| abstract | - Gulf of Mexico Crystal clear waters, gentle breezes, plenty of warmth and sunshine...This is the perfect vacation spot. The Gulf is a beautiful place, and its relatively central location make it a top choice for taking a break from life. The surf hypnotically rises and falls, lulling when combined with the distant sound of seagulls. White sand, clear water and blue skies. That's right, no worries. Just relax... Even with the raw materials and supplies they took with them when they evacuated Mexico, the Decepticons were still in a pinch for supplies considering they had one city-ship and one big lost dinosaur to repair. Seeing as they still had some of the oil rigs in the Gulf, someone decided that taking as much oil as possible and then stripping them out for metal and hardware would be more practically than drawing attention with raids. So far, it had been a fairly quite operation. Cargo shuttles came and went and came again in a seemingly neverending cycle. Typical Seeker and gumbie guards were posted, but with the lack of action they had started getting slack and lazy. It was the switching time between shifts, and they were taking their time. Nothing was happening but a bunch of evil geeks working, so who would really notice. Its amonst the hustle and bustle that a cargo ship comes and lands, just like every other one. It sat there, waiting for a couple of workers to come up and open the rear loading ramp to begin filling it up. And that's when everything goes to slag. Having a giant armor-wearing BEAR suddenly leap out at you will do that, sending the workers fleeing in terror. ".. Augh! You didn't say this would be over water!" ... and then the bear fleeing back into the shuttle moments later. "I'll rust! Or get salt in my gears! Or--" The list goes on, but thankfully dies down once Chainclaw is huddling in the back corner. ".. Maybe grabbing him wasn't such a good idea," growls the big grey wolf that stalks out moments later. "Forget him. Find what we came for. Be quick about it." "What was that ruckus abou -- Oh slag, it's them!" Shouts one of the mechs coming to investigate the screaming, and several more are scrambling out of their lazy daze to try and catch up, having been caught with their proverbial pants down. One taps his helm to dial up his comm. "Mayday, mayday! This is oil rig theta, we are under attack. I repeat, the Pretenders are attackin--AUGH!" A bolt from Carnivac's eye-beams knocks Snarler flat on his aft, still snarling and hissing as the wolf grabs him by the leg and starts dragging him into the shuttle while the others are left to do their own dirty work. In his haste and panic, Snarler accidentally sent his SOS to a general broadband frequency instead of the Decepticon emergency channel... Or was it an accident at all? *DUN DUN DUUUUN* "Salvage duty? Bah! This is an utter WASTE of my superior scientific capabilities. I am more than a technician- I am a SCIENTIST. I am -THE- scientist! I'm-" And that's when the crash of metal and lasers reaches Cackle's audio sensors, and she looks up from the panel she'd been (ostensibly) working on. "Oh, that sounds bad." Hearing the commotion from below, Soundwave runs from the console of a large piece of monitoring equipment, up on one of the still standing rigs that seems t o have been modified for some other (and likely nefarious) purpose. He stops at the rail. "Decepticons! Rally, and counterattack!" he says, as he continues down the steps of the rig. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he stops, pressing his eject door. "Slugfest, eject! Operation: Investigation!" Patrolling the area as per his routine, the Cybertronian Submarine drifts around the coast.. onboard sensors closely inspecting the Oil rigs in the vicinity and taking water samples as to check for pollutants. As always, Submarauder is more concerned with the ecosystem of the oceans rather than the salvage of said materials. As the tape door plops open, Slugfest-tape ejects and transforms into his robostegosaur mode. He runs towards the sounds. "Me find out, me find out!" he says. His little feets patter as he rushes headlong into possible danger. Only Submarauder would be in position to witness that something large is moving across the floor of the sea, a slow, hunched shape shambling with strange gait towards the support pillars of the platform. It attaches itself to one of the pillars and starts to climb up, hauling itself up the pillar with a stealthy crawling motion, clearly malevolent. Decepticon Shuttle is currently sitting on the 'tarmac' of one of the other rigs that were nearly stripped of equipment. When the various buildings and equipment are pulled off of the platforms, they make a surprisingly good landing pad to work from. Especially when you don't need a lot of room to take off and land, such as an airborne space shuttle that can use a rocket boosted locomotive to get up to speed. Right now though, as he starts to spot some sort of activity one or two rigs over, the triplechanger starts to become aware that there may be some activity of sorts. Decepticon Shuttle is a master of the obvious, afterall. High in the sky, a red plane casts a shadow over the ground. It could be two things: a pilot with amazing taste or the best robot to ever grace the Autobots ranks. Hint, hint, it's the latter. "..so she looked clean but I'm not one hundred percent sure," Powerglide says, talking to someone on his communications link. "Yeah, I was thinking about talking to one of our medics about it but-" His call is interrupted by an SOS coming from the Gulf of Mexico. Convientently enough, that's not too far from where the Autobot is. "Hey man, I'll call you back. Yeah, work stuff." With that, the plane zooms towards the source of the SOS and as he bursts through a cloud, the problem becomes apparent. "Daaaang, look at all those 'Cons. Must be some poor sucker got ambushed or something." Powerglide begins to drop altitude. While Hypocondriac Bear is making a fuss over the entire ordeal, a silent shadow stalks out of the hold of the shuttle. Even in the semi-dark, it's only barely recognizable as a massive feline shape. Without a sound, it creeps into nearby shadows and practically disappears to all but the most observant. Catilla doesn't even stop to facepaw at Chainclaws antics. Though he's probably laughing on the inside. "Hey, did you hear? There's an emergancy up top!" Not too further in at one of the pipe controls, a couple of gumbies overhear the SoS and alarms going off. "Think we ought to shut the pipes down?" The other responds. Only to find that his partner is suddenly not there. A second later, there's a massive sploosh from below as one of the cons hits the ocean surface as a result of an impact with a massive paw. "Hey! What th-" The second hits the ocean a moment later, bearing tears in his armor from massive claws. "Now to make a little noise," The massive sabertooth cat mutters, padding up to the controls to investigate the controls, his tail lashing behind him in irritation. White Cross Spaceman is quieter than some of the others as he steps onto the oil rig from the shuttle. He looks out at the ocean once, twice. An oil spill here would be frankly catastrophic for this fragile blue planet, and he keeps worrying about the consequences of the actions he's undertaking here. But perhaps if he takes a gentle hand to this mission, they can get what they need and get out of here without too much oil shed. Then, he he tries to calm Chainclaw, saying quietly, "The longer this takes, the more that can go wrong. Just come along, and we'll be done soon enough." Far off further away, Silverbolt is cruising erratically through the gulf of Mexico at a low altitude, it's almost as if he's being piloted by some sad sucker who took a spin on a Microsoft's Flight Simulator game and decided that's more than enough experience to fly the real thing! Either way, the fighter-bomber banks sharply towards the left and afterburns towards the direction that the distress signal is being broadcasted from. Somewhat begrudgingly, the armored bear lumbers out after the space-man, though still looking unusually uneasy for such a creature. ".. Yeah.. make this quick," he grumbles, eyeing where Snarler got blasted as he passes them down the ramp. Once he's out, its no one but Carnivac and his 'catch' in the shuttle bay. Snarler sits up, opening his chest armor and pulling out a sparking, leaking pad -- the transformer equivilent to a 'fake blood pouch'. ".. Ugh. You said you would go -light- on the shooting," he hisses in a whisper. "That -was- light," Carnivac replies with his usual grin. "Now, to make this sincere.." "Make wha--oof!" Snarler grunts as he's shoved into one of the large crates, and Carnivac kicks it shut with a hindpaw. "The slag you think you're doing!" "Authentisity." cackles the space-wolf as he bounds back out of the shuttle to join the rest of the ruckus. Catilla pads around the series of pipes, still moving quietly, taking his time. The lenses in his helmet over his optics glow slightly, giving him a slightly more sinister appearance. But it's only the helmet's sensor array analyzing the pipes carefully. He wouldn't say it, but he had to admire the compexity of his new systems. Esspecially the helmet gracing his head. Looking at the pipes, he's not just seeing the dull gray metal, but seeing what's inside, how the oil is flowing and how quickly. He can see the little imperfections, and just where the metal was already beginning to erode. The sheer completeness of what he could see made the detective in him grin. He doesn't stare at it for long before he crouches down a little bit. The tip of his cannon levels on a certain point of the pipes, and with a wush of air, fires a shot. It hits a weak spot in the pipes already, and they burst upon impact, sending precious oil spilling out. <> He radios back to the rest of the pretenders, still eyeing the pipes. Then up to the valve just above feet from the rupture point. Which the oil was flowing from. He nods grimly, before turning his back on the pipes. Far below the others, the lurker in the deep swings ape-like from the support pillar to the central shaft of the well itself. A brilliant electric-blue light sputters and gleams in the inky water. Bubbles roil up from the light as a bulky arm brings in contact with the well tube, and moments later a black-brown gush of liquid smoke is jetting out of the slit the lurker has cut, expanding into a cloud of oil which spreads rapidly, hiding Octopunch from view. <> he transmits to the other Pretenders. Decepticon Shuttle finally rises up from the platform, transforming as he does so and holding his rifle up at the ready as he takes to the air so he can also investigate what's up. Soaring the short distance (well short when you're a flying Decepticon, anyway) between oil rigs, he puts down a heavy *THOOM* of his heavy body making contact, followed by several heavy footsteps as he actually starts to approach the shuttle the pretenders arrived in. "...no way." He says aloud, noting how they seem to be busy...elsewhere? "They couldn't be -that- dumb. Could they?" In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. White Cross Spaceman has at least herded Chainclaw out to attempt something useful. That's one thing. Now, stealing does sit ill at ease with him. He tells himself that his will is not his own, but if he's honest with himself, he supposes he does have a choice in these matters. The spaceman cringes when he sees some of the native Terran, or so he assumes, workers hiding in terror - are those little aliens what his shell were patterned after? Quickening his step, the spaceman tries to head off toward a cargo storage area, trying to ignore their choice of tactics here. More alarms start going off in the platform's control center as the pressure from the wellhead starts dropping due to the underwater venting. Not that anyone is paying attention to alarms with Pretenders rampaging across the platform! Soundwave looks about frantically with all the commotion, expecting little information to come back from Slugfest just yet...then he spies Carnivac dropping out of the shuttle. "Drive back invaders. Resources must not be compromised." he says turning to face it, and hits a button on his abdomen, a horrid screech emitting from his midsection. A-10 Thunderbolt II deploys his landing gear as he gets closer and closer to the oil rig. His wheels screech as he hits ground and he barrels through a group of gumby Decepticon's, knocking most of them off the platform and into the ocean, before coming to a stop. He transforms, pulls out his pistol, and poses like he's the star of this years blockbuster action flick. "Don't fear," he says to no one but himself. "Powerglide is here to save the day." He puts his hand to his forehead like a visor and surveys the surrounding area. "....Huh...are those..animals? What, did the 'cons raid a zoo or somethin'? Ha! Morons." Powerglide turns into an AWESOME robot. Slugfest runs towards the Shuttle. The Pretenders catch his eye. "What you doing here? This ours, you no take!" He stamps his little foot and revvs his chainsawplates for good measure. Combat: Soundwave strikes Giant Grey Wolf with his GTFO my rig! Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Giant Grey Wolf's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Soundwave strikes White Cross Spaceman with his GTFO my rig! Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired White Cross Spaceman's Agility. (Crippled) Quickly changing heading, the hot pink Submarine turns toward the coast.. only to find that underwater ping turn into a shady figure climbing aboard one of the platform pillars! <> he softly intones into the Decepticon broadband, arming weapons systems and targetting the nefarious shape. Launching from the side ports of the craft, two tiny missiles thrum through the water.. angling down towards Octopunch, when suddenly.. he's enveloped in a black cloud of oil! Combat: Submarine strikes Big Daddy with his Oil.. BAD! (Laser) attack! Cackle soon sets into a run down a corridor, bringing up her Null-Ray Projector in eager anticipation of the fray to come! She soon skids around a corridor, which brings her upon: "Commander Soundwave! Excellent! With our COMBINED intellects and COMBINED firepower, these invaders will surely- AUGH WHAT IS THAT?" That would be her reaction upon seeing Pincher and Carnivac both! "-...whatever you are, filthy beasts, prepare for vivisection! If you surrender now, I'll even use anesthetic!" and she brings up her Null-Ray blaster, aiming it...if a bit shakily, before she fires! Combat: Cackle strikes White Cross Spaceman with her Laser Ray! (Laser) attack! The sound of a series of sonicbooms can be heard off in the distance as a rapidly approaching FB-209 closes in upon the oil rig of which the distress signal had originated from. Soon the large fighter-bomber begins to descend down towards the massive fortress of metal below it. Silverbolt turns sharply around an elevated steel tower and transforms into his robotic form, with one hand outstretched to swing himself onto the bulkhead of the tower where he can be seen clinging onto it with a grim expression on his face, surveying the situation down below. At least that's what it probably would've looked like in the eyes of other spectators. In reality, Silverbolt was panicking on how he would land on an oil rig, or even LAND at all properly. The only reason he swung around that tower was because he FUBARed his landing attempting and is trying to swing onto the tower for comfort. That grim expression on his face, looking down to survey the folks below? That's actually him holding onto dear life, realizing that he just got himself stuck in some place high up and he hasn't found a reasonable place to jump down yet. It's true about what they say, life is all a matter of perspective. Shucks, if there were only Aerialbots for Silverbolts to command here. FB-129 Supersonic Fighter-Bomber transforms into its Silverbolt mode. With a muted double-boom the micro-torpedoes can be heard to impact with something inside the rapidly-expanding oil cloud which has now engulfed Submarauder as well. Is that it? Did he get the monster? The answer comes surging out of the murk towards him, tentacles lashing out for the nimble little submarine as a massive, misshapen body follows more slowly behind them. Combat: Big Daddy strikes Submarine with his Terror From the Deep attack! [Pulled -2] There is a heavy *clank* as Octopunch's body contacts Submarauder's, the tentacles contracting to pull them together. "You're coming with us," burbles the monster in his harsh whale-croak of a voice. "One way or another." Giant Grey Wolf comes around the side of the shuttle, only to find a tiny stegocassette snarling at him. "Aaaaw, ain't that cute..." His gait changes slightly, becoming that sauntering stride of a predator that knows it has weaker prey within its reach, fangs bared in a broad grin... or was, until he jerks back with a yowl, ears laying down flat against his head as the sonic blast assaults him. "Grrrawr?!" He stumbles back, shaking his head to try and clear the ringing out of his sensative hearing, eyes partially opening in a squint.... Soundwave? That could be useful... Though its the approaching big blocky purple form of Astrotrain that also catchs his attention. Hmmm... this night could get interesting indeed. Powerful legs flex, and in a single leap Carnivac vaults over the smaller tape in his path, leaping power clearing the distance with surprising speed for his size as he attempts to land on top of Astrotrain with the flying pounce. Combat: Giant Grey Wolf misses Astrotrain with his Predatory Leap attack! [Pulled -3] White Cross Spaceman clamps his hands to the sides of his excellent helmet, which is decidedly the height of fashion. The sounds hurts the suit's audios, and inside the shell, the pain is doubled! He's never been fast, but the spaceman is practically stumbling, he's so dizzy now. The female Decepticon easily nails him. It's enough to make him withdraw a canister of a special something he cooked up and flings it at her, replying, "I've had quite enough vivisection in my life lately, but perhaps analysing the effects that this cocktail has on you will keep you busy for now." Combat: White Cross Spaceman sets its defense level to Aggressive. Combat: White Cross Spaceman misses Cackle with the Pincher-forged Burning on Down Like Acid Rain attack! Despite being such a large feline, Catilla is overall unhindered. Aside from the gumbies, which only see a shadow before they find themselves being ripped apart by his massive, armor rending claws. It's almost a little disapointing. He lurks among the shadows, making his way back towards the landing spot. Only to hear the sound of fighting. Figures. Catilla lurks up to a corner, eyeing the landing spot carefully. Mostly decepticons. That was predictable. Large claws slide out of their sheaths as he eyes up potential targets. Soundwave seems to be the one in the his actual path back to the shuttle. Bringing himself down closer to the ground, he stalks forward slowly, silently. Then with a powerful thrust of his back legs, he lunges into the air. Claws extended, he intends to latch them into Soundwave's back, aiming to rip and tear armor right off of it. Combat: Giant Sabertooth Cat sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Giant Sabertooth Cat misses Soundwave with his Sharpening his Claws on your Armor attack! [Pulled -2] Struggling against the iron grip of the Pretender, who seems significatnly familiar.. but yet not, in the same instant. The Cybertronian Submarine's engines are in full reverse, yanking backwards from Octopunch like a cruel game of tug 'o war. Only, ultimately futile. He is full and well grasped, there lies no release in this tactic. Transforming, Submarauder draws his Organic Devouring Rapier (handy, ain't it?) and makes a slash for the tentacles grasping his legs and side. "Unhand me cretin, no one dictates my course!" You know, besides Galvatron and the like. Combat: Submarine sets his defense level to Aggressive. The small Cybertronian submersible folds upwards, into Submarauder!! Combat: Submarauder strikes Big Daddy with his En Garde! attack! [Pulled -1] If Carnivac wanted to tackle the 'bigger' prey, then Astrotrain certainly falls into that category. Turning as the figure leaps, there's a harsh *THUD* of metal on...oh yes that's right, FLESH as the triplechanger raises both hands and 'catches' the large form of the Pretender in mid-leap, crunching back a step or two before he braces himself, accounting for of their weight easily. A quick reminder of the fact that Astrotrain is not just big and fast, but strong. A few seconds pass, as Astrotrain looks back at the wolf, the two locked up, optics-to-eyes in the process. He sniffs briefly, then narrows his gaze. "Pheeeeeeyew. You smell like squishy bloodbag now, Carnivac. And you freaks think this is some kinda IMPROVEMENT?" With that, he suddenly twists to one side, both arms wrenching with tremendous force as he turns and suddenly angles downward in an attempt to throw Carnivac into...and -through- the floor to hte lower levels of the rig. Oh yes, Astrotrain has a rather well known history of not giving a hoot about 'collatoral damage'. This could get messy. Combat: Astrotrain strikes Giant Grey Wolf with his Floors are no Obstacle! attack! "Hm?" And even in the heat of battle, Cackle's predeliction for SCIENCE cannot be contained! And so, she snatches the cannister from the air- and she neatly squints at it, analytical sensors already getting to work. "Aha! A chemical based weapon-" she shakes it curiously, "Acid, perhaps? A nasty piece of work, yes...but the delivery system is inferior. Here- why not sample the work of a TRUE weaponeer?" and she flicks at the fire selector on her gun, firing on Pincher yet again! "That would be -me-, of course." Combat: Cackle strikes White Cross Spaceman with her Science Ray attack! Combat: Cackle's attack has strange and mysterious effects on White Cross Spaceman. As the eminations from Soundwave finish, a set of small clacks against the heavy steel planks of the rig catch his attention...as they grow more rapid, it suddenly is evident that they are coming from behind. He turns just in time to see Catilla's claws nearly rake a new hole in his chest. He sidesteps the feline Pretender, though the impact still knocks him back. "Creature, join your companions...in failure." he says, and presses another button on his abdomen, this one illuminationg a dim red as he does so. A warbling, unnattural sound, flattening the air around it comes from the torso of Soundwave. Combat: Soundwave strikes Giant Sabertooth Cat with his Can't Catch the 'Wave attack! Combat: Giant Sabertooth Cat has been temporarily incapacitated. Slugfest jumps up and down angrily. "Nonono! No hurt Soundwave!" he says to Catilla. It seems like the feline has been taken care of, for the moment. So, he aims a laser at Carnivac instead. Combat: Slugfest misses Giant Grey Wolf with his lil stego-laser! (Disruptor) attack! Powerglide runs up to the edge of one of the higher platforms and leans over the railing, enthralled by the shenanigans going on below. "Hahaha, daaang! Look at those things go. How cool would it be to have some of those freakish things on our side?" Powerglide looks around and realizes he's talking to himself again. Not wanting to have come all the way out here for nothing, he jumps over the railing and onto the lower platform. The second his feet hit the ground he runs as fast as he can and shoulder checks an unsuspecting gumby over the side of the rig. "Yeah! I'm doing somethin'!" F-16C Falcon streaks by alongside the engagement zone, flying low and fast enough to throw up giant walls of water in his wake. He loops around, bleeding off speed as he comes around for another pass. At Mach 2.6, the Gulf of Mexico is not that far from Pana--...er, California. From California. So he's not too late to the action. Or is he?? Meanwhile, high above on the oil rig's steel tower, Silverbolt can be seen swiftly sliding down the entire length of a steel beam before dropping down to the down into a shoulder roll before stopping with one knee down and his electrostatic discharger rifle at the ready. The entire motion happened so fluidly and an air of certainty, heck one might even call it awesome. Reality is much different though. Silverbolt actually lost his footing, and slipped all the way down the entire length of the steel beam. His desperate attempts to stop himself from cratering into a hole below only served to cause him to swing around violently in a clockwise motion. By some stroke of luck, Silverbolt manages to make contact with the ground feet first, and he instinctively ducks down to hug the ground, but the inertia causes him to go into a shoulder roll instead. It is only then that the Aerialbot commander realized that he had dropped onto the ground, and recognizing the danger he quickly pulls out his rifle. Yep, just another way of how perspective can be the difference of day and night depending on the eye of the beholder. Now that Silverbolt is on the ground, he's discretely moving through the oil rig, attempting to find any signs of human oil rig workers that might still be in the area. Giant Grey Wolf would probably in a worse predicament if it wasn't for the fact that despite being some sort of biomechanical creature he's nearly the same size as the hulking triplechanger. Not that it prevents Astrotrain from being able to hold him at arms length all the same. Carnivac snaps a few times at him, emitting a couple of gutteral snarls as he gets close to the side of Astrotrain's head... and to those with the exceptional hearing to pick it up, something muttered beneath the growls. And then Slugfest's laser misses him, by sheer virtue of being slammed into and -through- the deck and onto the lower section by Astrotrain. Rolling across the metal paneling Carnivac eventually gets back up to his paws and shakes himself off. Some of his armor is now dented and bent out of shape, but he appears to have weathered the impact well. He emits a snarl, at the same time his lips twisting back into that toothy grin. "Does it really matter?... By Thunderwing's science or Galvatron's cannon, we're dead mechs walking either way." Blood red eyes light up, and is just to prove how twisted the afformentioned mad scientist is, he went and gave a mad wolf frickin' lasers in his eyes! Carnivac whispers, "Don't have a choice... we're prisoners within these things..." to Astrotrain. Combat: Giant Grey Wolf sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Giant Grey Wolf strikes Astrotrain with his Frikkin EYE LAZORZ attack! Combat: Drained 8 energon. Catilla's aim was good - The conditions just changed. He barrels past Soundwave, still close enough to at least knock him back. His front paws touch the ground lightly, and he quickly spins himself around so that by the time his back paws are on the ground, he's facing Soundwave again. Certainly a bit more agile than many robots could pull off. His legs tense, tail lashing. But he abruptly recoils instead of pouncinga gain. He lets out a strangled sound, which literally sounds briefly like someone was strangling a cat as the sonic pulses bombard his newly high tuned senses. The sensor helmet on his head crackles. Several sparks emit from the sides, the lenses over his eyes sputtering, forcing him to shut them against the information overload caused by the strange sonic pulse. He quickly tries to reset the input, the light in the helmet's lenses going out. But even then, something seems slightly off, his movement only a little more sluggish than before, as if the pulse was interfering with more than just the sensor array. Pincher raises an arm to try to block the female Decepticon's shot. He takes little damage, but some of his armour crumbles off his arm, just revealing that he's... a great big spaceman in armour. Shocking, we know. He looks the Decepticon over again, and he mutters, It mutters to Carnivac, "... don't have time for this," pulling out a large white rifle. He takes careful aim with the weapon; he's not familiar with how it works yet, but as he's always said, if it works, it's obsolete. Combat: White Cross Spaceman sets its defense level to Aggressive. Combat: White Cross Spaceman strikes Cackle with its 20 Megavolt Stun Rifle attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Cackle's Agility. (Crippled) Big Daddy loses the end of one of his tentacles to the cruel sabre, and that's quite enough for the other tentacles; they release Submarauder immediately, recoiling and lashing around in great agitation as Octopunch jerks backwards and lands on the sea floor with a deep thud and a cloud of sediment. "They will," the monster counters, unhooking a harpoon gun from its belt with one clumsy hand and aiming upwards. There is a twang and a sizzling electrified spear eight feet long is on its way towards Submarauder at a high rate of speed! Combat: Big Daddy misses Submarauder with his D'ye See the White Whale attack! "Why, is that a twenty megavolt-" *BZORCH!* "AUGH!" Cackle is struck right in the chest, and sent flopping onto her back! She scrambles back to her feet as fast as she can- electric arcs still sparking over her slight frame. "...so -that- was impressive, but you still can't defeat the likes of me, you organic slob! Behold, the mighty QUAD LASER!" and so, the quartet of laser cannons mounted on her shoulders lower to firing position, and she starts blasting away at the white-crossed Pretender! "Uh, Commander Soundwave?" she asks, backing up even as she fires. "...I trust you have a plan, yes?" Combat: Cackle sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Cackle strikes White Cross Spaceman with her Quad Laser attack! Powerglide pumps his fists. "Woo! Yeah! Take it, Decepticon bastard! Hahaha!" He rests his hands on his hips and sighs. Another job well done. Or is it done? Not satisfied with sending unnamed gumbies into the ocean, Powerglide runs around the platform, picking up tool boxes and other supplies the Decepticons were using. When his arms get full he moves to the edge of the platform and drops everything into the water. "Yeah! Try doing stuff without your stuff, losers!" Loaded down with reserve fuel tanks for a long range patrol and transit flight Air Raid never the less heeds the call to alter course to help his brothers out. Not sure why they were not already half way to their final destination he shrugs it off, as he really doesn't care. Having just gotten his feet wet he banks hard and swings back towards the mainland and goes supersonic. <> Dropping in altitude he drops to sub-sonic speeds upon hitting the gulf and homes in on the Autobot transponder signals to adjust his heading. Submarauder twirls around, sliding the blade into it's scabbard and peering at the withdrawl of the octopoid opponent. Shrouded in a bottom muck cloud, the Decepticon undersea expert prepares himself for anything.. which quickly reveals itself to be a harpoon. As it swirls through the waters, Submarauder contorts his body to avoid a direct hit.. but snags the line as the projectile sails past. Slight shock riddles through his frame, but not enough to warrant delay.. it would have been much more grevious had he taken the attack full-on. "If you persist in speaking in such a riddling manner.." Submarauder spits out, line still in hand and floating down towards the ocean floor. Seizing the cord in both hands, he gives a tremendous amount of effort as well as a grunt. "HRG, then do not speak at all!" The Decepticon attempts to tug the line back, then hit the flailing Octopunch with an uppercut. Combat: Submarauder strikes Big Daddy with his Lame Scorpion Imitation (Kick) attack! Astrotrain actually pauses at the whisper. For just a moment, anyway, before Carnivac is sent through the floor in short order, twisted metal ringing the hole as the triplechanger peers back down. Just in time for the laser blasts to come slashing back up towards him, prompting him to raise his right arm to shield his face. A bright flash, the scorch of burnt paint and blackened metal, and he lowers his arm again amidst a small tendril of smoke rising into the air. Of course the situation would probably change if Astrotrain were an Autobot. New considerations to think over, a change in the situation...moral quandries. But Astrotrain is a Decepticon to the core, through and through. "Hey, look at the bright side, Carnivac." There is a bright white flash of light as he phases his sword into existence, activating the blade with a hissing crackle. "When we're done with Thunderwing, if ya ain't been killed in the process, MAYBE the Boss will keep ya around for amusement's sake. Ya know, as a reminder and such." With that, Astrotrain goes down INTO the hole, wielding his weapon two-handed as he goes after the Pretender in an overhand slashing motion, "Now in the meantime lessee how much it takes to peel open those disgustin fleshy shells and get to the mech inside again!" Combat: Astrotrain strikes Giant Grey Wolf with his Zord-Sword attack! Silverbolt looks up and attempts to scan the skies for his Aerialbot bretherns as soon as hears the familiar sounds of jet engines screeching in the distance, << I honestly can't tell if we ought to jump in and break up this fight or do as Powerglide suggests and watch as the Decepticons get what's coming for them. >> The Aerialbot commander pauses a moment though as the crackle of weapons fire from the Decepticon's retaliatory fire drowns out his voice, << The ironic thing is, I think it's the Pretenders that's getting a real lickin' out there. You've all got position to open fire if the situation requires you to, be smart about this though. We don't need any more Autobots abducted. >> Having said all that, Silverbolt notices an oversized cat with a goofy helmet on its head and somehow the Aerialbot commander is able to infer the possibility that it may be Catilla. How? Don't question plot devices, sir. Soon the Aerialbot commander jumps out into the open eying the Decepticons in the area carefully before narrowing his gaze at the overgrown furball, "Catilla?! Is that you?!" Powerglide wipes his hands on his chest after dumping the last of the tools into the ocean. Yet ANOTHER job well done. Powerglide scratches the back of his head and ponders what else he should do to minorly inconvienience the Decepticons. He shrugs and begins to walk back to the center of the platform. It's at that point that he sees Silverbolt seemingly facing down one of the weird animals things that seem to be on the rampage. "DON'T WORRY, BOLTS! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Powerglide whips out his pistol and fires a few shots at the big cat. Combat: Powerglide strikes Giant Sabertooth Cat with his Pewpewpew (Pistol) attack! Soundwave turns his attention to the other two Pretenders, watching Astrotrain's sword rip into Carnivac's armor like a knife through hot butter, he decides it's time to give the Pretenders some of their own medicine. "Slugfest, transform to chain weapon. Operation: Destruction!" He steps to the side of Slugfest expectantly, putting his hand out. Slugfest LEAPS into Tapedaddy's arms! His chainsawplates rev excitedly. "Yesyes! Chainsaws them!" Soundwave catches Slugfest, immediately heading toward the open Pincher, and swings the dinocon furiously, hoping to make some of the Pretender's extremeties..well..less extreme. Combat: Soundwave misses White Cross Spaceman with Slugfest's Louisville Slugfest attack! F-16C Falcon continues to decrease his speed as makes his way towards Silverbolt's position. His engine actually stalls just as he clears the edge of the platform somewhere behind his leader, but Skydive quickly transforms and then runs up to stand next to the taller Aerialbot. "Catilla? Fascinating! His new form is a lot like--" Skydive is cut off as someone shoots the object of his attention, then he traces the line of fire back to...Powerglide? F-16C Falcon transforms into his Skydive mode. Slugfest feels himself being swung and hitting...thin air? "What happen? Why blades no chewing armor?" The little stegosaursaw revs some more in empty space. Maybe the next swing will connect... Slugfest meanwhile snaps with his little mouth, trying to get what his chainsaw plates did not. Combat: Slugfest strikes White Cross Spaceman with his Gummed to Death by a Stegosaursaw! (Punch) attack! At least Pincher has a great big bear to protect hi -- oh wait, no he doesn't. As soon as he started throwing gas bombs and Cackle started shooting weird SCIENCE LASERS Chainclaw turned tail and ran right back to the shuttle, where he's now huddling next to the crate Snarler is locked in. In fact his girth leaning against it knocks the crate over, smacking the door open...or maybe it was never locked in the first place?... Meanwhile, Carnivac knew better than to expect Astrotrain to actually stop. He knew his own kind better than that. The flash of the sword being materialized only confirms it. As the brute comes jumping down the whole the massive wolk jukes to the side, so the blade catchs one of his spiked shoulder pads. Unfortunately Astrotrain's sheer strength is enough to cleave the blade through the armor and into his shoulder. -That- is going to leave a mark. The massive wolf pulls back from the weapon, side-stepping one way warily as he eyes the triplechanger, then the other, like a predator that's found itself with some larger compatition. As he slinks about another growling half-speak emits from the beast. And then he leaps! This time aiming to land on Astrotrain's shoulders, and use him as a springboard to give his 50 foot lunging distance an extra boost to get back out of the hole and onto the deck. If the recoil of his powerful legs is enough to actually send Astrotrain facefirst into the deck or not, well, he doesn't really care enough to stick around to find out. Going up! Carnivac whispers, "Thunderwing needs a ship... a -big- ship... find that and you can find us again..." to Astrotrain. Combat: Giant Grey Wolf strikes Astrotrain with his DO THE MARIO attack! [Pulled -1] KLONG! The bizarre diving helmet rocks back a little as Submarauder strikes it a powerful blow, leaving a dent and causing vague shapes to squirm unwholesomely behind the unclear glass porthole. "Not cryptic," Octopunch replies, floating backwards. "You'll choose to steer along Thunderwing's course yourself. Choice is yours." He releases his harpoon gun; it floats around him on a cable attached to his suit as he takes a short, thick rod from his belt and holds it in both hands. "Life or death." He thumbs a switch on the rod; it telescopes outwards with a clacking sound, wicked prongs snapping out of its glittering point as the trident extends and locks into the open position. Octopunch lunges slowly but with great force towards Submarauder, fish darting around his coiling tentacles as they flee the slowly spreading oil cloud behind him. Combat: Big Daddy strikes Submarauder with his From Hell's Heart I Stab At Thee attack! [Pulled -1] White Cross Spaceman has to wonder just what it he did to draw THAT much attention. Do Decepticons have some irrational chivalrous urge to protect their women? Their women seem quite able to protect themselves! Her quad laser hurts! Thinking, he taps his thumbs against his index fingers in irritation, and he somehow seems even more annoyed when this motion fails to produce any noise. He does manage to duck behind some crates when Soundwave comes after him with a chainsaw, but he doesn't manage to dodge the chainsaw... biting... him? What. What is this. He doesn't even! The spaceman glares over at Soundwave and grumbles, "I remember you. Do you /still/ turn into a lamppost?" That said, he lobs a second canister, this one at Soundwave. Combat: White Cross Spaceman misses Soundwave with the Pincher-forged Burning on Down Like Acid Rain attack! The lenses on Catilla's helmet go out. Then flare back to life abruptly. Status screens flicker before his eyes, as the headset compensates for the atrocious sound waves coming from Soundwave's speakers. Except that when his sight returns properly and isn't full of code garbage, Soundwave is gone. A quiet, gruttle growl emenates from his muzzle as he glances around quickly. Only to stop when he hears his name. Catilla glances up quickly, verifying in a way that it was indeed him. Underneath the helmet, his eyes narrow. It looks slightly malevolent, but it's more in thought, his snarl fading. Perfect. A laser blast darkens the fur on his shoulder before he can move, but it doesn't slow him much. He lunges up to a nearby platform in one smooth movement, quick and precice, difficult to follow. Then in the next leap, he attempts to close the gap between him and the aerialbot leader. He attempts to slam right into him, and in the process, that tail of his extends, trying to put the squeeze on him, literally. Whether or not the cat manages to get his tail around Silverbolt, so long as he makes contact there'll be a crinkling sound. Not unlike a sheet of glossy paper, somehow getting between them and getting stuck to Silverbolt's armor. "Stay out of my way, if you know what's good for you," He warns, his voice gruttle with a growl. But it is Catilla's, or at least similar to what's on file. His eyes narrow meaningfully, lips pulling back to show those wickedly long fangs, as if to try and get the message across clearer. Combat: Giant Sabertooth Cat sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Giant Sabertooth Cat strikes Silverbolt with his Putting the SQUEEZE on you attack! School of fish swirling about before him, Submarauder attempts to raise them to his cause.. perhaps preventing Octopunch's trident from striking true. Vainly, the attempt is. The fish spread thin once the Pretender lashes through, his aim just as deadly as his strength.. the trident finds it's mark, being Submarauder's chest. The tri-pronged weapon doesn't slice it's way into the armor plating, but kicks the door in and raids the fridge. The pointy weapon sticks, one point actually puncturing through his body and protruding from the other side. Energon seeps into the water, probably to the irk of Submarauder.. that it's -his- lifeblood polluting the waters he holds so dear. Slumping against the Pretender and his trusty weapon, Submarauder faintly struggles against systems shut-down.. warnings imminent and vision fading. "I am.. the" he mumbles, perhaps even inaudible. "Master of.. my" Optics rollback, appendages go free form, dead weight on the harpoon. Oh my, what a catch! "Aha! Brilliant plan, Commander Soundwave! Hit him with a chainsaw! I'll just be, er, over here." she says, "Providing fire support!" she slaps a fresh energy pak into her Null Ray Projector, and glances around, noting the cannister Pincher chucks at Soundwave. "See? I -TOLD- you the delivery system was flawed! You'd be better off using a hollow projectile, FOOL." And, this said, she remains put, occasionally pointing her gun at anything that moves funny, but otherwise staying out of the brawl! Combat: Cackle takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Astrotrain actually doesn't go facefirst into the ground as Carnivac springboards off of his shoulders...the triplechanger actually sinks -down- into the floor again. Metal floors made for human scale don't hold up to transformer weight very well while under duress, and big transformers like Astrotrain are even that much more of a problem. "Hrugh!" As he sinks up this knees, more of the metal from above crumbles and falls, crashing onto his head and shoulders and half burying him in a tangle of flailing limbs and rising dust that disappears under a pile of rubble. A few moments of silence follows, as it looks like the triplechanger is down and out of the fight. But of course, looks are deceiving. There is the muffled sound of transformation, and the ENTIRE rubble pile suddenly shifts and wrenches aside. A moment later, the huge Locomotive rises up from below like the White Whale breaching the surface of the water! The image is further strengthened as a sudden jet of smoke rises from his stack, like the emission of hot breath from a blow hole, followed by a shrill blast from his horn. "Oi! I ain't done with you yet! C'mere puppycakes, Imma still gonna send one of Thunderwing's toys back to him good and broken! And tell that prissy chickenbot we're all waitin for him to show his face again if he ain't too scared. I heard that pretty explosion of his was all impressive and stuff. I wanna see if he can do it again!" With his single headlight swinging to and fro like the Eye of Sauron, he finally picks out Carnivac's frame darting along the deck, and in a tortured shriek of metal tearing free, he literally rips his way out of the hole and thunders across the deck of the oil rig, bearing in on the Pretender like...yeah, like a runaway locomotive. Armor locks in place, parts shift and Astrotrain transforms into a huge armored train! Combat: Armored Locomotive sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Armored Locomotive strikes Giant Grey Wolf with his Hey Maw I dun run over a coyote with mah truck! attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Giant Grey Wolf's Agility. (Crippled) F-15E Strike Eagle wastes little time linking up with the others as he takes a moment to see what all is going down. <> Pulling up hard he hits his air brakes stalls and transforms landing on the deck of the oil rig. Drawing his rifle, just in case he needs it, he moves along slowly looking for Silverbolt. Hearing him call out to Catilla makes that an easy feat, and so Air Raid quickly manages to catch up to both Silverbolt and Skydive. "Heys, hope I didn't miss too much of the party. What's shakin'? And what the heck is that thing? Boss watchout!" Far to late to prevent the attack he pops his rifle up and tries to get a shot. "Dang it stop getting in the way. This is why we should stay in the sky, so less crowded up there." Slowing the F-15E breaks apart transforming into his robot mode. Soundwave tumbles behind a crate, dodging the canister as it tumbles harmlessly over the side and into the water below. He looks up at Pincher, one knee crouched, and revs the blades of Slugfest. "Lamp post. Your chassis is suitable for several." Charging again, he says, "It will require deconstruction.", as he swings the vibrating blades of Slugfest in a tight arc at the midsection of the crustacean Pretender. Combat: Soundwave strikes White Cross Spaceman with Slugfest's Dino Deconstructicon attack! There is a brief moment of silence after Silverbolt uttered Catilla's name as Silverbolt eyes the overgrown furball in front of him, trying to find a hint of the Autobot operative that he had seen only on the abductee report. It looks like Silverbolt's words might've gotten to Catilla and the oversized furball turns around, readily to pounce happily into his fellow comrade's arms! Yeah right, only in Silverbolt's retarded little world. I mean anybody who can get fooled by Megatron's thinly veiled lies back in S1-S2, probably isn't really as bright as what his tech spec gives him credit for, right? What really happens is that a really angry looking oversized cat thin pounces at him. The Pretender was able to land squarely onto Silverbolt who soon gets caught by its tail strike shortly afterwards. The strike sends him flying through a nearby storage warehouse's wall, and with the warehouse walls compromised it soon toppled down upon the Aerialbot commander, leaving nothing but dust floating up from the mess. Powerglide just stares as his rescue attempt crashes and burns. He looks at his gun, and then at Catilla. Then at his gun. Then back at Catilla. If guns wont work than there is only one option. Powerglide takes a few steps back and finalizes his plan. Oh yes. This will be amazing. Powerglide breaks into a sprint, his minibot legs carrying him as fast as they can towards the downed Aerialbot and Pretender cat. At the last second he jumps, essentially throwing himself at Catilla like some sort of wanna-be football star. "I'LL SAVE YOU, BOLTS. For real this time!" he exclaims as he sails towards his target. Combat: Powerglide strikes Giant Sabertooth Cat with his Airborne Minibot (Ram) attack! This time Sluggy's chainsaw plates do the biting. He squeals in glee as armor is cut into and he feels the resistance. "Yesyes! We saw good!" he says. And while he's at it, his tail swings. Realizing his 'cage' was busted open by the knock down, Snarler scrambles out of it. "About time you did something right." He scrambles for the cockpit of the shuttle, and a few minutes later a wash of heated air ripples about it as its engines fire up. Of course the oppritunist is just thinking of saving his own hide, but that doesn't mean it's not an ample chance for the others to still catch a ride! Carnivac even gets a bit of help along the way!... it's not very pleasant help though, as he's hit by the train and sent -flying- through the air. Only to splat a second time as he thuds against the roof of the shuttlecraft and thuds down behind it. "Did what we need to! Time to get out of here!" Running around the side he tries to bolt for the hatchway before any more shots can be taken at him. Combat: Giant Grey Wolf sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Giant Grey Wolf begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Giant Sabertooth Cat and Armored Locomotive White Cross Spaceman considers Cackle's advice, and he actually rubs his chin and replies, "What, like a dart? I suppose that would be more accurate." He's distracted by her engineering talk enough that Soundwave manages to slam that chainsaw into his midsection. The teeth of the saw make it through the armour into the pseudoflesh of the shell, and the spaceman bleeds... something fluid, not blood, not energon. He looks down at the wound and grimaces, commenting, "Hmm. Vindictive lamp post." The spaceman ducks behind some more crates and tries to press the jagged wound closed with his fingers - so weird, having fingers, how do people handle having fingers? - before applying some medical cyanoacrylate to seal it shut. Combat: White Cross Spaceman sets its defense level to Protected. Combat: White Cross Spaceman quickly patches up some of its minor injuries. "For now," Octopunch tells Submarauder as he retracts the harpoon and collects the limp hunter in his tentacles, whether Submarauder can hear him or not. "Maybe again later. If you're strong. But for now..." Lurching into the vasty deep with his prize, Octopunch carries away poor Submarauder to unknown horrors. "...our Master waits." <> Octopunch transmits to the other Pretenders, trudging through the mysterious aquascape away from the crippled rig. <> Combat: Big Daddy begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Giant Sabertooth Cat, Giant Grey Wolf, Silverbolt, Air Raid, Skydive, Soundwave, Cackle, Slugfest, Submarauder, and Armored Locomotive Catilla keeps his grip on Silverbolt's armor the entire way down, and the aeiralbot commander ends up breaking the large feline's fall. When the hit, Catilla's legs tense. He pushes himself off rapidly, tail unwinding. Somehow, a pamphlet has gotten stuck to Silverbolt's armor, impacted into it where his tail wrapped around him. "Get the hint," Catilla rumbles, turning quickly to eye Silverbolt. Only to find himself briefly unstable as Powerglide rams right into his side. His feet stagger a moment, the feline taken by surprise. He eyes the minibot critically for a moment, but then turns away. The dust swirls as he lunges into the shadows, practically disappearing into them. <> He transmits, moving quickly despite his wounds. Combat: Giant Sabertooth Cat begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Armored Locomotive Armored Locomotive grinds to a halt in a shower of sparks as his wheels lock up in the process. Bits of smoke curl upwards in small puffs, like the snorting of an enraged bull as he watches Carnivac scrambling on board the shuttle. "You can tell Thunderwing there's one nice thing to these pretender shells!" He catcalls after them as they're starting to pull out. "They make a nice splat noise! Haw haw haw...latest and greatest technology-my rusted burnt out aft port! If this is the best Thunderbutt can put together fer an army this is gonna be easy!" Granted, Astrotrain may not exactly be thinking this over too carefully, given that while one of the Decepticon elite triplechanger soldiers may have fared alot better against a Pretender on this day, he isn't exactly looking at it from the eyes of how your average Decepticon grunt would. Which is to say, from the perspective of being completely outclassed. Nor would we expect him to. This is Astrotrain we're talking about. Slowly, he rises up again as he transforms and rises upwards, reaching up to shake off a few small stray bits of rubble that had lodged in his joints from being buried earlier. "So yeah. Anyway..." He turns back to look at the rig, noticing a distinct lack of...well, anything big that's missing. "...did they even take anything?" Powerglide picks himself up off the ground and throws his arms in the air. "Wooo! Yeah! That's right! YOU BETTER RUN! HA!" He begins to do The Robot while humming some sick beat. "I'm so good at what I do." "Of course a dart! Possibly merged with a injector siphon for better delivery. Honestly, who designs your weapons?" Cackle yells out- only to realize something. "Oh, it's Thunderwing, isn't it? The one who EXPLODED HIMSELF? Not that I haven't had...setbacks myself, but nothing so catastrophic! Honestly, you should just kill yourself now, so you don't have to put up with his shoddy workmanship anymore. Or, you know, just emerge from your hiding spot and I can do it for you! BWAHAHAHAHA!" That's probably why they call her Cackle. Soundwave gives Cackle a sideways look, still holding Slugfest, as the Pretenders suddenly beat a fast retreat. He whirrs the blades of Slugfest once or twice. Soundwave puts Slugfest down on the ground quietly, still keeping an eye on the shuttle. Skydive watches the Pretenders falling back. His nega-gun is in his hand now, but he points it at the metal beams covering Silverbolt, methodically firing at the center of each to bisect then neatly. White Cross Spaceman admits, rubbing the back of his helmet, "Uhm. Actually. /I/ designed most of my weapons. The 20 Megavolt Stun Rifle's new, though. I was thinking, though, that the ionization coefficient really could use more-" and then he notices that everyone else is leaving. "-oh, by the Celestial Spires of Iacon!" The spaceman makes a break for it, running after the shuttle, arms flailing. "Please don't leave me here!" Combat: White Cross Spaceman begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Giant Sabertooth Cat, Giant Grey Wolf, Silverbolt, Air Raid, Skydive, Soundwave, Cackle, Big Daddy , Submarauder, and Armored Locomotive Catilla appears through the darkness after a few moments, moving quickly from the busted warehouse into the open. Legs move quicker after he eyes the shuttle beginning preflight, scrambling to make it across the landing field. "Move faster," He rumbles as he comes up on Pincher. And looks like he's about to run past him, until that tail attempts to lash around Pincher's waist and drag him with the large, swift moving Sabertooth cat as he lunges into the cargo hold of the ship. Silverbolt pushes away the now bisected metal beams thanks to Skydive's nega-gun and climbs back up onto his feet. He looks around, and sees the mess that the oil rig is now in after the fight between the Decepticons and Pretenders before commenting, "Thanks, Skydive. I think the Pretenders has done more damage to this Decepticon oil rig than we ever will without Superion. Let's call it for a day, return to base!" The Aerialbot commander gestures for the Aerialbots to move up into the air before he takes flight himself as well. Silverbolt transforms into its FB-129 Supersonic Fighter-Bomber mode. Combat: FB-129 Supersonic Fighter-Bomber begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Once the last of the Pretenders are in the shuttle, it lifts off from the deck, turns its nose upward and takes off into parts unknown... but just what -were- they after this time?
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