| abstract
| - Terrestrial Planets As you travel along what might be considered the organic life belt of the Solar System, the gleaming dots of Earth and Mars visible as they reflect the brilliant light of the Sun. This part of space seems much more cluttered as various defunct space probes from NASA and... others, litter the void. Contents: Rodimus Prime Autobot Shuttle Risk - Shipping Lanes Autobot Sensor #3383 Mars Asteroid Belt Earth Obvious exits: Rimward leads to Gas Giants . Coreward leads to Core . Scourge arrives from the Gas Giants . Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleek Cybertronian jet mode. In a way that even the Constructicons seem hard pressed to explain, Blitzwing transforms into his MiG-25 Foxbat mode. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes himself with his Grab attack! Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Neutral. Darkness all around, out here far away from any planet or moon. One side of everything is bright, shining from the light of the Sun, while the other side is pitch black, struck by nothing but the faintest of faint reflected rays from nearby detritus. With the Autobots in control of most of the Sol system, they need a way to get resources to and from their outlying bases if they want to have a chance of keeping them. This conduit through the asteroid belt, on the line between Earth and Jupiter, is the gateway to the outer planets. And it is here that the Decepticons lie in perpetual ambush. Today the Decepticons have pounced on a commercial ship, trying to sneak a load of exotic ores and gases back in from Jupiter. The crew has all launched in escape pods, while the ship itself is a drifting hulk. The cargo bay doors are blown out and the engines are dark. While the distress call continues to ping away in all directions, Decepticons swarm over the ship, transferring its goods to one of their own... Blitzwing shifts into his stern and imposing robot mode. Blitzwing doesn't do this carrying and hauling of cargo business, but instead has appointed himself as guard. He stands near the docking tube, rifle poised, as he watches the other Decepticons moving to and fro with a rather bored expression. If he was a human, he'd be spitting dismissively right now. "The guys on this ship skipped out too early! Buncha whimps. With a classy ship like this, you'd think they've have even tried to knock us back off it. Not that they could've anyway." Gnaw transforms into his robot mode. "You know what the best part of this is?" Excise is transmitting as he zips a loop de loop around the stalled commercial vessel. "Is that there's no dogooder Autobot scum able to stop us. Tsk tsk, Blitzwing, you have it all wrong. I now know the meaning of happiness, and it is hurting folk what ain't strong enough to defend themselves!" Truly the Decepticon triplechanger is in Decepti-heaven. Excise finally stops screwing around long enough to soar into the now exposed cargo bay and transform into robot mode. Rubbing his hands together with smarmy glee, he advances one of the cargo containers. "Ore. Good for buildin' armour!" He goes to another. "Death laser grade crystals. Good for death lasers!" He moves onto another one. "Exotic gases! Good for all your gassy needs." He moves onto another one. "Energon! Good for /everything/! Man this place is great!" More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode. Sweep Spacecraft transforms into his Scourge mode. Mindwipe is mostly having fun with the passengers, making them beg before him. What will they offer up to him, for their lives? Paltry trinkets. Fah! How boring. Mindwipe places a hand on the shoulder of a cowering crew member and directs calmly, "See those crates? Load them into our shuttle and /I/ wouldn't kill you." The crew member scurries off to do just that, shaking. Then, Mindwipe turns to another crew member, one he saw hiding a pistol, and he whispers harshly, "You don't think I do not see what you have. I see much. Now, kill him," Mindwipe points at the first crw-member, "or I /will/ kill you." And so the second crew member sets after the first. Anything to survive. Will the Autobots arrive in time to prevent a small tragedy? Gnaw is, above all else, a grunt. When he's not eating, that is. He helps carry packages back to the Decepticon ship like a good little gumby. Although, some of these packages might contain something the Sharkticon might find edible. Part of his processor idly hopes he'll be ordered to devour /something/ around here. Or perhaps Autobots will show up and he'll get fed that way. Scourge finishes scattering the escape pods with errant fire, intent on forcing a more widespread and costly recovery operation for the Terrans and Autobots than just funerals. As he returns to the ship, he folds his arms and clacks his claws together. "Hurry it up!" he barks at the other Decepticons. "We don't want to keep Lord Galvatron waiting for his prize!" Blitzwing rolls his optics as Excise's excited dialogue rings against his audio pickups, and is just about to respond when he is distracted. The two crewmembers that Mindwipe sent after each other come aorund the corner, the first with a panicked look in his face, just before the other comes around the corner. Blitzwing suddenly snaps his weapon up, a bright gleam coming into his eyes, as he advances on the two crewmembers. "Heeey, now this is more like it! You guys are gonna try to resist now, are ya? Well, better late then..." Before he can finish his sentence, however, the 2nd crewmembers weapon hits the ground and both go scrambling up the hallway. Blitzwing sighs and stomps on the weapon to provide himself some amusement. "30,000 astroseconds so far...Primus, how boring." Mindwipe does something generic in the background. Maybe he is stealing boxes so that the shape left by the other boxes is a pentagram. Yeah. Clearly that is what he doing. Ahem. It's sheer coincidence that Rodimus is in the area. Really, he had been traveling between Autobot holdings in the system - outside of the Golden Age's pilot, Ace, he's alone, and so hadn't planned an assault. When the Autobot shuttle picked up the distress signal, however, he couldn't ignore it, and so now Ace pilots the Golden Age directly towards the disabled human vessel. Rodimus frowns at what he sees. "Try to get us as close to the cargo bay as you can - I should be able to use a jet pack to get me the rest of the way," he expositions. As they approach, Prime opens a hatch to allow him to fire - something he can do because they don't have any humans on board the shuttle right now. Being a white hat, he should probably give a warning, give the Decepticons a chance to back out... But he's not /that/ much of a white hat. As they approach the vessel he takes aim at the first Decepticon he spots, the one who happens to have landed most recently in the cargo bay of the human ship. In other words, Rodimus Prime tries to shoot Scourge in the back. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Scourge with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -9] "Yes, mighty Scourge!" Excise replies to the Sweep Commander. He grabs one of the crates of exotic Ore and soars out of the cargo bay. Thanks to the lack of gravity he is totally able to carry it all by himself through the dark expanse between the disabled commercial ship and the Decepticon vessel. Half way there, Excise receives word of the Golden Age in the area. He scoffs, "Autobots inbound! Looks like the free ride's over, gentlemechs. We're back in Autobot beatin' territory!" He doesn't abandon his crate just yet, cause Scourge would probably get mad at him for it. Scourge turns as photons are eliminated nearby him. "Eh..?" he growls to himself. "Eh.." he repeats, grimly. "Rodimus Prime!" he shouts, focusing sharp optics on the Autobot Leader. "Decepticons! Drop what you're doing and take him out! Lord Galvatron will be receiving a /far/ greater prize than simple /resources/." The Sweep Commander grabs a canister of highly explosive (in space, no less) hydrogen gas and throws it out the hatch at Rodimus, taking aim with his laser blaster to shoot and ignite it when something critical is in the blast radius. Combat: Scourge strikes Rodimus Prime with his Exploding Can (Grab) attack! Gnaw hears Scourge order the attack on Rodimus and immediately drops a crate. A small explosion registers within the crate, and some smoke wafts out of a crack in the container. He then transforms, waddling as quickly as he can towards the Autobot Leader. He lashes out with the claws on his diminutive arms. Gnaw transforms into his Sharkticon mode. Mindwipe drops a box of expensive ore, as per Scourge's orders. It makes a sort of splotchy pattern on the floor, which Mindwipe interprets as a sign he will soon be looking splotchy and splattered over the floor, after Rodimus Prime is done with him. He takes a pot shot at the Autobot leader with his pistol, sighing. "If I had a Matrix inside me, I would be more careful with myself!" Combat: Mindwipe misses Rodimus Prime with his Viper Pistol - Solid Ammunition (Pistol) attack! Combat: Sharkticon misses Rodimus Prime with his claw (Punch) attack! "Right, I guess that's close enough," Rodimus tells Ace grimly. He's using his radio, of course, because there's no atmosphere inside the Golden Age right now, but... who cares, really. He starts to leap out the hatch, activating his jet pack, when the blast created by Scourge's explosive canister rocks both him and the Golden Age. "Get to a safe distance!" Rodimus orders, wanting to make sure his escape route isn't cut off before leaping forward, heading directly towards the cargo bay. On the way, he manages to duck and dodge out of the way of Mindwipe and Gnaw's attacks, but it is Blitzwing who gets his attention. Once more looking to protect his escape route, he twists on his way to the cargo bay to fire at the triple changer. "Over here, Decepticon," he taunts. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes MiG-25 "Foxbat" with his Arm Blasters attack! [Pulled -3] MiG-25 "Foxbat" is still blazing forward for his chance to take a shot at Rodimus and his shuttle, but it's rather him that gets a shot instead. The arm blasters sycthe across his upper armor, melting the paint and corroding the metal found there, but this seems to make the Decepticon commando all the madder. His engines increase their output as he blazes across space toward Rodimus, before his lasers start blazing away at the Autobot leader. "You got it, Autopunk!" Combat: MiG-25 "Foxbat" misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser attack! Excise safely packs the crate of ore into the Decepticon shuttle. Moments later he is drifting back out into space, this time in Cybertronian space jet mode. Scourge has ordered him to help with the fight against Rodimus Prime. Normally such a situation would terrify Excise, but with four other Decepticons here to help him out (including mighty Commander Scourge sir), he has a happy feeling that this is going to be a butt whuppin' for the Autobot leader. Angling towards the Flaming Avenger, his ventral electro-turret fires a series of electric bolts. "Watch your back, /Crudimus Prime/," the jet sneers before pulling away after the strafing run. Excise is keeping his distance, but that won't be for long. He's just biding his time until he can stab Rodimus in the back. Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleek Cybertronian jet mode. Combat: Cybertronian Jet misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro Cannon attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Drained 2 energon. Scourge launches himself out of the hatch so that he can fly.. IN SPACE! With all these other Decepticons around, Scourge doesn't move in to start slashing. Instead, he shows remarkable restraint in actually holding onto his laser blaster and taking aim with it. "I don't care if we all die with him!" he shouts at his faction, "But Rodimus Prime will die! Here! NOW!" Combat: Scourge misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser Blaster (Disruptor) attack! 'Take him out'. Like Chinese take out? Mindwipe ponders this, as he does have to feed Vorath, and Vorath is getting a bit hungry. Grocery shopping is kind of weird when one is a giant bat. He takes another pot shot at Rodimus Prime, rubbing his chin and trying to remember which delivery places will deliver to an evil underwater shark and accept Decepticon Visa: it's everywhere you don't want to be. Combat: Mindwipe misses Rodimus Prime with his Viper Pistol - Higher Level Energy (Laser) attack! The little ball of Shark tries again, swinging his spikey tail at Rodimus. Combat: Sharkticon misses Rodimus Prime with his Spikey Tail Swipe (Kick) attack! Rodimus Prime manages to make it to the cargo bay (so that he can pose doing all sorts of spiffy jumping around and whatnot, doanchaknow), and in the process, manages to either duck or dodge every hit thrown his way - at least the ones that would have hit, anyway. A quick leap when he touches down moves him out of the way of Gnaw's blast, and now that he has /everyone's/ attention... well, with so many targets, it's really down to just firing at the first robot that catches his attention. This time it's Mindwipe, who, like Prime, is in the cargo bay. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Mindwipe with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -9] Scourge turns as Rodimus leaps right past him into the cargo bay. Growling his frustration at the Autobot leader's speed and seeming ability to survive onslaughts even in the middle of something so reckless as a leap from one ship to the next. "Grah!" he shouts, turning sharply and diving in after him. Even after granting Excise permission to start shooting wildly in the cargo bay. For some reason that doesn't seem to concern him as he glides in behind Prime, swiping his claws at the Autobot's back. MiG-25 "Foxbat" may have missed, but he's not out yet. Rapidly changing course, he banks toward the wide open spaces of the cargo bay, and is seemingly about to do his own version of a kamikaze attack. At the last moment, however, he transforms into his tank mode and goes sailing through the open gap. He lands onto the metal floor of the bay with a heavy -thump- which is superseded by a whine as the turret swings toward the Auotobt leader. "No old man to bail you out this time!" Blitzwing then opens fire. Combat: Scourge strikes Rodimus Prime with his Clawtastic (Punch) attack! It's time for heavy fighting! Blitzwing smoothly transforms into his T-72 MBT mode. Mindwipe gets all of his photons eliminated! He is now dark and gothic and suited to perching atop castles during thunderstorms. He is probably also going to be shot by Excise. Slagslagslaggrimlock! Mindwipe grumbles, "I needed those photons! How else can my luminous astral self do its thing at a seance, if it's not luminous?" He tries to run over to the Prime and punch his photons back. Cybertronian Jet scowls inwardly as Rodimus Prime enters the cargo bay. Damnit, he wanted to stab Rodimus in the back while in space, where the Chosen One would be an easier target. No matter. Rodimus Prime doesn't stand a chance against all of them! Before Scourge and Blitzwing enter the commercial ship, Excise launches a series of missiles streaking towards the cargo bay, causing random explosions all over it. This may or may not present a problem to Mindwipe. Combat: Cybertronian Jet misses Rodimus Prime with his Aiming Is For Sissies attack! Combat: Used up 1 Missiles. 2 remain. Combat: Mindwipe strikes Rodimus Prime with his Give me back my photons! (Punch) attack! Combat: T-72 MBT strikes Rodimus Prime with his 125mm Cannon attack! The Sharkticon transforms, being unable to hit Rodimus with any melee attacks, and pulls out his pistol. While he can't hit the broad side of Trypticon on the best of days, maybe this time he'll get lucky. Maybe. Gnaw transforms into his robot mode. Combat: Gnaw strikes Rodimus Prime with his pewpewpew (Pistol) attack! Rodimus Prime has, apparently, lost 'The Touch.' Sure, he manages to leap out of the way of the poorly aimed missle, but just about everything else blasted his way hits, from Sweep claws scraping across his chest to bat-punches to the assortment of ranged blasts that pepper his armor. The combined assault causes the Prime to stumble back, although he manages, barely, to keep his footing. "Yeah, and he'll be sorry he missed out on kicking your tin-tail in again, too, Blitzwing," Prime growls at the Triple-changer as he 'drops' his rifle into subspace, his hand moving in to be replaced by a buzzsaw. "And those photons are gone forever, Mindwipe!" he taunts as he steps forward, taking a swing at the two nearest combatants with the rotating blade. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Scourge with his Buzzsaw Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Mindwipe with his Buzzsaw Area attack! [Pulled -3] T-72 MBT reloads his barrel, but doesn't fire again, as Rodimus begins to slice and dice at Scourge and Mindwipe. Instead, the anti-personnel weapon on top of his turret swings up and then toward Rodimus. "Ha! I bet you'd have to hold him up while he did the kicking!" With that clever retort he opens up with a barrage of laser blasts in the direction of Rodimus. Combat: T-72 MBT misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser attack! Cybertronian Jet flies into the cargo bay just seveval moments after his missiles explode, transforming into robot mode and landing in a combat crouch. Gripped in his hands is a gigantic energon battle axe with a long handle. A wicked grin is on his face as he blocks the view into space. "Oh I've been waiting for this, Rodimus Prime," he sneers. Waiting until Rodmius was already kinda hurt! The Decepticon charges forward even as Rodimus slashes with the buzzsaws at Scourge and Mindwipe, using the long reach of the battle axe in a vicious overhead swing. "I beat even /Grimlock/ in a one-on-one battle, Rodimus Prime! What chance, then, do /you/ have?!" More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode. Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Battle Axe attack! Combat: Drained 8 energon. Mindwipe gets a wicked, nasty gash cut out of one of his wings, and he shakes a fist at Rodimus Prime. "If you won't give me back my photons, I'll just have to steal yours! Even though Autobot photons are filthy." He draws his viper pistol and thumbs the setting over. Mindwipe might just be humming "Paralyzer". He might be that evil. Either way, he pulls the trigger. Combat: Mindwipe misses Rodimus Prime with his Viper Pistol attack! Scourge ducks swiftly outside of the reach of the swinging blade. "You're getting slow, Prime!" he taunts, even as Mindwipe is getting buzzsawed. Ducking around behind Rodimus as best he can, he reaches out to grab ahold of the back of the Autobot's head with his claws. "Don't you want to just ignore them all and fight me?" he growls lowly, just for Rodimus' benefit. "You've really stirred up the turbohornet nest this time." Scourge tries to dig his claws deeply into Rodimus' scalp. Combat: Scourge misses Rodimus Prime with his Claws in the Back of the Head (Grab) attack! Oh wonder of wonders! Gnaw actually hit! Encouraged by this success, the Sharkticon wields his mace and tries to bash Rodimus over the head with it. "Me soften you up to chew!" he shouts. Combat: Gnaw strikes Rodimus Prime with his Barbed Mace attack! Rodimus Prime twists to the left, ducking Blitzwing's laser blast. "I don't know, I've always liked playing the long odds," he answers Excise as he ducks forward and beneath Excise's strike. With a leap forward he avoids both Mindwipe's Viper Pistol and Scourge's claws to the back of his head. "Not that slo-!" he starts to taunt, and is interrupted as he's smashed in the side with the Sharkticon mace. Okay, that was embarrassing. "Do I /want/ to ignore them all? No... no, not really," he answers, taking another swing at the gathered Decepticons with his still running hand-blade. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Scourge with his Buzzsaw Area attack! [Pulled -4] Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Excise with his Buzzsaw Area attack! [Pulled -4] Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Buzzsaw": A Level 2 AREA-MELEE attack. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Gnaw with his Buzzsaw Area attack! [Pulled -4] Blitzwing shifts into his stern and imposing robot mode. Blitzwing seemingly has had enough of hanging back. He transforms into his robot mode, balancing on his seemingly tiny feet, before he rushes at the Autobot's leader back with his arms spread wide in an attempt to grab the other. "Too bad you ignored this!" Combat: Blitzwing strikes Rodimus Prime with his Grab attack! "Hah, spoken like a moron!" Excise retorts, feeling brave only due to all the other Decepticons around. Rodimus Prime may be fast, but he isn't so fast that he can take getting gangbeat by /this/ many Decepticons all at once. The Chosen One continues to thrash about with the buzzsaws, leaping forard, but Excise chose this axe for a reason. The long length of the handle gives him the reach advantage over Rodimus Prime, and he's able to back away from Rodimus before getting hit. He makes for another swing, aiming low in an attempt to hack off Rodimus's lets just above the ankle. Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Ankle Breaker attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Drained 2 energon. Resetting Cyclonus. Mindwipe decides that the problem is that Rodimus Prime is too fast. He can fix that! Of course, he'll fix everyone else here, too. A small loss, since Rodimus Prime is hitting like a fiend. Mindwipe transforms and screeches, a radio cry that tends to gauss monitors and slow down anyone in the area. Mindwipe turns into a bat. Is anyone shocked? Scourge is forced back as the buzzsaw cuts across his chest, spraying metal shavings and sparks in all directions. "GRAH!" he spits. "I've got you, Prime! You just don't know it yet! You're no different from anyone I've ever cut down, thinking you can fight your way out of the trap." He laughs, dark, scowling. "You can't." He bares his claws, spreading his arms as if to strike, and then the little gun-thing on top of his head shoots out a sizzling, pale green beam at the Autobot leader. Combat: Scourge misses Rodimus Prime with his Acid Ray attack! Combat: Giant Bat misses Blitzwing with his Do Not Adjust Your Set Area attack! Combat: Giant Bat strikes Scourge with his Do Not Adjust Your Set Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Scourge's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Giant Bat strikes Rodimus Prime with his Do Not Adjust Your Set Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Rodimus Prime's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Giant Bat strikes Excise with his Do Not Adjust Your Set Area attack! Combat: Giant Bat (Mindwipe) used "Do Not Adjust Your Set": A Level 0 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 0 damage. Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Excise's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Giant Bat misses Gnaw with his Do Not Adjust Your Set Area attack! Transforming into his starfighter mode, Cyclonus is backlit by the eerie blue glow of nuclear-powered turbines as they come online. Gnaw gets hacked at and cries out unintelligibly. He stumbles backwards a moment, somehow avoiding being affected by the sonic cry from Mindwipe. He pulls out his Maceration Laser and levels it at Rodimus Prime. Time to do some more softening of the food. Combat: Gnaw strikes Rodimus Prime with his Maceration Laser attack! Rodimus Prime is given a hug from Blitzwing! Well, no, he's just grabbed by the Decepticon. He throws himself back against Blitzwing, managing to move the both of them out of the way of Excise's axe and Scourge's acid ray at the same time, but then Mindwipe's screech hits his audios, causing him to wince, and more importantly, preventing him from reacting to Gnaw's laser which begins to eat into him. "Well, fine, Blitzwing, if you really /want/ my attention that badly," he grunts, still pained from Mindwipe's shrieking, as he jabs his elbow forcefully into the triplechanger who has hold of him. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Blitzwing with his Elbow-Jab attack! [Pulled -8] Blitzwing doesn't react well to the sudden blow by Rodimus, which causes him to let go, and then stumble back a few steps. When he looks up again, though, his optics are blazing with undiluted irritation. He retrieves his sword from subspace, levelling it at Rodimus, as he glares at the Autobot leader. "Nice elbow move, Autobrat! I think I'll just take it off you as souvenir!" Blitzwing leaps forward, pulling his arm back and down, before bringing the blade forward in an attempt to cut Rodimus's arm off at the elbow. Scourge's acid ray burns a gaping hole in the deck floor. Staggered momentarily by Mindwipe's horrible screeching noises, he clutches the sides of his head. "RAAAGH!" is his battle cry as he flings himself forward after Rodimus, claws reaching to rip and tear. "CUT THAT NOISE OFF!" he shouts. At whomever, really, he doesn't know where it's coming from, but he's blaming Rodimus. Combat: Scourge misses Rodimus Prime with his Clawed Assault attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Blitzwing misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro-Scimitar attack! "Bah!" Excise shouts in annoyance as once again Rodimus proves himself too fast for him. The Decepticon backs up, stowing his battle axe into his subspace scabbard and drawing out his large, possibly-compensating-for-something electro rifle. Gripping it with two hands (it is huge, remember. Compensating-for-somethingly huge), he fires wildly at Rodimus Prime. "If I can't stab you to death, Prime, I'll do the next best thing and electrocute you to death!... and THEN stab you to death! Again!" Excise has to be careful to avoid hitting Scourge and Blitzwing. Not too careful, mind. But maybe a little careful. Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro Cannon attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Drained 5 energon. Giant Bat tries to swoop down over Rodimus Prime and get all up in his hair! Wait. Rodimus Prime has no hair. This doesn't work /at all/. So Mindwipe just kind of baps at Rodimus Prime's head with a wing. Combat: Giant Bat strikes Rodimus Prime with his Stupid Bat Stereotypes (Kick) attack! "No thanks, I think I like my elbow where it is," Rodimus answers Blitzwing. He leaps backwards, landing on his hands and then springing off to land once more on his feet, avoiding strikes from Blitzwing, Excise, and Scourge in the process. As he returns to an upright position, however, he's bapped in the head by Mindwipe. "Hey, what the- get!" Rodimus flails his right arm over his head, trying to shoo the bat away and, for a moment, looking rather silly. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Giant Bat with his Shoo Bat! Shoo! attack! [Pulled -11] Scourge swipes at air, cursing and spitting as he lunges past Rodimus into open air. He turns around sharply in the cargo bay, then transforms and streaks straight out of the cargo bay. It just so happens that Rodimus is in between Scourge and the door. "Let's take this outside!" he bellows. "Decepticons! Move in for the kill!" Scourge transforms into his Sweep Spacecraft mode. Combat: Scourge sets his defense level to Fearless. The gun worked, the knife(or sword) did not, and some Blitzwing resorts to the tried and true weapons, his fists. As Mindwipe begins to flutter and dart around the Autobot leader Blitzwing charges in, fists held high in a boxer's pose. As he closes in he tries for a one two punch to the face. "If I'm not gonna get your arm, then I'll just knock your head off!" Combat: Sweep Spacecraft misses Rodimus Prime with his Intercept attack! [Pulled -5] Combat: Blitzwing misses Rodimus Prime with his Punch attack! Excise's audios are still ringing thanks to Mindwipe's screech. It is so loud he can't even hear himself think!... This somehow fails to affect his performance any. Growing frustrated at his failure to hit Rodimus, Excise is this close to just chucking his rifle at him. Luckily Scourge intervenes, and Excise shifts into jet mode, soaring out of the cargo bay. Even as he does, his electro turret tries to frag Prime. Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleek Cybertronian jet mode. The Sharkticon sees his digestion ray eat away at Rodimus little by little. So he takes the opportunity to transform and do some actual nibbling. The battle's worked up an appetite, so the hungry little Shark tries to have dinner. Rodimus A La Mode. Om nom nom. Combat: Cybertronian Jet misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro Cannon attack! Combat: Drained 11 energon. Gnaw transforms into his Sharkticon mode. Combat: Sharkticon misses Rodimus Prime with his Feeding Frenzy attack! Giant Bat flaps off to a dark corner fo the cargo bay and perches atop a box of ore. He transforms and murmurs, "'For the kill' means 'for the not dead', right?" That said, he starts to tend to his own wounds, applying a noxious patching compound. The giant bat turns into the Decepticon Mindwipe. Who would have thought that a giant robot bat was really a Transformer? Combat: Mindwipe sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Mindwipe quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. Rodimus Prime's optics widen as Scourge drives right for him in Sweepcraft mode, realizing that if he lets himself get carried out into space, he'll be at... an even bigger disadvantage than he is now. He dives forward, out of the way of Scourge, and rolls as he hits the ground, the move letting him avoid both Blitzwing and Excise. He finished in a crouched position just as the Sharkticon approaches, twisting to the side to avoid Gnaw's hungry charge. As the Sharkticon passes he makes a grab for its tail. If he grabs, he'll swing Gnaw around to toss him towards Blitzwing, but if he doesn't manage to grab Gnaw he'll swipe a container towards the triple-changer instead. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Blitzwing with his Thrown Gnaw Or Cargo Container Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Sharkticon with his Thrown Gnaw Or Cargo Container Area attack! [Pulled -2] Sweep Spacecraft flies right out of the shuttle, and it takes him a couple seconds to turn back around and come back on the return. And what a return it is, heralded by a blinding beam of light that rips right through the side of the shuttle, disintegrating it and everything else in its path on the way to Rodimus Prime. Combat: Sweep Spacecraft misses Rodimus Prime with his Disintegrator Beams attack! Blitzwing had been again running toward Rodimus in an attempt to batter the Autubot, but suddenly there is the airbourne form of Gnaw coming towards him. Blitzwing manages to weave to the side, before lunging forward and directing his right fist toward the chest of the Autobot leader. Combat: Blitzwing strikes Rodimus Prime with his Punch attack! Cybertronian Jet soars out of the cargo bay, but since everyone else is still inside, Rodimus has no reason to be there either. Also because /someone/ messed up when it came to getting him out of there. The space jet does a loop de loop in space before trying to zap Prime with the turret again. He would missile him but that's liable to kill the other Cons in there as well. <> Combat: Cybertronian Jet misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro Cannon attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Drained 2 energon.
* CRASH* Sharkticon goes flying into a cargo container, splintering it. It causes the Sharkticon a lot of pain and he lies there moaning. Dinner thwarted momentarily! Combat: Sharkticon takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Mindwipe takes aim at Rodimus from his crate with his pistol, back on 'piddly mode'. He could try to hypnotise Rodimus Prime, but there are too many Decepticons here to risk it. A shame! if only he could fly in space. Then he could go mess with Rodimus Prime's pilot. Oh well. Combat: Mindwipe sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Mindwipe misses Rodimus Prime with his Viper Pistol - Low Level Energy (Disruptor) attack! A backwards leap is enough to get Rodimus out of the way of Scourge's disintegrator beam - instead, there is a good sized hole now in the deck in front of him - but that same move puts him in just exactly the right position to be slammed in the head by Blitzwing's good old fashioned fists. The Prime stumbles back a bit more (thankfully away from the hole), avoiding Excise's blast and Mindwipe's attack in the meanwhile. He shakes his head to clear it, hands curled into fists, body tense, and he takes this moment to sight every Decepticon in here. Then both arms are raised, each one pointing in a different direction, allowing him to make a wide-firing blast. "I know you'll all get a charge out of this," he proclaims, invoking one of the most ancient and revered of tough-guy electric cliches. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Blitzwing with his Arm Blasters Area attack! Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Sweep Spacecraft with his Arm Blasters Area attack! Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Cybertronian Jet with his Arm Blasters Area attack! Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Arm Blasters": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 14 damage. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Sharkticon with his Arm Blasters Area attack! Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Mindwipe with his Arm Blasters Area attack! Blitzwing is illuminated from the inside, rather like Darth Vader, as the electro blast hits him. He drops back some distance, smoking faintly, and with the paint peeling from his frame. He snarls, snapping up a disruptor pistol, before he opens fire with a barrage of shots toward Rodimus. "Soundwave has better material, Autobot!" Combat: Blitzwing strikes Rodimus Prime with his Disruptor attack! STATS`CURRENT`COMBAT-FLAGS [#704]: COMBAT Mindwipe wins! Or rather, he doesn't lose. He still feels absolutely terrible, of course, but he would be feeling worse if that arm blaster shot had hit him and not the wall. He snaps off another shot at Rodimus Prime with his piddly little viper pistol. Bi'dow bi'dow! He is staying very, very far away from Excise, who is a master of shooting the wrong thing with missiles. Combat: Mindwipe misses Rodimus Prime with his Viper Pistol - Solid Ammunition (Pistol) attack! Cybertronian Jet might be developing a complex concerning his failures to hit Rodimus Prime. This would account for his little slip of the vocalizer on the Decepticon broadband. Excise is also having a hard time hitting Rodimus due to Prime being in the cargo bay and him being out in space. It doesn't give him a lot of chances to maneuver while also getting a clear shot on Prime. "That was HORRIBLE, Prime!" Excise shouts as he receives a blast to his right side. Smoke briefly pours out of that side, but not for long. He may be kinda dumb but he can take a hit without feeling it much. Swooping around, Excise charges towards the cargo bay, launching another flurry of missiles. Hit or miss, he transforms into robot mode and lands in the bay, sick and tired of flying around like a ninny. Combat: Cybertronian Jet misses Rodimus Prime with his Missile Barrage attack! Combat: Used up 1 Missiles. 1 remain. The Sharkticon finally rises up from the debris and shakes himself, letting splinters of cargo containers fly. Then he rushes at Rodimus again. Jaws are agape, ready to chew. The little Sharkball is going full bore this time, intending to maul Rodimus like a real shark with a sea lion. Combat: Sharkticon misses Rodimus Prime with his Feeding Frenzy attack! Sweep Spacecraft skirts around the blaster fire and pours on the juice as he tracks after Rodimus. "What, do you think you can /win/ this, Prime?!" he shouts, barelling straight in for him once more. "Come out and end this!" he says, trying to push Rodimus out the other side of the bay, now. Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Rodimus Prime with his Intercept attack! [Pulled -4] "I guess I'll just need to try har-arrgh!" Rodimus exclaims as he's shot by Blitzwing's disruptor. He continues to be quick on his feet, ducking and dodging most of the other blasts sent his way, but in the process is unable to avoid Scourge's ram. He tries desperately to hang onto the Sweep, and grunts, "You want me to end this?" he grinds out. "Fine. I'll... do my... best!" With the last word, he tries to swing himself around to plant both feet - hard - into the bottomside of the sweepcraft. Or he just manages to swing himself right off the Sweep and ends up floating. One of the two. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Sweep Spacecraft with his The Touch attack! [Pulled -6] Rodimus Prime is floating. :(Sweep Spacecraft zips away too quickly for Rodimus to connect, then floats there, taking careful aim. "Beg," he growls. "Beg not to die, so we can drag you in front of Lord Galvatron for /him/ to do the honors." Combat: Sweep Spacecraft takes extra time to aim his next attack on Rodimus Prime. Blitzwing looks up at the floating, an dark grin on his face, and his Disruptor pistol still held in his hands. He raises it toward Rodimus, but seeing that Scourge is having his fun, does not yet fire. Combat: Blitzwing takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Cybertronian Jet grins wildly as Rodimus is just a sitting duck floating out there in space. "I am going to enjoy this, Rodimus Prime." He draws out his rifle again, sets it to Zap mode, and hoists it up to shoulder level. "Like shooting mechs floating around helplessly in space," he chuckles at his own wittyness. More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode. Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro Zap attack! Combat: Gained 4 energon. Mindwipe transforms back to his bat mode and tries to slam into Rodimus Prime, bodily - and then pull away, just as fast. Scourge is up to something, Mindwipe is sure, and he doesn't want to get in the way. The Sweep leader may be young, but he isn't dead yet, so he must have something going for him. Mindwipe turns into a bat. Is anyone shocked? Combat: Giant Bat strikes Rodimus Prime with his Ram attack! Out in the floatyness of Space, Sharkticon can't really get up much of a head of steam. But he does try to smack into Rodimus like a sumo wrestler. If you can't eat em, beat em! Combat: Sharkticon misses Rodimus Prime with his Smash attack! "Never, Scourge," Rodimus growls at the Sweep. However, he is still floating in space, so odds are, Excise and Gnaw just flat missed him rather than he managed to perform any fancy moves. Mindwipe, however, does ram into him before trying to withdraw. Rodimus, seeing a way to get back to the cargo bay, makes a grab for the giant bat. Excise hmms as he sadly misses Rodimus Prime again, even though he's just floating there. The mech decides it must have been a fluke and tries again, but this time switches from Zap mode to Kill mode. "Setting cannon to kill..." he mutters before letting loose with another powerful electro bolt. Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Electro Cannon attack! Combat: You are running low on energon! Combat: Drained 11 energon. Blitzwing upgrades to his much heavier rifle, leveling it at the still floating Autobot leader, as he aims it at Rodimus's head. "No more funny business, smart guy!" Combat: Blitzwing takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Sweep Spacecraft circles around Rodimus, pointing directly at him the whole time. "Time's about up, Rodimus. There won't be any holding back." A green scanning line passes over Rodimus as Unicronian sensors analyze him, feeding the information back to Scourge. "Last chance," he growls, lowly. Combat: Scourge analyzes Rodimus Prime for weaknesses. Giant Bat ges grabbed by Rodimus Prime. This is a bit closer to the Matrix than Mindwipe has ever wanted to be! He flails and tries to get away from Rodimus Prime, demanding, "Let me go, Autobot!" His optics flash, to emphasise his point. Flash with freaky hypnotic radiation. Combat: Giant Bat strikes Rodimus Prime with his Sub-Optic Radiation attack! Blitzwing moves to the side, rifle still raised, as he works to aim for a better shot as Mindwipe continues to flap about the Autobot leader's face. Combat: Blitzwing takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Sharkticon drifts around for a bit. Combat: Sharkticon takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Rodimus Prime hangs desperately onto Mindwipe as the bat flails about. The erratic movements of the bat have more to do with his ability to avoid the shots sent his way than his own skill, but it puts the Prime in a position where he has a hard time avoiding the hypnotic radiation flash. "Argh!" he shouts as he releases the bat and is flung off... possibly towards the ship. "You can count all you want, Scourge, you won't hear me beg," he grunts out despite the disorientation caused by Mindwipe. He fires, but frankly, isn't sure what he's firing at. Combat: Rodimus Prime's Photon Eliminator attack on Sweep Spacecraft goes wild! Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes himself with his Photon Eliminator attack! Sweep Spacecraft falls still as the weapons tower on its back appears to start sucking energy out of the surrounding area, focusing it in three glowing points. "Time's up," he spits. You know, minus the mouth. The pale light streaks out from all three points to converge on Rodimus' location, releasing so much energy that reality seems to warp around the beams. Combat: Sweep Spacecraft misses Rodimus Prime with his Disintegrator Beams attack! Excise glances at his cannon. "Ah, I see the problem." He flicks a switch from 'Miss' to 'Not Miss'. He re-aims again even as Rodimus somehow manages to shoot him. If Rodimus is /that/ dumb, surely Excise cannot miss again! Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser attack! Combat: You are running low on energon! Combat: Drained 2 energon. Giant Bat smirks as much as a bat can smirk as his hypnosis convinces Rodimus Prime to shoot himself. He loves it when they do that! Mindwipe observes, 'You see? Your mind is not your own. It is /mine/. Now release me before I make you shoot yourself again." Then Rodimus Prime flings him off into the side of the ship. Ow. He transforms back to robot mode to take a pot shot at Rodimus Prime. Bi'dow! The giant bat turns into the Decepticon Mindwipe. Who would have thought that a giant robot bat was really a Transformer? Combat: Mindwipe strikes Rodimus Prime with his Viper Pistol - Higher Level Energy (Laser) attack! Sharkticon tries one more time to eat Rodimus. He's still hungry, and he's still not been fed. <> he grumbles. Oh well, if he misses this, he will probably still get energon at the medical ward at home. Combat: Sharkticon misses Rodimus Prime with his Feeding Frenzy attack! Rodimus Prime's rifle blows up in his face as he tries to operate it in his confused state. He screams as the explosion tears into his body, leaving his entire front section slagged, destroying much of his face and partially offlining his hydrolic systems, damaging his strength. He'd been flung near enough to the ship that he's able to push off against it, grab, push off again, still avoiding most of the attacks sent his way... all but Mindwipe's. The odds were against him from the beginning, but with the way his Eliminator backfired, they've suddenly gotten considerably worse. He activates his communicator and speaks into it, voice heavy with defeat, "Ace... you'd better come around. I'll need to bail out here in a moment." As he waits he holds onto the vessel, and attempts to get some of his downed systems reactivated. Combat: Rodimus Prime quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. Sweep Spacecraft misses with his Disintegrators! Tragedy! He shouts, "RAAAGH!" in rage at the dishonor, and punches his engines up to maximum, closing straight in for a ram. "NO ESCAPE, PRIME!" Combat: Sweep Spacecraft misses Rodimus Prime with his Intercept attack! [Pulled -2] Sweep Spacecraft whiffs! Combat: Cybertronian Starfighter strikes Rodimus Prime with his Grab attack! Blitzwing has apparently found the moment he was waiting for as, with rifle still aimed at Rodimus, he pulls the trigger as Rodimus stops to patch himself up. A bright bolt of light l;eaps from the barrel of the gun and flies toward the Autobot leader. "Gotcha!" Combat: Blitzwing misses Rodimus Prime with his Gyro-Blaster Rifle attack! Sharkticon transforms and starts firing wildly with his pistol at Rodimus Prime. He's ornery now that he's missed his last attempt to eat the Autobot Leader. Not a happy shark, no! Not he! He just wants to be fed! Gnaw transforms into his robot mode. Combat: Gnaw strikes Rodimus Prime with his Pistol attack! Excise realizes he's not going to get a better chance than this. He puts his rifle back into subspace and draws out the battle axe again, running and leaping out of the cargo bay towards Rodimus Prime. It's a long shot for this to hit, but if it does, it'll make the highlight reels for sure. Combat: Excise misses Rodimus Prime with his Blade Master attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: You are running low on energon! Combat: Gained 1 energon. Mindwipe falls into a pile of boxes and gets lost. Will he ever be found? Answer: yes. Next episode he shows up in. Mindwipe turns into a bat. Is anyone shocked? Combat: Giant Bat begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sweep Spacecraft , Cybertronian Starfighter , and Autobot Shuttle Scampering along the side of the vessel, Rodimus manages to avoid everyone. Almost everyone. Gnaw's laser strikes him in the hand, causing him to lose his grip and once more float off! Fortunately, it's at this point that Ace pilots the Golden Age back around. The Prime makes a grab for the shuttle and holds on. He glances back, frowning. The Autobots have the upper edge in the solar system, but it's the /space lanes/ that he wants. Maybe next time. Combat: Rodimus Prime begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sweep Spacecraft , Cybertronian Starfighter , Autobot Shuttle , and Giant Bat Excise misses and soars off into the bleak back darkness of space. "..." he says. Luckily he is a mighty triplechanger, and so he's able to transform into jet mode to avoid flying off forever. Swinging around, he sees Rodimus Prime is making good on his escape. "Yeah! Woo yeah! We won! We totally won! Totally whupepd him good! Go Decepticons, go Decepticons, go Decepticons, go!" Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleek Cybertronian jet mode. Sweep Spacecraft dives after Rodimus, firing his lasers! Yeah, it's a short pose. What of it? Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Rodimus Prime with his Firing his Lasers! (Disruptor) attack! Sharkticon doesn't bother shooting at the retreating Rodimus. No, he just wants to go home and have some energon. Combat: Gnaw takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Rodimus Prime is hit in the back as he tries to run away! Ouch. Then he clambers on board the Golden Age and is gone. Blitzwing looks at his rifle with dismay and irritation, and seems about to break it over his leg, before he realizes that he could blow off his leg that way. Instead he settles for shaking his fist at the departing Rodimus and making comments about his central processor. Rodimus Prime enters the Autobot Shuttle . Your nomination for Rodimus Prime has been registered! Autobot Shuttle enters the Earth Orbit. Catechism has HIDDEN-disconnected.
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