| abstract
| - Wed Aug 15 2033 Contrasting dramatically with the surrounding red dust and rock is a small, deep blue lake. An experiment in terraforming, small bits of algae drift in the water, the beginning of grafting vibrant Terran life onto the dead planet. Strange machines line the lake, cleaning and filtering the water, doing artificially what is done by Nature on Earth. BMW R1200RT-P Police Motorcycle Elita One Cyclonus Boomslang Cavern leads to Interstellar Cavern. South leads to Promontory Point, Mars. Lamborghini Gallardo has her Mars tyres on, parked near the bank of the lake. This is important, because of Mars's low air pressure. The Martian fines are already clinging to her frame, layering a thin ruddy sheen over her blue and white. She cranks on her flashing lights and sirens, the sound distorted. Come out, come out, wherever you are! Tokercycle? Last names are crazy." His face melts into a glazed smile as he subspaces his...medicine. Standing, he rubs his eyes. "Also, why do I sound like Elita One in my brain? Crazy. Maybe because like, in my thoughts, time has no meaning. Because it's been stopped. And she stops time." He pauses to stare at Trypticon in the distance and blanks out for a few moments. "Am I gonna die?" And then he hears Contrail, to whom he wavse in response. "Over here! This is where the fight is gonna happen!" Boomslang stands near Contrail, twirling his anti-tank revolver and listening to the judge trip balls. "Mars to Groove, Mars calling Groove. Keep it together, Joe." WHSSHOOOOOO!!! A huge purple fighter swoops overhead, looping around and simultaneously ejecting his passenger AND transforming into the robot mode of CYCLONUS! "THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! How dare the Olympics commission pair me with... with... THAT!" He points at his former passenger. "And worse than that, they say that I cannot use the Space Taxi to arrive here, no, I must do so on my own power. 'Saves on costs' they say. AND MORE INSULTING than even this, they say I have to let HER ride inside my cockpit! THE OUTRAGE!!! An Autobot as a passenger! I have never been more insulted!" He stomps through the Martian landscape, raving, "OUTRAAAAAGE!" Elita One leaps out of the cockpit, landing with a bit of dynamic entry, slamming into the dirt, her fist into the ground, leaving red dust about. Granted she's not even close to Cyclonus' size, so the effect is diminished, but there it is. Elita One brushes some of the dust off, indignant at the situation. Someone in the scheduling department has a dark sense of humor. She considers the idea of this being a rather roundabout way to have her eliminated on general purpose. The small pink bot looks up towards the powerful Cyclonus, her eyes squinted. "Hmph." is all she has to say. Despite the....shenanegains of this sheduling, "Like it or not, we are allies now. Or are you just going to go turncoat immediately?" She all but delivers the majestic pointing accusation finger at Cyclonus, the tone enough to declare suspicion. "I will enjoy, however, watching you scrap your own side...assuming you can hit any of them." Groove is all smiles as Cyclonus tromps past him. "Hey man! You're like, pretty angry. Like you're all twisted up inside." He pauses. "Oh." He nods. "I get the name now. Right on, man." He gives Cyclonus a thumbs up and waves over at Elita. "Hey Elita! I was just talking to the version of you that's in my brain!" Lamborghini Gallardo drives on over towards Groove at a slow, ominous coast, keeping her flashers and sirens on. Inwardly, she is not thrilled about having to face Cyclonus for a number of reasons. However, she will be all too pleased to lay into that pink terrorist. Contrail inquires sharply, "Are you sober enough to officiate this fight, Protectobot?" She flashes her headlights at him a few times, watching his optics. Groove gives Contrail a squinty smile as she flashes her brights at him. "Hey hey now, easy. Are you high enough to compete?" He leans forward, hands on his knees, whispering to the car with a thumb pointed at Cyclonus. "He's a big dude." He whispers loudly. Standing up straight, he gives Contrail a final nod, pleased that he's helped her out with some sagely advice. "There's supposed to be four of you, right?" Boomslang rolls his eye with a click-click sound, waving airily with his gun. "Would it matter if he was?" Cyclonus gnashes his cyberteeth at Elita, feeling almost like he wants to be wearing a stained, sleeveless white T-Shirt. "Rrgggh. You pink painted HARLOT!" He shakes a fist. "Beware my anger, lest I decide to see if I can hit YOU! But otherwise, fear not--I desire the gold for *myself* and will not sacrifice it to these *lessers.*" Then he gives Groove an odd look, especially after that oddball comment. "Wait. HE is the judge?!" "Harlot? I'm not the one flashing my headlights at Groove." She sighs inward, you have feelings for one mech eons ago, and everyone thinks you're a hangeron. Its not like she carried six cars in her alt mode... Elita adds, "If you think you've got more time on your hands than Shockwave, I encourage you to try, just to see how far you'd get." She looks towards the other Cons, her energy cannon materializing from subspace in a purpleish blueprint. Wary over the entire situation, she mentally thanks fortune that Groove is.... She shakes her head softly, no, there wasn't much to thank for right now. "I'm looking at the focus of his optics under changing light conditions!" Contrail hollers, annoyed. Groove points at Boomslang. "This guy. He's number 4." He wavse. "Hey man, didn't even see you. You're like a ninja with wings. A ninja Seeker. Am I allowed to say Seeker? Or is that *your* word?" Groove waves up at Cyclonus. "That's right. No badge or anything, probably for the same reason you were denied carpooling rights." He shrugs. "Carpe the carp, man." Then, stepping somewhere...in the middlelish, he waves his arms around vaguely. "Ok, I'm pretty certain you guys know the rules. No weird booster devices, no secret weapons. Otherwise anything goes. Last team standing wins. I think we're all gonna have a lot of fun here. Let's see here...coin toss." He rummages through subspace for a moment, his bong hitting the ground. "Oh man..." He looks around, amused. "Did someone drop that? It looks kind of like mine, but I have a prescription. Anyway, let's do the high low number thing. Super cool quiet Seeker, high or low?" "It's cool, you can use it if you don't mean it in a demeaning way," Boomslang asides to Groove. "Low," Boomslang replies. "The lowest." Groove shakes his head and smiles warmly at Boomslang. "Never. You know, some of my best friends have wings. Low it is!" Elita One laughs, "Sure you are, just make sure you get your bead necklace for doing it." GAME: Groove rolls a (100)-sided die: ROLL: Elita One rolled a 95 ROLL: Contrail rolled a 86 ROLL: Cyclonus rolled a 74 ROLL: Boomslang rolled a 31 Groove stares at the weird coin that gives off a series of numbers. "Boomslang and Contrail are leading off. You guys, have fun. Learn something about yourselves." He transforms and vrooms a short distance away. Groove transforms into his police motorcycle mode. Changes his whole perspective, man. Lamborghini Gallardo transforms into jet mode and hovers up, her engine greedily sucking in the thin air. She converts to conventional flight swiftly and kicks on her rocket engine mode, lofting herself up into the arch of the firmament, quickly receeding from view. Her camera snaps some shots of Cyclonus below and transmits them to Boomslang. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Contrail analyzes Cyclonus for weaknesses Boomslang can exploit. Combat: Drained 4 energon. Boomslang poses as a team with the other conehead, cuz shit just got real! "Attack pattern Delta, on my mark!" He spins the cylinder of his revolver with a hiss and draws his free hand down over his face with a grin, vanishing into thin air with a hum of white noise. "Mark!" says Boomslang's voice, sounding distant and hollow. Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Groove transforms into his robot mode. Righteous. Cyclonus watches Contrail fly off, glaring. Boomslang suddenly disappears, as well, leaving Contrail as the sole possible target. And what's with those flashes? Is she taking pictures? Oh, shoot. "Blast! Elita, they're going to try to focus on me, it seems! I shall try to be evasive and make this harder for them. For now, let us focus on bringing down Contrail, if Boomslang lacks the courage to fight in the open!" He quickly transforms into fighter mode to pursue the Lightning II, opening up on her some cautious laser blasts, all the while jinking to avoid return fire! Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode! Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Starfighter misses F-35B Lightning II with his Forward Weapons Array (Laser) attack! Combat: Starfighter (Cyclonus) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Elita One mentally scowls, she didn't have the sensors to find Boomslang in all this dust. Invisibility was going to be a chore. Contrail was already in a defensive flight pattern as well. This battle could easily split up into two groups. All the dust on Mars was not going to help her find that cloaked Con. The chance of her striking the Seeker at least was chanceable. She laughed to herself, what was it she always said? 'Hesitation was the enemy, worse than whatever was the issue at hand' Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Elita One misses F-35B Lightning II with her Laser attack! Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Groove waves from the rock he's leaning against. "Let's watch the double teaming, people. It's not Contrail's fault her team member vaporized, you know? If anything, it's the vapor's fault. But then, as Cyclonus is closing in on one of the jets, another fighter appears literally out of nowhere, rising behind him to launch a missile after his roaring nuclear exhausts! "Fox two!" Boomslang calls out, already peeling away as the Sidewinder streaks after Cyclonus! Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air! With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet. Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Starfighter with his AIM-9X Sidewinder attack! F-35B Lightning II manages to evade the fire that comes after her, nimbly dodging. Then she transform to robot mode and attempts to nail Elita One with a little bit of virulent yellow acid. She smiles lopsidedly over Boomslang's strike on Cyclonus. In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Combat: Contrail strikes Elita One with her Acid Strike attack! Combat: Gained 4 energon. Groove nods along to the fight, like it has a beat or something. "Oh ok, he didn't get vaporized. Right on. Not only that, but they're kind of kicking butt." He sighs. "Is anyone hungry?" He asks to no one in particular. Elita One would scowl more if she could. As far as this sport was concerned, it was still a 3 on 1 the moment they all decided to turn. While she wasn't planning on actually attempting to eliminate one of them during combat, it doesn't mean they had similar plans. Contrail's strafing run left a nasty acid burn on her back as she fled for...well there's not much cover out here, so she attempted to veer out of the pursuit angle. Her battle pistols appear in her hands, sending nasty flares popping and sizzling into Contrail's sights. It would be too much to hope she would crash and burn right then and there, but it would hamper her enough to let her 'partner' exploit the moment. Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Neutral. Starfighter tries to evade the missile, but it strikes right under his fuselage! Thankfully his armor holds, but only barely. "You wretched viper! Your underhanded tactics are fine for the battlefield, but you dare to deploy them AGAINST ME!? How dare you!" He whips back around, hard, now that there's no more missile coming after him, bringing his main guns to bear on his opponent. "For that, I will not bother going EASY on you!" And he fires his oxidizing lasers at Boomslang, trying to rust his armor and fry his internal components before he builds up too much of a lead! Combat: Elita One strikes Contrail with her Battle Pistols attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "Battle Pistols": A Level 1 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 6 damage. Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Contrail's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Starfighter strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Oxidizing Laser attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired F/A-18 Super Hornet 's Agility. (Crippled) Groove starts humming Mars from The Planets. He feels like it's appropriate. Contrail dives out of the sky, but Elita One manages to peg her with a pistol. She lands in a cloud of dust and settles back down into her car mode. Contrail says quietly but firmly, "Boomslang, you and I, we're the spinal strut of the Empire. The common Decepticon that brings the war machine to life. Its optics, seeing the weaknesses of our enemies. Its hands, reaching out to strangle the Autobots. Its feet, pressing down on the faces of the oppressed. It bullets, piercing armour and letting precious fuel spill out into the dust. Show them why Seeker is still the best mass-produced design ever made!" Turning into a police car, Contrail fights crime! Wait, that's not right. Contrail causes crime. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo inspires F/A-18 Super Hornet with frightening and intimidating words! F/A-18 Super Hornet tries to twist away from the deadly oxidizing lasers, but they catch him across one wing and rust one of his ailerons stuck, which prevents him from evading the second burst! "All right!" he calls out to Contrail, transforming in midair to whip around and sling a primed grenade towards Cyclonus' looming intakes. "Let's make it happen, Cap'n!" As he falls from the sky he grabs another one off the D-rings that keep them attached to his waist, and yanking the pin with his teeth, he hurls it down at Elita just before he touches down. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Boomslang misses Starfighter with his Frag Grenade Area attack! Combat: Boomslang misses Elita One with his Frag Grenade Area attack! "MISTAKE, Boomslang!" Cyclonus snaps, roaring towards his opponent. "A DIRE mistake!" He blasts towards Boomslang, not firing his lasers this time, but intending to spear him on his nosecone. And why was it a mistake, in Cyclonus's view? Because Boomslang no longer has the advantage of a high velocity to evade the ram, which Cyclonus attempts to demonstrate! Better still, he thinks he may be able to force Boomslang out of the air and onto the ground, where at least he can coordinate with the disgustingly Earth-bound Elita more effectively. Combat: Starfighter strikes Boomslang with his Ramming Speed attack! Elita One braces for the explosion, shielding her optics, but the blast doesn't quite reach her. Shrapnel and rock bounce off of her armor, leaving heavy gouges, but no real system damage. Turning her gaze back to Contrail, she laughs, "You're mass produced because you are expendable!" She takes just a moment to aim at the Seeker, a simple disrupting shot. Things were still tame currently, but it was obvious the Cons were coordinating, the best she could do at the moment was anticipate Cyclonus. That meant think with bravado and vengeance, Boomslang was his until Contrail would do something unwise. Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Elita One misses Lamborghini Gallardo with her Disruptor attack! Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "Disruptor": A Level 1 RANGED attack. Boomslang slams onto the ground near Elita more roughly than he had planned, after Cyclonus runs him over like a freight train flattening a penny on the tracks! "Fox five," he laughs weakly, picking himself up to examine the nasty-looking hole in his side as he disappears within the dust of his own impact. Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Lamborghini Gallardo transforms into robot mode and draws her electric whip, unfurling it to its full length. She whirls it over her head and cracks it a few times, getting it up to speed. Elita One isn't that far off. Hitting her shouldn't be too hard. Cyclonus... though... Contrail narrows her optics and waits until Cyclonus is in closer. Then she lashes out. Calmly, Contrail says, "You're a singleton because your mould was so bad, they broke it after they made you." In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Combat: Contrail sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Contrail misses Elita One with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! Combat: Contrail misses Starfighter with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! Combat: Drained 16 energon. Elita One dives out of the way of Contrail's conduit whip, she tumbles back onto her feet. Boomslang wasn't too far from her...at least he was. Had he already taken flight again? She curses herself, wishing for Chromia's assistance to locate him. That wasn't an option. The only thing that WAS an option was to keep vigilant, and wait for the proper moment to strike. Certainly Cyclonus had Contrail's attention, or would in a matter of moments. Combat: Elita One takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Starfighter reflects, at Elita's putdown, "Actually, that's a fair point. You *are* expendable." He swoops down after Contrail, remarking at her dismissal of Elita. "Hm. Also a fair point." And yet his approach puts him in range of the crackling whip, which forces Cyclonus to rapidly transform, draw his sword, and bat the tip of the whip aside with the flat of his blade. "A *whip*. Interesting choice of weapons, Contrail, but a whip is an unreliable friend in battle. Not like a sword." Speaking of swords, he tries to put his in Contrail's chest. The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Contrail with his Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Cyclonus (Cyclonus) used "Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword": A Level 3 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 11 damage. Boomslang crouches in the rusty dust near the battle, crudely stitching up the leaking fuel and hydraulic lines in the hole Cyclonus punched through him using cable ties and aluminum tape. He watches Contrail try to take on both their opponents alone, and grits his teeth impatiently, but if he can't get back in the air he won't be much good. Combat: Boomslang takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Contrail's optics go wide, and she coughs up a little energon, the pink fuel dripping down her lips and chin. She looks down at the Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword that has completely shattered her canopy, pierced through her cockpit avionics, and, she can feel, has gone clean out the other side. She takes a step back to free herself from the blade, collapses into car mode, and starts to drive away. Her trunk opens, though, to drop off a little present for her enemies. Turning into a police car, Contrail fights crime! Wait, that's not right. Contrail causes crime. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo strikes Elita One with Mars the God of War's Huge Explosion #10993 Area attack! Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo 's Mars the God of War is destroyed! Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo strikes Cyclonus with Mars the God of War's Huge Explosion #10993 Area attack! Combat: Used up 1 Bombs. 0 remain. Groove has disconnected. Elita One is rattled by THIS explosion, it's enough to launch her into the air. Elita manages to land on her feet, skidding back several meters. "Isn't it great, your pal decided to leave you as the primary target?" Through smoke, dust and energon fumes, Elita rushes towards Contrail in a mighty? display of hand to hand. A leaping right cross, a solid left, then a push away with her heel. Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: Elita One strikes Lamborghini Gallardo with her A Woman Scorned attack! Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "A Woman Scorned": A Level 3 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 3 damage. Cyclonus is flung back by the sudden blast, landing in the dusty Martian ground, smoking. "Unnh... Erngh.... a fell blow, Contrail, I suppose you should be proud." While he tries to recover, he props himself up on an elbow to fire at Contrail as she drives away. "The Autobot is right, Boomslang should show himself... SO I CAN DESTROY HIM!" He's somewhat distracted at the possibility Boomslang will again appear from nowhere and blast him, and is mentally readying himself even at the cost of his aim. Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Cyclonus strikes Lamborghini Gallardo with his Disruptor attack! Combat: Cyclonus (Cyclonus) used "Disruptor": A Level 1 RANGED attack. Combat: You took 6 damage. "You called, Cyclonus?" asks Boomslang, over the snap-boom of his engines igniting as he takes off again, transforms, and rips past over Cyclonus and Elita in a deafening close pass. "What're you doing down THERE with the groundpounders? Don't you know that's the DAAAANGER ZONE?" And true to his word, something's bouncing across the Martian terrain, coming down on little drogue chutes; a pair of fat white bombs which burst in a roaring wall of napalm which rolls throughout the valley! Boomslang dips lower as he tries to outrun his own reckless attack and meet up with Contrail, his refuelling port popping open on the side of his fuselage. "Contrail! C.M. Six!" Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air! With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet. Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet misses Cyclonus with his DANGER ZONE! Area attack! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Elita One with his DANGER ZONE! Area attack! Lamborghini Gallardo seems unconcerned as she replies, "Boomslang has his talents. I have mine. Such as distracting you from him sneaking up to ruin you both." Elita One's right cross lands, busting one of Contrail's side mirrors. Seven years bad luck! But for whom? Cyclonus's disruptor shots out one of her windows. She guns her accelerator, trying to crank it up to her 308 MPHish top speed, which is an oddly fast top speed, but she was designed to be able to refuel a low-flying jet without the jet actually needing to land. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo refuels F/A-18 Super Hornet 's energon reserves. Combat: You are running low on energon! Sparks fly from Elita's arm, the crackling energy causes her no end of pain. She shuts off the circuits assigned to that pain, allowing her to focus. She braces against a rock as she watches the two Cons meet up. "Hooking up in the middle of combat." Wiping energon from her mouth, she manages a laugh. The bomb that appears in her hand is hefted once before thrown. "Well since you two were so polite to get so close, least I can do is warm up the party!" Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Elita One strikes Lamborghini Gallardo with Mine's bigger's Huge Explosion #10994 Area attack! Combat: Elita One's Mine's bigger is destroyed! Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "Huge Explosion #10994": A Level 6 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 20 damage. Combat: Elita One's attack has damaged your Agility! Combat: Elita One strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with Mine's bigger's Huge Explosion #10994 Area attack! "On the contrary, Boomslang, by taking to the air, you have put YOURSELF in the Danger Zone!" And yet, Boomslang nearly proves him wrong with his bombing run, which Cyclonus eyes, wide-opticked, before he dives away from the massive explosions. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh--" He seems to move in slow motion as the flames approach ever closer. "Ahhhhhhh--" Wait, there's a lake here? Cyclonus has no time to think on it before he plunges into the water, the napalm roaring across the surface of the lake soon after. Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Cyclonus takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] The explosion shreds one of Boomslang's fuel tanks, although the other one is full now, so that's good, for what it's worth. With flames streaming from his wing he makes a very pretty sight as he pulls up hard until he's inverted and headed back towards Elita. With a crank of his control surfaces he wheels over in an aileron roll, and lining her up for another bombing run. This time the bombs look very much like the firebombs, but their payloads are wholly different; a seething yellow gas which boils out, melting rock into glass with a caustic sizzle and creeping towards Elita menacingly across the ground as Boomslang soars away again! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet misses Elita One with his Mk.116 Weteye attack! Lamborghini Gallardo is blown into the air as if she were in a Micheal Bay film. Flipping end over end and bouncing in the Martian fines, kicking up ruddy clouds, eventually, she lands on her roof, which crushes, in the bottom of the lake. Scummy water rushes into her passenger compartment. Contrail goes very still. Then she rocks back and forth and rights herself and drives out of the lake. Contrail is waterproof! Though she will need to replace all her upholstery, which is a pain. Also, one of her wheels is out of alignment. One of her machineguns pops out, swivels, and tracks Cyclonus, releasing a short, sharp burst of bullets at him. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo misses Cyclonus with her FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns attack! Combat: You are running low on energon! Combat: Gained 1 energon. Elita One stands perfectly still, up against that rock. Payload is dropped all about her. She notes to herself quickly, 'Acid...' The veritable fountains splash all about her, but leave her unscathed somehow. Boomslang was still dropping them, there could be an opprotunity here. Her optics quickly sight the bombard doors. There were a few bombs left in there, if she could crack off that shot...Her plasma cannon was brought to bear, energy ripping through the sky towards Boomslang's bay doors. A lucky hit, and he'd be in so much internal pain, he'd have to see a medic...maybe even need some medi-grease applied to his cargo hole. Cyclonus emerges from the lake, staring at it. "Oh, of course, the Terrans were trying to twist this world to their own ends. Though I suppose mud is preferable to dust." Then bullets are tearing up the ground around him, and with a curse, Cyclonus dives back into the water, where the bullets' kinetic energy rapidly dissipates to the point where they can cause no harm. But soon he's re-emerging from the lake, right next to Contrail! "RAAAHHHH!" he cries, grabbing Contrail by the guns--machineguns--and pulling her into the lake with him. Maybe for a swim or something. Elita One stands perfectly still, up against that rock. Payload is dropped all about her. She notes to herself quickly, 'Acid...' The veritable fountains splash all about her, but leave her unscathed somehow. Boomslang was still dropping them, there could be an opprotunity here. Her optics quickly sight the bombard doors. There were a few bombs left in there, if she could crack off that shot...Her plasma cannon was brought to bear, energy ripping through the sky towards Boomslang's bay doors. A lucky hit, and he'd be in so much internal pain, he'd have to see a medic...maybe even need some medi-grease applied to his cargo hole. Cyclonus emerges from the lake, staring at it. "Oh, of course, the Terrans were trying to twist this world to their own ends. Though I suppose mud is preferable to dust." Then bullets are tearing up the ground around him, and with a curse, Cyclonus dives back into the water, where the bullets' kinetic energy rapidly dissipates to the point where they can cause no harm. But soon he's re-emerging from the lake, right next to Contrail! "RAAAHHHH!" he cries, grabbing Contrail by the guns--machineguns--and pulling her into the lake with him. Maybe for a swim or something. Combat: Elita One misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with her Plasma Fueled Suppository attack! Combat: Cyclonus misses Lamborghini Gallardo with his Swim Til You DIE (Punch) attack! Combat: Cyclonus (Cyclonus) used "Punch": A Level 1 MELEE attack. F/A-18 Super Hornet dips his wing, the searing plasma bolt sizzling past over the wing that isn't on fire, then dips it further to pull away in a long bank turn which takes him behind a wind-carved standing stone formation, from which he does not seem to reappear! Presumably he transformed and took cover while momentarily out of sight. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Lamborghini Gallardo observes politely, "You really don't like any of my weapons, do you, my lord?" First he insults her whip. Now, he's trying to grab her machineguns! She swerves out of the way, kicking up mud, and making her bent axle twinge in pain. The Gallardo deploys a second machinegun, which swivels to track Elita One. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo strikes Cyclonus with her FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns Area attack! Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo strikes Elita One with her FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns Area attack! Combat: Gained 1 energon. Elita One takes the toll for trying to line up such a pretty shot. Not only did she miss, but the retaliation strike from Contrail's whining minigun was more than she bargained for. She was getting reckless, and Boomslang had yet again went missing. She mentally decided then and there it was time for her to get an upgrade to match that. The war had started to evolve past her, perhaps. Combat: Elita One takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] "Your weapons are adequate," Cyclonus observes as Contrail gets away from him, and begins to pull himself out of the lake. "It's just that--ERRRGHHH!" And he's riddled with bullets across his chest. "It's just that I have my OWN preferences!" Drawing his Oxidizing Rifle, he aims it at one of Contrail's front tires, firing a high-powered blast in the hopes of slowing her! Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Cyclonus misses Lamborghini Gallardo with his Oxidizing Laser attack! Combat: Cyclonus (Cyclonus) used "Oxidizing Laser": A Level 6 RANGED attack. Meanwhile, behind the rock, Boomslang is unpacking his rifle and thanking his lucky stars he didn't get shot down during that last pass. Sure, it doesn't look like he dissolved Elita, either, so it's not all good news, but he's entirely satisfied just not being shot down, at this point. His 'eyepatch' pops open, the expensive third-party optics behind it zooming in on Elita's shapely back as he dials in the range and accounts for coriolis force. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Elita One for weaknesses. Lamborghini Gallardo puts it into reverse, wheels squealing, when she sees Cyclonus drawing his dreaded Oxidizng Laser and backs it back into the lake. "Ah, preferences! Yes, diversity is one of the things that makes the Decepticon Empire great. We have freedom of choice with regards to our instruments of destruction." Right now, she just chooses to uses a shorter burst of bullets. Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo strikes Cyclonus with her FN Minimi 5.56mm Light Machine Guns attack! [Pulled -1] Elita One fumes internally, these Cons were making a joke out of her. The terrain was all wrong for her speciality in combat, and Cyclonus...well, he was doing fine actually, it was all Elita that was having the issue. Frustrated, she cracks off a shot from her pistols at the visible target. If she couldn't see her enemies, neither should Contrail. Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Elita One strikes Lamborghini Gallardo with her Battle Pistols attack! Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "Battle Pistols": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 6 damage. Combat: Elita One's attack has damaged your Strength! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Lamborghini Gallardo 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Cyclonus takes another burst of machine gun fire, which rips into one of his arms, damaging the servos. "Curse you!" he grunts, and leaps up above the lake, glaring. He thinks he sees something moving in there... regardless, whether it's Contrail or some sort of horrible alien monster that decided to start living on Mars, he chucks in a grenade after her, trying to blast her out! "Get out of there!" Combat: Cyclonus has created a grenade: "Saddam's Fishing Technique"! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Lamborghini Gallardo with Saddam's Fishing Technique's Small Explosion #10995 attack! Combat: Cyclonus's Saddam's Fishing Technique is destroyed! Combat: Cyclonus (Cyclonus) used "Small Explosion #10995": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 15 damage. Combat: Cyclonus's attack has damaged your Accuracy! Boomslang charges up his coilgun with a low hum, having sighted in on Elita to his satisfaction. When she moves out from cover to take a shot at his partner, he says a little prayer to the gods of murder and squeezes the trigger. Immediately his location is made obvious by the supersonic blowback as the magnetic accelerator sends a two-pound iron-jacketed nickle sabot cracking downrange towards (or even through) Elita, and if not, then Mars will have a new satellite for a little while as the shot breaks out of the planet's gravity well. Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Boomslang strikes Elita One with his the Assassin's Bullet attack! Combat: Elita One falls to the ground, unconscious. "Boom," Boomslang whispers to himself. "Headshot." Boomslang flicks a bobble-head on the rock beside him. Elita One's shot is true and nails Contrail in the headlights, which she inexplicably sees out of in this particular cartoon episode. It also busts one of her pistons via a chain reaction, cutting her horsepower. There goes her low-end torque! Cyclonus's fishing technique catches Contrail hook, line, and sinker, as well, blowing her out of the lake and into the air, Michael Bay style again. She bounces some more and one of her headlights falls clean out on the third bounce. Contrail takes a moment to top off her own tank and calls out to Boomslang, "Good hit, good hit!" Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo refuels Lamborghini Gallardo 's energon reserves. Cyclonus feared that he might wind up alone in this contest. Now with the both of them free to beat on him his odds have diminished considerably. "Very well, if this is how it is, then this is how it shall be!" Maybe he can limit the number of things they can hit him with if he transforms? Or even better... "But I can reduce the odds as well." His engines roar as they tear towards Contrail, his frame skimming just barely above the ground as he tries to smash Contrail like a hockey puck! Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode! Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Starfighter misses Lamborghini Gallardo with his Ramming Speed attack! Combat: Starfighter (Cyclonus) used "Ramming Speed": A Level 6 VELOCITY attack. Boomslang ducks behind the rock formation and quickly works the bolt, ejecting a steaming fuse from his gun and fitting another one. The rifle hums contentedly as it powers back up, and Boomslang leans around the corner to quickly sight in on Cyclonus and take a follow-up shot with a ringing supersonic crack. Combat: Boomslang strikes Starfighter with his Anti-Aircraft attack! Lamborghini Gallardo drives off deeper into the lake to evade Cyclonus's attempt to make her into a hockey puck, abandoning Boomslang to distract Cyclonus with his face. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Lamborghini Gallardo has 'skipped' her action for this round. Starfighter tries to accelerate faster, hitting supersonic speeds as he's sure Boomslang is lining him up for a shot! And he is! And it hits him in one of his turbines! And the supersonic shell, consequently, hits him at a relative velocity of 300 mph, and does amazingly little damage. Whipping back around, he's tempted to fire at Boomslang... but then he considers all the damage Contrail has taken. Hm, maybe she's almost down? So, he dives towards her, firing laser blasts, but also being mindful of return fire! Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Starfighter misses Lamborghini Gallardo with his Forward Weapons Array (Laser) attack! Combat: Starfighter (Cyclonus) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Boomslang ducks back behind the rock again, packs up his rifle, and replaces it on its hardpoint, dashing to the next craggy piece of cover. Boomslang ducks back behind the rock again, packs up his rifle, and replaces it on its hardpoint, dashing to the next craggy piece of cover. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Boomslang takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Lamborghini Gallardo ramps out the other side of the lake and transforms, mid-jump, to blast away from Cyclonus's Forward Weapons Array. The F-35 wings up into the sky, trying to get some altitude over Cyclonus. There is a flash of light as she snaps some shots of Cyclonus and transmits the data to Boomslang. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Contrail analyzes Cyclonus for weaknesses Boomslang can exploit. Combat: Drained 4 energon. There's that flashing again. All his evasive maneuvers haven't done much to evade Boomslang's accurate fire, so far, and Contrail is no doubt setting him up for an attack. Well, Cyclonus doesn't think so! While Contrail flies in a straight line and leaves herself vulnerable, Cyclonus zooms right at her, firing with everything he's got! "I'll bring you down! NOW OR NEVER!" Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Starfighter misses F-35B Lightning II with his Oxidizing Laser attack! Combat: Starfighter (Cyclonus) used "Oxidizing Laser": A Level 6 RANGED attack. Boomslang vaults over the rock with his revolver out, firing shots into the sky with a hard flat cracking report. The dust obscures his aim somewhat, but thanks to Contrail's uploads he can see exactly where to shoot for- it's just a matter of hitting it! And of hoping the dust obscures HIM, too. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Boomslang misses Starfighter with his 50mm HVAP Anti-Tank Revolver attack! F-35B Lightning II just pours on the speed and blasts by Cyclonus's oxidizing laser, leaving a faint contrail in the thin air, the only trace that she was ever there! She starts to swing around, engaging in more evasive maneouvres now. Contrail observes, "You did state 'never' as an option, my lord." Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Protected. The Global Pose Tracker marks that F-35B Lightning II has 'skipped' her action for this round. Starfighter rips past Contrail, cursing his bad aim, and yelling at her, "SHUT UP!" At this rate he'll have nothing left to defeat them with! Though he continues on past her, diving towards Boomslang. Well, if he can't shoot them, why not beat them into submission? Cyclonus does that, transforming into robot mode and dropping like a stone towards Boomslang, feet first. "I'll take at least ONE of you down!" The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus! Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Cyclonus misses Boomslang with his Kick attack! Elita One has disconnected. Boomslang rolls out of the way and draws his knife, ejecting it from its socket in his wrist and snatching it out of the air as he holsters his revolver. He lunges back in, driving it upwards with both hands to try to pierce Cyclonus' thick armor using the Sky Lord's own descending momentum! "Unless we take you down first, SIR." Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Boomslang misses Cyclonus with his Belly Unzipper attack! F-35B Lightning II starts doing various air show moves as she watches Boomslang attempt to shank a spaceship. She is really not sure how well that is going to go! Then Boomslang misses. Contrail deadpans, "Or we could all just be stuck on Mars forever." The Global Pose Tracker marks that F-35B Lightning II has 'skipped' her action for this round. Cyclonus sees the flash of steel and knows what's coming next! "Ha!" he laughs, grabbing the knife arm by the wrist. "That's the trouble in being a snake, Boomslang! Everyone knows of your fangs..." He tries to shove Boomslang into the ground and ram the knife into the Seeker's own gut. "One need only hold the viper by his head to render those fangs useless!" Combat: Cyclonus strikes Boomslang with his Your Own Knife (Punch) attack! Flipping out of an idle Immelmann, the F-35 watches Cyclonus lash out vicious retribution upon Boomslang for his audacity. Contrail lines up for an all-out assault run on Cyclonus and has two things to say, "Boomslang, get clear," and, "Fox three!" as she lets one off the chain. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-35B Lightning II strikes Cyclonus with her AIM-120C AMRAAM attack! Combat: Drained 8 energon. "Ugnh," Boomslang grunts, pulling the knife back out awkwardly and scrambling away from Cyclonus, sweeping his arm-lasers up towards him in a warding gesture without any real coordination behind it. "One thing about you, Cyclonus, you got class." Combat: Boomslang misses Cyclonus with his Xenon Snub Lasers (Laser) attack! Cyclonus smiled with satisfact tion as the knife sank in. This fight had been very frustrating, but he has this much as a victory. He sees the arm lasers coming, and ducks under them. Unfortunately, he doesn't see the missiles coming, and one of them expodes right against his other arm! "Arrrrgh!" he bellows, holding the gaping, smoking hole basted there. "You're both... VIPERS! Both of you!" Then, Cyclonus realizes that if he wants to win this he has to pull out the very last stop he has available to him. Removing a silvery disc from his arm, he tries to attach it directly to Boomslang's head, then judo toss the Seeker right at the diving Contrail. "Here, you were made for each other!" he yells before triggering the explosive. Backfire has arrived. Cyclonus smiled with satisfaction as the knife sank in. This fight had been very frustrating, but he has this much as a victory. He sees the arm lasers coming, and ducks under them. Unfortunately, he doesn't see the missiles coming, and one of them expodes right against his other arm! "Arrrrgh!" he bellows, holding the gaping, smoking hole basted there. "You're both... VIPERS! Both of you!" Then, Cyclonus realizes that if he wants to win this he has to pull out the very last stop he has available to him. He judo tosses Boomslang at the diving Contrail! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Boomslang with his Ruckus Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Cyclonus misses F-35B Lightning II with his Ruckus Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Cyclonus (Cyclonus) used "Ruckus": A Level 1 AREA-MELEE attack. With a resounding bonk, Boomslang crashes into Contrail and bounces off her to tumble to the ground, since one of his engines isn't working. He climbs back up to his knees and fires his laser again- it strikes Cyclonus, but doesn't appear to do anything whatsoever, just marking him. Or maybe that's enough. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Cyclonus for weaknesses Contrail can exploit. F-35B Lightning II considers, "I could do worse than to be a snake. You see, I also have a sting of my own." She transforms and lets Boomslang harmlessly (to her) bounce off her body. One of her back cannons swivels down to target Cyclonus with some bright yellow acid! Boomslang's information even tells her just where to shoot. In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Combat: Contrail sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: Contrail strikes Cyclonus with her Acid Strike attack! Combat: Removing analysis data for Cyclonus. Combat: Drained 8 energon. Cyclonus shudders as the acid, which normally wouldn't have hurt very much, easily slips through what's left of his armor to eat away his internals! "Ahh... AGGGHH!" he cries out. "Not a snake, then--a scorpion! I *loathe* scorpions!" He hopes Scorponok is watching to hear that. Hopping up, he transforms to get some distance from the two and recuperate some of his energy! Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode! Combat: Starfighter takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Boomslang props himself up on his elbow to raise his arm and try to follow Cyclonus with it, keeping him marked for Contrail's munitions. "Don't let him... get up to speed, that nosecone is... a doozy," he warns Contrail feebly. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Cyclonus for weaknesses Contrail can exploit. Contrail takes to the air in jet mode again to give chase to Cyclonus. She screams out, "Fox three!" as another AIM-120C AMRAAM is loaded and launched. Boomslang's targeting information is fed into the missile's computer, letting it seek out its target's most vulnerable spot. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-35B Lightning II strikes Starfighter with her AIM-120C AMRAAM attack! Combat: Starfighter falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Removing analysis data for Starfighter . Combat: Drained 8 energon. F-35B Lightning II sounds a little stunned as she asks, "Good hit?" "Splash one," Boomslang responds, and slumps down onto his back, looking at the pale Martian sky. Starfighter speeds away, considering his next attack. That's the last thing he thinks before another missile hits him and he plows into the Martian sand a flaming wreck mere seconds later. F-35B Lightning II drops out of the sky, transforms, and lands in a cloud of dust near Boomslang. She waits a long moment near the other conehead, waiting to see if Cyclonus will stir and rise to fight again. Contrail counts off silently on her fingers, but there's nothing but the silence of Martian dust. Then she drops on one knee at Boomslang's side and tries to grab his hand to yank it in the air, a fierce grin on her face. Contrail won't gloat; too many possible repercussions when Cyclonus awakens, but she can have /this/, at least, they the backbone of the Decepticon army, victorious on the red planet of war. In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Starfighter will just blame Elita later on to save face. Boomslang leans on the other conehead and pumps his fist in the air as he limps off the battlefield towards the Space Taxi. "Another victory for the Decepticons." About fifty paces from the battle, the martian rock is thrown asunder as two Decepticons come up through. One is obvious, by the cardboard box on his head. It has two large Transformer sized dixie cups taped to the front, a large oblong mouth hole (where his optics are peering out from incidentally), and a twisted oversized wirehangar as an attennae. It's Backfire! The other is just a gumbie with a shovel and yellow hardhat on. "You FOOL, I knew there wasn't secret lavamen at the center of MARS!" the Seeker berates his partner, looking over at a beaten Cyclonus and the two other Seekers (is Contrail even considered one anymore?). "Oh!" "Avast ye center of Mars lava mole men, I am Backfire." he barks, climbing out and planting a flag in the ground. "I claim this land in the name of the EMPIRE!" "Too late, Lord Cyclonus already claimed it," replies Boomslang, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Claimed all over it," he adds. Starfighter burns more. Contrail is a Seeker in some episodes but not in others. She is probably a Seeker in this episode. Contrail tries to put an arm around Boomslang's shoulders to keep him steady, though the air vents make that kind of hard. She asks Backfire, "Can you report our victory? Preferably in diplomatic terms? I think Judge Groove took a nap." Contrail adds, "Talk about how Elita One ruined everything for Lord Cyclonus. That would be great," and she waves her free hand, gesturing. "Wait a second." Backfire considers, "You're not lava mole men at all!!" he stammers sounding a bit disappointed. Nothing like claiming territory for Galvatron to stay the executioner's cannon, as it were. "Oh, right.. wait this was for the Olympics? Are you sure you're not trying.. by Starscream's GHOST!" Boomslang wobbles. =============================== 2033 Olympics ================================ Message: 37/15 Posted Author HW Team: E1 & Cyc vs Boom & Contra Wed Aug 15 Backfire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Boomslang and Contrail pull out a win against Elita One and Cyclonus! ==============================================================================
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)