| abstract | - Across the sky, in a blaze of blue flies the shape of Blueshift, as per orders, lasers blasting in random patterns. His radio fizzes as he enters the area, a childlike voice chanting poetry "...and all the fishes were hollow my dear... and all of them swam at me." Nnn, blasted interference!" Blueshift emits angrily, trying to retune his channels but getting the same bizzare transmissions. "I can't wait for us to torch this whole planet!" The sky seems to dull ever so slightly as something ominous approaches, another "meteor" perhaps? No this object is not traveling fast enough though it is a blur, no wait, more of a smudge in the distance heading steadily forwards. Snapdragon cruises along behind the smaller blue spacecraft, twin contrails drifitng lazily behind him. Sick of hearing the bizzare transmissions, Snapdragon emits, "I'm killing my radio, this interference is driving me batty." Following a short burst of static, Snapdragon's comm goes offline. The large white spacejet tips a wing, and begins to make a slow, lazy decent towards the Tunguska surface. The Tunguska river is still frozen in places at this time of year. Suddenly, a few cracks begin appearing on the frozen surface. More and more cracks appear, until finally a clawlike mechanized arm thrusts through the surface. It disappears a moment later, and all is silent again. Then suddenly the heads of an EDC Riptide Exo-suit rises from the hole in the ice, almost completely quiet and emerging just far enough to take a few sensor readings. From not too far from the other Riptide, a second one rises quickly to test some things and the ice breaks around as it rises. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare turns slowly in one direction, then in the other, movements so careful it barely makes a ripple on in the small space of water surrounding it. Inside, the pilot, James looks over the slightly unfamiliar controls and then hits his radio. "Ghost lead, this is Two...I'm going to follow the river north. It should put me in a good scouting position on the Decepticon advance. Will advise further once I'm there. Out." The Exo sinks beneath the surface again, then suddenly begins darting along underwater. One second it's a murky dark under the hole in the ice, the next it's a watery blur under the frozen river half a mile downstream. G2-Colored Boombox is riding along in Sideswipe, going wherever Sideswipe's decided they're going. It's what one does when one's altmode is a stationary object. Not to be left without something to do, Blaster is currently treating the advance group with a mixtape of Depeche Mode songs. Lamborghini Countach LP500S was sleek, stylish and super car-sexy.. even with snow tires. "Man.. this stuff's trippy." murmured Sideswipe in answer to the strange radio transmissions, his super-sweet HD Radio picking up the creepy ghost girl poetry in HIGH DEF! It's like there's some strange little girl rfeading of poetry right inside of him.. right beside Blaster! which there isn't.. Sideswipe has a srtrict no scary little girls in the driver seat rule.. He continues on down this road through nowhere.. just being super-cool. Turntail speeds along behind Sideswipe, the deep blue chassis of the Saleen S7 shining in the cold light of the day as his V8 engine roars along; driving his off-road tyres along the ground with a crackle of frost undertread. "You can say that again! I don't think I ever heard this Little Girl mix before.. where in Primus do you get this stuff from Blaster?" As they continue, an internal sensor activates with s sudden rush of beeping, "Slag! I'm picking up Decepticreeps in the area! We better turn back!" Always the hero, this Turntail. Despite being capable of hypersonic atmospheric speeds and even flying to other planets, this long white jet drifts lazily, just above it's mimimum safe flight speed. Two large ports open on the belly of the craft, and a pair of missiles laden with heavy warheads are fired. The missiles careen towards the surface and explode in a thunderous twin detonation, leaving two new smoking craters in the battered landscape. Wanton destruction by Snapdragon, or just lightening his load because he's too lazy to carry so many missiles? You be the judge. F-16 Falcon is strangely at home in this barren and desolate land, the chill in the air a warm and welcoming friend, the stark emptiness somehow soothing and comforting. The only trouble being the awful white brightness of the place, much too cheery, even the communications problem isn't really trouble, at least now the only voices berating and denigrating his continued and worthless existance are the ones that are in his head. Dreadwind is not following any orders well not if you don't count the one yelled at him to leave and go somewhere, anywhere else. Blueshift continues to blast over the icy terrain, flying low and starting to fire out more obnoxiously loud and bright shots. "NnnNNnNn, I'm picking up Autobots AND humans here, what a pathetic rabble!" he emits over the short range frequencies, though his message becomes garbled as the strange properties of the region interfere with his message. "Let us take their heads!" "It's from a little-known German single.. I picked it up back in..." Blaster pauses as the reports of Decepticons and defections come in all at once. "Turntail, come on, bro...we're gonna need ya. Everyone within earshot of this broadband, converge on Sideswipe's mark...Sideswipe..take us in. We're not gonna wait for them to come to us." He also took a moment to see if there were any EDCers around. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare emerges from the river again, this time much closer to the approaching Decepticons. Inside, the pilot watches them pass by overhead, then turns his Exo's head to look at the approaching Autobots, trying to guage distances and where they're going to meet up. Finally he triggers the Riptide's weapons systems, painting Blueshift with a targetting lock but not firing yet. From Exo-Suit 5388 Riptide Spare , Nate Briar keeps the Riptide hidden in the water for now. Why? Because he doesn't want to Decepticons to know that they have found a way to utilize the mobile suits under water. Turntail blathers out a quick scoff at Blaster's remark, "Hey! I was.. just thinking of the humans!" Yeah, that's right. Accelerating, Turntail's engine emits a renewed roar of power as the sleek shape of the beautiful Saleen S7 speeds past Sideswipe and Blaster, sending the blue shape straight toward the oncoming Decepticon jets, "C'mon lads!" Lamborghini Countach LP500S let out a almost chastising click of his vocal processor once Turntail voiced his suggestion, "Yeah, that's just what we do when 'Cons show up. Turntail." he reported even as his he surged forward in a headlong charge of the snow covered road, his engine howling as it was pressed to it's fullest, "HEY!?" he barked as TTurntail passed him up, "Rushing headlong into certain doom is my bit!" Blueshift curves sharply, using his powerful engines and thrusters to manuver around the frosted forests, flying up towards the sun, then ducking down, heading towards James' exo, shooting wildly. "I will eliminate the human!" he croaks, blue pulses blaring from his cannons. "I will break him!" Blueshift strikes Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with Pew pew. Having spotted the Autobots below, the sleek white jet drops lower to the surface. As it approaches, the vile coating of grease and grime can easily be seen on it's surface. With a few twists and turns, he transforms into his equally messy robot mode, gyro-guns gripped tightly in his big, brimy fists. He leers at the closest Autobot vehicle as he lands with a solid *thump* into the frozen tundra, and opens fire with his purple pistols. Snapdragon transforms into his filthy robot mode. Turntail evades Snapdragon's laser attack. F-16 Falcon continues to fly steadily, alone, across the sky Dreadwind doesn't even notice the somewhat loud and annoyingly happy Blueshift just the laser fire, the destruction he causes doing little to lift his spirits. In fact it just reminds him of the last battle he was in where he was thoroughly humiliated and left buried alive, again. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare shudders a bit as Blueshift's lasers sizzle into it's armored frame. It takes a few steps farther away from the river and then pulls out a large, Galting-style multi-barreled weapon to return fire. The six barrels begin to rotate, and within moments they're spinning at full speed and spitting out a long stream of tracer rounds! Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Blue Spacecraft with Ballistic. Turntail laughs, his wheels powering him along the frozen track as he passes Sideswipe, "Have to try harder then, eh?" Swearing inwardly, Turntail powers forward toward the enemy, not seeing the white jet glide down toward him under the ominous sight of Snapdragon's alt-mode landing with a crunch before him. Letting out a yelp, the blue Autobot slams on the brakes, skidding around the giant reptile as he speeds around it, "HOLY-!!" Is all he can say before his velocity drive shim into a spin before transforming and diving away to the ground. With a series of clicks and whirrs, the car's chassis slides and molds into a new shape as a robot rises up from the sportscar. From Exo-Suit 5388 Riptide Spare , Nate Briar continues to hide and just get information on the scanner. He radios to James, "Yeah, that's the Decepticon who attacked Paris." And he doesn't mean Hilton! Low and slow, through the treetops, under the range of radar flies an artic white and reflex blue armored humanoid form. Not like she isn't in a hurry, but a good scout always considers time verses immediate notice before dashing headlong into stupidity. Drawing nearer and after receiving a few short messages, she arcs upwards and picks up speed, heading towards a particular destination. And no, she isn't shoe shopping but hot diggity, there are some fine looking cars down there on the roadway... Where Turntail swerved, Sideswipe charged, his door popping open to eject a stereo befor it snapped shut, the car rocketing off the road and into the air befor he contorted into the form of a super-cool, red, robot. "Hey there, ugly!" trumpeted the red devil as he pushed a fist forward as he flew through the air, rocket pack now rushing him along. It was a tried and true Autobot hello. With the grinding of a transformation cog, the red lambourghini rears up onto it's back end, extending and shifting into the form of Sideswipe! You evade Sideswipe's Saying Hello attack. G2-Colored Boombox flies out of Sideswipe, and transforms along side of his longtime ally. In a scene that only exists in comics, he, too, flies directly at Snapdragon, fists front. Hopefully, he'll have better aim. Blaster rocks into his robot mode. You evade Blaster's Flying Blaster of Death attack. Blueshift is hurt by Jame's attack. The bullets dig into his armour as his spacecraft mode wobbles, and then transforms, using the momentum to rocket forwards towards the human's suit, sword igniting. "You DARE to strike me?" he roars as he swings his sword at the armour. "I will peel open your tin can and turn you into pulp!" The spaceship flips up into the handsome form of Blueshift Blueshift strikes Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with Deadly_Communism. F-16 Falcon veers ever so slightly from its course heading towards the now open warfare starting up between the Autobots and Decepticons. Of course Dreadwind's not actually going to do anything about it, he's just going to make notes on which Decepticons were foolish enough to start something on their own and will be suffering a thousand tiny agonies later. Snapdragon is definatly not impressed with Blaster's and Sideswipe's attempts toinflict bodily harm on his person. While Snapdragon may be big and his joints may be filled with gross-looking grease, the slime lubricates his body and makes the big oaf into a slick customer. He dodges left, then right, causing the two red Autobots to miss. "Ugly? You ain't seen NOTHING yet, Autobots." Snapdragon replies, optics flashing red briefly, and now being presented with even more Autobots, he fires a blast of destabilizing stun energy from his Gyro Gun to debilitate Blaster. You successfully strike Blaster, who is now temporarily incapacitated. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare is slashed by Blueshift's energy sword, leaving a long blackened scar all the way across the torso. Another weapon unfolds from the Exo's shoulder and rotates to aim at Blueshift. Inside, the lights flicker briefly as the weapon draws on the main power systems - although this weapon is smaller than the Vulcan cannon, it emits a bright crackling blast of lightning. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Blueshift with Electricity. Blaster hits the ground running, thankfully enough, and turns around just in time to get stunned by the #1 Stunna. He takes a few moments to collect himself, and his player takes the opportunity to run off and finish making dinner. Sideswipe flew wide of his intended mark but a glance told him he was in good company atleast. Tumbling to the frozen earth, Sideswipe kicked up a spray of snow and dirt as he crashed and tumbled, eventualy coming to his feet, a moment taken to brush off the chilled debris. In this moment of lowered guard a shot rings out and finds home on Bl;aster, "Sunova-" he bites out, his own weapon quickly produced and brought to bare. He then offered up a assortment of delicious lasers for Snapdragon to sample. They came in stingy, burny, and ouchy, Take your pick. Turntail untucks his pistol as he hits the frosty ground, skidding to a halt worryingly close to a patch of frozen ice. Pulling himself to his feet, the dashing form of the Autobot runs back toward Snapdragon, drawing a bead on the brute's back as he takes a couple shots from his safe distance. Turntail strikes Snapdragon with pistol. Snapdragon has little time to gloat over the now inert body of Blaster, with so many other potential combatants also present on the battlefield. Snapdragon looks up just in time to sidestep Sideswipe's lasers, and he leans right in the path of Turntail's pistol... Which richochets off of his greasy armor with a sharp *ping!*, but doesl ittle else. Snapdragon snarls at the Autobots, and decides it's time to get messy... He leaps up, and transforms into his ferocious but ungainly dinosaur mode! He glares down at Sideswipe, and swings his heavy tail at the red Autobot, the prone Blaster forgotten. Snapdragon transforms into a often lazy and always filthy disnosaur. Snapdragon strike Sideswipe with Slapshot!. Blueshift is hurt and starts to shake slightly. His optics tighten and he starts running at the exo, from his wrist extruding several blades that he throws, fanning them out in an attempt to pierce vitals on the suit. "Hnn, you are flesh and blood, if your gods wanted you to fight Transformers, they would have BUILT you from metal!" Blueshift strikes Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with Blade. Brawl rumbles across the steppes, gas turbine engine whistling steadily as he rolls the snow and mud under his treads. He's far from the fastest Decepticon, but when he gets there he means to stay. F-16 Falcon finally reaches the area of the building conflict most would not have thought tht a jet could actually travel that slowly and still remain aloft, but somehow Dreadwind manages it. Not willing or eager to take part in the conflict, in fact he's probably just going to watch, after all fighting over this pathetic countryside in this misbegotten country is hardly a worthwhile endeavour. From Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare , James Bailey gapes at the damage readings. He's used to more armor in an Exo. Cleary the Riptide model can't hope to stand up to a Decepticon in close combat. He starts to back the suit into the water, hoping to gain some advantage by shifting the setting to one that his Riptide is more adapted to. Along the way he fires a few quick lasers to try and keep Blueshift at bay. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare misses Blueshift with its Laser attack. Blaster finally works things out, and gets back into things...only to find Snapdragon now in Crazy Dinosaurish Mode. Deciding that another full-frontal attack may meet with the same results, he whips out his rifle from subspace. With a quick check and an aim, a little electrical ditty is sent speeding towards Snapdragon's slimy sternum. Blaster strikes Snapdragon with Alliteration. Turntail widens his optics in sudden realisation that his weaponry isn't likely to hurt Snapdragon, especcially now he's in his Dinosuar mode. Falling back from Snapdragon - and especcially the threat of that powerful tail - the Autobot takes a further shot at the Decepticon, yelling to inspire his comrades and hopefully get this battle over with, "C'mon! Have at him!" Snapdragon evades Turntail's laser attack. Sideswipe's jaw clenches as Snapdragon yet again sleezes his way out of the line of fire, "What's it going to take to make this guy lay down!?" he demanded of noone as he tried to steady his aim once more only to find the 'con very close.. and very jurassic, "Slag, dinosaur." he managed befor he was sent on a unplanned flight. this flung him far enough to be out of the round as his player to talk on the phone. Selena flies. Blueshift deftly leaps into the air, Jame's laserbolt flying closeby. "Hah!" he yells to no-one in particular. "Is that it human? Is that the limit of your power, one puny laserbolt?" Flying into the air, he pushes out one booted foot. "Now, sink to your grave!" he shouts, aiming to kick the exo in the head and hammer it into the ice below. Blueshift misses Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with his Boot attack. Snapdragon's slippery, seeping saliva-slime slips slickly, dripping down from his teethy jaws as he observes, alomst lazily, the Autobot's futile attempts to repel him. Blaster's electricty-based attack leaves a jagged, lightning bolt-like burn down one flank, while he cleanly sidesteps Turntail's lasers. He leers down on them wih sickly magenta optics, and turns his attention back to Blaster, who dissapoints him by now being mobile. "Have all you want, Autobot. But you won't like it!" Snapdragon replies to Turntail's comment with a growl, and then lunges towards blaster, teeth-first. You strike Blaster with Evisceration. Brawl crests a hill and applies brakes, LIDAR periscope flicking one way and the other. "Hn," he mutters, surveying the battle raging across the tundra below. He considers Blaster, but Snapdragon gets in the way. Who else, who else... ah-ha. The pintle-mounted automatic grenade launcher atop his turret swivels to track Turntail. Fump-fump-fump-fump-fump-fump goes his MK-19 launcher, smoke trails arcing through the air. BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM goes a burst of 40mm grenades in a wide radius around Turntail a few seconds later. Brawl misses Turntail with its MK-19 Grenade Launcher attack. F-16 Falcon starts to lazily circle the combat, thankfully Dreadwind has been totally ignored after all it's not as if he's looking for a fight or a reason to actually have to do smoething. Besides the Decepticons below seem to be holding their own anyway and with the arrival of Brawl his presence is more than superfluous. From Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare , James Bailey barely manages to shift the Exo-Suit aside to avoid the kick, letting Blueshift's boot splash into the water where his Riptide was standing a second ago. But then he peers at his screens, watching Blueshift in puzzlement. Okay, that time James is -sure- the Decepticon's mouth was moving. Suddenly understanding dawns on him...and he deactivates the Riptides's underwater noise reduction filtering. Then he triggers the external emitters. "Sorry about that...were you saying something?" He asks politely. And then he sends his Exo-Suit at Blueshift in a diving tackle, trying to drag him under the water! Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare misses Blueshift with its grasp attack. Selena pulls up, having now drawn close enough to make out a fracas in the wilds of Russia. (Or wherever we are ;>) Winglets splay out to hold the hover while the scout runs a few cross comparisons through the satellite uplinks to home base. 'Lovely'. Eyes narrowing behind her helm, she sends off a quick signal to get a sitrep all the while watching to see if the fray is going to spill over into civilian life. Turntail curls his lip into a smirk as he avoids the attention of Snapdragon, attempting to take a further shot at the Dinosaur, but holds his finger, his aim spoilt by Blaster's proximity to the Decepticon. Under his breath, the Autobot grumbles something abou tthings being simpler if he didn't have all these rules about shooting his mates. Hearing the launch of Brawl's grenades, Turntail turns to see a volley of explosives heading his way. With a spring of his leg servos, the blue Autobot dives to the ground, narrowing avoiding the trail of grenades as they explode around him. "Where did HE come from?!" Transforming, Turntail accelerates toward Brawl and out of his mortar range. Folding his arms behind his back, the robot's chassis reshapes over the mechanoid and molds into the sleek shape of a Saleen S7. Blaster gets a face full of Snapdragon, and hits the ground, all the while struggling to keep hold of his assailant. "Well...have it your way, then!" he grunts out, while trying...as crazy as it might sound, to flip his attacker over. Blaster was never known for being a pansy. Blaster strikes Snapdragon with his Watch me miss! attack. Sideswipe with a plaintive groan, Sideswipe presses himself up from a snow crater, the white powder sliding away as he hauls his frame back to it's feet. His frontal torso bor a heft indentation that m,atched Snaptrap's tail, the Lambor looking down over it for a moment befor the report of morter shells calling his attention back to the battle. Brawl, the twin could almost smile. Finaly a target he could hit! Hup, nevermind, Turntail had him. He felt the snow shudder however and turned his attention back to Snappy and his playmates.. only to see Blaster toss the sucker! "Way to go Blastyer!" he barked out, pumping his fist befor he took aim, hoping to shoot the dino while he was down. Snapdragon evades Sideswipe's I can't aim attack. Meanwhile Brawl's main gun has been loading a shell. His targeting system locks onto the sports car jinking and dodging between the grenade explosions, he calculates the angle, elevates, traverses... Depleted uranium is GO! BOOM-chank! Brawl misses Turntail with its 120mm Cannon attack. "Hold still! I can't blow you inna tiny pieces if you don't hold still!" shouts a voice from Brawl's turret as a spout of dirt rises into the air on Turntail's far side. Sideswipe mutters, "Tell me about it." "Nnnn I can't swim, flesh creature!" Blueshift roars, pulling away from James as the exo flails in the water. "How am I supposed to kill you if you try to kill yourself first, it is ridiculous!" The Decepticon grabs a chunk of rocky ice, and lifting it, smashes it down on the exo's top. "I don't think humans can breath water, can they? Its time to find out!" Blueshift strikes Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with Ice!. Blaster certainly is no chump, and his lower position offers him some leverage on the bigger, bulkier Snapdragon. The large dinosaur-like machine slowly topples over onto his side, pathetically small forearms wiggling uselessly as he falls. He manags to wiggle enough to avoid Sideswipe's lasers, and the prone dinosaur glares at Blaster. He struggles to ruse to his feet, and belches a gout of flames at Blaster in the process. Snapdragon strikes Blaster with fire. F-16 Falcon finally finishes a single circuit around the battlefield and notes that for once the sight of Decepticons attacking hasn't called each and every Autobot out from under the slime encrusted rocks that they usually hide under. Dreadwind talks out loud, not that anyone usually listens, "Great, for once there is no stampede of Autobots rushing too the aid, thought that probably means that they're all elsewhwhere. Probably busy trying to destroy the Argosy or something, not that we could tell if that was happening, what with the strange radio interruptions." From Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare , James Bailey is rocked as his Exo gets smashed back by the attack. But James doesn't feel any pain from the attack, other than a slight nudge as his safety harness holds him in place. He reaches forward to tap the speakers on the inside of his cockpit. He hears the Decepticon talking now, but maybe there's still something wrong - it's not making much sense. He flicks on the emitters to respond. "Um...no, I can't breathe water. That's why I'm wearing this armored suit, you see." He speaks slowly and carefully, as if explaining to a child. "Of course, it's also got other features..." Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Blueshift with Vulcan Minigun. Turntail holds his course toward Brawl, the roar of his V8 engine driving him forward at full press; only swerving as a cloud of dirt and snow explodes behind him. Praying to his maker, Turntail accelerates up the hillcrest, and transforms. His powerful velocity driving him forward as the Autobot leaps onto the back of the heavily armoured tank, slashing across the armour with his sword. With a series of clicks and whirrs, the car's chassis slides and molds into a new shape as a robot rises up from the sportscar. Turntail strikes Brawl with sword. Selena holds her position steady, running checks, keeping an eagles eye out for spill over... And possible incoming threats. So far, being in the back of beyond Russia has it's good points, no people in the way, only weather and ice. The glacier white suit drops closer to the snow covered ground, sending sensors out to ping as far as they can reach.. "Huh...." Blaster looks down at his charred torso. "Hey, man..I just got that waxed!" In the back of his mind, he hears a still, small voice..a voice that sounds eerily like Blueshift's, saying "Only you can defeat Snapdragon. No mercy." Blaster decides that he likes this voice, despite it's odd personification of a Decepticon whom he is facing in this very battle. He listens to this voice. He draws his Ginormous Axe out of subspace. He swings his axe at Snapdragon. He...... .... strikes! Blaster strikes Snapdragon with his Still, Small Voice attack. Sideswipe sends a accusing glare at his weapon, almost flinging it to the earth in a fit of annoyance, "Fine.. let's try the punching thing again." he murmurs to himself as he stows the weapon into a compartment and starts a brisk run. He sees Blaster strike home with a .. axe? "When did he get that?" No matter, angling around to pincer Snapdragon between the two bots, Sideswipe lashes out with a swift series of punches from his right arm, blows pistoning out from his shoulder. Sideswipe strikes Snapdragon with his Punchify attack. Blueshift staggers again as the minigun pellets his armour, but still he doesn't stop. If anything it makes him madder, his head twitching as the firepower thuds into it. "Yeah, features such as SUCKING!" he snarls, aiming a backhand at the exo. "If you like the water so much, you can live in it. FOREVER!" He laughs at his own joke, even if it is a bit crap Brawl's turret swivels as fast as it can as Turntail comes tearing up the hill at him, coaxial machinegun chopping up the ground just behind the Autobot, but he's too fast and before Brawl can put shots on the target Turntail is on top of him and slashing into his turret glacis! He transforms, rising to his knees and swivelling at the waist in an attempt to seize Turntail, raise him over his head and hurl the Autobot into the frozen ground with an incoherent roar. "RAAAAAGH!" Blueshift misses Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with his Backhand attack. The tank clambers up into a very thickset robot. Brawl strikes Turntail with Olympic-Class Clean-and-Jerk. F-16 Falcon decides that flying is a little too much effort, sure it's probably a pretty safe seat but then it's also a lot of effort making sure you stay up and not crash into anything. Dreadwind power dives, transforming he lands heavily at the edge of the conflict, he raises an arm and points at the Autobots, yes finally he's about to join in... then he crumples and falls to the ground in a dejected heap, "Even the Autobots don't pay any attention to me, i don't know why i even bother to try." F-16 Falcon suddenly halts it's forwards momentum and pulls up as it bends in half. The body of the jet twists and unfolds to become legs, while arms extrude themselves from the fuselage sides. Snapdragon is taken aback briefly as Blaster whips out a ginormous axe. He has just enough time to quip, "Hey, I didn't know Blaster had an axe." from his grimy jaws before the large axe swings his way, cutting a large gash deep in the side of Snapdragon's neck. Blue energon drips from the wound, mingling with Snapdragon's trademarked black grease before it drips to the ground. Briefly stunned, Sideswipe's melee attacks strike home on Snapdragon's exposed flank, but he doesn't seem to notice. All of his attention is focused on the Autobot communication officer/part-time portable stereo. Snapdragon fears no axe, and he fears no radio, and he fears no Autobot. His optics glimmer red, and his jaw drop open, dripping vile black sludge. Snapdragon rears back, and with a thrust of his powerful legs, he leaps towards the smaller Blaster, and lashes out ferociously with his carbon-steel teeth and claws, strong and sharp enough to make scrap metal out of any Autobot. Snapdragon strike Blaster with crush. Blaster takes the bite-down of a century...yeesh, he has got to get Crush for himself. Nevertheless...he LIVES. Albeit not nearly as well put-together as he had been just one minute ago. Finding himself at the losing end of the melee battle, he doesn't try to fight back conventionally. Instead, he turns off his audio receptors, and turns himself up to Eleven. Depeche Mode never sounded so loud as they did now. Snapdragon evades Blaster's This one goes up to Eleven! attack. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare shifts aside the minigun, barrles now glowing with waste heat, while simultaneously leaning back. Third Generation Exos are already nimble, and this one is a small enough target that even the small movement can causes an attack to miss. Since Blueshift is still so close at hand, the Exo lashes out with it's own tiny clawed fist to try and punch Blueshift in the nose! Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Blueshift with punch. Turntail lets out a mightily heroic squeal, flailing his limbs as Brawl takes hold of the Autobot, throwing him in a wide arc back down to the frozen ground beneath the hill. Tumbling down the frozen slope, Turntail skids down onto a slab of thick ice, where he promptly whimpers, and pulls himself up to his feet. The ice crackling under his weight as Turntail rotates his shoulders forward, pulling himself into a physical posture as he projects his voice up, "C'mon down, Decpticreep! That was nothing! Think you can take me on hand-to-hand?!" Inwardly trembling, Turntail spins his sword in his hand, cutting the freezing air with a hiss. Selena begins a slow circling glide, angling to end the arc closer to where the suit in the water is battling Blueshift. Still, not making any outwardly aggressive moves other than a few panels flipping over and ocking acros a gauntlet. Sideswipe is ignored, he doesn't quite mind this because it means he can keep on wailing away at Snapdragon, it's the fact that he is ignored in favor of ripping the ever living crap out of his buddy, Blaster! Sideswipe's audials scream as Blaster unleashes a painful blast of sound, shaking his every component lightly, he was amazed that Snapdragon was still intact! "Hey, no chewing on the DJ!" shouts Sideswipe as he cuts loose with a barrage of punches, both arms pistoning wildly with earth crushing force. Snapdragon evades Sideswipe's Punchapalooza attack. "Yeah," replies Brawl, cracking his knuckles as he tromps down the hillside after Turntail on stubby legs. He cocks back his right fist and swings for the heroic Autobot's chin. "I think that a lot." Brawl misses Turntail with its Right Cross attack. Snapdragon munches on bits of Blaster's external armour plating, chewing loudly and rather messily. Blaster's intense blast of rock music startles the big dinocon briefly, but the noise just isn't enough to get through Snapdragon's thick head. In response, he belches loudly in Blaster's face, a few bits of the red 'bot's own metal flying out, covered in spittle, accompanied by vile fumes. I guess he's not a fan. Sideswipe continues to be ignored by the much larger Decepticon, as the Autobot car's hands simply seem to bounce off of the heavily oiled and dirty hide. Snapdragon seems to enjoy the taste of tapedeck, though, because he goes in for seconds. Snapdragon strikes Blaster with his bite attack. Blueshift is punched on the nose. On. The. Nose. He is not impressed. In fact, he is /very/ not impressed as his optics flash a deep blue and his face turns into a rictus of a scowl. "You... you dare hit my dose!" he mumbles, trying to fix his face, jets blasting himself into the air. "I will DESTROY YOU!" Thrusters igniting he transforms, heading straight up, and then with little regard for his own safety, hurtles back down in an attempt to smash straight into the human Blueshift leaps into the air, flipping into the form of a small spacecraft Blueshift misses Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare with his ram attack. Dreadwind sits there leaning against a tree that slowly starts to bend under his impressive mass, "Oh yes, fight, destroy, annihilate, it's all for nothing, you know we're all doomed to painful termination no matter how good we are. Look at us fighting over this pathetic useless landscape, for some convoluted purpose that only Galvatron can fathom, what a waste." Turntail dodges the attack with a quick reflex, ducking out behind Brawl as his wrist compartment opens, revealing a concealed laser before firing point-blank into the Decepticon's hide, the ice beneath his feet crackling louder under the added weight of Brawl. Turntail strikes Brawl with laser. Sideswipe's fists ache, metal rent and battered,, it was like punching a fricken city former, "Will you just give it up already!?" he shouts in aggitation and frustration, Dreadwind's words somehow reaching him from across the distance and striking a nerve. "And you!" he barks, whippiong a weapon around and pointing it on the combiner-seeker, "Fight, flee, or frag yourself. Just shut up!" and with that he offers Dreadwind some love.. love in the form of lasers.. Blaster has had QUITE ENOUGH of this. At least it would seem that way, when he says "I have had QUITE ENOUGH of this." If one dose of sonic assaultery won't get it done...he'll try another! It's about the best thing he can do, being pinned down by an enormous dinosaur, after all. Snapdragon is temporarily incapacitated by Blaster's It's Like Joining BMG attack. From Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare , James Bailey nods in satisfaction. NOW that Decepticon is talking the way he was expecting. He manages to twist the Exo aside and into the water, then sends a few more lasers after Blueshift. Something is telling him this enemy just needs a little more encouragement to leave the battle... Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Blue Spacecraft with Laser. Selena continues her glide, coming to a snowy landing some short distance from the river and the exosuit battle going on. Brawl grunts angrily at the laser impact and stumbles a few steps back before he catches himself, pulling out his own gun from where he stores it clamped under his left arm. "If you wanna shoot eachother instead that's okay by me," he grumbles, racking the slide of the electron gun and raising it to fire from the hip with a loud SPRAK as a bolt of lightning leaps out of the fat, carbonized muzzle. Brawl strikes Turntail with Electron Gun. While heavy does of music were ineffecive against the heavily armoured hide of Snapdragon, Blaster's latest attempt at using sound to battle the dragon has had more success. The pitch, frequency, and amplitude are too much for him, penetrating his small head and sending the dinosuar toppling to the ground, laying prone on his right side. He's out, but for how long? Blueshift circles the area, hit by laser blasts, but still very much in the battle... until a communication from high command informing him that he is late for his important janitorial duties. "Curse you human!" he cries. "My lord and master requests my irreplacable presense, I will leave your demise for others. Till next time!" And with that, he rockets into the sky Selena Llwyll says, "Sorry., cats are being weird. Forgot to brush them after their bath this weekend and it's been hairball central today." Blueshift retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots. Dreadwind looks depressingly over at the combat, "All of those options? all of them are utterly useless, you can't flee your doom it will find you wherever you are. You can't beat your doom it knows your every weakness and as for suicide that will never work it'll only leave you maimed but alive and your suffering will increase all the more for trying to escape." The laser fire patters against Dreadwind's armoured legs and is soundly ignored by him, after all it only adds ever so slightly to his eternal pain and suffering. Not even bothering to stand up he draws a weapon and fires back at Sideswipe though of course he knows that he's going to miss. Dreadwind strikes Sideswipe with Thermal Melter. Turntail staggers back from the Electricity strike, and growls, "Damn your tracks!" Running in close as he knocks the rifle aside, driving his sword up and slashing at the heavy lump that is Brawl. Turntail strikes Brawl with sword. Selena watches as one Blueshift takes to the skies. "One down.." Turning her head to stare around at the ongoing fracas between mechanisms. "Many more to go.." Stalking towards the River to check on the Exo that was lurking there. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare slogs ashore slowly, raising the gatling rifle in salute to the departing Blueshift. Or maybe it's to just so the Exo can mime blowing smoke away from the gunbarrels. Then it turns and begins marching towards the Autobots. Trying to capitalize on Turntail's action, it unleashes another hail of bullets, walking the tracer fire into the Combaticon. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Brawl with Vulcan Minigun. Sideswipe takes the bolt of compressed air like a heavy punch, it impacts against his gut, jerking the mech forward with a gut-punched grunt, "Frioggen kill joys." he muttered to himself befor another wail of music brought the Horrorcon to a stop. This could mean only one thing. "Sitting Ducktron!" he called as a flare launcher ratcheted up into place from behind his shoulder, a brillientburst of life erupting from the muzzle befor it streaked into the monster, it was meant for more peaceful use.. but hey, so was he. Sideswipe strikes Snapdragon with Magnesium Phosphorous Flare attack. Blaster cheers as Sideswipe takes full advantage of the situation, and then moves in to deliver the only followup that he can think of...that being a heaping helpin' of Blaster. To the face. Blaster strikes Snapdragon with Watch me miss! attack. Brawl raises a knee and kicks out low with the side of his heavy foot. It's not a graceful kick. Nor is it one that takes a long time and limber hips to master. It's all simple, brutal power, a kick aimed with no more intent than to crack a shin in half. "Hngh!" grunts Brawl, partly from the effort and partly from the combination of the sword carving sparks off of his thick armor and the 20mm shells pounding his back. Brawl strikes Turntail with Legbreaker. Snapdragon lies peacefully, and seems to be enjoying his brief respite from the fracas. He even seems to be contently snoring a little bit. Until Sideswipe hits him with a rocket in the AFT. The rockets explodes in a brilliant burst of flames, lighting some of Snapdragon's greasy lubricant on fire for good measure. Plus, Blaster punches him in the face, cracking one of his magenta optics. The flaming dinosaur begrudgingly rises from the ground, glaring at the smaller, red Autobots with malevolence. "RARG! I was trying to take a NAP, I don't need you shooting rockets up my butt and punching me in the face! If you little punks knew what was good for you you'd leave me alone!" He roars, and reaches out with his blockyl ittle skull to take a bite at Sideswipe. Sideswipe evades Snapdragon's evisceration attack. Dreadwind is dismayed to see that his single attack strikes home, clean and clear, he just knows that it's going to make things go from worse to terrible in mere nanoseconds. Though of course just to prove him wrong the universe gives Sideswipe his first opportunity to actually hit the monstrous dinocon Snapdragon which he takes. Dreadwind meanwhile struggles to get to his feet, if you didn't know better you'd think he'd been badly damaged during the battle, "Everynoe ignores me, no one ever pays any attention, why does no one like me?" With that he raises a fist and points towards the depressingly bright and cheerily coloured Autobot, "You'll be my friend won't you." He states in his dead lifeless voice as his wrist weaponry flares into life. Dreadwind strikes Sideswipe with Single wrist blaster. Turntail lets out a mighty scream of agony - no doubt making the injury seem worse than it is, but never-the-less sending the Autobot sprawling, firing a series of reflex-laser bursts into the air, taking little time to aim as his leg servo locking up and sending energy surges and sparks flying as the blue bot staggers for a moment, before falling back onto the ice. His hands deserately tryng to find a hold as he pulls himself away from the towering Decepticon. The frozen terrain cracking up to a serious extent under the feet of the two Transformers. With a tight grimace on is lips, Turntail speaks, "Grrrnh.. cheap shot!" Turntail misses Brawl with his laser attack. Blaster continues his assault on Snapdragon, even as the latter turns to face Sideswipe. Kicky! Kicky! Blaster strikes Snapdragon with This is silly attack. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare lowers the Vulcan rifle, now glowing with waste heat, and breaks into a jog, changing direction to vector in on the largest Decepticon target present (and also to keep close to the river). It's robotic running stride slows down momentarily as it gathers energy, then unleashes it in another energized bolt. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes you with Electricity for 4 points of damage. Selena turns her head in time to see the Riptide bound out of the river and go surging forth, spitting out a veritable hail of weaponsfire at the tank-decepticon. "This could get.. messy." THe scout class EDC member shakes her helmed head and primes dynamos. Sideswipe manages to stwep back just in time, Snapdragon's teeth closing like a bear trap inches away from his frame. "Thank you Momma Lambor for making me speedy." he spoke beneath his breath even as some of his paint peeled from the fumes escaping Snapdragon's maw. Of course there really wasn't someone called Momma Lambor back on Cybertron. Or was there? Moments after his near pain experience, Dreadwind reminds him of his presence with a shot in the side, energy rounds biting painfuly into his side, Sideswipe cradling the damaged section as he put some more distance between himself and Snapdragon. "Aw, are you lonely little guy?" asked the Lambor twin tauntingly, "Alright, I'll play with you for a while." and with that, Sideswipe rocketed towards the glum flyer, his jjet pack rushing him along as he lowereds a shoulder. Sideswipe strikes Dreadwind with Crash Course. Brawl trundles after Turntail with a heavy clanking and ratcheting sound, laser bolts fizzing past him; he doesn't wince or even seem to react to them, which is probably a big part of why he's so easy to hit most of the time. "Love an' war, chuckles. Ain't no thing as a cheap shot." To drive the point home he raises a foot and tries to stomp on Turntail's face. Brawl strikes Turntail with If You Want a Vision of the Future.... Snapdragon is undeterred by Blaster's pitiful kicks, which pretty much just bounce off of the Horrorcon's greasy, filthy armor. A bolt of electricity sizzle across Snapdragon's back, burning off a layer of grease. He turns from Blaster, to Sideswipe, and to a new annoyance, a human clad an an exo-suit, unsure of which deserves to be stepped on more. Sideswipe leaves to pester the ever-glum Dreadwind, so Snapdragon swings around and tries to stopm on Blaster with one heavy, filthy, clawed foot. Snapdragon strikes Blaster with claw. Dreadwind gives out an almost audible moan of distress as once more the universe deems to guide his aim straght and true, no missing for Dreadwind, well at least not until he's really managed to tick someone off enough so that they send back the suffering a hundredfold. Oh and here it comes, sure he could try and dodge but what would be the point? After all he knows that whatever he does the universe will ensure that Sideswipe makes contact so he does nothing but let his arm drop and hold tightly to his blaster as he is bowled over. "Oh i am always alone. You do realise that it is totally pointless, all of this, you can't avoid termination, it is... inevitable. Only the amount that you suffer can be changed, better to just lie still and wait do not struggle against the darkness, let it wash over you and hold you like a welcoming friend." Dreadwind tries to extricate the troublesome mech from his chest area with a rolling kick, with any luck it'll keep Sideswipe going on over into the treeline. Dreadwind strikes Sideswipe with Kick. Turntail widens his optics in terror as he sees Brawl's attempt to.. well.. crush a very valuable feature of this speedy Autobot's person. With his attempts at grabbing Brawl's foot coming to no avail, Turntail rolls aside; the foot coming down onto his shoulder plate, causing a renewed scream to leave his metallic lips as a surge of energy bursts from his chassis and over his chest plate. From Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare , James Bailey keeps the Riptide trotting along on the riverbank, trying to figure out which Decepticon represents the largest threat...or the most opportune target. He sees that Brawl has apparently got the upper hand now against Turntail, so he drops the targetting reticle on the broad Decepticon's form again. This time he uses a precision attack - or what passes for one on a Riptide - to avoid the risk of hitting Turntail. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare strikes Brawl with Laser. Selena kicks upwards, shadowing the Riptide. Player goes to medicate cat. Sideswipe catches a good kick, a grunt of impact followed by the sound of metal crashing against wood.. and wood so rarely won those contests. The trunk splintered and cracked, bowing down over Sideswipe and pinning him for a moment against the snow. With a push Sideswipe managed to free himself, hauling himself back upto his feet. "You know, you really just suck the enjoyment right out of these life and death struggles." he commented dryly.. he just couldn't muster the gumption to shoot the guy again. Blaster is stomped on...far from out of the fight, but still seeing the better part of valor at this moment, he seizes the next distraction to make a gleeful run for it, to the hills, to the dales, wherever he might go. He had a feeling the battles here were far from over, and he wanted to be around for the next one.. Brawl stumbles (he's topheavy) as Turntail shifts under his weight and Bailey hits him off-center with another energy blast from his suit. "Nnnghad enough OUTTA YOU!" snarls Brawl as he falls over and transforms, hitting the ground as a tank (and thankfully not on top of poor Turntail). His turret swings towards Bailey's Riptide suit with a low hum. BOOM-chank! Twelve feet of muzzle flare blasts out of his cannon as a DU shell streaks downrange. Brawl scrunches down into an M1A2 Abrams tank. Snapdragon isn't done with Sideswipe yet, so the slick carmoded Autobot had better look out! He turns his attention away from Blaster, and stomps towards the unsuspecting Sideswide... Altough the loud stomps might give away his intentions. If Sideswipe were to turn and look, he's likely see a very large set of jaws coming his way, dripping with black oil. At the last moment Snapdragon launches his impressive bulk into the air, and comes crashing down towards sideswipe. The gloom and despair rises up inside of Dreadwind as he once more hits home, oh boy is his suffering going to increase because of this after all at this rate he's going to finish off his opponant with only minor crippling injuries to himself. While Sideswipe struggles with his new woody friend Dreadwind spends his time righting himself and turning to observes the Autobot, "Enjoyment? You actually enjoy this sort of thing? No wonder my head has been hurting so much, having to talk down to your level, you'll never cope with or understand the crushing enormity of it all. The universe *is* suffering, life is pain,the sooner you comprehend that the sooner you will realise your wasted efforts, your struggles are futile." Dreadwind would press the attack only trouble is he just depressed himself into inactivity, his arms hang limply at his sides. Turntail lets out a sharp grunt as he rolls over onto his front, glaring aroun dhimself as he cradles his damaged systems. With his chassis sliding over his injured frame, Turntail transforms back into the sleek blue form of his super-sports car, the V8 engine roaring anew as he powers away from the Decepticon - and the conflict with a skid of his rear wheels, "Its no use! I'm done for!" Sideswipe would so totaly say something to rock Dreadwind's world, something so amazing and heart warming that not only would Dreadwind's ghostly mood lift but he would immediatly rush over and embrace Sideswipe in brotherly love.. As luck would have it though Sideswipe was currently being thrashed within a inch of functionality, stomped beneath Snapdragon's bulk, his weapon returning and firing back powerfuly as Sideswipe called back, "Can'rt talk now, getting crushed." Sideswipe strikes you with plasma for 7 points of damage. Exo-Suit 5391 Riptide Spare is blasted back by the tank's shell, flying to land in the river again with a -SPLASH!- It starts to rise out of the water, but the various servers and mechanisms can be hear heard whining more loudly than normal. Inside, James eyes a small screen showing his Exo-Suit's status, chewing a lip with worry. Finally he clicks on the emitters. "This Exo can't take any more damage, Autobot. I've got to cut out of here...suggest you do the same!" Brawl's turbine engine roars to life with a whistling shriek. "Heh heh, lookit 'em go! Run, rabbits, run!" He releases the brake on his left tread and engages the left clutch, spinning in place to point his prow at the fighters. His turret swings around and his coaxial machinegun chatters away at Sideswipe, the brave holdout. Brawl strikes Sideswipe with M2HB Heavy Machinegun. Dreadwind just continues to stand there, stock still, completely oblivious to the Snapdragon Sideswipe love fest going on, instead his mind is filled with the dread of what is still to come of what he can't avoid and the suffering that all will endure until he alone is left and his life finally extinguished. Followed by awakening once more to a new universe filled with more new horrors and pain the likes of which none here can even try to comprehend. The plasma might look powerful to Sideswipe, but to the much larger and fiercer Snapdragon, it seems fairly weak. The energy does blast a smoldering pit in the Horrorcon's armor, but it just makes him more mad and determined to take revenge on Sideswipe. He lashes out with his bulky tail, trying to send Sideswipe flying across the frozen battlefield. Again. Sideswipe is made uniquely aware of the fact that he just so happens to be the last mech standing that wears the red badge. Brawl's bullets riddle him with holes, Dreadwind's depression dampens his good mood, Snapdragon's tail lives up to the attack name, snaping him away like a puck heading for a net. He's left caught in the trees, a stump having roughly stopped his low altitude flight. Pushing himself to his feet, Sideswipe comes to a stand.. how he's still on his feet is anyone's guess. "Alright, I'm giving you guys one last chance to surrender befor I get really mad!" he barks out like Magnus on a bad day... None seem likely to buy it however, "No, huh?" he asks, lofting a brow curiously, "Well then.. later!" and he books! Sideswip tilts forward, arms tucking in and legs snapping together, a transformation cog grinding as this rowdy Autobot warrior turns into a sleek, speedy lamborghini. Dreadwind would have had some snappy smart reply for Sideswipe but he's busily lost in the swirling darkness and gloom of his own misery. So what if the Decepticons have apparently won today, it's all going to become ashes anyway. Snapdragon glares after Sideswipe, and snorts loudly through his nose in disgust. "Foolish, outdated car." The dinosaur spits on the ground, leaving an ugly black stain. "More useless territory for the empire." Before returning to base to refuel and sleep for the next week.
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