| abstract
| - Binary Star System This was a binary star system is in the K'Tor cluster within the Rainbow Climbs. Ever since one of its stars went nova, everything left in the wake of the shockwave - gutted planetoids and other debris - has been teaming with energon. It's turned into a race to see who can take most advantage of the situation. Alien freighters, miners, traders, pirates, empire warships, scavengers, and others are all here. Thing Contents: Cube Snarl Sixshot Trypticon Autobot City One week ago the Quintessons blitzed the binary star system for energon. They were well prepared for this unexpected turn of events here - suspiciously well prepared, perhaps. But the blitz has passed and the Quintessons have moved onto phase II of their operation. Hired third party agents are out scavenging what's left in the system for them. Pirates and mercenaries, the lot of them. Due to intelligence acquired by the Decepticon Redshift during the last battle, the Empire is well aware of the time and place that their most important agent(s) are striking. The Combaticon Blast Off lurks in the region, power shut down as he drifts as stealthily as he can, carrying the Decepticon strike force aboard him. The target? A massive but slow freighter, just finished extensive mining operations near the centre of the solar system. The freighter is as long as Metroplex is tall, and is wide enough to be comparable to the Ark in sheer bulk. The ship (registered to those annoying cat people from The Big Broadcast of 2005), is immobilized in space. Judging from the debris in the area, its fighter escort has been destroyed, and a general distress call has been sent out, begging for assistance. The open hangar deck beneath the vessel tells where the much smaller Quintesson pirate ship has gone. The hijacking must be underway, and this is the time to strike! Redshift is sitting aboard Blast Off, in the cargo deck, grumbling to himself and fidling with his rifle. "All this 'waiting' and 'lurking' is driving me nuts, when do we attack?" He asks, to nobody in particular(because nobody else has posed in yet), and idly locks and unlock the ammo clip from his spotlessly clean gauss rifle. Where has Wheelie been since the fateful Science Fair? Why, aboard this freighter. Disguised as a migrant miner, blending in amongst the cat people by wearing a big Space Hot Topic cat-ear headband, he scrambles toward the docking bay to try and intercept the pirates inside the ship! Dreadwind is... well some would call it sat others slumped inside of Blast Off grumbling loudly to anyone that'll listen, "Great so now i'm going to be in combat onboard a vessel that's full of highly explosive energon, if any of us survive this it'll be a miracle and those that do will need major repairs done to them, have you ever seen the damage a large scale energon explosion can do?" Galvatron is also in Blast Off, since Cyclonus is off somewhere else, presumably overseeing projects on Earth since Shockwave and Galvatron are both here on the job. Galvatron looks rather impatient with Blast Off; he's used to a ride far more pimped than this brown space shuttle. "Can't you go any faster, Blast Off? At this rate we will never intercept those vile cyberslugs before they make yet another infuriating escape!" Blast Off whines a reply about how heavy everyone is but can't come up with anything convincing, and quickly shuts up when he realizes how much he sounds like Astrotrain on that fateful day. Shockwave is sitting in the co-pilot chair inside Blast-Off and...say where does he put his brain when someone is sitting at the helm? "Perhaps you should make an appointment Blast-Off in order to get your engines upgraded." He turns towards Galvatron "We should be there soon enough." Dreadwind stares at floor inside Blast Off, "Oh yes that's what we want to do rush in heedless of what may be there, might as well go in all guns blazing, at least then we won't have to wait for the ambush to go off. If we're really lucky we'll hit their energon stores and take everything out in one go without all the interminable wandering around in darkly lit corridors." Soundwave mans communications again. "Lord Galvatron," he says, "What shall we do with the original occupants of the freighter? Will we terminate them as well?" Even as he asks, he keeps an audial tuned towards the cries of distress from the freighter's crew. <> Scattershot howls into the void, burning through the sky (yeaaah 300 degrees) on his way to the site of the engagement. It does not seem that the Technobot Commander really paid attention to any other details of the distress beacon. I mean, come on. Pirates. What more do you need to know? The inexplicable space vehicle that is Scattershot roars into the zone (this is just for effect, because you can't really hear anything in space) and heads straight towards the open hangar deck, not even bothering to slow his speed. <> he transmits to the passenger area. <> With that said, he crashes right into the hangar deck, slamming through debris and cargo, skidding sideways until he finally comes to a halt, sideways against the back wall. Inside, protective foam has been deployed in addition to the passenger webbing. That's just Scattershot all over, though: safety first. Redshift sighs again as they're /still/ not there yet. He makes a big show of peering down the sights of his rifle, lining up Dreadwind's face. "I should've just flown on my own, I can go way faster than this broan-coated slag heap." Galvatron turns to Soundwave with a dismissive wave of the hand. "If they cross our line of fire. If it would amuse you to interrogate them you have a free hand to capture as many as you like. My only concern is the Quintessons... and what they deserve!" How Wheelie got on board is anyone's guess, but the minibot is known for cropping up where people don't want him. Klaxons are going off on the freighter, and soldiers are running this way and that to get to their battle stations. The miners, of which Wheelie is disguised, are not told to do anything useful other than stand still, shut up, and don't get in anyone's way. Still, vague mutterings by rushing soldiers speak of Cybertronian attackers. Entering the docking bay, Wheelie will find the pirates have come, either slaughtered or routed the crewpeople unlucky enough to be stationed here, and have moved on. The docking bay has been shot up by a variety of weapons. The sleak pirate vessel rests on the hangar deck, and a stylized Jolly Roger is draped overhead. Gunfire can be heard elsewhere in the ship, and Wheelie can easily track the attackers down if he likes. DARE HE?! Blast Off is free to blast his way into the hangar (no pun intended) if he so desires, or any other section of the ship with a few well placed x-ray blaster shots. The Combaticon and those aboard will notice a certain Technobot scream past him at the speed of sheer madness. Caution? Wha? Marissa, on board Scattershot, is busy fitting out her Warthog exo-armour for the mission. "Hanging on," she says out loud, grabbing onto a handhold for the ride in. Scattershot makes it into the hangar just as Wheelie does. Shouting and firefights can be heard throughout the ship. Dreadwind doesn't appear to notice the somewhat blatant threat from Redshift, not that he would actually bother to do anything even if he did, knowing his luck the shot would fly wide of the mark hit a fuel line inside Blast Off and send them all to a firey grave leaving him the lone survivor a drift in space all alone melted and disfigured left to slow ly die from energy depletion. Wheelie reaches down and rubs his chest -- until the dark blob on it transforms from a dark blob into a dark blob with a heat-sensitive Autobot logo in the middle of it. Taking off his cat-ear headband, he transforms the accessory into his slingshot. Optics dimming since they cannot narrow, he says, "A pirate's life for they may be, but they've never had to fight Wheelie." Heroic proclamation made, he sets off after the pirates. From Autobot Shuttle , Springer is headed back out of the city on another energon harvesting run. Even though the pickings have gotten a little slimmer since this whole energon rush started, Springer dutifully continues to make trips out in the shuttles to collect energon. Not only does it help the Cause, it also gives Springer an excuse to log airtime in a shuttle. Redshift slams down his rifle, tired of waiting. He quickly rises to his feet, and stomps towards the airlock. "That's it, this is close enough. I'm going in!" He punches the controls on the airlock, forcing his way outside into the vacuum of space. Weapons in hand, he makes his own approach on the freighter, firing off a pair of fusion rockets to make his own way in. Soundwave places a hand to one of the prongs on the side of his head, as if to better facilitate listening in to a communication device. "Intercepted transmissions from the freighter suggest that the pirates have cleared the docking bay and are making swift progress throughout the ship." He turns slightly as Redshift launches out of the shuttle, but does not follow suit because he doesn't fly very well in space. Galvatron orders Soundwave, "Bring Blast Off up alongside to transfer the troops who aren't space-capable. But see to it that he isn't exploded this time!" Blast Off agrees very much with not being exploded. Dreadwind looks up as the airlock cycles to let the impatient Redshift leave, "Well at least we now know who the first casualty is going to be, he won't be the last." Galvatron goes to the door that Redshift just jumped out of. "Decepticons... ATTACK!" He hurls himself out into space by slingshotting himself out of the doorframe by his arms, and floats towards the hijacked ship. Shockwave gets up from the co-pilot seat and walks towards the airlock with a steady determined pace as usual. He begins running space-combat scenarios in his head. Pondering the various outcomes and variables involved. The Mil Ops commander leaps outand transforms into his space-gun mode in order to maneuver accordingly and follows his leader into battle. With the traditional sound, Shockwave transforms into a giant space-gun. "By your command," Soundwave emits, a red point of light moving horizontally across his optic band. Wait, no, that's just a reflection from the communication panel's lighting. Anyway. "Blast Off, connect to the portside airlock and prepare for boarding operations." <> Scattershot emits, just before his passenger compartment opens, ejecting the mass of foam containing Marissa out into the hangar. Once that's done, he transforms, rifle already in his hands. The Technobot turns towards the foam block and taps it at a certain point, causing it to crumble into dust and freeing the EDC member inside. That done, Scattershot strides over to the pirate ship and clangs his metallic fist against the hull several times. "OI!" he bellows. "C'mon out 'ere an' face me! I'm gonna SHOOT ya until ya stop bein' pirates!" A pause. "Even though pirates is pretty cool," he adds, under his breath. "Wheelie!" he calls after the minibot. A moment passes. Then: "Ya know? Never mind. Just... just do whatcha do." Seeing as the command figures are making it a rush to board and die on the other vessel Dreadwind climbs to his feet using whatever hand holds he can find inside Blast Off to help pull himself up. All the while his mind running through various scenarios of space-combat based doom and destruction that they will inevtably run across. Wheelie is, as Scattershot calls, already gone, like a warm desert wind. From Autobot Shuttle , Springer notices a sensor reading blinking steadily. Glancing at it, he first turns to look at the main viewscreen, leaning a little closer to the screen and looking intently at the some activity surrounding a couple of ships. They appear tiny on the viewscreen due to the distance from Springer's own shuttle. It takes a while before he thinks to use the ship's sensors to zoom in for a better look (and it takes him a few tries to zoom in on the proper coordinates). Finally he sees what's going on...and sits up straight as the Decepticons spilling out of Blast off come into view. The Decepticons are able to depart Blast Off and gain entry to the ship just as Scattershot ejects the Warthog-armoured Marissa Faireborn. "Beats a standard parachute deployment anytime," she replies to the Technobot. Bits of foam stick to the exo-armour as Marissa readies her guns. As the Decepticons burst in, Marissa shouts, "Scattershot, we've got company!" she ducks behind the pirate ship for cover. Go on and destroy it, she won't mind. Meanwhile, the lovable rhyming minibot begins tracking the pirates, rushing out of the docking bay and down the hallways. Wounded and dead cat people litter the halls, as well as the occasional Sharkticon. Any surviving cat people are shocked (shocked!) that Wheelie wasn't one of them after all, and that it was all merely a cunning disguise. Following the trail of destruction is easy. Unbeknownst to the Autobot, however, someone has taken note of his passing. Virtually silent footsteps step out of a doorway Wheelie has passed, and begins following him at a rapid but stealthy pace. The fighting can be heard getting closer and closer as Wheelie draws near. Shouts that are familiar in some way can be heard as the battle progresses. Who is winning is obvious. Rounding one corner, Wheelie comes face to face with a wall with fresh red graffiti on it. The paint is still dripping. It reads: GOD NEPTUNE WUZ HERE. Seawing, the mech who stealthily followed Wheelie, coughs politely, both venom laser pistols trained on the mech. "Well well well, if it isn't Wheelie. I'm going to have to ask you to stop right there." he says as a smile creeps across his face. Whipping around, Wheelie has his slingshot drawn, in some kind of crude mockery of a mexican standoff. His adorable little face is shocked (shocked!), however. "Don't think Wheelie is any less brave when faced with foes from beyond the grave! Though a zombie in my eyes stares, know you're in my sling's crosshairs!" "DECEPTICON!" Scattershot shouts, only slightly less enthusiastic than when he shouted 'PIRATES!' earlier. His rifle pokes over the top of the pirate ship, but doesn't fire. "Wait, wait," he grumbles. "We should prob'ly save what's left'a th'ship first... I guess." The Technobot Commander sounds a little disappointed at that. But he IS an Autobot after all. Mostly. Kind of. "Marissa, kin ya go find Wheelie an' see what he's doin'? I'll see what th'Decepticreeps want. I AM a master diplomat aft'rall," Scattershot says, thinking back to his 'negotiations' with Alpha Q's envoys. He pokes his head out from behind the ship and, in his most diplomatic voice, yells: "WADDAYA WANT?!" Soundwave's head turns towards Marissa and Scattershot, and his concussion rifle appears in his hands instantly. "AUTOBOTS!" he booms, stating the obvious. And yet, he does not fire. "Lord Galvatron, they are not initiating hostilities. Shall we spare them for the time being?" A moment after asking, Soundwave looks back at the Combaticon sitting there in shuttle mode, like a big brown target. "Blast Off, transform and hide until we need you." Galvatron lands in the hangar bay of the hijacked ship, swatting a fleeing catboy out of his way with the back of one hand. "Autobots! Even here we find you, dug in like a despicable turbotick! We have come for the Quintessons! Hinder us, and be destroyed!" Space-Gun lands in the hangar not far behind Galvatron and proceeds to re-transform into his robot mode after scanning the area with his x-rays. "Sir, logic dictates we cannot in any circumstance trust the Autobot in such a situation. Therefore I suggest we simply terminate everything between us and our primary objective." Shockwave sweeps the area. With the traditional sound, the space-gun unfolds into Shockwave's robot mode. Entering through the debris of his explosive entry, Redshift enters the hangar bay of the massive freighter. Weilding both of his firearms, Redshift makes a quick survey of the hangar. "We're here to kill the squids, Autobot. Don't get in our way, or you know what'll happen." Redshift says flatly. He looks around the hangar a bit more closely. "It looks like the pirates have come and gone, and are probaly deeper inside the ship. Anyone bring any fancy sensors?" Dreadwind disembarks with lumbering speed as Blast Off is told to make himself scarce, "Wait an astrosecond some of us are still getting off, nobody pays any attention to what i'm doing, i don't know why they even bother to bring me along..." The Last Star Fighter squints at Redshift. "... Yeah, I'll slag th'lotta ya then go on vacation in Maui, what of it?" He shakes his head, looking at Galvatron and Soundwave. "Oh, well then. If yer after th'squidbillies I ain't gonna stop ya." A beat passes. "But maybe don't shoot no more'a these weird cat things? I guess as an Autobot I ain't s'posed ta let y'all kill things. Y'know, 'cept Quintessons." The Technobot Commander throws up his hands, losing interest in the Decepticons because he can't really fight them here, and wanders off after Wheelie. "Oi! Wheelie!" he calls. "Where'd ya git to, ya li'l rustbucket?!" Scattershot reconfigures into his humanoid robot form, hands flexing and feet stomping. His head ratchets into place, looking grim. Galvatron nods in agreement with Shockwave. "I concur, Shockwave. Your reasoning is, as always, sound." He turns back to blow away Scattershot, but the Technobot has gone off in search of Wheelie. "Our way is clear! Advance!" From Autobot Shuttle , Springer watches Blast Off pull away from the freighter, then brings his own shuttle to almost the exact spot occupied by the Combaticon a few minutes earlier. He then magnetizes his feet and climbs out onto the hull using slow and measured movements. Springer trails a safety cable behind him...which he soon discards before launching himself across space at the other ship. Once on the hull of the freighter he makes his way towards the hangar, pausing to point a tiny hand-held remote at the Autobot shuttle. It peels off silently to take position in a holding pattern far behind the freighter in question. Seawing stands his ground. His smile doesn't fade as he enters a standoff with the plucky minibot. "Zombies," he snorts. He stares at the sling. "One false move and the Autobots will be sending me 'thank you cards' for finishing you off." He opens a radio frequency. "Seawing to Snaptrap, we've got boarders of the Autobot variety." Snaptrap's voice can be heard shouting something back about almost reaching the command deck. He also mentions something about diverting several Sharkticons back to assist Seawing. The Seacon closes the connection and tells Wheelie, "I'm not a zombie." Marissa glances out from behind the pirate ship long enough to spot the entering Decepticons. "Alright," she tells Scattershot. He isn't going to take on all the Cons by himself, is he? "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Scattershot." she tells him, figuring that will take care of that. The Warthog maneuvers over to the hall Wheelie vanished down. As the Decepticons, Scattershots, and Marissas storm down the hall after Wheelie, Seawing scowls, hearing their approach. "Going to have to wait on dealing with you, twerp." Seawing attempts to duck through an automatic door in the hallway. Soundwave stares at Redshift for a moment. Doesn't he know who he is? Well, no matter. "I shall keep us appraised of any potential anomalies and track the intruders." He fires off a few shots at the Autobots, but they're already gone. "And I will monitor the Autobots' transmissions." The tape commander hustles after the other Decepticons, occasionally--messily--stepping on a cat person here and there. Good thing there aren't any Furry fans here to watch. Dreadwind takes a moment to inspect the hanger bay, after all there's bound to be a Galvat..err boobytrap somewhere around here, he doesn't manage to spot one not that that means there aren't any around. Heeding Galvatron's orders he trudges onwards, "If we rush around like this we're just leaving ourselves open to ambush by large numbers of unseen foes, where we will be instantly takren down and captured for torture and worse. That is as long as we get past the auto defences that are undoubtedly extremely lethal." Galvatron would just shoot them if there were, and the smell of incinerated furry is one that has to be sensed to be described. "Soundwave IS a fancy sensor, Redshift. Soundwave, suss out the Quintessons. Redshift, Shockwave, comb the ship!" Galvatron adds, "Dreadwind, make yourself useful for once by helping Redshift!" Redshift forgot to bring his comb, but the combined firepower of his gauss rifle and rocket launcher should more than make up for the lack of grooming device. He grumbles a bit as Dreadwind gets assigned to help him, but it could come in handy to have a slow 'con around when he needs to make an escape. He briefly glances over his shoulder at Dreadwind, before heading dwon a corridor. "Ok Dread, stay close, and keeps your optics open..." Redshift says, his bright red optics scanning back and forth as he boldly makes his way deeper into the ship. Dreadwind turns and look straight at Galvatron, "Yes i'll make myself useful, though i'm not sure that there's anything i can do to help Redshift, perhaps some sort of psychotherapy, though he does seem to be nauseatingly happy and energetic enough already." Dreadwind moves as fast as his cumbersome body will allow, drawing both his melters as he moves, "I always watch out, not that it does any good you can't avoid the inevitable." Shockwave nods to Galvatron and heads out on his own leaving the dynamic duo of Redshift and Dreadwind to comb their side of the ship. After analyzing the attack and current condition of the ship, there is one place where the Quintessons are heading for and that is the escape pods. As he makes his way he transmits a warning to his fellow Decepticons. <> Galvatron sticks with Soundwave himself, following the communicator's flawless 'nose' for radiations and exudations of all kinds. "Make haste, Soundwave. I am eager to crush Quintessons with my bare hands! If they escape yet again, as Shockwave has predicted, I will be most disappointed!" Scattershot comes around the corner to find Wheelie, standing there with his slingshot. He frowns. "Wheelie, what th'slag happened?!" he demands, glowering down at the minibot. He crosses his arms. "I don't pay ya t'stand around!" Pause. "I don't, y'know, I don't pay ya at all, but th'point is why ain'tcha doin' nothin'?" Soundwave, as he pursues the contacts, tilts his head down as he rushes forward. "Strange. I am detecting electromagentic waveforms reminiscent of those emitted by Sharkticons. Possible emissions from Quintesson levitation beams also suspected. And..." He pauses in his speech. "...Several more Cybertronian contacts. I am not certain if they are also Autobots." From Autobot Shuttle , Springer makes his way along the outer hull of the ship and stops next to the hangar entrance, one hand gripping a rung on the outside hull and the other readying his laser rifle. He takes a moment to collect himself, before using his handhold to swing himself around and propel him into the hangar bay feet-first, rifle pointed and ready. "WRECK AND RULE!!" he bellows as he lands solidly in a combat crouch, ready to shoot or duck or move quickly in any direction...but of course, the hangar bay is now empty. "Aw, Scrap." From the stray communications Soundwave picks up from the shipwide radio frequencies, it is clear that the defenders are badly losing to the pirate forces. There are repeated mentions of Cybertronian and Sharkticon attackers, though nobody is able to pin down a name to the Cybertronians. The defenders have fallen back to the command bridge, but they won't be able to hold out for long. Soundwave is also able to glean a basic map of the ship, and can direct others on where to go. Marissa reaches Wheelie as Scattershot does, and the Colonel covers the Autobot's 6 while he gets some answers from the minibot. She doesn't like having all these Decepticons around, and wishes Springer would hurry it up. Redshift offers a shrug to Dreadwind. "Getting a chance to kill Squidheads makes me happy, yeah." Redshift replies to the pepeptually glum Dreadwind. Redshift leaps around a corner, snapping up his rifle, but it's just more empty hallway past the bend. Just more blaster marks and the occasional dead body. Redshift continues down the hall, on high alert for a bomb or any Sharkticons to shoot. "Keep up, Dread, there's got ot be something to kill here somewhere..." Soundwave states, "Ship layout and schematics downloaded. Please follow me." He rushes around a corner, and runs straight towards a bulkhead. "Four Sharkticons in the next room." As the bulkhead opens, a big fat Sharkticon leaps out of it like a horror movie monster. But after a metal rending sonic blast, the Sharkticon is ripped apart into a shower of little metal parts, which Soundwave runs through like confetti and into the room. That would be one Sharkticon... what about the other three?... Galvatron follows Soundwave into the room and immediately upgrades the first of the three remaining Sharkticons into a triplechanger! The new third mode is Picture_Window. The other two lunge at Galvatron and Soundwave, jaws distended; Galvatron meets them with fists and feet, kicking one back while crushing the second into a wall. Before the third can get up he leaps upon it with his lightsaber in hand and divides it into four equal pieces. "Do continue, Soundwave," adds Galvatron, shutting off his saber. Scattershot crosses his arms, watching with grudging respect as Wheelie lays down his phat rhymes. After a while, though, he gets bored and turns towards the nearest door. "Well, we might as well keep goin'," he grumbles, poking at the door in the hopes that it won't open and give him an excuse to kick it down. Dreadwind trudges onwards his stance somewhat lacking in pep as his arms hang at his sides, guns menacing the floor near his feet. He stomps round the corner after Redshift, "Looks like they've finished all the pointless killing here, looks like they're defficient enough not to leave themselves a rear guard, either that or they've set up a nasty surprise down one of these halls. Probably a giant bomb or worse a huge invincible mecha perriwinkle with fusion cannons for optics." Shockwave makes his way towards the escape pods with minimal resistance so far as the guards are likely focused on more sensitive areas of the ship. A few blasts of higly concentrated gamma-rays leave 3 smoking husks in the hallway. From Autobot Shuttle , Springer transforms into his Cyber-Car mode and uses the intractely detailed directions provided by Scattershot :) to trace the Techno's path. After briefly filling the corridors of the ship with echoes of racecar noises - engine roaring, tires skidding, horn honking, that sort of thing - he's caught up with the Marissa and the Autobots. He pops back into robot mode and takes his place next to the others, this time with his sword out for that extra edge in close-quarters-combat. "Guys...I think I ran over a -Sharkticon- on my way here. What's going on?" Redshift and Dreadwind, being the faster group, quickly put some distance between them and the other Decepticons. On the downside, they seem to be heading in a random direction. On the plus side, Redshift has the luck of the robo devil with him. Cat people and Sharkticon bodies become more numerous as they trudge through the battered hallways until they reach a section of the ship with a plaque that reads 'ARMOURY'. The heavy blast doors are open, and two familiar faces are inside, checking out the small but potent weapons. Dead defenders lay about them, as do several surviving Sharkticons. "I don't know," Overbite snarls, hoisting up a shoulder bazooka. "Does this say 'badaft' enough to you?" Nautilator stares back, "I... really couldn't care less," he mutters. Neither have noticed Redshift or Dreadwind. The armoured Marissa offers a nod to Springer and says, "Welcome aboard. We're not entirely sure what's going on beyond a hijacking in progress. We aren't entirely sure by who, though if you saw a Sharkticon we can narrow it down. Perhaps we should get to the bridge," she suggests as Scattershot opens a door. The door leads to... the other side of the armoury. The Autobots can see Overbite and Nautilator, and on the other side of the room is another open door with Redshift and Dreadwind staring through. Nautilator finally takes note of this. "Aw slag," he says. Galvatron and Soundwave meanwhile fight their way to the bridge, battling the occasional Sharkticon along the way. With Soundwave guiding them, they soon reach the command area, where gunfire and other sounds of war can be heard. The remaining Seacons - Skalor, Tentakil, and Snaptrap - have set up a small barricade around them, made of a collapsed wall. They're blasting at the rapidly dwindling cat people defenders. Soon the command centre will be theirs! They haven't noticed the two Decepticons yet. Shockwave has made his way to the escape pods. Many of them have already been jettisoned. Resistance is nil, as the pirates aren't interested in killing the crew unless they fight back. Galvatron's cannon is already humming and glowing from the last Sharkticon, and with both speed and grace he steps in behind Snaptrap and levels the cannon at the back of the Seacon's head. "Snaptrap! Where are your Quintesson paymasters? Speak, and quickly! GALVATRON commands you!" Redshift hears a few voices that are definatly not Sharkticons, and holds up a hand to halt Dreadwind before he passes the armory. Redshift silently mouths the word 'slag!', and takes a position besides the door, weapons raised. He sneaks a peek past the doorframe, only to see two of the Seacons! And probaly two of the more dangerous ones, aside from Snaptrap of course. Redshift makes a few obscure hand motion to Dreadwind, before burtsing in on Overbite and Nautilator. Redshift fires off a compact but powerful fusion rocket ino the room, but not at the former Decepticons-turned-pirates, but at the store of weapons stockpiled inside the armory, hoping to detonate some ammunition or fuelcells, or something. From Autobot Shuttle , Springer 's voice sounds flat. "Seacons." He hefts his sword, glancing briefly at his allies to note their positions. Then he takes a step into the armoury. "I suppose it was too much to hope for that you traitors had really been destroyed." Soundwave does a flip over the barricade, landing neatly right beside Galvatron. He points his concussion rifle at the other two Seacons, alternating between them in his sights. "Do not move or you will be terminated. Again." Speaking of which... "Verifying identity of Seacons," he reports, as his powerful electronic senses compare the brainwave emissions from these clones to what he recalls from them the first time they were about and kicking. Are they really the same guys, or is this yet another Quintesson trick? Dreadwind looks up and dejectedly announces that he was right, "See i knew there was something fishy going on. What did i do to the universe to deserve having all these complications added to my excruciating existence? We could just pass by and let them get o....." Dreeadwind sighs dejectedly, "No plan, just wave at me a few times and then leap blasting into the armoury, this is going to end well for at least half of the ship, the unexploded half that is." With that he stands in the doorway and raises his arms, "Give it up or we're all going to die horribly, Primus alone knows how much high explosive is lying around here." Not the best of battle crys but it'll do. Springer leaves the Autobot Shuttle . "What in the pit..." comes Snaptrap's startled muttered at Galvatron's order. "Galvatron! We don't work for you anymore." Snaptrap peeks up from over the barricade long enough to blow away the last remaining cat person with his sonic cannon. He whirls around, viciously knocking the Decepticon leader's hand away. "And you brought Soundwave for us also? Looks like we have ourselves a new enemy, mechs! Seacons, TAKE THEM OUT!" Snaptrap's last word is cut off by a roar as he falls down into his nigh invincible armoured turtle form and busts through his own barricade. Eight turret-mounted photon beam ports, a semi-automatic atom smasher cannon, and twin sonic shell cannons home in on the Decepticon pair. Unspeakable firepower fills the hallway as his booming laughter can be heard several decks away. Tentakil moves out for a better angle on them. Skalor meanwhile rushes into the command centre out of sight. Soundwave's mind scans will show they are definitely /similar/ to the originals, though a more intensive study, while not being shot at, will probably lead to better results. Nautilator smacks Overbite a few times to get his attention. Both are now aware of the Autobots and Decepticons. "Wait, you idiot!" Nautilator calls out as Redshift aims for the obvious. He agrees with Dreadwind on whether this is a good idea or not. "Don't do it, you'll take us al-" Overbite grabs his fellow Seacon and lunges towards the exit with the Autobots as Redshift fires. The rocket slams into an ammo crate and explodes, starting off a chain reaction of explosions that begin to get larger and larger. "Out of the way, Autobot!" Overbite roars, shoving Springer as he attempts to escape. Shockwave begins to work quickly on disabling the escape pods before heading towards the bridge to backup his comrades. It would not be proper for the leader of Mil Ops to avoid fighting. Soundwave states, after a quick scan, "Their minds are similar to the original Seacons, but I will require more... ARRRGHHH!" He collapses to his knees as Snaptrap's sonic shells blast him back out of the barricade, and he slams against a control console, crushing a random cat person who had, up until now, managed to avoid dying. He should've kept his head down! As for Soundwave, he slumps against the console, shaking from the sonic onslaught. Springer's optics widen as the rocket flies into the armory. He's so surprised that he doesn't have time to even resist when Overbite shoves him aside. But Springer snaps out of it quickly as explosions start going off inside the room. The Triple-changer reaches out and grabs at Overbite's long trailing shark-tail, letting the Seacon's momentum pull Springer back to his feet and out of the room. "Look out, it's gonna blow!!" He shouts, diving for cover. Galvatron pulls himself out of the bulkhead he was blasted into by Snaptrap's devastating barrage with a contemptuous snarl! "Snaptrap, you FOOL! I offered you a second chance at life, and you have SQUANDERED it! Now you will pay the PRICE for your lack of VISION." Galvatron springs straight up to seize a ceiling beam, swings over Snaptrap's ongoing blaze of energy beams and cannon shells below, and crashes down onto Snaptrap's back with lightsaber in hand, the better with which to attempt to sever his guns from his shell! Redshift has already started to make his retreat as soon as he unleashed the missile, kicking off into the air and firing his bootjets to make a speedy exit. Of ourse, that doesn't mean he's not going to skip an opportunity to put some dents in the Seacons, even though they aren't the Quintessons he came here to kill. Still careening down the hall in flight, Redshift spins around and faces back towards the armory and the Seacons, his bootjets and antigravs propelling his in reverse. He slows down, taking aim with his gauss rifle at Nautilator, and fires off a few poorly-aimed shells at the former Decepticon, before turning back to make sure he doesn't crash into a wall. Scattershot is surprisingly calm as the firefight breaks out. Calm, and smiling. "Well, THAT'S more like it," he says, pointing his acid-pellet rifle towards Overbite. Ratt-a-tat-tat goes the hungry payload, seeking metal to melt and enemies to slag. "Alright! Let's crush some Seacons! YEEHAW!" The Technobot Commander dives into the fray, finally in his element. Dreadwind arms droop back to his side as exactly what he stated would happen happens right before his pale optics, yes he could dive to the side but then it's not like the explosion is going to stop at the doorway. The first few concussive blasts don't do a lot but by the third the intensity has grown immesurably. "Suffering is my life, not that anyone cares." He states dejectedly as he is flung backwards and slams against the far wall of the corridor, finally he crumples to the ground leaving an awe inspiring mark on the interior of the ship. With the escape pods deactivated, and the trail cleared by Galvatron and Soundwave, Shockwave will have no trouble making his way up to the bridge to assist his fellow Decepticons. Snaptrap roars with laughter as Soundwave is blown away, crushing an unfortunate cat person. The dog people race will surely win the inevitable war now. The Seacon leader shuffles to face Galvatron directly, trying not to be overconfident against what's likely the most powerful single Cybertronian in history. "We've squandered NOTHING, Galvatron! The Quintessons rebuilt us, not you!" Snaptrap's cannons go silent as they reload, and he charges the Decepticon leader. The ceiling beam slams into his back, causing his legs to buckle and Snaptrap to fall down. The Seacon is stunned but not out. Tentakil transforms into his walking octopus mode and reaches out to Galvatron, trying to grab him. If successful, electrically charged feelers activate, sending 50,000 volts through Galvatron's frame. "It isn't personal, Galvatron, but we have our orders involving you." The armoury meanwhile has been wasted, as has a good portion of the hallways connecting to it. The entire ship shook - others will feel the tremours no matter where they are. Overbite and Nautilator are flung into a wall from the explosion, with the former taking the worst of it. If that wasn't bad enough for the unlucky Seacon, Scattershot blasts him with acid in the back, and Overbite goes down with his back partially melted. Nautilator folds down into his weapon mode even as Redshift's shells strike above him, narrowly missing. From the cannon's mouth, Nautilator fires a spread of energon bands towards Springer, Redshift, Scattershot, and Marissa. Dreadwind, knocked down the corridor, is out of his line of sight. If they hit, the bands trap the target and constrict tightly. Marissa's Warthog is struck, and she falls back, using the Exo-Armour's amazing strength to try and fend off the squeezing. A figure stands over the fallen Dreadwind. Seawing, having emerged again, points his venom pistols down at him and tsks. "I'd say I'm sorry but I don't want to lie." He begins firing. KRAK-THOOOM! roars Soundwave's concussion rifle after he fires a blast at Tentakill. "All... traitors... will be... TERMINATED!" he intones as he pushes off of the console and the icky cat corpse. But judging from his shaky stance, that sonic blast from Snaptrap took a LOT out of him. Redshift is a little too busy trying not to crash after his reckless high-speed escape(which was preceded by his reckless blowing-up-the-armoury) The constricting bands latch around Redshift's body, and Redshift ttumbles, crashing first into a wall "Ow!" and then onto the floor. "Ow!" WHUMPF! Scattershot is sent flying backwards into the wall with a band tightening around his left arm. Fortunately, he managed to dodge the worst of it... but he's still pinned. "SLAG!" he roars, putting a foot on the wall and attempting to pull himself free. "DOUBLE SLAG!" he cries, redoubling his efforts even as his shoulder cannons swivel backwards, firing blindly at Nautilator. "Whoever rebuilt you is irrelevant, Snaptrap, as it is I, GALVATRON, who will TEAR YOU APART!" rages Galvatron, who is clearly venting his frustration at not finding the Quintessons here personally, on the Seacons as he rolls to the right, snatches up one of the catboys with his uncanny speed, and thrusts it between himself and Snaptrap to catch the feelers. It sounds like a moth hitting a bug-killer light, smoke rolling up from the burned fur. "Oh, and what orders are those?" asks Galvatron, sounding unconcerned as he aims low to attempt to blow off Tentakil's legs- someone of Galvatron's power could destroy a dozen Tentakils in one good morning and still have time to break for lunch. Appart from the two clangs as Dreadwind is pushed first into thwe walland then impacts with the floor very little actual noise comes from him, he lies there face down looking almost as if he's deactivated. Even the trite comment from Seawing doesn't cause him to move, that is until he starts blasting away, "Why can't life just leave me alone." He moans as he shifts his bulk slightly, the stinging laser blasts causing him to move more slowly than normal. Dreadwind spies his melters on the ground behind his new tormentor, "I couldn't just have lost them all together could i?" He questions as he raises one apparently weaponless arm at Seawing and lets him have it with his wrist blaster. Springer jerks his sword up to try to block the energon bands heading his way, holding it the way of one aimed at neck. The sword neatly bisects the band, but a second flies in lower, wrapping around Springer's thighs. Even as the two halves of the first band bounce off of the wall to either side of Springer's head, the one around his legs constricts, pulling them together and throwing Springer off balance. The Autobot falls to the ground with a loud echoing CLAAANG! "Watch where you're shooting!!" he shouts as Scattershot fires blindly, "You'll hit us!". Springer tugs at the band with his bare hand and then finally angles his sword to slice it off. Shockwave finally arrives near the intersection where all the commotion is happening and finally gets his first glanve at the Seacons. He just stands there immobile for a few seconds. He raises his gun-arm and aims at Tentakill (his least favorite one) "Lord Galvatron, given what happened during our last encounter with the Seacons, I can almost certify with a 90% accuracy that those are clones. Convincing ones but clones nonetheless." Tentakil tries to hold on to Galvatron for as long as he can, but it isn't enough to slow the mighty Decepticon leader. A single blast from the fusion cannon blows through Tentakil's left leg, and the Seacon cries out in pain, transforming back into robot mode to regain his footing (literally) and back away from Galvatron. Even as he does, Soundwave fries him with a concussive rifle blast. Shockwave adds to the pain with an arm cannon shot, and Tentakil is thrown through the door leading to the command centre. He lands on his rear and skids a good distance inside. Skalor meanwhile is at the controls. "Are they dead yet or- oh..." he peers at Tentakil, who's chest is smoldering as he lies still on the ground. He sees Galvatron and Soundwave through the door. "Or not." Snaptrap growls at Galvatron but thinks better of tangling with him and the Wave brothers solo. "Wouldn't you like to know," he spits at Galvatron. Snaptrap transforms back into robot mode and dives through into the command centre, hitting the door panel on the other side. The door closes. "That bought us all of two astroseconds," he mutters. "Have you got control of this ship yet or not? FTL us to Quintesson space where we can demolish them at our leisure!" Nautilator transforms back into robot mode, having triumphantly trapped Faireborn, Scattershot, and Springer. "Did you see that? I did it! I did it right!" Sadly, Overbite didn't see it, and so the victory is meaningless. Nautilator helps him to his feet while the others are trapped or crashing through walls. Seawing meanwhile scoffs at Dreadwing. "You're not in the Quintesson data files. Just who are you and why are you so whiny?" He continues to fire, but just before he thinks Dreadwing isn't even worth it, the Decepticon raises his arm and fires his wrist blasters, striking Seawing in the face. The reconnaissance expert drops one of his venom pistols and falls backwards, tripping through a ruined wall and landing on Redshift. "Well slag," Scattershot growls, exchanging his right hand for an energon chainsaw. With an ominous VRRRRRRRM, he turns it on the wall around the band, attempting to hack himself free. He mutters angrily, pointedly ignoring Springer's complaints. Soundwave shambles over to Galvatron, watching the Seacons escape into the command center. His keen hearing penetrates the bulkhead, and he overhears their conversation! "Lord, they are planning to commander the ship's FTL drive and transport us to Quintesson space. We must withdraw or we will be isolated and overwhelmed in their territory." Springer hurries over and uses his sword to help slice Marissa free. Then he turns to check on Scattershot and help cut him free if he hasn't managed on his own yet. He doesn't catch the Head Techno's muttering but understands the general tone. "Just take that glitch out!" He snaps before turning towards Nautilator. Redshift was also trapped by Nautilator's constricting beams, but with a little wriggling Redsift is able to loosen the bonds enough to alow him to transform into his spacecraft mode, breakig free completly from the restraints. He hovers in the air briefly, angling his nosecone directly towards the unsuspecting Nautilator. With a flare of thrusters, Redshift then shoots forward, carrening towards the crabby seacon on a collision course. Dreadwind struggles to his feet his back injuries complaining with every movement all the while answering Seawing's oh so polite question, "The Quintessons don't know who i am? I'd like to say i was surprised but i'm not." Shakily he walks over to his weapons and retrieves them, holstering them safely away, "Over looked, ignored and underestimated i'd be insulted if it wasn't how i'm always treated that and it's a waste of energy. Do we have to finish this fight or are you going to run and end this pointlessness?" Redshift transforms into his sleek spacecraft mode and takes to the air. Galvatron turns to Soundwave, thinking hard and fast. "Are you able to subvert the ship's navigational system from here so that when they activate it, it takes us to Earth?" The energon bands are difficult to cut, but after a few seconds of hard work, Scattershot is able to hack himself to freedom. Marissa Faireborn meanwhile, by virtue of the Warthog's strength, has stretched the bands. It finally snaps as Springer slices at it. "You got it!" she calls back, cutting loose with a gatling laser mounted on her arm. Nautilator turns and flees, dragging Overbite with him. Overbite, still wounded, aims his freeze beam blaster back at the attackers even while he's dragged away. "You'll never catch us, scum! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha-ow..." He isn't really aiming, but anyone chasing him has a chance of being struck. Seawing, groggy, rolls over and holds his head in pain. "Please... stop complaining," he mutters to Dreadwind. "It's infuriating!" He fires several venom blasts past Dreadwind and towards Redshift, trying to deter him from chasing his fellow Seacons. Should he fail, Redshift, Nautilator, and Overbite are going to get really closely acquainted with one another really quickly. On the bridge, Skalor hesitates before replying to Snaptrap, "No... not yet." All the controls he touches gets disgusting goop all over it. "They did something to encrypt the controls, but it won't be long." Snaptrap grunts and stands over Tentakil, staring down at him. "Get. Up," he orders the smaller Seacon. Despite his wounds, Tentakil struggles and does so, sparking from wounds all over his body. Scattershot roars in triumph, pulling the entire section of wall away with his arm. He charges forward, using the bulkhead as a shield against the freeze ray. "Let's GIT 'em!" he shouts, thrusting his chainsaw through the shield-wall to make a hole, then firing his powerful wrist blasters at the retreating Seacons. Soundwave's simple reply is: "Yes." He turns to face one of the monitors in the bridge that hasn't been blasted to hell yet, and suddenly gibberish and random shapes flash rapidly across its screen for several moments, then the words 'ACCESS GRANTED' appear. Meanwhile, in the command center, the Seacons will probably be delighted to discover that the encryption has been hacked. Unfortunately, however, it wasn't by them, and they will soon also discover a familiar set of coordinates being entered into navigation before their very optics! Red Spacecraft is struck by a few venom blasts from Seawing, which sear into his armor and begin eating smoldering, sizzleing holes in his frame, but it doesl ittle to deter the speeding Redshift. in fact, he increses his speed, not planning on chasing the Seacons, but intent on trying to ram into them and knock them bloody senseless with a high speed impact. Galvatron clenches his fist in delight. There are a lot of reasons he keeps people like Soundwave and Shockwave around, in spite of the fact that most tyrants don't like to have lieutenants who approach or surpass them in intellect. This is one of those times. "Excellent, Soundwave! The trap is set! Now to speed them along their way and strand them in our own territory, where they will have no choice but to bend their knee to ME." Raising his cannon, he begins to melt through the blast door that Snaptrap disappeared through, a fairly convincing notice for those on the other side! Dreadwind finally spies just where his attacker got to after shooting him in the face, "Complaining? It's not complaining it is knowledge, knowledge of how this terrible universe works, not that i expect someone of your limited intellect to be able to grasp the enormity of it all. Maybe your release from this life's pain to the suffering of the next will help." Steping forwards slowly he raises both arms and tries to take Seawing's knees out as both wrist weapons flare with power. Seawing rises to his feet, injured but not out. This is for naught however as Dreadwind blasts his knees, sending the sneaky Seacon back to the deck in a crumpled heap. Seawing groans with pain, but isn't putting up anymore resistance. "We aren't running away!" Overbite shouts even as he continues to fire wildly. "Turn, Nautilator! Turn, coward! Turn and kill them all! We can take them! We've got them right where we want them!" Nautilator ignores him however and continues to sprint away, dragging Overbite along with him. Scattershot's wrist blaster hits Nautilator in the leg, and he falls. Redshift easily catches up, and despite Overbite's last minute attempt to shoot him down, collides with the pair of Seacons Space Pirates. Overbite, Nautilator, and Redshift smash through several bulkheads, ripping through metal and careening through corridors. The Decepticon and two ex-Decepticons finally come to a halt in the ship's mess hall. Non-combatant cat people flee the violent entry, though there isn't many places for them to go. The mess hall has huge windows in it, and is clearly designed as a secondary stargazing area. Skalor stares at the control panel and hesitates, trying to figure out just which buttons to press. Suddenly, the monitor flashes 'ACCESS GRANTED', and Skalor jumps with glee, almost slipping in a puddle of his own slime. "Got it! We have access." Snaptrap grunts and stomps over to the panel, not even waiting to give the order. He slams his fist down on the button. "Quintesson space... here we come." WARNING - FTL IMMINENT - WARNING There's a bright flash, a groaning lurch that throws everyone off balance, and the massive freighter enters - and leaves - FTL. The front viewer in the command centre, and the massive windows in the mess hall are filled with one view: Earth, from orbit. Specifically, the expansive Pacific Ocean. It is getting closer. "This. Is not. Quintesson. Space." Snaptrap deadpans. Flickers of intense heat can be seen around the windows as the freighter careens out of control, making an unintentional reentry into Earth's atmosphere. The roar of the wind can be heard just outside as the ship increases speed, and planet Earth is drawing nearer. Springer fires a few more shots after the retreating Seacons, but then he catches the sounds of combat coming from other parts of the ship, along with a deep humming noise he's come to associate with FTL engines coming online (and he picked it up -before- the telltale lurch of FTL engines activating...honest!). "Team, we just jumped to...to somewhere. But one thing's for sure, I don't know how much more this freighter's gonna take. Looks like things are under control for right now. I'm gonna go check on our ride - we may need to get out of here in a hurry!" He transforms back into his car mode and heads for the hangar bay. Red Spacecraft flies out the window or something. Yay space. Soundwave advises, "Lord, we must abandon this vessel or we may be destroyed in reentry." He stands there and waits for Galvatron to decide on a course of action. Galvatron holds onto a bulkhead and looks out a porthole as the ship's jump drive spins up, and the ejection from jumpspace over the Pacific is not as surprising for him as it is for others. Particularly since he's had this specific view several times in the past. "Eject into space! Summon Astrotrain to pick up those who cannot make or survive planetfall under their own power!" He blasts a hole in the hull and leaps out without further ado. Dreadwind walks over to the fallen seacon and points one arm at his head, "Darkwing would have probably let you live on in pain and agony, but then he is the nauseatingly happy o...." As the ship's FTL engines power up Dreadwind staggers forwards and blasts the deck just above Seawing's head. Steadying himself he is about to go back and finish the job when the ship exits FTL and impacts atmosphere, knowing all too well what that means Dreadwind stomps off back in the direction from whence he arrived. Galvatron adds, for old times' sake, "DECEPTICONS... RETREAT!" The ship slices through the upper atmosphere on its sharp descent downwards, shedding armour and hull plating as it goes. The front end of the ship heats up and begins to burn, and several larger sections of the ship are torn off from wind shear. Inside, Overbite and Nautilator limp away from Redshift as the pressure of reentry shatters the viewing windows. The two Seacons are blown out of the ship, where they fall to the water as debris. Seawing reaches forward, crawling with one arm, but he isn't able to make it very far. Tentakil and Skalor are knocked off their feet as the ship hits the atmosphere with a lurch. Snaptrap grabs the console in rage and stands his ground, staring at the approaching Pacific as if he could will the planet to spare them. He opens a comlink to the other Seacons. "We'll regroup. We'll get back to Quintesson space, and we'll get our revenge, mates." he says this with dead certainty in his voice. His Seacons will survive. He knows it. The countdown isn't long, and those seeking to get off had best hurry, as what's left of the behemoth freighter slams into the water off the coast of Japan, sending rippling tidal waves in all directions. Tsunami warnings are immediately sounded for Japan and Australia as the ship cracks, splinters, and rapidly begins falling deeper into the sea... "Th'heck?" Scattershot yells as the ship lurches into, then out of FTL. A feeling he knows all too well. "Springer... yeah, do that," he calls after the triplechanger, before throwing the shield-wall out of his way. He squints as he hears the countdown, then shakes his head. "Marissa, help me get these weird cat people to th'shuttle," he shouts, dashing forwards to usher the surviving cat people aliens towards the hangar. "If only I was real big," he muses. "I could just escape with 'em Jetfire-style..." Marissa doesn't fool around. She just grabs three of the cat people without asking, transforming the Warthog into its faster hovertank mode and racing after Scattershot. "Less chat, more running!" she advises as she fights to keep the panic down. Gravity plays havoc with their retreat as the ship plummets to its doom, but with their lives on the line Scattershot and Marissa pull off a miracle. The Ol' Rusty is still there in the hangar, though smashed over to one side. Springer has the ship prepped, and they're able to board. The Ol' Rusty's last-second escape will be one for the record books. Dreadwind gave up on walking to an exit as the ship started to tilt even more, relying instead on his flight systems, he speedily moves back towards the hangar and with one big push manages to launch himself free to open space. Not that it's the remotest bit better out there, he sighs to himself and wonders why, when he actually needs him Darkwing is nowhere to be found. Dreadwind radios on an open frequency, "I'll be needing a pick up before too long i don't think i'll be able to maintain an orbit, not that i expect to be a priority or anything. Don't concern yourselves overly i'll just prepare myself for a horrible firey death as i plumet to the ground, i'll try and miss NCC but i can't promise anything." Galvatron plunges down through the atmosphere, armor glowing cherry-red at the thinnest edges but otherwise unharmed. He is after all, frickin' Galvatron right here. He just wants to see the Seacons hit- as soon as they've done so he returns to headquarters to await the arrival of Soundwave and the others. Making his way to the hangar, Dreadwind has the option of either trying to hotwire one of the ships present (perhaps difficult given his ability with technology) or leaping outside and relying on his own flight systems. Choosing the latter, Dreadwind finds himself out in the upper atmosphere. He's likely to fall a distance before his standard anti-gravs catch him, but it won't be a pretty descent.
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