| abstract
| - Covering almost 762,000 square miles, rugged, mountainous Mexico is a land of extreme diversity: the modern tourist resorts coexist with awe-inspiring lancient cities, and snow-capped volcanoes slope down to evergreen forests, colorful deserts, and endless tropical beaches. The huge, crowded metropolis of Mexico City is only a short distance from tiny villages. Mexico's diversity is also reflected in its people; there are over 50 different indigenous peoples with different languages and customs. Contents: Air Raid Rodimus Prime Sandstorm Shuttle Topspin Darkwing Dreadwind Redshift Scourge Windshear A bloody warning ARCH OF TRIUMPH Bus Station Construction Site Decepticon Battle Bunker Decepticon Battle Bunker GIANT TRENCH Mezcala Processing Facili Obvious exits: North leads to Arizona. Southeast leads to Panama Canal. Northeast leads to Texas. Northwest leads to California. Southwest leads to Central Pacific - Mexican Coast. East leads to Gulf of Mexico. West leads to Gulf of California. Fly Ayotzinco This is the date, the time, and the place. Now, it's time for the main event to put in an appearance. It's dark and quiet, with little light pollution. In a flash, everything is bright as day. The flash quiets down, resolving to a red hot streaking rocket of a rather classic style. In fact, it looks quite like Omega Supreme, except in darker, more somber hues. It would be recognizable to those who attended the initial meeting. Time to see what the Decepticons are bringing to the table. Windshear gets a call suddenly on his comm and suddenly just, bugs out and leaves.... Windshear has left. Windshear walks into the House of Blues Redshift te warrior is here for a few reasons: To operate as a gunman to defend against the meddling Autobots; to apply violence in case violent leverage is required to keep the deal from breaking down; But mostly, to try and get some recognition for his amazing single-handed capture of the Autobot Nitro. Redshift stands off to one side, his plasma rifle at the ready, keeping a close eye on thier prisoners, who are mostly comatose or otherwise keeping thier traps shut. Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet flies towards the meeting point in his jet mode, somewhat surprised that Galvatron wasn't already on scene. This was all his daft idea anyway. <> Darkwing states over his comm, yeah Dreadwind was here; but Dreadwind never was one for giving orders. Then he notices that once again Windshear flies off. 'So much for his drinking privlages...' he muses to himself. Scrapper is here because he somehow got stuck doing the job of Restoration Hardware, instead of working on his canal, like he should be. Stupid evil plots, distracting him from other evil plots. He's done this job right, though! Air Raid is prominently displayed, Mint On Card, in a giant plastic blister bubble attached to a giant piece of cardboard that displays his technical specifications. The other prisoners are similarly done up in packaging, all nestled together in a boxed set. Scrapper glares up at the descending Guardian robot and grumbles, "Stupid design. Never liked it." The time had come. Scourge had been doing a quick sweep of the area, and had watched the Omega Supreme look-alike descend. The prisoners had been gathered, and were secured, he hoped, by those on the ground. There would be severe consequences for those left in charge of the prisoners if they weren't. After a few more moments, he descends, transforms and comes to a landing near the prisoners. "Dreadwind, assign some of your warriors to scout the area for Autobots. The rest of you, remain alert." F16 Falcon flies slowly towards the predetermined meeting place, everyones is all so excited about this new gift for the small price of a few Autobots, well Darkwing was raving about capturing and torturing the bots. Dreadwind knows deep down that whatever happens it's going to turn out badly for him, the others will just end up dead, why is he never that lucky? He flies to where the prisoners are being held and lands a short distance away, more than miserable to let Darkwing do all the organising oh the aerospace personel. He talks out loud to anyone within earshot, "I don't like the look of that, a red streaking rocket is never a good sign, it's likely targetting us, ready to wipe us from existence, if we're lucky and we're not." F-16 Falcon suddenly halts it's forwards momentum and pulls up as it bends in half. The body of the jet twists and unfolds to become legs, while arms extrude themselves from the fuselage sides. Turning as it approaches, the Sweepcraft seems to split in places, the arms and legs of a robot emerging, then the demonic wings unfurl and the menacing visage of Scourge makes it's appearance, completing the transformation from Sweepcraft to robot. Rodimus Prime approaches the area by riding inside of Sky Lynx, along with several other Autobots. He is, in fact, standing near an open hatch in his side, looking down at the terrain below. He crouches, narrowing his optics and peering into the darkened distance, searching for the light of the new arrival. "This is the spot we picked up on satellite." He looks at Topspin. "This the same area where they met the first time?" He straightens, getting ready to jump from the open hatch. "Either way, we don't want the Decepticons getting their hands on a Guardian robot, and we obviously don't want this other party getting our people, so we're here to sour their deal." He looks up towards the front of the shuttle. "Sky Lynx, think you can do a turn about the area, make sure there aren't any surprises waiting in the wings for us?" Above in the Mexican skies comes an oddity, an oversized Terran space shuttle with one big slab of cobalt blue transport compartment mounted underneath. It's Sky Lynx, and any experienced Decepticon would recognize that if he's in that mode then he's probably hauling in a good number of Autobots along in his transport compartment. Looks Like Jetfire's been taking it easy lately, having been traditional method of Autobot transport and all. Can't say Sky Lynx isn't there to lend a hand. "As ordered, Rodimus. It's a bloody large area, but I'll cover it in half the expected time, I assure you of that." Sky Lynx's transport compartment's internal speakers emits. Soon the Autobot space shuttle touches down onto the ground, allowing the passengers inside out before taking off again. Bonecrusher is here because Scrapper is here. Bonecrusher is just behind his shoulder, in fact. "Is it the head? Cuz we could take that part off later," offers Bonecrusher. "Or is it how when he takes off to go to another planet he leaves his whole body behind on the ground except for his forearms, an' then when he lands somewhere else all the rest of 'im comes out of 'is arms?" Sandstorm is ready and willing, after making sure his sandblaster is good and filled. Second time into Decepticon turf in little under a week? This mission was just starting to get interesting! This was looking to be even more thrilling than the last time, being a dramatic rescue of their comrades and all. He locks the silicate chamber shut and rests the gun against his shoulder, smirking. "Ready to bust some head gaskets, Rodimus, just say the word." Strike Eagle has apparently been incapacitated, and is slowly coming to... in a box of blister bubble, landing gear attached to the cardboard. "...!" He can do little else other than wiggle ailerons in his packaging with his comrades, and grumble. It's hard to see much from his position. Topspin fidgets in his seat he sighs as his optics gaze out of the cabin window, "Man, this flying couch sstuff is for the birds." he tells Sandstorm and looks as if he's about to burst from his seat and leap out the open hatch. The jumpstarter somehow manages to hold himself back as he listens and watches Rodimus. He is of course the first to his feet as soon as the shuttle lands and with rifle in hand the Wrecker runs towards the exit and say to Rodimus, "I can't wait to get another crack at those Decepticons!" and the he's off. The jumpstarter transformers in mid air into his cyber skiff mode and hits the ground zipping off. The little skiff soon finds himself unsure of his next course of action and just zips on towards the closest thing to cover that the terrain has to offer. Topspin transforms into his Blue Hovercraft mode. Patchwork has arrived. The Guardian unit makes a hard landing in the dirt, throwing up a furrow of debris into the air. When the dust settles, the assorted accessories for it have appeared. The rocket, track, tank and base combine slowly, methodically, harkening back to an earlier area, when ball and socket joints were but a gleam in the engineers' eyes. The massive robot seems completely emotionless and does not react at all to the Autobot shuttle in the air, instead tracking the Decepticons with its visored face. In a modulated basso voice, it announces, "Present merchandise for consideration." Scrapper grumbles to Bonecrusher, "Subspace. It is a magical place full of candy. And monsters. Mostly monsters." BEFORE: Scrapper laughs manically as monsters pour out of subspace. He stops laughing when they turn and attack him. NOW: Scrapper glowers squintily, and he points over at the boxed set of MOC and MISB Autobots. "There's a nice assortment. An Aerialbot, the Wrecker leader, a Jeep, and a Delorean. Car Autobots are real classic, y'know? Typify the whole line." Scourge continues to watch the rocket incoming, and basically ignores Dreadwind's doomsayer comments. He isn't sure where Galvatron is, but he had been pretty certain that their Lord would have been here for this trade. But no matter, Scourge would facilitate the trade in his place, if necessary. When the Guardian has landed and assembled and spoken, he steps forward and waves his hand at the neatly packaged Autobots. Galvatron has arrived. Bonecrusher points out, "That Wrecker leader is a real rare piece. Not gonna find that one anywhere else. That one's an import, only available in Cybertron by special mail order." Panavia Tornado GR1 Fighter Jet lands infront of the Guardian Robot, transforming and looks up to it. If the Alien was controlling it still, he'd likely be the only recognizable face; not that it'd likely make any diffrence. <> He looks over to the captured Autobots as Scrapper presents them; showing off the work that had been done to make them look accepticale. With the sound ot turnign gears ans shifting metal, Darkwing changes into his ever blue robot mode. Dreadwind isn't looking out for anything, he's even lost interest in the rocket that's arriving carrying its payload of suffering for all who have bothered or been forced to come and meet it. Dreadwind raises his head, staring with his cold optics into the emotionless optics of the guardian unit, "Any moment now, just as soon as he decides that the ones we captured aren't good enough, then he will attack taking as many of us as he can along with the Autobots, obliterating any that try to oppose him." Redshift watches carefuilly as the Guardian robot unfolds, suspiciously too similar to Omega Supreme for comfort. "What if this is just an Autobot trick... And we've just invited Omega uncontested into our newly acquired territory?" He muses, although there are certainly some differences between /this/ Guardian and Omega Supreme... THOOM! Abruptly, Galvatron plummets down from above, slamming into the ground with a crack. "Then we will obliterate the Guardian Robot, along with the one who controls, whomever that may be!" he yells, answering Redshift's question. As soon as Sky Lynx touches down, Rodimus charges out of the hatch, transforming as he runs. "Looks like they've already gotten started. Well, they won't be finishing!" he declares as he rolls forward, headlights making his arrival obvious. He steers himself right towards the first Decepticon he spots - a spaceship that happens to be milling about nearest him - and doesn't bother slowing down as he continues on to his destination. Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Winnebago misses Redshift with his Ram (Grab) attack! Patchwork has remains near the back of the little Autobot gathering and is one of the last to come out of Sky Lynx. It's really no surprise that the medic would come along. She doesn't trust that any of the captured Autobots would be in anything resembling 'decent shape' when they were returned, and she intends to make certain they make it back home. Staring at the Guardian for a long moment, the femme's head snaps around at the yelling Galvatron, nose wrinkling and optics narrowing. She turns to look to Rodimus, mouth opening to ask him something only to see the larger Bot charging towards the unlucky Redshift, and simply sighs. "Great." Strike Eagle is rendered speechless as the Guardian settles nearby. He watches for a long moment, waiting for Autobots to come flying over the hills in their standard rescue effort. They're coming, right!? Raid struggles against his bonds and attempts to transform with no avail. The familiar engine rumble of a certain Winnebago draws his attention. And Sandstorm is right on Rodimus' heels, err, wheels. "WRECK AND RULE!" Bellowing the Wrecker battlecry as he transforms and tears off across the field towards the Decepticons. What the heck is with the weird containment cells... oh, nevermind, not important right now. More important is that he spots the painfully bright green of the two Constructicons standing near them, and guns the gas. At first it looks like the dunebuggy might be trying to run them down, but at the last moment Sandstorm hits the breaks and skids into whipping a donut. Bringing his back end towards them, so when he hits the gas again, his spinning wheels and overpowered exhausts throw up a cloud of dust, dirt and rock at the two. He's named Sandstorm for a reason, you know! Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Aggressive. With a quick flip and the roar of an engine, Sandstorm takes off in dunebuggy mode, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Blue Hovercraft transforms into his Topspin mode. Combat: Desert Camoflauged Dune Buggy strikes Scrapper with his Here's dirt in your optics! (Grab) attack! Combat: Desert Camoflauged Dune Buggy strikes Bonecrusher with his Here's dirt in your optics! (Grab) attack! Topspin flips out of his cyber skiff mode and land on one knee in robot mode while holding his paricle beam rifle. He looks up and spots a familiar form. He carefully lines up the scope of his rifle and the tip of his rafle lances out beams of blue energy up at Darkwing. Combat: Topspin misses Darkwing with his Remember Me? Blasts! (Grab) attack! Redshift is, of course, something of an expert when it comes to ramming into people. The secret to not getting hit is to move /laterally/, which Redshift does as soon as he sees Rodimus's vehicle mode bearing down on him. "Why do you Autobots always have to show up and RUIN everyrhing?" Redshift protests, brandishing his rifle at Rodimus, who surely is not acting alone. Aiming for those steel-belted Cybertronains, Redshift tries to melt the tires out from under Rodimus with his flamethrower. Combat: Redshift strikes Winnebago with his Flamethrower attack! [Pulled -3] Omega Supreme would be murdering Scrapper and Bonecrusher SO HARD if Omega Supreme was here. That is what Omega Supremes do. The Guardian doesn't show any particular recognition of anyone here, not even Darkwing, but it does not seem to be an intelligent creature on its own, just a fearsome plaything and puppet. It raises its claw hand into the air and opens the claw. A glow emanates from it, and there is a low thrum in the air, that can be felt in support struts more than heard. It rises in pitch, becoming a whine. FLASH After a blinding pulse of light, but thankfully no explosion, an image glitters in the night desert air, a grainy hologram of an alien, blown up in size until it is larger than the Guardian unit projecting it. The alien is a green-skinned biped with a slender, gangly, awkward build. His ears are large, like a bat's, and his yellow eyes are big and bulbous, as if he is adapted to low light conditions. A pair of giraffe-like antennae are mostly hidden by a bushy mess of brown hair. He wears an odd puffy pink t-shirt showing a picture of a Walking Eye, with the words, 'EyeCon 2029' along the top, a yellow collar and belt, dark maroon shorts, and dark maroon curly elf boots. In a whiny, petulant voice, the hologram demands, "Where are the combiner pieces for Aerialbot Air Raid 1986? I don't see them in the package. And what's all this - it's as violent as the dealer's room in YukikazeCon 2017!" "These Autobots are causing a ruckus!" shouts Bonecrusher, sounding indignant. "You better make the deal quick or else these ain't gonna be mint in box much longer!" Lunging into the depth of the cloud to seek its source, Bonecrusher pursues Sandstorm by ear to try to seize ahold of the buggy and bend it into the kind of shape he prefers... broken! Combat: Bonecrusher misses Desert Camoflauged Dune Buggy with his Grab attack! Galvatron yells, pointing an angry finger of condemnation at the party wreckers, "AUTOBOTS! Destroy them!" He overhears the voice of the alien, and Galvatron turns his head ever so slowly to glare at its hologram. "One moment, Decepticons--I'll conclude this *transaction.* Keep the Autobots busy!" Approaching the hologram directly, he says, "As Bonecrusher said, you're running out of time, alien. You must either accept the "goods" that we got you--" He gestures towards the captive Autobots casually. "--or you get nothing! As for all the 'violence,' well, what did you expect? It's called "war", may want to look it up some time, hm?" Autobots? Scourge hadn't expected to see them for a few minutes yet. But no matter, they would be crushed, and the trade would go on. Taking a moment to take stock of the scene, the Sweep leader chuckles and spots a favorite target of the Sweeps as a whole; Patchwork. Take the medic out of the picture, and no field repairs. The Autobots will fall even faster! Without any further hesitation, he leaps into the air and makes for the medic, leading with his clawed hands. "Do you really think you Autobots are capable of stopping us, or rescuing your 'friends'? Your termination, Patchwork, will bring a smile to my features!" Combat: Scourge sets his defense level to Fearless. Dreadwind barely even notices the Autobot leader as he barrels straight by Redshift, maybe someone else paying attention would have noted it as an initial attack. His optics are locked to the Guardian robot, its cold detatchment from life intriguing him. Is such a being noticed by existence as something needing to suffer or is it merely a weapon, something for others to strive to attain and thus cause suffering in the process? If it can feel pain then it probsably suffer along with everyone else. Standing at the back alone and uncared for Dreadwind is totally overlooked by the initial attacks, some things never change. He does however address the holographic alien, "His componants are all stored on him, not that it will do you any good without the other Aerialbots, but you're not listening are you? No one ever does...." Combat: Scourge strikes Patchwork with his Flying Claw (Grab) attack! Scrapper suddenly finds himself in the middle of a sandstorm, but not in the middle of Sandstorm, because Scrapper cannot phase through matter. He reflects that would be an interesting project to attempt, however. Scrapper spends a few moments thinking about that before shaking himself out of it. He kicks some dirt back at Sandstorm, grousing, "Get out of here, Autobots! The big boys are bartering." Combat: Scrapper misses Desert Camoflauged Dune Buggy with his Scavenging Snatch (Grab) attack! Darkwing turns as he sees Topspin's shot miss by a mile. "So, come back for more Wrecker? Your boss couldn't take me down, what make you think you can?" He asks as he pulls his twin blasters from subspace and fires on the Wrecker. Combat: Darkwing strikes Topspin with his Electro-Kinetic Blasters attack! [Pulled -3] Strike Eagle tries with little success to watch the sudden squirmish unfold from his position. He would've gaped if he had the facial features, gazing up at the projection. Combiner pieces? "Hey, HEY! I'm just as valuable without 'em!" he yells, though his voice is probably muffled. Winnebago is struck in the side by Redshift's flame thrower, low enough down to MELT HIS TIRES. He starts to swerve and screech out of control, but he transforms, tumbling to his feet. "Ruin everything? You've kidnap *our* people!" he shouts, running... not at Redshift, but at the Decepticons conducting the trade. "I don't have time for this," he growls, removing his photon eliminator from subspace and firing at any Decepticon between him and the captive Autobots! Desert Camoflauged Dune Buggy can hear Bonecrusher's big lumbering steps charging in, and waits for the last possible moment before releasing the break and the build up power hurtling him foward out the opposite end of the dirt cloud, leaving nothing but the ruts of dirt he'd kicked up for Bonecrusher to dig into. "Yeeehah!" He veers to avoid Scrapper's kicked clod as well. "You wanna barter? Dandy. Let's negotiate." He speeds towards Scrapper again. Then abruptly the buggy sprinds up, transforming to robot mode, the momentum being used to swing a flying haymaker at Scrapper's faceplate. "Let my buddies go and I won't reduce ya to a parts lot!" Combat: Desert Camoflauged Dune Buggy strikes Scrapper with his Negotiating. With my fists! (Grab) attack! Patchwork should know to keep up with the other bots by now, and even as she attempts to dash off after Rodimus Prime, she finds her path cut off by the leaping Scourge. "What? Hey! No, get out of the wa..ow!" Patchwork yelps, stumbling back as the claws swipe at her, scratching her paint and scraping her armour. Ducking her head, the teal femme pulls out her pistol, sending a quickly (and likely poorly) aimed shot towards Scourge before she starts to dash forward, towards where the gift box should be. Starting for it is one thing - getting there is another. With a lightning fast flip and twist, Sandstorm lands in his robot mode, ready for action. Combat: Patchwork strikes Scourge with her Grab attack! Topspin gets to his feet:gets to his feet and yells at Scrapper, "I'll show you indignant, you puke green headed---ACK!" and before he can finish his insult. The jumpstarter is shot inthe back which sends him tumbling to the ground, but amazingly enough he springs back to his feet.. they aren't called Jumpstarters for nothing. He aims his rifle at Darkwing once again, "Because IWrec and Rule!!" he fires off another blast of his weapon at the seeker ad this time takes off on foot. Running in zig zag patterns as to avoid being a stationary target. Combat: Topspin strikes Darkwing with his Particle Beam of Justice! (Grab) attack! From the across the horizon, a large fast speeding object traveling at supersonic speeds can be seen flying into the vicinity. As the object closes in, it spontaneously expands even further into an amalgamation of what seems to be an avian-being with a Terran space shuttle for a body. The distinct loud, heavy bass roar of trio of rocket engines finally catches up with the large mechanical creature, leaving a loud bang in its wake. The large mass of the mechanical being lands squarely in between Scourge and Patchwork in an effort to seperate the two, and as the external lights on the creature illuminates the blackened night, it reveals itself to be no other than Sky Lynx and he doesn't look happy at all. "You Decepticons were bold enough to kidnap my subordinates." Sky Lynx's long neck cranes downwards slightly to stare at the Decepticon Sweep commander optics to optics, "I do insist on reclaiming them." With that said, the Autobot lieutenant commander raises a sharply clawed paw and makes an attempt to bat away Scourge. Combat: Sky Lynx strikes Scourge with his claw swipe (Grab) attack! The massive hologram alien laughs, as if he just heard a really funny joke, "Hooboy, not when I'm drinking, okay?" He holds up a container of Mountain Dew Throwback: Platinum Edition and then sets it down somewhere outside of the range of view of the hologram camera. "War is the best! Have you guys betaed the new MMORPG Perimeter: Dead Hand XII? The aggro class is totally imba. I keep proccing hits like a fiend. It rawks." He waves a hand dismissively now. "But could you stop that for a bit? You're kicking up so much dirt, I can't see the goods, and I'm worried you might crease the packaging." Then, he tsks when Air Raid shouts, "Don't be silly. Removal of the combiner pieces makes Aerialbot Air Raid 1986 almost worthless, just fit for the extras bin. I won't be able to display it properly without them. And ugh, that Wrecker you have there is so Playskool and neon. What were they thinking, pink and yellow? Is it supposed to be the token girl Wrecker? Is that why it comes with a chain accessory? Hah!" "HA! Now you really are a flaming winnebago!" Redshift jeers, hooting with laughter as he melts down Rodimus's tires... Which is certainly not very debilitating to the Autobot leader once he transforms to robot mode and starts shooting! Redshift would prefer to keep shooting(despite the giant alien's protests) but he is busy trying to not die from the gaping wounds Rodimus has blown in his torso. Combat: Redshift misses Rodimus Prime with his pathetic groaning (Grab) attack! Scrapper is smashed back by Sandstorm's strike, and he rubs his face thoughtfully for a moment. Then, he replies, "My turn," and he draw his sword, aiming to jam it in Sandstorm's shoulder. "Scrapping people for parts is my /namesake/." Combat: Scrapper sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Scrapper strikes Sandstorm with his Sword of Scrapping (Grab) attack! Galvatron glares at the hologram, as if wanting to strangle him... but then he gets an idea. "Well, ok, then." He gnashes his cyber-teeth as he takes a shot to the back from Prime, but rather than retaliate, he smiles at the Autobot Leader. "Ah, Rodimus, good of you to come by. Yes, this alien doesn't seem to like the "wares" we collected for him, so, well, I guess you can take your Autobots back! *Be my guest.*" Gesturing dramatically towards the Autobot prisoners, Galvatron backs away from them, smiling amiably and totally disregarding Redshift's suffering. "Pitiful," says Scourge at the laser that virtually bounces off his armor, leaving a light scorch mark. His feet touching ground, he watches the femme medic run towards the packaged Autobots for a moment, and smirks, his head laser charges up, but before he can fire, there's a massive Autobot suddenly setting down in front of him and turning to look him in the optics. Wonderful. Suddenly, before he can react, however, he's sent flying by that massive clawed paw, and with a nice new dent in his armor. "GAH!" As the Sweep commander tumbles through the air, he transforms into a sweepcraft and rights himself before he hits the ground, then shoots forward with his disintegrator beam firing on full power at Sky Lynx's face. "I've been looking forward to getting another trophy from you, Autobot!" Leaping into the air, the traditional sounds of transforming splitting the air, Scourge twists as his body folds into a nasty looking Sweepcraft. Bonecrusher collapses to the ground, rearranging and expanding to become a huge bulldozer. Dreadwind continues to watch the traders rather than get involved in a waste of effort trading blows with beings that only acknowledge his existence when he's shooting them and even then they don't listen. Though he is standing some way behind the captives he undoubtedly attracted some of Rodimus' attack, knocking him to one knee. Dreadwind however tries to depress the alien to action. "You should decide now before others claim that which you desire, it will cause you great suffering for the loss of the unique, haunting you for many many years, a painful reminder of your hesitation, leaving a dark hole at your core that slowly consumes you entirely." Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Sky Lynx with his Disintegrator to the face! (Grab) attack! Komatsu D575A Superdozer 's diesel engine roars as he turns, transforms and lurches forward, lowering the great shining blade and bearing down on Sandstorm with it to try to crush him between Bonecrusher and Scrapper. "An' crushing bones is MINE! Hold 'im for me, Scrapper!" Combat: Bonecrusher sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer strikes Sandstorm with his Killdozer (Grab) attack! Darkwing chuckles as he watches the shot go wild and strikes the large shuttle instead. "Well so far your good at wrecking up your own side. Just like Impactor wrecked himself. Too bad you Wreckers crumble so easily, or maybe I might get some enjoyment from watching you suffer as you continue to hurt yourself and your friends." He replies as he rushes over to the Wrecker intending to just pound the slag out of him. Combat: Darkwing misses Topspin with his Wrecker wrecker! (Grab) attack! "Worthless!?" Air Raid sputters, "Are you kidding! I'm priceless!" Wait, he's not supposed to be sweetening the deal. At Galvatron's sudden surrendering of hostages, Raid thrashes in his casing, "Don't do it Prime, it's a trap! He's up to something!" he shouts as he twists his tires. Rodimus Prime is on fire! But that was because of Redshift's attack, though that's almost out. He's also firing! And hitting a fair bit. Galvatron just *offering* the prisoner's back takes him off balance, and he stops short for a moment, then he shrugs. "Of course he's up to something," Rodimus answers as he changes course, darting first towards Air Raid's card. "He's trying to get the other guy to hurry up and buy. But you what? If I can use the time to get you out of here, I don't care!" he declares as he grabs hold of the card and the bubble, obviously preparing to rip it apart and free the Aerialbot! Sandstorm knew he was probably biting off more than he could chew taking on two of the bigger badboys of the Constructicons at once, but that was hardly a reason to not try anyways! The danger level just made it all that more exciting... Though not very pleasant as he gets rammed from behind by Bonecrusher, and then Scrapper lunges on him. The sword gouges into his shoulder as he thuds backwards onto the dozer blade, somewhat of an awkward position to be in. Though he still has a moment to snap a witty retort towards the alien inbetween. "If you don't like how they look, just leave 'em and go harass some scalpers!" First issue first, getting Scrapper off of him. Gripping his sandblaster gun in his other hand, he shoves it up and opens fire, aiming to blast Scrapper in the face and chest with a high powered armor-shredding stream of grit. "And away he goe---" Sky Lynx comments on his handy work with a clear degree of satisfaction in the tone of his voice but is abruptly interrupted as a stray shot from Topspin travels far and wide across the combat zone and strikes the massive mechanical creature off the back of his head. The Autobot lieutenant commander stumbles forward in a daze as the kinetic energy from Topspin's particle beam is absorbed by the layers of armour plating that adorns his entire body, "Gah, where did you how to shoot?" Before the Autobot lieutenant commander can comment any further, Scourge's distintegrator beam strikes him square in the jaw, causing the massive mechanical creature to stumble backwards this time around. "I find these attacks upon my cranial module to unamusing." Sky Lynx's gaping maw opens as a stream of moderately charged flames is directed at Scourge. Combat: Sky Lynx strikes Sweep Spacecraft with his stream of fire (Grab) attack! Combat: Sandstorm strikes Scrapper with his Sandblaster to the face! (Grab) attack! Separated from Scourge now, Patchwork is only too happy to leave Sky Lynx to deal with the Con. Tucking her pistol away, the medic continues her hasty dash towards the location of the trade. "There's -always- a trap!" She hopes she isn't close enough to end up caught in the trap, whatever it may be, as she shouts out her own two cents to Rodimus, making efforts to close the distance as quickly as she can. Astrotrain comes ashore from the Gulf of California. Astrotrain has arrived. Topspin continues to run in long strides over the rocky terrain with relative ease and then he sees the form of Darkwing coming closer for some hands on action it would seem. But he manages to leap to the side to avoid the fists of fury. The Jumpstarter hits the ground and springs back up to his feet and leaps up at Darkwing fully intent on punching a hole in the seeker before he can get away, "I'll Wreck YOU!!" ok so he's no Springer when it comes to wit and snappy come-backs. Combat: Topspin misses Darkwing with his SHO RYU KEN!! (Grab) attack! The alien's eyes go wide, and he stamps his foot against an unseen floor petulantly. From off to the side, some of his Mountain Dew splooshes into view. He snaps, "Now look what you made me do! You're completely ruining the resale value if you let the Autobots just open them. Sentinel, take them ALL in - it's the only way to come out well in this deal." The hologram wavers in the air as the Guardian moves, reaching first for Rodimus Prime himself, popping open a hatch on his side. Sweep Spacecraft is now on fire, from Sky Lynx's 'dragons breath', but he ignores the flames for now, going once again for his primary target. Keep the medic from reaching the prisoners, and it'll be harder for the Autobots in the short term, at least. "I'm not through with you yet, medic!" And with that, he continues streaking forward, a flaming Sweepcraft bright against the night sky, letting loose his laser lasso at Patchwork, to immobilize her. Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Patchwork with his Laser Lasso (Grab) attack! Galvatron, at first, grins at Air Raid. "Oh, listen to the Aerialbot! He's really quite valuable!" But as the alien directs his Guardian to start grabbing EVERYONE, Galvatron blinks, mouth open. "What!? No, damn you, you're taking my deal or I am going to GUT you with a blunt object, alien! Stop!!!" Incredibly, he lunges for the Guardian's arm, and tries to pull it away from Rodimus with the thrusters in his feet! Galvatron saving Rodimus? Maybe only for the moment. "You're... taking... my... DEAL!" Galvatron grates at as he struggles against the Guardian's superior strength. Dreadwind slowly, painfully picks himself up from his kneeling position, he sees Rodimus and points at him as he tries to open the sealed captives and release them, "See even now others work to destroy that which you covet the most, destroying their intrinsic value, it is unlikely that others shall ever be found in this condition. The ravages of time and decedance of others destroying that which you hold dear, with no regard for the suffering, pain and loss that it causes. Pain that i know all too well..." Dreadwind hears the alien's commands and assumes he's talking about the Autobots, after all no one ever considers him, worth do anything. "Wow, I guess they looked you over when they inserting vocabulary programs. Gnaw was able to say more then you!" He tuants with a laugh as the Jumpstarter lives up to Impactor's reputation of being unable to hit what they are aiming for. Hearing the alien's comment, Darkwing grabs the Wrecker's arm and tries to toss him towards the Guardian Robot. "You want them all? Well let me help with your collection!" Komatsu D575A Superdozer tilts his blade forward to try to tip Sandstorm out of it and roll over him with his treads. "Haw haw haw!" bellows Bonecrusher in his guttural voice. "We'll give yer stupid-looking buddies another reason to call ya 'Sandstorm,' cuz you'll be GROUND into DUST!" Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer misses Sandstorm with his Squish (Grab) attack! Combat: Darkwing misses Topspin with his Wrecker Toss! attack! [Pulled -3] Scrapper scrambles, "I'm trying, Bonecrusher!" But the Wrecker scours Scrapper's not-face, and Scrapper stumbles away, sword slipping out of the Wrecker. Rodimus Prime grabs hold of the protective seal and starts to tear it open, but before he manages to get the package more than a little off, the Guardian robot is grabbing for him! Instinctively he ducks then turns to fight, but his optics open wide as /Galvatron/ is the one who prevents him from getting grabbed! "This night just keeps getting weirder and weirder," he mutters. Then he turns back towards Patchwork. "Keep working on getting him and the others out! Looks like I have to deal with the Guardian!" Yes. Rodimus is going to deal with the Guardian. Certainly, *that* will come out well. The young Prime rushes towards the Guardian, firing at the larger robot's feet with his photon eliminator at full power, and hoping that even that will be enough! Patchwork was making good progress towards the boxed Air Raid and Co. That is, until she's roped like a stray calf, arms reaching forward as her knees are strapped together by the laser lasso. Pulled off her feet, Patches lands heavily on the ground, tucking as she tries to absorb some of the impact with her arms. "Stop it!" Kicking her feet, Patchwork squirms, trying both to get free and to get closer to the box to get out her friends and fellow Autobots. Combat: Patchwork takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] With the sword out of his shoulder and Scrapper stumbling away, Sandstorm is able to roll out of the dozer's path before Bonecrusher makes him do an impression of a crushed soda can. "Rain check on wreckin' ya, big boy, got a larger problem to deal with." Rolling onto his knees, he pushes himself off into a sprint from there, but its away from the Constructicons. Instead he darts towards the towering Sentinel, hoping to buy the others some more time to get the prisoners out. "Hey, punkass!" He flicks his sandblaster all the way up again, and levels it at the Omega wannabe, firing the stream of armor shattering particles at it. It might not do as much damage to the guardian, but it should still eat away at the armor. And more importantly, piss off the collector. "Worry about your own mint condition!" Constructicons are probably gonna stab him in the back, but this is more important. Nate Briar has arrived. Strike Eagle prepares to take to the skies the moment he's freed. It couldn't happen fast enough. "C'mon c'mon c'mon!" he murmurs to Rodimus, who suddenly becomes occupied with the giant Guardian. Patchwork shows up, only to be dragged away by none other than the Sweep leader. "Patch!" Sky Lynx watches with ire as the Sweep commander takes the full brunt of his acetylene blaster and yet continues to pursue his prey despite the threat that the Autobot lieutenant commander also presents. This is what makes Sweeps, especially Scourge, so deadly. The uncompromising commitment to the objective at hand, it's an attribute that fortunately not all Decepticons possess. Sky Lynx isn't about to sit idly by while he watches another of his subordinate fall prey to the Decepticon. The massive Autobot takes to the air and begins speeding towards the Decepticon Sweep commander. As Sky Lynx nears Scourge, the cobalt blue module that carries his impressive bulk detaches from the his torso. A golden feline-like face pops forth from the cobalt blue module and makes a rocket boosted leap towards Scourge, "Oh, I do -insist- that you stay around. My subordinate there has something far more important to do than be a victim of your senseless brutality." Meanwhile, the dinobird that formerly formed Sky Lynx's upper body continues to rocket towards Patchwork, "Come along now, femme. Put a little strength into it, our comrades are still waiting for us, there's much work to be done." Combat: Sky Lynx strikes Sweep Spacecraft with his rocket boosted leap (Grab) attack! Topspin ducks out of Darkwing's grasp, "Hey, hands off kootie boy!" then he runs towards the Guardian and look at Sandaorm, 'Great idea.. Wreck and Rule!!" he bellows as he fires his particle beam rifle at the Guardian's head, the bright side is even if he misses the head, he's bound to hit the gigantic thing once or twice. It may not do any serious damage to the brute, but it'll sure leave some ugly carbon scoring just to uin the paint job. Komatsu D575A Superdozer puts the brake on his right tread and turns slowly around to give chase to Sandstorm... which is about the time he notices everyone seems to be fighting the visiting guardian. "Huh. I think I missed a memo," he remarks, transforming back into his normal mode. "Where're the other Constructicons when you need 'em?" The bulldozer noisily and awkwardly pulls itself up into a dense, compactly built green robot about twenty feet tall. Laughing as the femme medic is roped by his laser lasso, Scourge transforms once more, rifle in hand, and fires. But it's not a laser blast, or disruptor beam, or anything simple like that. Instead, a burst of acid sprays forth from the barrel! "You won't be going far at all, medic. The prisoners remain /ours/ until this deal has been concluded!" And the instant he's finished speaking, he's plowed into /hard/ from behind by Sky Lynx, and yet /another/ massive dent appears, and this time, it appears that dent damaged something internal, as the Sweep commander is a bit slow in recovering after he slams into the ground. "Gah! Go pester someone else, you overgrown fowl!" Turning as it approaches, the Sweepcraft seems to split in places, the arms and legs of a robot emerging, then the demonic wings unfurl and the menacing visage of Scourge makes it's appearance, completing the transformation from Sweepcraft to robot. The alien hollers, "I'll give you bad feedback on Black eBay, Galvatron!" as if this is the most dire threat known to man. "Your rating will go DOWN! I'll get all my guild to do it, too!" he screeches as Rodimus Prime ruins Air Raid's packaging, tears welling up in big yellow eyes. "The boxed set, get it quickly!" Dutifully, the Guardian reaches to stash the boxed set inside of himself, ignoring Rodimus Prime's shot at his feet. Dumb as a sack of rocks perhaps, but built with die cast construction, a lost art. Topspin's shots do even less. The alien does howl, however, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get in parts for a Guardian robot? All the little fiddly details?" ...little? Grimlock has connected. Combat: Scourge strikes Patchwork with his Acid Ray (Grab) attack! Darkwing actually seems to take cue fron Topspin, and runs towards... welll not the Guardian robot realy; but Dreadwind. "Okay 'Air Commander' talky time is over; time to get your aft in gear. With Sky Lynx and the Guardian Robot, we're gonna need some heavier fire power. So were gonna have to do the unthinkable and combine!" Darkwing says, almost seeming to shudder at the though of having to merge with Dreadwind, as he transforms to jet mode. Leaping into the air, Darkwing transforms into a Panavia Tornado GR1 fighter jet Dreadwind turns his head and looks at the largest of the people that can stomach his presence for an extended period of time and sighs heavily, "I can't believe you actually want us to do this Darkwing, nothing good can come of it, it never does..." Dreadwind does however start to move at his teammate's behest, first taking to the air, then transforming to jet mode before finally initiating his combination sequence, perhaps the closest Dreadwind ever gets to death as his mind is consumed into the gestalt. Dreadwing has arrived. Darkwing has left. Dreadwind has left. Galvatron snarls as he can't hold the Guardian back any longer, releasing its arm. "SCREW your damned Black eBay! I could care less what a bunch of intergalactic twits thinks of me! But I'll tell you what--put THIS in your feedback! NRAAHHHHHHH!" Whirling on the Guardian, he blasts at its face with his cannon! "Decepticons, we've been betrayed!! Destroy the Guardian!" Scrapper shouts to Bonecrusher, "Working! Or taking an energon break. Probably that." He rushes after Sandstorm, trying to shoulder-check the Wrecker down to the ground. Combat: Scrapper strikes Sandstorm with his Shoulder Check (Grab) attack! Nate Briar arrives in the Glaive to the coordinates that Rodimus Prime sent him. The Glaive hums and seems to be completely polished and clean. The pilot inside seems to be a bit arrogant as well. The human inside removes the helmet a bit and turns on the radio to full volume. <> The Glaive then hums as man inside prepares to brace himself. The AI inside gives Nate some crucial information, "Oh, crud, a ton of Decepticons out here. Heh, great. That would have been great information to be told about, eh?" Nate Briar then begins to focus his attention on the battlefield. 'So a Sweep, the Constucticons, and ---" The AI flashes to inform Nate that Dreadwind has just been formed. "And some guy with a BFG." AL, the AI retorts, "Galvatron was already noted on the display. That is a Gestalt." Nate then winces, "Well, Galvatron can help with my plan to distract whatever that alien is so that the Autobots can defeat it!" Fusillade has arrived. Dreadwing flies towards the Primative Autobot shuttle. "YOU REALLY SHOULD KNOW THAT IT IS POINTLESS TO KEEP UP THIS FIGHT, YOUR SUFFERING WILL ONLY COME FROM IT. IN THE END YOU WILL LOOSE AND YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE LOST FOREVER." The combined depressive might of the gloom boys says as it opens fire on Sky Lynx. Combat: Dreadwing misses Sky Lynx with his Roasting a Turkey! (Grab) attack! Rodimus Prime raises a brow-ridge as the holo-alien pitches a hissy fit. "You pick the most /charming/ allies, Galvatron," he remarks wryly, but the moment of humor is gone with the Guardian robot scoops up the boxed-up Autobots. "NO! Give them back!" He closes the distance between himself and the robot and tries to jump onto the thing's leg! Should his jump land true, he'll begin to clamber up it like a large robotic kitten. Strike Eagle watches as a massive hand drops down and clasps over the hardcore plastic material. "...No no no no FRAG!!" He, Nitro, Fairway and Impactor are stuffed inside the Guardian and met with darkness. Here's where he screams in earnest - he'll be damned if he's captive again. "LET US OUT YOU SLAG-FACED ASTRO-NERD!" Topspin starts to run off to the side to try and out-flank the Guardian but then he ses Sandstorm getting attacked. The jumpstarter stops and yells, "Hey you knuckleheads.. didn't you hear Galvatron? All Decepticons attack the Guardian!!" he then turns his rifle on Scrapper, "And since I'm not a Decepticon.. I can shoot whoever I want." he mutters and fires a blast of his particle beam rifle at Svcrapper full intending to get the Constructicon off of his fellow Wrecker. Patchwork is just managing to kick off the lasso when she has her paint job completely ruined by the acid spray. Yelping as the acid burns through her paint and armour, the medic squirms even as she leaps to her feet. "Ow...I'm trying! Owie!" she protests to Sky Lynx's bird as he urges her onwards. "He's being a meanie, I'm -trying- to get to the boxes...!" She glances over her shoulder for a brief moment before she starts again towards the boxes. Mint condition is not going to last for long, as the medic reaches for the box, trying to tear the seal off! Combat: Patchwork takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Combat: Topspin strikes Scrapper with his Acting Wrecker Commander to the rescue!! (Grab) attack! Sandstorm manages to pop off a few shots, but then he gets violently checked by Scrapper and crashes to the ground in a cloud of dirt and bent pieces of armor as he skids. "Slagit, I ain't got time to play with you now!" And here comes Topspin to the rescue. "He's all yours bro!" He backflips to get onto his feet, then jumps into the air and transforms. Once in helicopter mode he makes a beeline for the Sentinel on a last ditch crazy and possibly suicidal idea, considering this mode isn't as durable, but it is the one that can fly. And fly it does, right towards the guardian's arm and try to knock the box of Bots from its grasp, maybe tear it up with his rotors. Nevermind it's going to bang himself up something fierce in the process. Insane stunts like this is what he does for a living. With the desert moonlight glinting off her orca-patterned space tile, Fusillade cruises into the airspace over the site that Scrapper tipped her off about. "Whoa what in the smelt is all this going on down here?!" She sees... Decepticons attacking the Guardian that Galvatron HAD been coveting, a shrilly screeching projection, a pile of Autobots, combined jets and Sky Lynx swooping around, a boatload of crossfire, and... were those vacuum-sealed Aerialbots? Sleeking her swing wings back to their fully swept back position, the slender-winged bomber parks herself in a holding pattern, and takes a long hard moment to decide whether or not she even wants to involve herself in this mess. "Ah yes, the ever depressing Dreadwind. That's you talking in there, isn't it?" The dinobird dryly replies to the merged form of Dreadwing all the while banking, rolling, and doing everything it can to keep the mini-gestalt's weapons fire from making contact against him. The dinobird's agility seems to have increased even further now that it isn't burdened by the sheer massive weight of its other half. "I dare say, if you're so depressed about life in general, then you really ought to just let that intergalactic nerd package you up and shelf you." He says, mockingly, before rocketing further away from the area with the hope of luring the combined beings away. On the other hand, the cobalt blue Lynx that had thus far been harassing Scourge quickly shifts away from the Sweep commander. "Looks like the deal's off, Scourge. As much as I am at loathe to say this, but better to put an end to the Guardian before it finds away to end us. And honestly... do you seriously want to get boxed up by a nerd?" Having said that, the large cobalt blue Lynx rocket boosts once more towards the rampaging Guardian robot. There's a loud snap and hissing sound as the locking mechanisms that holds the combined form of Sky Lynx together rapidly disengages. Soon the large Dino-bird takes into the air as it seperates itself from the giant cobalt blue Lynx beneath. Combat: Lynx takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] "Awww," grumbles Bonecrusher. "Look at that, those guys are merged and we're short four Constructicons. Nobody can wreck up a Guardian like Devastator." He jogs after Scrapper dutifully, but his heart isn't really in it thanks to being envious of Dreadwing. "Okay youse, put'em down!" he shouts, transforming to launch mortar shells at Topspin (and Scrapper) and the Guardian both. Bonecrusher collapses to the ground, rearranging and expanding to become a huge bulldozer. Ahh, finally, that oversized turkey was leaving him alone. Scourge laughed and raised his rifle once again, and without hesitation, fired at the very well presented back of Patchwork. "Never turn your back on a Sweep. You only die faster." And a high-heat beam of laser fire issues forth just before the Sweep commander begins pushing himself back to his feet. Combat: Scourge strikes Patchwork with his Laser Blaster (Grab) attack! Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer misses Topspin with his Concussion Bomb Launcher Area attack! [Pulled -4] Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer strikes Scrapper with his Concussion Bomb Launcher Area attack! [Pulled -4] The inside of the Guardian robot is quite plush, as if someone from Pimp My Ride has redone the inside. There is marabou everywhere, shag carpeting, strange alien koi in disco-lit tanks, and more speakers and big screens than a sports bar. There are no obvious controls, no real pilot area. The alien collector crosses his skinny, reed-like arms across his chest and demands in his whiny, nasal voice, "Get me one of the green ones. They look like a set, even if they're all Playskool and neon." He sniffs a bit, as if this choice is beneath him. The Guardian robot reaches out a ponderous arm for Scrapper, who has been struck senseless by Topspin's brutality and Bonecrusher's friendly fire. In the hatch goes Scrapper, and he lands on top of the boxed set, staring down at Air Raid. Not where he wanted to be! The dark image of Omega Supreme looks down at Rodimus Prime, and the hologram decrees, "That one isn't mint. The Matrix has been used already. Snore. Put it in the scrap bin." As a combined barrage of fire impact into it and is absorbed by plating several feet thick, the Guardian tries to knock Rodimus Prime off its leg, without a care. Galvatron screams, "Shut up, Rodimus! He is NOT my ally--just some alien FOOL who dared to back out of an agreement with me! Rest assured, my vengeance upon him will be more painful than anything you can imagine! Do you hear me, alien?" He discharges more cannon shots into the chest of the Guardian. "I'll raze your world, as well! Everyone you've known and loved will die!!!" He is aghast as the Guardian discards Rodimus Prime. "You don't want Rodimus Prime!? You're insane!" Dreadwing misses his target, part of him knew he would but sooner or later he will strike home and then the large Autobeast will learn what it is to truely suffer in an uncaring universe. Banking sharply Dreadwing turns for another attack run this time blasting the entire area around Sky Lynx with his thermal melters. "When this is over Autobot you will wish that i had terminated your life rather than leaving you a melted and broken mess of sparking parts. Your mind will cry out for sweet oblivion, but no one will hear your voice in the darkness, trapped in your broken body." Combat: Dreadwing strikes Lynx with his Thermally melted area (Grab) attack! Nate Briar pilots the Glaive around and tries to figure out what targets he can take but doesn't move in for anything. He notices the combat going on between the Autobots and the Decepticons and then notices that the alien is capturing or attempting to capture a Constructicon. "Curious, the Decepticons should call for a cease-fire and attack the alien with the Autobots to fix things." The Glaive heads to where Dreadwing and Sky Lynx are. <> The Glaive tries to draw their attention to the alien. Rodimus Prime is kicked off the Guardian robot's leg! He flies some distance away, landing in a rather undignified heap to the accompaniment of assorted metallic clanging and clattering. "Oooooo," he groans, shaking his head to try to get his bearings. Then he stares up rather baffled as Galvatron protests the alien's judgement on Rodimus's collectability. "Even for us, this has just gone *beyond* weird," he mutters, straightening. He summons his trailer from subspace, opening it up and growls, "Galvatron, didn't you tell your people to start attacking that Guardian? If they focusing on bondage games with my *medics* or tag with Sky Lynx, we're never going to have enough fire power to stop that thing!" Sandstorm curses under his breath that didn't work for trying to stop him from putting them inside. It's starting to look like they won't be able to rescue their buddies this time. Sandstorm doesn't like the idea of letting them be taken off, but it just may be time to make sure they can find them later. When attacking the arm fails, Sandstorm transforms again and grabs onto its body to hold on for a moment with one hand and brace himself with his legs. Grits down and grunts as he smashs his chest/cab with the other hand, reachs in and pulls out the distress beacon normally for signally when a Bot goes down in the field, activating it. He waits for the Sentinel to open up again to toss Scrapper inside, then tries throw the beacon inside before it closes again. With a lightning fast flip and twist, Sandstorm lands in his robot mode, ready for action. Strike Eagle peers up at Scrapper, and would've glared if he could. "Oh just great. JUST FRAGGIN' GREAT! Of all the 'cons he could've picked up, he picked up YOU!" A brief glance around the pimped-out room, and Raid moans hopelessly. Topspin jumps out of the way of Bonecrusher's attack and yells at the two Constructicons, "Hey, why don't you two do something useful like mrge into Devestator and go kick that Guardian's butt or I'll tell Galvatron you two were goofing off while he was being violated by the Guardian!" he just shakes his head cuz he's a simple Jmpstarter and possibly has no value to anyone, not even a collector. He turns to see what Sandstorm is up to. Patchwork is hit in the back by the ever brave Scourge. The medic arches her back, making a sound that is none too pleasant, and looking somewhat worse for wear. Not fast enough with the boxes, it seems, Patchwork instead turns to what's seeming to be the bigger concern currently. "Go -away-!" she shouts at Scourge, reaching for her rifle, bringing it up to return fire on the Sweep. Combat: Patchwork strikes Scourge with her Grab attack! Combat: Sandstorm compares his Accuracy to 100: Success! Patchwork is hit in the back by the ever brave Scourge. The medic arches her back, making a sound that is none too pleasant, and looking somewhat worse for wear. Not fast enough with the boxes, it seems, Patchwork instead turns to what's seeming to be the bigger concern currently. "Go -away-!" she shouts at Scourge, reaching for her rifle, bringing it up to return fire on the Sweep. Combat: Patchwork strikes Scourge with her Grab attack! Combat: Sandstorm compares his Accuracy to 100: Success! Suddenly, the area around the dinobird looks as if is in the middle of a Michael Bay's movie set. Explosions rocks the dry ground and dusts clouds are knocked into the air as the dinobird struggles to evade the shots. Before he realizes it, Dreadwing switches tactics and begins scorching the entire area and it strikes home on the dinobird, knocking it straight off course. Looks like the dinobird's taunts worked! Although the results are not exactly how it was originally planned, the flying turkey was supposed to drag the mini-gestalt out of the fight while avoiding getting singed. Can't have everything. The dinobird looks surveys the area grimly, spots an area with more natural cover and begins rocketing towards the area, "Gah! Come along now, you mismatched gestalt." Meanwhile the cobalt blue Lynx can be seen letting loose a growl in frustration, "Amazing. Absolutely amazing. You Sweeps are absolutely single tracked to a fault." The mechanical actuators that powers the massive mechanical feline provides a burst of energy, jolting the entire mass of the Lynx towards Scourge once more. There might be a greater goal to deter, namely the big evil Omega Sentinel, but sadly, Sky Lynx's own priorities places the well beings of his subordinate just a notch higher than the overall good. Combat: Lynx strikes Scourge with his Lynx pounce (Grab) attack! At Galvatron's threats, the alien collector holds his belly and chortles, "Dude, my world's laaaame. Weaksauce. They watch The Bachelor: For Better or for Worse. Nuke 'em. It'll only improve the IQ. A mutant zombie wasteland would be exxxxcellent! Just like L4D2000: Bioshock Edition, now with more Ayn Rand. Rodimus Prime is for girls and emos. My collection is only 100% hardcore! Hmm. Get me that bulldozer, too. I can use the green ones as bookends." ...bookends? Inside, Scrapper looks around the interior of the Guardian for anything that might possibly be useful, from his perch on top of Air Raid's blister pack. Instead, he is clonked in the head by Sandstorm's beacon. "Ow!" Continuing to take a beating without any noticeable drop in performance, though the collector's value has to be shot by now, the Guardian goes after Bonecrusher, which might be a slightly familiar sight. Bonecrusher probably hates that, too. Komatsu D575A Superdozer guns his engine and rumbles forth to push his blade against the giant's ankle. Clonk, clonk. "I'm takin' youse down!" he shouts, in spite of the fact that he is obviously not doing anything of the sort. He keeps revving his engine and spinning his treads as the Guardian picks him up carefully in the giant claw and stows him in a compartment. "I hate Guardians!" Bonecrusher says as he's lifted through the air. With the Emperor bellowing on radio, and Scrapper yelling in terror, with Bonecrusher on the target list, Fusillade flicks her nose canards in grim determination, and ignites space boosters and thrust-vectoring engines to dive fast and hard for the hand that clutches the Constructicon leader. She reaches him too late; he's already tossed in. With a flurry of expletives, and a bizarre, nimble twist of her wingflaps to add a spin so she can ogle the posh interior, the Lancer peels away. The inertia sends a spray of bomblets out of her main weapons store, and into a bouquet of detonations against the Guardian's left knee and thigh. "SO totally we-eird!" she squeaks out. To late to help Scrapper, but perhaps not too late to keep Bonecrusher free? Oh, damn. Guess so. The bulldozer noisily and awkwardly pulls itself up into a dense, compactly built green robot about twenty feet tall. "I HATE AYN RAAAAND" yells Bonecrusher as he tumbles down the chute and eventually lands on Scrapper, just like the beacon did. "Oh, hi Chief. What're the odds?" Galvatron should really call a truce and work with the Autobots to bring the Guardian down. Instead... "SHUT UP, RODIMUS! I don't take orders from you! And I can only hope that one day, *I* will be giving YOU the orders if I ever capture you alive and make a slave out of you! NOW DIE!" He whirls on Rodimus, blasting away with his cannon! "And you, alien--if threatening your home world will not suffice, then very well--when I find YOU your bluster will be short-lived, REST ASSURED!" Combat: Galvatron strikes Rodimus Prime with his Galvatron's Bad Day Blast (Grab) attack! Scrapper sighs as Bonecrusher lands heavily on him, and he yelps, "Yeouch!" The blue alien koi just float serenely in their tanks as the mayhem unfolds. Scrapper snaps, "The odds are... something that Hook would calculate. Just get off me!" Scourge's armor, dented and cracked from Sky Lynx's attacks, and partially melted in several places, as well, is struck yet again by Patchwork's laser. This time, however, it doesn't just *ping* off, it punches through a weak point and actually /hurts/. But not nearly so much as yet /another/ pounce by that fragging Sky Lynx. Again, he is thrown to the ground by the pounce, but this time, he merely growls and transforms, streaking out from beneath the cobalt Autobot Lynx. "I thought I told you to go away? No matter, I will deal with you later." As he streaks out from beneath the Lynx, he angles himself directly at Patchwork, at as close to his top speed as he can get in such a short distance. Yup, he's trying to go right /through/ the Autobot medic. "Sorry Chief," grunts Bonecrusher, disentangling himself and looking around. "Kinda fruity in here." Leaping into the air, the traditional sounds of transforming splitting the air, Scourge twists as his body folds into a nasty looking Sweepcraft. Combat: Sweep Spacecraft strikes Patchwork with his Smash 'n Run! (Grab) attack! While he wasn't the cheeriest of the Combiners, Dreadwing was at least the most intellgent one with a pair of minds that work in unison. He notices the turkey's ploy to get him away from the others. "As much as I would enjoy your suffering, your tatics fail you Sky Lynx." He states as he flies towards the Guardian robot. Even though knowing it to be a completely futile effort, he opens fire with Darkwing's Electro Kinetic Blasters, but their likely isn't much of a mind to scramble with them. Strike Eagle howls and howls and howls some more. It's all he can do. His plastic is getting fogged up from the amount of angry heat he's generating. Finally his vocalizer seems to fizzle out. "Scrapper! Quick! Get me out! We'll blow this thing up!!" Rodimus Prime's trailer opens up, revealing the turret inside. He darts towards it, but on the way is blasted off his feet by Galvatron! "NNGH!" he grunts out as he pushes himself back to his feet. He mutters, voice partway to a growl, "Well, at least the good part of not having the usual round of 'temporary truce against a mutual foe' is that we won't have to put up with the standard 'sudden inevitable betrayal' at the end." Then, once more standing, he climbs atop his trailer. "Have it your way, Galvatron, but if that's the way you feel..." and then he turns his trailer-mounted weapon towards Scourge, "Leave that medic alone, you Sweep coward!" Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Sweep Spacecraft with his Turreted Laser Cannon (Grab) attack! That done, they can only hope the beacon actually payses off, Sandstorm tries to make the best of his position that he can. The alien collector complained about it being hard to get parts for a Guardian, so the more they can mess it up now, the less of a problem they'll have to deal with later. "Hey, Topspin!" He shouts down at the other Wrecker. "Don't bother with the armor, aim for the joints!" He dials back his sandblaster a bit, so its less of the damaging large particles and more of the finer, more gritty silicate, the kind that's meant to gum up gears and servos instead of break them. Then he jumps off the Guardian, aiming at an elbow as he drops and trying to shoot as much as the crud into the joint as possible. Damaging it isn't working, so he'll try and at least jam up the arm enough it can't grab anyone else so easily. Patchwork wasn't looking too good to start with, and as Scourge slams into her, knocking her back and sending her rifle skittering off to the side, all amid the rather frightful crunch of crushing armour. The medic is far too slow to get up, after she bounces to a stop. In fact, she doesn't really make it up, at all, though she manages to roll onto her side with a grunt of effort. Combat: Patchwork takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Topspin sighs and lokos around and goes back to shooting at the Guardian with repeated blasts of his particle beam rifle and he can only watch as the energy meter on his weapon is starting to give him the low battery warning light, "Man, I wish Impactor were here." he mutters to himself. Nate Briar facepalms in the armored suit. "Great, I suggest that the Bots and Cons work together and it looked like it might be pulled off but Rodimus and Scourge are now fighting." Fortunately, no one can hear that. The Glaive tries to provide some cover-fire as he targets the Guardian. To hopefully make a small enough distraction! "Tch. Bloody hell. Curse the Decepticon engineers that actually came up with gestalt with a thinking processor." The dinobird curses in annoyance, as his heavily battle damaged avian-like face watches the mini-gestalt turn away. Banking around, the dinobird speeds on back towards the rest of the gathered Cybertronians. Meanwhile the cobalt blue Lynx growls in anger as Scourge proves to be a slippery and dogged oppponent. It notices the dinobird's approach and quickly goes to meet up on it. The large Dino-bird flies in on a landing approach towards the giant cobalt blue Lynx. Various locking mechanisms engages as the Dino-bird lands successfully upon the giant Lynx, completing the massive form of Sky Lynx. Combat: Sky Lynx takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] The alien collector snickers as Galvatron threatens to come after him. "What, and you'll just move me to a different solar system, like you did with Cambria? Or maybe make some fractals? Oooh, I'm so scared, I'm quaking in my LED-light roller Air Force Carriers!" They're dark maroon curly elf shoes. He points and whines, "Get me the spaceship. I want a spaceship. It's red, and red makes it go faster." The Guardian goes after Redshift, who really isn't in any position to resist and tosses him inside, where he hits Scrapper in the head. "Gah!" protests Scrapper, as he shakes a fist at the world in large. He looks mortified as Air Raid suggests releasing him and notes weakly, "But that would ruin your packaging, and... what am I saying!?" Scrapper slaps the side of his head and shakes himself. "...uh, I really packaged you up tight. Bonecrusher, do you have the tin shears?" Then the whole Guardian seems to shake and rumble. The Guardian robot starts to collapse down into its base mode, a tank on a track and a rocket on a tower, the tower continuing to project the hologram. Smoke rises from it, and it has started to heat up a bit, from all the fire it has absorbed, pockmarks and ugly scorches everywhere. The speed the Sweepcraft managed to achieve to smash through the Autobot medic saved him from Rodimus' retaliation, as he streaked past the incoming fire from that turreted cannon. A good thing, too, as that smash crumpled his already badly dented armor some more. As he streaked along, he tilted his front-end up and gained some altitude, swinging back around and beginning a dive. Seeing Patchwork hardly moving, he chuckles and turns his attention now on the Guardian. Perhaps a nice disintegrator would do a bit of good, so he charged up a full powered shot, and let it loose at the massive thing. Dreadwing presses the attack, now determined to make this Guardian robot suffer for what it has done, for the betrayal, for the pain it has inflicted, it must learn that all actions carry severe consequences. A missile locks on to the rocket tower and detatches from his wing, its engine firing to life sending it on its short torturous journey to the final oblivion of impact. "Oh there is nowhere for you to hide alien, pain and suffering will seek you out for everything that you have done here today. I can assure you of that, and when you lie there squirming and writhing in its exquisite embrace, then you will beg for release and forgiveness that will never come..." Galvatron shakes a fist at the Guardian as it transforms. "SILENCE! I'll take those RIDICULOUS LOOKING garments and shove them down your throat until they come out the other end! And then I'll take your entrails, hang them by a light fixture, then smash you with a blunt object until you burst! You have no idea the kinds of horrors you've unleashed on yourself, oh, no!" He rushes up to the tank, battering on it with his fists. "DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE! Your suffering will be worse, do you hear me!?" Huh. There goes Redshift too. "Goodbye Cecilia! Goodbye, goodbye!" Fusillade yells out as she launches a hefty missile at the platform section of the Guardian, seeking to cripple its laungh ability. The bomber continues jinking about, evading an attack that never comes. Bonecrusher grabs onto a wall-scroll inside the Guardian for stability but of course it just tears away from the wall, and he almost falls through a neon alien koi aquarium. "Whoah! Feels like we're liftin' off. Man, Hook's gonna be a pain inna diodes about us not doin' our shifts on the canal when we get back." Okay. And NOW Scourge finally decides to go after the Guardian. Rodimus, rather than pressing the attack against the giant or continuing fire on the Decepticons leaps off his trailer and runs full-tilt towards where Patchwork lies crumpled on the field. With or without the Decepticon help, they're not going to get those guys out now, but Sandstorm got a beacon in, and the alien wants the Autobots in good condition - for now, Rodimus will take what comfort he can get, especially with Patchwork in the condition she's in. He kneels next to the medic and checks her over, doing what he can to patch her up. "Come on. We've got to get you moving again if we're going to get out of here." Rodimus Prime uses an uncoded !patch on Patchwork! :O The Glaive rocks back and forth and then Nate finally does something to see if he can get the collector to follow with his thoughts. It seems like Scourge is picking on the weakest opponent out there; Patchwork. There is nothing honorable in that, thinks Nate. <> Sandstorm waits until he's fallen far enough to be clear of the behemoth, then stops shooting and quickly transforms back into helicopter mode and gets out of the way before that rocket blasts off. Drifts towards the others to hover over where Rodimus is trying to help Patchwork, weapon systems still hot in case he has to cover them. Jumping to the air, Sandstorm twists around rapidly, rotors whirl to life and he takes off in his helicopter mode. Nate Briar quickly notes, <> Topspin sunspaces his rifle as the weapon has finally hit low energy and powered down. He looks at the rocket and shakes his head. He flip transforms into his cyber skiff and zips on towards Rodimus' location. The small hovercraft blips in, "You can put her on my back sir. I'll help carry her back to base. I'll even go slow so I don't hit ant large bumps." he promises. Topspin transforms into his Blue Hovercraft mode. The four powerful legs that carries the massive bulk of Sky Lynx in his complete form shakes, its shock dampeners compresses, as it absorbs the force of the inertia from the dinobird's landing. The ground beneath sinks under the increased mass. Now complete and in one single form, the Autobot lieutenant commander quickly makes his way over to Rodimus Prime and Patchwork. Using his own large body to shield the Autobot leader as he does whatever is needed to be done on Patchwork, "This has been a bloody mess. The Decepticons will rue the day they botched this entire rescue effort." Sky Lynx vows as he glares at the assembled Decepticons through his battle damaged golden optic band. "Let me know when we're ready, the least I can do now for the lot of you is to bring you back to base whole." Patchwork slowly shifts, turning optics up to the gently urging Prime before she grits her teeth and pushes up to her knees, unsteady but moving. "S..sorry..." she mutters, quietly, to the group as a hole though she looks to Topspin at his offer. "Might be the best idea." she agrees. The alien collector snaps at the Briar unit, "A Sweep? Oh plox. I want my forces of chaos to have tentacles and slavering jaws and Citadel Snot Greeee-" His images flickers out, as Dreadwing's assault takes out the hologram generator. Fusillade's cruise missile causes the rocket to list to the side, teetering. With a deafening roar, the rocket engines engage, water vapour billowing out in a huge cloud, quite evocative of a Saturn V launch. It rises into the sky, corkscrewing and gyrating, trying to course-correct. As the cloud clear, the rocket base, tank, and track are gone, and there is just the rocket, blasting up into the sky, now straight as a candle, rapidly dwindling in size. Rodimus Prime helps Patchwork up, then gently lifts her and sets her on Topspin. He grins faintly at the Wrecker. "Thanks, but really, we just need to get her as far as Sky Lynx." Then he looks up and around at the others. "Good job with the cover, guys, but we'd better get out of here before the Decepticons remember we're here." With that, he limps towards the shuttle-bot, shunting his trailer back into subspace, and stands aside the hatch, waiting for the other Autobots to get in before entering behind them. Galvatron's fists swing at the tank one last time, only to have it vanish before his optics. Galvatron stumbles forward, finding himself in a kneeling position. "Hrrrnnnnghhh." He clutches at the ground, tearing out chunks of dirt. "Daaaammmmmnnn you, alien.... I swear I'll find you... and DESTROY YOU! NRAAAHHHH!" He throws up his hands, as if tearing out entrails, sending a spray of dirt up into the air. CH-47 Chinook Helicopter keeps the other Bots covered until they're inside, then transforms back to robot mode and jumps in himself. Though stays by the hatch with his gun drawn, just in case. "Let's scram while the Cons are too busy moping about not getting the Bots OR the Guardian to notice." With a lightning fast flip and twist, Sandstorm lands in his robot mode, ready for action. Blue Hovercraft activates his hover thrusters and starts to lift off the ground and turns to glide towards Sky Lynx with a medic in tow, "So, how that those two cons merged.. does that mean they're going steady?" the Wrecker drifts towards SkyLynx's body, "Hey kitty bird.. open up, I have injured bots." he calls out while waiting for the others. Patchwork is helped onto Topspin, and then into Sky Lynx. She's used to hauling other injured Bots off the field, not being the one hauled off, and so she knows what it's like. As such, she behaives, riding along quietly. Sky Lynx lowers down as he allows the other Autobots to climb into his cobalt blue transport compartment, sure things are less comfortable inside for the occupants when he's in this mode but extraction from hostile territory has always been a turbulant ride for all that's involved. "Alright mechs, up and inside you go. Leave it to me to take the lot of you home intact." As the passengers board inside, the blaster cannons beside Sky Lynx's neck slides out in order to dissuade any further attempts by hostile forces to approach the gathered Autobots. Once all of the Autobots are on board, Sky Lynx's powerful legs pushes upwards, propelling the massive mechanical being into the air where it promptly goes airborne. "While I was certain we'd have things under control, eventually, your assistance was appreciated nevertheless, Colonel." Sky Lynx remarks as he's travels close enough to the EDC officer before promptly rocketing off to... AMERICA. That disintegrator beam was worthless. But Scourge didn't consider any shot wasted, unless it missed. Transforming, badly in need of some repairs, he lands near Galvatron, looking upward at the fleeing Guardian after a quick glance at the fleeing Autobots. Shouldn't be hard to track, but he'd definitely need to be repaired before he did that. "I will begin my hunt for that /thing/ the instant I have been fully repaired, Lord Galvatron. It will not get far." Galvatron stands, snarling. "See that you do, Scourge... see that you do..." Withough saying any more, he stalks back to Tetrahex on foot. Dreadwing seeing the Guardian Robot escape and the Autobots leaving; Dreadwing sees no more reason to continue his current pain of existance; and once again seperates back into Darkwing and Dreadwind. So now the world can rejoice at their being a little less gloom. Sky Lynx shrinks down in size as his body compacts itself, various armour plating folding in on itself as he rapidly retracts his head, tail, and legs back into his main body. Soon a 20th century Terran space shuttle with a large cobalt blue compartment attached underneath its fuselage sits before you. Sandstorm has left. Sandstorm steps off of the turbolift and into the bridge. Topspin has left. Topspin steps off of the turbolift and into the bridge. Combat: Dreadwing dissolves into its component Dreadwind and darkwing. Dreadwind has arrived. Darkwing has arrived. Dreadwing has left. ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/207 Posted Author Collector Sun Jan 24 Rodimus Prime ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voice only. "The good news is, the trade didn't happen and the Decepticons don't have their own Guardian robot. The bad news is, we didn't manage to free our guys. Sky Spy alerted us to the arrival of the Guardian robot in a field in Mexico, so Sky Lynx, Topspin, Sandstorm, Patwork and I moved in to stop them. Galvatron was in the middle of negotiations with a projected hologram of an alien. Picture file of the alien will be attached. Anyway, of course the Decepticons objected to our interference and put up a fight, but their negotiations weren't going well, anyway... the alien was complaining about missing pieces and neon colors, or some such. I managed to get to Air Raid's... portable... prison thing and started to break him open when the alien decided to betray the Decepticons and collected several of them as well. As I said, we weren't able to stop the Guardian robot. His armor proved to be too thick. He got away with Air Raid, Impactor, Nitro, and Fairway, as well as Scrapper, Bonecrusher, and Redshift from the Decepticons. On the up side, Sandstorm managed to get a beacon into the Guardian robot, so we may be able to track that. Also, we know that this guy wants to keep his 'collection' in good condition, so his captives shouldn't be in any danger. That should give us some time to find him. Intelligence, research the species. At one point, the Collector made reference to Guardian robot parts as being 'little.' Maybe he was just being metaphorical, but that could be a clue." The alien displayed in the attached graphic file is a green-skinned biped with a slender, gangly, awkward build. His ears are large, like a bat's, and his yellow eyes are big and bulbous, as if he is adapted to low light conditions. A pair of giraffe-like antennae are mostly hidden by a bushy mess of brown hair. He wears an odd puffy pink t-shirt showing a picture of a Walking Eye, with the words, 'EyeCon 2029' along the top, a yellow collar and belt, dark maroon shorts, and dark maroon curly elf boots. ==============================================================================
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