| abstract | - Risk - Harvest-One This is a 200 km diameter asteroid named 16 Psyche. It is the largest M-class asteroid in the belt, meaning metallic and shiny. It's roughly round shape and even has its own rotation. 16 Psyche is a very large Main belt asteroid, well over 200 kilometers in diameter, and likely the largest of the metallic M-type asteroids. It is estimated to contain 0.6 percent of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. This M-type has a fairly pure iron-nickel composition. Psyche appears to be a genuine case of an exposed metallic core from a larger differentiated parent body. Unlike some other M-type asteroids, Psyche shows no sign of the presence of water or water-bearing minerals on its surface, consistent with its interpretation as a metallic body. Small amounts of pyroxene appear to be present. For now though, the EDC has labeled this asteroid 'Harvest One'. The massive demand for metal by humans has prompted them to park this asteroid in Earth's local space. From the blue planet's ground, it appears as if another star has emerged in the night sky. Closer to the massive spheroid asteroid, the consumption and industry surrounding its metallic heart is evident: scaffolding and space docks criss-cross over its surface, while smelting factories perch atop miles-deep fissures and wells. Diamond and tungsten carbide toothed bucket-wheel excavators gnash tirelessly against the surface, shunting shards and clumps of space metal down conveyor belts to their final on-site construction or shipping lane destinations. Powerglide has arrived. Sweepcraft approaches the surface of Harvest One at extreme speeds, then pulls up to skim along a few meters above the curve of the asteroid. He sticks to relatively undeveloped and unmined parts of the planet, where there's less humans around. Not to avoid detection, but just to give more time before anyone can arrange a response to the fast-moving target. Sweepcraft flanks Brigand, flying in tandem with his twin. He scans for hostiles as he scouts. <> he asks Brigand. So what is Kup doing up here, out in space? He's on the Harvest-One asteroid, a pretty freaking large rock in space. He appears to be inspecting the various industries, space docks, and mining scaffolding with his usual critical eye. "Geeze, this place wouldn't last ten seconds against a Decepticon attack. Look at this metal! Just regular steel! Man." The presence of any enemies, so far, has gone unnoticed by him. Powerglide is standing a few yards behind Kup, reading a magazine of questionable content. "Mmmhm.." is his idle response to whatever it is Kup is saying. He adds a bit more onto it, just in case he wasn't convincing enough, "Yeah, yeah, metal and stuff. Right." He flips a page. Sweepcraft bobs a bit as he flies along, the closest he can get to nodding. <> Brigand activates his sensor equipment, tuning them with practiced skill to search for interesting surface contacts rather than life forms. Combat: Sweepcraft initiates a radar sweep of the area. Sweepcraft murmurs an agreement. His own sensors are put to use, to scan for hostiles. Combat: Sweepcraft initiates a radar sweep of the area. Kup taps the side of his head, frowning. "Well, this sector will have to be evacuated in the event of an attack. Makeshift bunker my fraggin' aft. Well, let's head to the next site--" He turns, and notices the magazine Powerglide is reading. "What the--how long have you been looking at that!?" Having Kup snap at him causes Powerglide to jump up and almost rip his precious magazine in half. "W-what? Looking at what?" He points to the object in question and shrugs, "What? This? Ahaha! Oh, you knooww... Sinceyoustartedtalking." The minibot coughs loudly, "So, uh, yeah, about that there metal.." Sweepcraft appears on the 'horizon' of the planetoid and speeds directly for the location of the two Autobots his sensors detected. He's angled slightly ahead to intercept them, but only slightly as he's approaching so fast. <> he confides to Sunder with complete confidence. <> Just before reaching the Autobots he transforms into robot mode, wings spreading for maximum effect. With the right lighting, Brigand has heard, he can be mistaken for the dreaded Scourge himself. In any case he appears suddenly in front of the Autobots, a heavy pistol with an underslung blade in each hand. <> Than he catches sight of the Autobots. < Kup is about to really let Powerglide have a piece of his mind when the Sweeps unwittingly intervene on the minibot's behalf. "Oh, for frags' sake," he barks at Brigand as he drops in on them. "Cam Sweepcraft is not so sure that the Autobots there are such easy pickings, but he transforms alongside Brigand and faces the two Autobots, baring his talons. <> Sunder shifts into his fearsome-looking robot mode. Brigand shifts into his robot mode. Kup is about to really let Powerglide have a piece of his mind when the Sweeps unwittingly intervene on the minibot's behalf. "Oh, for frags' sake," he barks at Brigand as he drops in on them. "Can't you people give me five fraggin' seconds to get things ready on this damn rock? Powerglide, make yerself useful and distract them. I'm gonna radio Harvest-One's traffic control tower and tell 'em to start evacuating." Putting two fingers to the side of his head, Kup begins to mutter things, presumably over the radio. Combat: Kup sets his defense level to Neutral. If there's one thing Powerglide is good at it's being distracting. Well, that and being a showy braggart, but who's counting, right? "On it, Kup!" The red Autobot sprints towards the Sweeps; arms flailing around like he was having an epileptic fit. "Hey! I know you guys! You're the...uh..." He drops his arms and crosses them over his chest. "Hold on, give me a minute. Uhhhh....the...Swopes, right?" Brigand eyes Kup with distaste, but as his fellow Sweep drops in behind him, and Brigand gets a look at the dimunitive Powerglide, he's all sinister smirk again. "Oh, you know exactly who we are, mini-bot. Now Kup...well, I hear the memory banks are the first to go bad." He hefts the pistol in his left hand and squeezes off a burst of glowing spike-like projectiles at Kup, fighting to hold the weapon steady against the recoil. "So here's a reminder!" Combat: Brigand misses Kup with his VulcanArms tm Spiker attack! [Pulled -3] Sunder glares at Powerglide. "Why, how convenient. I'll enjoy ripping you to shreds, and taking what's left of you home for a trophy." He sneers menacingly and then lashes out with his claws, perhaps attempting to rip off Powerglide's face plate off and see what's underneath. Combat: Sunder strikes Powerglide with his face-off with claws (Punch) attack! Kup seemed horribly distracted by the effort of radioing in to Harvest One's control tower, but it was a ruse all along--as soon as Brigand fires, Kup leaps off the ground, grabs on to some overhead scaffolding, and swings back around right back at Brigand, feet first! "And when yer a Decepticon that runs into me, that first thing that goes bad is yer face!" Combat: Kup strikes Brigand with his Whuppin' attack! [Pulled -3] "No, seriously. Who are you guys? Are you Cyclonus' armada?" Powerglide asks, a look of nothing but pure puzzlement plastered on his face. This changes to a look of terror however when Sunder decides it would be a super cool idea to try and rip off his face. Plate. Same thing, really. "Woah WOAH WOAAH! I WAS JUST KIDDING, OKAY? I KNOW WHO YOU GUYS ARE!" The minibot flails around as he's snatched by the mouthplate; the sounds of metal whining as it begins to pry off his face. "I'm too beautiful to not have a face!" Powerglide hollers before whipping out his dinky little pistol and kapewing at the Sweep. Combat: Powerglide strikes Sunder with his Kapew! Kapew! (Laser) attack! Brigand gets kicked in the face, mashing the facial features slightly. "Sneaky," he mutters. Well, at least it's easier to tell the Sweeps apart now. Sort of. Brigand stumbles a bit, then jabs forward with the bayonet-like blade set on the underside of his pistol. "But have you seen -- this one?!" Combat: Brigand misses Kup with his VulcanAccesories Bayonet attack! [Pulled -2] Sunder gets hit, though the blast is a mere annoyance at this point. "Oh I disagree," he says to Powerglide, "You would be much 'prettier' with that abomination of a faceplate taken off. But first, I think I'll do some other...exterior redecorating." He lashes out more strongly with his talons towards Powerglide's midsection, intending to gut him. Combat: Sunder strikes Powerglide with his evisceration attack! Kup raises up an arm and dodges to the side a bit, letting the bayonet blade pass by. "What, the bayonet? Yeah, I seen those. Used one on my musket, too, for a while, but it proved to be a hassle. I kept jabbing myself with the damn thing by accident, and you know, really, why bother with a bayonet at all? I can hit a lot harder with my bare hands," Kup says, then swings his hand down on Brigand's elbow like a Karate chop. "Powerglide! How you holdin' up?" Combat: Kup strikes Brigand with his Whuppin' attack! [Pulled -2] "AGH, EW! NO NO NO NONONONO!" Powerglide flails around even more now. "UGH, NO! I DID /NOT/ JUST GET HIT ON BY YOU! OH GOD, SOMEONE KILL ME NOW!" Luckily for..not Powerglide, Sunder tries to do just that. The Decepticon's claws pierce into his red chassis and tear it deep. Real deep. The wound almost immediately begins to spark and ooze all sorts of gross fluids. Attempting to break free from Sunder's grasp, Powerglide rears his head back and throws it foreward in a totally cool headbutt. In response to Kup's question, all he says is "ARGHG OH GOD WHY AM I ALIVE?" Combat: Powerglide misses Sunder with his Headbutt (Smash) attack! Brigand winces in pain, the blow forcing his hand to open involuntarily and letting the weapon drop out. "Nnnh." His voice takes on a plaintive tone. "Hey, those two-for-one deals don't come around every day!" Rather than using the other matched pistol, however, he warms up the laser cannon on his head and tries to shoot at Kup from point blank range. Combat: Brigand strikes Kup with his Laser attack! Combat: You took 4 damage. Sunder easily evades the headbutt of Powerglide. Grinning maliciously, the Sweep powers up his headcannon and jumps back, to give himself a little firing room. "Oh let me assure you, your destruction can indeed be...arranged. Now if you'll just hold still..." Combat: Sunder misses Powerglide with his Headcannon Blast attack! Kup is about to wind up for another punch on Brigand, but once he notices Powerglide is getting the everliving crap kicked out of him he reprioritizes. "You'll have to tell me where you bought those, then, Sweep--sometime later! Right now, I gotta take care of sumthin'." He swings his acid musket over at Sunder, unleashing several good bursts of caustic pellets. "Hey! Sweep! Don't forget about the old man!" Unfortunately for him, though, focusing on Sunder leaves him vulnerable, and Bandit's cannon hits him in the chest dead-center. "Nnnh!" Combat: Kup strikes Sunder with his Acid Musket Laser attack! [Pulled -2] MANY YEARS AGO Powerglide and Seaspray are walking through a city. "Hey, Powerglide, do you believe in Primus?" "Pfft, like a god? Yeah, right. If there was, what has he done for me?" NOW Powerglide stares up at the darkness of space and nods sagely. Now that that little hurdle has been taken care of, it's time to get cocky. "Aha! What was that!? My grandma has better aim than you! And she doesn't even exist! Bahahaha!" Powerglide begins to knee Sunder wherever he can reach. "YOU SUCK!" Combat: Powerglide strikes Sunder with his Witty Name for Kick (Kick) attack! Brigand grimaces as the acid flies - thankfully at Sunder and not him. Looks like another distinguishing mark. But he can't sit by while his fellow Sweep is annhilated by these Autobots. Brigand's got some alarmist theories on how their numbers are dwindling as it is. He steps in and tries to sucker punch Kup in the back of the head. Combat: Brigand strikes Kup with his Punch attack! Combat: You took 3 damage. Sunder snarls as the acid hits him and Powerglide knees him. Rising higher into the air, he pulls out his grenade launcher, placing a rocket into the secondary firing chamber. "You'll get a blast out of this, old man. And you too, you sorry excuse for a flying machine!" Combat: Sunder misses Kup with his Rocket Propelled Grenade Area attack! Combat: Sunder misses Powerglide with his Rocket Propelled Grenade Area attack! Combat: Your attack continues to damage Sunder Combat: Temporarily restricting the REPEAT effect from all of your attacks. Powerglide gasps! Oh no he didn't! "Oh no you didn't!" Powerglide hollers. He snaps his fingers in a Z formation, "I /know/ you did not just say what I /think/ you just said! MMMMmmmmHHHMMMMMmmmmm!" Powerglide pulls his super cool pistol out again and fires at Sunder. "I'm all about that life." Combat: Powerglide strikes Sunder with his Ghettolicious (Disruptor) attack! Kup stumbles forward a step as Brigand punches the back of his head. "Ow! That was pretty low, Sweep! But not as low as THIS!" Kup quickly circles around his opponent, attempting to get behind Brigand, put him in a Full Nelson, and physically force his body in the path of Sunder's grenade! "Since you Decepticons love usin' other people as living shields so much I figure you oughta get a taste of how it feels when somebody does it to you!" Combat: Kup misses Brigand with his Sunder's Grenade attack! [Pulled -3] Brigand is mechhandled easily by Kup. When he sees the grenade coming in his features crease in concentration. A flicker of encrypted radio transmission is detected, and then when the grenade hits him it bounces harmlessly off of his chest, inert. He shrugs apologeticly at Sunder. "Hey, I told you those Pz-Zazz'ers put all kinds of safety measures in their munitions." Then he twists around to try and free himself from Kup's grasp. Unable to even budge the elder bot's grip, he instead brings a heel down on Kup's foot. Combat: Brigand misses Kup with his Kick attack! Sunder grumbles as the acid still eats away at his armor, and Powerglide nails him again. "So safety, they don't even hit their intended targets. Oh well, thank Unicron for small mercies..." he says, then rushes at Powerglide. He pounces, trying to pin the mini-planebot down. Combat: Sunder strikes Powerglide with his Grab attack! Combat: Your attack continues to damage Sunder Kup clearly looks disappointed when his living shield attack fails him, but manages to keep his wits about him, scooting his feet away from Brigand's stomps and pushing the Sweep away. "What!? You mean an arms dealer actually cares crap if his customers blow themselves up with his products? You gotta be fraggin' kiddin' me." While he tries to figure that out, he tries to blast Brigand in both his kneecaps. Combat: Kup strikes Brigand with his Laser attack! Powerglide spins his pistol around on his finger and then blows on the barrel. Yeah. He's one cool motherflecher. "Heh. Nothin' can stop ol' Powerglide! Not even a-OH CRAP, SWEEP!" He tries to jump out of the way, but it's all for naught. He is caught! Despite all his rage, he is still just a rat in a cage. "Ahghgshagfsdrt get away from me!" Pistol still grasped in his hands, he fires a higher-powered shot. Brigand !systems Combat: Powerglide strikes Sunder with his Thermal Beam attack! [Pulled -2] Sunder gets hit again, and the Sweep tries to retaliate with his own laser. "Die, Autobot!" he shouts. He seems to be in the programming subroutine of battle rage, and his optics glow a little more brightly. Combat: Sunder misses Powerglide with his headcannon blast attack! Combat: You notice your attack on Sunder wearing off. Brigand falls to his knees as Kup shoots hits him with a potentially crippling attack. At first Brigand looks shocked, but his expression changes to one of grudging admiration. "A masterful attack," he comments. "Perhaps even worthy of a Sweep. But it takes more than good aim." Grimacing in pain, he pushes back to his feet and then leaps into the air, wings folding down around him as he transforms. Almost immediately a barrage of energy bolts pulse out, filling the air around Kup with deadly energy even as Brigand hovers backwards to get more room to operate. Brigand shifts into his Sweepcraft mode. Combat: Sweepcraft misses Kup with his Laser Blaster attack! "Oh my God, go away!" Powerglide flails around. "GO HOME! GET OUT! SHOO! LEAVE! GET THE /HELL/ AWAY FROM ME! UGGHH!" Combat: Powerglide misses Sunder with his Exhausted Flailing (Punch) attack! Kup transforms into truck mode, tires revving as he speeds away, narrowly dodging the laser bolts. "Yeah, well, yer one to talk, ain't you, Sweep?" Kup grunts. "But maybe yer right--you gotta do more than hit somebody--you gotta hit 'em hard enough for 'em to stay down!" And so Kup barrels down on Sunder, the only Sweep that isn't safely in the air! "Time fer a trip to the med bay, Sweep--a LONG one!" Kup falls forward, folding up into really old looking futuristic truck! Combat: Cybertruck misses Sunder with his Old-Fashioned Overrun attack! Sunder may be heavily damaged, but he's still fast. And he gets out of the way of Kup very quickly, which also coincidentally got him out of the way of Powerglide's spastic flailing. Rising into the air, the Sweep transforms and attempts to lasso Kup with his energy rope. Soapdish on a rope? Sunder's head disappears into his chest, his wings fold around him, and now he is in Sweepcraft mode, his headcannon still visible. Combat: Sweepcraft strikes Cybertruck with his Laser Lasso attack! Combat: You took 3 damage. Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Cybertruck 's Agility. (Crippled) Sweepcraft flies back in, criss-crossing Sunder's path as Sweeps like to do. "Good idea," he notes as he flies by, then fires his own energy lasso - his aiming at Powerglide. Combat: Sweepcraft strikes Powerglide with his Laser Lasso attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Powerglide's Agility. (Crippled) Cybertruck 's tires squeel as he is unjustly seized by the soapdish, unable to escape no matter how much he accelerates! "Nnnnh, you think you got me, don't ya? Well, Kup ain't yer average truck, sonny boy!" A cannon pops out of his roof, swivels up towards Sunder, and blasts away at him! "And Powerglide--how are ya holdin' up now? Still doin' ok, right?" Combat: Cybertruck misses Sweepcraft with his Back-Mounted Laser attack! Powerglide stumbles around on his feet, hand clenched over his gut wound. "Yeah, I'm good. I think..I think I have an idea!" Powerglide drops down and transforms into his jet mode. Time to fly, baby! He starts his engines and...nothing happens. "AGH CRAP! THERE'S NO AIR IN SPACE! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-" In an angry frenzy, he begins to shoot little bombs into the air. Powerglide turns into an AWESOME jet Combat: A-10 Thunderbolt II strikes Sweepcraft with his And Away We Go attack! Combat: Sweepcraft has been temporarily incapacitated. Sweepcraft howls as he's stunned and crashes to the ground. Unable to move, he's completely at the mercy of his prey. In the back of his processer he ponders finding a way to incapacitate his own victims...someday. A-10 Thunderbolt II transforms back into his robot mode. Man, who knew a plane would be useless in space? "Geez, Kup..How long until they wuss out and run away, you think?" Powerglide turns into an AWESOME robot. Combat: Powerglide takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Sweepcraft streaks by overhead, firing a series of lower-powered energy bolts at both Autobots (but mostly at Kup). "You wouldn't be talking like that if you didn't have this oldster to hide behind!" he barks. Combat: Sweepcraft misses Cybertruck with his Disruptor attack! Cybertruck pops up into robot mode, blasting away at Brigand with acid pellets! "Old, old, old! Yeah, I get it! I'm fraggin' old!" Kup yells. "Well, at least I lived to a good old age, and that's more than what we can say about you, chum!" The faded green cybertruck springs up and splits apart, revealing the ancient Autobot, Kup! Combat: Kup sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Kup strikes Sweepcraft with his Acid Musket Laser attack! Combat: Removed restrictions on REPEAT for your attacks. Kup then adds, in response to Powerglide, "If they don't, they're gonna wish they did reeeal soon!" Powerglide gives Kup a thumbs up. "Cool! I'm going to watch from all the way over there!" And with that, he takes off sprinting. Sweepcraft tries to crank up his engines again, tries to get up. Combat: Sweepcraft takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack. The Sweepcraft's engines finally sputter to life and he rises up from the ground. He takes aim with his disruptors, trying to punish Kup for what the absent Powerglide has done. Combat: Sweepcraft strikes Kup with his Disruptor attack! Combat: You took 2 damage. Sweepcraft gets a spray of acid pellets along his side, armor immediately steaming and becoming pitted. "Nnnh! Please tell me that wasn't...no, it couldn't be..." he sighs, then screams in a slightly higher tone of voice, "ACID!!" Brigand shudders in mid-air as he streaks by, then again back in the other direction, before he finally lines up on Kup and unleashes a barrage of energy bolts in Kup's direction. Combat: Sweepcraft strikes Kup with his Disruptor attack! Combat: You took 2 damage. Kup takes two disruptor shots to the chest, and his face crinkles in anger. "Ok, I've had just about enough of you two," Kup snarls. "I'm a little winded but I could probably keep doin' this for a long, long time. So if I was you two..." He cracks his knuckles loudly, optics gleaming dangerously. "...I'd skedaddle before I REALLY unleash the pain. Cuz that little bit of acid? That was *nuthin'.*" Combat: Kup takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Sweepcraft pulls up next to Sunder and hovers in place almost like two cars waiting at a light. Except that they're both futiristic spacecraft. And they're in mid-air over the surface of a metal-and-mineral filled asteroid. In a low voice he mutters, "Think he's bluffing?" Combat: Sweepcraft takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] "Perhaps, and perhaps not," Sweepcraft replies. He too waits, trying to let his energon reserves fill back up for another attack. Combat: Sweepcraft takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Kup smirks. "Ok, then. Sure. I'm bluffing. I'm all tuckered out. Too badly damaged to continue. You got me. You *won.*" Then, suddenly and explosively, he leaps upwards, the minimal gravity allowing him to leap directly at Brigand. He pulls back a punch, snarling, "Won a trip to the fraggin' scrapheap, Decepticon! NAAAHHHHH!" Combat: Kup strikes Sweepcraft with his Whuppin' attack! [Pulled -1] Sweepcraft is bashed into space by the blow, tumbling out of control for a bit before firing his engines - well, his otherworldly propulsion system to be exact, but same effect. He soars out into space, heading straight away from the asteroid. "You're - you're crazy, old mech. CRAZY!!" He pauses briefly, just at the edge of shortwave range. "Uh, wait, did I leave one of my Spikers..." he trails off when his optics pick up Kup and the expression on his face. Hastily he adds, "Uh, nevermind." Combat: Sweepcraft begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Autobot Flagship Kup catches himself on some scaffolding, and hangs on to it as the Decepticon retreats. "Well, so I've been told, Decepticon. So I've been told."
|
