of my better ideas..." Spike Witwicky lets the concerned look fade into a bit of a small smile, "Well, we wouldn't be in the EDC if we weren't in the business of taking some calculated..and not so calculated risks. How'd you come out of that one?" Andi Lassiter says, "He came out of it covered in sewage from a hole he crawled into. Oh, and with a bit less ass...after I was done scolding him." Jayson Redfield thinks for a moment. "Well...a lotta the time I was dodging Astro's train mode, but Miss Lassiter came to my rescue. She shocked him...literally. Oh, and Astrotrain inadvertently caused an explosion that let me get outta his hand..." He winces. "Uh, yeah...the scolding..." Andi Lassiter watches as Spike gets pulled back into the tour inside the buildings, then turns back to Jase. Jayson Redfield just stands there, looking a tad embarassed by the previous incident--or rather, about being given such a scolding. "Well, I should be...headin' for my quarters..." Andi Lassiter just LOOKS at Jase for a moment, then just can't keep pretending to be all mean any longer. She smiles and chuckles. "True. Have a good night, Redfield." Jayson Redfield looks greatly relieved. Perhaps Andi is a lot nicer than she seems--or maybe HE just needs to stop being rash. "Thanks, ma'am. 'Night." He starts off the landing field. Andi Lassiter just smiles again and goes on about her business.
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