| abstract | - The state's most rugged mountains, the Cascades consist of high, craggy peaks, jewel-like lakes, and lush evergreen forests. A relatively young mountain range, the Cascades are dotted with volcanos like the dormant and glacier-crowned Mount Ranier, the awe-inspiring and still active Mount St. Helens, and Mount St. Hillary, the Autobots' first home on Earth. The mountain looks like it has lost its top. Literally. It seems to have erupted rather recently, lava burning through the trees and greenery that once grew on its snow capped sides. Black rivers of volcanic rock, some glassy, look like they are running down the sides. The jagged top of the once calm mountain smokes constantly now, spewing ash, soot and other debris into the air, almost choking you if you breathe. From the Shuttle, Everyone take heart, for Rodimus Prime is not piloting this time! This is an especially good thing right now, for at the moment he looks rather distracted. The Golden Age is transferring the prisoner Sage from the Orion Pax to the Ark for holding, and Rodimus... Rodimus really just came along because he was heading that way, anyway. The trip is nearing its completion and thus far has been uneventful. Prime himself, still sporting the scorch marks from yesterday's Decepticon encounter, has been silent and sullen this trip, occasionally watching their mysterious prisoner warily. From Autobot Shuttle , Cliffjumper, being nearly a security officer (mostly on the basis of height), is seated by the Sage's little cell, keeping his twin laser pistols out and their twin laser safeties off. He hasn't said much, either. He's been too busy staring intently at the Sage this entire time. Occasionally, if the Sage, you know, moves or twitches or robo-breathes, raising a gun. From Autobot Shuttle , Ultra Magnus is seated behind the craft's command console, piloting this prisoner transport. The reluctant City Commander has been eerily quiet the entire trip, echoing Prime's unease with his own silence. So far the 'trip' has been quiet, you know ... like too quiet. And for just /once/, Magnus thinks the situation would be better with a loud mouth like Powerglide or Air Raid. Just this once though, never again. From Autobot Shuttle , Crosscheck glances towards Rodimus but something tells him it's not the right time to bug him about getting repaired. Anyway, the scientist has other things in mind right now. He's the medical officer in charge The Sage's safety...hopefully nothing is going to go wrong because he seriously lack knowledge in non cybertronian medical fields. Looking away from Rodimus, he turns his attention towards console in front of him which is actually displaying the sensor readings from the Sage's cell scanners. Inside the shuttle, The Sage seems rather inactive, hanging his head forward, as if he knows he has been beaten. As they near their destination, he rasps out, "You beat him. This time. You may have failed, though, then what would your options be, Rodimus Prime? EVERYTHING in the universe would be ripped apart by the fractal energies. Where would your people go? What would you do to save yourself?" Outside the shuttle, though, the Decepticons are lying in wait in the forests around Mt. Saint Hillary! With a shrill cry of "ATTACK!" Galvatron bursts free of the the forest, firing his fusion cannon in the general direction of the Autobot shuttle! "Hmhahaha, Ravage has done well once again! Strange how some of my best warriors are also the smallest!" Tremor charges from his hiding place at Galvatron's call, just a few steps behind his leader. He cracks off a few shots in the shuttle's general direction, hitting mostly nothing. "Somebody's gonna have to get this guy," he says to no one in particular, "while I run interference. M'not much for takin folks alive." Among the dastardly Decepticons laying in wait is the green and purple MIXMASTER! He bursts from thier meager cover, laser pistol in hand. He begins to emit an optical distortion field into the air above the Decepticons, giving them some cover and concealment should the Autobot shuttle return fire. Combat: Mixmaster strikes Autobot Shuttle with his Optical Distortion Projector attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Autobot Shuttle 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Scrapper rises out of a beautifully engineered pit with a trapdoor lid, like a large, lime green trapdoor spider. (He made it in like half a minute.) Scrapper tosses the lid aside, and he charges, withdrawing his laser pistol and taking a shot at one of the shuttle's stabilisers. Combat: Scrapper strikes Autobot Shuttle with his Master Blaster (Disruptor) attack! From Autobot Shuttle , Rodimus Prime rouses himself from his funk to glare at the Sage. "Failure wasn't an option," he states firmly, the force of his voice suggesting that he really believes this, too. He settles back down. "There *were* alternatives, and there still ar-" then he cuts himself off as the shuttle comes under fire. "Decepticon attack!" he exclaims needlessly. "Magnus, hold her steady, but stay on course - we're sitting ducks up here, but we're not going to be much better off in the middle of the desert, either!" He slides into one of the weapons controls stations and shouts, "Try to return fire as best you can, but keep an eye on our guest. Don't want anything happening to him!" From Autobot Shuttle , The Golden Age shudders slighty from the attacks, but nothing that insubstantial can deter the Autobot shuttle from it's flight path. Although calm and relaxed on the outside, the interior of the craft is anything but. Sensors right loudly as Ultra Magnus steers the ship up, towards the sky. "We've got multiple targets, calling them out now and displaying them to ship's nav-screen. Rodimus, oh ... yeah." he replies, steering the craft back down and leveling her steady. In a panic, the Autobot looks around for the mandatory 'emergency separation' button he demanded be installed on EVERY ship in the fleet. Look's like someone left the Golden Age out. Combat: Autobot Shuttle strikes Galvatron with its Disruptor attack! Combat: You took 3 damage. From Autobot Shuttle , Crosscheck falls from his seat when the Decepticons starts firing at the Golden Age. He remains on the ground for a moment as Rodimus shouts about a Decepticon attack, "Oh Primus... they're getting bold if they dare to attack us on our door step." The scientist gets back on his feet. He checks that Sage is still fine and then he jumps in front of a weapon console. His fingers fly over the console as he fires the Golden Age's weapon towards the Decepticon. Combat: Autobot Shuttle misses Scrapper with its Laser attack! From Autobot Shuttle , When Sage speaks, Cliffjumper responds by raising a gun. "Hey," he says. "Shaddap." Cliffjumper is about to continue on this theme when the Decepticons attack. "Aw, cyber-criminy," the diminuitive Autobot groans, running for a gunning station -- and then to another one, because Crosscheck beat him to it. Managing to punch buttons while still holding a gun in each hand, Cliffjumper yells, "C'mon, let's teach these Decepticrumbs how Autobots take care'a business!" Cliffjumper pistol-whips a big red button and a laser array fires, targeting the most dangerous agent on the field -- MIXMASTER, whose acids and molecules could dissolve a space shuttle in no time flat! Combat: Autobot Shuttle strikes Mixmaster with its Disruptor attack! Galvatron takes a shot in the chest but barely notices it. "TEAR THAT THING OPEN! I want that damn alien made to account for his treachery!" Burning forward on his boot thrusters, Galvatron carelessly tosses himself right at the viewscreen of the shuttle, smashing himself against it like a bug on a windshield. "GURGH!" Galvatron coughs out as he pulls himself off. "PRIME!" Galvatron screams, standing on the nose of the ship as he levels his cannon at the occupants inside the ship. "Give me that damn alien, NOW!" Combat: Galvatron strikes Autobot Shuttle with his Ram attack! Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack. Blades emerges from the Cavernous Entrance to the southeast. Blades has arrived. Tremor activates his anti-gravs and spaces his pistol, heading for the boarding hatch intending to batter it apart. He seems to remember that having worked before. "Let's rip this can outta the sky!" Combat: Tremor strikes Autobot Shuttle with his I'll Crush You With My Bare Hands! (Punch) attack! Mixmaster looks on in dismay as the Decepticon assault is mostly focussed on the giant and virtually invulnerable space shuttle, instead of the delicious creme filling. Mixmaster vaults himself upwards, joining Tremor and his poor attempt to bash a doorway through the shuttle's exterior. "Step aside, this is a job for SCIENCE!" The Decepticon chemist says with aplomb, followed by peals of cruel laughter as the Constructicon empties a sizable cask of horrible acids upon the Golden Age's hatchway, the vile concoction bubbling away and releasing a cloud of acrdi green fumes! The Sage, meanwhile, glowers at Cliffjumper, who is aiming a gun at him. "Shoot me, if you are. I am dying, quick death is easier?" He is jolted from where he is sitting on the floor of his cell, but does not appear too concerned. "As for you, Rodimus, for all his contempting I think Galvatron did not quite convey how naive you are accurately." The Global Pose Tracker marks that Mixmaster has 'skipped' his action for this round. Scrapper tries to keep focused on the battle. He remembers Galvatron's talk. He remember the goal here, and yet... Scrapper keeps getting distracted. Mostly, he keeps seeing rings. He squints up at the shuttle. It's a shuttle. Right. No rings there. But the little rivets, those are sort of round, and... Scrapper shakes his head, and he fires, again aiming for a stabiliser. Combat: Scrapper strikes Autobot Shuttle with his Long Shot (Pistol) attack! Parts spin, components shift and Astrotrain's body grows in size until he is an enormous space shuttle. Decepticon Shuttle is on the scene finally! Better late than never, right? Or maybe Astrotrain would say he was just being 'fashionably' late. Either way, the shuttle dips down from on high above, thrusters glowing brightly as it drops down onto the Golden Age's six o'clock position, undercarriage lasers glowing brightly before unleashing a pair of low-yield blasts. "Bwahahaha, bring it, bots!" From Autobot Shuttle , Mixmaster's acid splatters against the shuttle, making quick work of even the vessel's armor and making it easy for Decepticon fliers to enter right in! Combat: Decepticon Shuttle misses Autobot Shuttle with his Heavy Laser attack! [Pulled -5] From Autobot Shuttle , Crosscheck is having a hard time aiming the gun he is manning at any Decepticons. Some would blame it on Ultra Magnus' piloting skills but that's not Crosscheck's style! "I need to device a new targeting computer for our shuttles..." He can't do much right now but he quickly tries to improve the targeting software before firing another shot, this times towards Tremor. Combat: Autobot Shuttle sets its defense level to Fearless. Combat: Autobot Shuttle strikes Tremor with its Pistol attack! From Autobot Shuttle , Ultra Magnus attempts to keep the ship level and steady, amidst all the anarchy that is going on at the moment. The acid that Mixmaster splatters on the shuttle soon eats it's way through the door, allowing the Decepticons free access. Sensor alarms ringing off in unison, Magnus tries to silence them, but fails. "Autobots, we've got a boarding party! Cliffjumper, see to the main hatch. Crosscheck, keep an optic on the prisoner and backup Cliff!" Turning his head ever so slightly, he looks towards Prime muttering, "I hope you have another miracle in that Matrix kid." Mixmaster has left. Mixmaster enters the Autobot Shuttle . From Autobot Shuttle , Rodimus Prime hits a button, triggering an external speaker. "No way, Galvatron. He may have a lot to answer for, but *we'll* do the questioning." He glances back over his shoulder at Sage and, turning off the speaker, adds, "You'd better hope not, 'Sage,' because right now I'm what's standing between you and him!" He tries to line up a shot against Galvatron, but finds the Decepticon commander too close, but Mixmaster's entry distracts him, anyway. He turns to face the Decepticon. "We're all out of miracles, Ultra Magnus. It's time we learned to rely on ourselves!" he says as he blasts at the intruder. "Bring it in for a landing, though, big guy. I'm NOT letting them pull the 'sneak past the defenses' trick on my watch!" From Autobot Shuttle , Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Mixmaster with his Laser attack! [Pulled -1] From Autobot Shuttle , "I said shaddap!" Cliffjumper snaps over at the Sage, still pressing buttons by whacking them with the butt of his gun. Then: ACID, on the hull. "AW, ROBO-DAMMIT, I /KNEW/ IT!" he cries, training his guns on the sizzling hole. A good amount of time has passed since the Autobot's distress call was sounded off on the broadband channels, and in the distance a lone and utterly MAGNIFICENT figure of Autobot might arrives to answer the Autobot's call. Well not really. It's actually just the Protectobot's resident aerial warrior, Blades, in his dinky lil' Sikorsky S-76 helicopter alt mode that's flying in an intercept course towards the Golden Age. Blades can spot most of the invading hostiles from the various weapons fire striking the Autobot shuttle and what looks to be like... the shuttle's hatch door melting away and falling out from the skies?! Is that Galvatron riding on top of the shuttle's cockpit? Damn crazy nutters! The helicopter adjusts its flight path and falls into a parallel course besides the section of with the Autobot shuttle's exposed docking hatch. Blades fires off some photon beams at no one in particular as warning shots, hoping to dissuade any further entry into shuttle. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Sikorsky S-76 Spirit has 'skipped' his action for this round. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Protected. From Autobot Shuttle , Combat: Cliffjumper strikes Mixmaster with his Laser attack! Tremor grouses as Mixmaster brushes him aside. "I coulda did that," he says. But the acid does its job, so Trem doesn't continue to complain... at least not out loud. He's poised to go roaring into the shuttle and bash in the head of the first Autobot he lays optics on, but before he can act he's raked by laser fire and sent spinning back toward the ground! He manages to right himself though, through sheer luck really, and quickly resumes a course toward the hole in the shuttle's side. He produces his pistol again and fires, hoping to hit someone inside. Combat: Tremor strikes Autobot Shuttle with his Laser attack! Galvatron peers over at Mixmaster, who has just melted a handy new door for him to enter. "One moment, Prime!" He jumps off and out of view... before reappearing in Mixmaster's new hatchway. "Nice place you have here, Autobots!" Galvatron says as he pulls himself inside. "Mind if I CRASH for a bit, hmhahahaha!" As his first act of villainy on the ship, he fires his fusion cannon at Ultra Magnus's back, right through his chair! You enter the Autobot Shuttle . Autobot Shuttle The interior of the shuttle is very roomy. There is a highly technical cockpit that seats numerous bots at various stations, and a huge cargo area for additional troops or equipment. This vessel requires Space-Pilot to use. Syntax: DO - IE. do east, do +profile, do attack scourge=laser. l/o - Looks outside. Contents: Mixmaster Cliffjumper Crosscheck Ultra Magnus Rodimus Prime Combat: Galvatron misses Ultra Magnus with his Fusion Cannon attack! [Pulled -10] Outside, Decepticon Shuttle snarls to himself as the Autobot shuttle performs some evasive maneuvers or somesuch that causes him to miss. Still parked behind the Golden Age, Astrotrain lines up for another shot, his targeting reticle flashing a nice fancy green color as he starts to focus in one of the engine ports instead. "Awright let's bring that big useless hunk of metal down to a more manageable airspace!" He's just about to fire, when a HELICOPTER flies past his field of vision while trying to cover the shuttle. "...the fraggin frag...? OI! Autobots got no business pollutin the skies! Git lost!" And a moment later, those undercarriage ports on the triplechanger's hull pulse and flash as they unleash a series of low yield charges, this time at the Protectobot Blades rather than the shuttle! Outside, Scrapper follows the other Decepticons inside, as Mixmaster gets the door open. He doesn't want to be the last one left outside! Even though he doesn't really want to be surrounded by Autobots, either. Scrapper has arrived. Astrotrain has arrived. Astrotrain has left. Outside, Astrotrain has arrived. Outside, Combat: Decepticon Shuttle misses Sikorsky S-76 Spirit with his Heavy Laser attack! [Pulled -5] Mixmaster's brazen attempt at boarding the Autobot shuttle seems frightening familiar, although on the previous occasion there were many more Decepticons and less Autobots! He leaps dramatically through the increasingly-large hole in the hull, courtesy of his acid concoction. He stumbles, managing to luckily avoid Rodimus's laserfire, but not Cliffjumper's. Mixmaster is built tough, though, so he shrugs it off. With backup from his new and improved lord and master(Galvatron), Mixmaster is inspired to new heights of villiany! Lacking any advantage in numbers, he fires upon the Autobots with a confusing pulse of visual distortions! Combat: Mixmaster sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Mixmaster strikes Ultra Magnus with his Optical Distortion Projector Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Ultra Magnus's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Mixmaster misses Cliffjumper with his Optical Distortion Projector Area attack! Combat: Mixmaster misses Rodimus Prime with his Optical Distortion Projector Area attack! Combat: Mixmaster strikes Crosscheck with his Optical Distortion Projector Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Crosscheck's Accuracy. (Blinded) Ultra Magnus glares at Galvatron through the vid-screen. And then just like that, he's gone after shouting some generic rambling of Decepticon non-sense and bravado. Hitting a couple of switches, the Golden Age begins to descend rapidly towards the ground. Magnus grins, then hears the loudmouthed leader spout off something else. Quickly swiveling in his chair, the laser blast meant for his backside instead blows a nice sized hole into the pilot's chair and into the steering controls. The shuttle's rate of descent grows rapidly, the tip of the craft angled down at the ground as well. "Prime, we've got a situation. Galvatron's destroyed the console, we're on a trajectory route planetside!" The City Commander hefts his Laser Blaster inbetween his hands, leveling a shot at the mad Decepticon tyrant. Crosscheck nods at Ultra Magnus and leaves his seat to head towards the Sage's cell. He's caught offguard by Mixmaster who opens a new hatch in the Golden Age's hull. He doesn't have time to react when the constructicon fires his Optical Distortion blast at him and he's blinded by the effects of that weapon. The scientist steps back towards the back of the room raising and firing his laser pistol in the approximative direction of Mixmaster. Combat: Crosscheck misses Mixmaster with his Disruptor attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Galvatron with his Laser Blaster Rifle attack! [Pulled -4] Cliffjumper valiantly avoids Mixmaster's attack by ducking and letting some possibly important console take the hit in his place. He rolls along the ground, ready to strike back once he finds cover. When he does -- the side of another console -- he presses his back to it, lifting his guns so that they frame his face in a heraldic composition. If he had irises or pupils, one could see him looking back, over his shoulder; if he breathed, he'd be doing so heavily. Then, without further ceremony, he jumps out from his cover, body going sideways as he fires both laser pistols at Scrapper, searing beams lancing through the air as the broken holoprojector (what Mixmaster just done shot) casts an image of a flock of doves fluttering apart behind him. Combat: Cliffjumper strikes Scrapper with his Two-Fisted Lasers attack! "Magnus!" Rodimus exclaims as his second in command is fired at. He looks momentarily relieved as manages to duck the shot, then turns narrowed optics on Galvatron. "Sorry, Galvatron, time to get off this bus!" he turns towards the others. "Autobots, prepare to bail out!" They have robo-parachutes, right? While the others fight, however, he lunges towards the cage holding the Sage, deactivating the energy shield and reaching for the stranger. "You're coming with me, pal!" Outside, Tremor says, "Woo!" Outside, Sikorsky S-76 Spirit would be blinking in surprise if he had a face plate in this current mode to express it, as not one, but two Decepticons slips right through to him. Clearly this is life's way of telling the Protectothug that he's not meant to be a sentry. At least there's no friendlies outside the shuttle to witness his epic failure. A single laser beam narrowly grazes the side starboard side of the Protectobot's fuselage, alerting Blades to Astrotrain's presence as the weapons fire's light reflects off of the side of the Golden Age, and prompts the helicopter to go into evasive maneuvers. The searchlight mounted underneath the belly of the helicopter's fuselage swivels to bear towards the rear where Astrotrain is and fires off a few beams of light in retaliation. Outside, Combat: Sikorsky S-76 Spirit misses Decepticon Shuttle with his Really bright lights (Disruptor) attack! And just like that, all hell has broken loose upon the bridge of the Golden Age, with Mixmaster at it's tumultuous center! Some lame, boxy-looking Autobot(Crosscheck) shoots at him, but due to the power of optical distortion fields, it misses! Even thought the shuttle is becoming a rather dangerousp lace to be, Mixmaster's sharp eye sees Rodimus Prime deactivating the energy cage, and trying to coax the prisoner to join him! "NO! The prisoner will be OURS!" He shouts, and makes a daring running tackle towards Rodimus! Combat: Mixmaster sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Mixmaster strikes Rodimus Prime with his Ram attack! Outside, Tremor finally catches up with the shuttle again and enters the hole Mixmaster so helpfully burned through the boarding hatch (good thing Trem had already weakened it with his fists). He snarls, late to the party, and levels his laser pistol at whatever Autobot happens to be nearest him. Galvatron doesn't dodge Ultra Magnus's shot so much as he grabs a Seeker gumby who followed him in, pulls him in front of himself, lets him take the shot, then tosses the gumby back outside. "Oh, you're not getting off THIS bus, Rodimus Prime! Not until it makes its last stop--IN HELL!" he screams, and after withdrawing his energy flail, he gives it a few swings over his head before he tries to wrap its chain around Rodimus's face. For the Sage's part, he does not even bother to try and make an attempt to escape as Rodimus Prime deactivates the shield holding him in. Tremor has arrived. Combat: Tremor strikes Crosscheck with his Generic Purple Laser (Laser) attack! Mixmaster has left. Combat: Galvatron misses Rodimus Prime with his Epic Flail attack! [Pulled -2] Scrapper wishes, for a brief moment that Scavenger and Prowl could be here, so that Scavenger could murder Prowl again. That was, quite possibly, the proudest Scrapper has ever been of Scavenger! In his wishful thinking, he just sort of stands there by the doorway, and Dead Eye Cliffjumper nails Scrapper. The Constructicon clutches the wound, and he casts his attention about the shuttle, looking for the 'Sage', the whole objective here. Ah, in the energy cage? Hmm! Which has just been deactivated? Scrapper tries to make his way closer, wary of the epic combat going on all around him. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Scrapper has 'skipped' his action for this round. Outside, Decepticon Shuttle banks to one side as the beams of light streak past his own underbelly. A quick correctionof course puts him back on track again a moment later, thrusters glowing brightly as he continues to pursue the Autobot shuttle on the way down. A sudden burst of acceleration puts the triplechanger rocketing over the Autobot shuttle on a collision course that is only averted at the last second as Astrotrain transforms and touches down on the hull of the ship, his rifle coming free as he raises it and tracks the zipping helicopter through the air. "C'mon enough of this! Autobots don't belong in the sky, ya should be down with yer faces in the dirt where ya belong! Bwahahaha!" A series of quick shots are squeezed out from his rifle then as he tries to pepper Blades with the eerily colored destabilizing beams. Outside, In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Outside, Combat: Astrotrain strikes Sikorsky S-76 Spirit with his Ionic Displacer Rifle attack! [Pulled -5] Bonecrusher has arrived. Outside, Skydive arrives from Washington. Outside, Skydive has arrived. Outside, Skydive streaks in above you. Outside, Skydive changes back into his Robot mode. Outside, Skydive watches... Rodimus Prime is slammed into by several tons of cement mixer, and while it doesn't do him much damage, it does knock him completely back and off his feet - and out of the way of Galvatron's flail! "Ngh!" he grunts as he pushes Mixmaster off of him, then springs back to his feet. "Galvatron, you idiot! You're on board this thing, too!" he shouts. "Crosscheck, grab the Sage and go! Everyone, get out of here, we're going to cr-" And then it's too late. Crosscheck is struck by Tremor's laser which leaves a burned spot on his chestplate. Rodimus reaches the prisoner before he can do it. "Well" he thinks, "It's time to make an escape." The scientist draws his ionic sword and activates it. As the shuttle dives towards the ground, he jumps forwards and swings his sword right towards Tremor's arm. Then it happens, the shuttle hits the ground and Crosscheck is sent cashing into a wall. Combat: Crosscheck's Ionic Sword attack aimed for Tremor backfires! Combat: Crosscheck strikes himself with his Ionic Sword attack! [Pulled -2] Outside, Astrotrain says, "..." Combat: Bonecrusher misses Ultra Magnus with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Combat: Bonecrusher's FatBoy is destroyed! Combat: Bonecrusher misses Cliffjumper with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Combat: Bonecrusher strikes Scrapper with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Combat: Bonecrusher strikes Rodimus Prime with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Combat: Bonecrusher strikes Galvatron with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Combat: You took 13 damage. Combat: Bonecrusher misses Crosscheck with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Combat: Bonecrusher strikes Tremor with FatBoy's We're going to CRAAASH Area attack! Outside, Sikorsky S-76 Spirit attempts to rotate his rear tail rotors out of the path of the attack, as he finds himself confined to only such movement due to his proximity to the Autobot shuttle. In its place the port side passenger hatch of the helicopter receives the full brunt of Astrotrain's rainbow beams, which is quite eerie and DISTURBING indeed, ho ho~! Blades had expected some fancy explosions that'd rock him senseless, but instead nothing happens. That is until a few moments later where the side port side passenger hatch doors begins to distort under the vibrational forces exerted through the helicopter's fuselage by its rotor blades. "Eeesh, what's wrong Astrotrain? You afraid of some competition in the skies?" The helicopter emits from its external speakers as it gains altitude just above the shuttle before a single rocket is lowered from its underbelly and is shot towards the massive Decepticon triplechanger. Outside, Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Neutral. Outside, Blades says, "Er... need to do a quick review." Outside, Combat: Sikorsky S-76 Spirit strikes Astrotrain with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! [Pulled -2] The crash becomes imminent, Cliffjumper realizes -- and the bad guys are going to try and steal the Sage. Not if Cliffjumper can steal them first: steal their CHANCES OF VICTORY, that is. Hurriedly lumbering toward a huge space-glass case marked 'BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY,' Cliffjumper shoulder-checks it so hard the glass shatters, and removes the contents: a jet-pack, basically the same as Sideswipe's but less constantly demeaned by Sunstreaker. Cliffjumper straps it on and blasts free through Mixmaster's acid-hole, seeking to loop back around and rendezvous with whoever's got the Sage! Combat: Cliffjumper takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] "I'm fully confident that *I* will survive, Rodimus Prime!" Galvatron says, grinning nastily as he lunges at Rodimus again. "You on the other hand--GYAAHHHH!" And then, the shuttle slams down into the ground, and despite his boasting Galvatron is not immune to the sudden deceleration. He is flung forward, bouncing off the pilot's chair and slamming into the viewscreen. The Sage, as it turns out, isn't being gotten by anyone, and is also flung forward by the sudden deceleration of the shuttle. Can anyone save him from a horrible injury?! "What's the rush..OH!" Ultra Magnus replies, then suddenly becomes aware of the severity of the situation. Without a moment's hesitation, he litterally leaps towards the aft section and gathers up The Sage in one fell swoop. Bounding back for the hole that Mixmaster so conviently created in the craft, the City Commander side-steps to avoid crashing into Cliffjumper. Placing a foot on Tremor's back, he kicks off and out of the Golden Age as it crumples upon impact. After all, someone has to play babysitter. Outside, "Haw!" Astrotrain announces as he sees Blades wobbling after the impact, feeling the effects of his rifle's weapon doing its job. "Competition in the skies from an Autobot!? Don't make me laugh. That's like me tryin to compete with a Junkion in being disgusting! Or talkin nonsense or..." And Astrotrain should really learn to pay attention, because a moment later the rocket makes contact with his shoulder, the explosion hurling the big triplechanger to the hull of the Autobot shuttle with an audible, "Whoof!" A thin curl of smoke rises from his frame, as the triplechanger suddenly becomes aware that the shuttle is at a -very- unhealthy angle, and the ground is starting to come up VERY fast. "...uh oh! Time to bail!" He kicks off and pushes himself into the air a moment later, rising rapidly as he shifts his rifle to maglock over his shoulder, replacing it with a bladeless hilt which he was keeping in a port on his hip. A quick slap of an energy cartridge into the device causes the energy beam to ignite with a satisfying, sizzling crackle. "Now git down crashin to the ground like the rest of yer Autobrats just did!" His right arm snakes forward as he glides past, trying to pass the glowing sword through the whirling vortex that is the helicopter's rotorblades. Scrapper gets thrown about by the crash and slammed into a wall. The force cracks a huge seam down his side, exposing sparking severed wires within the Construction. Scrappeer gets up to his feet, a bit dazed. Focus. He has a goal here. A goal which is flying through the air and meat sacks are so blasted /fragile/! Bad engineering in so many ways. He transforms into his payloader form and extends his shovel to catch the Sage in his bucket - but is he too late? Scrapper cleverly disguises himself as a bright green payloader. No one will ever suspect! Outside, Combat: Astrotrain misses Sikorsky S-76 Spirit with his Zord-Sword attack! The Global Pose Tracker marks that Payloader has 'skipped' his action for this round. Tremor dips and rolls to the right to get under the blade of Crosscheck's ionic sword, but he doesn't have time to initiate a counter attack as he abruptly finds himself mashed into a bulkhead sandwhich. The shuttle crashes and he's thrown violently forward to be pinned between two massive panels of collapsing steel. A stream of highly offensive Cybertronian curse words pours from him as he struggles to free himself - a process that is made far more difficult by the fact that one of his legs has been pulled away from his body. "Aaggghh! By the Pit! My leg! This sucks!" He is somehow still holding his laser pistol, and now he uses it to try and blast himself free, not having any great plan as to what he'll do if this succeeds. Combat: Tremor takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Ultra Magnus has left. Outside, Ultra Magnus has arrived. Rodimus Prime is knocked first against the far wall, then against the ceiling, then against the floor as the shuttle, then against the ceiling again as the section of floor he's on is buckled upwards. "NGGH!" He's out of sight for a moment, then manages to punch his way through the roof of the shuttle, forcing the now-weakened plates aside to escape. He shakes his head. "Nnnn. Is everyone all right?" he calls. Rodimus Prime has left. Outside, Rodimus Prime has arrived. As he crashes into the wall, Crosscheck is hit by his own sword which slices into his armor nearly cutting his forearm off. The scientist grunts in pain but not for long since he's nearly knocked out by the crash. He finds himself trapped in the wreckage but he manages to grab his sword. Soon he cuts his way through the debries and escapes the shuttle. Combat: Crosscheck takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Crosscheck has left. Outside, Crosscheck has arrived. Outside, Skydive leaves the Cascades. Outside, Skydive has left. Tremor has left. Outside, Tremor has arrived. Cliffjumper has left. Outside, Cliffjumper has arrived. Autobot Shuttle The interior of the shuttle is very roomy. There is a highly technical cockpit that seats numerous bots at various stations, and a huge cargo area for additional troops or equipment. Ultra Magnus lays on his backside, cradling the 'precious' cargo in his arms ... trying to remember not to squeeze the delicate prisoner upon disenbarkment from Golden Age. Groaning, the City Commander gets to his feet and attempts a quick survey of the situation. As of right now, the ship is toast ... most of the Decepticons are among the wreckage ... and Magnus has the ball, all he needs to do is run it in for a score. Quickly turning on his heel, Ultra Magnus makes a run for it ... The Sage in his arms. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Rodimus Prime has 'skipped' his action for this round. Cliffjumper is in his jet-pack, zooming through the sky and generally looking like a big old target because of the contrail he leaves in his wake. "I GOT YOUR BACK, MAGNUS!" he cries -- managing to blow any vestige of secrecy in Magnus' exit, by both screaming and leaving an easily-tailed jet-plume. "Eh, for someone gloating about superiority, you sure are dropping down pretty fast, ya lug." Blades emits through his external speakers in annoyance, as he rotates a smooth 180 degrees on his horizontal axis, in the meantime the empty hard point underneath the belly of the helicopter retracts back into the fuselage. "Who in the blazes is piloting the damn shuttle? Aw... dammit, I hope it ain't Prime." Poor Rodimus. Thanks to a certain 1986's movie, the poor chap's reputation in the skies AND space has been forever tarnished. The helicopter banks away sharply towards the right and down below towards the Earth as it steers clear away from the path of the Decepticon triplechanger's melee weapon before driving sharply towards the large Decepticon once more. Mid way through the helicopter compacts and folds into the robotic form of Blades who just happens to have both of his rotor blades wielded firmly in both of his hands. "Eeesh, yeah, I'd prefer the ground myself." The Protectobot responds in agreement before swinging his rotor blades in a downwards motion towards the center mass of the the Decepticon triplechanger. Countless locking mechanisms within the Sikorsky S-76 Spirit disengages as it reconfigures its structure, eventually compacting itself into the recognizable form of Blades, Protectobot extraordinare. Combat: Blades strikes Astrotrain with his Rotor Blade attack! [Pulled -1] A giant insect is seen flying in the sky as he notices someone running away. He screeches happily as he opens his mouth to spray down some green sludge down towards the autobot. "Looks like I found myself some dinner." He says to himself as he gives chase. Combat: Stinkbug strikes Cliffjumper with his Horrific Stench attack! [Pulled -4] Astrotrain lands a moment later, the dull *THUD* of his big blocky feet making contact with the earth soon mixing with the rumble of movement as the blades of...well, Blades come slicing towards him. The big triplechanger shifts to one side, moving his forearm in the path, a sudden shriek of sparks issuing out upon contact as a shallow groove is carved into his armored forearm, the metal briefly glowing from the friction of contact befor eit cools again. A look of distaste crosses Astrotrain's features, even as he gives a low grunt. "Hope that wasn't the best ya little turbo-rat. Cause if that's all the punch ya got, ya can be as speedy and dodgy as ya like, but sooner or later..." Astrotrain's arms raise upwards, even as his torso spins about and slams down on his eight huge steel wheels, several trees snapping off like toothpicks as the huge locomotive lets out a shrill blast from its whistle. "...I'll squash ya like a squishy bug!" There's a sudden dull roar of acceleration as the rocket boosters at the aft end of the train propel him forward, crushing forest and foliage underneath as he frames the Protectobot with his huge armored ram prow. "Comin THROUGH!" KA-RUNCH! "Thanks for asking, Rodimus Prime--" Galvatron says as he tears the shuttle's hull open, pulling himself through. "--but I'll be FINE." Standing on the wrecked shuttle, he levels his cannon at Rodimus Prime... before he inexplicably alters his aim towards Cliffjumper! "It was you, wasn't it!?! You replaced me with that clone, didn't you!?" Galvatron screams as he fires up at him. Later on he will realize this doesn't make any sense, of course--or does it? Spinning and shifting parts result in Astotrain's heavy locomotive form taking shape. Combat: Galvatron sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Fearless. Tremor manages to melt the metal around his leg, which only serves to complicate his predicament. Frustrated, he screams at the fangs of crushed metal that are pinning him and begins trying to pound them apart with his fists. This, of course, damaged him more than anything else. "Hey! I'm stuck!" He looks around to see if any of his comrades will help him. In the meantime, he decides with a scowl to take his frustrations out on the conspicuously retreating Cliffjumper. Combat: Locomotive misses Blades with his Train Crossing attack! Combat: Tremor strikes Cliffjumper with his Look Back in Anger! (Laser) attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Cliffjumper with his Fourth Wall attack! [Pulled -10] Combat: Cliffjumper damages himself. Combat: Cliffjumper falls to the ground, unconscious. Cliffjumper, to put it succinctly, explodes. This is because he was walking around in a body that had been designed by Raindance, of all people, after he kind of lost his body the other week. This means that his body, as it turns out, was held together by twine and chewing gum. "AW, NOT AGAAAIIIINNN--" he cries as he disintegrates and his head begins making landfall. The Sage, from within Magnus's grasp, rasps out, "And what is the point of my rescuing, Ultra Magnus? To go to your cell so I do not go to theirs? To save my life, when I am dying? You are achieving nothing, do you not see this?" Payloader does not catch the Sage, obviously, since Ultra Magnus did. On the other hand, it's always funny to see someone else suffer, especially when it is a Minibot. Blasted shiftly little slaggers. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Payloader has 'skipped' his action for this round. Ultra Magnus continues running, not even daring to look back as sounds of Cliffjumper failing epicly. Instead, he soldiers forth. To stop now would only be a waste of the minibot's sacrifice, which was intended to give Magnus the needed breathing room to make it safely to the Ark. Trying to pay attention to the terrain ahead of him, his concentration is suddenly shooken up by The Sage's words. "The point is your safety, whether I like it or not... is Prime's main concern, which makes it my MAIN concern. And if you're done with the pity party, I'd advise you to keep quiet. The ride is gonna get bumpy!" Combat: Ultra Magnus takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Cliffjumper has left. Rodimus Prime STARES up at Galvatron. "OhKAY, so you've gone crazier than usual!" He leaps to his feet and starts to dart after Cliffjumper's falling head, then realizes that not only will he never make it there in time, he's exposing his back to Galvatron. Magnus seems to have a bug on his trail, but if he can't handle an Insecticon, something's gone wrong, so Rodimus pivots on his heel to face the bigger threat to Magnus, the Sage, and everyone else on the battlefield. "But no asylum here, lunatic!" he proclaims lifting both arms to fire an electric blast at Galvatron. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Galvatron with his Arm Blasters attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: You took 9 damage. Crosscheck finally manages to extract himself from the wreckage of the shuttle with little damage due to the crash. All those hours studying terran judo technics will finally payoff it seems. The autobot scientist takes a look around as Magnus ask for cover fire. Scrapper tried to go after Sage so Crosscheck decides to target him with a focused beam of energy dissipator. Combat: Crosscheck misses Payloader with his Energy Dissipator Field attack! Blades is somewhat put at ease as he sees his fellow Autobot comrades having climbed out of the Golden Age and STILL engaging in combat with the Decepticons in the vicinity. It appears the crash itself hasn't taken too much of its toll on the Autobots thus far. "Look, bud. I have no idea why you and your shaft sucking friends of yours---" The Protectobot pauses for a moment as he recovers from the exertion of his swing, settling back into a readied position once more before continuing, "---would want with that lunatic in our custody. Just sod off and we'll take care of that guy ourselves." "Or... not." Blades mumbles in annoyance as the large Decepticon triplechanger in front of him expands into an even larger locomotive. The Protectobot barely rolls out of the way, and into some of the debris of the shuttle before turning around and snapping off a shot from his photon pistol at Astrotrain. Combat: Blades misses Locomotive with his Photon Pistol attack! Blight snickers as he brings a bot down and then charges after the bot running for the ark and goes to fly after him, intending to try and tackle the autobot to take a bite out of one of those giant shoulders of his. Payloader is is a large green object, so of course, he is hard to hit! Crosscheck should not feel bad. Since he is a medic and he does have a shovel, Scrapper wheels back closer to the crash to dig Tremor out. Tremor is a steamroller, after all, so he has that going for him, even if he is not green. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Payloader has 'skipped' his action for this round. Combat: Stinkbug strikes Ultra Magnus with his Munch attack! "If there's one fraggin thing I hate..." Astrotrain growls as he grinds to a halt, locking up his brakes and digging up huge grooves in the earth until his momentum finally gives way, carving a good path of broken and twisted trees in his wake. "...it's scardey-bots that bounce around and plink ya with their little guns till ya inevitably paste em all over the landscape!" As the shot from the pistol comes towards him, the triplechanger rises up with a rush of transformation, leaning to one side to allow the energy blast to streak on past. Again his sword comes out, as he sneers, "What do I care about the little freak? The boss says we grab him, we grab him. And we get to kick some Autoscrap tailpipe while we're at it. Sounds like a win/win scenario to me!" With a grunt, he hurls his sword through the air then, the sharpened, glowing weapon hissing as it carves a flight path straight towards Blades! ...and imbeds itself through the trunk of a giant oak tree next to him a moment later. For it was not the sword itself that was the attack, it was merely sent as a distraction as Astrotrain's big brawly form comes hurtling through a moment later, lunging forward and aiming to all but smash Blades' much smaller form with one huge, blocky foot. In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Astrotrain misses Blades with his Astro-Beating attack! Galvatron screams, "I went through a lot of trouble to get that alien, Prime! Ravage worked HARD to forge a prisoner transfer to the Ark, and I'll not have his efforts wasted, oh no!" He chuckles darkly. "Oh, that's right, you Autobots just took it for granted that your computers never lie to you, right? That an actual person made that order? Hahaha, fools--AGGGH!" Rodimus Prime blasts him, causing Galvatron to lose his footing and fall off of the shuttle. He lands face-first in the ground, but quickly pulls himself up. "Hnnngh, that cretinous alien," Galvatron says. "You realize you're saving someone who is responsible for billions of deaths, don't you, Rodimus Prime? There is an entire world out there that's been warped by fractal energy. Each and every single one of its inhabitants, cursed by fractals and turned into abominations! And The Sage is the one who made it happen, by showing those people how to build a Fractal Generator. But he wasn't really doing it for THEM... he was doing it for me. Let's not forget the mirror, either. The mirror made by John Dunn was also, in truth, for me. And the raids for all those little seemingly random items--they were all to complete the final pieces of the puzzle. It's that simple." Galvatron aims his direct-current laser at Ultra Magnus. "I now realize, however, that the Sage was never working for me to begin with--he just wanted to infect my damned mind with that EQUATION, which has caused me innumerable headaches, and strip me of victory at the last moment! All to mock me! And the proof of it is here--here he is, under the protection of the Autobots!!!" Hissing in anger, he fires an electric laser at the City Commander! "Thanks Scrap," Trem says as Scrapper comes over to help extricate him from the wreck of the shuttle, "We gotta stick t'gether, right?" What does that mean? He doesn't elaborate, as when Scrapper finally frees him he falls straight over. Both legs are attached, but his left one has been separated from its joint with his hip and is utterly useless. "Who's catching Ultra Magnus?" Combat: Tremor takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Combat: Galvatron strikes Ultra Magnus with his Direct-Current Electric Laser attack! "I'm well aware that that alien has a lot to answer for, Galvatron!" Rodimus Prime answers, and though he keeps an outward calm, his inner horror grows as he hears Galvatron recount Sage's crimes. He glances back for a moment, then adds, muttering, "A LOT to answer fo-" He cuts himself off as Galvatron levels his cannon against Ultra Magnus and immediately lunges for the Decepticon's arm, attempting to spoil the shot. It's too late, of course, but maybe he can prevent Galvatron from getting off a second shot, at least! Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Galvatron with his Grab attack! Combat: You took 0 damage. Ultra Magnus strides forward, hopping and skipping in his journey towards the Autobot's base of volcano operations. In mid-stride he's knocked forward a bit by the Insecticon's munch fly-by, but manages to stay on his feet and keep moving. The City Commander charges forward another couple of feet before his lower back is struck with a laser blast, sending him off balance and forward. Tucking into a roll, Magnus attempts to keep The Sage safe and not ejected mid-tumble. "Frag!" he blurts, stumbling to his feet daring a look behind him. Switching the prisoner to a underarmed hold, the Autobot glares at Blight. Muttering something into his commlink, he backpedals at a brisk pace ... optics kept on the Decepticons trying to thwart his escape attempt. Combat: Ultra Magnus takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Crosscheck misses Scrapper but it doesn't matter much since the constructicon seems to be busy digging out the wannabe constructicon instead of running after Magnus. He turns his attention towards Galvatron but before he can do anything, the Decepticon leader reveals horrifying facts about Sage. The sheer thoughts of a whole world cursed by fractal energy is terrifying. Crosscheck is so shocked thta he reacts too late when Galvatron fires at Magnus. He's about to fire but now Prime is too close. At the last moment, the autobot changes his target and fires at Astrotrain to give some support to Blades. Combat: Crosscheck sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Crosscheck misses Astrotrain with his Laser attack! The Sage chuckles as he hangs off of one of Magnus's arms. "Most of his words are true--but he is wrong about my betraying him. Hnhn. I *tried to* but the Rodimus would not cooperate with my efforts. Very stubborn, naive, he is. Risked so much for so little. If only you had accepted my offer, though, I could have given you the equation necessary to negate the fractal energy. Galvatron's defeat would have been assured and not an uncertainty." "Damn sub par piece of junk..." Blades curses in disgust at the photon pistol gripped in his left hand, it's such a notoriously finicky thing and almost never produces the effect that he hopes, it's a wonder why Blades even keeps it around at all. Blades gets up from the pitiful cover that the various scattered debris provides him, and moves away unsteadily as the twisted steel alloys underneath bends stubborn under the weight of the Protectobot. "Eeesh, I can't fault ya for having such an one track mind when it comes to finding satisfaction in life." Blades instinctively raises his right hand, with the rotor blades grippled tightly in his hands ready to deflect the weapon, except it imbeds itself behind him. Although Blades himself is no strange to cheap underhanded tricks in combat and recognizes the feint for what it really is. The Protectobot manages to step away from Astrotrain's lunge and picks up a piece of the longest piece of debris on the ground in hand and swings it low at the Decepticon triplechanger, "Y'know, you're really not doing a good job of catching your target now are ya when you're so obsessed with me." Combat: Blades strikes Astrotrain with his long jagged piece of debris (Kick) attack! Galvatron snarls, waiting for his rifle to recharge before he fires again, "So I was right after all! He did betray me, but you of course, being the boy-scout that you are--" Rodimus Prime manages to grab his arm, then, and Galvatron's shot instead streaks up into the sky. "RAAGGHHHH!!! I spent a year having my mind brutally tortured by Thunderwing for this! And my efforts were wasted! I demand compensation!" he screams, jamming an elbow into Rodimus's face. Combat: Galvatron strikes Rodimus Prime with his ELBOW (Punch) attack! Payloader observes, "It's a little late for that, Tremor." He transforms, so that he'll have hands instead of a shovel. He pulls out his medical kit and attempts to set Tremor's hip, so that Tremor can at least get up and walking. The totally unassuming lime green payloader unfolds to become Scrapper, the architect of destruction! Combat: Scrapper quickly patches up some of Tremor's minor injuries. Astrotrain once again does that 'using his forearm as a shield' thing, and it seems to serve rather well as his other arm gets a score across its surface, but he armor seems relatively lightly touched in the process. "Fraggin ridiculous..." he mutters, straightening up after ducking to one side to avoid taking the blow to his torso. The triplechanger is big, fast (though one wouldn't know it tonight given his misfortune) and very, very sturdy, of this there is no doubt given his tendency to be shrugging off blows so far. Crosscheck's missed laserblast snaps overhead, causing him to duck again reflexively, "Aw yeah, typical and now ya go whinin to yer Autobuddies for backup eh!?" He does pause though as Blades says something in particular that gets his attention. "...oh yeah, that's right." He turns around, and peers towards the source of being here in the first place. And sure enough, there's Magnus making off with the payload! "Haw! Thanks for reminding me, Autobot!" With that, he transforms yet again, ripping up the ground as he begins to hurtle towards Ultra Magnus' direction like a...well, a runaway locomotive! Though Magnus' head start does ensure he at least has a few moments to brace himself, or perhaps turn and stare at the eight-wheeled doom hurtling down on him! Blight screeches in laughter at Galvatron's blast and then opens his mouth, to try and spray the autobot with the same sludge he doused Cliffjumper with. He tries to hurry and douse the entire autobot with it. Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Protected. Spinning and shifting parts result in Astotrain's heavy locomotive form taking shape. Combat: Stinkbug misses Ultra Magnus with his Horrific Stench attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Locomotive takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] His hip set, Trem gets to his feet and dusts himself off. He's got some nice big dents on his frame as well as a slight energon leak. Something fell from the back of the ship and bashed him in the head, leaving a big white gash on his helm. But at least he can walk now. "Too late? Nah! We're faster in the air then he is on the ground.!" With that he activates his antigravs, a little unsteady still, and take to the air to try and catch Ultra Magnus. Combat: Tremor takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Wow. Rodimus *really* has a talent for getting in the way when people want to blast *atrons, doesn't he? "What the hell are you talking about? You've been here the whole time!" The young Prime is then shoved in the face with Galvatron's elbow, which knocks him back and off his feet. "Anyway, if your idea of compensation is the end of the universe, you can forget about it!" he says, but instead of firing at Galvatron, he draws his weapon from subspace and, still sitting, turns to fire it at Astrotrain, leaving himself completely vulnerable to another attack from Galvatron! Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Locomotive with his Photon Eliminator attack! [Pulled -8] Crosscheck is running after Ultra Magnus and doing his best to take the heat off the city commander. It tooks him some time but he finally spotted the stink bug who's trying to slow down Magnus' escape. The scientist raises his arm when does his best to focus and an energy disrupting wave towards the insecticon. Combat: Crosscheck strikes Stinkbug with his Energy Dissipator Field attack! Blades does his best impression of being in shock, twitching optical ridge, widened optics, gapping mouth, the whole nine yards in response to Astrotrain sudden change of priorities. As the Decepticon triplechanger speeds off, the Protectobot can't help but reveal a sly grin on his face, "Heh. This guy makes it way too easy." Blades then makes a few more exchanges on the faction's broadband radio before leaping into the air and expanding into his helicopter alt mode. With astounding speed, the helicopter zips over to the Autobot City Commander. Once within reach, the helicopter's starboard passenger hatch slides open and the Protectobot emits, << Ready over here, boss! Toss 'em over! >> Blades leaps into the air, expanding and reconfiguring his body structure into a Sikorsky S-76 Spirit helicopter within seconds. Ultra Magnus crouches low, his shoulders almost making contact with his knees. Leaping up, the Autobot places the precious cargo into the passenger hatch, as delicately as possible of course. Plummeting back down towards the volcano's rough surface, Magnus jerks his shoulder forward launching one of the red shoulder missiles off at the Insecticon. "Bugger off!" Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Stinkbug with his Pun AND Shoulder Missile son! attack! [Pulled -3] Blight gets hit with a missle and just growls as he flies for the autobot, this time trying to bite at the autobot's face, thinking if he was too close, he wouldnt be able to shoot any more of those annoying missiles at him. Combat: Stinkbug misses Ultra Magnus with his Munch attack! Locomotive absorbs Rodimus' shot on his heavily armored boiler, the blast half glancing into the sky as the low-yield shot is more or less deflected. He keeps on his course, barreling straight in at Magnus's form. He's not the swiftest brick in the pile, but to his credit were he paying more attention he would probably see the impending trade-off about to take place. He's not exactly all that familiar with the Sage though, and he was told to stop Magnus beforehand. Not to mention he's right now suffering from the frustration of needing to hit something. HARD. ANd Magnus is as good a target as any, in his view. Such it is that the City Commander is the subject of all of that hurtling, battering-ram force that is Astrotrain's locomotive form, ripping a path through the foliage and forest as he barrels at the big Autobot with all the unstoppable power of a hurtling comet! "Thaat's right. Just stay RIGHT there..." Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Locomotive strikes Ultra Magnus with his Train Crossing attack! Scrapper was saying too late on an entirely different matter, but he doesn't correct Tremor. Instead, he transforms to his winged payloader mode and takes to the air, trying to get ahead of Ultra Magnus, to possibly cut him off at the pass, even as others chase behind Ultra Magus. Scrapper cleverly disguises himself as a bright green payloader. No one will ever suspect! The Global Pose Tracker marks that Payloader has 'skipped' his action for this round. "IMBECILE! All of you, IMBECILES!" Galvatron raves, and while Rodimus neglects his presence on the battlefield, Galvatron is quick to capitalize on it by trying to trap Rodimus's head in a sleeper lock! Of course, he's not trying to suffocate Rodimus so much as *crush his neck.* "This is simply unbelieveable! Even the Autobots couldn't tell me apart from the damn clone Thunderwing replaced me with! The damned INSANE CLONE who ruled the Decepticons for a year, and no one noticed anything out of the ordinary! Dammit, why couldn't I just destroy this universe and be done with all of you?" Combat: Galvatron strikes Rodimus Prime with his Bare Hands attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Rodimus Prime's Agility. (Crippled) Tremor sees the switch but doesn't immediately realize what's going on. He continues on approach toward Magnus until it finally dawns on him that Sage is no longer in the Ultra Magnus's possession! He turns to Blades now, aiming his pistol. "You," he growls, "Give us what's ours." He fears that pulling the trigger may mean bad news for Sage, but that's doesn't mean he won't do it. Combat: Tremor takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Tell Hazard thanks anyway. Nice to hear from you, as always. :)" Rodimus Prime is no longer in a position to help cover for anyone, as he's having his neck crushed by Galvatron, which is insanely distracting. "Gnnch... gnnn.. grrrch..." is all he can get out as his vocalizer is crushed. He has no snappy rejoinders as a result, so instead just tries to dig his elbow into Galvatron's torso to force him to let go. His *radio* still works, however, and he does activate that. Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Galvatron with his Elbow From Heck attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: You took 18 damage. Crosscheck managed to hit the insecticon but it didn't slow him down, "I'm going to the cell block to prep the cell for that Sage guy. I'll send you every one we have in there that we can spare!" Then the scientist leaves the fight by passing through the cascade and into the Ark. Combat: Crosscheck begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Ultra Magnus, Payloader , Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Sikorsky S-76 Spirit , Autobot Shuttle , and Locomotive Ultra Magnus's grin grows wide as Blight is enveloped in awesome-y explosion, then easily dodges to the side of his munch-tackle. Looking down at the Insecticon, the City Commander levels his rifle at his head. "Didn't I tell you to shoo? Shoo Blight, don't bother m..ACK!" he's cut off, roaring out in pain as Astrotrain rams into his side and sends him reeling back stumbling over himself. Knocked down to his hands and knees, Ultra Magnus quickly turns around and charges at the triple changer ... forgetting the minor annoyance that is Blight for the meantime. Throwing his hands under the front end of the vehicle, "Hrnh!" the Autobot attempts to lift it high enough to throw his shoulder at Astro's underside, effectively knocking the train on it's side. Train tipping is one of his hobbies? Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Locomotive with his DERAILED! (Kick) attack! Sikorsky S-76 Spirit briefly considers the option of to rotating about and spouting off some witty one liner at Tremor before force feeding a pair of rockets down his mouth. Good thing the Protectobot, while the most aggressive amongst his team member, is still very much duty bound and right now duty mandates that he get his butt back to the Ark as soon as possible with the passenger that he has been entrusted with. "Eh, yeah, maybe some other time, slag heap." Blades retorts through his external mounted speakers. The helicopter begins zooming away into the distance, taking the risk that Tremor just might make real on his threat to put holes through him, whether or not Sage is in there or not. Faced with that possibility, the Protectobot begins banking sharply from left to right as he falls into a standard evasive flight path out of the area. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Sikorsky S-76 Spirit begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Autobot Shuttle and Locomotive Galvatron's powerful grip is soon broken by the heavy blow to his gut! Coughing up mech fluid and stumbling back, Galvatron manages to catch a glimpse of Blades, who is currently retreating with The Sage. "Damn you, Autobots! Can't I have ANYTHING!!! But fine! Keep the damned war criminal! I'm sure Optimus Prime would be VERY PROUD OF YOU for saving him. BAH!" Launching himself into the sky, Galvatron screams, "DECEPTICONS, RETREAT!" Combat: Galvatron begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sikorsky S-76 Spirit , Autobot Shuttle , and Locomotive It was too late after all. Tremor can't hope to catch up to Blades. He fires a few shots in the Protectobot's general direction for good measure. "Yeah, next time," he calls meaninglessly, "an the sooner the better, slagrat!" He shakes his fist, cursing his luck. Today simply wasn't his day to be a hero... or a villain, as it were. He turns to retreat as Galvatron has commanded. Combat: Tremor begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Ultra Magnus, Payloader , Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Sikorsky S-76 Spirit , Autobot Shuttle , and Locomotive Locomotive finally felt that satisfying crunch of metal on that super well armored front of his frame! He never gets tired of the feeling! He's knocked over Dinobots, he toppled a gestalt (though it did get back up again after), he even rammed Metroplex's foot once! Though that last time didn't work out so well even for -his- sturdy frame. He's loving the fact that he clocked Magnus a good one so much in fact that he hasn't noticed Magnus is now starting to move to retaliate, until the front end of his hundred and sixty ton frame is lifting off the ground. "Haw haw! How do ya like -that- one Ultra Ma...huh? Hey...HEY HEY HEY! CUTITOUT!" His wheels spin for a moment, the two huge forms seeming to struggle against one another, but not only has Magnus got strength, but leverage on his side, and after a brief struggle, the locomotive tips end-up, then proceeds to fall over onto its side with a huge *THWOOM* of impact, wheels spinning uselessly in the air. At least until he transforms again, rising up in his humanoid form once more and smacking the side of his own head as if to get some stray dirt out of his joints. "Fraggin sorehead! But I got more of that where it came fro..." He trails off then as he hears Galvatron's call, blinking for a few seconds, then muttering to himself as he shoulders his rifle again. "...guess playtime's over. I'll frag ya more next time!" And with that, he takes to the air like the other Decepticons, transforming a moment later into his largest and fastest mode, even dropping his hatches open to allow any errant Decepticons to catch a ride if they need it before he blasts into the sky like a shooting star...in reverse. Parts spin, components shift and Astrotrain's body grows in size until he is an enormous space shuttle. Combat: Decepticon Shuttle begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Payloader is already in his faster mode (hah), so he is as best suited for a classic Decepticon retreat as he ever is. Having a shuttle of his own would be better, but if wishes were horses, Omega Supreme would be a small pink Minibot. He shouts, "At once, Lord Galvatron!" Blight snarls as he then was about to attack, mouth opening to munch at Ultra Magnus until he heard Galvatron. He then growls and flies into the air, beginning to retreat himself, flying after the train. Combat: Payloader begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sikorsky S-76 Spirit , Autobot Shuttle , and Decepticon Shuttle Combat: Stinkbug begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Ultra Magnus, Payloader , Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Sikorsky S-76 Spirit , Autobot Shuttle , Decepticon Shuttle , and Tremor Rodimus Prime is released and lands on his bottom. Ooof! He rubs his neck, and is about to offer some smart-alec'd remark to the retreating Decepticons when he realizes that he can't actually speak anymore. He pulls himself to his feet and glares sternly after the others, then just sighs and turns to trod back towards the Autobot base, pausing to check the wreckage of the Golden Age. Ultra Magnus stands tall and proud, glaring at the Decepticon's retreat. A firey passion burns in his lasercore, having sent the enemy forces reeling from their counter attack. As soon as they are out of sight however, he stumbles backwards and takes a knee on the ground. The City Commanders hand grabs at his side, lifting up to reveal a smear of energon. Looking at his midsection, he suddenly realizes that the combination of a Galv-laser and a Astro-ram has cut deep into his chassis. Optics blink once or twice, and Ultra Magnus suddenly realizes the seriousness of his wounds. Perhaps the call of duty had delayed his pain receptors recognition of the damage, his foolish pride standing in the way of his health. Barely able to gain his footing, the Autobot begins limping lamely back to the Ark ... now he gets to deal with this Sage buisness. Rodimus Prime eventually makes his way towards the Ark as well, only now noticing how badly Ultra Magnus is struggling. Rodimus Prime is limping himself, but most of his damage is to his upper body, particularly his neck. As he catches up with the city commander, he moves towards him, trying to help the other towards the Ark... and perhaps leaning a bit on him, in return.
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