| abstract | - Blurr speeds through the underground access tunnels leading toward Crystal City. Ah, how many times has he been down here? More than he can count. He knows every twist and turn, every alcove and every exit hatch. It's nice that the old familiarity has returned, once Sandstorm made Vector Sigma realize that Cybertron had sapient beings inhabiting it. No more unexpected dead ends suddenly or collapsing corridors. Still, he couldn't let his guard down. There was a job to be done, and he and his team were still infiltrating enemy territory. This time not to deliver or receive intel but to rescue as many of the Autobots and Sentinels that had fallen during the previous operation as possible. <> "Now I'm not going to lie," Needlenose says. He's in one of the guard towers at said the Crystal City prison facility. "Sure I was a little scared. Three Autobot warriors were between me and salvation. Big fellas, too. The kind that might hope to be Wreckers some day. I had fought my way through their entire lines and now was faced with three of the most pissed off Autobots I've ever seen." He's got a half dozen guards hanging off his every word. Some are full blown Decepticons while others are just civilian guards. Either way, he's got their rapt attention, and he meets their gaze with his own steely stare. "The first one tried for a forward feint, but I sidestepped him and kung fu kicked him into the wall. Then his buddies came for me..." Needlenose pauses dramatically. Down below in the courtyard, prisoners are milling about doing whatever it is that prisoners do. Flying in low just a couple hundred yards above Blurr is Skydive. "You asked for fast, and that's what you'll get! So the plan is to get in, get out. Gotcha." He pauses momentarily, looking ahead to the facility they will soon arrive at. "By the way, good to see you're up and about, last time I saw you, you were strapped to me unconscious while I was being shot down by Brainstorm... How are you? I just wanted to say I'm sorry about that mess.." Blast Off is standing atop a high perch, surveying the area below. After all, he likes to look down on things- and people. Speaking of which, some simpering mechs are clustered below and Blast Off stands with blaster at hand, ready to shoot anyone who is foolish enough to try anything stupid. He stands not too far from Needlenose and can't help but overhear the story. Blast Off rolls optics, unimpressed, then goes back to scanning the area. "....Spare us your stories. Just PROVE yourself if you suddenly find yourself in a battle here... The Autobots might try anything. "Now the thing you have to remember," Needlenose says with a grim expression on his face, "Is that I was low on fuel, had depleted both my proton bombs, my anti-gravs had shorted out, and I was all out of ammo, so I had to deal with these Bots on their terms." One of the guards covers his mouth in awe. "With their leader down for the count, the second two advanced. I dodged the first punch, but his buddy shoved me up against the wall with a lucky hit. Fortunately I remembered the training of my old Metallikato teacher and performed the Shattered Hand Spring strike. With his torso now a melted heap, I lunged at the last one just as he was reaching for the panic button! The fate of the entire Ducksin Operation would depend on if I was fast enough...!" There's gasps from his audience. Zigzag, leaning in against the doorway, rolls his eyes along with Blast Off. He looks at the Combaticon, points at Needlenose, and does the crazy finger twirl thing next to his temple. "He can't hear you, Blast Off," he tells the mech. "He's 'in the zone'. Whatever the f--- THAT means." The prisoners below are doing more than just milling about, now it seems. A group of them have gathered just below the tower Needlenose and Blast Off are standing in, and have begun shouting and shaking their fists. "HEY! HEY CONS, HEY YOU!" They holler. "THEY'RE COMIN' FOR US YOU KNOW! THEY'RE COMIN', AND THEY'RE GONNA PULVERIZE THE LOT O' YA!" "Yeah! Ya hear that, slagheaps!? One cycle WE'RE gonna be the ones putting our heels down on YOUR heads!" More of them start to gather down there, booing and hollering and waving their fists. Down below, Blurr and Skydive approach the hatch, which opens into a dark alley near the penitentiary. The speedster inputs the proper code, and the door slides open with a faint hiss. He chuckles at Skydive's comments. "Yeah, you're fast, I get it...." He pauses. "Wait, what are you talking about?" Then he shakes his head, brushing it off as the noise from the prison yard can heard in the distance. "Whatever, take care of the skies for me." "......Oh! Eh-heh, right! Me and Brainstorm totally didn't, uh, experiment on you or anything," Skydive chuckles nervously. Once they arrive at the hatch, he protoforms and looks out. "Right, then. I've got your back. Let me know if you need anything." Blast Off looks at Zigzag with a slight nod. "Indeed." He's not exactly sure what "in the zone" means, either- but it seems to involve a whole lot of talking. Blast Off would prefer to simply do his guard duty quietly. Besides, Needlenose's chatter might drown out audio signals that he DOES want to hear- like the sounds of Autobots on the move. Or...prisoners starting to get restless. As they begin shouting up at the Cons, Blast Off brings the ionic blaster up to his optic and aims it below. He fires a shot- intentionally missing...this time. "Settle down, fools. I won't miss next time." "He was a split-second away from hitting that panic button, when BAM!" Needlenose continues his story. "I tackled him to the ground! Oh he was a feisty one, let me tell you. He was one of those guys where the tech specs describe his strength in 'able to pulverize a something-or-other with a single punch', but I had finesse and desperation on my side." For those just joining us, Needlenose is hanging out in one of the prison guard towers, telling a completely factual story to the guards whiel Blast Off and Zigzag do nothing useful. "I got a little worried when he got his hands on that ax of his--" **HEY! HEY CONS, HEY YOU!** "--but... uh, but I managed to knock it away with a-" **THEY'RE COMIN' FOR US YOU KNOW! THEY'RE COMIN', AND THEY'RE GONNA PULVERIZE THE LOT O' YA!** "...a backhanded smack... and..." Needlenose frowns inwardly. The hell is with all that shouting out there, he wonders. "Blast Off, get out there and see what they're shouting about. It's interupting my story." Zigzag follows Blast Off out to see the crowd. "Maybe you should kill one to make an example," he suggests. "...." Experiment? What. Did this have something to do with Brainstorm hugging him? If so, he's going to have to have a TALK with them. Later... At any rate, he makes his way toward the facility, doing his best to stay out of sight of the guards that are most surely in those towers. Meanwhile, Blast Off's shots only worsen the situation. More prisoners rush over, and they start throwing bits of debris at Needlenose and Blast Off. "OH YOU THOUGHT THAT WOULD SCARE US, EH, DECEPTI-SCRAP?! YOU'VE BEEN PULLING THAT SLAG ON US FOR DECA-CYCLES, YOU THINK IT'LL STOP US NOW?!" "YEAH RIGHT! HA!" CLINK. CLANK. PONG....SPLAT. Small objects of varied nature begin flying up toward them. Don't ask what the splat was. Blurr watches the unrest, his body pressed up against opposite wall of the prison yard. He smirks. <> He starts moving along wall toward the door, holding a data slug with a hacking program on it at the ready... Blitzwing transforms into a Leopard 2A6M tank. Skydive transforms, flying up out of the dark alley but obscuring himeslf behind one of the prison towers. "Mech, those prisoners sure have some brawn, laying into the 'Con's like that." He smirks. "Well, why not a little help...." Combat: Skydive sets his defense level to Guarded. Skydive transforms into his F-16C Falcon mode. Combat: F-16C Falcon strikes Blast Off with his Laser-Guided Missile attack! A pair of thick steel doors burst from the side of one of the complex structures, ripping free of hinges and sailing out into the courtyard. The doors eventually land on few unfortunate prisoners who, be it through malnourishment or inferior reflexes, are unable to dodge the tonnage. There is no movement from under the bulwark. Energon pools lazily at one corner, dribbling out slowly to the others, warping around their feet. A fearsome tank roars out from the darkness of the facility, turret barrel smokey and aglow. The whole weapon swivels, indiscriminately passing across the entire group of prisoners, pausing briefly as it cycles through the lot of them. "Maybe. Maybe not. Go ahead, though. Make my day." Needlenose, who is still up in the guard tower, is protected as things get tossed up at them. His story, however, is ruined as guards get up to take care of business. Giving a sigh, Needlenose says, "Well I can give you all the thrilling conclusion next time." Zigzag isn't so lucky, though, and he uses Blast Off's leg as cover because he's a true hero. Soon they're joined by Needlenose, who peers down at them. "Man, why're they so upset?" he asks as if he has no idea why prisoners would be so bitchy. "Hey! Blitzwing!" he shouts to the tank that's rather dramatically arrived. "Run the rest of 'em over, willya?" Leopard 2A6M 's engine rumbles a bit louder at Needlenose's request. Blast Off looks down at Zigzag, and, as much as he hates to listen to a mere organic, decides he may be right. Especially when the ingrates begin to pelt him with objects....GROSS objects. Blast Off just got repaired and, with the exception of some slightly mis-matched metal panels couurtesy of Harrow (which he will deal with as soon as possible), he looks pretty good. Or he did.... Yes, one of those prisoners is definitely going to die now. Perhaps all of them. The Combaticon decides on one of the most angry-looking prisoners and his trigger digit starts to squeeze... but that's when a missile hits him right square in the chest!!! It tears into the shuttleformer's armor, leaving sparks and pieces of metal tearing off in its wake. "GAHHH!" He staggers back, looking around for the attacker. That's when he spots a F-16C Falcon hovering nearby. "I KNEW it! Autobotssss!" He hisses the last part in pain as more circuits fry and sizzle. Instead of the prisoner, he tries to shoot back at the Autbot! Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blast Off strikes F-16C Falcon with his Swatting AerialFlies (Laser) attack! Now, when Blitzwing bursts out from the door and flattens a couple of the inmates, a few of them freeze and then scamper off back to their cells. "Holy Primus, it's Blitzwing!" Some of them shout as they run off. Though there is still a sizeable group, and they continue shouting and pelting the Decepticons with random objects. A few of the bolder ones even charge and pile on top of the tank, hammering him with their fists as hard as they can--however much damage that will do. But they're desperate, with an attitude similar to Shiftlock's: What have they got to lose? Meanwhile, Blurr arrives at the door to the prison yard. He makes short work of two 'empowered' citizen guards, zipping behind them and using his electro-laser to stun them. <> "Hhhhnnnghhk!" The guards convulse for a few astroseconds before collapsing into stasis lock. He then plugs the data slug into the security interface, and the program gets to work unlocking the door. Watching the readouts, he curses. <> Sounds like a job for.. a computer programmer. :(And Chromedome is suddenly illustrated into the scene, sneaking up behind Blurr with a careful optic peeled for any would-be assailants. "Did you say something about a mainframe?" the Headmaster asks, placing a hand on the speedster's shoulder. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected. Skydive watches as his missile strikes Blast Off, and he soon realizes they're no longer undercover when Blast Off retaliates. "Ungh...." he grunts. He flies up, surveying the situation. "Well, I would, but I've got to head back to the base, I'm clean out of ammo. And seeing as Chromedome is more than fit for the job... I will say though, your best bet is probably near the south of end of this facility--I can see that the mainframe is just a few floors up from there." With that, he increases his altitude and flies off. Leopard 2A6M throttles into the ravenous prisoner pack, "Don't mind if I do, Needlenose!," taking a few of them undertread with an unceremonious *CRUNCH!* The beast-machine keeps on though, slogging through bodies and blood as easily as it would boulders or buildings. The cannon turret whips 360 degrees, smacking another wave off the triplechanger's hull. Blitzwing shifts forms, ripping free of the mob and towering to his full height. A wicked purple blade screams to life, striking down another round of internees. Radio chatter alerts him to Autobot presence - Blitzwing doesn't have time to play Katamari Killer with these mistreated miscreants. "Secure the perimeter!" Blitzwing stalks off after the main gate, simultaneously drawing his rifle, leaving thruster-impaled-prisoner-prints in the floor of the compound yard as he goes. Blitzwing transforms into his robot mode. Needlenose looks up at Skydive's arrival, watching as he and Blast Off trade weapons fire with obvious amusement. Then he sees something else that piques his interest. Leaning forward, Needlenose puts his hands on the railing of the guard tower, resting his weight on it. The tower gives a good view of the surrounding area both in the yard and outside of it. "Chromedome and Blurr, eh?" He fires off some transmissions to his fellow Decepticons to divvy up the amusement. He ends up getting the nerd. Figures. "Zigzag, get over here!" The Nebulon transforms into electro-static gun mode and lands in Needlenose's hand. The Targetmaster leaps over the railing and activates his anti-gravs, flying over the prison walls. "Hey! Blurr! Chromedome! Blitzwing says to secure the perimeter, and he's pretty smart about these sorts of things. Lucky for you, Blurr, someone's already called dibs on you. You on the other hand..." Needlenose aims at Chromedome, "You aren't so lucky." He fires a lightning bolt at Chromedome. Combat: Needlenose sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Needlenose strikes Chromedome with his Electro Static Gun (Laser) attack! Blast Off watches as chaos begins to break loose- and he hears rumors of BLU(g)RRRR being in the area. <> Of course, that immediately gains the lion's share of his interest, and he rushes off to find the Autobot. But wait... Blurr has picked on to that interest by now, hasn't he? Blast Off pauses and decides to approach this calmly. He IS calm and aloof, after all, right? Always! Blast Off flies up to the top of a tower, taking a few potshots at the rioting prisoners but not really caring about whether the shots actually connect. He has bigger turbo-fish to fry, anyway. That's when he notices the knocked-out guards and engages thrusters to softly glide over to inspect the area around them. Aha- and there is the nice blue target he was hoping to find! Blast Off casually walks along the rim of the tower and aims at the speedy 'Bot. "Blurr! it's so nice of you to drop in and say hello! But it is quite rude of you to enter a host's home and not bring them gifts! Even more so to knock the host unconcious. I'm afraid that simply won't do." He sends laser fire right at the blue "Bot. Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blast Off misses Blurr with his How Rude! (Laser) attack! Combat: Blast Off (Blast Off) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Midway through picking the lock on the door itself, Chromedome's hand is SHOT! Bringing it up to his optic, the Headmaster can peer clean through the wound and see out the other side. It pains a little, but systems kick in and stem any serious energon loss. Casting a glare upwards, Chromedome's hands move at dizzying speeds (well the one that isn't injured currently) to break the lock. "Blurr, whatever you're doing.. hurry up!" he advises, inputting the final key stroke that -should- open the door and allow him access. Blitzwing has disconnected. Combat: Chromedome sets his defense level to Protected. Blurr jumps as there is suddenly a hand on his shoulder, whirling around with his weapon trained on---Chromedome?? His arm drops when he realizes it's a friend. <> He quickly explains the situation to the programmer. They don't have much time--Blitzwing is plowing over prisoner as they speak! Finally, the hacking job is complete, and the gate slides open. "Alright, let's do this!" The speedster charges into the prison yard, jumping up onto the wall as Blast Off shoots at him and fails to score a hit, while Needlenose goes for Chromedome. <> True to his word, he starts shouting at them over the roar of the prison riot as he run laps around the yard. "Hey aft-heads! Bet you couldn't touch me, not even with a discharge!" The courier taunts. "Oh, and Blast Off? I thought you were a better shot than that. Still, if it's gifts you're so worried about, I've got a little something for all of you!" Weapons expanding out of his subspace, he opens fire upward, downward, and in every direction there happens to be a Decepticon. You paged Chromedome with 'You are supposed to go in and deactivate the inhibitor cuffs from a control room or something, in case you don't get to read my pose ;P' Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Blurr strikes Needlenose with his Quickdraw Area attack! Combat: Blurr misses Blast Off with his Quickdraw Area attack! Combat: Blurr misses Blitzwing with his Quickdraw Area attack! "The hell is a discharge?" Needlenose wonders aloud. He raises his free hand to his mouth to amplify his voice. "DO YOU MEAN LIKE SOMETHING THAT MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY BLOW UP THAT DOOR YOU'RE TRYING TO GET INTO? SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" Needlenose rolls his optics at what he feels is a feeble attempt to trick them. What's /less/ feeble, though, is the spray of gunfire that comes back up at him, forcing Needlenose to fly back and forth. Despite this, the courier manages to snag more than a few hits on Cybertron's most popular flier. "Come on, Blast Off. Screw your grudge with The Flash down there. Lets take out the nerd!" Needlenose dives downward, landing right behind Chromedome. "BOO!" he shouts as he tries to grab the programmer and throw him away from the door he's trying to unlock. Combat: Needlenose sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Needlenose strikes Chromedome with his Grab and Toss (Kick) attack! Blitzwing lurches around the corner of the facility, coming into view of the main gate. Just as he pokes his head out, though, a few scattered energy bolts sizzle past his lovely mug, burning the air as they pass by. Blitzwing whips back and presses himself up against a wall, sheathing his sabre. Taking his gryo-rifle in both hands, Blitzwing settles the weapon for mid-range combat. Once satisfied with this shift, the triple changer tucks the weapon stock close into the side of his torso, responding to Blurr's own introduction with a volley of his own, strafing across the courtyard. "I don't need to /touch/ you, moron, to make you bleed. Catch!" Combat: Blitzwing sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Blitzwing misses Blurr with his vitriol volley (Laser) attack! Combat: Blitzwing (Blitzwing) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack. Blast Off is annoyed as his shot fails to hit home, and less than pleased to have Blurr point that out. Fortunately, his usually impressive agility doesn't fail him, and he is able to avoid the "gifts" that Blurr sends his way. "Well, I see *you're* as poor a shot as USUAL, Blurr!" Blast Off transforms into his space shuttle mode. He says to Needlenose, "Hardly. Seeing as it is *I* who am the only one likely to hit that fool, it is simply wisest for me to engage him!" And with that, the shuttle rockets off after the speedy 'Bot, firing at Blurr as he goes. Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Aggressive. With a disdainful shrug, Blast Off transforms into a space shuttle. Combat: Space Shuttle misses Blurr with his Gift of Obsession (Laser) attack! Combat: Space Shuttle (Blast Off) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack. "Hahaha!" Blurr laughs as the Decepticons' attacks fail to connect. "Hey guys--guess what! I'm winning! And for your information, a discharge is anything that comes out of one of your weapons, genius." But then Needlenose is throwing Chromedome around. "Ugh. Hang on, I'll get him off of you." Oh why oh why did Skydive have to let himself run out of ammo? He was supposed to be the best Aerialbot! Well, second best. At any rate, he transforms down into his hover car form and drives at the Targetmaster, directing a sonic boom in his direction. In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar strikes Needlenose with his Sonic Boom attack! [Pulled -1] First startled, then harrassed, Chromedome is sent jumping AND reeling from Needlenose's vile surprise attack. Picking himself off the ground, he's about to intercept the Targetmaster when Blurr rolls in like the good ole calvary. Optics flash to their other adversaries, but Chromedome keeps the mission's focus as his main goal. Quickly transforming, the Cybertronian Sports Car races over towards the command console.. transforming again just as fast, his hands landing on the keypad with another burst of tremendous speed. Quickly exiting a game of Space Invaders, someone must have been bored on guard duty, Chromedome gets to work disabling the cuffs as Blurr requested. "Just another astro-sec!" he informs, hitting the enter key. Combat: Chromedome compares his Technical to 80: Failure :(Blitzwing, as much as could be expected, misses Blurr. The triplchanger slaps the back of his hand into his rifle, and the ejection port burps out a empting casing. The spent round falls and plinks off the ground, sizzling. "Alright, Blast Off. You wanted a one-on-one with your boyfriend so badly - consider your wish granted." The triplechanger leaps and shift forms again, screaming off as a supersonic jet to the same command console that Chromedome is attempting to hack into. Technical comparison failure, eh? That's probably because Blitzwing is going to impale you. Blitzwing takes to the skies as a MiG-25PD Foxbat-E jet. Combat: MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" strikes Chromedome with his Chromedome Phonehome (Ram) attack! Space Shuttle watches the shot miss- AGAIN? He begins to wonder if Needlenose is correct.... is this a grudge? Well...yes. Does it interfere with his judgement sometimes? Well, how could THAT be? He would never make such newbie mistakes!!! ...But somewhere back in his mind, the shuttleformer does begin to cool his circuits a bit. When he does so, a word comes to him: AIM... aiming is the thing he is always lambasting everyone else about, and yet right now he is not using all of his own targeting systems. The shuttle sweeps around in the sky above and finally engages his targeting system on the Autobot. Sensors lock onto and then keep track of Blurr's movements...and he just IGNORES that last comment by Blitzwing. Combat: Space Shuttle sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Blast Off takes extra time to aim his next attack. Needlenose tosses Chromedome aside, but the Headmaster transforms and races away. "Oh yeah, you're doing a stellar job of hitting Blurr," Needlenose says sarcastically to Blast Off. Then the Targetmaster gets rattled by Blurr racing past him towards somewhere or other. Chasing after Chromedome, the Targetmaster aims not at him, but at the computer itself, trying to fry it with a lightning bolt. No hacking for you, young man. The screen erupts into a dozen images of system failures, Chromedome scratches his noggin and makes an audible "Ah." his fingers hover over the keypad to enter in an addition to the code-sequencer. But he won't have that chance, as not only does Blitzwing impale him through the left shoulder.. but Needlenose's shot shatters the command console's viewscreen, rendering it useless. Struggling against the much stronger and more powerful Triplechanger, the Headmaster has no other option than transforming and burning rubber out of the facility. <> he advises Blurr, speeding through the gates and -hopefully- to safety! Chromedome's head pops off his shoulders, while the rest of the body transforms into a Cybertronian Sports Car! Combat: Cybertronian Sports Car begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" , Space Shuttle , and Cybertronian Hovercar Aw, slag! Needlenose's shot slams into the terminal, frying the circuitry. Well, that was that. Blurr sighs at the destruction they've caused, including those poor mechs who were slaughtered by Blitzwing. Great, it looks like he ended up causing more harm than actually helping them. If they'd just had proper backup... Well, it was no use dwelling on what could not be changed. Instead, he grabs a couple of the prisoners and blasts out of there. They could deal with the inhibitors once they got to the Decagon. Hopefully several more had been smart and slipped away during the chaos. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Needlenose waves to the Autobots as they turn, not bothering to fire at any of them. "Thank you, come again!" he calls out. He then heads over to inspect the shattered monitor, already thinking about how he'll blame someone else for it. Space Shuttle wants to throw a stray laser blast towards Needlenose, too. Sheeesh. EVERYBODY's a CRITIC. <<...I think I got some salt from that idiot Blueshift's asteroid in my blaster barrel...it is affecting my aim! I will have it looked to once we have finished clearing this area of refuse.>> (Yes, that's it)!... Blast Off is then quite displeased to see that while he was talking to Needlenose, Blurr has already retreated. WHAT. <> MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" throttles through Chromedome, sending the Headmaster packing. Whipping back around to the other Decepticons, Blitzwing lands with a thud in robot mode. The triplechanger scoffs at Blast Off, waving a dismissive hand. "Pick this place up. And get an additional security team down here until the place can be repaired. The bodies... eh, pile 'em up over there. I've got something I can use 'em for." Don't ask.
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