| abstract | - The skyline of the capital of Britain is dominated by various famous landmarks such as Big Ben, St. Peter's Cathedral, and London Bridge. Crowded narrow streets make it very hard for giant robots to walk around in, but smaller robots and humans can move around with ease. Tiny Stag Beetle Shockwave Rodimus Prime Jetfire Galvatron Chumley Manor The Moist Muffin Out leads to United Kingdom. Grating leads to London Sewer System. WELCOME TO... the 2031 London Science Expo! Currently up on the center stage of the expo, before thousands of onlookers and numerous reporters, is a middle-aged man standing in front of a huge projection screen! "Welcome, hello!" says the man. "I am Antonio Clark, world-renowned inventor and scientist!" The crowd cheers! "And I am here with my GREATEST INVENTION ever!" He pulls from his jacket pocket... a small microscope? The audience claps nervously. They were expecting something really cool, like a battlesuit or something. "This is not just any microscope! It is a subspace microscope! It allows us to see what is inside a mysterious POCKET DIMENSION, in which there could be literally ANYTHING!" The crowd lets out a few oohs and aahs. This could be interesting. "In fact, this is such a breakthrough, I am SURE the Decepticons will attempt to steal it, which is why I invited the Autobots here to protect us!" He gestures towards any Autobots present. "But enough of that," Antonio Clark says, "let's see what's in there! Now, I'm turning on the microscope... and we're patching what the microscope sees... to the screen..." He fiddles with the microscope, then the screen turns blue for a moment as it switches inputs. "Ladies and Gentlemen... I give you... SUBSPACE!" Then, the screen goes completely black. The audience is stunned. "Yes, that, my friends," Dr. Clark says, gesturing to the screen, "is SUBSPACE!" The audience starts to boo. One of them even yells, "Give me a break, the Decepticons wouldn't want this if you gave it to them!" But that might be news to GALVATRON, who is flying towards the Expo even now!... Nightbeat is off leaning against a nearby building, in partial shade, even though this is gloomy old London, anyway, his arms crossed. He looks rather casually bored, but given his senses, he's still seeing and hearing more of the world than most people will ever know even exists. Subspace microscope? The humans are screwing around with subspace? If that ain't bad mojo, Nightbeat doesn't know what it is... Grimlock has arrived. Space! The final frontier. The uncharted, unknowable, extremely difficult to navigate expanse of mystery to which Man has looked in wonder since his earliest days! And in the vicinity of Earth, full of trash and rocket parts and satellites. One satellite in particular, however, does not belong. This long and sinister craft is none other than SHOCKWAVE, ATOMIC SPACE ROBOT. His hexagonal sensor array peers down at Earth, scanning through the roof of the expo building with cosmic rays. "Great Galvatron," transmits the dry and distant voice of Shockwave, "the target device may not in fact be functional. The Earthling is suffering the mockery of its peer group even now." Rodimus Prime is here, as invited! He frowns as he watches the event, and rubs the back of his head. Now, he's been /in/ subspace recently, and doesn't remember it being black, but... he can hardly say he's explored all of it. He looks around as the audiance begins to 'boo' and hnhs. "Crowd's starting to get a little ugly," he murmurs softly. Tiny Stag Beetle is already at the Expo well near it anyway he's happily chowing down on some food in a bin after all a growing Insecticon needs to eat especially if he doesn't want to get caught by the rozzers! He's only partially paying any attention to to the science stuff at least until he sees something he thinks is cool. Combat: Tiny Stag Beetle slips into the shadows and out of sight... Jetfire ... just slaps a palm to his face. Haven't they had enough of dealing with subspace lately?! "Not pink enough," the scientist murmurs under his digital breath as he shakes his head slightly. Sure, there had been requests for Autobots to be here, but he was as interested in the potential -science- as he was standing guard. But watching another scientist flounder a bit because of a skeptical audience? Not pleasant. He half considers speaking up on the guy's defense, but the humans would probably just see it as butting into there business, so he keeps silent for the moment. Many great advances in science were regarded as fiddlefaddle initially, after all. People thought the X-ray was useless until it was used to save someone's life after all! Grimlock stands not too far from Rodimus Prime, and hmms. "Me Grimlock think crowd was ugly before! Haw haw haw!" he nudges the Autobot commander- perhaps glad to get the chance to make the joke- any bit of entertainment in an otherwise boring mission! Really, if he wasn't specifically requested by a cadre of braver-than-wise palentology students, Grimlock wouldn't be here in the first place! "Me Grimlock think him thingie am broken." Galvatron, while descending towards the Expo, replies to Shockwave over radio, "If it does not function, then we lose nothing but a little time and fuel expended in the attempt to take it. If it DOES function, then we GAIN a new advantage over the Autobots! Besides, it's entirely possible this human doesn't even know how to use his own invention! Rather the story of humanity's existence, isn't it? Enough chatter--begin the operation!" Galvatron then smashes down through the roof of the expo, and plummets down, expecting to land right on top of a bunch of humans--only to find himself landing in a half-crouch on a circular dais in the middle of the crowd. And no one was on it--there's even a Decepticon symbol printed onto its surface. "What the--" "Ah, see?" Antonio Clark says. "You people doubted me, but here the Decepticons are, to take my invention! I even predicted where they'd smash their way in from!" The audience, however, is too busy screaming and fleeing to notice, however. "YOU DARE MOCK ME!?" Galvatron screams at the human. "Give me the subspace microscope or perish!" Clark gives the Autobots two upraised eyebrows, as if cueing them. Nightbeat is keeping an open mind on the device. A lot of junk works. Despite being junk. But he's keeping an open /eye/ on the sky, too. ecepticons like to drop down from the sky. Bursting out of the ground is more an Autobot thing - and bingo. Nightbeat sighs heavily. He mutters, "Well, at least the guy's got a career waiting for him as a forture teller, if this science gig doesn't pan out." He unholsters one of his photon pistols and remarks, jaded, "Hey, ugly! You got the right to shut up. Don't suppose you wanna use it?" "Although there is a high likelihood that you have noticed them yourself now that you have entered the structure," Shockwave sends down to Galvatron, "it may bear mention that I have detected the signatures of at least four Autobots. I will mark the largest on your HUD for your edification." Combat: Shockwave analyzes Grimlock for weaknesses Galvatron can exploit. '*deedly deedly* Rodimus Prime groans and covers his face with his hands as Galvatron showed up. Yes. Yes. The human /did/ call it... but Rodimus is less thrilled about the fact than the scientist is. He tries to wave Clark further away from the dias. "Doctor Clark, you'd better get out of here," he warns, then shouts louder, "Jetfire, Nightbeat, make sure the building's evacuated and keep an eye out for other Decepticons." Then he summons his photon eliminator from subspace and aims it at Galvatron. "Give it up, Galvatron," he warns. "You're outnumbered." Tiny Stag Beetle feels more than actually seeing Galvatron's thunderous arrival a fleeing human knocks his bin over and his tasty food is consequently stampeded to death by the frightened crowd. Crawling to the lip of the bin he peeks out to see just what ruined his lunch/shopping spree, see and hearing Galvatron he sighs and risks a short radio transmission, "Come Shopping Galvatron? Lots of goodies here." Jetfire is one of the two largest Autobots here... and he's pretty sure Grimlock isn't going to focus on anything other than turning Decepticons into smashy bits... and half wonders if Rodimus isn't likely to do the same with Galvatron present. So he takes the initiative to step into position to shield the fleeign crowds from the shattered debris of the Decepticon's entrance. "Evacuate to the nearest exits!" *WHACK* as he swats a rather large chunk of ceiling support out of the way before it falls on any innocent squishies. "And don't stop to stare, people!" At least he's living up to the 'guardian' part of his function, standing protectively over the fleeing masses and all that. "Me Grimlock think this thing just get more interestings!" And, apparently acting on the cue, he storms forwards, drawing his double-barreled blaster to aim at Galvatron as well! Grimlock's doing better, however- he's holding himself back, lest he stomp on the still-fleeing audience members! He doesn't take his eyes off Galvatron, however, but he does aside to Rodimus: "Next time, me Grimlock think expo need less audience to get in way." Combat: Grimlock sets his defense level to Guarded. Galvatron sneers at Rodimus. "One moment, Prime, I have *a call.*" He puts two fingers to his temple, then transmits, "Chopshop, there's only one thing I want from this Expo--the subspace microscope being carried by Antonio Clark! Find him, and take the microscope from him, but don't damage it!" Galvatron then gets another message from Shockwave, and his optics narrow as targets light up on his HUD. "Yes, Shockwave, thank you for showing me where the largest Autobot is, I don't know what I'd do without you. On the other hand..." He examines the secondary information being fed to him. "Grimlock," he says aloud, "is there a crack on the back of your skull? I dare say there is." He whips his mace around at Grimlock's head--specifically, he's making sure its arc takes the mace on a course for the back of his head! Antonio Clark, meanwhile, shrugs in a nonchalant manner at Rodimus and shuffles away at a leisurely pace. Combat: Galvatron misses Grimlock with his Epic Flail attack! Tiny Stag Beetle looks back and forth form his upturned dinner plate and then takes to the air zipping through the crowd just like any other insect. One guy catches Chopshop with his knee as he tries to flee but doesn't bother to look what the small impact was, there are much much bigger things to worry about right now. Having been given explicit orders to take something Chopshop almost jumps for joy well if he wasn't flying he would. He makes his way over towards the non panicing human trying to keep as far away from the Autobots as possible. He doesn't reply to Galvatron as to do so would further risk detection. "Great Galvatron," Shockwave's droning voice buzzes insistently in Galvatron's ear. "I do not wish to distract you while you are attempting to make physical contact with the Dinobot, but I have also detected a structural instability in the exposition floor in the vicinity of the Autobot commander." Combat: Shockwave analyzes Rodimus Prime for weaknesses Galvatron can exploit. Blight leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Blight has arrived. @^-^@ Chimera says, "Rule 36?" "Hah! Me Grimlock gonna MAKE crack in you FACE!" And the dinocommander brings his gun up, tangling the barrels briefly in Galvatron's energy-chain, preventing it from smacking him something good! This done, the dinobot swings his other hand right at Galvatron's face, looking to clock him something fierce! Combat: Grimlock strikes Galvatron with his PUNCH! (Punch) attack! Rodimus Prime frowns as Doctor Clark moves away slowly, but at least he's going in the right direction. Which is good, given that Galvatron isn't standing down. Rodimus rather expected that. "You were warned, Galvatron," he growls out, turning to fire at the Decepticon. Since Galvatron is engaged in melee with Grimlock, there's always the chance that if Rodimus misses, he might hit the Dinobot, but with Rodimus so close as well, that shouldn't be a problem. Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Galvatron with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -7] Nightbeat pauses, just listening, but his job is made a lot easier by the fact that Galvatron has just announced who happens to be sneaking about. He mutters to himself and pulls out a... laser pointer. "Not too smart. Just how I like 'em." The detective then tries to point out Chop Shop with his laser pointer. Combat: Nightbeat searches for Tiny Stag Beetle. Combat: Tiny Stag Beetle has been found! Cardcaptor Foxfire reeeeeally needs to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Blight shrinks and folds himself to his tiny insect mode. With the potential casualties out of the way, or at least making their way out, Jetfire can turn his attention back to dealing with the combat in progress. "I think it's time to silence the secretary." Jetfire jumps towards the same hole the Decepticons make in the entrance, transforming once he's clear of the ground and blasting off into the skies above. He doesn't need fancy senses or radio interceptions to make the logical conclusion that if someone was feeind Galvatron tactical information it would be from overhead. Sure enough, once he gets clear of all the signal 'clutter' closer to the surface his long range sensors start picking up the helluvalot of energy someone like Shockwave gives off, though the other bits of orbital debris floating about him makes it hard to pick up exactly. So he opts for firing a missile towards the general vicinity and hope he can take the eye in the sky by surprise with some surprise blast radius. Jetfire transforms into his Veritech Spacefighter mode. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter strikes Shoxcannon with his Heat-Seeking Missiles attack! Galvatron reels from the punch, and stumbles off of the dais Dr. Clark built especially for him. Rodimus's shot misses him, but Galvatron avoided it only by accident. "Nff, it'll take more than your feeble blows to crack my visage, Grimlock!" Galvatron sneers. "But enough of playing with you, I'm going to deal with the real threat here--speaking of which, Rodimus, watch your step! These human structures are not very stable!" He attempts to prove his point by blasting the ground under Rodimus's feet! Combat: Tiny Stinkbug slips into the shadows and out of sight... Combat: Galvatron misses Rodimus Prime with his Fusion Cannon attack! [Pulled -7] Tiny Stag Beetle homes in on the apparently cocky human oblivious to the fact that the fuzz has a bit of a twitch as to his location, though there is a slightly warm feeling on his back, probably just the excitement of the pinch though taking it from the human isn't the thrill here getting away will be. Making a final dash he lands on the back of the professor and prepares hmself for the bag snatch errm microscope snatch. Shoxcannon is not good at hiding due to the unusually strong emissions he releases constantly; infrared, radio waves and x-rays, primarily. He had hoped to avoid confrontation simply by being out of reach of attack. Clearly he is not entirely committed to the mission to capture the latest human doodad. The missiles home in on him easily as to their sensors he is the brightest thing in LEO. "Great Galvatron, I must redirect my attention. There is an Autobot spacecraft intercepting me." Blight was with a tiny stag bettle, flying towards the professer to try and land on the man. He lands on the human and twitches his attaenae, having to rely on them now to learn what was going on around him. He tries to move as gently and sneakily as he can to avoid detection, attaenae picking up some things. Dr. Clark looks worried for the first time since the expo started as Chopshop lands on him! "What that--what's that on my back!? Ah, get it off!" He flails around in a panic, unwittingly moving the microscope around along with his arms--and as he does so, the projection screen shows occasional flashes of color! Could it be a glitch, or something else? Combat: Shoxcannon takes extra time to aim his next attack. Rodimus Prime leaps forward and rolls out of the way as Galvatron blasts at the floor beneath his feet. He smirks at the Decepticon leader. "Thanks for the warning!" he says cheerfully as he comes back up, half crouched. The photon eliminator is sent to subspace so he can bring his arm blasters, weapons a bit less unweildly in close quarters, into play. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Galvatron with his Arm Blasters attack! Shoxcannon zooms in on the bright glint roaring up through the atmosphere towards him. This should make him even more obvious to Jetfire's delicate sensors as Shockwave does not hesitate to use active scanning, bouncing radar and laser emissions off of Jetfire's airframe to measure his range and position. Nightbeat is still holding that photon pistol in one hand, and he puts away the laser pointer, bringing his other hand over to steady his aim with the photon pistol, as he steps forward and attempts to shoot Chop Shop right off Dr. Clark. He drawls, "Just stay still a moment, Dr. Clark," and pulls the trigger. Combat: Nightbeat sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Nightbeat strikes Tiny Stag Beetle with his Nonsense Trick Shot attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Tiny Stag Beetle's Accuracy. (Blinded) "Hey! Me Grimlock really am dangerous! HEY!" Yes, Grimlock seems a bit dissapointed that Galvatron's not trying to kill him. That's how dinobots think, after all. He pauses, however, as Nightbeat paints the tiny, tiny target with his sensors! "Hn. Well, me Grimlock gonna STOP YOU PLAN instead!" And with a few great strides, Grimlock soon *loooooooooms* over poor Dr. Clark, and his enormous fingers come down- attempting to clamp down on Chopshop mere moments after Nightbeat blasts him! "Got something on you." he notes. Combat: Grimlock misses Tiny Stag Beetle with his PEENCH (Punch) attack! It's not that he was right that there was someone to shoot up here, its that there's no shooting back yet that concerns him. Shockwave doesn't hesitate; he calculates. Likely trying to recompensate for there being a flying, space capable Autobot on-sight. And that's when things tend to get nasty. However instead of slowing down, the flares of energy blasting out of his scramjets becomes only more evident as he's closing in. "Now now Shockwave, there's no need to be a wallflower. Come join the 'dance' like everyone else!" With the final burst of speed to propel him, Jetfire transforms back into robot mode. With enough momentum left to either tackle the giant space laser, or shoot by if Shox somehow dodges and at least force him to have to re-orient on his target. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter sets his defense level to Guarded. Veritech Spacefighter transforms into his Jetfire mode. Combat: Jetfire misses Shoxcannon with his Flying Tackle .. Literally! (Kick) attack! Galvatron transmits with no small amount of snark, "Oh, really, Shockwave? Gosh, for a moment there I thought you were going to let me do all the work! Just kill him and get it over with!" Rodimus chooses that moment to remind his nemesis that he exists, and, after ducking under Rodimus's return fire, he marches towards the Autobot leader, balling his fists. "Oh, no problem, Rodimus! However, I MUST insist that you investigate this little instability a little more thoroughly! It's a safety hazard, after all, and I know how you Autobots LOVE to keep these humans safe." He attempts to grab Rodimus, then, lift him, flip him 180 degrees vertically, then smash his head right into the spot Shockwave indicated earlier. Combat: Galvatron strikes Rodimus Prime with his Bare Hands attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Rodimus Prime's Agility. (Crippled) Tiny Stag Beetle cries out as a pinpoint blast sears into his abdomen, "AAArgh slag it, stupid damn... shot me in the back, no good rust spot! Right that's it!" Without a second thought the tiny insect suddenly starts to expand and transform, dropping to the ground just behind the professor. In order to ensure the microscope isn't harmed Chopshop deftly attempts to scoop up the human with his hand. Stag beetle rises up expanding and unfolding till the sneak thief Chopshop stands before you. "I will take your suggestion under advisement after I resolve the threat you represent," Shockwave transmits back to Jetfire. A pulse of bright light pumps through the translucent cabling connecting his barrel to his main hull and a brilliant magenta light flares silently down. The beam rakes towards Jetfire as Shockwave fires his attitudinal thrusters to swing away from the very large Autobot rocketing up towards him just in time to let Jetfire pass by without impact. Combat: Shoxcannon misses Jetfire with his Shoxcannon attack! [Pulled -6] The tiny Stinkbug continues to skitter along the human, and tries to head closer to that microscope, despite the human and it being scooped up by the other insecticon. He moves very slowly, very sneakily, attaenae relaying the information of the things going on around him so he doesnt become a target. Antonio Clark had been staying perfectly still at Nightbeat's request for a moment there--sadly, this makes it rather easy for Chopshop to grab him once the Insecticon transforms. "Yeah, it's definitely unstable," Rodimus replies, voice a trifle dazed as his head is smashed right through the floor. He is still held upside down by the Decepticon leader, now over a hole in the floor instead of over the floor itself. He reaches forward, grabbing for the ledge of that hole with his left hand as his right retracts and is replaced by a slender blade that immediately starts rotating. "Better watch your step, Galvatron, wouldn't want to trip," he answers, swinging that blade towards Galvatron's legs. He will attempt to pull himself free during any resulting loss of balance on Galvatron's part, but is bracing himself in case he gets knocked down into the hole as well (or instead). Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Galvatron with his Buzzsaw attack! Nightbeat rubs his temples as Chop Shop just... transforms and picks up the human. He'd swear that Chop Shop's not the only sneaky player on the field, but he just can't justify haring off after a /possible/ threat when Chop Shop is a clear and present danger. So Nightbeat pushes off the wall and runs after Chop Shop - hopefully most of the humans have gotten out of the way by now - and tries to tackle him in a classic police brutality move. Combat: Nightbeat strikes Chopshop with his Police Brutality! (Kick) attack! Combat: Drained 2 energon. Grimlock misses! Oh dear. "Hey! Come back here!" he grunts- but then the speedier Nightbeat is in the fray, and Grimlock just shrugs. That works too! "Make sure you no squish humie guy!" Grimlock says to Nightbeat- and then he wheels around, eager to get back into the fray proper! The dinocommander stalks up behind Galvatron, even as Rodimus beats on him- and then he...taps Galvatron on the shoulder. "'member me?" he says? And then, a headbutt! Combat: Grimlock sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Grimlock misses Galvatron with his Headbutted! (Smash) attack! Jetfire's calculated risk has proven to pay off it would seem. The momentum carries him past as Shockwave maunevers, but it also keeps him moving far enough to clear the sweeping energy beam that blows up several discared examples of humanity's efforts to study the Space around them instead, making up a bit for him not being able to fly as a robot. But he doesn't really want to risk his less durable fighter mode against the likes of Shockwave more than necessary, so he'll just have to improvise. Which may be why, as he starts to drop back down one hand reachs out to grab one of those discarded satellites. This time he's actually aiming for Shockwave instead of just trying to get his attention, reaching out to try and grab the slightly smaller space-cannon's barrel with his free hand.... and shove the broken satellite into the muzzle. Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Jetfire misses Shoxcannon with his Put a cork in it! (Punch) attack! Galvatron had also warned Rodimus about watching his step earlier, but he doesn't heed Rodimus's warning, and so gets some nasty slashes cut into his armor plating. Was he trying to spite him, or was he just not fast enough to avoid the buzzsaw? "Shut up! I'll BURY you there, you--eh?" He turns around as Grimlock taps him on the shoulder, and as Grimlock's head thrusts forward, Galvatron sidesteps it, and he even sticks his leg out a bit, hoping to make the Dinobot trip and fall over onto Rodimus. "Believe me, Grimlock, I wish I could forget you existed! I'll have to settle for ENDING your existence!" Combat: Galvatron strikes Rodimus Prime with his Woopsie Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Galvatron misses Grimlock with his Woopsie Area attack! [Pulled -1] Chopshop grabs and pulls the professor from the ground hugging him tightly to his chest as if he had just manage to take Galvatron's cannon without being noticed, "You're mine now, all mi.." Then Nightbeat follows up his attack and kicks him, staggering forwards he just manages to stop from falling on top of the squishie professor with the neat toy inside. "So much for protecting humans, you Bots are just hypocrites, you want their stuff just as much, you just pretend you're helping to get your hands on it. Eat photons!" Drawing his weapon he blasts away at the Autobot maybe if he's sensible he'll back off even though Chopshop isn't really threatening his captured prize. Combat: Chopshop misses Nightbeat with his Photon Cannon attack! Combat: Chopshop (Chopshop) used "Photon Cannon": A Level 4 RANGED attack. Continuing his rotation, Shockwave brings his sensors onto Jetfire just in time to be grabbed by the barrel and to calculate what Jetfire is about to attempt. Transforming, Shockwave leaves Jetfire holding his left forearm. Shockwave is an experienced zero-G combatant, and he knows that in order to deliver an effective strike you have to first attach yourself to your opponent somehow lest the two of you bounce harmlessly off eachother. Accordingly, Shockwave's right hand pistons out to try to sieze Jetfire by the opposite arm so that he can apply severe rotational force to it. Combat: Shoxcannon sets his defense level to Fearless. Shockwave simply straightens up and rotates in a few places to assume his robot mode. Combat: Shockwave misses Jetfire with his Shearing Grapple attack! [Pulled -4] Antonio Clark bounces around in Chopshop's grasp, the microscope again flying around in his hands. The projection screen shows for a very brief moment a *shape* of some sort against a pink background, but then it shows blackness again. Blight continues on moving as he skitters and crawls to the microscope. Now he has to cross very dangerous territory: Skin. He remains on the doctor's sleeve when he decides to take a tumble thanks to Chopshop dropping him. He then still continues his skittering for the microscope, seeming to be unnoticed for now. All the moving around means that when Grimlock is sent crashing into Rodimus, the are both far enough from the hole in the floor that they avoid tumbling down it. Unfortunately, this just means that Rodimus ends up crushed beneath a Dinobot's Dinobutt. "Grimlock, do you /mind/?" he asks, trying to squirm out from beneath Galvatron. For a moment, he catches sight of the projection screen, which leads to a frown, but he keeps his focus on the danger at hand. "Grimlock, hit him high and from the left! I'll try to trip him up!" he shouts as he makes a tackling grab at Galvatron's legs from the right. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Galvatron with his Low Tackle attack! [Pulled -5] Jetfire is no slouch in low-g either, even if he somehow lacks having the actual ability for it! Some things can be collaberated from having a space-capable alternate mode, at least. When Shockwave transforms he plants a heel against the walking reactor's side and gives himself a push to seperate themselves again, using that 'harmless bouncing off' to twisting just out of the reach of Shockwave's other arm in the nick of time. As he's again recoiling away he pulls out his rifle and snaps off a energy blast at the Decepticon. Plus the opposite force of recoil continues to push him farther backwards. Do real gun physics work that way? Who cares, this is science-fiction man! Combat: Jetfire strikes Shockwave with his Single Particle-Beam attack! "Scuse me!" Grimlock says- he clatters into Rodimus, but remains steady himself! And then, Grimlock lunges forward- following the orders (for once- it helps that it's about smashing stuff) and he brings his Energo Sword from subspace, and sweeps it in a savage horizontal arc, right at Galvatron! Combat: Grimlock strikes Galvatron with his Energo Sword attack! Nightbeat drawls calmly, "Actually, I just don't want to hafta play Mall Cop. And you know why I hafta play Mall Cop? Because of people like /you/." For a moment, he considers just blowing up the microscope. Then the Decepticons would leave, right? But... they might kidnap Mr. Clark instead. Dodging the photon blast (photons like Nightbeat), he glares off at... nothing? Combat: Nightbeat searches for Tiny Stinkbug. Combat: Tiny Stinkbug has been found! You'd expect of Galvatron, after getting tackled by Rodimus and slashed hard by Grimlock, an attack which leaves him badly dented and gouged all around, that he'd spring right back up and go on a rampage on those two. He doesn't, though--instead, after he's slammed to the ground, he kicks from Rodimus, crawls away a few meters, then gets up and sprints away from the both of them. Rather odd behavior for him, one might think. He didn't even sound the retreat. In a silent flash and a bloom of sparks, the proton beam blasts a chunk out of Shockwave's shoulder, revealing sizzling wires and a brief flicker of fire as oxygen trapped inside the limb burns off into space. Stabilizing himself with his attitudinal thrusters, he raises his cannon arm and pauses, waiting for something. After a few seconds he rolls to face Earth, transforms and aims downwards. Radio noise lights up onlooking sensors as Shockwave pumps his reactor and fires a narrow, shining collated microwave beam down through the atmosphere towards the battle far below his battle with Jetfire. Combat: Galvatron sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Galvatron takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Shockwave undergoes an extremely simple transformation to become a giant flying space "laser." Combat: Shoxcannon sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Shoxcannon strikes Nightbeat with his Sustained Orbital MASER Burn Area attack! [Pulled -5] Combat: Shoxcannon (Shockwave) used "Shoxcannon": A Level 5 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 22 damage. Combat: Shoxcannon's attack has corrupted your Velocity systems! Combat: Shoxcannon strikes Grimlock with his Sustained Orbital MASER Burn Area attack! [Pulled -5] Combat: Shoxcannon strikes Rodimus Prime with his Sustained Orbital MASER Burn Area attack! [Pulled -5] Antonio Clark, meanwhile, notices there's a stinkbug on his microscope. As he's something of an insectophobe, he screams in a rather girly way and throws the microscope away from himself. The projection screen shows the shape again--are those tentacles?--before reverting to blackness. Chopshop sighs as he listens in to some comms chatter, "This isn't how i like to slagging run a job but some people just don't listen so i guess i'll have to do it. Hey Autoboob CATCH!" For a second it looks like Chopshop is going to throw the professor full pelt at Nightbeat but he instead throws himself bodily at him transforming at the same time pincers hopefully clamping down on a tasty well cooked morsel. Chopshop transforms into his Cybertronian sized stag beetle mode. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle sets his defense level to Fearless. An orange-sized chunk of the ceiling of the expo vaporizes into a flash of gas as a narrow beam of blinding light descends through it and slams into the ground, melting chairs and burning through the floor and soil to the glowing bedrock. The beam, maintaining, slices sideways through the Autobot ranks in a weaving arc, the roof sloughing in as it is carved away. After three seconds the beam stops, leaving behind whooping fire alarms and the smell of toxic smoke. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle strikes Nightbeat with his Pincher Slice attack! Combat: Massive Stag Beetle (Chopshop) used "Pincher Slice": A Level 4 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 10 damage. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle's attack has damaged your Velocity! Blight transforms to full size and snatches the microscope and tries to scurry off with it. He just keeps moving, not looking back as he continues to try and run and get away with the object in claws. "I have it Lord!" He screeches out as he continues to go about fleeing when the strike comes in from above, the blast making him scurry faster. Rodimus Prime's optics open wide as Galvatron does something /completely/ uncharacteristic. He then looks up. "Uh-oh.." He starts to scramble away himself, but isn't fast enough to avoid the blast, which melts some of his joints together, hampering his movement. As he stands back up, his movements are noticably stiffer than normal. He pulls open a panel on his chest and attempts to reconnect some of his damaged wiring. "Wow. Team work on the Decepticon side that /doesn't/ involve merging into a giant robot. There's something you don't see every day," he observes almost casually. Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Protected. The robot shifts and folds himself into the giant robot stinkbug. Combat: Rodimus Prime quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. He's transforming agai -- Damn! Jetfire realizes, too late to do anything other than yell over the radio, what's coming as Shockwave changes his orientation back towards Earth again and the energy readings spike tremendously from the Decepticon. And its even questionable if that got to the other autobots as the microwaves start screwing with his comm systems. Which means they'd likely screw up with targetting hardware too... Suddenly he's very glad for the 'dumb' version of some of his weaponry he recently added. "... I guess its time for a live field test." Though any possible humor in the line is gone in the seriousness of the moment. As he's still drifting away from Shockwave the Air Guardian brings up his arms. The 'armor' on his forearms expanding into a pair of launcher weapons. Both arms extend in front of him as he aims at the orbital space-cannon, followed by the *THWWWWM* of a pair of high explosive photonic missiles being launched and the recoil-compentation systems hissing expulsion gases to keep Skyfire from getting farther tossed about by the counter-forces of firing. If he can't stop Shockwave he can at least take some retribution for what he just did to the Autobots down below. "Haw haw haw! Him Galvy-tron run like big sis- OW!" And LASERS FROM SPACE wash over poor Grimlock! The dinobot commander snarls- and then narrows his optics- stomping forward towards Galvatron, transforming as he does. "Grr. Me Grimlock think you shoulda run 'way when you had chance!" and with that, his enormous jaws lash out for one of Galvatron's legs, aiming to show him just WHY! With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Galvatron with his Dino Crush attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Jetfire strikes Shoxcannon with his Proton Missiles attack! Nightbeat's legs are sheared off by the orange beam from the heavens. Screaming silently, because he HURTS too much to make any noise, he falls flat on his face and tries to prop himself up with his arms - too late! Chop Shop's mandibles sink deeply into Nightbeat's arm, and suddenly, the detective is forced to fight for his own life and damn the microscopes. He pulls out his plasma blaster and sputters, "Geddoff me, ya tin-plated hooligan!" Combat: Nightbeat sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Nightbeat strikes Massive Stag Beetle with his Plasma Blaster attack! Galvatron had been doing pretty good, all things considered, up until that point. He even has time to throw in a jab at Rodimus. "Ha! Always underestimating us--that will be your downfall, Prime!" But he probably should have paid more attention to the approaching Grimlock, who seizes one of his already damaged legs and thrashes him around! "ARRGH!" Galvatron screams as he feels his collapsing under the pressure. "RELEASE ME YOU MINDLESS BRUTE!" He kicks at Grimlock's head in violent desperation! Combat: Galvatron misses Robot T-Rex! with his Kick attack! Massive Stag Beetle has half a mind to jump on Blight next and be off with the microscope himself but that would be just too damned obvious. It's best to wait and he can get it later it must be really valuable if Galvatron is willing to go through all this to get it. "Get off? Why should i you slice so finely!" The plasma blast tears into Chopshops armour and he staggers off of Nightbeat trying to protect his injured belly, "Nnnghhh! You're not going to win that easily coppa!" Having previously opened Nightbeat's defences a bit he now bites down with his mandibles. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle strikes Nightbeat with his Chomp attack! Combat: Massive Stag Beetle (Chopshop) used "Chomp": A Level 1 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 5 damage. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle's attack has damaged your Strength! Blight continues scurrying off. With the autobots distracted with the other decepticons, he skitters off and away before now attempting to fly off with the microscope. It is another mission, and a Success at that! He looks at the little thing in his claws and has a brief thought on how it would taste but decides against it. Shoxcannon floats there like a normal satellite for a while, completely immobile. Missiles send him spinning through orbit, brief flashes of noiseless explosions bursting along the length of his hull, and this provokes him to transform at least, but he continues to drift- he must have completely drained his capacitors with that shot. His translucent chest glows steadily with Cerenkov radiation, however, the reactor gradually flowing life and strength back into his limbs. Shockwave simply straightens up and rotates in a few places to assume his robot mode. Combat: Stinkbug begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Robot T-Rex! , Massive Stag Beetle, Jetfire, and Shockwave Combat: Shockwave takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] "Keep him busy, Grimlock," Rodimus calls, giving another one of those sorts of orders that Grimlock is generally only too eager to obey. He then scrambles sprints towards Nightbeat and lifts an arm towards Chopshop, pointing his arm-pipes at the Insecticon. "I'd back off if I were you," he says grimly as he kneels next to Nghtbeat, attempting, one-handed, a quick patch on Nightbeat's systems, though at this point he's really just trying to stabalize things. Combat: Rodimus Prime quickly patches up some of Nightbeat's minor injuries. '*Bonk!* Galvatron's boot strikes Grimlock's head, but does no damage! Hard skull! It's kind of hard to speak wih a mouthful of Decepticreep, but Grimlock manages something that sounds like a childish "Nuh-uhh!" before he snaps his head downwards, attempting to slam Galvatron into the ground! "Hnn! You dead yet?" he asks, bits of wiring dangling from his fearsome jaws! Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Galvatron with his Smashed into the ground! (Kick) attack! Jetfire watchs Shockwave tumble away from the explosion with a bit of grim satisfaction in the performance of his and Crosshair's handwork on those launchers.... but there will be less dire times to celebrate that. A quick radio to the surface to make sure he's not needed to piece his comrades back together (yet) is all he needs to decide his next course of action. The Air Guardian transforms once more and the jet boosters burst back to life, angling his flight path after Shockwave. At least the maser discharged the residue radiation is dying down as they get away from the firing point, and he can get his sensors to focus on the Decepticon mostly clearly again. He's closing in, waiting as the targeting sights waver a little and then lock on as the tactical computers lock in. The 'vents' in the nosecone of the spacecraft click open and allow his particle blaster to slide into place with the firing solution made, and two bright bolts of energy are fired towards Shockwave. If one could actually see what Jetfire was thicking and the calculations that ran through his targeting computers, they'd notice the shots are aimed not so much to directly harm Shockwave as to hit him from the right angle to alter the course of momentum from when he was hit by the missiles, in and attempt to knock him into atmospheric re-entery before he can pull any more space laser impersonations. Jetfire transforms into his Veritech Spacefighter mode. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter strikes Shockwave with his Scientific Trick Shooting attack! Nightbeat hates playing the damsel in distress, needing a big, strong mech like Rodimus Prime to patch up his boo boos and shoo off the big, mean, icky insects, but... his legs have been sheared off, and Chop Shop has now entirely bitten off his arm. Beggars that bear a disturbing resemblance to Monty Python's Black Knight can't be choosers. Through the pain, he grits out, "Thanks, boss. Think the suspects are gettin' 'way, though." Combat: Nightbeat sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Nightbeat takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] If Galvatron wasn't doing so well a while ago, he's doing *terrible* now. Getting slammed against the ground causes fractures to appear and spread all throughout his armor plating, and that wound in his leg only deepened. "Hunf... errgh... rrrRRAARRGGHHHHH!" Screaming incoherently, he aims his fusion almost point blank at Grimlock's chest and fires a blinding magenta blast right into it! "RAAARRRGHHHHH!!!!" Combat: Galvatron strikes Robot T-Rex! with his Fusion Cannon attack! Continuing to drift, Shockwave is blasted relentlessly! He tumbles down towards the Earth like a jettisoned rocket stage, accelerating towards the blue planet. His edges glow cherry red as he starts to meet resistance with the upper atmosphere, but this triggers a strange transformation. Each of Shockwave's damaged plates splits into slats and splinters, extends from its surface, rotates lengthwise and locks back down into a smooth and unharmed surface as some automatic damage-control process essentially turns his hull inside out. The single yellow eye gleams brightly as Shockwave completes the rebooting process and comes back online. Plumes of blue flame blast from Shockwave's feet and back as he opens his plasma vents and rockets back up towards Jetfire, undaunted. Combat: Shockwave sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Shockwave quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. Massive Stag Beetle skitters back a little bit as the Autobot commander advances and threatens him but as soon as he drops his gaze to tend to Nightbeat Chopshop scuttles behind an ex-chunk of the ceiling for some cover, peeking his head over the top he opens fire. "Stupid Autobots have got no idea how to win a fight!" Combat: Massive Stag Beetle sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle misses Rodimus Prime with his Twin Pinpoint Lasers attack! Blight manages to skitter away with the prize, screeching happily as the autobots seem to be too distracted. Meanwhile he flies over the area to see the damage Shockwave did before flying off back to the base, not wanting to attract any autobot attention since he finally succeeded a mission! Rodimus Prime widens his optics. "But the insec- wait, you said there were two. Damn it!" Once more, that compassion for life bites Rodimus in the hinder! And it continues to do so as Chopshop fires and the young Prime picks up the detective and darts towards the nearest cover - some fallen chunks of wall - before setting the Detective down. He then withdraws his photon eliminator from subspace and steps out from behind his own cover, striding towards Chopshop and taking aim with the rifle. "Don't know how? Well, I'm /pretty/ sure this is the end I point towards the people I want to hurt," he says as he fires. Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Massive Stag Beetle with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -7] '*KAZZZOW!* Galvatron's blast strikes Grimlock full on, sending him reeling backwards to *CRASH!* through a display on Antarctic plate tectonics! And the fight had been going so well, too! "Rargh!" Grimlock says, staggering to his feet- there's a great scorch mark and slagged armor in the center of his chest- but like heck that'll stop the Grimlock! Especially since he's angry now. Well, angrier. Grimlock opens up his mouth, and spews forth a concentrated stream of fire at Galvatron- it pales in comparison to the cannon, yes- but it'll still hurt! Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Galvatron with his Fire Breath attack! Veritech Spacefighter watchs as Shockwave ... that's actually a pretty clever trick, he's got to give the walking computer that much credit. "Typical Decepticon, doesn't know when to stay down." The spacefighter slows down a bit as he lowers his engine output in case he needs to make farther evasive maneuvers, but isn't actually stopping in closing in on Shockwave yet. Right now, the idea is to keep herding him away from where he can aid the other Decepticons. As he draws into range of closer weapons fire the gun ports on either side of his cockpit rotate towards Shockwave and open fire. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter strikes Shockwave with his Laser vulcans (Laser) attack! The laser bolts flash into Shockwave's armor, piercing it more easily now that it's thinner (thanks to the damage on the inside of the plates). Maybe this is why he arcs away, diving back towards the Earth with rapid acceleration and conceding the field to Jetfire. "This matter will be decided at a later date," his distant voice crackles over the radio. Combat: Shockwave sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Shockwave begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Veritech Spacefighter Massive Stag Beetle's cover is blasted to pieces along with a large chunk of his shielding, he totters slightly but soon finds his feet though one of them seems to do little more than just hang limply from his body, "Gaaaagh! Figure that out all by yourself or did you need a science team and a few millenia of debate?" Chopshop scurries forwards and hop/flies at the supposed chosen one, "You're lucky this time!" He snarls mid leap as he angles one hop into a much steeper angle and he starts burrowing down into the ground. Combat: Massive Stag Beetle begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Robot T-Rex! , Veritech Spacefighter , and Shockwave Veritech Spacefighter has Shockwave all lined up for another shot as the Decepticon turns to activally propell himself in the other direction... but that's when his conscience pipes up to remind him of the other Autobots still back in London. "... Next time.." he utters lowly in response as his weapons retract, and he tilts on his side to bank away from Shockwave's vector. Once he's finished the turn he levels out, extends his wings fully into atmospheric flight position and kicks in the afterburners to speed back towards London. The virtue of the other Autobots likely still needing his help is the only thing that stops him from dogging Shockwave farther. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Galvatron is relieved to finally be free of Grimlock's maw, but the Dinobot doesn't give him a moment to rest, the Dinobot's flames scorching his back as Galvatron retreats to one of the convention walls, his gait reduced to a limp, which he tries to overcome by hopping a bit on his good leg. "Decepticons, retreat!" Galvatron barks as he smashes in the wall, hops through it, then leaps up into the sky. "We've won this day, Rodimus Prime! Oh, and Mr. Clark--GOOD JOB." Speaking of Antonio Clark, he appears to be arguing with his cute female aide, Salsa Kettles, over whether or not it was a good idea to hold this convention when Dr. Clark knew the Decepticons were going to attack. Eventually he ends the argument by making out with her--woooo! Meanwhile, as Blight takes the microscope further and further away, the projection screen appears to "zoom out" and it is finally revealed why the screen initially showed blackness--the "point of view" was inside an asteroid trapped in subspace! And as if that's not all, the asteroid is being consumed by some sort of freakish Lovecraftian monstrosity. It's probably for the best that this point of view gradually fades further and further away. Oh, and yes, subspace IS pink, after all.============================ Autobot =============================
Message: 3/156 Posted Author Subspace Microscope Sun May 23 Rodimus Prime Voice only. "The Decepticons stole a 'subspace microscope' from the London Science Expo, developed from by a Doctor Antonia Clark. Considering all the trouble caused by Scrapper last time they messed with subspace, we need to be getting ready to counteract whatever the blazes they're up to /this/ time. If we can ge in and get it back, that would be great, but it may already be too late for that. Meanwhile, Jetfire, I want you to ask Doctor Clark for his notes, maybe they'll be useful in dealing with... whatever." "Everyone else? Prepare for weirdness. Prime, out." ============================================================================== Shockwave plunges through the atmosphere along a different vector, disappearing over the horizon on his way to, no doubt, Decepticon Earth Command. Combat: Galvatron begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Veritech Spacefighter Rodimus Prime sighs as Galvatron flees. He mutters, "Well, of /course/ he won this one. They /always/ seem to win the opening salvos," he complains. He straightens up and looks around. "What a mess," he sighs, then louder, "All right, folks, sound off on damages." He'll spend the next while helping robots, people, and doing what he can to clean up the mess until it's time to go. By virtue of SUPER FUTURISTIC SPACE ENGINES and stuff as Jetfire is coming angle back into range of London... he catchs a sight of purple attempting to leave the area... and is suddenly a bit more glad that he passed on chasing Shockwave farther if it allowed this timing to come up instead. The boom of high speed engines rattling over the city are more likely to be heard first, followed by Jetfire's fighter form screaming by over the city over Galvatron's head on the way to help the other Autobots. No Galvatron, he doesn't have the time to stop EVEN FOR YOU when his friends need help more.
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