| abstract
| - Graveyard What first seems like piles and piles and piles of more debris becomes, on closer examination, dead turbo-rats, foxes, wolves, plus many that haven't been seen on Cybertron for millennia: fierce turbo-hawks, insatiable turbo-shrews, even a goodly number of Transorganics. All these creatures are long dead, their still bodies silent testimony to slow starvation. Why they came here to die is unknown. Perhaps, like lemmings, they all suddenly decided to commit mass suicide. Surprisingly few of the bodies have been disturbed by living predators; most still lie untouched as they have for ages, their darkened optics still glinting with reflected starlight. Scorponok has led a small party of Decepticon Warriors here for an unknown purpose -- at least to observers. He is scuttling around in his monolithic scorpion mode, occasionally turning over a long-dead creature there or a transorganic there. "Where is that confounded Terrorcon?" He is barking in an irritated fashion. "His locator beacon went offline here more than a lunar cycle ago. If we do not find him soon, the idiot can rot here! Hurry up!" "Nothing matching his identifier on my scanners" reports Fulcrum, the green MiG-29 flying in a slowly elongating search pattern high above the debris-strewn landscape. "Perhaps he does not want to be found?" Armored Locomotive hasn't got huge claws, or shovels or any sort of digging implements to really help him out when it comes to excavating through ruins and such. So for now, he settles for just rumbling along slowly on the ground, overturning an occasional large frame, or bit of rubble or the like with his angled and armored front end. "So -why- do we give two hoots about a Terrorcon? How long's it been since we last saw Abominus do something halfway useful anyway?" He pauses at one moment, grinding his wheels in to dislodge a particularly troublesome bit of wreckage that may have been some giant dead mechanical creature from a long time ago, but no longer recognizable due to time and rust. Ultra Magnus was tootling along one of Cybertron's highways when he received a radio signal to alter course. Decepticons were spotted in his vicinity on some radar system. The semi-truck quickly pulls a u-turn, and had there been other cars on the road at the time he'd have probably sent them tumbling off the side of the highway, and can't be helpful to the contents of the large steel grey box in back of his trailer, and cuts across the lanes, going down the opposing off ramp, and down in towards the graveyard. Once there, he slows, headlights switching to a high beam, which gives away his position, but also helps in his search of the area. Grimlock grumbles, hunkered down within the aforementioned box! Like any closed space with a dinobot in it, it's...quite cramped. He hmns, and then shifts around a little bit. "Hnn. Me Grimlock hate this part." he mutters- and then gives a loud *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!* on the wall of the box- thankfully not enough to dent it, though! "Hn. Hey! Us there yet?" Grim asks, peering briefly out a gap in the side. The white hovercar careens slightly at the U-Turn, scraping the left side against the side of the trailer. Nothing too damaging though, just superficial. Were the Autobot a more callous type, he might have the gall to chastise the City Commander for it (Tracks perhaps?). Instead, Specter just remains silent and aligns himself with the middle of the platform. "Silence, dear Dinobot Commander. I do believe we are approaching target as you.. speak." Hinder has no idea why she was told by Scorponok to join them on this task. She doesn't even know that they've arrived at their destination yet. She's all but stowed away in one of the many storage compartments that the giant scorpion undoubtedly has, and probably for the best. She'd likely slow everyone down. She snuffles at the closed hatch of the compartment, wondering what's going on outside. If only she knew that at the exact same moment Grimlock was thinking almost the exact same thing. Scorponok . . . sees something in the distance. It is the flicker of bright headlights. "Decepticons." He baraks. "Alert! There is . . ARGH, TICKLES." He then begins to thrash visibly from side to side as Hinder's snuffling trips a sensor of some sort. The hatch of the compartment opens suddenly and Hinder will find herself rudely ejected into the air by a charge of compressed air! "Find Hun-Grrr." He orders her . . along with the rest of the Decepticons, as he grumbles back to Astrotrain. " . . because someone needs to control Blot's smell, and it isn't me!" Only then does his attention turn towards the incoming headlights! His tail comes up, a weak cerulean glow appearing in it as a a targeting laser attempts to land between the piercing points of light and flare brightly! If successful, a moderate to weak bolt of electricity will connect them with a loud THRAKOOM -- more a potshot at the distance. Not that he's checked if it's Autobot or Decepticon yet because he really doesn't care. Combat: Giant Scorpion sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Giant Scorpion misses Car Carrier with his The STING of SCORPONOK attack! [Pulled -7] MiG-29 has a better vantage point than Scorponok so has a clear view of just who the incoming Autobot is. "Ultra Magnus incoming" he broadcasts. "...seems to be carrying others" The jet tilts his wing, diving into a high-angle attack run, beams of red energy flickering from his heat ray towards the Autobot Car Carrier Combat: MiG-29 sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: MiG-29 strikes Car Carrier with his EXTERMINATE (Disruptor) attack! Armored Locomotive comes to a halt as he hears Scorponok talking about noticing something until... "...tickles?" This is about when the huge armored scorpion ejects a teeny tiny robo-ferret, and for a moment, the triplechanging train can only watch this with a faint swivelling of his headlight. "...okay, you don't see that everyday." He quickly rises up, transforming as he takes on robot mode and trundles forward several steps until he takes up cover behind the fallen form of one of those giant mechanical slugs from the olden days. With Cybertron's recent revival, there's actual -living- specimens inside the planet again, but this is one of those long-lost remnants from when the world was little more than a dead orb in space. Bracing himself, he sighs down the length of his rifle and eyes the car carrier in the distance. "Hah! Look who it is! Big blue wuss! Ain't gonna be no Junkions to put ya back together this time, Magnus!" Since he's shooting at extremely long range, he settles for a very low yield rapid fire shot that sends a stream of weak bolts snapping through the air. In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Astrotrain misses Car Carrier with his PEWPEWPEW! (Disruptor) attack! The Car Carrier had been progressing into the graveyard at a cautious pace, using his headlights as a search light, when suddenly his sensors go into overdrive as multiple locks are detected. Setting off at an immediate pace, he shows off an impressive engine given his bulk, going from a near dead stop to speeding through the graveyard, and a pile of 'debris', or corpses if you prefer, sending the bodies of turbo-foxes, rats, wolves, and others in a myriad of directions. The flying bodies serve as both projectiles and as airborne meat shield, absorbing many of the lasers targeted at him. After dislodging the pile, he comes to a spinning stop, the back of his trailer opening to form a ramp, and the doors of the 'cage' he was carrying opening wide to reveal his surprise. Combat: Car Carrier misses Astrotrain with his Magnus Python's Flying Corpses (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Car Carrier misses MiG-29 with his Magnus Python's Flying Corpses (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Car Carrier misses Hinder with his Magnus Python's Flying Corpses (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Car Carrier strikes Giant Scorpion with his Magnus Python's Flying Corpses (Full-Auto) Area attack! "Heeey, what that?" Grim asks, tilting his head just-so in order to peer at the flashes of light from the Decepticon-fire! Of course, doing so makes him lean against poor Spectre (uncomfortably, if not damaging-) but then Ultra Magnus is swerving about, and the door opens. "Finally!" Grimlock says- And with a speed that's surprising for an Autobot of his size, Grimlock surges out of the container (likely shoving Spectre out into the open too!) One would almost think there's some subspace involved as Grimlock bursts out of the cramped box- and he already has his laser blaster in his hand, which he uses to hose laser fire indiscriminately at the Decepticons right in front of him. "Me Grimlock LOVE this part!" Combat: Grimlock misses MiG-29 with his Laser Barrage Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Grimlock strikes Giant Scorpion with his Laser Barrage Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Grimlock misses Astrotrain with his Laser Barrage Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Grimlock strikes Hinder with his Laser Barrage Area attack! [Pulled -2] The sudden increase in speed jolts Specter forward, knocking into the crate with his front-end. "How bothersome." he quietly intones, correcting his position once again. The spinning stop however, does a bit more than the scratch on the paint job. Thrashed up on his side, the commotion is compounded by the fact that he's forcefully 'ejected' via Grimlock's mech-handling. Oh, the life of an Autobot! Using the big lummox's grand entrance, Specter manages to cut forward propulsion and double-back.. slinking silently behind Ultra Magnus. Transforming, the albino Autobot makes his way around their flank.. making sure to keep hidden behind the massive grave-pile. Folding in half, the Hover-Car separates and unfurls into the Autobot Specter! Combat: Specter slips into the shadows and out of sight... MiG-29 fires his afterburners as he pulls up from his attack run, the jet surging forward with a coughing roar, the sudden burst of speed sending him soaring out of the way of both the shower of corpses and the hail of laser fire. "Ultra Magnus, Grimlock, and... someone.. no, they're gone." he reports, pulling around for another pass. Foolishly his heat-rays are still warming up, and although he likes nothing better than to get up close and personal, facing off with Grimlock and Ultra Magnus like that isn't the most intelligent thing in the world to do. Maybe when he's angrier. With a mental command, he activates his missile pod, the semi-inteligent processors of his SMRT missiles booting into enthusiastic life as they're launced towards Ultra Magnus, the tiny projectiles overjoyed to be helping! So overjoyed that they don't care WHAT they hit! Combat: MiG-29 strikes Car Carrier with his SMRT Missiles attack! Hinder yelps in surprise at the abrupt disembarkment -- she was expecting to get dumped out at some point, but not quite so forci...OW! She yelps again, but this time it's because something just hit her on the side, making her tumble to the ground even LESS controlled than it already was. She smacks up against the side of the same long-dead creature that Astrotrain's been using as cover and just lays there for a moment, too startled by the turn of events to process everything instantly. Astrotrain is, to put things lightly, putting his head down as a WHOLE lot more firepower than he was expecting comes hurtling back in his direction. Not to mention the burnt out shells of a few of cybertron's long-dead species. A shattered hulk of a Turbo-fox smashes down to his right, followed by wolves to his left as he jinks from side to side, then throws himself to the ground to avoid a flurry of laserfire from the Dinobot Commander's weaponry. "Oookay well this could turn out bad real fast..." He mutters to himself, scrambling to pick up his rifle nearby again, before bolting it back over one shoulder for the moment. The sight of the Dinobot coming onwards gives him a brief moment to think the situation over, and to lay low, crawling ahead behind one particularly big part of debris as he grabs onto a giant metal pole to serve as some sort of improvised weapon. And when Grimlock is going past his position? The triplechanger lunges, leaping out of cover from behind Grimlock and going straight into melee! Now we know that Grimlock is bigger, and no doubt stronger than Astrotrain, but the triplechanger is no slouch in the strength and seize department himself, charging straight into melee range as he goes and swinging the huge metal ole in a two-handed arc right at Grimlock's legs, trying to knock the Dinobot commander flat in the process. "HEY GRIMLOCK! Here's a howdy-do wakeup for ya!" Combat: Astrotrain misses Grimlock with his Astrotrain to Grimlock: Tonya Harding style attack! Scorponok does not move, short of hunkering down lower into the large mass of corpses and detritus; letting them absorb some of the damage that is flying around before it penetrates through to his armored hull. Both barrages are weathered with merely a smattering of charred armor plating, and then the scorpion tail comes up again; a claw clanking defiantly to show that he is ready for more! "Ultra Magnus!" He thunders. "Finally come out of whatever hole you've been in for the last three stellar cycles, have you? Well, today you'll find another hole . . . to be buried in!" The tail cannon thunders a barrage of white-hot electricity at Magnus, while Scorponok is on the horn giving orders to the rest of the Decepticons! Additionally, just as a little I-Love-You, Scorponok's two dorsal mounted twin-barelled pulse cannons let go at Grimlock to return his favor! Combat: Giant Scorpion misses Car Carrier with his Combined Attack! Area attack! [Pulled -6] Combat: Giant Scorpion strikes Grimlock with his Combined Attack! Area attack! [Pulled -6] Pacing carefully INTO what's left of the pile of dead bodies, Specter takes his time slipping through gaps and holes as the battle thunders around him. One particular vibration causes the massive grave to shift, pinning the Autobot underneath a turbo-fox's corpse. "Wonderful!" Specter grunts, fighting against the weight of the bodies while squirming his way to the top. Once in better proximity of the target, the covert operative lances Scorponok with a nigh-invisible beam of light. Only briefly, enough to pull up the tactical information required. <> he whispers on the secure comm, before forwarding the data-file. Combat: Specter analyzes Scorponok for weaknesses Ultra Magnus can exploit. "Hn?" Grimlock says as Astrotrain steps on out- at which point, the Dinobot just raises a hand and catches the end of that pole! He grunts- at which point a simple turn of his wrist bends the thing as if it were mere rubber! But such a casual show of strength is distrating enough for Scorponok to blast Grimlock full-on with those cannons of his! The dinocommander staggers back at the withering fire- only to transform into his dinosaur mode! This done, he surges forwards, snapping his mighty jaws at the closest Decepticon! That is, Astrotrain! *CHOMP!* With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Astrotrain with his BITE (Kick) attack! With his passengers safely departed, the car carrier rises up in a whirling mass until he has become his heavily armoured, humanoid persona, Ultra Magnus, white rifle in hand. "Scorponok, anytime you want me, you know where you can find me." He is of course referring to Autobot City, with its great big Autobot symbol. <> but then he has to leap backwards, to avoid the giant tail cannon thundering his way, which is probably followed by the odd claw strike. As he catches his proverbial breath for a moment he receives the data from Specter, and quirks a brows, then smiles, <> He types something into a miniature console on his weapon, and before he can take aim, he has to dodge to the left, running up a pile of corpses, which gives way and he rides it, like a surfer, but he manages to keep his weapon steady enough to fire mid 'wave'. Ultra Magnus shifts into his imposing robot mode. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Giant Scorpion with his White BFG as opposed to Optimus's Black BFG attack! Teeth crunch down on armored forearm as Astrotrain finds that his ambush didn't quite go as well as he'd hoped it would. No sooner has he tossed away the useless pole than the Dinobot grabs onto his forearm with that big toothy maw of his! "YEEEOWTCH!" And for a moment, a brief tug-of-war issues between the two, with Astrotrain's arm as the prize! It's only due to the fact that the triplechanger is a very sturdy specimen in his own right that he's able to even THINK of doing this without getting ripped to pieces in the process, his other hand clenched onto Grimlock's head as he twists around and grabs the Dinobot Commander in a 'headlock'. "OWOWOWOW, LEGGO LEGGO LEGGO!" His other hand remains firmly in the Dinobot's maw however, and he's driven to a moment of desperation to try and get himself loose, reaching back with his other hand and grabbing his rifle from its mounting on his shoulder. Twisting it back into place as he puts the barrel tip against the side of Grimlock's saurian head. "Raaargh! Let's see how tough that Dinobot armor is after I warp it up a bit!" And with that, he pulls the trigger at point-blank range! His thinking is kind of sound. Either he can cause severe damage to that legendary Dinobot armor, or maybe he can make Grimlock let his arm go to try and avoid the effects! Combat: Astrotrain strikes Robot T-Rex! with his Ionic Displacer Rifle attack! Hinder shakes herself off as she stands, then hops to as Scorponok yells at her on channel. Skittering hastily, she stops and snuffles about, her low-slung body actually better suited to navigating this mess of bodies than the taller individuals. She's REALLY hoping she smells or hears something, 'cause she REALLY doesn't want to become a Grimmy-snack. Combat: Hinder searches for Specter. Combat: Specter has been found! Hinder pops up all meerkat-like and looks straight toward where Specter is. "There!" MiG-29 swings around again, half surprised that the idiotic SMRT missiles actually found their mark. Still, Ultra Magnus isn't exactly a small target. As per orders, he's on the hunt for the mysterious third Autobot on the rusty knoll.. and thanks to a helpful little Decepticon, he's just been located. "THERE you are" he grinds, powering towards Specter's location, transforming in mid-flight, his hammer already swinging in a wide arc on its chain. "Shifty Autobot.. you need to stand still!" He releases the hammer, tiny magnetic nudges sending it on an arcing path like a bola, designed to swing around his foe and constrict him in the chain. The MiG-29 twists around and folds in on itself with a grinding sound, transforming into the robotic form of Fulcrum. Combat: Fulcrum strikes Specter with his Hammer Chain attack! Combat: Specter has been temporarily incapacitated. Giant Scorpion is not a creature of complexity or grace. Spectre's scanning will reveal masses upon masses of armor plating and other ugly things. However, there are some places that are less heavily armored than others and that is where Magnus' shot takes him -- right behind the shoulder plating. The aided blast punches straight through the weakened metal there and sears deeply into the vital armor and sub-systems. A gout of electricity, fire and smoke comes out of the wound but Scorponok seems not to hesitate or be slowed. Instead, he just throws himself full bore at Magnus, aiming to crush him beneath his weight along with pounding and snapping claws in a full on, full-frontal blitz. The only real comment that he makes to the other's eloquent statement is an incoherant bellow of rage. Combat: Giant Scorpion misses Ultra Magnus with his Full Court Press attack! Ultra Magnus radios, <> He can already see some part of the beast transforming, shifting, trying to cover the damaged area, so that the data won't be nearly as useful as the battle goes on. It would seem that he's irritated the brontoscorpion to the point that he's being charged by it. Not being graceful, it's relatively easy to step out of the way, but with so many legs, Magnus gets an idea. He sticks out his foot for one of the last trailing side legs. "What was that Scorponok? It didn't register." Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Giant Scorpion with his Trip (Kick) attack! Like a stubborn dog, Grimlock holds on to Astrotrain's forearm- which earns him faceful of Ionic energy! Well, at least it's not a rolled up newspaper. "Gah!" he snarls- surprised, and singed, too, as the temper on some of his armor plating is disrupted on the molecular level! And he still hangs on- but his optics catch sight of Fulcrum descending on poor Specter's hiding spot- and thus, Grimlock just whips around, attempting to
* THROW!* Astrotrain right at Fulcrum! It's an old trick of Grimlock's...but a favorite. "Rargh! Me Grimlock help you little white robot guy!" Combat: Robot T-Rex! sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Robot T-Rex! misses Fulcrum with his Throw! Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Astrotrain with his Throw! Area attack! [Pulled -3] Emitting a sigh of relief from the succesful transmission of data, Specter doesn't even notice the casseticon descending from above. Spotted and pointed out, he's barely able to raise a forearm against the impending hammer blow. Although deflected with wrist mounted shields blasted to full power, the counter drains his reserves and knocks him down further into the pile. Surrounded completely by interconnected masses, Specter does his best to wriggle up from the temporary hold. Fulcrum yanks on the end of the chain, the weapon returning to his hand with a SMACK. "Hnn" he sneers, trudging to loom over the Autobot, barely noticing as Astrotrain flies by over head. HI ASTROTRAIN! "Typical shoddy Autobot construction" he remarks, reaching out with his free hand, an evil looking sickle appearing it it from subspace, the curved blade already hissing, heating from a dull black to a glowing orange, firey yellow, then an optic-searing white as it swings down towards his helpless foe. "Let me give you the gift of Decepticon engineering..." Combat: Fulcrum strikes Specter with his Burning Sickle attack! Fortunatly, Scorponok is a rather large beast -- especially angered -- and taunting him is a rather dangerous thing. Magnus' kick bounces off of one of the feet and actually succeeds in buckling that leg, but there are seven more to keep the monolithic Decepticon moving! He whirls, Zarak fighting for control -- attempting to slow the raged beast long enough to get a focused shot off. To this end, the targeting laser appears from Scorponok's tail once more, and attempts to pass over Ultra Magnus' center of mass. Should it strike it, the tail cannon glares once again -- but this time, it isn't a thunderous blast but an odd little blue-white spark that attempts to momentarily short-circuit Magnus' power armor! Combat: Giant Scorpion misses Ultra Magnus with his System Shock attack! Astrotrain's plan to make Grimlock let him go is completely and undoubtedly successful! It just so happens that he gets let loose by Grimlock hurling him through the air in the process! "Waaaaugh!" Spinning in mid-air, Astrotrain sees that he's being thrown straight at Fulcrum, and twists and turns as he spins in an attempt to avoid a collision! Not to help Fulcrum of course, but because -he- doesn't want to absorb the damage on himself. He's successful in this endeavor, soaring just past the other Decepticon, only to smash down on his FACE on the ground and skid for a few bodylengths before coming to a stop. "...uuuurgh. This is gonna take a whole lot of booze to forget." He painfully pushes himself to his feet, and starts to transform, shifting over and over as he does so and slams onto his eight huge steel wheels, deciding it's time to match Grimlock size for size and ton for ton. "Okay Chuckles..." He snarls, letting out a heavy
* WHOOOOOT* from his train whistle, steam erupting from underneath as he suddenly erupts forward in a roar of rocket-assisted acceleration, the ground rumbling underneath him. "Laugh THIS one off!" It's not the first time the huge locomotive has put a hundred tons of speeding spacetrain into turning himself into a battering ram in the quest to hit Grimlock head-on with anything even remotely approaching equivelant force. It -is- the first time he's done it after making the Dinobot Commander's nigh legendary armor more brittle on the molecular level. Perhaps he's hoping for more dramatic results! With body twisting in place while folding up on himself, Astrotrain slams to the ground as a huge armored locomotive. Combat: Armored Locomotive sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Armored Locomotive strikes Robot T-Rex! with his Train Crossing attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Robot T-Rex! 's Agility. (Crippled) Hinder starts dashing toward where she saw the Autobot, hoping to do ... well, do something once Fulcrum gives her the go-ahead. She's a SLOW runner, though, so it's a good bet she won't get there first. Of course, she's proven right. She stops and watches that sickle with a momentary sick fascination, but then remembers she's supposed to be 'helping'. She charges at Specter again (ooh, SO intimidating! NOT.) and tries to take a bite out of the Autobot's ankle. Combat: Hinder misses Specter with her And I bite him. Sir. (Punch) attack! Ultra Magnus sheaths his rifle behind his back, and leaps for the tail, avoiding its blast, and tries to grab onto it. He rides it for dear life, while trying to get some firm footing. One he sort of digs his feet into the openings between the panels, he tries to forcefully aim the laser down towards the Scorpion's exposed back, "Let's see how you like this." Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Giant Scorpion with his Go Sting Yourself attack!
* CRASH!* And Astrotrain plows right into Grimlock! It's a full-on blow, and Grimlock is soon doing his best impersonation of a railway bridge as those eight wheels
* clack-a-clack!* over his armor, leaving deep, painful-looking grooves in the metal! But then...Grimlock does something that many Autobots certainly wouldn't in this situation...he gets up! Shaking his head to clear it, he sights in on the speeding train- and then opens his mouth, firing off a steady stream of flame at the locomotive! That'll keep his boiler hot, at least! *FWOOSH!* Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Armored Locomotive with his Fire Breath attack! If moving one's head to the side six inches can be called a defensive manuever, than Specter did just that. Although the simple move did manage to avoid his head being scewered on a sickle.. it didn't prevent the blade from digging into his shoulder and ripping out the right side armor plating. Calling upon reserves he hasn't tapped in quite a while, the albino Autobot bursts from the pile and back hand-springs off the corpses. Upside-down and mid-air, Specter slides his hand into a metallic pouch and quickly pulls out two long bladed knives with small devices attached to the bottoms. "So, the feline is out of the purse?" he questions, standing a couple feet away from the pile. Without another moment of hesitation, Specter arms and tosses them at his assailants while darting off towards Ultra Magnus. Combat: Specter sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Specter strikes Hinder with his Flash-Bang Kunai! Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Hinder's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Specter strikes Fulcrum with his Flash-Bang Kunai! Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Fulcrum's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Drained 3 energon. Giant Scorpion is going to wring the neck of a constructicon at some point in the very, very near future. Of that much, he is certain -- especially as his tail cannon discharges involuntarily; blowing a long burning hole down the length of his upper dorsal armor. This, of course, annoys him even more. He has actually reached a point where Zarak has absolutely no control whatsoever -- and he simply begins firing at anything that moves in his front hundred and eighty degrees. That last hit has damaged his targeting system, and with repeated thunder-claps, beams of lightning are fired at Specter, Ultra Magnus, Grimlock, along with a few corpses and off-line fauna that lie around that happen to look like they might wear the autobrand. Combat: Giant Scorpion strikes Robot T-Rex! with his The STING of SCORPONOK Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Giant Scorpion strikes Ultra Magnus with his The STING of SCORPONOK Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Giant Scorpion misses Specter with his The STING of SCORPONOK Area attack! [Pulled -2] Armored Locomotive has, if nothing else, at LEAST the satisfaction of having felt Grimlock get smashed underneath his wheels in the process, even if it -does- result in him getting bathed in fire as the Dinobot gets back up and belches forward a thick gout of flames at him, superheating the metal surface until the triplechanger transforms again and blasts off into the air. Rocketing over far more quickly than a space shuttle has any right doing, he loops back and takes into a high-speed pass that has him raking the ground where Grimlock stands with a series of scattering energy blasts. Harassment, if you will...as he speaks over the radio about how much this really does suck. Parts spin, wings extend and Astrotrain transforms into a huge purple space shuttle. Combat: Decepticon Space Shuttle sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Decepticon Space Shuttle strikes Robot T-Rex! with his You just got strafed by a space shuttle! (Laser) attack! "what" is all Fulcrum has time to say before all he can see is white, the tiny flashbangs giving Specter time to escape. "Grahh!" he growls, spots dancing in his eyes, the landscape overlayed with blue and purple negative outlines. He raises one arm, firing erratic blasts of heat towards the blur of movement he assumes is his opponent. But he can't help but think.. what do cats have to do with anything? Combat: Fulcrum misses Specter with his Firing Blind (Disruptor) attack! Hinder yelps in surprise and consternation as she's also blinded by Specter's little flashbangs thing. She rubs her face against the ground and hisses because it REALLY felt awful having her optic sensors overloaded like that. But she stops abruptly as she presses her face against something metallic hidden under everything else. Curious, she snuffles and digs for the object, not yet trusting her optics. Combat: Hinder takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Ultra Magnus manages to damage the targeting system of the tail, forcing it to fire against Scorponok's own exterior armour, but he also manages to damage the targeting system, forcing it to fire at random. As he tries to hold on, he is flung, and soon after struck in the chest by a blast of that. Where he usually has a blue area superimposed over the red of his chest, it now looks more like black from the scorch marks. "Engh." He comments, shaking his head and struggling back to his feet, "That's just fine by me." Suddenly, his right shoulder comes to life, lights and the noise of a chemical propulsion rumbling, just before the red and blue missile fires, springing fourth and heading towards the heavily armoured cockpit of the brontoscorpion. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Giant Scorpion with his Red and White Rocket C.O.D. attack! Small chunks of debris and dust drift into the air as Specter slides past, three-point stance with his right palm touching the ground. Swirling to a stop, the Autobot gives Ultra Magnus a curt nod before realligning his targeting equipment back on Scorponok. "Standing orders, sir?" he asks, relaying pertinent information to their resident T-Wrecks. Combat: Specter sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Specter analyzes Scorponok for weaknesses Grimlock can exploit. "Haw haw haw!" Grimlock snarls at the fleeing Astrotrain- the satisfaction of seeing the decepticon burn is enough to make Grimlock forget that unpleasant buisness of being run over by a train! It's also enough to give Scorponok an opening to start blasting away at the terrain- which sends the dinobot crashing to the ground under the onslaught of firepower. In comparison, Astrotrain's blasts barely register, though they singe his armor all the same! ...and again, Grimlock gets up. "Hnn. Me Grimlock say you Ultra Magnus not doing good job! Let ME GRIMLOCK fight him Scorponok! Me best fighter there is!" and he transforms to his robot mode- and then he begins to lope forward, rushing past Ultra Magnus even as he fires the missile! Just before he enters the reach of Scorponok's claws! This done, he attempts to land heavily upon the Scorpion- and then Grimlock begins to savagely beat at any part of the evil Decepticon he can reach, bringing his bare hands down over and over again! And, guided by Specter's data, Grimlock's able to swing at juuuuust the right spots... There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Combat: Grimlock strikes Giant Scorpion with his Dino Crush attack! Decepticon Space Shuttle gets a reprieve for the moment, as he pulls up a bit, noting his energon levels running low, bits of armor flaking off in certain spots where he's taken a little more damage than he usually likes. He's -still- got some oomph left in him, don't ever doubt it for a second. Astrotrain's a scrapper through and through. No, not a Constructicon, he's...yeah you get the idea. Nonetheless, he's running dry on energy now, and he's watching as Scorponok is getting double...or is that triple teamed at this point? The Headmaster Leader is certainly soaking up a lot of punishment and the triplechanger can tell that even Scorponok can't keep this up forever. So in the end, it's kind of a forgone conclusion what's going to happen next. But how does Astrotrain get someone Scorponok's size in his cargo bay relatively easily and on the run? Sure he can carry even Devastator inside but the Headmaster is still a logistical problem to deal with in getting him up -into- his ramp in one piece. Well that's where the triplechanger is well equipped, as he suddenly dives and BLASTS overhead of the Autobots, flying just over where Scorponok stands and firing out a dozen cables, all tipped with heavy electromagnets from his underside. Naturally, they adhere to the Scorpion's damaged surface, and with a heavy *LURCH* the triplechanger suddenly angles upwards, starting to gain altitude with his new burden! Don't worry, he's real good at this hauling thing. Even someone as heavy as the big green stinger below him is just another bulk of cargo to carry around. Combat: Decepticon Space Shuttle begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Fulcrum reaches down and picks up the chunk of armor he gouged from Specter, stowing it safely in his cockpit. Looks like they're retreating. Pity. He would have liked to panelbeat that white Autobot into something resembling a pancake. The surly blacksmith transforms into jet mode, leaving his cockpit open for Hinder. "Come with me if you want to live" he drones, waiting only scant moments before snapping it shut and taking off at full speed. It's up to the robo weasel to make it in on time. Fulcrum's joints screech as his body reconfigures itself into a green MiG-29 Combat: MiG-29 sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: MiG-29 begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Decepticon Space Shuttle Scorponok is . . pounded by Grimlock. Literally, really. The fireball of the missile englufs him just before the dinosaur strikes, and when the smoke and fire fade away . . they reveal Grimlock doing a dinosaur jig on top of Scorponok's armored hull. The damage is extensive, but one should not count the Headmaster Commander out yet, for his strength is just about as terriffic as his capacity to absorb damage. He attempts to grab Grimlock by the snout and by the tail, and send him in a neat little forward roll, transforming just in time to leap upwards to be caught by Astrotrain! The roll will do no damage, but is meant solely to give him that opening he needs as he streaks away! "Another time, Autobots! Another time!" Combat: Scorponok begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Ultra Magnus, Decepticon Space Shuttle , Specter, and MiG-29 Hinder keeps digging until she finds the strange object that caught her attention. She puts her teeth on the object and yanks it free before scrambling toward Fulcrum. She's dragging along a positively ancient and rotting laser pistol. "OOF!" Grimlock lands, rolls, and prepares to launch himself at the Decepticons again...but then, in a matter of moments, there aren't any Decepticons left to smash! Hm. "Aaaw. Them septi-cons no want fight no more! Them am too scared of me Grimlock!" he says, proudly smacking his chest as he watches the Decepticons go. There's a pause, and Grim turns towards the other two Autobots. "Hn. You two no dead? Good. Me Grimlock say me no want get back in box on trip back>' Ultra Magnus frowns, watching the Headmaster pounded by the Tyrannosaurus, but still functioning enough to leap towards Astrotrain's offered cables. "You know where you can find me, Decepticon. But don't go without a gift," and he kicks up an Spindrift-like corpse, which he rolls into a ball, how very macabre of him, and he hurls it towards the headmaster, rather like a baseball, in an effort to knock his hand, or claw from the cables that he clutches. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Scorponok with his Fastball Special attack! Specter remains still, only slightly agitated at the piece of armor snatched up by Fulcrum before departing. Giving a look at the pile of corpses, he relaxes. "Sir, are you able to ascertain their.. intent at this time?" he asks Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus nods his head, "Yes, I overheard conversation that suggested that they were looking for Terrorcons. It seems Hun-Grrr is missing, and that Scorponok has had to work uncomfortably close to Blot." Decepticon Space Shuttle is gone, gone gone. Just like Team Rocket, he's blasting off agaaaaain!
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