| abstract | - Summary: The Seacons have stolen the Core of Sogo, City of Night. But what starts as a simple recovery mission soon becomes complicated in the city that never sleeps. Sogo, City of Night, the city that never sleeps, city of a thousand names and a thousand sins. Popular tourist destination across the galaxy, since when you arrive, you never want to leave. What reasons could anyone have for being here? Perhaps the Duran Duran concert that had just finished in the stadium, aliens of all shapes and sizes still thronging in the streets, the tour zepellin looming overhead, shining down flashlights... Or perhaps it is the reports still buzzing over the galactic news circuits that someone has STOLEN the Core, a rare and valuable power source known as the heart of Sogo! Sogo, City of Night(#6724TOen) Sogo, City of Night. On the planet Tau Ceti, one of the most popular tourist destinations available. The city that never sleeps, it buzzes with life, be it from the busy streets of the shoppers, to the nightlife, to even the deserted alleyways that just /feel/ like you are never alone. There's certainly something about this place... SOME TIME AGO "Lobsterita." "Mister Prime Minister! Allow me to put something on..." "There is no time, Lobsterita. I have an important mission for you. We have learned that there is a plot afoot to steal the Core of Sogo, City of Night, on the Planet Tau Ceti." "Tau Ceti? But... that planet is savage? They still engage in meaningless hedonistic pursuits... they have /weapons/ on Tau Ceti, Mister Prime Minister!" "I know. And that is why it is imperative that we step in, to restore balance to this situation. You are authorized to do whatever it takes, Lobsterita -- just /make sure that Core stays in Sogo/. Prime Minister out. Love." "Love." NOW Lobsterita steps out of her spacecraft, clad in skimpy space metals and furs. Sky Lynx had arrived here due to some broadcasts he was getting both on, well, both items here-- Duran Duran, which had some pretty good music, and well, slag-- who didn't like James Bond? Secondly and perhaps most importantly, the large discussion and concerns over the missing Item known as the Core. Most likely if it was missing, or going to go missing, the decepticons /must/ be behind it, because lets face it-- it was always the decepticons fault anyhow, never an autobots.. nope, never. Dreadwind is slumped in a dark and shadey alley, he didn't want to come here and doesn't really remember much of the journey. The last thing he remembers was being ordered to go on leave and several other Decepticons helped arrange his transportation and made sure that the bag he was in was secured properly for the flight. It's time for some fun. Or so he hopes. Foxfire slinks about the city, doing his best to stay out of people's way. It's so easy for a little foxbot to get stepped on in a crowded tourist attraction. It's difficult to say what has brought him here--it was likely the case of the Core being stolen. Either way, Detective Foxfire is on the case! Markdown is even now stepping out of Sky Lynx's cargo hold onto the surface of Sogo, looking about skeptically at the city, its night sky contrasted by the brilliant lights of the city. "Reminds me of Vegas. In a good way, since they're doing lots of business--" He sneers as he's approached a cyborg hooker (some people are into that, you know). "--and in a bad way, too. Ugh." He shoves the hooker aside. "Alright, Foxfire, let's start our... uh... Foxfire? Where'd you go?..." Someone mentioned to Fireflight that something was going on in Sogo. Exactly what, he's not sure, it's hard to recall while watching the crowds in the streets, that zeppelin overhead, that - whoops, that was close, it is a nice skyline though, even the other Aerialbots would have to give it that though probably not after they got done razzing the F-4 about his flying. Scrapper is here on business. Could he care less about stolen whatever? No, Scrapper couldn't care less about the stolen whatever. He didn't steal it, and none of the other Decepticons stole it as far as he knows, and so therefore it is filed along with the hijillion other things in the universe that get stolen on a regular basis. No, Scrapper is here on a shopping spree for spare parts and medical (read: mechanical) equipment. The Constructicon is walking through a gigantic electronics store that's essentially an alien version of Best Buy. He's pushing one of those little shopping carts that are hard to steer properly. The voices in the city rise to an unintelligable chatter, this really is the city that never sleeps, as floodlights sweep across the tightly-packed streets, law enforcement skiffs milling about like ants in the sky. But to no avail. And then... there is something in the sky. A figure, a humanoid figure, arms splayed out as he flies through the sky. Is it... an angel? ...No, with a sickening CRUNCH the figure hits the ground in the city's Restitution Square, obviously fallen from the tour zepellin above Durango is, conveniently, already on the planet, because as everyone knows, all good Durango go to Duran Duran go-gos. So what if it's a stretch, I like it, so we're going with it. He's rather oblivious as to any shenanigans that may be going on; instead, he's on his way towards the Alien Best Buy to purchase Duran Duran's latest album via Direct-to-Neuralnet Transfer. Revenant has been around, actually minding his own business--unlike his packmates would've, had they been here--luckily, they've remained on Earth. Under orders from Scourge, the Dead One has been sent to try to find some of the more... errant Sweeps, since he's the best tracker of the Pack. In this case, he'd heard rumors that Brigand has been in this area recently, and he seems to recall that Scourge has a... misunderstanding or two... to iron out with the thief... namely focusing on the sudden disappearances of the Pack-Leader's aquired trophies. His attention is diverted slightly as something seems to be going on in the nearby Restitution Square. What happened there, and is it really a concern? Sky Lynx sighs and quickly transforms after Markdown has left. "We best split up to locate him-- he couldn't have gone far." The large mech states as his optical visor flickers. "After all, how much trouble can a little fox get into-- this place, after all isn't a chicken's coop.. yet." The Large draconic looks around, before he seperates himself and the Dino-bird half flies into the sky to see what he may locate, while the Lynx half stays with Markdown, "..At least I hope he hasn't gotten far." The crowd in Restitution Square screams, tourists, hardened and embittered residents (also Metapods), and law enforcement personnel all springing into action. The people do their part and start panicking, flocking to the bloody splotch on the ground that was once... NICK RHODES! In the crowd, Lobsterita frowns, trying to make her way through the swarming, buzzing people, all trying to get a look or run away or both. Through them -- or, rather, over them, she sees Markdown. "Autobot!" she calls. "Autobot, over here!" "You'd think it would be difficult to lose sight of a dinobird," Foxfire mutters to himself as he watches the crowd from the safety of an alley. Even *he's* not sure how he got separated from Sky Lynx and Markdown. His ears twitch. Did someone just shout "Autobot"? Dreadwind cranes his head to see what just made that noise but he already knows, the all too familiar sound of a soft bag with crunchy insides splitting in two as it impacts with a hard surface at terminal veloctiy. "Pathetic creatures trying to end their suffering, don't they realise that it only ceases for a millisecond before it starts all over again?" Markdown watches as the Dino half flies off, and then glances at the Lynx half. "One of these days you're gonna have to tell me how you do that without going nuts." Then, as they walk along, Markdown passes by the electronics store Scrapper and Durango are shopping in (though he doesn't see either of them). "What the--Beneficial Acquisition? Wow! I've heard about this store! They have the BEST deals! Oh, geeze, but I don't know if we have time to shop--" Then someone shouts, 'Autobot!' and Markdown's shoulders slump down. "Sigh. Well, that settles it. Hero duty it is." He runs off in search of wherever the voice came from, eventually converging on the crowd. "Uh, hello! I am an Autobot, yes. Who, ah, called me over? And what's this all about?" Sky Lynx, both halves that is, would have found Foxfire, however it seems both halves going there different ways, have gotten themselves mixxed up in the lights, problem is-- they were shinney, and well, curse of being a draconic mech-- shinnies were hynoptically good! This folks is why Sky Lynx never, ever, goes to Vegas! From within one of the random Decepticons' storage compartments comes a localized, Decepticon-only transmission. "I'm attempting to access geographical data for the city," transmits Geo. "For quick escapes and quick movements around." Within.. uh... Scrapper's compartment. Yeah, that's the ticket. "That's nice," Scrapper tells Geo, who is inside of his compartment (oooh, er, ahhh). He idly picks up a pair of boxes from the shelf and reads the labels. "'Contains 90% more awesome than the next leading brand'." He looks at the competitor's label. "'Contains 90% less suck than the next leading brand.' Huh. Which anti-virus program do you think we should go with, Geo?" Scrapper asks. He is apparently oblivious to people starting to panic inside the store. What was, or is Nick Rhodes lies on the ground, twitching, a strange white ooze coming from his mouth as he stares up at the sky. And then... then he starts to rise, slowly, falling down, one arm blistered and blackened, sparks coming from it as a mesh of organic circuitry drips down. "The Core..." he chokes out. "The... the Masters wanted it, but the city spoke to me..." He raises his head to the skies, looking at the zepellin again Wiggling a bit, she says, "I can't quite see them. Why not pull me out so I can transform?" Sh, too, is oblivious to the other patrons that are beginning to panic. "Perhaps a low-yield beta-four antiviral code?" "Ah ahlways jus' go with Nohten..nevah steahed me wrong yet, Scrappah." Durango has taken up a position on the opposite side of the display, where he's leafing through this month's issue of Energon Gaming Monthly. A few seconds later, he stops, mid-story about the upcoming XBOX Infinity. "Scrappah?" Hey, what's that falling from the zeppelin? Slingshot probably would have beenable to turn and dive quickly enough to catch the thing, Fireflight thinks, but all he can do is circle to try and get a better look at what probably was a human. Hearing someone at ground level call "Autobot!," he scans around to see if someone else is around or if some alien is referring to him... he's unsure which alien said that, but is pretty sure the one in the puddle of organic fluids shouldn't be standing and speaking while looking up. <> Fireflight's transmission sounds hesistant, fascinated and disgusted all at once. Ushering the Autobots over as she tries to beat through the crowd, Lobsterita adopts a sassy pose as she looks up at Markdown. "Autobots, I am Special Agent Lobsterita of the Galactic Utopiate Executive. As you can tell from this... panic-stricken mob, someone was just murdered, and I have reason to believe it's to do with the recent abduction of this city's priceless, ultra-powerful Core. Will you assist me in recovering the Core and avenging this man's death?" Revenant remains silent and in the shadows, his crimson optics even more dimmed than usual as he surveys the scene from afar. He isn't looking to start trouble, or even give the illusion thereof--he's only trying to understand what's going on. /The Core... and now this apparent murder?/ He wonders, his wings flicking slightly as his mustache twitches in a split-second smirk. /This has nothing to do with me. Let those Autobots deal with it--they cannot help but assist those too weak to help themselves anyways./ He backs up a step or two, glancing around a bit to see if his wingsib is hiding nearby. Dreadwind stares at the commotion from his nice quite and forgotten stinking dirty cesspool of an alley, "Well looks like they've satrted making some improvements on their hideaous design, still don't know why they bother with all those fluids, leaking every cycle or so, it can't be healthy." Scrapper tosses Geo out of his compartment (oooh, ahhh, er) so she can transform into robot mode. He then raises up the Norton box slightly higher to get a better look at it. One person says Norton, and someone else says low-yield beta-four antivirual code. Decisions, decisions. "You really think so?" Scrapper asks the second voice, not looking up to see who's talking to him. "I'm not sure the Decepticon Empire can afford the yearly fees." Scrapper suddenly stops, however, as he places the voice that's talking to him. He looks up. "Durango?" Whoop! A fuschia cassette goes flipping throug hthe air, flashing into robot mode as she does, landing with a dull clank of metallic boots on the floor. "That would depend what we're antivirusing, Scrapper." She looks around, frowning very slightly. Markdown looks Lobsterita up and down for a few moments, then looks her in the eyes for a moment, saying nothing. A minute passes, and he still hasn't said a word. Then finally... "Um... ok. Special Agent. Uh. Not exactly the kind of, er, attire I'd expect a Special Agent to be wearing." He thinks back to the cyborg hooker from earlier. Maybe she was actually a "Special Agent," too, and was also trying to enlist his help. Argh. This has to be one of THOSE kinds of planets... "Look, ok, we'll help you get back the core. But we Autobots usually aren't very good about revenge. Well, except for a few attention hounds here and there. Anyway. So why was Nick Rhodes murdered, and what the hell was he doing on this planet in the first place?" Markdown says, rubbing his head. This planet is going to drive him INSANE, he just knows it... The body of what seems to be Nick Rhodes has now stopped moving as it lays crumpled on the ground, the gaggle of people around having departed aside from a few newcomers to Sogo, who still retain as much of their cognitive functions as possible. A low wind seems to whistle around the square, invitingly, as spotlights focus on the zepellin overhead "That's what I want to find out," Lobsterita says to Markdown. "And I think we'll find our answers... up /there/." She points to the zeppelin as the spotlight shines on it. Durango stands opposite, staring back at Scrapper. Blinking. He affects a cheesy smile, and a slight wave. "G'day?" It comes out as more of a question than a statement. Awkward pause. "So, uh..loveleh weathah we'ah 'avin, eh?" Foxfire scurries through the crowd, forcing himself NOT to be distracted by the bright lights around him. It's not *his* fault he likes things that are sparkly. Eventually he reaches the body of Nick Rhodes, and comes to an abrupt stop. "Oh, Primus..." He quickly turns, hoping not to empty out his energon processor. "I did *not* need to see that! Poor guy..." "It's a little too /dogooder/ for my tastes," Scrapper replies to Durango in a tense tone. He doesn't return Durango's wave, and the Autobot certainly gets no smile from Scrapper (Even were it possible). The Constructicon tosses the Norton box back and puts the low-yiield beta-four antiviral code box into the shopping cart. He'll trust Geo over an Autobot scum any day. "Come on, Geo. Lets get the packs of Wuadruple A batteries we need and get out of here." The F-4 slows nearly to stall speed while passing the Duran Duran zeppelin nearly balanced on a wingtop. "Hello?" Fireflight appears to be trying to see and/or be seen by anyone inside the zeppelin's lower compartment. "Is that one of yours down there?" No, this diplomacy thing really isn't what he's built for. As the body slumps back down to final deactivation Dreadwind trudges forwards forcing his way through the crowd with little regard for anyone. He wants to get a closer look, to check that this thing is not giving off anything nasty, after all normal humans fluids are corrosive enough these flesh bot things could be even worse. Glancing back at Durango, Geo gives a blithe little shrug. "Sure, Scrapper," she says, lifting slightly off the ground and hovering off atfter Scrapper. "The quadruple-As should be around here somewhere. And despite Norton's big name, it's crappy. The Beta-Four is something that can be adjusted to even our smallest needs and requirements." She shakes hier head a little, looking around. There's so much stuff here... Revenant studies the zeppelin as he narrows his optics. He would fly past it to get a closer look and scan, but... well, his alternate form is well-known for what it is--a Sweepcraft--and that would cause too many problems right there. Not to mention that there seems to be an Autobot in the vicinity of that craft anyways. He did not come here to cause trouble, only to find one (or more) of the most-often culprits of causing it. Still, his curiousity is piqued and he decides to stay put for now until this whole issue is resolved--or he's discovered, whichever comes first. Markdown stares at Foxfire for a moment. "Foxfire, you gotta hold it in. I need you to sniff that body, see if there's anything strange about it. Well. REALLY strange, I mean!" Turning back to Lobsterita, he says, "Ok, agreed, but the thing is, I can't fly. I MIGHT be able to throw you up there, but I'd probably snap a servo in my back just to get you half-way." He shrugs, and points a thumb at Fireflight. "On the other hand, HE can fly, of course." Moonracer steps out of nowhere, and looks at Markdown, then at Foxfire. "Do we want me to shoot you up there?" She smiles and nods emphatically. HIGH ABOVE As Fireflight passes, he might see a familiar shape in the lower compartment, shadowed through the windows. He's much, much taller than Duran Duran, and shaped exactly like the leader of the beautiful, glorious Seacons, and he's currently throwing stuff all over the place. The sound of screams resonates through the windows. BELOW "Looks like he's already flying," Lobsterita says. "I have a ship. We can use that, but it might be... a little cramped." HIGH ABOVE A huge metal fists shatters one of the windows, as Snaptrap, holding Andy Taylor's headless body in one hand and his rifle in the other, looks down at the ground. "I thought I saw an Aerialbot," he grumbles, looking around for Fireflight, but not seeing the brave Autobot just yet. Looking down, his little Arcee-style visor lowers as he looks down at the ground, seeing the small congregation of Autobots. "Ah," he says, firing wildly at the ground, causing a rain of deadly laser fire that strikes down anything in its path! Snaptrap strikes Foxfire with Snaptrap. Durango shrugs, replaces the magazine, and heads over to the battery aisle of his own accord. He needs to purchase some Wuadruple A batteries for his Supercomflabumetrixorionator back at base, so he might as well pick them up while he's here. All the while, his newly-purchased album is playing in his head. Current Track: "Still Hungry Like The Wolf (Jesus Christ, It's Been Twenty-Seven Years Without a Gnosh.)" Scrapper shoots Durango a final mean look and follows after Geo, pushing the shopping cart down the asles. "I know, it gives me the creeps," he comments in regards to the sheer size of the place. "Do you think this is what fleshlings feel like inside of our structures?" he asks, looking around. The Constructicon looks something like a tourist what with the way he's constantly looking up to take in the sights. Markdown's face twitches noticeably at the mention that Lobsterita's ship would be "cramped." Oh, dear. "Um, thanks but I'll--" Then Snaptrap starts firing on them, and Foxfire is hit! "ACK! Foxfire! Are you ok!?" he yells, as he fires back up into the air, mostly to keep Snaptrap suppressed. "Alright, fine, Lobsterita. Take me to your ship, quick!" He begins to dart away from the crowd, brushing against Dreadwind's shoulder on his way past. "What the--" All around the city, the search seems to have quietened down. In fact, around the area where the Cybertronians are, everything seems to have quietened. Crowds have dispersed to other areas, leaving the square and surrounding alleyways and shops empty and deserted. Even the shop assistants have left, as if filled with some unimaginable dread. The only noise now, is the noise of the wind whistling through the buildings, almost calling out the name of the city "Sogo". And the blast of laser fire from above that shatters this eeire silence Foxfire idly paws at his muzzle, eyeing Markdown. "Well, at least I get to be useful..." He reluctantly moves toward the body and lowers his head to sniff at it. "Smells like...acetone? Great Cybertron--this is an *android*!" Right after he speaks, he is pelted with laser fire, easily knocking him off his feet. "We're under attack!" Revenant raises an oversized optic-brow as his dead gaze snaps skywards up towards the Seacon leader. Now /this/ is unexpected. Would this happen to have anything to do with the Core...? /A pity we weren't the ones to steal it,/ he muses. He stays put, analyzing the situation as his wings flare slightly, and he growls softly. This is... an interesting situation, to say the least. Question is, should he get involved? <> Fireflight peels out and banks back as he transmits, <> Dodging laser blasts that would certainly kill her, Lobsterita starts running through the empty streets. "Follow me!" she calls! ABOVE Snaptrap continues to fire wildly. "Die, Autobots! Die!" He cackles. "Twitter circuits activate: input text: shooting autobots lol :v End Twitter! Die! Die! Die!" Geo reaches out and pulls a box of energon goodies off of the shelves, turning and hrming as her optics catch a flash of something off down thataway. "What else do we need to pick up while we're here?" She looks back over at Scrapper, "And maybe. Last I saw, humans were just running in terror when they were in our structures." "Eh?" Scrapper looks around. "Speaking of running in terror..." The Beneficial Acquisition store is completely deserted of alien life outside of him, Geo, and that ever annoying Autobot scumbag, Durango. This is due to all the panic outside, no doubt. "You know what this means?" Scrapper asks. He then answers his own question. "This means we're not going to bother paying for this!" He begins pushing the shopping cart towards the exit. Dreadwind continues on his way forwards for a better look when all hell breaks loose as laser fire sprays cascades down from the blimp and then on top of all that Markdown bumps into him, "Why am i not surprised that an Autobot is attacking me. They're hunting me i just know it. Everywhere i go there's someone trying to kill me, it's almost as if i have a bounty on my head, not that anyone would bother with something like that." He cranes his head skywards to see just who is making his terrible vacation even worse. "Oh wonderful Snaptrap, last time i ran into him i was almost terminated, the injuries were unbearably painful, i suppose he's here to finish the job this time." Markdown huffs and puffs as he runs as fast as his bulky body will let him. "Huff! Huff! Huff! Wait up! Ack!" He cover his head as laser blasts shower the ground around him. "Well, at least the laser show's fun to watch..." Moonracer nods emphatically to Lobsterita. "I'll take your ticket to paradise." she says cheerily falling into line and running along behind the Autobot crowd. Relevance is no doubt forthcoming, but not... quite... yet. Durango is idly standing at one of the checkout counters, looking right, and left, and waiting for someone, /anyone/, to show up and sell him his Wuadruple A batteries. He eyes the goings-on outside with curiosity. Geo peers at Scrapper. She shakes her head, and then pockets the energon goodies, beginning to fly after Scrapper, grabbing some Quadruple-A Batteries as she flits past Durango. "Loser," she snipes at the Autobot, blinking as.. well, she sees flashes of light from laserfire outside the building. "Just great." Foxfire jumps back to his feet and darts after Markdown and Lobsterita, easily ignoring his scorched armor. "Is this what detective work is like?!" Markdown looks behind himself with a bit of concern at the steadily growing Autobot conga line. "Uh, is there gonna be room in there for all four of us?..." Stopping at the ship, which could fit maybe one or two Autobots inside, Lobsterita frowns. "Well... looks like some of you will have to ride on the wings and jump to the zeppelin?" The wind picks up throughout the city, to an almost angry level as it whistles through the square. "SoOOoOoOOOgOOooOOoo" it seems to say. "SooOoOoOOooOooOgOOOOooOoOoo." And then... with several THUNKS, the lights in the area of the square and its surroundings all instantly die, the only illumination being Snaptrap's laser fire from above The wind picks up again, whilsting through the alleys, sounding more and more like a voice. "Reeeeeturn..." it whispers. "Return the Core or die...." Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Several fire extinguishers explode, showering those nearby them, namely Moonracer, Dreadwind and Revenant with water. That's odd... Markdown steps up to the cockpit of the craft, hands on his hips. "Well. I'm the heaviest Autobot here, as you can tell." He pats his 'belly' for emphasis. "Therefore, um, if I were to be placed on one of the wings, well, that would unbalance the craft, and, erm, make it impossible to fly. Moonracer, Foxfire, you'll have to take up positions on the wings, and counterbalance each other's weight." He sighs at his own reasoning. It's unassailable as far as he's concerned, but on the other hand, he feels uneasy about that Lobsterita character. Maybe he should try to be a little more tolerant of her cultural differences. ...BWAHAHAHAHA! Tolerance. That's funny. Foxfire involuntarily shudders, lowering his ears. "This place is getting creepy. You hear that wind? That's not normal." He huddles close to Markdown's leg, peeking behind him at Lobsterita. "Well, if it makes a difference, I can fly..." "...and so can I!" Fireflight wing-waggles as he dives towards the other Autobots. "It looked like Snaptrap in there. Anyone want a lift?" Moonracer nods. "Yeah that's a good idea!" she calls out to Markdown as he asks about there being enough room in the shuttle. "There totally will be!" she grins and points her laser pistol at the Autobot Economist. Her eyes glow the red cheezy glow of plot-itis. And then she fires a shot. It is a called shot to strike at his hands as he tries to hold onto the wing of the craft. Moonracer strikes Markdown with What is that in your hand?. Geo takes after Scrapper; taking hold of the shopping cart with him, she pushes past.= and begins to head down the lane. "Doot doot doot, doot doot doot doot..." she plays from ehr speakers, that seems to echo in the empy area. "Oh. Hmm. gettin' lonely." Dreadwind is covered in water soaked through in fact, he looks down at himself as the gathering moan storm approaches, "Oh great it's probably got inside to my vital systems and is even now starting to corrode everything, i can feel my joints freezing up already. That's what i get for trying to show an interest in... anything." Contrary to his last loudly moaned statement he swiftly draws both his weapons and turns in the direction of the person that bumped into him and opens fire! Dreadwind misses Markdown with his Thermal Melter attack. Startled, Foxfire whips around toward Moonracer, optics wide. "What are you doing?!" (Lame pose, ho!) Revenant shrugs and turns away from the scene, letting the Autobots deal with the situation. He has nothing to do with anything going on here, and he's likely lost Brigand's trail by now... but he might as well get back to looking. He pauses as he listens to the whisper, brow furrowing, and then he gets drenched by a nearby fire-extinguisher that chose /that/ moment to explode, resulting in a nice geyser. He hisses and spins about, wings flared... but his optics suddenly glow a bright red (which is highly unusual for him). He takes to the skies, flying towards where the Autobots have apparently gathered. He snarls, bringing his rifle out of subspace and firing on Foxfire. Revenant strikes Foxfire with laser. Durango finally says the hell with it. "The hell with it," he says, as he leaves his would-be purchases on the counter and makes a run for the outside; he's put two and two together and got mayhem, and mayhem is what he's made to un-mayhize. He looks around for his compatriots, but they seem to have gone. Markdown YELPS as Moonracer blasts a hole right through his hands. "ARRGH! What did you do that for?" He shakes his hand vigorously, trying to shake out the searing heat from the blast. "Are you insane?! Dammit all, I don't have time for this!" He begins to crawl into the pilot's seat, frowning, but even as he sticks a leg in, another blast sears over his shoulder. "MOONRACER! For Primussake, stop shooting at me!" No, he has no idea that second was actually Dreadwind. Grumbling as he settles into the seat, he says, "Oh, right, you can fly now. Well, forget about the wind, Foxfire. Get up there and do what you can!" The wind grows louder through the streets as the voice rises in pitch, a rich brown baritone. "Return!" it cries. "Return the core!" Perhaps it /is/ just the wind. Perhaps its just imagination that makes it sound like the city is speaking... ...Is that what Snaptrap thinks, as he stands up above on the zepellin? "Pfft" he mouths. "Stupid City, want your precious Core?" He holds up a box, inside which is a glowing, fizzing object, all at once in the shape of a square, a circle, a triangle, constantly shifting and yet always the same A yelp escapes Foxfire as he again finds himself the victim of laser fire. "Damn it all...they're always picking on the fox." For now he tries to ignore the eerie wind, focusing on the fact that he and his comrades are in danger. His wings extend into view, attaching to his front legs and giving him a batlike appearance. He activates his anti-gravs and takes to the air, where he divebombs at Revenant, a stream of flame shooting from his mouth. Foxfire misses Revenant with his Fire attack. As the world goes CRAZY around her, Geo takes up the things she's carrying, shifts them into her own personal subspace. And takes to the air, heading towards the spaceport. And, inadvertantly, coming across the zeppelin and the firefight between the Seacon(s) and the Autobots and the planet. "Well, well." She floats up. And up. And up. Until she's hovering level with the zeppelin, idly pondering. That core thingy, it could be great for the Decepticons. And if the Seacons have it, well, they're pirating for the Quintessons now... They're brawling down there over who gets to ride where on the alien's craft, it looks like. Why does almost everyone go scrambling elsewhere when Fireflight offers to help? Ah well... as the F-4 rises into the sky, that Seacon climbs up top of the zeppelin to start showing off - is that the core everyone's going on about? It's beautiful, whatever it is, the way it seems to shift, never quite the same color or shape. Welcome to Distraction. Population: Fireflight. Durango runs around on the ground, being generally unhelpful, but, well, that's about all he can do. Moonracer blinks at Markdown and then at the gun in her hand. "Oh totally, sorry MArkdown I don't know what I was thinking." she shrugs innocently, or tries to anyway even as both of her hands steadily raise the pistol to continue carrying on with a bead on the Economist. Her eyes then begin to glow red again and she goes quiet as she fires at Markdown's other hand. "Come on boss, what's the hold up? Aaw no..." Seawing sticks his head out of the zepellin, a member of the press in his hands as he casually throws them out. "Nothing..." he mutters. "Nothing is /ever/ easy, is it?" The Seacon hauls himself out of the window of the zepellin, walking along a narrow gantry, where he transforms into his third mode, becoming a rather nasty looking weapon emplacement. "Welcome Autobots and Decepticons, welcome to your /oblivion/." Picking the nearest target, namely Fireflight, he opens fire You strike F-4 Phantom II with plasma. Revenant easily moves to the side, showing no reaction as the flames heat the air where he'd just been. "The Core," he rumbles, his already-dead tone now completely flat, "return... or die!" And at 'die', he shoots forwards and raises one claw to slash at the fox-tape... and completes the motion just as Snaptrap reveals the stolen Core in question. Revenant strikes Foxfire with Claw Swipe. Dreadwind doesn't appear to be effected by the any of the weird stuff going on, "Oh great it's already causing involuntary motor responses, there was definately something more in that liquid than water, probably a corrosive fire retarding agent of some kind. RETURN? What do you mean return, i didn't do anything just give it up." It appears that Dreadwind is finally losing what's left of his grip on reality, still it doesn't stop him from suddenly pointing his arm in another direction as his weapons fire once more. Dreadwind strikes Durango with Single wrist blaster. Fireflight, scanning that thing Snaptrap is holding repeatedly and in every wavelength available, is the proverbial sitting duck for the weapon emplacement that wasn't there a millicycle ago. "Aaaagghh!" Seawing's plasma blast hits the F-4 full on the side of his tail, melting one anhedral stabilizer and apparently taking out the adjacent engine as Fireflight barrel-rolls out of control and out of the area. Round and round he goes, where he'll crash, who knows? "AAAGGGH!" Markdown screams as a hole is drilled in his OTHER hand. "Ok, that's it, I'm getting out of here, but believe you me, I'm reporting this to Rodimus Prime! I'LL SEE YOU IN THE BRIG!" Gritting his cyberteeth in pain, he snatches Lobsterita--actually rather difficult since both his hands where punctured and he's having a little trouble moving them--and crams her into the cockpit with him. He reaches around her to steer the craft, and it verrrry slowly lifts up into the air. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I weigh too much. Sue me." The claw swipe briefly knocks Foxfire off balance, but he easily regains his altitude. "Fight fire with fire," he mutters as he hovers, watching the Sweep closely. "What importance does the Core have for you? And why are you acting like WE have it?" He steals a glance toward Snaptrap, a frown crossing his muzzle. "*There's* your precious Core!" And with that, he lunges at Revanant in midair, aiming to latch onto him with his claws and fangs. Foxfire strikes Revenant with Bite. Snaptrap glares down at the crowd below, optics glowing. "A bit longer, I want to get SATISFACTION out of this little debacle first. I hate stealth, never liked it, never will. We should have taken the Core by force, the least we can do it gut the Autobots." His laser sights locked on Durango, he squeezes the trigger on his gun, sending off several pulses. "Besides, I've never killed a city before..." Snaptrap misses Durango with his Snaptrap attack. "Oh? Oh? Is 'at 'ow it's gonnah be, eh?" Durango doesn't take Dreadwind's little present lightly. He's just about to express his feelings in a constructive manner when group session is intruded upon; spotting the incoming blasts of Oh No, he dives out of harm's way; he lands, barrel rolls into a transformation and comes up at the other end in his sporty SUV mode...rockets gleaming. He's forgotten Dreadwind, for now. Snaptrap, this Bud's for you. Durango strikes Snaptrap with Right-o Rooftop Rocket Rack. The wind that courses through this area of the city gets louder now, a rumbling deep inside the ground. "Return it!" it cries, almost screaming. "Return it, Cybertronians!" Will the wails of Sogo go unheeded, as the very earth starts to tremble? The city is getting angry indeed... Dreadwind still doesn't like the situation, well not that he really likes any situation, "Yes yes return, give back, retrieve, pointless hope, optimism, it won't do anything. Better to sit and rust in peace slip into oblivion. Fine destroy them all... Why do these terrible thing always happen to me?" With that he stomps slowly towards Durango both rifles raised and firing, "Oh yeah give it back or whatever, there happy now? I know i'm not." Dreadwind strikes 1999 Subaru Outback with Twin Melters. The gun emplacement that is Seawing gives a little laugh to himself. "Strange places, strange times, strange and lonely deaths. And your deaths will /all/ be lonely." The barrel heats up and plasma bullets explode from it, spraying across the ground in an attempt to hit everyone. "We shouldn't tempt fate boss, lets get out of here..." Seawing unleashes his area_ranged attack on Foxfire, Markdown, Dreadwind, Revenant, Moonracer and Durango, striking Moonracer, Revenant, Dreadwind, Markdown and Foxfire. Floating there, continuing her debating and data-crunching, is Geo. And continuing to look at the Core, pondering the exact angles she would need to get there and steal it away from the MUCH larger Snaptrap. Revenant is not acting right at all, even by the standards most Decepticons give the Sweeps. Although, as silent and anti-social as he usually is, it's kinda hard for someone to notice the difference if they don't know his usual mannerisms. "The Core..." he hisses, ignoring Foxfire's attempt to scratch the paint and metal on the same hand that he'd just swiped at him with, and even ignoring Seawing's attack that leaves a nice scorch-mark across his chestplate. He instead flies straight at Snaptrap, apparently forgetting about Foxfire entirely (and if the fox-tape doesn't stop gnawing, Foxfire might find himself tagging along for the flight) as his headcannon warms up. "Return it!" He shouts, echoing the odd wind's 'voice', as he strafes the Seacon. Yeah, the Sweep med-tech is not quite himself at the moment. Revenant strikes Snaptrap with Headcannon Gatling. Snaptrap stands atop the zepellin, still holding the box containing the core in his hands in triumph. "Behold, you petulant fools, behold the source of your destruction. The plan is in the final stage, and soon he will return. Trokius will CRUSH YOU!" As he waves his hand... Durango's rockets explode into him, upsetting his balance and tipping him over, the box dropping from his fingertips and rolling to the edge of the zepellin as he grasps for it. "This one... isn't getting written up..." Foxfire releases his hold on Revenant as the Sweep's attention is drawn elsewhere. He hasn't the faintest idea what's going on with him or Moonracer, but he's determined to find out. He suspects the Seacons have something to do with it. He winces at the area attack from Seawing. "That's it." He rushes through the air toward the offending Seacon, firing a pair of lasers from his flaring blue optics. Foxfire strikes you with Laser for 10 points of damage. Moonracer gets blasted by the guns, and her pistol shoots out of her hand and clatters to the screaming breathey streets, as does Moonracer who flies back onto her ass. Her eyes glow red and her head spins around once before there is an animation error and she looks like normal again. OR IS IT... Moonracer sees her gun on the street. "Oh what a butterfingers. I can't be losing that. I've allready recquisitioned three this week. Rodimus will punish me over his knee again!" She titters guiltily. *teeheehee* whilst waggling a pinky in the corner of her mouth. She bends over to pick it up waving her butt daintily in the air. 1999 Subaru Outback transforms, in A LOT OF PAIN from where the rockets just bejiggled his giblets. Primus, how he can't wait until the new combat code takes effect and removes the "Mode 2 = Death for Autobots" system currently in place. Yikes. Well, as long as Dreadwind was going to continue to come towards him and attack, he may as well return the favor, no? Keeping one eye on the zeppelin, just in case anything should fall off of it, he meanwhile raises both arms and, with the other eye, aims at Dreadwind. With gusto. Durango misses Dreadwind with his Canberra Cannon :(Heavy on the Starch): Setting attack. At this instant, Geo simply LEAPS forward, flying as fast as she can towards the box at the edge of the zeppelin. Her small size might make her a quicker flyer; will she get there in time?! Foxfire's blast dislodges Seawing's gun emplacement form and he falls to the ground, tumbling through the air, transforming to robot mode, but too late as *wham* he lands on the ground. Whether or not he lands on Revenant too though, is another matter... "Curse you Fox!" he cries, shaking his fist You strike Revenant with ram. Markdown is shot by Seawing's spray of gunfire right through the cockpit of Lobsterita's ship, but somehow it strikes him while missing her. "Urgh!" he growls, "I am REALLY tired of getting shot over here!" He looks out the side, down at the ground, to check on the crazed femme. "Well, at least she lost her gun, even if she's probably still crazy! What is with this planet? Android replicas of Duran Duran, everyone's lost their mind, and now a talking city. I can't make any sense of it!" Markdown coaxes the ship up higher until it is level with the zeppelin, and cracks open the canopy, awkwardly standing up in the craft. "SNAPTRAP! That doesn't belong to you! Return it to the people of this world or else!" he yells. Dreadwind is peppered by fire from Seawing but he barely feels it maybe it's his own lack of motivation or that odd water in his systems or maybe he just doesn't care. Either way he dodges aside and the energy blasts from Durango dry him off slightly, "Don't fight it junkpile you can't win, end your suffering... yes yes return what you took yes i was getting to it... even Darkwing isn't this annoyingly incessant." Breaking into a quick sprint Dreadwind closes with Durango and puts the boot in. Dreadwind strikes Durango with kick. Revenant ignores Snaptrap completely as soon as the Seacon leader looses his grip on that box. He also begins to fly up towards the box containing the Core... only to become an unintentional landing pad for Seawing and finding himself lying on his front with his face buried in the ground. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrh...! Yoooooooouuuuuu," he snarls, roughly shoving Seawing off of him before lashing out at him with both talons. Uh oh, angry possessed Sweep... just an angry one is usually enough of a problem. Revenant strikes you with Double Claw Strike for 9 points of damage. Foxfire looks smug. "Have a nice *fall*!" he taunts Seawing before turning his attention to Snaptrap. "Markdown is right! Stop this now, before you *really* regret it!" To emphasize his point, he quickly flies toward the Seacon in an attempt to latch onto him. Foxfire strikes Snaptrap with Claw. Snaptrap is now lying atop the roof of the zepellin, the Core case gripped by his fingertips, stopping it from tumbling off the edge. Slowly but surely, he pulls it back, the airship shaking as Geo manages to leap aboard. Slowly he stands, hoisting it and glaring down at Markdown. "Belongs? Pfft! This belongs to me, by right of conquest. The people here are nothing but ants, seduced by this parasitic city. I'm doing them a favour here you know." His optics flash evilly as he raises his blaster to shoot, but he is knocked over by the flying fox, and the zepellin is rocked again... As the rumbling intensifies, and tentacles starts to burst from the street, ripping up buildings in their wake, a huge globulous octopoid maw rearing from the stadium as it ploughs up the grass, bulging eyes fixated on the stadium. "RETURN!" it caws, and as it waves its tentacles, they seem to shift and shimmer, as if phasing through dimensions. Ladies and gentlemen, Sogo the living city has shown its face! "OHSHI--!" Geo yelps, landing flat-footing and then LEAPING at the boxi n the air, attempting to grab it and, if possible, yank it out of Snaptrap's hands. If she is unsuccessful, she'll whip out her tazer and prepare to make some turtle soup of the Seacon leader! Durango stares at..whatever it is. "Well, feck." Seawing slowly picks himself off Revenant, only to be greeted by a swipe of the claws. "Hey Sweep boy" he hisses, optics flashing pink. "We can talk about this!" He lunges forward to punch the sweep, and then freezes in fear as the shimmering tentacles lift from the ground. "Aaaw hell naw!" he whines. "We actually woke the slagging thing up properly. I TOLD you we should have left!" Markdown springs off of Lobsterita's ship, arms outstretched for Snaptrap's neck. "Yeah!? Well, your head belongs to ME! Or it will when I tear off! Raaaagh!" Mid-tackle, Markdown mutters to himself, "Ignore creepy voice, ignore creepy voice, ignore creepy voice, Armageddon is not nigh... Moonracer isn't going to shoot you again..." Lobsterita's ship dips considerably in the air once Markdown propels himself off of it. Markdown strikes Snaptrap with RAaaaAAaaAaaAGh. Geo strikes Snaptrap with Laser Pistol: Tazer Attachment. Moonracer gets up and twirls her gun in her hands, showing her expert control and mastery of the weapon flipping it from one hand to another with the deft insertion of her pantomiming finger guns at Markdown as the real pistol sails between those hands. "Oh Markdown how did you get so far away! You're gonna leave me behind??" Her eyes glow red but it's just the otherwordly light of the sun in her eyes and she shakes it off anyway as she transforms and starts to fly. ...because she's a hover car. Moonracer strikes Markdown with CATCH! I'M CATCHING YOU!. Tentacles whip out, smashing at everyone, especially any Autobot or Decepticons on the ground, though avoiding Moonracer, Revenant and Dreadwind. "RETURN!" the huge beast bellows, the voice echoing over the now quiet city. "RETURN!" "WHOA!" Foxfire backs up, startled at the sight of the beast emerging from the ground. "Sweet Primus! It must *really* want the Core back!" He glares accusingly at Snaptrap. "This is all your fault!" He ducks to the left and right, doing his best to avoid the lashing tentacles. "We have to do something!" "IT... IS... MINE!" Snaptrap roars as both Geo and Markdown blast him, the Seacon leader staggering back, chest smoking and letting go of the glowing box. This time though, it bounces off the top of the zepellin and starts to tumble down... down... down... turning end over end in midair. But who will catch it first? Revenant rises to his feet and just stares at Seawing as the Seacon charges towards him. However, once Seawing freezes at seeing the city, the Sweep takes to the skies and flies right towards Snaptrap--or, rather, that box he's been threatening to destroy for the past few turns. And then, he goes and drops it. Fortunately, the Sweep realizes this and adjusts his flightpath accordingly. "The Core!" He snarls as he flies at the falling glowing box at a pretty high rate of speed, apparently intending to simply snatch the Core before it hits the ground and nothing further (including attacking anyone). Durango watches out for falling prizes, and begins to make a run for where he feels the core will be kersplatting, but is unceremoniously knocked upside the face with a giant tentacle. Now, as anyone can attest, there is a time and a place for tentacles-to-the-face, but this is not one of them. Perhaps, in another place, another time, Durango could've been friends with the monstercity..he could've rubbed its tentacles..gently cupping its tentacles in his hands as he caressed them, applying massage oils until the monster had nice, soft, moist tentacles...but no, the monster had to whip his tentacles out without warning and teabag the entire town..nevertheless, Durango was determined..he got up, and made a mad dash for where the core might land.... Markdown won't catch it first, because Moonracer just landed on him, flattening him against the zeppelin. "GAH! You again!? Dammit, Moonracer, I'm sorry, but..." He pushes himself up, despite Moonracer's weight on his back, and shrugs her off. "...this is for for your own good!" Lifting the psychotic hovercar up by its front section, he begins to spin about rapidly, building up momentum before he lets go of her. ...or he tries to do all of that. It could all go horribly wrong, after all. Markdown strikes Moonracer with Spinny. Markdown says, "...well, come to think of it, that was mostly for MY own good. Whatever. Works out." The falling box catches Foxfire's attention. It's sparkly and shiny! It must be important! Oh, wait, it IS important. It's the Core. Focus, focus! He promptly divebombs, hoping to snatch the box before the others reach it. Moonracer flips off whoops. "I just gotta get my driving back up to where my shooting is, you know." she says cheerily before she just continues to hover along behind markdown and the zeppelin. "So we winning or..." Dreadwind watches as the bos falls towards the ground, yes he could leap for it, but what would be the point he'd never make it, "Yeah so it has to be returned the interlopers destroyed. But what real threat is there, more agonies? More pain? It's not as if he ever feels like it's getting better anyway. With great effort Dreadwind rasises his arm and weapon and takes careful aim, "Suffering excruciating in the extremes is there anything left to be done to me? Is that the best that the universe can manage a tentacle beast? Finally running out of ideas eh? Wonder what will happen if this hits?" As he finishes what could be his last gripe in this painful universe he fires, the target none other than the box itself. Who will get the box? The Seacons leap for it, the Autobots and Decepticons leap for it, the tentacles of Sogo itself curl towards it... it looks like Foxfire is about to grab the falling trophy, when Dreadwind, somehow able to use his powers of gloom and depression to throw off the sirenlike possession of the city, fires at the box, a streak of magenta laserfire shooting out and shattering the casing. The geometric anomoly inside flares as the beam strikes through it, piercing it, and then with a sucking pop, it collapses in on itself. The creature that is Sogo starts to scream, a rending cry as the tentacles waive and it too flickers, twisting, before literally /exploding/ into several tons of space calamari, that showers down everywhere. Yeah, well done Dreadwind The fuschia Decepticon lets out a bright 'YEEK!' as her taser blast hits home, and after a moment of recovering from her own surprise at her weapon, she turns in mid-air and launches herself after the Core. "It'll be mine! Wait, no it won't. CRAZY PLANET YOU CAN HAVE YOUR CORE BACK!" she yells, outstretching ehr arms, and heading towards the Core in an attempt to hit it like a volleyball, back down towards the planet. Markdown scowls murderously at Moonracer. "Winning!? Hell if I know! And you sure aren't helping!" And then a little piece of tentacle falls onto his head, and it looks almost like he put on a cute (yet disgusting) little tentacle hat. "I HATE this planet," he growls. Durango pulls up short, and stands gazing into the sky, as tiny bits of flaming tentacle land on and around him. Each molting piece of tentacle flesh burns into his soul, a searing reminder of what could have been, had this been a more peaceful time, a more chance meeting, between mech and octopus; as Durango stands erect, being covered in tentacle juice, he cannot stifle the yearning that burns inside of him, the one final, aching, longing...the one thing that he so desperately needs, but will never have... ...a bottle of cocktail sauce. Revenant doesn't quite make it to the glowing box in time, and flinches back slightly when the Core flares as it's shot. He barely has enough time to land, grimacing faintly at Sogo's scream, before his optics slowly dull back to their usual crimson glow. He slowly, almost absently, brushes off the calamari that falls on him after Sogo explodes. /What... just happened?/ Yeah, he has no idea that he was being controlled, and as far as he's concerned, it never even happened. Now... where did Brigand disappear off to this time...? Moonracer nods her chassis agreeably to Markdown, "Me too. Totally." Snaptrap waves a fist, his faceplated visage somehow burning with anger as his prize is destroyed. "Seacons to ME!" he screams as the zepellin starts to convert to space mode, rising into the atmosphere. "A pathetic 'victory'!" he snarls, still standing atop it, finger outstretched. "We have plans within plans, wheels within wheels, and when we are finished, you will all /die/, alone in the night!" His laugh booming across the horizon, his craft slowly vanishes "What in the name of Primus..." Foxfire slowly decides, bewildered at one has just happened. He lands on an undisturbed piece of ground, retracting his wings to appear as the normal foxbot he always has been. "Well...*that* was certainly an adventure." Geo obviously misses the shot due to the retardation of her player. With a huff, she turns and heads off towards the sky. Dreadwind is probably more surprised than anyone that he's the one to get there first, well sort of, not that he gives any show of pleasure or excitement over it. He does shake almost uncontrollably as an anguished cry of shock, fear and pain washes over him, to Dreadwind it feels like an all too familiar friend. "It can't be, i won? I managed to succeed? Maybe this is it finally i am free to do what i.." *FWUMPF* Dreadwind is buried in the soft wet squishy innards of Citysquid, his final words muffled beyond hearing beneath the glistening mass. Markdown continues to scowl. "Yeah. I bet. Look, if this city-exploding-thing means that you're back to normal, great. Because if you shoot me again, Moonracer, that's where I'm going to send you, on the FIST EXPRESS! And another thing--AAAAGH!" He screams as he loses his footing on the suddenly transforming zeppelin, tumbling off and plummetting towards the gooey ground. Moonracer just giggles and swoops under markdown to catch him, much less painfully this time. "Ow. You're denting my roof!" Markdown oofs as he lands on Moonracer's roof, and he holds on for dear life. "Yeah, well, you perforated BOTH of my hands, so I'd call it a fair trade!" He grumbles, "Just take me back to the spaceport, would ya?..." Dreadwind is buried alive forgotten and alone, some things never change though he'll probably get free eventually after all the cleaners are going to be busy for quite some time.
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