| abstract
| - Island Beach head - Pterosaurs wing overhead, the backdrop of the blue sky above marred by the visual distortion of the temporal flux that keeps a savage land from sixty one million years ago intact and protected from whatever ravages the planet earth throws at it during the painful aging process. Neither meteor extinction nor impending ice age will intrude upon this realm, keeping a preserved land of sauropod herds, stalking theropods, prehistoric ferns and soaring pterosaurs untouched by the ravages of time. But the temporal flux doesn't stop others from arriving, of course. Almost simultaneously, the Autobots and Decepticons have made landfall, at opposite ends of the island. The Autobots literally rolling up on their new hydrofoils as they skim across the waves onto the beach, startling a pair of giant saltwater crocodiles that snarl before turning and trundling their way back into the water, their sunbathing disturbed. On the opposite side of the island, a single Tyrannosaur growls, watching as the Decepticons descend en mass to their own beach and touch down, angered at first by this intrusion on its territory, but soon recognizing that it is well outnumbered, and sending the beast to turn and beat a hasty retreat further up the beach towards the waiting jungle beyond. The Savage Land, Dinobot Island, call it what you will; it has hosted its first alien invasion. Impactor is looking as grim as always, not betraying what he has done back at the Ark. If we're lucky, it won't end up mattering in the end. The Wrecker idly checks over his laser pistol, hiding any sense of guilt he may feel. He peers at any other Autobots around, as if annoyed. He otherwise keeps to himself, not speaking up at the moment. Starfighter is in no mood for subtlety or sneaking around, and so heralds his arrival with a bombardment of incendiary bombs. The flames roar and spread across a significant portion of the island, sending more than the one T-Rex running for cover. Cyclonus himself soon lands amidst the flames, stomping through the dwindling fires and smouldering embers, the blackening land better reflecting his mood after having to babysit Starscream and the others for what felt like an eternity. "Decepticons. If these wretched creatures get in our way, kill them. Follow me." A few screams and thrashing about announces Fusillade's presence just a few dozen meters from the Decepticons' gathering spot. Several deep green cycad fronds scythe through the air as she thumps awkwardly against its barrel-shaped base. A black parrot-shaped beak snaps at her heels as she scrambles out in the open. The adult Triceratops tosses its jade, rust, and cream colored head, flaring the eyespots on its frill, before turning away in satisfaction at routing the intruder. With a hmmph, Fusillade tries to set scuffs to right as she skulks down the beach, tiny pink Pterodaustro fluttering away in front of her. "Rotten stinking ig-yak lookin..." She frowns, glaring upward at the anomalous rippling warp. "HELLO!?" she bellows down the coast? Anybody else seein' this?!" "Oh. Hi, Cyclonus." Torque has never been one for water, preferring the firm ground. But once she's on her hydrofoils in her truck mode she thoroughly enjoys herself the entire trip. "These hydrofoils are sweet! Nice job on them, Wheeljack!" She comments with a chuckle as they approach the island. Without stopping she skims right up onto the beach before gravity has her hydrofoils sunk into the sand. "I'll need to remember to hang onto things. Or just make a pair in my time." The truck's body frame gives a little 'shake' to flick off any water before transforming into normal robot mode, though of course she waits until any passengers aboard of safely out. Rodimus Prime waits in the lapping surf for a moment to allow any Autobots who hitched a ride with him to disembark, before transforming and casting a thoughtful gaze across the stretch of deserted beach -- now that the crocodiles are gone, anyway -- and the perimeter of the foreboding-looking jungle. "All right guys, let's stick together. I'd rather not tangle with any dinosaurs if we can avoid it." He glances back at the others, pausing on Impactor for just a moment and then dismissing an uneasy thought with a faint frown. He refocuses on the others. "Foxfire, you've got the best sensors of any of us. Can you pick up any technology that doesn't belong in this era?" He pauses, then smiles slightly to himself. "Well, I guess that'd be any technology, really." Fragment flies to the island in robot mode... most likely because Cyclonus is jealous of his aerial superiority in space ship mode. He touches down after some of the other robo-mode-only flyer Decepticons like Soundwave and Reflector. Even back in the future, Fragment had never laid optics on this troublesome island. He takes a broad panning gaze at the untamed world further out of time than he has found himself to be as of late. He falls in line as Cyclonus leads the march. There was two things in life Wheeljack loved: inventing and getting to show off his driving skills. This trip meant he actually got to show off a bit of both, having put his own set of hydrofoils through a rather rigorous ride of jumping waves and cutting cross currents. Unfortunately his almost-literal showboating has strayed him off a bit from where the Autobots intended to land, and before you can say 'grinding gears' the madcap inventor is headed right for an upcropping of rocks lining one side of the beachhead. "Aaaah slagslagslag!" At the last moment he catchs a rock on a pontoon and kicks himself up sideways, then flips into robot mode and has to hopscotch across the rest of the sharp rocks with an "Ow ow ow OW!" punctuating it before he finally lands on the beach sand. On his aft. And a few sharp rocks still stuck in the heels of his feet. To which he completely ignores to rummage a cobbled together dohicky out of a storage compartment and fiddles with. Head-bulbs flicker as he lets out a sigh afterwards. "Whew, didn't break the tracking scanner." Fiddles with it a bit more, causing the pick-up bars to wobble up and down some and flash. "Still picking up intermittent bursts of energy emission from deeper inland." Climbing out of Rodimus, Reidan carries his hoverboard with him, devoutly refusing to leave it behind as he peered around the Island "They're well and extinct sir. Maybe more Toothed tigers though. WHAT were you wanting me to do here again? " he asked uncertainly, adjusting his stylish adventuring hat. Cruising behind Cyclonus is the "ever-loyal" Soundwave, schemes percolating behind his cryptic eyeslit. "Signal: locked. Tracking: steady," he informs Cyclonus. "Adjust course: one one seven point three." After a short while he adds in the same smooth harmonics, "Enemy communications detected. Autobots: on identical vector." "Why does this place look so Primus-awful familiar?" Rampage mutters, as he alights next to the other Decepticons. "Oh, good. Autobots. We going to smash them?" The Predacon seems eager for a fight. Rampage rises up into his robot form. Banshee comes haring out of the forest a few seconds after Fusillade, a smaller, but still large Trike on her green-and-yellow tail. She fires her pistol over her shoulder at the thing but misses, yelping as the beak almost takes her hand off! "Go AVAY!" she shouts at the dinosaur as it retreats. "Primus verdammt wird es jemand bitte sagen Sie mir, was ist hier los? Fraulein Fusillade what are you..." She trails off as she looks at what has caught Fusillade's attention "...oh." The other Autobots rumble up along the shoreline in neat order, wheels grinding onto sand as they leave the water behind and transform up into their robot modes one-by-one. Those who are carrying passengers quickly let them off...such as Prowl who, strangely, is the one carrying Amber aboard before he transforms upwards, quickly casting his glance around in typical paranoid fashion. Brawn cracks his fists together, watching some of the dinosaurs in the distance, "You think they'd give a good tussle if I wrestled one?" "So what's the plan?" Ironhide calls from his own position, gun sweeping suspiciously in front of him, but lowering when there's nothing to shoot....yet. "If Prahm's here we're wastin’ tahm standin’ round like a buncha lamp posts." Rodimus Prime murmurs wryly to Reidan, "Tell that to the pterodactyls. Wheeljack!" he raises his voice in some alarm as the inventor makes his rather unorthodox beach-landing. "Are you--" he shakes his head as he sees the old timer more concerned with his gadgets, and answers his own question. "Apparently you are. All right, which way are we headed?" Amber MacKenzie hitches a ride herself with one of the original Autobots, sitting inside until they reach shore and she can slip out, offering quiet thanks to her ride. She slowly looks around for both local fauna and futuristic alien invaders as she wonders why the hell she volunteered to wander into a potential battle zone. The sounds of explosions in the distance confirm that the potential has been realized. "Great," she mutters, now looking around for cover. "Pterodactyls are NOT Dinosaurs." returns Reidan as he unbuttons his coat, holding the board in one hand as though he were about to hit the real waves. Foxfire does not enjoy traveling over water, so he is very glad to be back on land, even if said land happens to be an island inhabited by dinosaurs. Ears perked, he watches as a Coelophysis scurries past, chasing after some small mammals. "Welcome to Jurassic Park," he mutters dryly to no one in particular. "And Mr. Reidan is right; Pterodactyls are pterosaurs." Nerdy fox! Rodimus Prime throws up his hands in good-natured exasperation. "Fine, fine. I'd rather not tangle with any pterosaurs either. All right?" Fusillade tilts her head toward Cyclonus. "Mech with a plan here is directing us back toward the anomaly, and it sounds like Soundwave's telling us there's going to be some partying going on later. That was one smelt of a patrol though, phew! Are you in one piece?" she asks over the flames from Cyclonus's firebombing, nodding her head to suggest that any talking be done simultaneous to moving out. Cyclonus looks back at Soundwave as he gives a course correction, merely nods, and follows the new course accordingly. "Good, you're here, Fusillade," Cyclonus rumbles as he stomps past her in the burning jungles. "Follow." He's even more curt than usual--SOMEONE must have been pissing him off for a while. As Soundwave mentions the Autobots have made it to the island, he grimaces. "How? How do they keep doing it? Most of them can't even fly! Damn them all!" He kicks over a burning tree in his anger. Wheeljack would probably be ogling the local wildlife for ideas if he wasn't busy with his scanner, sweeping it around a bit. Then spouts off a long string of intricate scientific measurements and distance calculations. Which gets him a whap in the side from Cliffjumper trudging up next to him. "Say it in standard, bytes for brains!" Wheeljack ahehs at the minibot and Rodimus, rubbing the back of his head briefly with one hand. Then points the device towards the deeper jungle of the island. "In layman's terms... That-a-way!" Foxfire sniffs the air, ears slowly rotating like radars. "We're not alone on the island," he announces. "No doubt the Decepticons are here, too." Impactor stares off into the distance, hearing the bombs being dropped. Guess the Decepticons aren't in one of their subtle moods. Impactor holds up the makeshift drill bit harpoon that Wheeljack jury-rigged for him. It's got your name on it, Cyclonus. Avoiding Rodimus's glance, Impactor hands over to help Wheeljack if he needs it thanks to his arrival. "Look alive, mechs!" he shouts. "You hear that bombing? That's the sound of the Decepticons letting us know they're here. When they head our way--and we all know that's what they're going to do, you better be ready to return the sentiment." The moment Wheeljack points the way, Impactor tromps off in that direction, slashing away any brush with his drill bit. "What's this, MORE of your lost soldiers, Cyclonus?" Starscream sneers from the back lines along with the other Decepticons. Flanked to either side by Skywarp and Thundercracker, the three seekers proceed to push past the others without so much as a second glance, apparently accustomed to the idea of futuristic cons arriving en masse lately. "This had better yield something of importance, because this STILL strikes me as a colossal waste of time." Well, ONE of the seekers does pause, Skywarp lingering for a moment as he looks over Fusillade and Banshee both, "Heeeeey there ladies....OUCH!" He hasn't got time to finish the thought as Starscream grabs him by the back of the head and forcefully pulls him after the others without a word. "Intercepted transmissions reveal hydrofoils," Soundwave sends back to Cyclonus. "Autobot arrival at energy spike: imminent." Banshee walks with Fusillade, still not sure what's going on. She looks around and narrows her eyes, drawing her other pistol. "Autobots? Vell, at least zat's one thing I can be certain of. I vill bomb zem." She chuckles softly to herself, glancing over at Starscream with narrowed eyes, a sudden thought making her grin as she follows Cyclonus. Thundercracker gives one of his low, cruel chuckles. "Eyes on the target zone, Skywarp." Rodimus Prime grins. "That-a-way it is. Let's move, Autobots." He sets the example by tromping off across the sand. At Foxfire's announcement, his face does that half-pensive grimace again. "Yeah, I expected as much. They're probably headed for the same place as us." He stops suddenly, whirling around to address the entire group -- and shooting a particularly meaningful look at Impactor. "Listen up, guys, we want to AVOID a fight tonight if we can. The Decepticons want Megatron back just as badly as we want to find Optimus. We don't need to complicate matters by starting a firefight. We have a common enemy here. So, if there's anything started, it WON'T be by us, understood?" "But of course, Cyclonus. Should we fly?" Fusillade asks, before scowling fiercely at the back of Starscream's flat, black helm. "Oh, PITT naw. Not like -YOU'VE- managed to accomplish anything. And sup, Skywarp?" She leans toward Banshee, "So... temporal safety survival skills parts I and II: didja ever manage to take the courses?" A blink at the sound of bombs. His eyes widen a little bit as he moves to jog behind Rodimus "Ahh... Should I have brought my spears? " he asks, suddenly a little bit pale. Torque removes her helmet a moment, shaking some saltwater out, as well as a small fish oddly enough, before placing it back on her head. After adjusting it her antennas perk at the sound of the bombs, her gaze trailing off in their direction as mouth settles into a thin line at the mention of Cons, "Always at every turn. You'd think just once we wouldn't have to deal with them. Eh.. at least my fists will finally get some action besides knocking Prowl down mountains." She grins, bumping her knuckles together before trailing off with the others, giving a nod at the Prime's orders. "You got it, Prime." Amber MacKenzie keeps to the middle of the group for protection from loud, obnoxious, sticky-fingered, hostage-taking Decepticons, utilizing her skill at keeping to cover as well. Trying to sneak while trotting to keep up doesn't work well, but at least she's not as obvious as they are. "Understood completely," Impactor shouts back, still slashing through the brush. He's pretty sure the Decepticons are on board with the idea of starting a fight, so he isn't worried. And if they don't? Well then, they'll rescue Optimus Prime and THEN start the fight. We all know Optimus rules and Megatron drools. "That remains to be seen as to whether the Decepticons extend us the same courtesy." Prowl returns to Rodimus, the look on his face clearly communicating that he doesn't believe for an instant that it WON'T come down to a firefight. "Don't worry Rodimus..." Ironhide moves to step past the young Prime, reaching up to pat his upper forearm, "We're an enthusiastic bunch but we all want our Prahm back. We ain't gonna forget that!" Cliffjumper abruptly transforms, as do Windcharger, and Brawn...and the others as they rumble off with roaring engines. "Let's get this show on the road! Last one there is a rotted muffler!" You move to the Island Center - . Island Center - Lots of forestry. Subtle hints of a long crash trail that had cut through the area, ending in a sunken cave where a wrecked spaceship is hidden. Contents: Wrecked Quintesson Spaceship Cyclonus gnashes his dentals. "Yes, Starscream--more of MY Decepticons, which means that you no longer have the advantage of numbers, meaning you have NO ADVANTAGE AT ALL should you try to turn on me! And Megatron is anything but a waste of time, you wretch!" His head turns towards Fusillade next. "No, we should stay low for now. No telling what aerial defenses the Quintessons may have-- best use the cover of the jungle for now. And besides--if the Quintessons are defended, there's no reason for US to suffer their attacks before the Autobots and their damned Hydro-foils do! That said, let us make haste!" And he begins a full-out run through the forest, smashing through the foliage and firing through it as necessary. "It does indeed Prowl," Rodimus returns coolly. He knows Cyclonus is no fool and probably won't want to risk a massive rupture in the space-time continuum; any doubt reflected deep in his optics is with regard to whether the de-factor Decepticon leader can keep Starscream on a leash. "It's like being in the powder keg," he mutters to himself. Wheeljack falls into pace right behind Impactor, letting the burlier Wrecker handle the path clearing while he keeps optics on his scanner. "This island is thicker with chronotronic wavelengths than a grease sponge on Ratchet's medtable. It's like the whole island is one big time bucket -- It fills up and then sits there, not changing. "Don't worry Prime, we'll be car--" He stops as several of the other Bot cars speed past them. "--Oh who am I kidding, I've been fighting along these 'bots long enough to know -someone- is going to charge headlong towards the goal." Shifting the scanner to one hand, he pulls out what looks like an energy version of a machete to help with making a path through the prehistoric foliage. Rampage transforms, to make best speed through the jungle. Being stealthy isn't his thing, but he does as Cyclonus asks. He glances aside at a tree he'd dearly love to uproot, but that would probably draw attention to them. "Yeah, let the Quints attack the Autobots, then we come in and take out the trash. Good idea." Banshee sighs and shakes her head to Fusillade. "Nein, I took ze art class instead. Maybe I should haff reconsidered..." She comments, looking disappointed as Cyclonus refuses permission to take to the skies. "But I'm so... so... unmaneuverable down here on ze ground." She complains, but shows absolutely no signs of dissent. "But zen, I haff my voice." To warm up said voice, she does a few practice scales, quietly. Autobots and Decepticons both converge on the island center, pushing or driving their ways up the beach and into the undergrowth, which is generally easily pushed aside by giant robot hands, vehicular modes or simply blasted down by weaponry where appropriate. In the face of so much Cybertronian presence, even the denizens of the island, typically fearless of all but each other, are quick to make haste. Herds of dinosaurs bolting in all directions and even mighty predators clearing the way. The path to the disturbance eventually opens up into a large, rocky area that has a huge sunken pit in the middle. An ancient crater with a fossilized gouge torn into the very ground from a crash from a long, long time ago. To the future Autobots and Cons, even the unimaginably ancient wreckage of a Quintesson ship jutting out of a huge hole in the ground is unmistakable...as the hints of the telltale corkscrew shape can still be made out, despite much of the superstructure and outer hull long ago having been cannibalized, leaving little more than a rusted skeletal hulk in its wake that can be seen clear through all the way. But there is activity in the cave, the 'hole' in the ground itself, that becomes apparently even to those without highly attuned sensors as you all get closer. A massive flare-up of energy suddenly lances into the sky in a beam of purple light that stabs towards the heavens, from the epicenter of the crater, where a makeshift structure of some sort appears to have been put together from the remnants of the ship. Energy courses about the area in such amounts that it sets hair standing on end, and metal skin sizzling as if under a constant static charge. The structure, the origin of the energy source, it would seem, would be familiar to those who arrived here. In fact, -everything- about it is familiar...from the flare-up of purple energy in the air, to the triangular-shaped device that now flows with temporal energy coursing through it. ...and a single, ovoid form moves down around the device, fussing about it here and there. Soundwave swoops down and lands behind Cyclonus, gives Starscream a brief and undecipherable look, and follows in their new leader's wake. "Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage: eject. Operation: pathfinding." At Soundwave's command his minions spring forth from his chest, the birds cutting through trees and brush with their lasers while Ravage stalks ahead silently to scout the way. Foxfire comes to the edge of the crater and peers down, a frown on his muzzle. "Interesting," he mutters. That said, he straightens himself and looks up at Rodimus, awaiting orders. Banshee narrows her eyes even more as she spots the shape of the ship. A low growl escapes her lips. "Qvints." she says simply, her hands tensing on her pistol As the Decepticons forge ahead, flocks of hypsilophodon and othnelia squeak and leap away, their olive and tan streaked cantilevered tails bobbing and whipping about int he underbrush. A shrill shriek from an unseen oviraptor keens out in response to Banshee's scales. "Quin... Quintessons, you say? Well I guess that explains the weirdness," Fusillade puffs quietly over her intakes. She draws her sidearm, and points its square muzzle directly in front of her. Impactor could, of course, transform to his alternate mode. Surely an earth boring vehicle would be useful? But frankly, Impactor can smash through stuff pretty well in either mode, and he's more comfortable as is. He turns and watches as Windcharger and Brawn (and Cliffjumper) bravely speed off ahead, using their agility to swerve through the trees. Poor bastards, Impactor thinks. Finally they make it to the clearing with the huge pit. Impactor rests on one knee at the edge, peering down. "Huh. Guess it figures the Quints would still be involved. It was their artifact that started all this. What do you guys make up of all that energy discharge?" Glancing across the pit, he sees the enemy. "Prime. Decepticons ahead." It'd be awkward to start a fight with a pit between them, and so Impactor waits. Soundwave consults his future-databanks dubbed off of future-Rumble. "Time Window: located," he informs Cyclonus. "What is your command?" Wheeljack comes to a dead stop as they emerge from the jungle on the edge of the crater, 'ears' holding a long pulse of light as he looks at his scanner and whistles, then turns towards Impactor and Rodimus. "The chronotronic emissions from that wreck are even older than you guys. Looks like your friend has been here even longer than we were." Then just for the sake of exposition he points a finger at the beam of light shooting towards the sky. "And -that- is the source of all the energy spikes we've been following. I wonder if I can get a better--Yowch!" The inventor yelps as his scanner promptly explodes in his hand, hissing and shaking smoking digits. "Smeg it all, I know we all wish for more time every now and then, but this is too much of it in one place at one, ah, time." Fragment snatches up the occasional stone or pebble, popping them into his Gravel Gun after studying each if he finds them to be of superior makeup to what he already has loaded. He keeps pace, but more in spirit of a leisurely stroll than a jittery explorer afraid of Autobots lurking around every corner. Of course he recognizes a crash trail long before seeing the end of the crash zone itself. Reidan Wesley will jog along as best he can, staying near Rodimus. Still wishing he had brought his spears, the cook carries his hoverboard along, peering through the jungle. at one point, he pauses "Was that a purple carrot??" Archaeonix Here is the familiar form of a Quintesson consisting of the ovoid shaped body, five faces and five dangling tentacles that brush the ground, but all semblance of 'normal' for this race ends at this point. The egg shaped metal body is covered in dings, patchwork repairs and countless scratches and scuffs, as if having undergone jury-rigging and crude maintenance for who knows how long. Four of the five faces are much different than what one would expect, each carrying a different skull as an adornment... Tyrannosaurus. Angry Triceratops. Stoic Sabertooth Tiger. Cunning Mastodon. Wise The Fifth face is unmodified and normal, except for the fact that there is a metal plate solidly welded across its mouth, effectively gagging it. Where other Quintessons move around on a single thruster/antigravity unit mounted in their undersides, this particular individual lacks such adornments, having long since removed it and replaced it with a crude mechanical construct that operates four spindly spider-like legs that give him locomotion to get wherever he needs to go. Curiously, the legs are not made of metal, but giant curved bones taken from the ribs of a Sauropod... Archaeonix shifts and moves about the triangular device, not on the typical antigravity thruster expected of much of his race, but on spider-like legs made of polished Sauropod ribs mounted on his undercarriage. Writhing tentacles play with dials and make adjustments, all the while fretting and fuming as he tends to the device in front of him. The T-Rex head rages in fury, "No, NO THIS IS NOT RIGHT! Why is it not working!? I have checked everything...EVERYTHING!" The Mastodon skull rotates into place, "There are countless variables that could interfere..." The Triceratops skull, "We will be stuck here...we must make preparations. The Sabertooth skull suddenly rotates around then, lifting as if to sniff the air, as the Quint's entire body goes stiff. "....we are not alone!" Scuttling spider-like to the side, the Quintesson reaches out to tap a nearby console, suddenly erecting a shimmering energy field around his position that flares up in a bright blue flash. Again the T-Rex skull rotates around, maw opening wide to show sharp teeth as it roars out savagely, "INTRUDERS!? Who dares!? More Cybertronians!? I will have the metal skin flayed from your chassis for interfering!" Cyclonus emerges into the rocky open area, staring down into the pit. "Hm. It seems that the Quintesson presence is rather more... diminished than I initially thought. All the better--it will be easier for us!" He stares up as an energy pulse fires off into the sky, but decides to disregard it for now. And off course... there's the other end of the time gate. Or simply another time gate. "Hm. Yes, Soundwave, the other Time Window. Hopefully I can use it to return myself and the other displaced Decepticons to their own time. And so I was right after all, Starscream! So you see, this is why you should leave decision-making to your betters." And with that snide quip, he bellows, "Decepticons, follow me! I will attempt to coerce this miserable creature, first, and if that fails, well... you know what to do!" So, he alights from the ground, landing not far from the Quintesson. He takes a moment to recover from its hideous, strange appearance, then lets him have it... verbally. "SILENCE YOU QUINTESSON ABOMINATION! We are not here to listen to your insane gibberings! We demand the bodies of Megatron and Optimus Prime IMMEDIATELY, and if you fail to provide them, you will be terminated!" Rodimus Prime takes a moment on the way to point out one of the retreating dinosaur herds and to give Reidan and Foxfire a smug, 'told you so' glance, but he loses all sense of jocularity once they come within sight of the clearly Quintesson ship. And the clear Quintesson puttering around it. He swears softly, optics scanning across the crater until he spots the Decepticon party arriving through another break in the foliage. He doesn't swear at this, just acknowledges Impactor with a simple, "I see them." He thinks for a moment. One Quintesson is certainly more manageable than an entire team complete with Sharkticon shock troopers, but he doesn't know what's /inside/ the ship. The decision of how to approach the lone squid is made for him, though, when the prehistoric Quint takes notice of them first. He shrugs. "Might as well try..." he mutters, and takes a few steps toward the ship. "Now hold on, this doesn't have to get ugly..." He winces and briefly covers his face with the palm of his hand at Cyclonus's version of diplomacy. "Or that works too, I guess." "Can I rip that weirdo apart and make a tentacle necklace out of him?" the Predacon tiger wonders, staring up at Cyclonus. Cyclonus smirks slightly. "Patience, Rampage." Banshee steps up to stand beside (well, slightly behind and beside) Cyclonus, levelling her pistols at the Quintesson and looking aggressive. Her wings flick out a little, a little smoke spurting from her exhausts to emphasize her anger. "Mein kommandant Lord Herr Cyclonus. Just say ze vord." Amber MacKenzie at last has some decent cover in the rocks, and a decent view as well. She parks her backside in a crevice with a good view of the crater and its contents. "Bloody hell," she murmurs, at the sight of the monster Quintesson and the loud Decepticon. "It's hard to tell which one of them is the raving lunatic." She snickers to herself at a thought but keeps it to herself. Soundwave turns slightly to fix his eyeslit on Ravage, who looks back and nods before disappearing among the rocks and ancient wreckage, in search of something. Impactor instinctively jolts back as Wheeljack's scanner explodes in his hand. He's already aiming his shoulder mounted laser cannon before he realizes that's just Wheeljack's invention being Wheeljack's invention. Instead, he readies it and aims for Cyclonus, just in case the Decepticon 'leader' needs blasting sometime soon. He probably will. "So what do we do, chief?" Foxfire asks Rodimus, placing a forepaw on the mech's leg. "Chances are we can't get out of this without engaging in combat." "Whoa..." Is really all Torque can say at first as she comes up along the edge of the pit with Impactor and the others, antennas still upright while she peers down into the crater. "Should we head down there?" She questions, ready to unravel her towline to descend, but she pauses, spotting the Cons directly across from the group. The femme balls her hands into fists, ready to fight, but she doesn't exactly have anything long ranged, so unfortunately she has to wait. In the mean time the femme's gaze warily watches Cyclonus try to 'negotiate' with the Quint. Wheeljack squints for a moment at the flicker of the dome forming around the Quintesson's position. Fortunately, they have their own forcefield expert handy. He half-turns and nudges Trailbreaker at his side and whispers, "Scan his forcefield, see if you can find the wavelength it's projecting on." The defense strategist just nods a bit, lifting one hand to brace the box-shaped scanning device positioned just behind his head. After a few moments he turns back to Wheeljack with a grunt, "I can't match the exact frequency due to the unfamiliar technology, so there's no way to just break it." But then he grins a bit. "But he's on a time limit. A field of that intensity with those dimensions is going to bleed out its power supply quickly." "Great, so we've got to wait for the battery to run dry," grumps the inventor in return. "If we have to fight, we fight," Rodimus replies grimly to Foxfire. "But we try to minimize the damage. There's a good chance that Quintesson has Optimus." So, now to try playing Good Cop to Cyclonus's Terrible Cop. "Listen!" he calls out again, "Take it easy; all we want to do is talk. Looks like you're just as stuck here as we are, am I right?" Foxfire lowers his ears slightly and nods, placing his paw back on the ground before turning back to the ship in the crater. "Yeah," he agrees. He goes quiet momentarily, a thought occurring to him. "Maybe if I could get inside..." Archaeonix actually recoils a bit at Cyclonus' raised tones as he lands nearby, as if having not expected such a violent verbal encounter. But he recovers quickly enough, the Triceratops head rotating around into place and glaring coldly back at him. "You do not scare us. We are untouchable behind this energy field..." Mockingly, one tentacle raises and drags across the blue shimmering forcefield, crackling with static as it does so. Until Wheeljack proves what a blabbermouth he is, prompting the T-Rex to emerge again, "GYAH! Intolerable loudmouthed slave! You will be the first I recycle down to your base components!" He quickly rotates around replaced by...the normal-looking head, except for the fact that there is a metal 'gag' firmly welded over its mouth. "Mmph! Mppphle!" It calls, almost pleadingly, but is soon stifled as the Sabertooth rotates to take over. "It is irrelevant. We have ways of...dealing with you. All of you. Your interference is a nonissue." The Mastodon rotates around again, "Witness our genius at its fullest." One tentacle reaches over to stab at the console again....and a huge armored door starts to slide open from below the earth, raising a platform upwards amongst the gathered Autobots and Decepticons with two familiar forms secured to tables... Wheeljack is a loudmouth despite not -having- a mouth. Go figure. "Good idea," Rodimus subvocalizes back, out the side of his mouth. "While he's focused on us, maybe you can--" he breaks off. There's no way the Quint is just going to release Optimus and Megatron easy as that. "I have a bad feeling about this," he concludes glumly. Impactor gets flashbacks to old reports about Quintessons. Reports of the Quintessons reprogramming the Seacons into becoming their agents. Reports of the Quintessons reprogramming Metroplex and Trypticon into joining them. Now, Optimus Prime and Megatron have been revealed. "...Frak me." He looks over towards Torque. "I think we just got a new objective." Banshee looks over at Cyclonus. "Kommandant... a suggestion. Ze... normal... head seems repressed. If nothing else, it vould destract ze Qvint bastard if we were to remove zat gag." She smirks a little, then looks at the table. "Mein gott in himmel..." At the familiar glimmer of a forcefield, Fusillade's saffron optics flicker in delight as a challenge presents itself. And then Optimus and Megatron.. "Oh, so I DID hear you right, Cyclonus," Fusillade drawls, rocking back on the balls of her gilded feet. "And something tells me there's not going to be time for backstory!" A pause. "Maybe they will just fight each other and it'll even out." "Yeah. Right." Patience is something that the tiger does not have a lot of. He flexes a paw, grabbing and crushing some underbrush with it. He looks back and forth between the bots and the cons. "Awww, this isn't going to be one of those lame 'help each other defeat the common enemy' situations, is it?" Rodimus Prime is thinking along much the same lines as Impactor. He barks out quickly to the Autobots, "On your guard. There's a good chance we'll have to disable them if that Quint's done any of the typical mad science to them." Projecting his voice out toward the ship again, he shouts -- since it can't hurt to ASK -- "Optimus! Are you all right?" Soundwave slowly backs away from Cyclonus. He doesn't like to be at the forefront of a fight. He especially doesn't want to be at this one. "All Hail Megatron," he intones. It is a warning. Cyclonus glares at the Quintesson. "Oh, yes, force shields, quite useful! But they require tremendous amounts of power, and I suspect that yours may be in short supply. Soundwave! Begin scanning for his power source. The rest of you, prepare to open--" He stops as he sees Megatron rising up from a platform, secured to a table. He actually gasps in alarm. "What have you done to him!?" he roars, enraged. "Release him at once!" He's so angry that he almost doesn't hear Banshee's suggestion. "...eh? Ah, yes, you're right. But we can't get to him with that shield up! Regardless, you are correct--we should make the attempt at the first opportunity. And our first priority, is to retrieve Megatron. That must take priority even over killing Optimus Prime. But if we should get him..." He smirks over at the Autobots. "...then fear not, my adversaries! We WILL return your leader to you--after we're done with him!" "Stay here and keep a scanner on that thing, let us know when it's about to fizzle out." With that Wheeljack hops down the side of the crater to join the other Autobots. "Hey Rodimus, any luck dealing with our displaced little bud--" He stops as the hanger bays are opened. Looks to the Future Autobots, and the fact that they are -not- reacting joyfully to the sight. Looks back to the revealed forms. Then looks to Impactor. ".. This isn't going to end well, is it?" Trailbreaker, all too content with a job that allows him to do the most while staying out of the way and expending the least amount of precious energy his power-hogging systems would take, ducks back down in the foliage behind the edge of the crater, keeping his focus on the forcefield and its power supply. Foxfire narrows his optics. The "normal" head seems to be a prisoner...and that concerns him somewhat. His platinum form goes rigid upon the two familiar mechs being revealed, and then he pins his ears back with a warning snarl. He steps closer to the edge of the crater, his sharp teeth glistening and ready to tear into an enemy. His Primitive instincts are revealing themselves; he is not a happy tapebot. Optimus Prime lays upon a table, one of two devices linked up to the Quintesson's mad machinery. The square chestplate wide open and revealing the glowing form of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership within....and cables that run in and are hooked up to every bit of Optimus' machinery that they can reach. Though as the huge platform grinds to a halt with a deafening *BOOM*, the cables suddenly hiss and emit a cloud of steam as they retract like writhing snakes, effectively setting their prisoner 'free' as he lifts one hand to his head, slowly sitting upright, then standing up from the table itself. "Who...what..." The blue optics rise, taking in the forms of the nearby Decepticons, his right arm raising automatically as it grips the massive form of his laser rifle in hand. But it's when he lays eyes on the nearby Autobots...a look of confusion briefly crossing his features, but optics then widening in alarm. "OH no...NO! Autobots, you have to...ARRRGH! I can't!" The rifle raises up now, slowly pivoting in place. "No! Get away....GET AWAY FROM ME, HURRY!!" And with that, a deafening *BWOOOM* issues as the rifle goes off. Ironic that it is aimed dead center at none other than a certain flaming paintjob. Combat: Optimus Prime misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser Rifle attack! [Pulled -6] Banshee grins an holsters her pistols, moving her wings into a position that'll make her transformation as quick as possible. "Just say ze vord, mein Kommanda-" When Optimus fires at Rodimus, her optics go dark as she just fails to compute what she's seeing. "...ah. You know, zat's not good." Torque gives a quirk of her brow to the gagged face that shows up rather briefly, "The slag..?" The thought only lingers a moment though as the Quintesson unveils the two faction leaders of the past, Torque straightening up immediately, optics flashing bright, "It's.. Optimus!" She's more used to seeing him as a monument than in the flesh. Or metal, rather. But she nods at Impactor's words sternly, fists raising a little. Attention focuses back on the Quint and Cyclonus, mainly the Con though as he calls to them, "You won't touch him, Cons! I'll come over there an' punch you and that overgrown squid into oblivion before you get near h-- What the?" She cuts herself off, a look of alarm at the sound of blaster fire spreading across her face, looking over in time to see Optimus shooting at Rodimus, though thankfully missing. As the blast lies near Rodimus' form, Reidan’s form goes even more white. He books it sideways, disappearing into the brush there, safely out of harms' way. Hopefully. Archaeonix's Sabertooth skull rubs two tentacles together in glee as Optimus opens fire on none other than an Autobot, despite his protests. "Yes....YES! You have no choice, obey me. OBEY!" The T-Rex face rotates around then, suddenly snarling in abridged fury and glee. "YES! SEIZE THEM MY MINIONS! Feed on their metal bodies so I may pick through their remains for anything of value!" Combat: Archaeonix creates a forcefield shielding itself from damage. And at that, the jungle around the collected Autobots and Decepticons suddenly comes alive as dinosaurs rise up to attack. Or rather, they're -like- dinosaurs...but they've been changed. Cybernetically mucked with, entire optics implanted, or limbs replaced...crude weaponry fitted in certain areas, like mutant mockeries of the Dinobots. "GYAH HAH HAH!" The Quintesson cackles madly from behind his forcefield. "Who needs Sharkticons? DINOCONS ATTACK!" Immediately Autobots and Decepticons along the outskirts begin to find themselves in a mad scramble, fending off a flurry of massive claws and teeth and crude blasters and flamethrowers." A red glow casts across Megatron's face as the framework retracts from him and his eyes switch on in turn. "Ah, at last I... what?" Smoothly Megatron sits up and steps down from the slab, takes a step forward and turns towards the opening of the hangar-like space. "What? Who DARES subvert the will of MEGATRON?!" As he strides powerfully forth alongside Optimus Prime, his face contorts in a rictus of hideous outrage. "This is OBSCENE that I should be... Decepticons, free me! Bring me the Quintesson! Heads will ROLL." Punctuating his demand, he raises his right arm and lets off a mighty blast, a pulse of fusion energy searing downrange towards Cyclonus! Combat: Megatron strikes Cyclonus with its Fusion Cannon attack! [Pulled -7] Cyclonus's face falls open with despair as he sees that Optimus Prime AND Megatron have been subverted. "N--no! Megatron! I... I promise you we will free you--AGGHHHH!" His face contorts with pain and horror as the very same Decepticon who demands his freedom makes that freedom more unlikely by blasting him in the chest. He staggers back, clutching the wound before turning to the other Decepticons. "Starscream, you and those other two idiots are going to deal with those Dinocons." He doesn't want them near Megatron right now. "Soundwave, see if there's a transmission being sent to Megatron controlling him. The rest of you, engage as you see fit. I... I must..." He stares at Megatron, not knowing what to do. "I'll try to restrain him! Somehow..." And so he charges towards Megatron, attempts to leap over him, and then, getting behind him, tries to get him into a Full Nelson headlock. "Megatron, forgive me! We are doing all we can to restore you to your natural state without causing you undue harm!" Combat: Cyclonus misses Megatron with his Grab attack! "Could be worse," Impactor mutters to Wheeljack without elaborating on how. At first, there's a fleeting moment where Optimus almost looks like himself. But then the programming takes over and Optimus raises his rifle. "Prime, look out!" he shouts at Rodimus. Megatron also blasts at Cyclonus, but actually hits because Megatron has no willpower and Cyclonus has no game. "Foxfire, do something about that shield!" he shouts. "If the Quint gets taken out maybe we won't have to do much damage to Optimus." Impactor is about to bum rush Optimus and wrestle him to the ground so he can be disabled, but suddenly the Quintesson pulls another trick out. A flamethrower dinosaur (Impactor doesn't know one dinosaur from another) nearly roasts his arm off, and Impactor grimaces back at the four legged monster before charging it, harpoon first. Combat: Impactor strikes Archaeonix with his Drill Bit Stab (Punch) attack! Combat: Archaeonix's forcefield absorbs Impactor's attack. And thank Primus for that shouted warning, because it gives Rodimus that split second to react, diving for the ground as the energy beam slices the air inches from his precious paintjob. "It's some kind of remote control!" he cries, because it has to be: this temporal version of Optimus can't possibly be mad at him yet for helping to get him killed. "Get that Quintesson or we're all dino-chow! Foxfire, Bumblebee--" assuming Bumblebee is here too, "see if you can disarm that forcefield." He rolls to his feet, fires a quick covering burst into the advancing Dinocons and then advances on Optimus, aiming to keep himself between the elder Prime and the rest of the Autobots. "Come on," he mutters under his breath, "keep shooting at me." Aloud, he speaks evenly. "Optimus, I know you're in there. There's gotta be some way to override what he's done to you. Try to fight it!" Fusillade's face drops as Prime fires on, well, Prime. "DEFINITELY not good," she echoes Banshee's comment, before a crimson and mauve therizinosaur attempts to plunge three foot long, titanium augmented foreclaws. "GAH!" She repeats, that desperate syllable becoming a recurring theme for this particular, rotten, duty shift. "I wasn't even supposed to be here today!" she objects, before sprinting toward the resurrected leaders. At Megatron's command and blast, she pauses, confused by the weapons fire before turning her attention to the less confusing of the two. Bracing the barrel of her hefty argon disruptor on her other forearm, she takes aim for Optimus's blue gauntlet -- and the fist gripping his gun. Combat: Fusillade misses Optimus Prime with her Weaver-Stance Argon Shot (Laser) attack! Reidan peers out, then he hears the howl of claws behind him "This is NOT the kind of training I received." he mutters, laying the hoverboard down and stepping atop it. He looks over the pit, ponderously, as much as he could see. Then he hits the jets on his hoverboard, taking off - at full speed, intending to do a circuit of the pit, looking for something that may be linked to the power source - a cable, a battery, a generator, ANYthing at all. He grabs onto his hat as he does so. Something almost snaps in Foxfire as Optimus unwillingly attacks Rodimus. Foxfire takes a few steps back, away from the crater's edge, snarling with a dangerous growl. But he manages to get his instincts under control. He has work to do. Quickly, he activates his cloaking device, at the same time announcing, "Already on it, boss!" Now invisible, he darts down into the crater. Combat: Foxfire activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Amber MacKenzie frowns, confused and worried at the combat below her. She hesitates, frowns some more, and then makes a quiet radio transmission. Wheeljack doesn't have much in the way of facial features to look shocked, but he certainly reacts the part jumping backwards at Optimus Prime's plea... and then opening fire on Rodimus. "What, mind control?!" He balls a fist and shakes it at the Quintesson hiding behind his forcefield. "You fiend! Subverting another's will is dastardly and callous even by mad doctor standards! How dare you call yourself any sort of scientist!" .. Oh yeah, got to deal with two of the most powerful Transformers of their time being subverted by some tentacle freak. He turns to shout to the other Autobots... only to see them get intercepted by the cybernetic dinosaurs. Well, at least getting to fight them will make Brawn and Cliffjumper happy. With a sigh he turns back to the matters within the crater itself, looking downright dejected for a moment. Until his ear-lights flash and he steels his will back together. Then pulls the bazooka-like weapon he'd used when defending the Ark from the Decepticons before, hoisting it to his shoulder with a grunt. "I'm sorry to have to do this, Optimus, but it's for your own good! If you were in your normal mainframe you'd want us to stop you from hurting anyone." He puts a foot back to brace himself, aims, and fires! With a squelching *GLRRROORP* a large jet of sticky tar erupts from the weapon, with enough of a spread hopefully the vicious prehistoric projectile will splatter towards Megatron as well. Combat: Wheeljack strikes Optimus Prime with the Wheeljack-forged Tarpit Bomber Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Optimus Prime's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Wheeljack strikes Megatron with the Wheeljack-forged Tarpit Bomber Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Megatron's Agility. (Crippled) Banshee looks anxious and hesitant a moment, before taking three steps and leaping into the air and transforming smoothly. She loops around to gain some altitude, before taking a shallow dive towards the assorted dinocons, strafing over them indiscriminately - only aiming for them specifically when there are Decepticons between her and them! <> she growls over the radio. <> Combat: Banshee strikes Archaeonix with her Dinocon Strafing Run (Laser) attack! Combat: Archaeonix's forcefield absorbs Banshee's attack. "Ugh, what are those supposed to be? Mutant Dinobot wannabes?" the tiger snarls, leaping at the monstrosities and attempting to pull their metal parts off their organic bodies. "Abominations! I oughtta reduce you to ash and rust!" Combat: Robot Tiger strikes Archaeonix with his Mauling attack! Combat: Archaeonix's forcefield absorbs Robot Tiger 's attack. "Unfamiliar Decepticon: Cyclonus, future second-in-command. Starscream: defeated in ritual combat. Scanning all frequencies," Soundwave harmonizes from well back from the front lines. "Transmission: detected. Isolating." After a few moments Soundwave's shoulder launcher spins around and snaps open, deploying a set of high-power transmitter panels. "Cancelling signal." Archaeonix cackles madly as the chaos erupts all around him, the T-Rex jaws opening wide the the mad fury of it all, "Gyah hah hah! Yes, yes! Fight amongst yourselves, slaves! It is pointless to resist, better that you surrender yourself to the greater good and my triumphant return as Emperor!" The Mastodon suddenly perks up, eyeing Soundwave's actions off to one side as the Dinocons suddenly go BERZERK as the signal is jammed. Not only are they now attempting to chomp down on any Autobots or Decepticons present, but each other as well, "Hrrngh...clever, but not enough. There are no signals to Optimus and Megatron's bodies. They follow a pre-set directive." The 'normal' face suddenly rotates around wildly, attempting to shout something, "MMOPH GRRGMPH!" "Silence." Intones the Sabertooth, as it suddenly emits a pencil-thin red beam out into the crowd of bodies, "Interfacing with Optimus Prime. Uploading targeting data." "As well you should, 'Cyclonus!' Thanks to Soundwave's timely explanation Megatron is at least not completely outraged at Cyclonus trying to wrestle him into submission... but that doesn't stop him from swinging a vicious intercepting backhand towards Cyclonus' jaw before the Unicronian can reach him. Is he still being controlled? This is awfully like what Cyclonus would already be used to from Galvatron. "Soundwave, your jamming is not working! The control must be exerted some other way! Find some other way to bring my body back under my own control! Is this another one of your schemes, Starscream? If you're behind this you will regret it DEARLY." Tar splatters across the ground, gluing Megatron's feet to the earth with black rubbery strands, which at least slows him down... for the moment! Combat: Megatron misses Cyclonus with his Intercepting Backhand (Punch) attack! Optimus Prime jerks his gun-toting arm back, just in time as Fusillade's attempt to disarm him goes awry. The gunk from Wheeljack's weapon does splash down upon his form, slowing his movements for a moment, but not stopping them entirely. "Urgh...Wheeljack...I don't know if there's any way to deal with this, but I...I've tried everything!" As if its own volition, the weapon barrel swings around again, now pointing towards the mad inventor, but Rodimus' words as he advances draw the older Prime's gaze. A long moment of silence follows as Optimus just stands, stares...and listens, as Rodimus gets closer. And closer. Is he getting through? Is he having some effect. "I...don't know who you are but..." he begins, and then suddenly lunges forward, his other large hand lashing out as he seeks to clock Rodimus right in the jawline, and not only that, but to send him propelling back into the crowd in Wheeljack's direction for good measure. "....I'm sorry!" Combat: Optimus Prime strikes Rodimus Prime with his Heroic Fisticuffs Area attack! [Pulled -4] Combat: Optimus Prime strikes Wheeljack with his Heroic Fisticuffs Area attack! [Pulled -4] Several Dinocons go down as they are blasted upon by the supporting Autobots and Decepticons, shredded to pieces or blasted through by stray energy blasts. With Soundwave suddenly jamming their instructions, there are more opportunities to attack the beasts when they have their figurative backs turned.... Foxfire slinks around the forcefield, locating its source. Unfortunately, there is no way for him to disarm it, but his sensors pick up something interesting. He darts back out of the crater and toward his human friends. "Reidan, Amber!" he calls to them as deactivates the cloaking field. "I think you two can help us out!" Combat: Suddenly, Foxfire appears out of thin air! Impactor's drill bit goes through the dinosaur's head, and he draws it back quickly. Ugh. It's significantly grosser when it's being done to a non-pure robotic being. The creature falls to the ground, and Impactor has a brief respite to survey the battlefield before getting besieged by another horde of smaller dinosaurs. "Prime!" he shouts. "What are we going to do about Megatron?" Meaning: Do we help the Decepticons defeat him, or let Megatron lay waste to his crew? "The red beam! Its an infrared signal! Kick up dust!" calls Reidan, as loud as he can as he continues his fast circuit of the pit, continuing to try and find something to help "Kick up dust! Smokescreens! You can't forcefield that!" He then wobbles, as a Dinocon started to chase him and throw him off course. "AUGH!" he dips, rakes across some rocks and hits the gas again to try and outrun the thing. Cyclonus manages to duck under Megatron's backhand--something he always wanted to do, really--and dive to the left, putting some space between him and the large Decepticon tyrant. He watches Optimus Prime attack Rodimus and Wheeljack for a moment, then looks back to Megatron. "My Lord, Optimus Prime seemed to hesitate for a moment. Perhaps it is possible for you to regain control through sheer force of will? Please, Megatron! I beseech you, as your future and loyal lieutenant resist the control of that foul creature that has temporarily suborned your will! For if Optimus can merely delay the commands of the Quintesson, surely MEGATRON can ignore them altogether?" He stands there, arms open wide pleadingly as he addresses the one who will become his future Lord. Combat: Cyclonus inspires Megatron with intimidating and menacing words! Torque sadly has no time to help Rodimus just yet as the remodeled dinosaurs begin pouring from the surrounding forests, the femme immediately set upon a triceratops with a strong, metallic crest and horns upon its head. As the beast charges Torque swiftly turns toward it, hands grasping the horns just before they spear her. "Gah... damned Quint and his experiments.." She grunts, feet digging harshly into the ground while wrestling with the mechanical monster's strength, making her slowly advance to the edge. With widened optics Torque peers over her shoulder into the crater, the strong-armed medic gritting her teeth and looking back, optics narrowing, "Not today, yah overgrown lizard!" She hisses between her teeth before grunting and nearly lifting the dinosaur up by the horns, twisting the head down to send it collapsing to its side unharmed. Torque gives a triumphant smirk as the triceratops flails its legs futilely, unable to right itself immediately. Her gaze then turns to the two Primes, optics widening as she sees her own go soaring from a punch from Optimus. "Prime!" Slag it all. With a soft curse she leave the triceratops and sprints to Optimus himself. She's small compared to him, yes, but she makes up for this in strength. "Optimus, yah gotta try and stop!" She shouts before unraveling several coils of towline from her back, stopping a few yard away from him. With a few deft movements of her hands she's tied it into a lasso, swinging it over her head before tossing it at Optimus, hoping to snag him and hold his arms down. Combat: Torque strikes Optimus Prime with her Lasso! (Grab) attack! Rodimus Prime takes one right on the chin and finds himself sailing through the air until Wheeljack's body considerately breaks his fall. "Gaaah!" he complains, rubbing at his jaw with one hand while he tries to scramble to his feet and offer Wheeljack a hand up (if he's fallen) at the same time. "Forgot how hard he could hit," he grumbles. "It's all right Optimus! I know it's not really you at the wheel. I'm-- a friend," he decides. He backhands an encroaching Dinocon, sets his feet firmly, and raises both arms. "And I'm sorry too." Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Optimus Prime with his Arm Blasters attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Optimus Prime's Accuracy. (Blinded) Amber MacKenzie is hidden within a crevice, only the top of her head and her curious and worried eyes visible. Foxfire's voice reaches her, and she hesitates for a moment. "Bloody hell," she sighs softly and lithely flips to her feet. "Here," she says, very softly. No need to garner any attention from rampaging dinosaurs or mad Quintessons. Ju-87 Stuka notices all the little red 'sputs' that come up whenever the bullets of her guns hit home. <> she comments to nobody in particular. When she overhears Reidan's comment about dust she gets an idea. She begins what looks to be a strafing run but instead drops a bomb - not in a dive, but level, fast flight. The bomb hits the ground and slides into a group of fighting Dinocons, kicking up a great gout of dust as it rips up the ground - and an even larger plume of it, and some smoke, upon detonation. <> she spits over the radio, as if the word is offensive. <> Combat: Ju-87 Stuka strikes Archaeonix with her Slide Bombing attack! Combat: Archaeonix's forcefield absorbs Ju-87 Stuka 's attack. "That will at least slow them down a bi--oof!" Wheeljack gets interrupted by Rodimus getting tossed into him, the heavier bot knocking him flat on his back with the impact. "Well, at least we know he's trying to resist," he murmurs as he climbs back to his feet, tossing aside the tar cannon after realizing it was busted in the collision. "There's got to be something we can--" And then the Quintesson drops a useful bit of information in his maniacal ranting. Pre-programmed, hmmm... The gears in the mad inventor's mind are spinning, trying to formulate something of use out of the bits and pieces of data coming in. Meanwhile he kneels down to get a slightly smaller profile to aim at, and grips his shoulder-launcher in both hands, aiming it like a mortar. "Sorry Prime, but it's for the good of fixing what that idiot could possibly due to the timestream. I'm sure you'd understand." Punctuated by the dull ffoom of a rocket firing. And blasting right past Prime's head. It looks like a clean miss!... almost too clean... Indeed, the shell slams into an upturned portion of the wrecked remains of the Quintesson ship, sending it crashing down towards Optimus while he's hopefully blinded by Rodimus' big flashy guns. Combat: Wheeljack strikes Optimus Prime with his Calculated Collateral Damage attack! [Pulled -4] "Pitt," Fusillade mutters to herself as the shot goes wide. She turns to intercept more of the modified dinosaurs, before stopping short as she spies a bucolic, wide face perched atop a long sinewy neck. The duckbill blinks its deep brown eyes once, twice. "Awwww, what're you doing here? Shouldn't you run away from these other beasts? You're USELESS, what could YOU possibly do that would make YOU dangerous enough for that deranged Quint to want to use YOU?" The vapid fixed smile remains on the duck-bill. It raises its arms -- amputated and replaced with the screaming howl of six-foot diameter circular saw blades. Fusillade SHRIEKS in terror and missiles it. Combat: Fusillade strikes Archaeonix with her Medium Range Missiles attack! Over the radio comes a voice that may or may not be welcome. "Hey... Sorry... Oh, Primus... *blaaarrrggghhhh* I... I'm on my way..." Could a jet get sick? Don't know... "I'm a few cycles out..." This argument gives Megatron pause, and as he retracts his right hand and reels out his spiked flail, flaring into crackling light, he grits his teeth. "Ah, Cyclonus, you flatter like a true master of the art! Starscream, if what Soundwave says is true -- and to me he speaks only truth -- this new Air Commander has bested you in strength AND wit!" The flail spins up into a purple blur, humming and throwing off lightning, and Megatron steps forward to swing it in a crushing arc through the nearby Decepticons. "If Optimus Prime can break free, I can do no less!" Megatron furrows his brow, visibly struggling against the control programming. "Just keep that Quintesson from uploading new data... I must... exert... my will!" Archaeonix growls as a dust storm kicks up, preventing...for the moment, anymore targeting acquisition of the others with that infrared beam. "Useless! POINTLESS!" The T-Rex snarls, swiveling around as the Mastodon calmly intones, "Attention Megatron-slave. Structural integrity information is incoming. You will utilize it to destroy your target with the utmost efficiency." More Dinocons fall as they are torn asunder, bits of cybernetic wreckage....and some organic bits flying through the air as well, the stray debris bouncing off of the Quint's protective forcefield....the metal ones at least, organic bits splatting down around him and all but ignored as the Rex cackles maniacally again. Combat: Megatron strikes Cyclonus with his Might of Megatron Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Megatron strikes Impactor with his Might of Megatron Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Megatron misses Fusillade with his Might of Megatron Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Megatron misses Robot Tiger with his Might of Megatron Area attack! [Pulled -3] "When I am inevitably freed by the irresistible combination of my Decepticons and my own WILL to POWER, the first thing destroyed will be YOU, alien!" Megatron shouts, flinging Autobot and Decepticon alike aside in his mighty sweep. "With the UTMOST efficiency!" Fusillade, having fallen on her ass from the missile recoil, limbos under the glowing energo-flail. Optimus Prime is struck by Rodimus' arm blasters in the middle of his torso, sparks flying as he staggers back a step, driven to one knee. "I can see that...and I thank you for it." he says mournfully, looking up at Rodimus once more, the laser cannon rising again to draw a bead on the younger Prime as he prepares to fire again. "And if that is the case, then you must be prepared to destroy me if necessary....none of you must hold back. Even if the creature is neutralized, I fear that Megatron and I will continue to function in this form! Our bodies are not ours!" His finger begins to squeeze on the trigger of his gun, but a moment later, Torque's cable wraps around his arm and jerks it upwards, sending the blast screaming into the sky just over Rodimus' head instead. "Nnngh!" And then the crashing wreckage comes smashing down onto Optimus' form, kicking up a huge dust cloud with a thunderous roar of release as he is buried beneath. For a moment, the dust settles, revealing a single grasping blue hand from underneath the rubble...before it abruptly retracts inside, and is replaced by a glowing yellow energon axe. "NNnngh!" Wrenching the wreckage free, in a display of strength of truly legendary proportions, Optimus' battered form suddenly stands UP, hurling the metal beams and superstructure free, before turning in place. He is fighting it...fighting it so incredibly hard. But there's nothing he can do to stop himself, as he proceeds to lumber forward, his howl of frustration carrying on the air as his body does exactly what he doesn't want it to do. "RRRRAAAARGH! LOOK OUT!" And Torque faces something that she may have thought she would never see in her entire life....as Optimus Prime himself thunders down on her, his huge axe lifted at the ready and suddenly slashing in a wide arc right at her form. Combat: Optimus Prime misses Torque with his Mighty Axe attack! Impactor grab one of the smaller dinosaurs with one hand another dinosaur with his drill bit before smashing them together and chucking them back into the forest. If Chip were here he could no doubt identify each dino, but he ain't and so Impactor doesn't care. He glances over his shoulder in time to see Torque lasso Optimus. Atta girl, he thinks. Just disable the big guy and maybe he can fight his way free of the programming. If anyone can, it's Optimus. Spying Megatron, Impactor rushes towards him, trying to tackle the mech from behind and grind his face into the dirt. Shouting an incoherent battle cry as he charges, he gets within arm's reach before that flail comes around and smashes into Impactor's head, nearly knocking it from his shoulders. Impactor hits the ground in an undignified heap. Although down, Impactor isn't out. "S'funny," he mutters. "And here I thought I was going to get to use this on you, Cyc..." Impactor forces himself back up to his feet so he can stab Megatron in the back. Combat: Impactor strikes Megatron with his If This Attack Fails It's Due To Wheeljack's Shoddy Workmechship attack! "The forcefield is ineffective against organics," Foxfire explains, gesturing toward the barrier with a front paw. "If you two could get through it, we may be able to stop the Quintesson." The Global Pose Tracker marks that Foxfire has 'skipped' his action for this round. Robot Tiger ducks as Megatron attacks, darting around an attacking Dinocon so that the beast will take the blow instead of him. Then he attacks the Dinocon from behind. "Will someone un-control Megatron, already?" he snorts in frustration. Combat: Robot Tiger strikes Archaeonix with his Kick attack! Cyclonus, having lowered his guard in an effort to inspire Megatron to resist Quintesson control, gets bashed in the face by the spinning flail, and flung to the side. He rolls over onto his knees, rubbing his dented jaw, thinking. "I... I have no choice! I can't simply endure blows from Megatron himself--I must defend myself!" Reaching behind his head, he draws forth his sword, rising as he levels it at Megatron. "You are too kind, my Lord," Cyclonus says. "I am but a humble servant, and all I do is in your name, or WILL be one day. But for now, I ask your forgiveness, for I must... cause you small injury." He ulps, hoping it's small, anyway. He rushes Megatron, surprised--and displeased--to see Impactor doing the same. "Were you now, Impactor? Well, I promise you this--no matter the crudeness of your weaponry, you shall not cause lethal damage to Megatron, lest you wish to see me do the same to your precious Optimus!" And he slashes at one of Megatron's shoulders, hoping to cripple him rather than slice him open. Combat: Cyclonus strikes Megatron with his Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword attack! Over the hill comes a jet that's flying rather slow. Descending, the jet transforms into Remedy, a rather sick looking Remedy. Taking a few moments, she looks at what's happening, including the multifaced squid thingie. Dropping to her knees, "So, where am I needed?" Even the radio betrays how unhappy Remedy is, and that's bad. Rodimus Prime shakes his head, determinedly. "Nothing doing Optimus; we'll get you out of this." We HAVE to, he thinks apprehensively, not even daring to imagine how badly the timeline will be twisted if Prime dies 4 million years before his time. "Where are you Foxfire," he mutters. "Come on, get that shield down...." his running commentary to himself in no way slows him down from flexing his hands, setting himself like a linebacker and charging at Optimus even as he charges at Torque with the glowing axe. His targeting computer races, calculating speed and trajectory and he launches himself into a flying tackle to block for the Autobot femme. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Optimus Prime with his Just Like Polamalu attack! [Pulled -8] Fusillade, as mentioned earlier, had scrabbled to the ground to avoid the augmented hadrosaur. Still shivering from the bizarreness of the sight, she only has but a few moments to scramble up to her feet before Cyclonus and Impactor try to pin down Megatron. "Oh oh, I'll help!" she announces, literally getting underfoot. "Don't kick meeee! Just focus on showing that Quint who's made of sterner stuff!" Combat: Fusillade strikes Megatron with her Grab attack! Ju-87 Stuka grins at the huge dust cloud and banks around again, returning to conventional diving attacks. She grins to herself and cranks up the siren, feathering the turbine blades to direct the noise at the Dinocons, aiming to spook at least some of them into fleeing. The sound is pretty scary, modulated and altered to directly tweak the fight-or-flight response in almost every species in the Decepticon database, sweeping up and down the pitch range to further add to the effect. <> she cackles, buzzing low over Megs and co <> Combat: Ju-87 Stuka 's Horns of Jericho attack on Archaeonix goes wild! Combat: Ju-87 Stuka strikes herself with her Horns of Jericho attack! "We'd need help," Amber points out nervously. "It's a battlefield down there, and it takes almost nothing to kill one of us. Can you get us down there in one piece, through dinosaurs, a Quintesson, and Decepticons?" She hugs herself briefly, shivering in nervousness combined with slowly-rising anticipation. She's broken into high security buildings feeling this rush. Torque is glad the shot missed, though not so much when Optimus is buried beneath the falling debris. With cable in hand she waits for the dust to settle, fanning it away from herself to help clear her vision a little. Once the air is clear she met face to face with the old Prime, her optics widening and flashing bright as he tosses aside the beams and makes a mad dash towards her, axe in hand. With close quarters combat programming kicking in she swiftly ducks beneath the blade and to the side like a boxer, fists brought up to her face, seeing Rodimus dive in front of her. "If I can't restrain you I'll just have to knock yah out!" With that said she winds back a clenched fist, the sound of tightening joints and power heard before she swings out with an uppercut to Optimus' faceplate. Combat: Torque strikes Optimus Prime with her Powerfist attack! Wheeljack is not enjoying this one bit. He doesn't like the idea of attacking his commander and friend, a bot they all admire... but at the same time, that is exactly why he presses on in an unusual amount of seriousness. For pretty much everything Optimus just said. Hunkering down behind some rubble, he pulls out some odds and ends of bits he's been scrounging while working on the Ark and toying with them, brainpower working over time as he makes some modifications on the fly to one of his devices. Until a shadow starts to loom over him. "Rodimus, there you are. Keep him busy so I can work on thi--" Chokes off mid-sentence as he looks up not to the second Prime, but a hungry looking dinosaur climbing over the scrap near him. "-- Ah, scrap." He turns and barely manages to bolt out of the way as the dinosaur (I'm sorry Fusi I don't remember its name!) slams it's bone-domed head into the rubble. Scrambling for footing, Wheeljack instead hits the ground and transforms, wheels screeching as he speeds back towards the fighting, with the bonehead charging right behind him. "Go find someone else to play with!", he retorts, veering around a corner, and racing towards where Prime, Prime and Torque are duking it out. "Look out, coming through!", shouts the inventor as he speeds between the much taller Optimus' legs. The bonehead is neither that agile, that small, or that good at stopping before possibly crashing into the sudden robotic obstacle. Combat: Lancia Turbo strikes Optimus Prime with his Dino Demo Derby (Grab) attack! "Much obliged!" called Reidan to the jet, even if he didn’t hear her radio transmission. Having not brought his radio. He ends up near Foxfire upon delivery of this information and blinks, rubbing his chin. He got that crazed look in his eyes... that look he often got before going to the Himalayas, or before he threatened to chase Jayson with a butcher's knife. Then he turns to stare at the quint, and the others. Then back at Amber. Then he sighs "I /hate/ having to save the day." he grumbles, picking up his walking stick. He may have left the spears at the Ark, but the stick was all-wood. Carefully he snaps it over a knee, leaving a nice, sharp edge. And then he takes off, flying as high as he could and accelerating right towards the Quint, pointing the spear. "You think you're brave and courageous, when you're really old; you think you're strong, when you're really feeble; you think you can go righting wrongs when age has bent you in half -- and, above all, that you're a knight, when you're not, because even though gentlemen can become knights, poor ones can't!" And then he hits the gas on his hoverboard, screaming right towards the forcefield-bound Quint with a battle cry that is purely Reidan in all its way - "Cool Runnings! " The hoverboard dashes forwards, then abruptly HALTS - very abruptly - as it strikes the forcefield, like it had hit a brick wall. The human atop of it goes flying THROUGH the forcefield though, his hat fluttering behind him as he clutches the spear, pointing it along his body like a fisherman-diver, putting all his 125 pounds of humanity behind that pointed stick. Combat: Reidan Wesley misses Archaeonix with his Order Up: Sushi Kabob (Smash) attack! "Yes!" Megatron shouts, gloating even in this state. "Destroy Optimus, Autobots! Then my victory will be assured! Destroy your leader so that my Decepticons may tear you apart as they are about to tear apart this vile alien slug! Kill, ki- aaargh!" Impactor's spear to the back interrupts Megatron's moment of glee as he arches his back, reaching back to wrench out the spear with one hand. He stands still with it for a moment, trying to calm himself and get control. "No... must fight it. What use would it be to slay Impactor at an alien's command? Megatron kills... only in his own name!" He raises the spear haltingly, but Cyclonus' aim is true and the precise slash causes Megatron to drop it and stagger away from the deep blow, flail retracting as Fusillade tackles him and latches onto his right leg. His right arm lowers to aim the cannon at Fusillade- she can hear the ocean in it! "Get... ngh, stupid Decepticon! Get out of my line of fire and focus on the Quintesson and the Autobots! This is such... heroic nonsense!" His left arm seizes the right and tries to drag the cannon down and away at the last moment before it fires with a familiar KRAKA-THOOM! Combat: Megatron misses Fusillade with his Such Heroic Nonsense attack! "Ha! Quintesson, you have failed!" Megatron roars his triumph to the sky, a smoking hole the depth and length of a grave glowing in the ground next to Fusillade's head. "None may stand against the will of Megatron!" "You'll do nothing but obey!" Archaeonix intones to Megatron in turn, the savage T-Rex jaws opening and shut several times before the 'normal' face rotates around, attempting to shout something against the metal 'gag' before it is once more stifled in short order. Whatever it is trying to say, the other four faces are quick to shut it up every time. And then of course, along comes Reidan playing the flying hero. The spear strikes against the Quintesson's metal back, but glances along the surface rather than penetrating through. But it still brings up a shower of metal flakes, and a sudden pained shriek/growl from the T-Rex head. Which suddenly rotates around to the Triceratops one as it whirls on Reidan in short order. "Insignificant gnat!" he intones, two tentacles suddenly writhing up as they reach out for Reidan's neck in an attempt to wrap around and strangle him in short order. "You are nothing but an organic waste to me! I won't even be able to salvage anything useful from you!" Combat: Archaeonix misses Reidan Wesley with its I strangle you! (Punch) attack! And then Megatron intones that he has succeeded? That gets a sudden shifting of the Mastodon's head looking in his direction. "Oh really... Megatron-slave? You overestimate the position of your slave-race to your betters. Yes, your mind is yours. But it is useless to me. Your body is mine....transform...and ASSIST YOUR FELLOW SLAVE!" At the order, there is a sudden flash of bright white light that emits from the Quintesson's form, stabbing through the distance and lancing into Megatron's torso. Amber MacKenzie draws in a quick gasp of breath at Reidan's sudden suicidal charge, and lets it out when he survives it. Turning quickly to Foxfire, she waves him downwards. "Go, go, go! He's right there, and it'd take too long to get me down there, too. Go!" Megatron's hateful glee changes to outraged agony as the narrow beam strikes him and wrenches his body forcibly into another shape, fingers flexed into claws as he contorts. "Never! Never will you- aaaaugh!" There is a grinding clatter like a transmission being mis-shifted and where Megatron was, there is a small gun lying on the smoldering dirt. Megatron transforms. Optimus Prime's axe, much to his relief, tastes only thin air as Torque ducks at that moment, then delivers a counterpunch to his faceplate that sends up sparks and causes him to lurch backwards. "Urngh!" It's only a step though, Optimus being every bit the physical powerhouse that he is in all rumors of legend. His free hand rises up to rub at his chin. It's a blow that should have knocked any other robot flat on its aft, and yet he was driven back a single step. His axe-hand rises meaningfully again, the look in his optics almost pleading for Torque to run, to get away. "...I'm sorry. I cannot control it." Enter Rodimus Prime as he slams into Optimus' form, driving him another several steps to the side, just as Wheeljack comes hurtling through and crashes into Optimus' legs, sending both Primes toppling to the ground in a tangle of grappling limbs. The axe has disappeared, as one hand rises up and pushes against Rodimus' face, trying to physically shove him off. But while his body fights ferociously, his mind recoils in horror at what he is overhearing nearby. "No..." But it's too late. Megatron is already transforming, already cartwheeling end over end over end, then landing in the dirt. And Optimus, in a show of brute force, is literally clawing his way towards the gun, while fending off Rodimus with his other hand. "NO...NO!" With one final shove, he forces himself free of Rodimus, tucking and rolling up on one knee, his fingers closing around the butt of the weapon and raising it straight upwards. "MEGATRON NOOOOOO!" And worst of all, it's not even aimed at Rodimus. KRAKA-BWOOOOOOOOOM! Combat: Optimus Prime strikes Torque with Walther P38's Fusion Cannon attack! Foxfire gives Amber a slight smirk. "Of course. You're asking a fox that?" He grows serious then. "No harm will come to you. I promise." And then Reidan acts on his own. "Wha--HEY!" Needless to say, Foxfire wasn't expecting that. "Reidan!" At Amber's urging, he snarls a bit. "All right. Stay down." With that, he takes off at a sprint, and comes to an abrupt stop, just short of crashing into the forcefield. "Let go of him!" he demands of Archaeonix, proceeding to slash fiercely at the barrier even though he knows it's futile. "Take out your anger on ME, but leave the human out of it!" The Global Pose Tracker marks that Foxfire has 'skipped' his action for this round. Ju-87 Stuka sends a radio message to Foxfire <>. She sounds a little subdued; her siren is broken, and that... makes her nervous. It's what gives her her name, after all. She circles as she tries to get his bearings, half-considering strafing over the Autobots to make herself feel better. <> Rolling across the ground, Reidan comes up, his hat somehow STILL on his head. Dust was roused up around him as he gripped the stick with two hands, grinning maniacally. "I am more useful than you think! I am, after all..." he twirls the stick and leaps forwards abruptly in a whirl of dirty clothes. "The COOK!" Combat: Reidan Wesley misses Archaeonix with his Stabbity Stick (Punch) attack! Impactor snorts, "You couldn't take Prime on your best day, Cyclonus. Either one of 'em." Even as he's bringing his other arm around in an attempt to deck Megatron, he sees Fusillade getting in Megatron's way. His next plan is to shove ol' bucket head so he trips over her, but then Megatron escapes by transforming into pistol mode. "Face it, Megatron. You're a weak willed imitation of stronger Decepticon leaders in the past." It isn't clear if he's trying to piss Megatron off so he'll break his programming, or just piss Megatron off because, hey, that's the sort of thing he likes to do. Impactor leaps for the fallen Mega-pistol, but Optimus gets there first. "No!" he shouts as he's pushed aside. Impactor can see where he's aiming, and Torque pays the price for Impactor not being fast enough. "Blast it!" Impactor lunges at Optimus, trying to stab at him and his damn pistol. "Optimus, either you break this fraking programming ASAP or I swear to Primus we're going to make that request of yours come true damn fast!" So much for trying to bring Optimus down gently. Combat: Impactor misses Optimus Prime with his Stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab Area attack! Combat: Impactor strikes Walther P38 with his Stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab stab Area attack! "NOW you're talking!" Mecha-Tiger exclaims, when Megatron tells everyone to focus on the Quintesson. "Come over here, you five faced freak!" His claws lash, and who knows, maybe it'll accidentally pull off the fifth face's gag? Combat: Robot Tiger misses Archaeonix with his I've seen enough Hentai to know where this is going (Punch) attack! Remedy sees Torque go down. >>Damage!<< she thinks, before running over, dodging through the mayhem, reaching down to grab the unconscious bot, and starts dragging her out of the crossfire, hoping she doesn't get caught. She needs to get working on the femme. "Torque!" Rodimus cries in dismay, reflex making him throw up an arm to shield his optics from the fusion blast as he's knocked aside on his aft in the dirt. He pushes himself up, not fast enough to prevent Impactor from... stabbing. A lot. Momentarily stymied, he instead cups both hands to his face, bellowing in Reidan's direction. "Reidan! Get that forcefield down!" Combat: Rodimus Prime inspires Reidan Wesley with patriotic and majestic words! Cyclonus raises his rifle, about to fire on one of Megatron's knees, but alas, Fusillade jumps in to block his shot. "No! Fusillade, get out of the way!" Then he remembers that he's a Decepticon and is about to fire anyway... when Megatron transforms. He takes a step back before he realizes that he wasn't the target--just some Autobot. Well, that was close. Hm. Maybe he can needle at Optimus, too, now? "Perhaps not, Impactor, but the two Primes are set against one another, thus their strength counts for less in your favor." He turns to Optimus, now. "Oh... hohoho. Optimus Prime. Yes, you didn't really want to do it, or so you'd have us believe. You see the little Autobot you just killed?" He doesn't actually know that she's dead--maybe he's just HOPING that's true. "I don't even know her name, and if someone were to tell me, I'd probably forget it the next day. Such a meaningless end to a meaningless individual--and it's all your fault. Hahaha. Ah, thank you for the chuckle, *hero.* You deserve a small reward for it..." And he tosses a small explosive disc at Optimus. Though Megatron instructed him to attack the Autobots and the Quintesson, Cyclonus hopes that the blast may knock the gun out of Optimus's hands. Combat: Cyclonus strikes Optimus Prime with Small Silver Disc's Small Explosion #10811 Area attack! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Rodimus Prime with Small Silver Disc's Small Explosion #10811 Area attack! Combat: Cyclonus strikes Walther P38 with Small Silver Disc's Small Explosion #10811 Area attack! Combat: Cyclonus's Small Silver Disc is destroyed! The barrel is a petrifying wonder. "I didn't think this through!" Fusillade laments once Megatron's raspy shouts sink in. She winces, half-leaning back, but then flicks optics open to see Megatron in gun mode. "Oh, now -that- I have done befor----OH NO!" Her attempt to reach Megatron is cut short with Optimus diving in and grabbing the gun, shortly followed by Impactor dog-piling. "FINE! Off to subdue the Quintesson! Following orders now!" She draws one wingblade, and then sprints over to see what is happening with the forcefield -- and to be ready to pounce once it finally dissipates. Lancia Turbo whirls through a couple of 180s before coming to a stop... Just in time to see Megatron transform into a weapon, which Prime picks up and opens fire on another Autobot it. Even if it's not by his own will, it's still a terrifying stop. Fortunately there's another medic here to handle the fallen. Now if he can just do something about this madness... With the screech of wheels the racecar backs up again, then throws it into high gear and shoots a cloud of rubble up behind him as Wheeljack slams the pedal to the metal and makes a mad dash towards a pile of wreckage, using it as a ramp to launch himself into the air and into a spin with an exceptional display of his stunt-driving skills. Even as the form spins it unfolds, Wheeljack pulling out the device he had been fiddling with before, shoving it into a launcher and opening fire. Not at Prime this time, but at Megatron, in a crazy attempt to disable him before he can be used to cannon anyone else! Just a small, almost unnoticeable little shell.. that upon impact if successful fires off a disproportionately large magnetic scramble burst. Wheeljack crashes to the ground and rolls roughly a few moments later, having been too busy focusing on his shooting to worry about landing. Lancia Turbo transforms into his PC 111 mode. Combat: Wheeljack strikes Walther P38 with his Magnetic Inducer attack! Combat: Walther P38 has been temporarily incapacitated. Torque curses softly when Optimus only goes back a single step, when last time she used her power punch it sent Galvatron clear across a beach. They really don't make mechs like they used to... And then Rodimus tackles Optimus, and Wheeljack leads in a dinosaur to tackle both of the leaders to the ground. She moves forward to help, but she pauses when she spots Optimus crawling for the gun form of Megatron. With optics wide she starts to sprint, shouting to her Prime. "Damnit, get away from him, Rodimus, before he gets Megatr-- Guh!!" The femme stops dead in her tracks after the loud blast of the gun fires off, her face blank as she slowly looks down to see the large smoking hole through her torso. "Sh...Shit..." She mutters softly, the shock to her systems dampening her pain sensors as she falls to her knees, then unceremoniously face first onto the ground, an arm outstretched before her as energon immediately starts to heavily pool around her unconscious body. "Do it." Optimus mournfully intones to Impactor as he crashes into them both, and though the Prime manages to avoid taking damage in the process, Megatron's form is not so lucky right off the bat. Maybe Optimus even tried to use him to take some of the damage? Old habits do die hard afterall. "If there is no alternative, I -must- be destroyed. I cannot bear to harm another Autobot, do it!" But a moment later, their forms are all vanishing in a brilliant explosion as Cyclonus' tossed disc detonates amongst them, the fireball encompassing all of their forms in short order. Somewhere in the chaos, Megatron's frame is shorted out by the magnetic inducer, but shocked back into being when the explosion jars him loose. And as the flames subside, a thoroughly blackened and scorched Optimus stands...still holding the Decepticon leader in hand, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly to cope with deep 'breaths' with the damage he has already taken. "I don't recognize you either..." he intones towards Cyclonus, his voice having taken a deadly serious tone. "...so many faces I don't recognize, but I can see Autobot and Decepticon clearly for what they are all the same. The fact that I may have just killed an Autobot fills me with remorse that knows no limits." And then the gun rises, again. This time pointed straight at the taunting form of you-know-who. "But -this- I don't even have to resist!" And the finger squeezes the trigger a second time. KRAKA-THWOOOOM! Combat: Optimus Prime misses Cyclonus with Walther P38's Fusion Cannon For You Too! attack! Walther P38 is finally released from his alternate mode at another signal from the Quintesson, looking very much the worse for wear. Exhausted and battered, he stumbles to one knee as he hits the ground, picks himself up on his left arm and reaches out with his right. Even as drained of power as he seems to be, he can summon up a little more. "Ah... ha, alien. You can force me to fight, but even I can tire. What will you do then, eh? What CAN you do... but BURN?!" Demonstrating his point, Megatron fires another searing blast, very much weaker than the last three(!) at the troubling Wheeljack. Combat: Megatron strikes Wheeljack with his Fusion Cannon attack! [Pulled -5] Archaeonix hisses as the irritating little organic comes at him again, his large spider legs scuttling to one side to keep him in the clear. "Impudent whelp! You may as well lie down and die!" The Tyrannosaur face roars out suddenly lunging forward in a mock bite. But it's the tentacles again the lash at Reidan and try to grab his feet and jerk them out from under him, trying to send him hurtling freely through the air. And maybe in a direction he wasn't intending... Meanwhile, Dinocons...the last ones that remain, rise up from -everywhere-, all of the roaring in fury as they lunge forward in an attempt to find anything....ANYBODY to chomp down on. No one is safe as a flurry of teeth and claws suddenly encompass the whole area in a last ditch attack as the last of the Quintesson's minions push to attack. After this, it looks like his only line of defense will be Optimus and Megatron....and the forcefield of course. Combat: Archaeonix strikes Fusillade with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix strikes Cyclonus with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix strikes Impactor with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix misses Wheeljack with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix misses Robot Tiger with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix strikes Foxfire with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix misses Ju-87 Stuka with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix strikes Megatron with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Combat: Archaeonix strikes Optimus Prime with its Dinocon Rampage Area attack! Cyclonus is, unlike Torque, a much more nimble opponent, and is already spinning about and transforming as the shot streaks past him. "Oh, you think that by slaying me you can redeem yourself, Optimus? Think again. Even if you had cored me in one shot, there the Autobot wench would still lay, dead as ever. Fortunately your name is not what the legends claim it to be, and ultimately, you've only served my purposes by draining Megatron's energy. He shall be much easier to restrain, and then, when we've repaired him, you'll answer to his considerable wrath!" He rockets towards Optimus, attempting to ram him at high velocity. "I hesitated to harm our own leader, but you? I've no qualms about hurting you at all!" However, his advance may be spoiled by rocket-propelled pteranodons swarming him and scratching his hide! "Blast! Decepticons, repel those abominations! We've nearly prevailed!" Combat: Starfighter strikes Optimus Prime with his Ramming Speed attack! [Pulled -1] Robot Tiger is not known for either intelligence, or attention span. Whereupon he crashes right into the forcefield barrier when he attempts to lunge at the mutated Quintesson. He lands right on his back and is slow to rise. "Ow," he mutters, "Someone turn that off already." Remedy seems to notice she's in the middle of the maelstrom without anyone noticing. She breaks out some dispensers to start fixing the damage done to Torque, rolling her over and starts patching the fricken crater, glad that the weapon missed a few of the more chunky and important bits, "Come on, Torque... stay with us." Foxfire slashes at the forcefield once more before he becomes aware of the rising Dinocons. Instinctively he tries to get away from one that is too close, but it snatches him up in its jaws, and he yelps in alarm and mild pain as the beast's teeth sink into his metal flesh. Acting quickly, the little foxbot fires his optic lasers at the Dinocon's face, hoping to make it let go. "I'm not your chew toy, you creep!" Combat: Foxfire strikes Archaeonix with his Optic Lasers (Laser) attack! Amber MacKenzie returns safely to her crevice on the perimeter of the crater. All she can do now is watch, in turn horror-stricken, exuberant, grave, and worried. If this weren't such an unholy mess, she'd be tempted to try to sneak into the Quintesson ship. Suddenly recalling that she's a journalist, she retrieves her camera from her backpack and starts recording the battle. It's an amazing thing to see, including that freak of a Quintesson. Ju-87 Stuka yelps and banks /hard/ to avoid a sudden pterodon of some kind, pulling a harsh stall-turn, far more than a normal Ju-87 could take, to turn 180 degrees and place herself on the creature's tail, wing guns chattering loudly while her tailgun goes for a different aerial target . <> she cackles Combat: Ju-87 Stuka strikes Archaeonix with her Guns at Both Ends (Laser) attack! Reidan gives one of his high-pitched girly shrieks as he was grabbed by the legs. He went sheet white, dropping his spear like the devil himself was after him, and then FLUNG... right at the console. He lands right on it with a CRASH, his weight pressing a good many buttons. He quickly rolls to his feet, standing on it then. "Ha! I am the Breyer rabbit in the breyer bush now!" he then pulls out a small tan-colored bag of fluid from his coat pocket, brandishing it before he grins wickedly "I /always/ knew a water balloon would come in handy. MUAHAHAHAHAHH!" With rather chilling cackle, he throws the 'balloon' at his feet, on the console. And the dried out, and water-filled saber-toothed-tiger bladder bursts, sending its contents all into the controls. "Mahahahaa!" Impactor stands between Torque and Optimus Prime, glaring at the latter. "Glad we agree on something," he mutters. He only ever knew Optimus by reputation, but that reputation was stellar. Still, Impactor is willing to kill Optimus Prime if needed. Impactor takes aim with his shoulder cannon, but before he can mentally pull the trigger, Optimus and Megatron vanish in the explosion, and Impactor is forced to back away, holding his arms up to protect himself from the intense heat. Glancing behind him, Impactor sees Remedy working furiously to keep Torque online. He backs away from Optimus in order to guard the medic and patient from the Quintesson's minions. "Status, Remedy? She going to make it or what?" he says even as a dinocon charges. He puts his fist through one of them, and slashes at another. One of the smaller dinosaurs manages to snag onto his leg and tear off a chunk of armour, so Impactor kicks it into orbit. Wheeljack groans as he props himself up with an arm. "Did it work?" BOOM Even at low power the blast is enough to cave his chestplate inward and send the inventor skidding backwards into a tree. "... I'm going to take that as a yes." Followed by a cough or two (which makes no sense when he just has those flashing 'ears' instead of a mouth to cough through, but that's cartoons for you) as he starts to get up, then glances over towards the forcefield... Wait, a human got inside? The field doesn't stop organics? He starts to say something, but it's cut short into a yowl as he ducks just in time for an ankylosaurs to slam its tail through the tree he had landed against. "Oh for the love of..." As the beast swings again he's ready this time, grabbing the accousting limb. A cutting laser pops out of his forearm, followed by the dinosaur roaring in pain as its tail is sliced off, then gets kicked away. With the bloody remains of the tail in hand Wheeljack smashes the metal spikes off the club head, leaving only the original organic scale and bone that should then pass through the forcefield. Followed by winding up a few times and FLINGING the tail-club in the Quintesson's direction! "As Brawn would say, time to reach out and crush someone!" Combat: Wheeljack strikes Archaeonix with his Tails you lose! (Kick) attack! Ju-87 Stuka is in the way of the smaller dinocon, so instead of going into orbit, it goes splat instead. "Optimus," Rodimus moans despairingly at the elder Prime's grim self-epitaph. Then he's set upon by dinosaurs and has to worry about his own defense for several seconds of wild flailing. He grabs one of the smaller ones by the tail and swings it bodily around, flinging it into another Dinocon which lets out a shriek of anger as both go down in a tangle of limbs. Then... something in Cyclonus's taunting catches his attention. His optics widen slightly with the sudden idea. "Optimus!" he repeats, sharply this time. "Come at me!" (bro!) "As hard as you can, I can take it! Use up your energon reserves!" He weaves, arms akimbo, presenting the largest target he possibly can, while trying to keep between Prime and anyone else the Quintesson might try to make him target. A shrilling Dryptosaurus leaps hind-claws first into Fusillade's flank as she crouches near the Autobots trying to neutralize the Quintesson. With a grunt, she tumbles, trying to beat away its snapping navy blue and taupe jaws. "Gah!" she repeats for the eleventy billionth time that day as it shears away several sections of her torso. "Back to my original strategy!" she announces, faintly aware of Cyclonus's declaration on the periphery of her flickering vision. She wrenches free, spattering down sooty hydraulic fluid, and transforms. Her engines kick to life, hurling out cyan cones as she steadies herself, and fixes her attention on Optimus -- as well as the snarling, seething masses of the DinoCons. "Time for some GATORade! Incoming cluster units, folks!" Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Archaeonix with her GATOR Anti-Personnel and Anti-Vehicle Cluster Mines (Laser) attack! The last of the Dinocons fall...destroyed outright as their wreckages litter the area, blown to bits, sliced apart, smashed to pieces...everything imaginable as the half organic creature's horrid existence is brought to a merciful end. The Quintesson...is out of minions. "And now, you insignificant pest..." The Sabertooth skull intones, as a tentacle rises up and the Quintesson advances on where Reidan fell. The tip of the tentacle holds an ugly looking cutting tool within it, "...at the very least I may discover what process turns your organic mind beyond that of the other insignificant...wait, what are you doing?" And then there's water. WATER ALL OVER HIS CONSOLE, which proceeds to start exploding in a shower of sparks and small fires erupting all over its surface. Electricity and water do NOT MIX. "AUUUUGH! NO! What are you doing you little pest! What are you...." And then it happens. The forcefield suddenly shimmers, then flares brightly one last time. And then it dies...entirely. Even though there's still a battle raging all around, one could almost hear crickets chirp as the Quintesson suddenly becomes glaringly aware that he's exploded, and vulnerable. The T-Rex head snarls defiance, "SLAVES! FOOLS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YO..." "Shut up!" the Mastodon head, apparently the wiser of the bunch suddenly interrupts. "....we capitulate! We are...beaten. Yes...yes. The time for negotiations is now." Tentacles immediately all rise up in an 'I surrender' gesture'. "But we cannot stop the programming in their body states. You must render them offline yourselves, through concentrated fire. Lest they destroy you all." "TRAITOR!" The T-Rex snarls, but the Mastodon ignores it. "Concentrate your firepower. They are nearly on the breaking point!" A stampeding apatosaur with a cyborg head (the least important part of an apatosaur) runs over Megatron and knocks him flat on his back. Slowly he rolls over and jacks himself back up, laughing in that rasping hiss he has. "Look at you, alien, writhing on the plate you thought to set for your enemies," he gloats at the Quintesson as he regains his feet, wobbling... he's running on little more than fumes. His arm comes up as he fires into one of the vulnerable Autobot medics, but the beam that comes out of it is a bare shadow of its usual self, a mere flickering pulse instead of a blinding column of energy. "You're done. My Decepticons will pith you for examination by our most expert scientists and torturers. We will flay your mind and lay bare your sickness." Combat: Megatron misses Remedy with his Fusion Cannon Dregs attack! [Pulled -9] Megatron's eye gleams over his shoulder at his Quintesson 'master.' "If you wish to beg, you may beg for a swift death." Optimus Prime is indeed quite the worse for wear by this point, struggling as he falls to one knee, bracing himself with one hand. "I can't...I..." And then he trails off, hearing the Quintesson's words, seeing the shield go down. Knowing what has to be done. One way or another. And there Rodimus is in front of him, taunting him. Beckoning him. "I...don't hold back on me." Already, with parts grinding painfully together, Optimus is transforming, shifting and turning in place as he slams down on his tires, his trailer coming up and making a torturous shriek of metal on metal as it grinds into place. Smoke erupts from his stacks as he suddenly rumbles forward. "Do it!" he calls out, roaring above the sound of his own engine. "Hit me with everything you have! Disable me, destroy me if you must, but do it! This must end!" With engine revving he beelines straight for Rodimus like a runaway freight train. Combat: Freightliner FL86 misses Rodimus Prime with his 18 Wheels of Justice attack! The grin of victory on Reidan's face quickly turns to astonishment, then horror as the console sparks and flares to life under him, setting his pants on fire. He shrieks again, and tumbles from sight into some debris. Impactor squints as he looks up at the Quintesson. Looks like the human did his job. He always knew Reidan wouldn't be useless in a battle. No time for that, though. Impactor has his two charges to defend. Megatron's blast mercifully manages to avoid taking Remedy out, and so the Wrecker immediately positions himself between them and Megatron. "If you want to take a shot, Megatron, have the ball bearings to take it against me." Impactor retaliates with his shoulder cannon, sending a powerful laser blast back at the Decepticon leader. Unlike Megatron's blast, Impactor's is full power. Combat: Impactor misses Megatron with his Shoulder Cannon attack! Starfighter bellows, "Quickly! Do not trust that Quintesson for a moment! Banshee, secure him--and make sure to remove that gag it placed over one of its faces! Now... I must apologize Megatron..." He loops around, and bears down on Megatron. "I will do my best to make this quick--" He begins strafing Megatron with devastating oxidizing beams, the aim being not simply to damage but to disable his systems so that he is easier to restrain. "And we will have the Quintesson in your grasp before long, I assure you!" Combat: Starfighter strikes Megatron with his Oxidizing Laser attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Megatron's Agility. (Crippled) Remedy spares a glance at Impactor, "I think I got her stable, but, I can't fix her SLAAAAGH!" ducking rather impotently as the rather timid violence of Meg's exhausted booomstick scares her... Or she's moving to protect Torque. She mmphs, looking back at Megs, feeling a rather large bull's eye on her back, before focusing on trying to get Torque ready for transport. Wheeljack grunts, shaking some blood off one hand, and trying to wave smoke wafting out of his damaged chest with the other. Normally this would be the point where he goes for cover and slap himself together enough to keep going. Normally. But this situation stopped being normal along time ago... like back when they first woke up long time ago. With a grunt he forces himself to focus and get back to his feet again. "He's right Rodimus. If nothing else we can put him back together without the control programming!" Though who he's trying to reassure is questionable, as skilled engineer's optics can tell how bad of shape Optimus already is in. None the less, he arms his shoulder launcher with a full sized shell, and fires it at a downward arc, aiming to get it to hit low while Prime is in his vehicle mode and maybe blow out his undercarriage or something else to disable him. Combat: Wheeljack strikes Freightliner FL86 with his Shoulder-Mounted Cannon attack! Ju-87 Stuka transforms and drops to the ground, attempting to get a good angle on that fifth face. She's curious as to what it has to say. If she gets a good shot, she careful aim with her Lugers and fires! Combat: Ju-87 Stuka strikes Archaeonix with her Let's Listen ja? (Pistol) attack! Rodimus Prime breaks from his Optimus-baiting long enough to pump a fist in the air and whoop, "Yeah! Great job Reidan! Autobots, get that Qui-- yipe!" Instinct makes him dive out of the way in his distraction (because he forgot to +allow) as the 18 wheeler thunders past. "Get that Quintesson!" he coughs, just in case his last order wasn't clear. For his part he still feels it his duty to try to keep Optimus occupied. He lurches to his feet, a flick of his arm phasing his rifle into his hand from subspace. "You may be right, Wheeljack," he replies grimly; but he still can't bring himself to go full-bore at his hero. Cranking the power down and aiming carefully, he fires a few pinpoint blasts at the big truck's tires. Trying to be encouraging to the clearly hopeless Prime, he shouts, "Yeah that's it Optimus! Maybe you can't help attacking, but just stay focused on me! Toro!" he adds, which is appropriate enough given his paint job. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Freightliner FL86 with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -8] Despite the chaos around him, Foxfire's attention is solely on the Quintesson now. His optics flare briefly, then he snarls and lunges, attempting to latch onto the alien with his claws and fiercely bite him, not caring which head he's attacking. Combat: Foxfire strikes Archaeonix with his Bite (Kick) attack! With Banshee freeing the most normal Quintesson's mouth, Fusillade pauses. She peers back over at the Autobots renewed fervor in subduing Optimus, and then back to Cyclonus. A thin, wry smile quirks at the corners of her hematite lips. "So worried about making him angry, Cyclonus." She dips one wing, and swings out wide, approaching Megatron from behind. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Megatron with her JDAM Guided 1000lb Munition attack! "We surrender, we surrender!" The Sabertooth skull rotates around into place as Banshee starts to draw a bead on him, but the shot rings true and blasts off the side of the 'normal' face. And takes off one half of the metal 'gag' with it, leaving the other half for when Foxfire abruptly leaps up and latches on with claws and teeth, tearing away a portion of the face, and the -rest- of the gag with it. A yowl of pain comes from the Quint's mouth as it half stumbles to the ground, frantically waving its tentacles in a futile defensive posture over its body. But now the 'normal' head rotates around, and immediately starts speaking, quite rapidly in fact as he can no doubt gauge that his life is probably measured in minutes if not seconds if he doesn't manage some fast-talking, "Cybertronians! What the others have said is true! Disabling your leaders is the only method to override the programming, at which point it can be removed!" A pause, a heartbeat in time, and then it's time for begging. "Do not destroy me, I implore you! I only wish to get back to my own time, as I suspect you do as well!" The Triceratops skull adds for good measure, "Kill us and NO ONE will be able to return from where we came!" When in doubt that negotiations will work, try bargaining. Optimus' form is wracked by explosions and laser blasts as his undercarriage is blasted, several of his tires blowing off, and even -then- he rumbles around like some sort of crazed animal trying to claw ferociously at its prey. The last shots from Rodimus do the trick however, hitting just at the moment that Wheeljack's blast sends him rocketing upwards. Despite the damage, Optimus somehow twists in mid-air, bits of metal flying off as he force transforms and actually lands on his feet with a harsh *CRASH* right in front of Rodimus, laser rifle in hand once more, at the ready. And then it falls from his grip, clattering uselessly to the ground...as he stumbles forward a step. Almost falling. One hand raises up at Rodimus, fingers wide, trying to grasp for his neck. "NNngh...rrgh." Another stumble, and Optimus half falls to one knee, pushing himself up as both hands rise now, as if his body were struggling with all its might to go those last few paces and physically choke the life out of Rodimus. And one last stumble finally sends Optimus tumbling forward, into the younger Prime's arms, all fight leaving his body as his head lolls forward to rest on Rodimus' shoulder with a faint *clank*. "G..." his voice is weak, barely above a whisper. "...good work...everyone. I knew...I could count on..." And with that, his optics dim as he goes offline, and completely limp in Rodimus' grip, the damage forcing him into shutdown mode. But still alive. Megatron slumps to the ground again as Cyclonus freezes his joints with a fine coating of rust, which also results in Impactor's blast just scoring his back instead of striking cleanly. Megatron awkwardly raises his cannon and aims it at Impactor, building energy. "Foolish Autobot! You would throw your life away for the weak?! That is why you lose!" Suddenly a bomb falls right on top of him. A fireball rises over Megatron's position, accompanied by a fountain of dirt and dinosaur parts, and when the black pall of smoke clears Megatron is lying flat on the ground, practically inert. "Decepticons forever," he rasps in triumph, and powers down from an excess of damage and a shortage of fuel. Foxfire releases his hold on the Quintesson and leaps back, landing on his paws. He snarls warningly at him, as if to say that he'd better not double-cross them. "RODIMUS PRIME!" Cyclonus bellows as he swoops overhead, "Stop that idiotic fox from attacking the Quintesson! We need that tentacled monstrosity alive for Megatron's entertainment!' Do it or I'll atomize your little friend here and now!" He quickly transforms, landing near Megatron and leveling his rifle at Impactor. "Back off, Autobot! SOUNDWAVE! Get over here and provide medical attention for our true leader, quickly!" He sighs heavily. "The battle is won, and we managed to do so without killing Megatron. No doubt SOMEONE is disappointed." He looks for Starscream so he can scowl at him. "And of course I am concerned about his anger, Fusillade," Cyclonus. "Megatron's capacity for rage is well known. But more accurately, I despaired at having to harm him." He gives the Quintesson a sharp look. "Oh, and rest assured, you will pay for that!" Impactor kneels long enough to grab his laser pistol from his ankle holster. Rising back up again, he shouts back at Megatron, "Sounds better if you aren't laying on the ground." Impactor doesn't get all of Remedy's explanation, but the gist is good enough. Torque'll probably live, but might not rejoin the battle. The Wrecker takes aim with both shoulder cannon and laser pistol, about to fire at the downed Decepticon leader. Glancing up, he shouts at Reidan, "If that Quint so much as twitches wrong, KILL IT. Do you understand?" He keeps his guns trained on Megatron, even as Cyclonus aims back at him. His trigger finger is itchy. "Prime... just give me the word..." he says. Starscream is right now a mess of organic waste, oil and toothmarks all over his form, as are the other seekers, but they're alive. Oh yes, and so is Megatron. And Cyclonus...darnit. He doesn't deign to give the futuristic Decepticon second anything other than a dirty look however, as he turns back to Skywarp and Thundercracker. "PLEASE let him be the closest thing in arm's reach when Megatron wakes up later." Wheeljack walks over and rests a hand on Optimus' shoulder as he slumps against the younger Prime. "It's okay big guy. We'll put you back together, good as new." And by the sound of explosions and Cyclonus' bellowing behind them, Megatron is being equally taken care of. "Just take it easy... speaking of which, I wonder if there's anything still of use in this wreck!" ... Typical inventor. As soon as the intense dramatic fight for the future is over, Wheeljack is back to normal, scampering off to go digging through the remains of the Quintesson ship like a kid that just got turned loose in his favorite toy store. Amber MacKenzie leaves her hiding place and takes a long, careful look around. Dinos are gone, thankfully, and it looks like most of the fighting has stopped. She hmmmmms thoughtfully at the sight of Autobots and Decepticons, no longer threatened by an outside force. Will they revert to type? Of course they will; it's just a matter of time before the Decepticons try to stab the Autobots in the back. Her gaze moves from the babbling, pleading Quintesson to the bellowing, patronizing Cyclonus, and she rolls her eyes. Rodimus Prime, strong as he may be, still staggers a bit as Optimus's full weight slumps into him. He lets out a sigh of relief: his hero is unconscious, but quite alive. "It's all right Optimus," he says quietly. "We gotcha." With considerably LESS empathy he turns to fix the Quintesson with a cold glare. "You want to negotiate? You'd better start talking fast." Cyclonus gets a lance upward of that same glare, followed by a quick glance around at the others, "Autobots," he intones, with rather a touch of irony since it's in direct contrast to Impactor's angry words, "hold your fire." Robot Tiger gets impatient and rushes at the Quintesson. His jaws attempt to grab the fox by the scruff of the neck to pull him off the Quintesson. "Here, let me get that for you." Combat: Robot Tiger strikes Foxfire with his Grab attack! Banshee keeps her guns levelled at the Quint, twirling one or the other of them occasionally because... well, damn it looks good. "Just tell me who and vot to shoot, ja?" she comments, holstering one of the guns to light herself an enercig. The weapon is aimed back at the Quint quite quickly. A moan comes from the debris near the console. Space-Going B-1R Lancer dips one wing, loitering over the very messy battlefield. "I see, Cyclonus," she replies, before adding, "I think it's about time we got some answers about getting back to our own time. Or place. START TALKIN!" the plane rumbles, flicking her nose canards. She swishes through the air in tight circles, still sharply watching the Wrecker closely. The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordion style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet. Impactor keeps staring at Cyclonus and Megatron as he hears Rodimus's orders. He slooooowly lowers his guns, expecting Cyclonus to do the same. He's well aware of Fusillade as she watches him. It'd be a bad situation if another firefight broke out. Soundwave hurries to Megatron's side, followed by his attentive brood. Except for Ravage, who is conspicuously missing. "Decepticons: superior," Soundwave reassures Megatron as he bends to tend to their beaten leader. "Autobots: inferior." Remedy looks over at Cyclonus, then at Banshee, and the others, "I think there's enough violence already. What's the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well, I don't know about you, but, I am tired of the fighting." She looks at Impactor, "We need to get Torque to Ratchet. Or at least to a suitable repair bay." Glancing over at Megs, "I'd offer to heal your leader, but, somehow I doubt you'd take my help." Well, the Quintesson isn't being shot at anymore, is he? Or bitten, or clawed...though he does give a brief shriek as Rampage charges in, but it's to remove the Fox and not attack him. "Uhm..." The normal face intones, tentacles rubbing together anxiously as he gets back up, balancing on the polished Sauropod bone of his 'spider legs'. "It's a long story that I can explain in detail later...but er, here's the short version." "We have been STRANDED!" The T-Rex roars. "For sixty one million years." The Triceratops calmly responds. The Mastodon adds, "We needed to build a time window to do just that." Sabertooth: "But we needed knowledge! A repertoire of wisdom...and an unlimited power source!" The Mastodon again, "Optimus Prime and Megatron..." T-Rex: "AND WE WOULD RETURN TO OUR TIME TO CONQUER AS AN EMPEROR!" The normal face rotates back again and emits a faint sigh, "That last part was THEIR IDEA. I just want to go hooome!" Cyclonus does lower his gun, just as slowly. He keeps a suspicious eye on the Wrecker. "Hm. Well, this is an interesting situation. I am tempted to continue hostilities, but... perhaps we'd be better off doing that in our own time." Turning his attention to the Quintesson, he frowns as he listens to its story. "I promise you nothing, you foul creature. But I tell you this--your death shall be painful indeed if you fail to return us to our own time!" Finally settling back down on the gore and viscera-slicked forest floor, Fusillade cants her head to the side, peering at the Quintesson. "Not my decision to make, but if we let you, COULD you actually do that?" "Technorganic's mental state: highly unstable," Soundwave diagnoses without looking up from Megatron. "Solitude: total. Pathology: diverse." "Yeah?" Rodimus asks dryly. "And how about the four stooges, there? Even if we CAN trust you, what kind of assurance do we have that they're not gonna double-cross us?" Banshee looks over at Rodimus "Arschloch, do you see any other ways of getting home?" she asks, scorn in her tone Foxfire yelps in alarm as Rampage grabs him. "Let go!" he exclaims, struggling in the mechatiger's jaws. "Options: limited," Soundwave comments. "Shut up," Rodimus hisses irritably. "You think I don't know that?" Wheeljack pokes his head out of the wreckage. "You do realize by taking Prime and Megatron to power your little contraption to gallivant through time you could’ve possibly created an -entirely different- future that may of been even worse, right? Not to mention triggering the Ark to wake us up and .... oooh that looks interesting!" Scientific rambling is promptly interrupted as he goes back to junk diving. Impactor holsters his laser pistol now that he and Cyclonus have avoided killing each other (for now). He glances down at Remedy and nods. "Cliffjumper, you heard her. Find Ratchet and tell him to get over here ASAP." Cliffjumper nods and bolts off. Now that the main problem is taken care of, Impactor steps over to Rodimus and Optimus. Hah, that's a Kodak moment if there ever was one. "Prime," he says. "It's decision time." The T-Rex skull rotates around to glare at Cyclonus, "What do you think -we- want to do, you insipid point-headed sla..." "Shut up!" The normal head pipes up. "We're in enough trouble as it is!" The Mastodon swivels around to look at Fusillade directly, "Yes, there is a possible methods. But unfortunately it is not the one -we- sought. The Time Window we constructed..." A tentacle waves the huge triangular-shaped device...which has shut down now and sits inert. "Is only a one-way journey. Despite our best efforts It can only send objects -back- in time." The Sabertooth then adds, "But there is another way! The ship...our ship. The wrecked time-vessel...it is unsalvageable. But there are pods on board. Stasis pods that we have used to make the last sixty one million years go by more quickly." "Relatively speaking..." The Triceratops grumbles. "...it is -still- an eternity." Finally starting to his feet, Reidan begins to climb out of the debris stiffly... his pants were smouldering, he was soaked from the knees down, he'd lost his hat... but he still had his pointed stick as he limps a few feet "... And THAT is why I hate saving the day." Was his victorious statement. "Some genius YOU are," is Fusillade's retort to the Quintesson regarding his machinations. She sidles off, and barring any commanding officer intervention, finds time-displaced fauna to poke at. Cyclonus grins a little. "Your normal face is wise to fear me, Quintesson. For I am not given to displays of mercy and compassion. As for you, Rodimus... you have no such assurance. And more to the point, why should I trust you? I know that Impactor, for instance, is more Decepticon than he even cares to admit. I wouldn't trust him with my fate for a nanosecond." He thinks about what the Quintesson is saying. "Stasis pods?... You don't mean..." He clenches his teeth. "Bargaining posture: highly dubious," Soundwave warns the Quintesson. As if on cue a large cylindrical device thumps out of the ship wreckage. "He.. they.. whatever it is, it’s right about the stasis pods. They're old even by -our- standards, but workable," Wheeljack replies as he climbs down after it. "And they can probably be modified to work on the humans, too." Banshee just relaxes and watches what's going on calmly, rumming to herself as she watches. "I think I vould rather... well. I'd rather blow zat piece of shiess Quint to hell and zen dieve to ze depths of the ocean to die zan spend more time in Stasis right now. I'm still not at 100% from ze /last/ damn time." Robot Tiger slings the fox aside, almost as quickly as he grabs him. "Sit! Bad fox!" he snaps, "Stay!" "Stasis pods." Rodimus says, deliberately NOT answering Impactor just yet, as if trying to push it off as long as he can. He tenderly lowers Optimus' prone frame to the ground, even going so far as to fold his hands over one another, though he can't help but linger for a moment in the fact that it's just in unconscious sleep he's laying Optimus down, and not death in this case. "So theoretically...we could get back to our own time by going into suspended animation? All of us?" He frowns, apparently not liking the thought any more than Cyclonus does, but it's -something- isn't it? But of course there's another matter to address. "Cyclonus, I should be asking if I can trust -you- in this matter rather than the other way around. You know damn well that I have to preserve the timeline if it's at all possible. And -you- have even more in it at stake than I do." He gives a meaningful glance in the direction of Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp, then back to Cyclonus again. "So how about it?" He asks the Quint directly. "IS there a way to undo all of this?" "What?" asks Skywarp, blankly. Thundercracker shrugs. Impactor seemingly ignores Cyclonus. He'll stab him in the eye for the comment later. He's still staring at Rodimus, impatiently waiting for an answer. He is listening to the conversation with the Quint, though, as it may determine how much time they have left. He spies Wheeljack out of the corner of his optic. "...possibly." The Quint rubs his tentacles together again in apprehension. "It can be done. If you restore events so that they will happen as intended. Effectively closing the time loop, so to speak. But you must ensure ALL angles are covered." The T-Rex bellows, "It cannot be done! It is irreversible!" "Untrue..." The Mastodon chides, "...it is possible. But the experiences of the past-slaves must be erased." Sabertooth: "We can do that..." T-Rex: "Ridiculous." Mastodon: "No, it can be done. We know your Cybertronian physiology better than anyone. We cannot control your minds but we can modify them...erase the recent events. Restore what was. We have the specialized equipment to do so...and with an assistant of technical skill to help us..." Impactor suddenly stops and turns towards the Quint. "Erase the experiences of the past-slaves. What are you talking about?" Banshee looks lazily over at Impactor. "Past slaves - we were slaves, now ve are not. He means us, numbnuts. Erase what ve remember of zis so zat ze time-loop closes." "F--- off, Banshee," Impactor snaps. "I wasn't talking to you. Quintesson, do you seriously think we're going to let you erase anyone's memories?" Amber MacKenzie finally trudges down to join the others, warily keeping an eye on the Decepticons. If she ever wants to go home, she has to. What the Quint is asked catches her attention. She frowns at what he has to say. "What if we don't?" she asks. "What if we sleep in those pods and wake up in four million years, leaving things as they are now?" "It is as we speak." The Triceratops responds bluntly to Impactor. "We can erase the memories of what took place recently. We have a device that we have carefully preserved. Those who are of this time will know none of it. We intended to do the same to Optimus and Megatron...but we did not have enough time. We were focused on the Time Window. We were going to do it..." And the T-Rex snaps, "And then YOU all had to interfere!" "Zip, zat, zoosh. OW!" mutters Reidan as he uses his now-broken cane to limp his way towards where Foxfire landed, still trailing smoke and a few embers as he went. He listens to Banshee at that, then Amber and the others "It cannot be changed. It already has been. I think your main problem is nobody here would trust you to do that." he notes to the Quint. "It will affect only their memories?" Impactor presses. Banshee smirks at Impactor "Essen mich, arschloch." "It is not my existence I am truly concerned for," Cyclonus bellows, "But rather, the existence of the leader of the Decepticons. Regardless, whether you believe that or not, you are right... we must preserve the timeline." He listens to the others banter. "Hm. Past-slaves. Were I you, Quintesson, I'd correct that vocal tic before I decide to remove one of your more irritating faces. For as I am concerned, YOU are OUR slave." Cyclonus then looks a tad pensive. "Erasing Megatron's memories? Isn't it bad enough you forced me to strike him?" "No, miss, he means -us-," Wheeljack chimes in, after getting some of the stronger Autobots to come help dig out the stasis pods. "If we wake up when we're supposed to by your history remembering what's happened now, it could cause considerable changes to the time line." He pauses, thoughtfully. ".. But even if they have the technology, it would take a considerable amount of power to erase both past crews..." "If we -don't- restore the timeline..." Rodimus states, answering Amber as well as he nods slowly, "We don't know what could happen. If we can restore, we know how things turn out. There are so many variables, the world as we know it could cease to exist, or certain other beings could destroy Cybertron on us." He doesn't name the planet-destroyer, but he hints obviously towards it. It takes a long time, and he looks up towards Impactor, giving him a hard stare, before looking back to the others. "I can't believe I'm agreeing with Cyclonus on this. But we HAVE to restore the timeline if it's possible. But only if we know we're not going to be double-crossed..." And that brings a glare back to the Quint. Banshee blinks quietly. "So... he erases the memories of the /past/ lot... vell, makes sense, I sink..." She comments thoughtfully, nodding. "It vould be interesting if ve could just see, for a moment, vot vould haff happened... but I value zis chassis, unt... ja. I don't vont ze time th change." "Solution: plausible," says Soundwave. "Memory: mutable. Past: illusory." Amber MacKenzie responds, "I know he means you. I want to know what happens if we deliberately try to change the past. Paradox, I know, but it may break off another universe where you lot remember all that happened, including us dimensional travelers. I still don't know that that isn't the case. If you consider the paradox, then nothing we do will change anything, regardless. We could walk into those pods now, and somehow, everything would work out to be the same, including mysteriously-vanishing memories." Soundwave adds, "Humans: challenging. Challenge: intriguing." Impactor lets out a slow mechanical breath, looking more defeated now than any other battle he's suffered through. He looks back at Rodimus, meeting the stare. Finally, it's Impactor who backs down. "Alright," he mutters, clearly displeased. He doesn't respond to Banshee, instead withdrawing from the conversation to fiddle with a piece of armouring that came off during the fight. "I cannot help it! They speak with their own minds!" Archaeonix protests to Cyclonus, just as the T-Rex skull rotates to glare at him, "You are slaves. SLAVES! You always will be, you just have to reme..." "Do you see what I mean!?" The normal head forces its way back again, then fields the other question. "I would need an assistant, yes! I cannot do this by myself. Another of significant technical skill and focus, they must interface with the device with me and help guide me. If you do not trust me then they can "proofread" my work if you wish! I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!" "We can't take that chance, Amber." Rodimus says finally, his voice a bit more quiet as he studies the Quint carefully. "But we're not going to act on this until Optimus is woken up, and I tell him -everything-." Wheeljack just ACHEMS loudly at the repeat babblings about needing a technical assistant. Remedy shouts something rather sailor like, "Where the flaming slag of slaggy slaginess is RATCHET?!" Seems the med bot is rather late in getting here. "Okay, someone help me transport Torque." Cyclonus grins at Rodimus Prime. "Oh, yes, tell him everything. Including the part about HOW you became a Prime." He feigns surprise. "That's not what you meant? Oh, well, my apologies, then." He glares at the Quintesson again. "Insanity is not an excuse. Keep that in mind for when Megatron regains consciousness. Speaking of which... Soundwave! Report on his status!" Reidan Wesley says, "I would darling, but I think I'm a little bit on the frail side for this matter.." "Alright little lady, keep yer chassis on, we're handlin it!" Both Ratchet and Ironhide immediately rumble up next to where Remedy is leaning down over Torque's prone form, the old crotchety bot kneeling to gingerly pick her up in his arms, "Upsy daisy, darlin'. Ol' Ratchet's gonna get her back up and runnin in no time flat." Already the Autobot medic is looking over Torque's status with a trained eye. "It's a bad blast, but she's still functional." He gives an aside glance to Remedy. "Good job stabilizing her." "Vitals: intact," Soundwave reports. "Transport: recommended. Service: required." "On the contrary, Cyclonus. I'll tell Optimus -everything-." Rodimus gives the Unispawn a long, hard stare at that, "Because I know that I can trust him, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I wonder if you can say the same for Megatron? Either way when he wakes up, I bet he's going to want answers. Glad I'm not in -your- shoes." And with that, he turns back to look at the rest of the Autobots, unable to help but grinning just a bit as Wheeljack makes that 'throat clearing' noise. "Okay Quintesson. I think we've got your technical expert. Until now I think it's safe to say that while we get our wounded taken care of, you're going to be in joint custody of BOTH the Autobots and Decepticons right here, right now. And in the meantime..." With that, he turns back to look at the unispawn again. "Cyclonus and I are going to have a -talk- and see if we can come up with a feasible plan on how we can put things back as they are. Is that acceptable? /Cyclonus/?" Impactor is still stewing, away from the others, fiddling with a piece of his armour that broke off. He doesn't like this turn of events one bit, but he's never been one to give up even if there's the slightest chance of succeeding. "Oh brother..." Starscream intones off to one side, though he's been quietly paying attention and listening VERY carefully to all of this, particularly at the talk of mind-wiping. He then asides to Thundercracker and Skywarp both and says in a much quieter voice, "I never thought I'd be -eager- to see Megatron wake up again..." Reidan Wesley takes a seat next to the smoking console, rubbing at his side with a grimace as he just lets the others discuss and talk, looking exhausted. "Yeah," Skywarp agrees, "Usually as soon as he goes into sleep mode you put on your cape and crown and start talking about everything you're going to do now that you're the leader of the Decepticons until tomorrow morning." Thundercracker snickers. Remedy gets up, slowly, "Hey, Impactor... you look like you could use some patching." Her eyes flash to the seeker Skywarp, feeling the bot may be strangely prophetic... Starscream just rubs at his forehead firmly, "And once again you two are giving me a headache. Just shut...up." Cyclonus puts his hands on his hips. "I've no fear of the consequences of my actions, Rodimus Prime. Megatron may be cross with me, he may not--whatever happens, I will endure it as duty requires of me." He glances back at the trio of Seekers, glaring at them before turning back to Rodimus. "But very well, we shall... talk. About a great many things, I think." Impactor shoos Remedy away without bothering to actually look up. "Not now. I'll be fine for the moment. I'm sure there's other patients in need of repairs." Reidan Wesley begins to rummage through his pockets, looking for something, one hand still clapped over his leg firmly, a grimace of pain on his face as he mutters to himself. Wheeljack looks a little -too- gleeful to get to poke around with alien technology that may or may not be connected to the genesis of his own species. "Don't worry Rodimus, I'll make sure five faces of darkness here doesn't pull anything sneaky." He pauses, hmming as he rubs his chin. "Still the matter of appropriate power supply, but.... hmm, maybe Teletran One would have something useful...."
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