| abstract | - Monacus Spaceport The spaceport's ceiling is held up by rafters, but the rest is clear, allowing a view of the beautiful sky of Monacus. Doors lead to various Launching Pads, and security is provided to ensure safety at the Spaceport. Right outside the spaceport are many, many merchants, all looking for customers to purchase various goods they have to sell, all of which are 'very important,' according to them. Contents: Wipeout Encore First Aid Galvatron Obvious exits: Launch leads to Yrral System. West leads to Central Plaza. The Autobots approach from Cybertron! Specifically today, they are riding in a shuttle that has been named the Vindicator MK 2B and is hot off the line of Cybertron's die-cast factories. It even smells new and the chair that is parked under First Aid's aft even has the top layer of plush on it. Either way, the shuttle is vectoring towards the Monacus airport and is piloted by a gumby that is also fresh out of academy, Wingspan. He is cheerful and an able pilot, circling the airport and landing the vessel. Meanwhile . . Laserbeak is perched on Galvatron's arm as another shuttle is fairly nearby. Fortunatly, the pilot of the Decepticon shuttle is an able one as well, adept at using cosmic debris to look like an asteroid. Either way, Galvatron paces as he watches the Autobot shuttle descend to the surface of Monacus and the doors open. " . . now what are those foolish Autobots up to?" He strokes the casette's head. "Excellent work though, unlike most here, you never fail me! Decepticons, prepare to attack -- but hold back. Let's wait and see what those idiots are doing!" And sure enough, the Decepticon shuttle slips into a high orbit, hiding in the ionosphere as someone keeps the Autobot landing party up on the viewscream. Far below, for the Autobots . . .the airport is busy as it always is, a thousand races and a thousand ships coming and going at every moment. Keeper disembarks first, looking about the port and having the Autobots pertinent travel information ready in case this is a port that actually /does/ that sort of security minded thing like he would. He's got high standards. "Now don't any of you embarrass me or the rest of the Autobots while we're here." How fatherly. Repugnus is lounging somewhere in the passenger compartments, hands behind his head as he smiles contentedly. He is the very picture of the man who has it all. Robot man, anyway. "Ahhh. Monacus. How I love thee. Say. We gonna stop by the burlesque parlor? I hear they got some--" He makes an odd noise. "--es in there, with all them tentacles. We gotta check that slag out." He stands, tromping out. "Ohhhh, yes, *Dad.* I promise not to break TOO many laws." Despite the plush under First Aid's rear end, the trip to Monacus was not an enjoyable one. The Protectobot has spent his time the same as he's spent all his time ever since investigating Crosshairs's workshop: Pouring over Hi-Q's notes in a desperate attempt to find sense out of them. Two friends' lives are at stake. From Pinpointer's exams, being separated from Crosshairs could easily be lethal. It might be so for Crosshairs as well. First Aid has kept this nugget of information between himself, Pinpointer, and Rodimus Prime. Hi-Q was a genuis--the Hawking of his planet, as it were. First Aid, however... is not. A lot of these notes about the Master process is way out of his league, and written in highly technical jargon that probably only made sense to him. Even Hi-Q's surviving assistants have only been of part use. Nevertheless, what he lacks in expertise on the subject he makes up for in determination. First Aid departs the Vindicator MK 2B after Keeper and Repugnus, carrying a datapad with him. "Ok, guys. I spoke with the liner captain that brought Crosshairs here, and this is the spaceport he landed at. Now, if we can get in touch with the local Autobot embassy we might be able to make some progress with the Monacan authorities to see if we can track down our wayward Targetmaster." Wipeout clambors off of the shuttle, her almost ever-present skateboard in her hand. To be completely honest, she had joined up with this group of Bots because she was bored. And it had been /way/ too long since she had last visited Monacus. She keeps looking back and forth at all the sights, feeling like a little kid at an amusement park. "Yup Yup Poppy Keeps!" she replies to Keeper, smiling innocently."Scouts honor and all that jazz!" Encore was... asleep in a drop-chair, his Bofors rifle clipped onto the rack beside him, throughout most of the re-entry and landing. His optics im and covered by their protective shutters, and an unlit cigar was held between his dental plates. His head bounced whenever the shuttle makes a drastic course correction or hits some turbulence... but he didn't really react to it at all. He gets woken up by one of the Gumbies once the shuttle is down and blinks a few times, opening his optics and raising the safety bar, picking up his rifle and sauntering out onto the landing field. He has his lighter in hand when he spots a no-smoking sign, due to the close proximity of the fuel tank farm. This makes him scowl. "Yeah yeah. Can we just clear Customs and all that bollocks? We got a job to do." A robed and hooded figure, about the size of a Transformer but much less bulky, is partially concealed on the edge of the landing pad. The hot wind of retrorockets flutters Barkida's cloak and she tugs her hood down further over her eyes. What she's waiting for, she wants to make sure she sees it before it sees her. The arrival of the machine-men, disembarking from one of their distinctive orange-or-purple spaceships, bears note, however. Barkida whispers into an ornate golden bracelet in her own language, shifting her weight warily as she fades back into a tired and impatient crowd around the customs check-in. Galvatron continues to stroke Laserbeak while he muses, then finally he flings the avian into the wall where he impacts with a squawk and a flap of wings. Stepping up to the pilot, the mad Emperor barks something like descend. It takes a moment or two of comprehension, but neatly and smoothly the Decepticon shuttle begins to drop into the Monacus airport directly after the Autobot one. "Well?" He asks the occupants. "Go on, get out and start trouble! Nobody opens fire until I do, however. I want to talk to the Autobot in charge!" With that, the Autobots wlll suddenly likely, despite the traffic in the spaceport, be cognisant of a long and daggerlike shuttle with a Decepticon logo landing . . right beside theirs. Galvatron piles out a moment later . . . smiling. It's a long, ear to ear smile. "Yoo-Hoo, Autobots! Yooo-Hoooo!" He calls; waving his left arm and proving he's in one of his moods again. "Why don't you come on over here and have a little talk? We caught your ion trail from Cybertron. Coming to set up a base of operations on Monacus, are you?" Slugfest helps poor Laserbeak up, then trots out the door of the shuttle the minute it opens. He runs as fast as his stubby little legs can carry him, revving his chainsaw plates menacingly. It sounds like 'Rrrrrrrrrrrun, roddyroddyrodddyroddy, rrrrrrrrrrrun, roddyroddyroddyroddy...' Ah, Monacus. One of the few places Scorn feels at home. Her eagerness is very clear as she stares out a window at the spaceport below, wings shifting every now and then, bright yellow optics locked on the various species going to and fro in their shuttles. Her gaze switches to the viewscreen, lower jaw splitting a moment to rapidly click together in a chitter when she spots the Autobots leaving their ship. "Hmm, I really can't wait to get down there and give them some trouble. Maybe steal one of their arms." She chuckles, though pauses when Repugnus exits, the femme's expression steeling as she hisses softly. "So that monsterbot is with them... I still have to get a bit of revenge from that trick he played on us last time.." That was a horrible time. Note to self, never go into someone's mind again. Galvatron then gives his order as they decend into the port, a wickedly sharp grin growing on her face. With a salute she nods, "Gladly, Lord Galvatron." With another click of her lower jaw in excitement she hops from the ship, standing behind and off to the side of Galvatron as she scopes out the Bots, antennas twitching in anticipation. Keeper does a head count of his party now that they've stepped fot on the planet they've come to search. Just as he's about to issue some regulatory instructions he gives pause. The descent of the Decepticon ship makes his optics narrow. "Autobots. We've got Decepticon company. Stay true to the Handbook guidelines and we will shine." He watches the landing and glares pal-knives at the opening hatch. Now, Keeper is one tough jaded bot at all times. Cool and professional. Stern and grim. But when the voice of the infamous mad tyrant Galvatron utters the words 'Yoo-Hoo' it turns his processors a little. That sense of wrongness we all get. "Mon dieu..." Repugnus turns, waving back to Galvatron... with one finger. Guess which one. "Yeah, I'd love to chat, Galvatron, but eh, got hookers and strippers waitin' for me in there, and they're more interesting than you..." Then Scorn joins him, and Repugnus is grinning widely. "Oooh. Speaking of hookers and strippers, what up, Scorn? Look, I know our last encounter was a bit rough on you. I just hope you're still not sore over what happened. I mean, I try to be accomodating to my guests, you should know that. The Monsterbot gives First Aid a harsh nudge with his elbow. "She really digs me, huh?" he stage-whispers. First Aid looks down at his pad again, reading like a complete and utter nerd. The Protectobot is thus caught entirely unaware when Galvatron's hated voice is suddenly heard. He jolts, half reaching for his sidearm before he remembers that Monacus is neutral ground... not that this means much to the Decepticon sense of entitlement. First Aid watches as Galvatron waves at them and Scorn descends towards them. He doesn't see Slugfest right away, but he certainly hears him. That chainsaw sound is unforgettable. Aid lost a hand to it not too long ago. He hesitates long enough for Repugnus to take charge, and for once he's glad the Monsterbot is doing so. "Er." he asides right back to him. In truth, Scorn fancying Repugnus WOULD kinda make sense. Encore watches the Con shuttle land, shaking his head a little and raising his rifle. When Galvatron calls out, he lowers it - slightly. Enough to show that he's not considering firing it /right at this moment in time/. "Oh fer frag's sake..." he mutters, partially to himself and partially to the others. "Has he really gone off the deep end?" He looks up at Galvatron. "No, we're not. But if ya don't let us clear customs, I haven't smoked a cigar in twenty hours and I'm getting real bad cobalt and lithium withdrawl. I'm *juuust* a little bit bloody cranky. Do we LOOK like we're the type to set up a base? D'ya see any construction materials bein' uploaded? Fer frag's sake, if we were gonna build a base, would we have bought /Repugnus/?" "No offense, mate." He adds, to Pug. Wipeout lets out a small eep! as the Decepticons make their grand entrance. As Galvatron makes his little speech, her optics flicker in a strange pattern. "Aw, man, Galvtoony is a Looney Tune, and t-that's all, folks" she groans, shaking her head. "Now hey, we didn't come all this way for a fight, D-Cons, so can't we all just get along and move on down the yellow brick road?" Overhearing Repugnus's comments, she looks at the insecti-femme. "Aww, she your girl Puggy? She's a keeper, yupp yup! But I think she bites." Inside her cloak, Barkida closes a hand around the hilt of her psycho-variable weapon, tensed and waiting the inevitable hostilities. A tinny voice comes from her other wrist, and she has a few terse words into her bracelet. The presence of the machine-men is one thing, the presence of their dark half's warlord is another. Galvatron gives Repugnus a warm and friendly expression. At least that is what his face does, the rest of his body is so unadultratedly hostile in posture and body languge that it just makes it look kind of insane. Really insane, actually. Plus, there is always the baleful glare of those hate-filled optics. " . . Oh, Encore." He says; clearly recognizing the hulking Autobot. "I exist perpetually in what most would consider the deep end. I haven't gotten violent yet, but I'm looking forward to it with delicious anticipation if I don't get the answers that I want." Then back to the bug. Galvatron turns his head to look at Scorn. Then back to Repugnus. Then back to Scorn. Then back to Repugnus again. " . . you can handle him when the time comes." He says to her. "If it comes." Then that perverse smile to Encore as he clears his throat and begins to address both First Aid and Repugnus. "Ah-hem. Let's see, where were we? You were having me believe that you are here for organic mammaries and . . otherwise . . and we believe you're here to try and get a leg up on us. So, where does that leave us? Let's see. We can't let you do that, especially on a place like Monacus where an observation post might go un-noticed among the crowds. So, I think we'll just have to kill you all, but we'll do it fairly nicely. Unless you can give me a reason not to, like why you're really here?" He pauses again. "I'm going to start counting. If I get to ten before you tell me what you have in mind . . well, it won't be pleasant." He clears his throat. "Oneeee..... twwwooooooo......threeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....." Scorn's jaw clenches when Repugnus speaks, one optic twitching ever so slighty as a feral hiss rises, a few insectoid clicks sounding off from her throat. "Shut up, monsterbot. Ugh.. I haven't been able to look at things the same way since then..." She absently curls her fingers, wings twitching again, very tempted to jump in and just slice them to bits. But she resists, waiting as best as she can when Galvatron starts to count down, optics glowing bright at this point at the prospect of a fight and a meal." The little stegosaur runs circles around the Decepticons until he gets dizzy and flops onto his side. "What we are doing, again?" he wonders, pawing his little feets to try to right himself. Keeper sighs and steps forwards to put himself between his party and Galvatron. His firm and level voice ripples, "I'm not even going to count to one. You will stand down and observe the established neutral ground accords, and quit eyeballing us like that, you get me? You and your rejects." Repugnus smiles at Wipeout. "Yes, yes she does! Really hard, too! Last time she left quite a mark! I wouldn't suggest getting a peck from her, msyelf, though--you could lose a lot of face, if you know what I mean." Then he shrugs at Encore. "Hey now, I can build some things. Rage, mostly. In others." He points at Galvatron. "See? See how pissed he looks? Hey, you know, I've never done my Galvatron and Cyclonus puppet show in his presence... sadly, lost my Cyclonus puppet somehow... got a Scourge one, though..." He turns a bit, as if rummaging in some secret compartment for something. "Now Scorn," he goes on. "What you're feeling is perfectly normal, and means that you're madly in love with me and must commit all kinds of heinous acts in my name. Like, uh, kill Galvatron. Go on, prove you love me." He peers over his shoulder, frowns. "Eh, screw you anyway. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you... the Galvatron and Scourge show!" And the Monsterbot whips out a Galvatron and Scourge hand puppet. "We have defeated the Autobots because Rodimus Prime was too busy being a big damn hero! The galaxy is ours!" the Scourge puppet says, bobbing up and down. "That's not important right now, Scourge," the Galvatron puppet says, bobbing about. "What's important is you... and me..." "Wha, my Lord--" Scourge-puppet begins as Galvatron leans in, "-oohhh!" And then... oh. Primus. Oh... No. Make it stop. *No.* First Aid manages to not take a step back when Galvatron sizes up him and Repugnus. The Protectobot isn't sure whether to be LESS scared or MORE scared after the Decepticon leader reveals his theory. "We're here on a peaceful, non-mammary related mission, Galvatron. I think we should all just respect the neutrality laws that Lord Gycony has put into place. We don't want any trouble or anything." Still, it's clear that the Decepticons are just itching for an excuse to kick some ass. Instinctively, the doctor begins glancing left and right, trying to see who might be injured in a crossfire and how best to form a defensive line to protect them. Then Keeper tries the hard line, and First Aid can only hope that it's effective. Then Repugnus tries the... Repugnus line, and First Aid groans, slapping himself in the forehead. "I think we're trying to get out of this /without/ a fight," he tells the Monsterbot, tugging on his shoulder as he goes. Encore shrugs at Galvatron. "Keeper, are you stupid?" He sighs. "Pug's here for the T&A. I'm here for the booze, personally. Perhaps the odd barfight or two an..." He trails off and looks in disbelief at Repugnus does the puppet show. He yanks the puppets off Repugnus' hands and throws them away, glaring at Repugnus. "Are you totally stupid, Repugnus? We're trying not to get killed here. I would like to /survive/ long enough to reach the bloody bars, you know, numbnuts!" To add emphasis to this, he cuffs Repugnus on the back of the head... and then steps sideways far enough to make sure that if Galvatron Starscreams Repugnus, he'll only get some minor burns. Wipeout lets out a cute giggle at Repugnus's comments. "She's an oddity, but hey, similar minds and such!" she giggles. "Oh, Puggy-poo, you're too cute!" Repugnus, cute?! Oh boy... "Anyways Galvy, we're here on an ADVENTURE!" she says, with dramatic posturing. "...The sneaky kind." she adds weakly. Another, somewhat smaller humanoid, also concealed in voluminous robes, hustles up to Barkida, riding an animal somewhat resembling a crested gecko, and the two of them share agitated words before the rider hurries away again. Barkida shakes her head in frustration. The machine-men are going to ruin everything! What's worse, if violence breaks out here... well, their kind of violence is worse than usual, around starship fuel dumps and increasingly-worried-looking people going through customs. Those of them who know about the Cybertronians, at least, and why they are worrisome. People on Monacus have begun to notice the brewing altercation. None of them are stupid and they remember exactly what happened the last time this sort of thing was brewing. All around the two shuttles there is a mad scramble of lifting off vessels that briefly drown out the conversation, causing Galvatron to have to focus extra hard on what Repugnus is saying. Strangely, to both him and Keeper, his smile never wavers. He waits a moment for the immediate ships to take off and a few bystanders to get out of the line of fire. Then he taps the side of his cheek. "Fouuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrr........." He counts, and holds up a raised index finger in an 'Ah-Ha!' sort of moment. "Pause button on the counting!" He adds cheerfully. "Let's see, where were we again? I was counting down to your imminent destruction and only First Aid has the sense to try to stop me. The worst part of all, is that I actually believe you. It is impossible for a gleaming white knight doo-gooder like First Aid to lie." He nods, sagely. "Actually, I'm lying right now! Not good enough!" "Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiveeeeeeeee....." He continues, glancing at Keeper as he tries to ward him off. Then Repugnus speaks and he actually catches Galvatron so flat-footed that for a moment the tyrant just stares at him. There is not rage in his eyes, just open eyed surprise. Congradulations, Repugnus. That's the first time Galvatron has had that expression since anyone can remember. Encore's optics are met, the edge of madness within the Emperor's own gaze begining to broil again. He smiles at the Autobot. " . . . I'm sorry, Repugnus' display of tact and decency has distracted me. Where was I? Foooooooooourrrrrrr...... fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiveeeeee...." He pauses, again. "Oh, I seem to have forgotten what comes after that. That's okay. Decepticons, BRING ME THEIR HEADS!" Then his cannon comes up, a low power, wide-beam shot attempting to take both Repugnus and Keeper -- though he's already dodging to the side behind a civillian craft. Combat: Galvatron sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Galvatron strikes Repugnus with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! [Pulled -12] Combat: Galvatron misses Keeper with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! [Pulled -12] Slugfest finally figures out what his antigravs are for and starts running at the Autobots, revving his chainsaws and yelling unintelligibly. The enraged little stegosaur's optics are wide open at Repugnus' act of implied debauchery. The only thing anyone can distinguish from the little stego's chatter is "NONONONONONONO!" Combat: Slugfest misses Repugnus with his Festival of Slugging Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Slugfest misses First Aid with his Festival of Slugging Area attack! [Pulled -1] Scorn actually has to pause when Repugnus starts to do his little puppet show. She looks just as speechless as her leader. "Uhh..." But Galvatron finally gives the order for attack, Scorn snapping back to reality. In a flash she shifts into her altmode, sharp pincers opening wide, some green acid spit already dripping over gnashing, woodchipper teeth. As soon as Galvatron's blast lands a hit she gives a shrill, otherwordly skree before dashing forward on all four legs. She's swift to duck under Keeper, making a beeline for Repugnus and launching a wad of acid spit towards his facing, hoping to blind him before she gets to him. Scorn crouches before shifting into her scythe-armed mantis mode. Combat: Space Mantis strikes Repugnus with her Molten Plasma Spit attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Repugnus's Accuracy. (Blinded) Keeper was 'ready' for the attack the day he came off the assembly line. He's been ready for a worst case scenario at this place the second he stepped off the Autobot ship and surveyed the port. That's the thing about being a hardcase. Galvatron's symbol of power raised, Keeper crouch-dives and rolls on his shoulder once he lands. The mental page of the Autobot Handbook flips over and he is now authorized to do whatever is necessary. "Galvatron. You are in direct violation of the set neutral planet decree of Monacus. We are hereby authorized to defend ourselves and neutralize /you/... You really should run now." He draws his tail-gun, charging after Galvatron when he flees for cover, sending several suppressive fire shots mindful of the fuel tanks. Keeper meanwhile also radios between shots the port authorities with said information, a stern suggestion to shut off their port fuel pumps, to facilitate evacuation proceedures for remaining travellers and staff, reroute incomming flights until further notice, and notify local authorities for damage control and local enforcements. Combat: Keeper strikes Galvatron with his Tail-Gun Blaster (Laser) attack! First Aid is grateful that the people Monacus know enough to get the heck out of dodge. They're good at this, he realizes. Very practiced. He's also grateful when Galvatron actually believes him. The Protectobot straightens up, allllmost starting to relax when Galvatron changes his mind. First Aid's hand rests on his photon pistol holster, ready to draw the weapon at a moment's notice. As Galvatron acts, First Aid springs into motion. He may be a pacifist, but he's seen enough combat action to know what to do when he's forced to fight. Successfully predicting Slugfest's move, the doctor dives away from the chainsaw steggo. This conveniently takes him to a spot where, should anyone shoot at him and miss, they won't hit any innocent bystanders behind him. The photon pistol is in his hand a split-second later, and he fires a shot at the most dangerous target here, trying to limit the Decepticon leader's effectiveness before he can hide behind the civilian spaceship. In his mind, he recalls the Autobots slain by this monster. "You're lucky I'm not a vengeful mech, Galvatron," he says. "But my friends on the other hand..." Combat: First Aid sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: First Aid strikes Galvatron with his Laser attack! Repugnus's face looks like it's about to blow as he tries to keep his mouth shut and avoid all-out guffawing in Encore's face. He doesn't seem to care about the puppets or getting cuffed--that just tells him he got under Encore's hide. But Galvatron's blast, though on a low setting, still knocks him flat on his ass. "Whufff! Tough crowd!" he remarks, staring at the burnt line sketched across his chest. Then he catches a glob of acid spit right in the eyes! "Ah, nuts," he grunts, trying to rub it off, but mostly burning his hands. He tries transforming to his other mode. Those eyes aren't damaged, and besides, he's going to be in close combat with Scorn pretty soon, anyway. "Mmmf. Well, THAT wasn't very nice. And especially after I was so kind to you, Scorn." He opens his maw, and begins to spray sparks at all three Decepticons. "Let me light your fires!" Repugnus twists and flips around into his horrific creature mode! Combat: Bug Creature strikes Galvatron with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! Combat: Bug Creature strikes Space Mantis with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! Combat: Bug Creature strikes Slugfest with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! "Hey, you ain't getting any head from me, Galvy!" she yells, pulling out... some weird contraption that might be a gun? "Pew pew pew!" she yells, whole-haeartedly. Nothing happens. "How do I shot gun?" she mutters, fiddling with the thing. He tip-toes away from the charging steggo. "D'aww, cute lil steggocon! I WANNA TAKE YOU HOME!" she squeals. A bit more fiddling, and she manages to get the gun to fire at Galvatron, even though she was looking at the casssettecon. Combat: Wipeout strikes Galvatron with her Can't even shoot straight sober! (Laser) attack! Encore sighs softly and shakes his head at Repugnus. Well, with fusion fire going around, at least his cigar's the thing least likely to set off the tank farm. He lights up and brings the Bofors up to his shoulder, sighting down tha barrel and dropping to a crouch. He slaps a fresh magazine into the breech and works the action of the gun, taking careful aim at Galvatron. He's the priority target here, after all, and there are civillians to protect. "What Keeper said." Then he squeees the trigger, letting off a full five-round string at Galvatron. He's half-tempted to shoot at Repugnus instead - calling it 'suicide by proxy', but... well he could never attack a comrade with lethal weaponry. Combat: Encore strikes Galvatron with his Bofors Rifle attack! Barkida shoves a family of translucent glowing jellyfish-people behind a blast wall just before a barrage of laser bolts whistle past. Thank the Realm that the Cybertronians mostly use lasers that travel a lot slower than the speed of light, or it would be nigh-impossible to react in time. "Destrons!" she shouts, throwing off her cloak to reveal the badged uniform of Gycony's Commerce Deputies. "You are in violation of more laws than I care to name! Retreat or submit!" Unhooking her weapon from her sword belt, she sends it a mental command and it quickly reconfigures to wrap around her forearm, projecting a narrow beam of heat from an aperture that wasn't there a moment ago. Galvatron settles behind the civilian craft. It's a long, sleek plast-teel armored limo of some sort. It absorbs a bit of incoming fire, but both Keeper and First Aid manage to tag Galvatron with their weapons fire. The two shots sizzle into the left side of his chest, opening a pair of small craters in the thick plating there. His face is incredulous as he listens to Keeper and he would reply to him, but First Aid carries on talking. "Oh, yes, yes, First Aid. You too, Keeper. Spare me the endless Autobot drivel -- I've heard it all so many times before. Yammering about honor, and doing the right thing and lack of vengeance and all of the qualities that make me despise every single one of you so very much -- arrgh!" Repugnus sparkles all over him. Now his day is just made. Then Wipeout manages to hit him, too on the same side as the other impacts. Encore too, the heavy blast of the Bofors causing a fireball that momentarily engulfs him. When it ends though, Galvatron looks . . upset. He looks highly upset. Stepping forward, he grasps the wing of the hundred foot craft; angling it to deflect Barkida's shot. " . . . really, Autobots? You cannot destroy me, you should know that by now! I . . am . . GALVATRON!" And with that, seizing the heavy craft in both hands he lifts it clear off the ground and attempts to fling it at the Autobots with all the force that he can muster. Combat: Galvatron misses First Aid with his SPACE SHIP Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Galvatron strikes Encore with his SPACE SHIP Area attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Galvatron strikes Wipeout with his SPACE SHIP Area attack! [Pulled -3] Slugfest yelps as Repugnus's awful attack hits him! "Nonono!" he says. Mysteriously, his tail disappears, now being tucked under his body somehow! He runs around some more, still revving his chainsaws, his attention drawn by Barkida's calling out. "No care bout stoopid Monacus laws!" he says, rushing and trying to grab the end of her cloak in his little teeth! Combat: Slugfest sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Slugfest strikes Barkida with his Disrobing? (Grab) attack! Space Mantis hisses in annoyance, crossing her blades over her face as she sharges, letting the sparks pepper her frame and leave little scorch marks. "That the best you've got, Repugnus?" She cackles, finally leaping at him to cover the distance between them. Eager to spill energon blood she raises a deadly scythe, slashing out at his midsection when she gets close enough, keeping her guard up when he retaliates. Curse her frail armor. Combat: Space Mantis sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Space Mantis strikes Bug Creature with her Plasma Sheathed Blades attack! Keeper moves again, sparing glances towards the fuel pods to see if their pump lights go off. "Galvatron, if our company bothers you so much I will be happy to let you stew in solitary confinement for the maximum permissible time once you are locked up like all the rest of the galaxy's criminals." He plucks one of his bells from over his shoulder and activates the disguised micro pulse grenade. He takes his appraising look and then bowls it towards the ship-swinging Decepticon Leader. Combat: Keeper sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Keeper misses Galvatron with his Bell Pulse Grenade (Disruptor) attack! Bug Creature 's gut is sliced, but his armor manages to hold this time. "Nope, sure isn't! Say, I heard you like headbites? Well, got me some headbites right here!" He lunges at her and, trying to trap her between his talons, snaps his needle-like fangs at her head. "Mmm, wonder what them antennae taste like... bet they're crunchy, like tacos... nyarm nyarm nyarm....." Combat: Bug Creature strikes Space Mantis with his Headchomp (Punch) attack! Wipeout shrieks as she gets nailed by the craft. "Don't do me like that, Jack! Why you gotta crush my dreams, and me?!" she yelps, crashing to the ground in a heap. Her torso is all bent inwards, with plently of her internals poking out. "I look like a science projecft!!" she draws back a little, trying to find cover. "It is NOT a good day in the neighborhood! MEDIC!" she calls out, fiddling with her gun and taking a potshot at the crazy Emperor. Combat: Wipeout sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Wipeout misses Galvatron with her System Shock attack! First Aid knows his photon pistol is no match for Galvatron's armour, but his real skills are going to be in patching up his comrades so /they/ can lay the hurt on the Decepticon Warlord. First Aid is just now aiming for a second shot - this one right between the eyes in an attempt to blind him - when Galvatron hoists the entire craft up over his head. "By Primus," he murmurs, suddenly remembering just how strong Galvatron is. Even Defensor would break a sweat lifting that thing. The ship is hurtled towards him, but doesn't make it all the way. Once it lands on Encore, it ceases all movement. The aerial Bot just saved First Aid's bacon, and he aims to repay the favour to Wipeout. He sprints towards the Junkion, trying to remember his classes on Junkion Anatomy at Autobot U. Unfortunately all he can recall are the first three seasons of M*A*S*H. Best. Course. Ever. As counterintuitive as it may seem, First Aid doesn't pay much attention to what he's doing, opting to mash replacement parts onto Wipeout in a haphazard fashion. Somehow, it works! Combat: First Aid quickly patches up some of Wipeout's minor injuries. Encore is hit by the shuttle and knocked flat on his back, the huge thing coming to rest entirely ontop of him. Not even his feet are visible, and for a moment or two, it looks like Encore's bought the farm. Then the shuttle moves slightly. It moves a bit more, before Encore stands up, slowly, growling and snarling with the effort as he hefts the shuttle up above his head. "You are really startin' to get on my tits, you know that?" He mutters. "Here! Have the thing back." Snarling with the effort, he attempts to return the shuttle to its sender. Barkida finds herself tugged on by one of Galvatron's horrid little minions, and with a quick shearing gesture she slices away part of her uniform to escape it, trying to get closer to the fight breaking out without being set on fire or hit by plasma beams or whatever the robots are spewing at any given moment. Her heavy-planet biology is tough, but that doesn't mean she enjoys growing her eyebrows back. "Hound of evil! Get off of me!" Combat: Barkida takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Galvatron is in his element now. A creature of war; he nimbly sidesteps Keeper's grenade -- the explosion going off near to him, but a miss is a miss. Instead, he transforms; a purple glow of irridescent light showing in the end of the lethal barrel. It builds and builds, lightning crackling around the tip of it as the vessel lands with a smashing crash right on top of Encore. Unimpressed, apparently, it tracks him as the shuttle lifts. The second it clears the Autobot's fingers . . brrrrrrZZZZZZZZKRAKAKRUMPH! Except, Galvatron is not firing at Encore. Instead, he's firing at the shuttle directly over the Autobot's head. Should he hit it, the results are likely to be immediate and explosive, to say the least as the ships fuel stores ammnition and everything else go up right in front of Encore's face. Galvatron puts the deuce in reverse and starts to curse . . cause another sucka on the south side is about to get hurt! Galvcannon is on location now, sh*t is about to get real. Combat: Galvcannon strikes Encore with his Through Fire and Flames! attack! [Pulled -6] "No am doggie!" Slugfest says indignantly, "No even close!" The infuriated little stegotape lunges forward again, this time attempting to bite the Femaxian. "NO TELLS ME WHAT DO!" Space Mantis stiffens up a little in surprise when Repugnus lunges back at her, unable to dodge in time before she's caught up in his talon grip. The insect femme struggles, altmode's bug face trying to frown as best as possible as she leans back far from his reaching jaws. Combat: Slugfest misses Barkida with his Millyuns of lil TEEFS! (Punch) attack! "Agh!!" She screeches when the mech bites at her head, optics heavily twitching in a wince as she squirms as he crunches upon her very sensitive antennas. "G-Get off!!" Scorn hisses, struggling more and trying to kick out at him to let her go. Combat: Space Mantis strikes Bug Creature with her Kick attack! Keeper underestimated the craziness of Galvatron despite the records of such tactics being employed so many times. The explosion of the ship above a fellow Autobot motivates him into doing what he tries to avoid. He transforms. The Monsterbot goes to all fours. The face of the Lion Dog a broad offense to everything civilized and evolved. As he begins to bound toward Galvatron, Keeper opens his terrible maw and makes a bridge of fire leap out at the big purple hooligan. Keeper, the hardened security mech, transforms down to a four legged monstrosity. Are we sure this is an Autobot? Combat: Temple Dog sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Temple Dog misses Galvcannon with his Flame Breath attack! Wipeout flashes a smile at First Aid as he quickly fixes her. "Thank's Doc; you're my hero!" And she means it. "You really know you're stuff!" She seems disappointed that she missed hitting Galvatron, but she's more upset that the Tyrant King isn't playing nice. At all. "YOU... YOU SMURFITY SMURF!" she yells. Appearantly that's a Junkion curse. "PEW!" she yells, shooting the Cannon that Galvatron has turned into. Combat: Wipeout sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Wipeout strikes Galvcannon with her You sir are a MEANIE! (Disruptor) attack! Barkida's bracelet crackles with First Aid's voice, and while the Femaxian rips off the torn fabric of her long formal deputy's robe she kicks Slugfest's chomping mouth away with one steel-toed boot and shouts back to First Aid, "I would be shamed as a warrior to run from a danger before meeting it with my blade!" In keeping with space amazon tradition (as depicted on many a heavy metal album cover), having her dress truncated into a miniskirt seems to have made her more combat-capable. Her weapon flows into a new shape, extending into a fifty-foot-long two-handed spear with a leaf-shaped tip glowing with eldritch powers, and as she sprints towards Galvatron, she thrusts this spearpoint towards the tyrant! Combat: Barkida misses Galvcannon with her Charging Spear attack! [Pulled -2] Bug Creature stumbles back at the kick. He looks... almost sad? "But... I thought you liked me, Scorn?" His lip trembles. He sniffles. Then... he cackles. "Oh, well!" Then his arms sweep out to slice at her neck. "Guess I'll just have to cut your head off, hahahah! Off with her head, off with her head, lalalala...." Combat: Bug Creature strikes Space Mantis with his Shearing Claws attack! Encore has just enough time to see Galvatron fire and take out the shuttle. "Mother-" he begins, but doesn't have time to finish, thankfully for the ratings of the show. The explosion is suitably epic, and he's blown backwards by the blast, rolling several times to come to a halt in a seated position... with his legs up against the shuttle and his back flat on the ground. His frontal armour is pretty ripped to hell, and his cigar is... fragments. He coughs a little, shaking his head to try and clear it. "Ow." Combat: Encore takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Even as he works on Wipeout, First Aid fires off a transmission towards Barkida. Hopefully she has a radio, but who knows! This is the Autobots' fight, and he doesn't want any bystanders hurt - that includes her. If First Aid doesn't get a reply he'll have to risk going over there to save her from Slugfest. Ha ha ha ha ha. Anyhow, after a quick broadband chat with Encore, First Aid convinces him to receive medical treatment. Autobot self-sacrifice means they're all too willing to go without help for longer than they should, and so it takes some convincing to get Encore to agree to it. Fortunately for him, Encore wouldn't have gotten a say in the matter anyhow as he's smashed against the shuttle. The medic rushes over, administering battlefield medicine with his kit. "Don't worry, you're going to be just fine. Hold still." Even as he works, he gets a reply from Barkida. "I... um... oh! Well in that case, er... I dub you an honourary Autobot?" Combat: First Aid quickly patches up some of Encore's minor injuries. Slugfest is enraged further and pursues Barkida, attempting to set his teeth into the back of her clothing in order to pull her backwards. "NONONO!" he says. Combat: Slugfest strikes Barkida with his *yank* (Grab) attack! Space Mantis stumbles back after Repugnus releases her, face still twitching in places, her chewed antenna sparking and laying limp. "You'll pay for that, Repug-- Erk!!" Her words are cut off when he strikes at her neck, the femme trying to dodge. But this fails, the mech's talons slicing a deep gash on one side. Immediatly a fair trickle of energon begins to pour from the wound, Scorn's optics wide as she transforms back into robot mode, a hand clutching her neck to keep from bleeding out. Thankfully she has weapons in this mode too, gripping a pistol housed at her side, shakily aiming as she backs up, firing off a few plasma shots at him. Standing up straight, Scorn shifts back into sexy robot mode. Combat: Scorn strikes Bug Creature with her Plasma Burst Pistols attack! attack! Wipeout's shot sears deeply into the bulbous orange barrel of the cannon, and Galvatron swivels towards the Junkion. For a split second, Wipeout will be looking straight down the fully charged, lethal barrel barrel of one of the most powerful fusion weapons in the known universe. What saves her is Keeper and Barkida engaging in melee. He transforms; hunkering down into a defensive crouch. When Barkida's spear comes along, he deflects it with a forearm as he slashes out with his right arm. Keeper is a bit too far out of range, but he attempts to raise the femaxian high over his head and bring her down with driving force onto his knee an effort to snap her spine. The force is enough to destroy ballistic armor, and weather or not he manages to injure her; he attempts to toss her away like a used toy -- cannon coming up again in preparation to defend himself. "I'm getting tired of this little game, Autobots. No more playing nice. Next . . someone dies." Galvatron's cannon detaches as he converts to robot mode, catching the weapon on his right arm! Combat: Galvatron sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Galvatron strikes Barkida with his backbreaker Bug Creature grunts as the pistol shots slam into his chest, but then he grins, and stalks Scorn, letting the rounds hit him. Then, once he's close, he transforms, tries to pull Scorn's hand away from her neck, then jam his fingers into the wound as deeply as he can. Then, he begins another round of awful cackling, letting Scorn get a closeup of his face, just so she could know just how completely nuts he really is. "Hehehehahahaha! Squirt squirt, goes the blood, getting everywhere, getting in your hair--hahaha--look, it's getting over there, come on pull up a chair!" he singsongs. But his song ceases, and lower, almost too low to hear, he mutters, "Sorry, lady... picked the wrong side..." The creature spins and twists about into Repugnus's robot mode! Combat: Repugnus strikes Scorn with his Dirty Fighting attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Scorn's Agility. (Crippled) Temple Dog rumbles from deep within, the remnants of his flame flickering like spittle from his mouth. "How good of you to volunteer then, Galvatron." His paws gouge into the port paving and he drives at Galvatron. His fangs, horns and blade claws all poised. Combat: Temple Dog strikes Galvatron with his Feeding Time attack! Barkida cries out in pain as Galvatron smashes her against his knee with titanic force! Maybe if that little tape beast hadn't grabbed her she might've dodged away from his clutching hand, but one will never know. Her orichalcum-plated armor is not up to this kind of punishment, and when she hits the ground she curls up and nearly passes out, her spear reflexively flowing into a protective casing which covers her arm up to the elbow, not that that's the part of her that's hurt. Combat: Barkida takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Encore hauls himself to his feet and gives First Aid a nod of thanks. He snarls quietly and /charges/ towards Galvatron, hauling back a huge fist as he does so. Once within range he attempts to unload one of the right hooks that has him feared and respected throughout Iacon's seedier bars and underground fighting rings. His fist should, at least, dent Galvatron's face a little, and perhaps give him a better target! "Oi, ugly! Yer mother was a snow-blower!" Combat: Encore misses Galvatron with his Iron Fist (Kick) attack! Wipeout freaks out when she thinks Galvatron's gonna shoot her. And then he grabs the big squishy and does a WWF move on her. "Looks like I gotta fight... for my right... TO PARTY!!" she yells, transforming into her cycle mode and blasting some hardcore rock at the Mad King. "Cover your ears!" The Junkion femme quickly folds onto herself, arms and legs bending to hold her mass on two wheels that come out of her torso. The Race Cycle's engine revs, ready to race into danger, or to escape if need be. Combat: Light JunkCycle sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Light JunkCycle misses Galvatron with her Shake rattle and ROCK 'N ROLL BABY! attack! First Aid gets Encore back on his feet just in time to glance over his shoulder and see Galvatron make his move against Barkida. Now despite what the Femaxian said, First Aid's instinct is to protect innocent bystanders above all else. It isn't that First Aid doesn't think Barkida is a fantastic warrior (he knows all about Femaxians and how tough they are). It's just that seeing this Autobot/Decepticon conflict spread to the rest of the galaxy is everything Optimus Prime fought against. The doctor's optics flash, "Be right back," he mutters angrily. Shifting down into ambulance mode, decrystallizer cannon deployed, First Aid races across the battlefield, narrowly Scorn's pistol blasts, and neatly swerving out of the way of Keeper's charge. He skids to a halt near the fallen Femaxian, tires squealing in protest. He's close to Galvatron. Too close, and he keeps his decrystallizer trained on the warlord just in case. As Barkida is too large to fit inside his ambulance mode, the interior robotic arms normally used to load humans into him must instead do the work. "Don't worry. I'm a friend," he assures her. One arm injects a stim-pack he knows responds well to Femaxian physiology. It'll dull the pain while giving her a boost of adrenalin. "You're in no condition to go back into the fight," he tells her. "Just stay down and I'll see what I can do to evacuate you." But will she listen? First Aid folds down into Ambulance mode. Combat: Ambulance quickly patches up some of Barkida's minor injuries. Galvatron is getting increasingly upset. To say that he is upset is an understatement, for no sooner than does he try to do severe harm to Barkida than Keeper is in his face. He's beginning to look somewhat worse for wear, with clear signs of damage. In order to prevent Keeper from eating his face he has to crouch and then launch himself -- meeting the other directly and shoving his forearm into his face to avoid the brunt of the damage. He still ends up with a lot of gashes down his frame for it. He engages his antigravs -- leaping backwards onto the top of another shuttle as he transforms again. " . . . I never lie." That is all the tyrant says as he turns his barrel towards Encore and lets go at him with a hellish, full power blast of cyan energy. Galvatron puts the deuce in reverse and starts to curse . . cause another sucka on the south side is about to get hurt! Galvcannon is on location now, sh*t is about to get real. Combat: Galvcannon strikes Encore with his Told You So attack! Slugfest loses interest in the unconscious Barkida, and runs around looking for another target. His chainsaw plates rev as he charges, running foolishly up to the Monsterbot. No, the other one. Combat: Slugfest strikes Temple Dog with his Keeper, Keeper, what's inside that Keeper? [Chainsaw Plates] attack! [Pulled -4] Scorn's jaw clenches, hissing loudly in pain when Repugnus gets up in her face and digs into the slash wound, making her reel against his grip. Meanwhile her emergency failsafe begins blaring over the Con comm, sending out a distress signal. She doesn't seem too keen on dieing to Repugnus just yet, her lower jaw suddenly splitting open, face gaining a much more horrid appearance as it shifts in places to open up. Scorn skrees ferally in his face, flecks of acid spit harmlessly dotting his armor before she forces herself forward, trying to engulf his entire face into her split mouth full of acid and nasty teeth. Combat: Scorn misses Repugnus with her Kiss of Death (Punch) attack! Repugnus manages to regain his sanity as Scorn lunges back at him, and suddenly finds himself pushing her back. "Ennnh--crazy witch---" he grunts, clutching her shoulders as he barely holds that horrible maw just shy of his mug. And then, as would befit any action hero attacked by some monstrous female creature in this kind of situation, he summons his rifle from subspace, shoves the barrel into her mouth, and squeezes the trigger. "Chew on this b--" KZOWWWW Temple Dog devours a little purple meat and thinks more would be good on Thanksgiving as his internals 'digest' the raw material converting it to energon. Today, however, the meal doesn't want to stay on a plate. Seeing him targetting Encore, Keeper's level voice starts to state, "Don't do it Galva.." He's cut off mid sentence as Slugfest tries to hamstring him. Sparks raining from the scale patterned armor on his limb. Reflexively, Keeper swats a heavy paw at the Stego-Tape while Galvatron fires upon Encore. Combat: Temple Dog strikes Slugfest with his Paw Slugging Slugfest (Punch) attack! Barkida grabs First Aid's ankle. "Don't let the Destron... spread the destruction. I'll..." She realizes he's right of course. She can't do much to stop him herself. "Thank you, machine-man." Combat: Barkida takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] A pair of smaller Femaxians in the traditional dress of Helai, or slave-citizens, come running out of the customs gate, ducking as they try to make their way across the tarmac towards the battle. Barkida hears their raised voices, calling out in the Femaxian language, and shouts commandingly back to them, wincing with the effort. They halt, pleading in urgent tones, and she yells at them again, pointing back towards safety. They go, reluctantly, wringing their hands as they make their way back out of danger and leave Barkida with the Autobot doctor. Combat: Repugnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Repugnus strikes Scorn with his Laser attack! Light JunkCycle revs her engine angerly as Galvatron ignores her awesome musical attack. "HOW DARE YOU DENY THE POWER OF ROCK!" she emits from her speakers. "....Jerk" She quickly transfoms back, abd lets loose with a strange engery discharge. "STOP! In the name of love a justice! I will punish you!" The racing cycle unfolds into the slender form of the Junkion advance scout, Wipeout. Her head turns about, scanning the area for enemies and other threats. Combat: Wipeout strikes Galvcannon with her BUZZKILL! attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Galvcannon 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: That attack has slowed Galvcannon , making him less efficient. Encore finds his Haymaker missing as Galvatron engages his antigravs and transforms, and then he's staring down the barrel of the Galvcannon again. "Oh, sh-" The rest of that sentence is drowned out by the roaring fusion cannon, the blast bowling Encore back along the tarmac of the landing port and into (literally, /into/) a shuttle. Cue epic slowmo sequence, and an Encore-shaped hole in the shuttle. His helmet remains spinning on the tarmac where he was, leaving everyone to think, for a moment at least, that the Suicide Jockey has finally bought the farm. But, after a dramatic pause, smoking heavily and spitting out energon, he drags himself from the wreckage. "That all you got, snow-blower?" he snarls, though it's clear his gyros aren't functioning all that well and... Well, to be blunt, the big Bot looks like hell. Ambulance has done quite a bit this battle patching his allies (and newfound friends) together, but there's only so much he can do using his medical talents. He hesitates upon seeing Encore get blasted by Galvatron. Now he's in a pickle - does he stay with Barkida to protect her, or rush over to Encore to protect him. It's a terrible choice to have to make. Encore, a comrade in arms and as good a friend as you can imagine, or Barkida, an innocent who joined in the fight against the Decepticons even though she easily could have avoided it. First Aid agonizes over it for all of a split second before coming to a decision. He moves away from both of them, firing his decrystallizer at him, full power. The ambulance rolls back a few meters from the recoil, releasing smoke from its barrels. It's a desperate gamble to make the Warlord focus on him rather than either of his patients. But... perhaps there is bigger fish for Galvatron to fry. Combat: Ambulance strikes Galvcannon with his Decrystallizer Cannon attack! No sooner than does Galvatron let go his massive blast at Encore than he is already tracking a new target; starlight glinting off of his orange barrel. Except, of course, that seared spot where Wipeout hit it. Speaking of that seared spot, Wipeout nails him again -- this time the weapon hitting him on what is technically his shoulder, burning a deep line that sears deep into his superstructure. A muffled *WUMP* and a sparking explosion of electrical energy shows that the Junkion has managed to hit a power capacitor, no doubt causing further systems damage. Slowly, the cannon tracks to the side -- Encore seemingly forgotten despite his damage. The truth is, Galvatron no longer cares, for Encore was spared the full power of the weapon. It has been charging and cycling all of this time and once more, lightning begins to dance around the barrel's edge as the level of charge hits 100% . . and climbs. 100% and the spaceport resounds with the thrumming of stored energy like an ascending ship. At 125% of military power, it is difficult to actually look at the weapon. It's like a bright purple sunspot. Galvatron fine tunes his aim as First Aid lances out, the decrystallizer cannon causing bits of his armor to literally turn black and fall off. But, it is to no avail as the Tyrant's voice is heard. "Hey, Repugnus?" He calls out. "Remember the puppet show?" It's a casually asked question, almost cheerful in tone with a lot of casual levity to it. Frzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzcraka . . . KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Combat: Galvcannon strikes Repugnus with his Execution attack! Combat: Repugnus falls to the ground, unconscious. Slugfest is batted away by Keeper! He spins laterally backwards, like a wheel, with his chainsaw plates digging in holes as he rolls! As soon as Galvatron gives the order, he attempts to pull out of his spin and right himself. Then he tears back to the shuttle, pelting little feets! Combat: Slugfest begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Barkida, Ambulance , and Temple Dog Repugnus smiles in satisfaction as Scorn gets a mouthful of his hot--wait. He smiles in satisfaction as he shoots into--oh, dear. He smiles in satisfaction AS HE ATTACKS SUCCESSFULLY AT HIS OPPONENT. However, he doesn't have long to celebrate before Galvatron's cannon blast envelops him, and he is flung across the landing pad trailing magenta flames and bits of debris. Eventually, what's left of him lands in a burning heap... holding a large scale iPod??!? "o/~ Mmm whatcha sayyyyy... o/~" it blares as Imogen's Hide and Seek plays. Scorn's optics widen in surprise when he forces her back, glancing down to the barrel of the gun now in her mouth. Before he pulls the trigger she jerks, the follow laser blast firing out her cheek instead of the back of her head. The damage isn't as devistating, but it's painful enough, a mix of energon and acid spit drooling from the open, smoking wound as she screeches in pain. Thankfully Galvatron helps free her, the femme blinking and taking a moment when Repugnus is shot and crumples off of her. A haggard sigh exits her vents as she slumps forward, glaring down at the bugbot and spitting upon him. With a grunt she quickly retreats with the others, sending orders already through the comm to the pilot to fire up the shuttle and get ready to leave. Combat: Scorn begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Barkida, Slugfest, Ambulance , Wipeout, and Temple Dog Temple Dog transforms, strides to a landing beacon post three times his height, tears it up from it's bracers in the ground with a godawful metallic wrenching noise, and hurls it skywards at the hovering weaponized Galvatron. The power supply ripped away from the mammoth tower, it's glow steadily fades as it ascends. A lance propelled by the force of the Guard's determination. Keeper, the brutally fierce looking horned lion-dog, transforms back into his two-legged less terrifying robot mode. Combat: Keeper sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Keeper misses Galvcannon with his Lance of Justice (Kick) attack! Encore opens his hip compartment and raises his pistol at Galatron, staggering towards Galvatron and ready to fire... only to have his hand fall off. He looks down at it with a somewhat disappointed expression and sighs quietly, picking it up with his other hand and walking over to Pug. He's no medic, but he's got very basic first-aid training, and might be able to keep Pug alive long enough for First Aid to get to him. Repugnus's stupid little iPod keeps playing as he continues to burn. The flames could continue for a while if someone doesn't stop them--Galvatron did quite a number on him. And... well, he's out cold, obviously. If he's still alive. Wipeout dearly wants to shoot another high-power shot at the Cons, but her optics flicker and she collapses to a knee, feeling very drained. "...Low battery...." she murmurs, checking her wrist, where her energon gauge is. "...Low energy..." she shakes her head. "Can't..." She remains still, keeping what little energy she has left. Combat: Wipeout takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Combat: Encore takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Galvatron's cannon detaches as he converts to robot mode, catching the weapon on his right arm! Scorn says, "Yes, sir" Barkida concentrates as much as she can through the drugs and the pain on her psychoplastic weapon, which slides up under her torn clothes and wraps around her waist as a sort of brace. She's still not fit to move much on her own, but at least it's something. She watches with hard, frustrated eyes as Galvatron cleaves through the few Autobots- but what can be done?! Scorn staggers into the shuttle after Slugfest, clutching the main console to keep herself steady while barking orders to the pilot. "Get this thing in the air and deploy line for Lord Galvatron." She hisses at him, more energon and acid spit pouring from her mouth wound as she clutches her neck, glaring at the Con at the controls. The pilot looks a little shaken at this, but nods, engines of the shuttle roaring hotly before it starts to rise and tilt in the direction of their leader. The side hatch hisses and opens up, Scorn now standing there and peering out before tossing down a line with a sturdy, flat foothold for Galvatron to easily step upon and be hoisted up. Really, the only one that Galvatron has to contend with right now is Keeper. Transforming and alighting upon the top of a ship, he just has time to brace himself. The improvised weapon strikes him dead center of his mass; driving him back several steps with the impetus of the blow. The force is horrific, but the strength of Galvatron is equally so. The damage is impressive though and as the tower falls away in pieces, the Emperor is revealed to be in rough shape. Not ready to fall yet, certainly, but he looks as though he's gone a few rounds with Rodimus. Meanwhile, at Scorn's orders the Decepticon shuttle lifts and angles towards Galvatron, which is just enough for him to tense, leap and land in the open door way as it begins to lift away; using the line scorn offered for support. "Next time, you cursed Autobots . . " He says with a shake of his fist. "I'm going to shoot the damn doctor first!" And then the Decepticons attempt to retreat to Cybertron. Of course, while he postures some might get a shot off at Galvatron. Combat: Galvatron begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Barkida, Slugfest, and Wipeout Meanwhile, the port authorities are finally managing to respond in force. The entire skirmish has lasted perhaps a couple of minutes, but the damage has been relatively light. Probably thanks to the Autobots getting hit more than the area around them. Slugfest is hurting from the wounds he had inflicted on him, but he settles down on the floor of the shuttle. His head rests on the shuttle deck. Encore looks over at the Port Authorities. "Will one of you fleshbags summon a mechanic?" He bellows, in full-blown Sergeant mode. "C'mon, move it, we got a bot dying here!" Repugnus's flames go out because, uh, someone got an extinguisher on him, and First Aid and Encore manage to stop his bleeding. Even so, what's left under all the slagged metal is barely recognizable as Repugnus anymore... except maybe that creepy grin. First Aid hesitates, once again having to choose. Both Barkida and Repugnus are badly injured, but it's the latter who has life threatening injuries. "Keeper, I need you to go over to our new friend. Check her pulse and breathing," he tells the guard while he still works on Repugnus. He hopes to Primus he doesn't have explain to Keeper how to do this. "Also, there should be additionalm edical supplies in the shuttle. Get the one marked 'Class V Organic'." Knowing Monacus's steller health care (cough), First Aid has already made a decision. "We're probably going to have to bring her back to Autobot City for more indepth treatment." First Aid said the second part about additional medical supplies to Wipeout, yet totally forgot to name her. Wipeout manages to stand up, and stumble over to where Repugnus is... well, what's left of the poor guy, anyway. "Puggy-Poo..." she says sadly, slouching. It's not that she's lazy; she's suffering from low energon; a result of her gung-ho attacking. She keeps an optic on the retreating Cons, but she's more worrying about the Monsterbot. Hearing First Aid's orders, even berfore she can ask him what needs to be done, she heads back to the shuttle, and rumages for the requested items. "FOund it!" she staggers back out, the supplies in her arms. She offers them to Keeper, looking at the organic with worry. Encore, once he knows Repugnus is stable, removes pressure from the place he was told to apply it, and opens his chest. He pulls out his humidor of Victory Dance cigars and, taking station a short distance away from the tank farm but within easy distance of First Aid and Keeper, sits down to pull one out. He puts it in his mouth and lights up, taking his pistol from his removed hand and continues looking around. "C'mon, hurry up!" He bellows at the Monacus security troopers. "We need a fragging MECHANIC already! You know, handy with spanners, fixes machines! Move it, you muppets this is life or fragging DEATH! My mother could move faster'n you lot and she was a bloody FACTORY!" The Port Authorities regard Encore cooly. "No." One of them, who appears to be in command says. "We won't. You'll pick up your strewn pats and leave this world and take your violence somewhere else. We've got enough trouble on our hands without you causing it, and I'm certainly not going to be talked down to by the likes of you." The figure is easily Cybertronian in height; features hidden behind a blue uniform with a helmet that has a mirrored visor. "We didn't ask for you to come here -- every time you do, this happens -- perhaps we ought to consider full outright banning you." His tone is extremely, extremely cold. "So. Mind your f----g mouth, warmonger, or you can finish bleeding out in the lockup." He raises his hand, then. "Who's in command here? Does someone -else- want to try making a more polite request of us, and perhaps we can see what we can do. We have a more than adequate hospital to deal with Barkida, as well, and will take it from here. Your stabilizing her is apprecaited." He's still looking at Encore. "Now. Does someone want to call off your dogs, and tell me why you came here?" At the second outburst from Encore, he will suddenly find himself staring at an entire platoon of laser rifles pointed directly in his face. Keeper wasn't spouting regulations and lipping off at galvatron for the good of his own ego. Unfortunately his tactic to keep Galvatron's focus on the autobots rather than the let it wander to abusing the port and the people on Monacus took it's toll on almost everyone /except/ Keeper himself. Probably because he didn't do that crazy aft puppetshow. Hekeeps his focus on the departing Decepticon vessel before allowing his attention to go towards the heavily wounded heros.... At First Aid's bidding once the ship has made some reasonable distance, Keeper approaches Barkida and kneels to do as First Aid asked. "Ah... it's you." He doesn't need to be told how to check for vitals. His optics on her eyes monitoring consciousness and responsiveness while observing pulse rate and breathing. He asks as soothingly as he is capable, "You're not going to let this unremarkable place and pointless battle be the time and circumstance of your death are you?" Fortunatly, one of the lesser ranking individuals has an addendum for Encore. "Friend, I'd suggest you just lower the tone before we have to put you away. I know you're probably upset, but why don't you just go off and sit by your shuttle and take a few deep breaths? We'd hate to make a bad incident worse." Encore tenses a little. "We just stopped the decepticons from rampaging across your planet, and this is the thanks we get?" He says, his voice -dangerously - level and calm. "Remember that we - Autobots - adhere to all regulations asked of us, and that we will respond whenever a distress call comes. Unlike them. Now, let's try this again. Please get a decent mechanic here, quickly. I'd really hate to make this an... inplanetary incident." His tone suggests that he's doing his absolute *best* to keep from violence. Wipeout whimpers a little at the heated exchange. "...Pretty please?" she asks tiredly, still a bit dizzy from over-taxing her reserves. "Puggy-Poo's hurt very badly... We didn't mean troubvle, nope nope." She sounds sincerely regretful about the events that just happened. "We came in peace, looking for a lost friend." "Good," First Aid says to Wipeout in a firm voice. "Take out and find the stims. Keeper, how's it looking over there? If her pulse rate is down then prepare half a litre of benzonate." It's a real drug." Meanwhile, he's grateful that Encore is yelling at everyone to hurry the heck up. First Aid isn't normally one for yelling, but there's lives on the line ehre. But then one of the port authority members rebuffs them. "What?!" First Aid exclaims, looking over his shoulder even as he remains kneeling next to Repugnus. "We were attacked and your police did NOTHING! And now you're going to risk letting someone die over..." if the Protectobot's face could turn red, it would. But no, he manages to keep control. He does this because he knows Repugnus needs his full concentrate. Also, he does this because he knows Encore can verbally bitchslap the guy way better than he ever could. Fortunately it looks like it won't come to that, as another member of the cops has a more enlightened attitude. <> he transmits. <> The squad leader doesn't seem to be too quick to back down. "Except, every time you come here -they- show up. It would be better for Monacus if you simply were banned from the planet and we be done with it." His hand is over the holster of his weapon, not to mention the other guns that are pointed at Encore. "I'm not interested in giving thanks, I'm not interested in anything but keeping the peace, and if you even blink like you're going to threaten it, I'll put you away. Now sit down, where you were told to, and shut up." This is specifically to Encore. He taps his badge then. "Command, is there an empty repair hangar in the spaceport?" He says. A female voice responds. "Yes, Sector AA1, Warehouse #344-B." The helmeted individual grunts, and points to a building about a quarter of a mile off. "Your weapons stay /RIGHT HERE/ with your vessel, which is under quarantine until you leave. If you leave the spaceport, you will be considered tresspassing. Finish whatever garbage you have to do here, repair yourfriend if you have to, and leave. Give me /ONE/ reason to, and I promise I'll keep you in a cell for the rest of your loathesome lives." He then turns, stomping away and most of the squad follows him. Except for one, the one that spoke. "You'll have to pardon him, he's really not a bad sort. But a relative of his was killed the last time Galvatron and company decided to cause problems here and he is . . bitter. In the interests of keeping the peace and helping you guys work within your requirements, what are you here for? Is there anything I can help you with?" Keeper shrugs and lets the locals handle medical details of the organic being who took on Galvatron. He rises to his feet and moves to stand by Encore and the local authorities. "We appretiate your concern. We recognize our presence has a certain track record of risk and we will comply with your directives. We honor your sense of duty to your own people and planet. We respectfully request a small but reasonable amount of time to gather and stablize ourselves in the name of the neutrality accords. We recognize your position of no obligation to render assistance but we would greatly appretiate any help you could grant us in the name of peace. We will not seek to cause you trouble." He moves t help move his party to the hanger as needed, looking now at Encore with a calm resolve of someone determined to disarm a bad situation. First Aid takes several deep, mechanical breaths. Let Encore deal with it. He's a professional. You have your own problems to worry about, he decides as he keeps fighting to stabilize Repugnus. Luckily, Keeper steps in with diplomacy. "I'd really rather not move him right now," he tells Keeper, but then hesitates as he sees the pissed off coppers. "Er, but if we must..." He makes several adjustments to allow Repugnug's body to be safely moved. First Aid also glances over at Barkida. He knows how she'll be treated here, and so motions for Wipe-Out to load her up as well. Encore takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry I snapped, for what it's worth." He sighs some, making sure he's loud enough for the senior to hear. "But Repugnus is... well, he's one of us and on your side. Despite what it may seem. I mean no offense to you, sir. For what it's worth, I regret what our conflict has done to your world. To every world." He puts down his weapons, and several jars of enershine -including his Red Rage - that could be considered weapons too. Wipeout begins tending to Bardika, as the Autobot Doc orders. She follows Keeper to the hanger, her movements sluggish. Her internal batteries would eventually gain some charge, but it would take time. So, for now, she's taking it easy. "....I tried my best..." she mutters to no one in particular. The abrasive commander stops, halting for a moment as he turns to soundlessly look at Encore. "That's better." He says. "Son, you can't expect me to react with flowers and bunnies and candy with an attitude like that. Your friend more or less has the right of it. We've got a job to do, and if you were in my shoes with some young berk mouthing off in your face you'd react the same way. Next time, keep your cool and ask nicely. It'll go a lot farther. If you folks were anyone else, you'd all be in the lockup right now except I was trying to give you the benifet of the doubt. Your restrictions stand. I hope you can help your friend, but do what you have to do and then get out of here." He nods at Keeper, seeming to appreciate what he said. The non-abrasive rank and file officer remains behind. Maybe to keep an eye on everyone? Maybe not. " . . . I said... " He speaks up a bit. "Is there anything that I can help you with? Why are you here?" He's addressing Encore primarily, since the doctor is busy helping Repugnus. Keeper carefully helps move people and set up the temporary Autobot camp. Good for heavy lifting and organization stuff. First Aid knows Wipeout herself is hurting badly. "How are you holding up?" he asks, not looking up at her. He's still performing meatball surgery on Repugnus. "Are you able to..." he struggles to think up how to describe it. "Do that thing where you fix yourself?" Triage is can be frustrating since it means mechs that need his attention aren't able to get it. He otherwise ignores the authorities, confident that Encore and Keeper can handle it. Encore nods a little. "You're right. But sir." He says, quietly. He looks down at the other guy, then crouches a little. "Yeah... we kinda need to be able to move about here, once we're all fixed. We're trying to find a friend of ours, and so far as we can tell, he came here. We came to find him and to be blunt, we /need/ to be able to move about off this airfield. Need to know how we can convice your senior officer to let us move about. We really don't mean any trouble but..." He looks in the direction Galvatron's shuttle went.. "When your enemy's a fruitcake like Galvatron, trouble tends to follow." Barkida allows herself to be carried onto the Autobot ship, trying not to move her injured back around any more than she has to. She looks a little concerned at the Junkion's appearance, though she apparently thinks better than to say anything about it. Is it a slave-caste? Why does it seem to be made out of trash? She'll have to ask someone later. Wipeout stares at First Aid for a second, and then has an 'oh' moment. "Oh, no no, not hurting! Just tired. You're fixup was top-notch, Doc." She manages a smile. "I got too excited for my own good." She looks down at the organic in her arms. "Woah steady, girl. Wipeout's gotcha." The line officer shrugs helplessly. "I'm not sure that I can do that. Do you have any leads that you were going to follow up? Maybe I can do some of the legwork for you?" He seems to be genuine, actually trying to be helpful. "Who is it that you were looking for?" "Wipe Out?" Barkida asks to be sure, gingerly trying to strap in. "As in extermination and purges?" Encore sighs a little. "Dya think me making a formal request to him, in person, would help? If our friend doesn't want to be found, it'll take us to find him. We think he might be in trouble, though. Hell, no real use asking me about the leads - I'm just a grunt. I don't deal with the thinking stuff, I just protect people." <> He tight-beams. <> Wipeout chuckles. "Wipeout as in spills and crashes." she grins. "Cuz I'm a risktaker, and I live on the edge!" She tilts her head curiously. "You've never met a Junkion?" <> First Aid says. The plan all along was to go to the authorities. The Protectobot was originally going to go to the Autobot embassy and try to get their assistance in hooking up with the local government, but this is way quicker! "No," says Barkida. "You are a different kind of Cybertron?" Encore signs a little and sits down, taking a pull of his cigar. "Crosshairs is one of our top guys. He's a Targetmaster, bonded to a guy called Pinpointer, who forms his gun. He's come here and left Pinpointer back home - we were planning on heading straight to the Embassy here to enlist your government's help..." He shrugs. "Maybe it's for the better, this'll be quicker at least." He sighs softly. "If he's left Pinpointer at home, that means he was either planning to be quick, or left without consent, if you get my drift. First Aid'll be able to give you the full details." He nods over at the hanger. Wipeout ponders that for a while. Finally, she nods. "We're... like the weird out of state cousins that show up once a year." she says, trying to speak as normally as possible for the organic's benefit. "Cybertronians call factories Mommy; we call junk-piles Mommy. Make sense?" she askes, unsure of how to really put it. "Oh!" The line officer nods. "I actually know Crosshairs well. He was contracted for awhile to teach demolitions disposal to our bomb squad. He's supposed to the best in the Galaxy when it comes to explosives." He removes his helmet, showing he looks roughly human except for his vivid orange skin, three eyes and nose like the trunk of an elephant. "Give me a minute. Our, uh, sergeant doesn't like Cybertronians much and had him covertly followed." He taps his comm badge and is heard to be deep in conversation with someone. "Well." He says. "He arrived on a ship, some time ago, we know that much, checked into a hotel. He, uh . . ." He looks apologetic. "Seems to have hit almost every bar on Monacus, including some of the less savory ones. He visited our mechanical repair center once, inquiring about a supply of a chemical called Borvic Antihelimatite-90, which he purchased a supply.......then the day before yesterday, passenger manfests show him as being aboard the Heart of Gold -- a passenger liner heading for Santraginus IV. Dunno why he'd go there -- there's not a mechanical thing there. It's this sort of restful vaction place, except not really. The entire planet is basically a big grassland savannah sort of thing. Supposed to be pretty peaceful." He looks at the ground. "I'm sorry, I can't be any more helpful than that." "Sense enough for now," Barkida agrees after a little while of thought. The drugs are making it more confusing than it should be, maybe. Encore smirks dryly and comments "I gathered." when the guy comments about not liking Cybertronians. "Kinda don't blame him. When we fight..." He nods over at the hole his arse left in the shuttle. "Things get messy." He listens carefully to the guy, blinking. "That don't sound like the Crosshairs I know, but who knows?" He shrugs, listening. "You've been very helpful, actually - we know where he left and, well, maybe we can get there first." He shrugs. "Either way, we know he's still alive - which we didn't before - and we know for sure where he's planning to be. What does 'Antihelimatite-90' do?" "...So...Um, what are you? Never seen a... organic as big as me." Wipeout says awkwardly, sratching her head in a very humanlike gesture. "Cousre, between home sweet home and hangin' with the Autobuddies, don't see many organics anyways, nope nope." First Aid is still performing surgery. Repugnus has been stabilized, and now it's a matter of making sure he won't be offline for the next vorn recovering. Detective Encore will have to handle this one. Repugnus dreams of inappropriate things in the meantime. "Barkida, Femaxian, of the Golden Realm, Fourth to Die of the First Guard," Barkida recites, like it was her serial number, and turns her head to keep an eye on Repugnus. "I was deputized to find a criminal from the Realm reported as being here before she could further shame us. Now I don't suppose I will. Why are you here, machine-woman?" "That is true." The line officer says to Encore. "I have no idea what it does, it's just a chemical name to me. I'm a cop, not a scientist. Maybe as your doc when he's done with that." He wanders over to First Aid and Repugnus. "How is he, Doc?" "He'll live," First Aid says, wiping his hands off on a rag. "I hope he'll make a full recovery, but it'll be a while before we find out for sure." He finally looks away from the patient, glancing up at the line officer. "Look, we really appreciate your assistance. You mentioned Borvic Antihelimatite-90? Hmm. Rare stuff. We don't get a lot of call for it at Autobot Headquarters. It's used for..." he hesitates. "Generally it's for treating certain very specific Cybertronian neurological conditions." Aid is drawing some conclusions. "It's possible Crosshairs was aware of just how bad his condition was." Encore nods and stands, walking alongside the officer to sit by First Aid and Repugnus. He sits down, heavily, with a sigh. "Frag." He comments, with a sigh. "Bravo Papa. Well that explains... everything, really." Wipeout's optics flicker a bit as she process's the strange organics full title. She titls her head as she considers her question. "...We're on the trail of a friend who up and left without a trace." she says slowly, carefully choosing her words. "He left his little partner behind. I think he's sick, and was... afraid of showing his sickness?" She shrugs. "But we're all so very worried." Encore shakes his head and looks over at Wipeout. "Worse than that." At this point, all the Line officer can really do is raise his eyebrows. Though he nods at Repugnus. "I'm glad. Looks like we got out of this without any deaths and only, well, aside from you guys, minor injuries." First Aid stands up. He'll need some Monacan police officers to help get Repugnus back into the shuttlecraft. "Crosshairs /is/ a proud individual," he agrees with Wipeout. "Normally though I can't believe he'd be THIS prideful..." Aid tilts his head, "Of course, with neurological damage affecting his judgement skills..." "That explains the doctor-machine," Barkida tells the ceiling thoughtfully. "To my relief. Monacus medicine is dangerous and dirty." Encore shakes his head. "It's not pride, First Aid." Encore says, his voice sounding heavy. "He's having a Blowout Party. He's dying, he knows it. He's having one last wild party and then headed to Santraginus IV to die in peace. He didn't... he didn't want to bother anyone. He respects us too much to be a drain and a bother. I understand it perfectly, I'd do the same meself. But I'd take me brother with me, and you lot. Even Puggy. A Bravo Papa's supposed to be a celebration of yer life for all your friends. You have yer wild fun, then you attend yer own funeral and head off to go in peace wherever you feel is best. He's doin' it wrong and, and... and..." He trails off, unable to finish. First Aid and Encore (and Crosshairs) must come from very different places, because that sounds very nutty to him. He's about to say so, but then thinks better of it. First Aid is quiet for several long moments after Encore trails off. He reaches over and gives Encore a pat on the back. He'd pat him on the shoulder but Encore is huge compared to him. "It might not be as hopeless as Crosshairs thinks. He's a talented medic, but we shouldn't give up the chance for a technological solution - especially since his judgement may have been impaired for the past few months. We'll find him." Wipeout nods thoughtfully. "Doc First is a top-notch Doc, he fixed me up almost good-as-new after that Decepticreeper threw a plane at me..." she trails off as Encore speaks. "No no no! Crosshair's going away forever and not coming back?!" She's confused and distraught; death was something she and her fellow Junkions had next to no real concept of. "Can't we fix him up like new again?" Barkida zonks out on space-morphine while the robits talk about robit things. @_@ The linesman listens and nods. "Well, I'm . . sorry?" He says. "Probably not the news you wanted. I have to return to my precedinct, let me know if you need anything." And with that, he exits. Poor Cybertronians. Poor Autobots, really. It seems like every time they come to Monacus they get screwed like that little weedy guy in the cells. Encore nods to the guy "That's appreciated. Youv'e been helpful, thank you."
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