Outskirts of Imperial Headquarters

This region draws little attention in of itself, only as a setting for the somber Decepticon fortress whose serrated walls form a jagged silhouette against the permanently dark skies of Cybertron. The surrounding area is completely clear of clutter, smoothly refinished, and painted a flat black to add to the Stygian illusion. A place this dark should be as quiet as a tomb, but there is a considerable amount of noise and traffic: Decepticon patrols coming and going, shipments of incoming supplies not only from the nearby city of Nightsiege but from off planet as well, the distant sound of ships taking off and landing at the Spaceport.

Contents:

Cement Truck <Mixmaster>

Decepticon Advanced Troops #5844

Sensor11

Base Defenses Alpha

Base Defenses Beta

Imperial Headquarters <IHQ>

Obvious exits:

South <S> leads to Nightsiege Spaceport.

Cement Truck <Mixmaster> is trundling about. He's sick of pacing, so he's now driving in circles. He arranged Scrapper to meet here four breems ago! He wanted to make his point, and he's running out of time? A few more breems and Cybertron would have cycled about too much. Where IS that Scrapper?

'Oh yeah..' he thinks after a moment. 'Didn't I give him something after that wine that would make him throw up?'

And lo, Scrapper steps out of Imperial Headquarters, followed by a horde of gumbies who are pushing hovercarts full of equipment. He looks a little bit dizzy... almost as if he's been sick for the past little while. BUT WHOEVER CAN WE BLAME FOR THAT? The Constructicon immediately spies Mixmaster and storms on up to him. "Alright, alright. What is it that's so important that you had to meet me up here with?" he asks. The gumbies, meanwhile, continue onward towards the spaceport.

Cement Truck <Mixmaster> shoots a look at the gumbies.. before dismissing his questions and returning his gaze to Scrapper. "Say, dear brother," He asks with a broad knowing smile on his dial. "What do you think the most powerful weapon to be unleashed on Cybertron ever was?"

Cement Truck <Mixmaster> transforms and shoots a look at the gumbies.. before dismissing his questions and returning his gaze to Scrapper. "Say, dear brother," He asks with a broad knowing smile on his dial. "What do you think the most powerful weapon to be unleashed on Cybertron ever was?"

The Cement Truck's cab folds down and splits in two, forming Mixmaster's legs and feet. His wheels and part of his sides shift out into his arms, which push himself up. The Constructicon lifts himself up onto his feet and looks eagerly for something to smelt.

Scrapper thinks about it for a moment. "Hmmm." He thinks about Starscream's horrifying voice, Wheelie in general, Trypticon, Copernicus station back when it had that monster orbital cannon, Galvatron, Avatar... "I'd have to go with Unicron." He finally says. "Why, do you have something that can beat Unicron?" Scrapper asks. Either way, the Constructicon tries to lead his brother towards the spaceport, as they have work to do as they discuss their evil plans.

Mixmaster's smile forms into a full grin. "Well, obviously eating planets is not the way to harvest energy.. that's far too big a project. But planet technology is where it's at, Brother." Mixmaster pulls up a star chart of earth's Solar System. "Just look at all the potential targets we can pick to modify!"

Scrapper looks at the map of the solar system. "Yes..." he murmers, thinking about it. He points to something on the starchart. "We'll use... THIS as our weapon against the Autobots! Oh, wait," Scrapper rubs the chart. "That was a speck of dust..." Scrapper keeps leading Mixmaster to the spaceport. "So, uh, where are you going with this?" he asks.

You move south to the Nightsiege Spaceport.

Nightsiege Spaceport

The spaceport is as pristine as the rest of the city, but it's here that you start getting your strongest indications of the sheer military presence that's housed in the Aerospace Headquarters to the north. The spaceport is divided into two distinct sections, as about a third of it is set aside for a small amount of civilian traffic and trade, and the rest is in constant motion as the patrols and strike-forces for the Decepticon Aerospace fleet scramble from one of the two landing strips. A huge stylized tower, dignified at worst and awe inspiring at best, rises over the landing strips, orchestrating all the traffic. Large hangars divide the spaceport physically. Positioned at all entrances to the spaceport are the best of the Decepticon's security troops, who, someday hope to ascend to the ranks of Aerospace.

Contents:

Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>

Nightsiege Spaceport Hangars

Obvious exits:

Fly <Up> leads to Sky above Nightsiege.

North <N> leads to Outskirts of Imperial Headquarters.

East <E> leads to Courtyard.

Mixmaster arrives from the Outskirts of Imperial Headquarters to the north.

Mixmaster has arrived.

"It's not my area.." Mixmaster begins, "But I've been reading up on mass and orbits and things. There's little much else to do on dirtbag Nebulos other than read. But What I found out was that if we introduce a large mass into a populace like the earth.. we could create global catastrophies, and plenty of kinetic energy that we could convert into energon! All we need to do is mobilise a planet." He points to Earth's second closest neighbour, Mars. "I'm thinking this one. It's smaller than this one," he says as he points to venus, "so it'll be easier to make spaceworthy."

Scrapper hmmms, "I thought Venus was a deathtrap anyway?" he asks, sounding quite interested in this idea. "We /are/ low on energon, and Lord Galvatron would love the chance to gather a bunch up while making the lives of the fleshlings miserable." As the pair reach the spaceport, one can see that the gumbies are in the process of loading all the equipment they were haulin gonto the Triumph's cargo bay. "I know all about the slaggin' tides that this planet has. It caused quite a problem when designing New Crystal City. Still... can this really be done?" he asks.

"Oh, sure." Mixmaster says. "I mean, even though we've got low energon levels.. the fuel required for this won't be all that much. I mean, it's a small planet after all." Remember: not his area. He's just the genius behind the operation. It's up to everyone else to say to him "Uh no, sorry, that's impossible." He shrugs the question off as the gumbies once again takes his attention. "Uh.. what exactly is it they are doing anyway?"

Scrapper squints at Mixmaster as they reach the Triumph. "We," he stresses that word, "Are finally deploying the automatic mining facility. Remember back when we wasted Rodimus, Sky Lynx, Snarl, Grimlock, and a few others all at once and stole the mining equipment?" he asks, knowing full well the answer is 'yes'. "Well it's all ready now." Scrapper shrugs and explains. "I've been busy... But as for this 'small planet' business... uh no, sorry, that's impossible." A gumby salutes, "The Triumph is loaded and prepped, Commander."

"It is NOT!!" Mixmaster retorts in his fully justified and supported argument. "YOu're stupid!" He's too busy to argue with Scrapper about the planet Mars thing to focus on arguing about setting up the mine, so he just gets onto the ship without resistance.

The gumby looks at the two nervously as an argument breaks out. All three board the Triumph. "It IS! Mixmaster, face it, aside from the ability to pour liquids from one beaker into another beaker, you're just not all that bright." He pats Mixmaster on the head real condescending-like. "Space is huge! Planets are huge! Mars is huge! Your brain is tiny!"

You board the Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>.

Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>

The latest in Cybertronian space technology, the interior of the Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph> is an impressive display of technical knowledge. At the front of the ship is the cockpit, with seats for the pilot and co-pilot and ringed by wrap-around screens. Inside are a variety of sensitive navigational and weaponry controls and monitors, constantly displaying information like system checks, long and short range scanners, and weapons targeting systems. Behind the cockpit is a seating section and in a separate section in the rear is a large cargo bay.

----------------------------< Vessel Commands >----------------------------

Objooc <say or :pose>......... Does an OOC say or pose by you personally

Speak <message>............... Broadcasts <message> outside the vessel

View.......................... Shows what's outside of the vessel

Viewobj <object>.............. Shows the desc of an object outside

Audible <on/off>.............. Sets broadcasting to the outside on or off

+password <name>.............. Shows the vessel's pword to officers

----------------------------< Pilot Commands >-----------------------------

Command <vessel>=<passwd>.....Takes command of the vessel

Pilot.........................Show more pilot commands

< Current Location: Nightsiege Spaceport >

Contents:

Extended Radio Equipment 60

You take command of the Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>.

Mixmaster boards the Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>.

Mixmaster hops onto the ship, barking as he enters. "If what I do is so tricky, why are you constantly getting into explosions whenever you try and do the job yourself? I guess you've said plenty about your own abilities right there, brother! Look, there might be some details that needs ironing out, but the basic idea works. We CAN make it work." He finds a point to lean in the ship. Luckily for all the technicians in the ship, they can hear him clearly from that point! "You know what I think?" The Constructicon continues. "I think you're not MECH enough to take on a project that big! Yeah! That's right!"

Scrapper errrrs, "That's a good question, but unfortunately I have to worry about piloting the ship right now so can't give you the answer." He straps himself into the pilot's chair and lets Mixmaster do the same for the co-pilot position. "Not /much/ enough? C'mon now, Mixmaster, think about it. In order to move an entire /planet/, even one the size of Mars, out of its orbit but in a controlled enough fashion that we can put it near Earth without completely destroying it, we'd need at least sixteen class A engine thrusters, a galactic mark XXI computer guidance system, a full command centre to house all the components, and seventy million astrounits of fuel."

"So we don't have them in stock?" Mixy says as he sits in the copilot spot. Hopefully MIxy doesn't need to do any, you know, piloting. Just the technical side of things. "Sounds as if we do. And as for the fuel, just think about how much we'll get to make up for it! It's an investment, but it's a huge payoff too!" The constructicon is in a sulky mood, now. "You know.." he says folding his arms in a humf, "If you keep it up, I'm not going to let you help me build my flying planet.."

Scrapper finishes the preflight checkups and grumbles as Mixmaster continues to push his case, "Well..." He's getting close to breaking, and the idea of such a large scale project is definitely a facinating one. Before Scrapper can make a decision, he presses a button and the shuttle lurches forward. The gumbies strap themselves in as the Triumph lumbers down the runway and breaks off up high into the Cybertronian night.

Outside, You blast off and launch yourself towards the Orbit of Cybertron.

Outside, Orbit of Cybertron

Outside,

The world lies below you in remote splendor, all imperfections removed by distance and the obscuration of the enveloping atmosphere. The icy vacuum of space envelops you here, sparkling with jeweled stars that blaze with unearthly brightness. In the face of this immensity, it is impossible to feel anything but small...

Outside, Contents:

Outside, Decepticon Sensor #6832

Outside, Decepticon Space Station <Con Space 1>

Outside, Autobot Sensor #5962

Outside, Junkion Sensor #5072

Outside, Obvious exits:

Outside, Escape Orbit <EO> leads to Cybertron System.

Outside, Down <EH> leads to Stratosphere above Eastern Hemisphere.

Outside, Down <WH> leads to Stratosphere above Western Hemisphere.

Outside, Iahex <land4> Polyhex Spaceport <land5> Junkion Spaceport <land6> Nightsiege Spaceport <land7>

<Autobot> Iahex Computer transmits, "Decepticon shuttle Triumph detected departing Cybertron."

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "Uh oh. Any idea where it's trajectory is taking it?"

<Autobot> Iahex Computer transmits, "Sol."

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "Of course it is. Alright- any Autobots besides myself actually have their radios on tonight?"

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "Kup? Grimlock? Slag? Anybody?"

Mixmaster might not know everything about physics, but he knows EVERYTHING about debating with his brothers. Except for when to stop, that is. "I'll let you put one of your giant "lasers" on it.." He sings as he makes the quotation gesture.

Scrapper twitches and glares over at Mixmaster as the Decepticon vessel passes away from Cybertron. "Have you been looking at my notes?" he demands, "Because if you think that using Mars is going to solve the problem of needing a "laser" site closer to Earth in order for the "Death Star 2" to function, you're nuts!" Scrapper takes his hands off the controls each time he uses the quotes, and the ship veers off course each time. Scrapper thinks about it for a moment and finally, as the Triumph enters FTL, Scrapper hisses, "Primus, I hate you."

With a quiet rumble, the FTL engines come online.

Outside, The Triumph suddenly vanishes from view as it smoothly shifts to FTL travel.

*** TRAVEL SPAM ***

Outside, Sol System

Outside,

This star system, tucked in an obscure corner of the Milky Way, seems ordinary enough at first glance. At its heart is a yellow, G-type star named Sol. An asteroid belt between the fourth and fifth planets makes a convenient dividing line; the four inner planets are small and rocky, while the four outer ones are gas giants. Beyond the outer planets are a number of borderline planetoids, such as Pluto, Sedna, and Quaoar. The system is also home to many comets, moons, and stray asteroids.

From this vantage point, it's not readily apparent that the third planet is home to a complex society, including billions of lives whose future may depend on the outcome of the Transformers' civil war, in which it has been unwittingly caught up.

Outside, Contents:

Outside, Fringe <Sol>

Outside, Obvious exits:

Outside, Below Plane <BP> leads to Deep Space - Subplanar.

Outside, Above Plane <AP> leads to Deep Space - Paraplanar.

Outside, Rimward <R> leads to Deep Space - Galactic Plane.

Outside, Spinward <S> leads to Deep Space - Galactic Plane.

Outside, Coreward <C> leads to Trifid Nebula.

<Autobot> Snarl says, "Me Snarl awake"

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "Well, that's a start. Teletran Two, keep me updated on the Decepticon Shuttle's activity- let me know as soon as it looks like it'll be headed through allied airspace."

"I love you too, Scrapper." Mixmaster says with a grin. "I'll show you what I've been working on when we get back to base.. I think you'll like iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..."

Mixmaster is in no way an experienced FTL traveller. "For slags sake, Scrapper, tell a guy when you're going to make him lose his lunch, will you?"

<Autobot> Snarl says, "Me Snarl arrived to Autobot City. Me trying to use big computer to spy Decepticons."

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "...I'll be right there, Snarl."

<Autobot> Teletran II transmits, "Decepticon shuttle Triumph detected in Sol system."

You receive a long-range radio transmission from Airwolf: Triumph, you have been detected by the Autobots both in departing Cybertron and in arriving on Earth, and they are watching for you to cross allied airspace.

Scrapper snickers, having achieved a minor victory against the evil that is Mixmaster. "Whoops!" he says in a tone which suggests that, in fact, Scrapper did not exactly do that by accident. "Soooo, what exactly have you worked so far on this little project of yours?" he asks. Reluctantly, he adds, "As another point, we can run a flyby of your instrument of destruction." he notes as the Triumph exits hyperspace on the fringe of the Sol system. Meanwhile, a light on the communications array flickers, and Scrapper frowns, tapping a button on it. Whatever the message was, it's coming through as nothing but gibberish.

A subaudial whine becomes briefly noticeable as the FTL engines cut off, and the vessel returns to sublight speed.

Outside, The Triumph suddenly appears, seemingly out of nowhere, as it returns to sublight speed.

Outside, Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>'s FTL engines quietly power down as it returns to sublight speed.

Outside, System Report: Energon Level Normal

You paged Airwolf with 'Assume ya get static back from us :-)'.

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "Teletran Two, can you scan the Decepticon Shuttle for armaments? Is it an assault vehicle?"

<Autobot> Teletran II transmits, "Database reports: Standard weaponry for Decepticon "Shuttle" class vessels. Rocket launchers, dual laser cannons, quad laser cannons. Standard defences."

Mixmaster sits back and sulks, while the irony of Mixmaster telling of Scrapper for making him upset his energon processing systems is lost, because Scrapper is an IDIOT. Stupid Scrapper. "Just some design work.. where engines would best go.. tapping internal resevoirs as power sources, that sort of thing. Oh! And I have some demolition work for Bonecrusher to share his thoughts on. Nothing terribly important, just an aesthetical point."

Scrapper grunts, "We'll head towards Mars before getting on to the asteroid field. Perhaps we can pick some possible locations for the engines. The more information we have to give to Galvatron, the better." As an afterthought, he asks, "What is it that you want demolished, anyway?"

<Autobot> Teletran II transmits, "Triumph detected entering Mars orbit."

<Autobot> Snarl says, "Mars? Teletran me Snarl say try to calculate Decepticon destination."

<Autobot> Teletran II transmits a series of coordinates on the surface of the planet, nowhere near the abandoned EDC facilities or previous battlesites.

"Nothing, Brother." Mixmaster says. "I was thinking of Detonating a Decepticon insignia into the planet's surface. Nothing too big, just big enough to be seen from earth, by Telescope. And don't worry about Mars, we'll tour it on the way back." In other words, his player isn't certain if he's got enough time.

<Autobot> Snarl says, "Decepticon on Mars... me wonder why they're there. Teletran. Me Snarl want you to scan Decepticon destination. Look for anything unusual."

Scrapper nods, "Well, I always support building giant Decepticon insignias... but it's no problem, Mixmaster." Perhaps Scrapper is getting EAGER for this project he previous thought was idiotic? The Constructicon pilots the ship towards the red planet, and eventually into its thin atmosphere. Red dust kicks up as the Triumph settles down on the planet, sinking slightly due to the weight.

Mixmaster heys.. "I thought I said.. not to.. awww, SLAG it." He says, sitting down in a huff. Guess we're going to Mars AFTER all. "And yeah, I'm sure you would like it. But let's not forget who came up with the idea, brother." He says, pointing a green thumb at his face.

Scrapper snickers, "Oh, I would never steal someone else's idea." At least, not until Galvatron gives it the 'I didn't kill you for suggesting it' nod of approval. "Lets go take a looksee, shall we?" Despite the insane @desc which needs to be changed already, the Triumph is in the middle of no-where! Scrapper unstraps himself, and the gumbies all mutter to themselves about how this isn't the job they signed on for.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Y'got a Decepticon bogey landin' on Mars, Yeah. Might be a good idea to check it out."

<Autobot> Snarl says, "Me Snarl say of course. I had the idea."

<Autobot> Teletran II transmits, "Shuttle Triumph has vanished from sensors. Conclusion: Systems shut down."

Mixmaster was never even strapped in, so he's just floating there the moment he lets go of the chair. After clutching it for dear life. "Suuuuuuure." He says to Scrapper as he follows Scrapper behind.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Yes, you did, Snarl. You comin'?"

<Autobot> Snarl says, "Me Snarl coming of course. Me haven't smashed a Decepticon for days!"

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Any 'Bot up for a li'l trip?"

Valles Marineris

The magnificent Valles Marineris valley system is comprised of a multitude of valleys and canyons stretching 3,000 miles, from the Tharsis Planitia at the western end of the canyon system to the Elysium Planitia at the east end. The region is filled with extinct volcanos and other pecular geological findings. The atmosphere is almost 80 percent carbon dioxide here, rising to well over 95% further east and making it hazardous for those who need to breath oxygen.

Contents:

Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>

Obvious exits:

Northwest <NW> leads to Promontory Point, Mars.

<Autobot> Scattershot says, "Trip? When do we leave?"

Scrapper opens the hatchway on the Triumph and steps outside into the dull crimson terrain. "Wow... the next time I refer to Earth as a dustball, Mixmaster, remind me of this, willya?" He asks. The Constructicon shakes his head, marvelling at how pathetic this planet is.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Yesterday, 'Shot. If yer comin' come on."

Mixmaster disembarks from the Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>.

Mixmaster has arrived.

"Remind you of the excellent idea I had to put a giant laser on a planet and fly it into earth's orbit?" Mixmaster asks as he disembarks. "Okay, Scrapper, done deal." He starts hopping about, enjoying the lack of gravity (even though he has anti-gravs.) "You know, I heard there is a smiley-face crater on this rock. We should check it out!"

Scrapper ignores Mixmaster's smartass remark and says, "A smiley face? What, kind of like the Autobot insignia?" Scrapper follows Mixmaster towards wherever this thing happens to be. As he does, he begins reading up on his datapad, having downloaded information on Mars from the Triumph's computer systems. "Huh... the fleshlings named this planet after, ha ha, get this, after 'Aries, the God of War'. Ha ha ha ha!"

Mixmaster really doesn't know where the smiley face is, he's just bouncing around. "No, like a round circle, and two dots for eyes.. and a line. That's curved. Because it's a smiling line. Or something." Mixmaster starts cackling at the mention of the origin of the planets name. "Hee, if it was named after a war god, they'll love what we're going to do with it!" He continues to bounce, before he stops in thought. "Hang on.. If it was named AFTER someone called Ares.. why did it get the name called Mars?"

Scrapper's laughing continues for some time as they trek out away from the shuttlecraft. "Because humans are stupid," he explains to Mixmaster. "At any rate, have you performed any of the calculations for how and where we're going to be placing these engines? This is a big job, Mixmaster. I know the other Constructicons are busy on maintenance runs elsewhere, but we may need everyone's help for this sort of thing."

You mean mobilising a planet is such a big job that we might need (gasp!) SIX Constructicons working on it? Whoa. Putting things into scale, it required EIGHT of them to build Megatron. Or did it? Stupid memory core.. "I'll put some more thought into it, Scrapper. But I'm thinking if there are any major canyons or anything, that would be great. We would be best to conceal our works." He surveys the horizon. "Perhaps we could get Vertigo or someone to help create a sufficient hologram device as cloaking?"

Jazz comes in from the rock above you, from the northwest.

Jazz has arrived.

Scattershot comes in from the rock above you, from the northwest.

Scattershot has arrived.

Snarl comes in from the rock above you, from the northwest.

Snarl has arrived.

Dynamo comes in from the rock above you, from the northwest.

Dynamo has arrived.

Scrapper snorts , "Conceal our work. Hah, I think the humans are going to notice the moment Mars starts moving abnormally. But still, we can defend the place with the "Death Star 2", and with holograms like you suggested." He does the quotes, naturally. "Ahhh, now this is the life of a Constructicon, eh Mixmaster? Out here, charting out our new conquests, designing the future plans of the Decepticon Empire, preparing to make the lives of humans and Autobots everywhere miserable through our diabolical schemes. Oh sure, they'll eventually catch onto it, and we'll have to beat 'em back a few times, but this is where we really shine, brother. The Combaticons... Stunticons... all the other losers... as a great mech once said: It is easier to destroy than to build." Actually, it was Spock who said that. "And we do both quite well!" Scrapper pauses at the top of a rather large hill, and he looks down one way at the Triumph, back where they had come from. A few of the gumbies are now outside, taking advantage of the little break. Scrapper then looks forward, where they're heading.

Since Spock voiced none other than Galvatron, that's a fair claim. Mixmaster bounces along to his brother. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Making stuff IS fun." He peers at the flat terrain.. not really much in the way of concealment as far as they can see. Hmm. "Does the triumph tell you what sort of minerals are under the surface on Mars, Scrapper? That would help fueling the device, at least."

Scattershot saddles up behind Snarl; whatever noises the Dinobot makes will mask his own, at least, and there is no greater ablative armor in all the galaxy. He keeps one hand on the Dinobot's back since he can't see a damn thing. The occassional odd footing over the rocky terrain causes him to grimace every so often, but it's a lot better than falling flat on his face every few steps. In the other hand, he holds his acid-pellet rifle.

Snarl is walking right behind Jazz, trying to be as stealth as possible...which means people on Jupiter can probably hear him. He gives a quick look at Scattershot who's hidding behind him, he seems to be about to make a comment but then just shurgs and summons his sword from a subspace and continues to follow Jazz.

Dynamo trundles along in the back position, keeping one optic on Scattershot to make sure he's okay. . o O (Maybe we could fit him with some kind of radar feed...) He makes a mental note to suggest that to the medics as a stopgap measure until they get his optics fixed. Rubbing his hands together, throwing off blue sparks, as he warms up the generators.

And over the hill and valleys come the Autobots. At least Jazz is trying to make sure that he's not jumping right out into the open yet. So we have... Mixmaster. Scrapper. And a bunch of jet-types? "None of the other Constructicons in sight, hmm. Don't have t' worry about Devastator." It'd be kinda keen to maybe get an idea of what they're working on, now wouldn't it? Too bad they're right out in the open. And having a dinobot doesn't do much for the 'sneak up on them' aspect either, now does it. "'Shot?" he asks, sort of squinting behind that visor, not that anyone can see him do that kind of thing. "Might need ya up in the air, and do a flyover-- if your sensors in yer other mode are workin' well enough, that is..."

<Autobot> Scattershot says, "No problem, Jazz. My alt-mode sensors are tip-top, it's just robot mode. Gimme a sec to get some distance so I don't clip someone with a wing."

<Autobot> Scattershot says, "Just beware, I'll have to be low enough to get a good scan. They're going to know we're here, so it'll get hot... in a hurry. Be ready."

Thankfully, those gumbies around the Triumph are closer than Jupiter. A little alarm beeps on the bridge of the ship, and the gumbies immediately react with the expert training that they are known for. One of them secures the scanner, another heads for the shuttle's main weaponry, and the rest, six of them, form up outside the shuttle.

Meanwhile, Scrapper shakes his head, "It's a standard shuttle. It sucks. But the mining equipment we have with us has many scanners along with it." Scrapper then pauses as he and Mixmaster get a transmission from the gumbies. "Huh... unidentified movements coming towards the shuttle. Humans, maybe?" Scrapper wonders, glancing back at the ship. "Maybe we should head back..."

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Understood, 'Shot. 'Kay guys, be ready."

<Autobot> Dynamo says, "Strafe them on your return pass, as we advance? We can probably sow a huge amount of confusion in the ranks."

Mixmaster transforms and doesn't bother waiting on Scrapper to follow, as he trundles back to landing site. "Humans on Mars, Scrapper? Don't be so absurd!" He snaps at his brother, leaving him in his dust. "Maybe the ship can tell us for sure, though."

Mixmaster leans down as his legs fold up backwards. He falls down frontwards as he completes his transformation into a Green Cement Truck. His Cauldron begins rotating once again.

<Autobot> Smokescreen says, "What's the news up on Mars?"

Scattershot lets Snarl get a few steps away, then takes several steps to the left and transforms. His internal sensors come online immediately. "Ah, sweet, sweet sight." He then skims the ground as close as he can so as not to give away the rest of the Autobots' position, then rises over a small cliff on Scrapper and Mixmaster's little camp. "Well I'll be an ugly Constructicon. Quite the little project they got goin' on here." He passes overtop of the camp and comes about, targetting the formation of gumbies. "Here's a thought... maybe I can destroy it!" The turrets mounted on either side of his bridge open fire on the gumbies outside the shuttle.

Scattershot takes to the air and becomes a Battlecruiser, D-7 style.

As soon as he hears Scattershot firing, Snarl leaps fowards, helped by his anti-grav system. Right now he looks like a cheap Hulk ripoff, grunting and leaping towards the Decepticon shuttle. He fires a few laserbolt with his sword, but he's obviously trying reach the Decepticons as fast as possible.

As the heavy hitters blitz the 'Con position, Dynamo surmounts the ridge, hands crackling with fields of magnetic force. A lance of brilliant energy strikes out into the Seeker gumby ranks, as Dynamo's optics flare with a similar electroluminescence.

And of course as soon as Scattershot comes around, Jazz is taking that step out into the open to lay some coverfire with his usual stylin' manners, "Gettin' a good look. 'Shot?" he asks, shooting at a random constructicon. Yeah. This isn't exactly the way to gather intelligence on anything, but hey. Whatever works.

Scrapper transforms as well, but it's a short journey, and it doesn't take long for Scrapper to spot the Battlecruiser and the gumbies under attack. His radio crackles with reports of what's going on. "He's coming around for a pass!" "Watch yourselves, he's quick." "Aerosol's down! Get him into the shuttle for treatment!" Indeed, one of the Seekers is shot by the turret blasts, but Aerosol bravely waves off those seeking to get him to safety and fires back at Scattershot with a now very unsteady aim. He, and three others are forced to find cover behind the landing gear of the Triumph, and the stray shots strike the armour plating of the ship. The other two unwounded take to the skies, transforming into F-15s. A quick strafing run on Scattershot is detered by the Autobot fire. The Dinobot's laser blasts strikes the landing gear the Seekers were using for cover, or go wide. That, combined with the handblasts of Dynamo, make the Triumph suddenly shudder on its uneven footing. "Slag," one of the gumbies mutter, looking up in case the ship topples down on them.

But meanwhile, Scrapper is back! Transforming to robot once more, he draws out his laser pistol, suddenly realizing that out of all the Decepticons, he and Mixmaster are the most vulnerable. The Triumph, meanwhile, unloads its dorsal quad laser beams on Scattershot, looking to help out the airborne Seekers.

Cement Truck <Mixmaster> catches a couple of stray shots from Jazz, as he watches the Triumph fall under attack from Snarl and Scattershot. "Cut that out!" the tanker eminates, as he makes his way for the cover of the ship. A small emitter pops out from the top of his cab as he speeds away, sending a powerful thermal blast in the direction of Jazz. "Who said YOU were allowed here, Auto-pest?"

Snarl finally reach the Decepticons position. Jumping being their cover, he charges the poor little Seekers, swinging his sword towards the head of the first one and sending his foot towards another one. "At last! Me Snarl was almost missing Decepticons...almost."

Battlecruiser would love to retaliate against Mixmaster's cutting verbage, but the armament of the shuttle is a little more than he bargained for. The Seekers, as suspected, are of little consequence. Shots aborbed by his hull go almost unnoticed, but that shuttle packs quite a punch. As the first beam lances out at his wing, he tips to one side and avoids it cleanly. "Haha! I don't know who your weapons officer is, Scrapper, but you need to teach him how to aim!" He swings to the other side and catches the second lance square in the underside of his nosecone. "Aaaaaargh!", he screams as his equilibrium goes to hell... or at least purgatory. He literally takes a turn for the worse and starts spinning perilously towards the ground. A firing of the afterburners allows him to regain control, though, and since he finds himself at such close quarters to the camp itself, he takes the opportunity to get a more detailed scan of the goings-on. (No attack)

Dynamo scowls as Mixmaster opens fire on Jazz, and advances, energy building up around him now in greater quantities. "Mixmaster," he says flatly, "you talk too much." There's a CRACK-WHAM as the air between the two is split by a searing electrical arc, a synthetic lightning bolt slamming out from Dynamo's fists towards the cement mixer from Hell.

<Autobot> Scattershot says, "Jazz... they got nothin' out that I can see. We might do well to smuggle you inside the ship."

<Autobot> Scattershot says, "And by 'smuggle', I mean blast a hole through it's hull and storm it."

Mmm. Thermals. Just nice enough to singe the paint, and make that white coat turn a dingy gray. Jazz still looks good though. He's not neon green. "Sorry t'crash the party, Mixmaster, but ya both really gotta start paintin' yourselves something other than green, cos we could see ya from miles away." He grins, setting loose a missile or so towards Mixmaster's position, making the attempt to avoid getting the explosions near Scattershot's surveillance swooping. Which we assume that is just him showing off with a powerdive and such.

One Seeker hits the ground, a deep slash in his forehead. His comrades react, naturally, with considerable anger. "You slaggin' aft!" Two of the Seekers, driven by Decepticon bravery, decide to gang up on the Dinobot. At close range, they fire off their Seeker rockets. The two airborne Seekers, meanwhile, split up. One sticks with with the tailspinning shuttle, and the other goes to strafe Dynamo with cluster bombs! Meanwhile, the Triumph's quad lasers rearm, leaving the ventral dual cannons to fire at anyone nearby and dangerous, which in this case means Snarl, Snarl, Snarl, and Snarl.

Scrapper, thankfully, does not get shot at. He ignores Scattershot's quip since the targetting offier proved the point quite well. Hesitating briefly, he sees the Seeker going after Dynamo and decides to help out his brother with the other Autobot infidel. "Care to finish what we started, Jazz?" Scrapper shouts, running towards Jazz, shoulder first. He's not quick, but it's clear he plans on getting into a melee with the coolest Bot around.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Sounds like the best plan fer the moment. Go 'head an' make that hole, while we keep the kooky bunch busy out here. Dynamo? If ya wanna give 'Shot a hand?"

<Autobot> Dynamo says, "Copy that."

Cement Truck <Mixmaster> transforms as he continues to be shot at, by Dynamo and Jazz. Some of the later shots hit him in his more durable mode, but it still hurts. "Ow!" The Constructicon yelps, as he produces his own laser pistol. "I've got your back, Brother!" He shouts, raining cover fire over Scrapper, in the general vicinity of Dynamo and Jazz.

Snarl shrugs off the rockets fired by the Seekers who attacked him. His breastplate is burned by the attack but otherwise the Dinobot seems fine. He is about to slash into another gumbie when he's shot at with the much much more powerful cannon. His left shoulder seems to explodes leaving a nasty hole in it. His armor wasn't able to prevent all the damage. Snarl falls on the ground roaring in pain. But he doesn't remain helpless for long. He quickly transforms into his dinomode and proceed to melt the shuttle ventral cannons with his fire breath. Meanwhile he's ignoring the seekers.

Snarl falls fowards as his body twist and fold into his powerful dino mode.

Dynamo takes note of the attention being focused on him, and takes the smartest move; a field of force covers him as the bombs explode around him and laserfire ricochets off the force-shell. When the dust settles, Dynamo is still there, unscathed and irritated. "Excuse me, Jazz, I have to deal with the riffraff." He points at the jet that just bombed him, as it circles back, a wave of electromagnetic force swirling out around it, and he forcibly tries to guide it into a collision course with the Decepticon's shuttle. "Lawn darts, anyone?"

Battlecruiser makes a parallel run beside the ship and peels off, well aware there is at least one seeker on him at all times. He prides himself that they pay that much attention to little 'ol him. He rises up several hundred feet in a vertical climb and levels out, then turns and flies... away. Wow, that laser from the shuttle must have had some cowardization effect! No, of course it didn't. A moment later, a seeker still trailing him, he opens fire on the far side of the shuttle with a furious eruption of thermal shells. "Dynamo! If you could play one of your electro-tricks on something, well oh gee that would just be ducky!" He pulls up and away, making his way around for another pass.

Jazz oofs, as suddenly there's several tons of green coming in his direction. If he was a human, this'd knock the breath out of him. Not that anyone could really do that much breathing on Mars to begin with. But anyhow. Scrapper wants to tangle with the coolest cat that ever set foot on Mars, huh?

As Mixmaster's coverfire goes over them, Jazz grins at Scrapper. "Yeah, he's got yer back, don't he?--" He tries swinging at the Con who decided to mess with the cool. One fist. Aimed at Scrapper's face. "Now get outta my personal space. It's personal."

Mixmaster yelps! There's a jet that's going to crash on the ship! Mixmaster has a few moments to react before Seeker connects with starfaring machine. His nozzle shhhh-KLIKS into place on his headpiece, launching out a very thick foam. But not just any foam, oh no. This foam is FLAME RETARDANT FOAM.Mixmaster and Scrapper BOTH have problems with this particular substance, but he's going to overlook them in the name of having a ride home at the end of it all. Mixy succeeds in passing out due to sheer fear as he lathers up the area that Seeker's going to crash, hopefully softening the blow, slickening the ship's hull so it will slide rather than impact, and restrict the damage from any potential fire or explosion.

Meanwhile, Mixmaster grits his teeth as he silently swears revenge on Dynamo for reaquainting himself with his old foe, FLAME RETARDANT FOAM.

<O-Autobot> Biscuits n' must'rd, Inferno says, "How is military service not simple? You sign on the line, prepare to give 6 years of your life to serving your country, and accept that afterwards, you'll be a better man for it."

<O-Autobot> Stuck to the fridge, Dynamo says, "Military service isn't for everyone, Ferno."

<O-Autobot> Victory Leo says, "You leave your life behind, submit yourself to be brainwashed and molded by the military machine, and accept that you can possibly die for a cause you may not even believe in. That is not simple."

<O-Autobot> Stuck to the fridge, Dynamo says, "Some folks have a hard time subordinating themselves into the military hierarchy."

<Public> Wes Davis ponders sleep.

<O-Autobot> Stuck to the fridge, Dynamo says, "Vic being one of them :>"

<O-Autobot> Victory Leo says, "I'd last about 2 days in the military :P"

<O-Autobot> Stuck to the fridge, Dynamo lasted about six weeks. Couldn't hit a target past 150m due to eyesight and glasses issues.

<O-Autobot> Commander Scattershot says, "That's been my primary concern about my decision to serve as well. I'm a critical thinker. Critical thinkers don't do well in situations where they need to follow orders blindly, for the most part."

<O-Autobot> Biscuits n' must'rd, Inferno says, "Never said it was. But it wasn't for everyone when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, either. But somehow, we saw a way to come together. Put issues behind us to address the common foe. We lost that somehow. I'll be damned if I know how, but we lost that."

<O-Autobot> Victory Leo says, "all I know is if they tried to draft me (which would never happen) I'd be out of this country before you could say blueberry pie."

<O-Autobot> Stuck to the fridge, Dynamo would view a draft very poorly as well. I've long been of the opinion that volunteers, free people, always fight better than conscripts.

The ventral cannons take a beating from the fire breath, and it's obvious that they won't be able to hold out much longer. But the Triumph does get another dual blast against the Dinobot. One can only pray that this will deter him. The two remaining Seekers near the ship, meanwhile, have an interesting choice. Go elsewhere and be thankful the Dinobot didn't choose them? Or take advantage of the Dinobot's ignoring of them. They go halfway. One of them fires his lasers at him from relatively afar. The other helps out elsewhere...

The F-15 gunning for Dynamo, meanwhile, is sorely disappointed by the appearance of a shield. "I need more firepower here!" And sure enough, the Seeker formally harassing (or should that be, mildly annoying?) Snarl helps out with concentrated laser fire. The F-15, meanwhile, struggles against the magnetic pull, and although he manages to veer away slightly, he still smacks into the... soft, padded foam? Safely landed, the Seeker transforms, offers Mixmaster a grateful salute, and fires back at Dynamo.

Shot's Seeker, meanwhile, gleefully trails after the Technobot, firing at every oppertunity. "You can run, but you can't hide. There's a reason we're called HUNTER-SEEKERS, Autobot fool!

Our buddy Scrapper, meanwhile, takes the shot across the chin. "You /still/ punch like a girl," he tells Jazz, grinning behind his faceplate. "Lemme show ya how it's done. First, recoil your hand, close it up into a fist, and then put it through your enemy's face." Just before he has a chance to demonstrate, however, Scrapper senses his mortal enemy: FIRE RETARDANT FOAM. His optics narrow, "So, we meet again..." he hisses, suddenly not talking to Jazz anymore. But don't worry, he still tries to punch the coolster.

<O-Autobot> Victory Leo says, "yep"

<O-Autobot> Biscuits n' must'rd, Inferno says, "I'm the same way, Scatts. Where the difference comes into play is faith in your command staff. Faith in their experience. Faith in their rank and what they did to get there."

<O-Autobot> Commander Scattershot says, "That's not always enough. Or, conversely, I'm not sure that I would have enough of it to function appropriately."

<O-Autobot> Scrapper knows he'd never go if drafted.

<O-Autobot> Scrapper says, "Though it's an easy choice for me."

<O-Autobot> Victory Leo says, "I've had friends out there getting shot at and that scared me quite enough"

GAME: Pathfinder has disconnected.

<OOC> Mixmaster says, "It's FLAME, not FIRE."

<OOC> Scrapper says, "Hey, you can have your arch-enemies, I'll have mine."

<OOC> Mixmaster says, "And it's also the turn of the BOTS."

<Constructicons> Mixmaster says, "Sweet pose."

<Constructicons> Scrapper says, "Thanks."

<O-Autobot> Snarl says, "But scrapper! you could pilot one of our great labrador copter! :p"

<O-Autobot> Scrapper meant if he were drafted by the US.

<O-Autobot> Scrapper says, "If I was drafted by Canada... well crap, that's even scarier :-)"

<O-Autobot> Stuck to the fridge, Dynamo says, "Because Canada's armed forces consist of three guys with shotguns and a rowboat? :>"

<O-Autobot> Victory Leo says, "When did they get a shotgun?"

<O-Autobot> Snarl says, "You could be a submariner! With our anice submarine, sold by England because they were too dangerous :p"

<O-Porny-Porn> Dixie says, "Hah! I love it when I get people off my channel! Hah!"

<O-Porny-Porn> Wes Davis says, "Dork"

<O-Autobot> Scrapper says, "Remind me to kick Blueshift next time I see him!"

<O-Autobot> Biscuits n' must'rd, Inferno says, "For example, that big ass rubber fire I made. The captain on the truck I was on told me what to do, after I had already pulled my line, hunkered down, and dug in for a fight. At the time, I thought he was nuts for what he ordered me to do. But AFTER the fact, his decision was the best option. It slung my ass out on a line, but between his faith in my abilities and his experience, those first lines laid, that initial attack by myself and my crew, saved that building, period, point blank. Had I told him no, the textbook says this, I would have got my ears boxed. Because I would have been wrong. Flat out, by the book wrong."

While the seeker's laser bounces of Snarl's armor, the dinobot concentrate on destroying the shuttle's weaponery. Since fire is not enough, he decides to try a new tactics and bash into the shuttle with his tail...again and again and again.

Jazz shakes his head, ducking around that punch, because Scrapper is starting to talk to himself. Silly Scrapper, afraid of Fire Retardant Foam. "You'd know 'bout that, now wouldn't you, Scrapper-- an' I do believe we've met before." He makes the attempt to give Scrapper a toss. Y'know. Grab him, and make sure he's not shooting at the 'Bots attacking the shuttle. Because that's what he does.

Dynamo curses as he's coming under an increased amount of fire here, forcing him to spend less time attacking and more time shielding. "Trying, Scattershot, but I seem to making friends left and right here..." A barrage of laserfire hammers into his shields, forcing him back two paces. "Crap. To the inferno with this." He thrusts his fists out, and begins firing a barrage of low-yield EMP charges at the Seekers shooting at him, aiming to scramble systems and stun Decepticons to give him a breather.

Battlecruiser has been taking the occassional shot from the seeker on his tail, but not enough to deter him from his goal of blasting a hole in the hull of the shuttle. That is, until his perimeter alert goes off. "That's... not good." Unable to worry about taking another shot from his position in exchange for avoiding the missile the seeker fired, he tries to kill two birds with one stone and flies straight for the top of the Triumph. As the missile closes in, Scattershot fires his afterburners to stay ahead of it. "C'mon..." he says to himself for no perceptible reason. A moment before he would crash headlong into the shuttle, he pulls up. Whether the missile hits him, hits the shuttle or flails about worthlessly is up to... Scrapper. Oh boy.

Mixmaster has saved the life of the Seeker! Hurrah! The Constructicon leaves his business there. "Shoot the dinobot!" He yells. Not because he's any sort of tactician. Mostly because, you know, he hates the Dinobots. With that, he transforms again and makes his way to help his bother. Okay, assisting Scrapper isn't as important as fleeing from the foam, but nevermind. Another nozzle extends from the end of his mixing cauldron, sending a stream of fast-acting acid towards Scattershot. Thanks to the lack of Gravity on Mars, it's difficult to determine trajectory and pressure, but Mixmaster does a fairly good job of compensating.

The ventral laser cannons are ripped off by the Dinobot, and is now laying in the red dust quite a ways away from the Triumph. The other Seeker, horrified at this turn of events, backs up, unsure of what to do. Can nobody stop him?!

The Seeker on Shot's tail, meanwhile, continues to trail him, eagerly waiting to see what the missile is able to do to the poor, poor Technobot. But just before the Seeker has that final laser barrage lined up, and the missile is just about to be shoved up Scattershot's ass, a bad thing happens. Scattershot pulls up sharply, and the missile strikes the shuttle with a muffled *thud*. It's a good thing the armour is so tough. Alas, that laser barrage is all lined up, and the Seeker fires off a deadly burst!

The two Seekers on Dynamo, meanwhile, try to close the gap, hoping that the shield can't repel two burly Decepticons intent on beating him senseless. One of them, suddenly blinks as his targetting systems go haywire. "I'm blind!" he calls out, fumbling around in a very vulnerable manner. The other, slightly smarter, figures out what's going no and immediately ignites his boot thrusters, making it out of the EMP charge zone and towards Dynamo, intent on keeping with the Autobot bashing plan!

Scrapper, meanwhile, gets thrown by Jazz, no doubt due to the distraction in the form of his arch-enemy. Landing near the shuttle with a loud crash, Scrapper grunts and looks up - directly at Snarl. "Uh..." he says. He hears Mixmaster's advice and assumes it's for him. From the ground, the Constructicon fires a laser blast at the Dino. "Get the Triumph's engines online!" he shrieks at those inside.

Dynamo relaxes a bit as one of the Seekers is blinded. Okay, one on one he can do. As the other Decepticon comes closer, he shakes his head. "Stupid. You were better off at range, attenuation causes my fields to weaken." He moves his hands in deft, complex patterns, creating two conflicting fields around the Decepticon -- and does his level best to rip the Seeker in half with them.

Stegosaurus <Snarl> is smoking.. his armor mostly protected him from the ventral cannons but it's now hot and smoking. The dinobotis now free to turn his attention on the Seeker who didn't stop at fire at him. Snarl roars, "Me Snarl say ENOUGH!" He raises his tail above his back and fires a tail missile at the gumbie.

Then Scrapper lands in front of him and fires his laser pistol... which doesn't harm the Dinobot. Snarl looks down at Scrapper while fire begin to come out of his jaw.

Of course, since the Constructicon he was tangling with has been thrown near the shuttle, Jazz is shooting in that direction anyhow. It takes only a fraction of a second to change targets from the green, to the expanse of the shuttle. "Gotcha 'Shot. Open 'er up, fellas."

Battlecruiser pulls off the shuttle and revels in the thudding of the missle that was on his tail against the shuttle's hull. Mixmaster just HAS to go and rain on his parade, however. The acid stream connects with his fuselage. "Mother--!", he curses as his guidance thrusters short out. "You gotta be kiddin' me!" No, my dear Technobot, you are not being jested against. Adding injury to injury, the seeker on his tail finally connects with something worthwhile... not so much in intensity, but certainly in placement. The recently deactivate afterburners on his aft section take a pair of laser shots each and ignite the fumes within. The battlecruiser, in effect, is aflame. "GAAAHH!!!", he screams. Been doing a lot of screaming lately, to be sure. Luckily, he caught wind of the Constructicons' use of FLAME RETARDANT FOAM earlier and fights to get himself to slide through it. Guidance thrusters being out, the Battlecruiser looks like a retarded child on smack. As such, he's unable to follow his own command and work on the hull of the shuttle, himself. Curses.

Mixmaster is fully ready to charge Jazz, when Jazz throws Scrapper towards the shuttle! He unloads another thermal charge on Jazz as he retreats back to the Triumph. "Stupid slagging Autobots," He mutters to himself as he retreats to the shuttle.. "showing up and ALWAYS ruining my fun.. remind me to take Devastator and.. hee.. hee hee heeHEHEHEHHEEEEEE!" Yes, seeing the retarted Technocruiser do what attempts to be some sort of complicatied mating dance with the Triumph IS funny. Even Mixmaster thinks so. He continues to snicker as he drives up the ramp and onto the Triumph. "Get us out of here!" He yells to his brother. "We'll have to continue ship repairs closer to Monacus!" Sure, it's a lie, but Mixy doesn't want to blow why they're REALLY on mars now, do they?

Scrapper acts with the desperation he is known for, and jumps up with amazing speed upon seeing the Dinobot prepare to fire (literally) at him. "I wish we finished the job in Los Angeles!" he hisses at him, refering to the Devastator match-up way back when, ironically, the Decepticons stole the equipment that's in the shuttle right now. How's that for cosmic karma? The scared Seeker, meanwhile, gets blasted down from the missile. Clutching his badly wounded and smoking chest, he remains on all fours as he crawls over to the /first/ Seeker Snarl slashed up to make sure he's still alive. "Help!" Scrapper shouts at his passing brother.

The Con who has been pestering Scattershot all day long, meanwhile, transforms and touches down next to the FIRE RETARDANT FOAM on the shuttle. "Weak and helpless," he sings, "Just the way I like them." He draws out a nasty looking energo-dagger and moves towards the battlecruiser.

Dynamo, meanwhile, has things well in hand (though you should never ever tell people how your powers work! Superman doesn't go around telling badguys how they're screwed since they aren't using Kryptonite, a radioactive substance that can be purchased at the dollar store in twelve packs, now does he?). The blind Seeker semi-recovers, and sprints back towards the shuttle. The other is less fortunate, as his armour suddenly tears itself off of him, flying in opposite directions. He staggers back, helpless and probably in deep deep trouble.

The Triumph, meanwhile, weathers Jazz's shots and finally loads up its rocket launchers. With the ventral weapons destroyed, and there being nobody for the dorsal guns to shoot at (unless he wants to risk it by shooting Scattershot while he's on the hull), the weapons officer concentrates on firing the misiles. Two large vollies of rockets spread out, aiming for Jazz and Dynamo in an attempt to cover the retreat of the Seekers to the Triumph's hatchway.

Dynamo realizes Scattershot's in trouble as he tears the armor right off the Decepticon facing him. "Oh no you don't, you slag-licking puke," he mumbles, getting human and Cybertronian curses mixed up again as the armor whirls around him. He flicks his wrist, and sends the chunks rocketing at the 'Con menacing Scattershot, intent on gutting the foe with accelerated steel. Unfortunately, this takes up all his concentration; a rocket lands practically at his feet and knocks him flying, dazed and dented, into a Martian sand dune.

Mixmaster made some Kryptonite once. Oooh, green and glowy.

Battlecruiser is all too aware of the seeker approaching him, dagger drawn. Two options: Transform and risk battling him through blindness or sit here and get drawn/quartered? That seems easy enough. The battlecruiser reverts to robot mode, taking one last chance to extrapolate the seeker's movements towards him and project where he'll be a second later. From robot mode, he brings up his morning star towards the crotchly region of where he thinks the seeker is, correcting for sounds of feed clomping around...

Scattershot pulls his head out of his ass and transforms into robot mode.

Stegosaurus <Snarl> seems to be tired of playing games with the Decepticons. Just as Scrapper jumps, the dinobot hurls a fire jet towards him, the seeker and whoever is unlucky enough to be in front of him at this moment.

Yummy! We've got rockets. We've got thermals. We've got them intersecting on Jazz. Sadly though, we've got a special ops guy who's a little busy trying to get into the shuttle to notice Mixmaster's shot. Or the missiles. And then we've got a black and white blur being flung into the red sands. He's not on fire, but he ain't gonna be moving for a bit. Because someone was supposed to be in bed almost an hour ago. Cause and effect.

Mixmaster transforms again, to help Scrapper as he moans and pleas. "I'm coming, Scrapper!" He calls as he runs back outside again (oy, all this to-ing and fro-ing!) and reaching a hand out to pick up his brother. I'm coming to save y-AAAAH! He says, retracting his hand as it's bathed heat from Snarl's fire. "Oh.. slag this!" He decides as he returns back into the ship. "Brother, you're on your own!"

Scattershot's Seeker pauses at this new development. He sidesteps the Technobot's attempt to morning star him, and is about to defend himself further when somethines becomes painfully clear - Scattershot ain't quite right. "What the..." he says to himself, unaware that this is likely helping Scattershot figure out where he is. "What are you, DRUNK, Autobot? No matter," He thrusts forward to plunge the dagger into the Technobot, but is halted by shards of flying metal. Identifying the source - and seeing what happened to the fellow who's armour it belonged to - the Seeker decides discretion is the better part of valour, and jumps off the other side of the Triumph to avoid the shards, leaving Scattershot to be safe.

Scrapper, meanwhile, braces himself for the fire to give the Seeker and his slashed buddy a chance to get into the ship. With one carrying the other, the two Seekers make it in, quickly followed by the one that was harassing Scattershot.

The two that were engaged with Dynamo retreat. The one armourless one is in very poor shape, and he collapses on the Triumph's floor. Badly scarred, Scrappre follows suit, running up into the hatchway as the ramp begins to close and the engines start warming up. "Chewie, get us out of here!" he shouts at the Seeker at the helm. Scrapper glares at Mixmaster, "Thanks for the help," he says sarcastically.

Stegosaurus <Snarl> transforms back into his robot mode and fires laser bolt at the shuttle's hull. It's useless but what can he do? "Damn Decepticon... Running away as usual..."

The Stegosaurus unfolds and the towering robot form of Snarl arises.

Scattershot feels his morning star completely *whiff* against air instead of sweet, juicy seeker armor. "Dammit..." he allows as it's painfully clear what's about to happen. Alas, Dynamo has saved the day. He hears the seeker clunk away and jump off onto the rocky terrain to enter the shuttle and figures he better do likewise unless he wants a ride into the unknown. Turning over on his hands and knees, one might think he wa grovelling for his life if one saw this. He feels along the 'wing' and, having no idea how far a drop it is, callously dumps himself off the side. He flips in the air and lands with a sickening *CRACK* beneath the wing. "That... sucked..." he groans. It occurrs to him that Scrapper might get wise and try to run him over, so he tries to pathetically roll out of the shadow of the shuttle, at least.

Your TP has been posted! Thanks for making it public. Please type +tpinfo to check that all the information is correct, and don't forget to type +tpclear <TP #> when your TP is over.

Dynamo is on the job again, though as he points his hands at the sprawled Scattershot. An invisible force latches onto the Technobot leader, and drags him away from the Decepticon shuttle as it preps for liftoff. "Snarl, let's pull back, I don't think we're gonna be able to do much without aerospace support." And Scattershot looks like he's had enough fun for one day. "You okay, Scatter?"

Scrapper rushes to the cockpit of the Triumph just as the engines begin priming themselves. The hatchway thankfully closes with no stowaways aboard. Taking the laser blasts from Snarl as a going away present, the shuttle lifts upwards into the sky awkwardly, climbing at an alarming rate. At least it didn't run over Scattershot, right? Aboard, Scrapper snorts, "Well that was could have been much worse. Did you guys see the look on Scattershot's face?" The Seekers who aren't horribly wounded all laugh.

Mixmaster examines his over-heated hand. "Ow..." He makes his way to the co-pilot's seat, strapping himself in. "At least my bluff totally fooled them." He offers as a consolation. "Nevermind.. we'll get the last laugh, brother." And with that, he peers out the window as Scrapper takes off. "Hmm.. where's the best place to put the rockets..?" He mutters to himself..

Scattershot's head darts back and forth as he's hauled by... nothing. "Dynamo..." he utters to himself. Ah well. He picks himself up as he hears, and feels, the shuttle lift off. Mimicking Scrapper's sentiment, he worthlessly dusts himself off. "Well... that could have been much worse. Yeah, I'm fine, Dynamo. Just... OK, I'm pissed off. Four of us against essentially two of them and we couldn't do slag to find out what the hell they came here for. I'd have to chalk this one up in the loss column."

Mixmaster has left.

Mixmaster boards the Decepticon Shuttle <Triumph>.

Snarl stops firing at the shuttle and joins the other Autobot. The dinobot doesn't seem happy at all but he chooses to remain silent.

============================ BB Post in Progress =============================

Group: Decepticon

Title: Mars Skirmish

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Scrapper appears on the screen from New Crystal City's spaceport, looking burned. Behind him, Seekers are unloading two wounded comrades and various equipment from the Triumph. Mixmaster can probably be seen in the background as well. "Scrapper reporting. Mixmaster, myself, and a squadron of Seekers left Cybertron to deploy the asteroid mining facility. Along the way, we stopped at Mars to investigate the possibility of a plan of Mixmaster's. Well, somehow the Autobot sensors spotted the Triumph in the Sol system. Scattershot, Jazz, Dynamo and Snarl ambushed us on the surface. We took heavy fire, but managed to fend them off relatively well. Two Seekers are heavily wounded, and the Triumph will require repair work. I'm happy to report that we heavily damaged and embarassed Scattershot. To sum it up, the last we saw of him he was crawling on the Martian ground like a helpless turbo-pup. Furthermore, while I think the Autobots spotting us may have been a fluke, it makes me wonder whether it's worth the risk setting up a mining facility that might be detected. Thus, I'm recommending that the resources be put to better use. Speaking of which, Lord Galvatron, Mixmaster and I have a proposal for you when time allows it. Scrapper out!"

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================================== Autobot ===================================

Message: 3/9 Posted Author

Mars Sat May 22 Scattershot

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*Audio blahblahblah*

"Word had it that Snarl... of all people... sniffed out some Decepticon plot on Mars. Jazz rallied the aforementioned apparent spy, Dynamo and myself to go check it out. The results are discouraging, to say the least. They had a shuttle, two pissant Constructicons and some seekers. OK, whatever. The discouraging part is that we have no clue why they were there. All my scans told me was that their ship was full. NO SLAGGIN' CRAP. We tried, unsuccessfully, to blast a hole in their hull and get Jazz in there, to no avail. Bonus: we don't know where they went.

Speaking of things that are pissing me off, why in the hell is Springer still in Decepticon custody?! Did we somehow give up on him? Leave him for dead? FOR PRIMUS' SAKE! If my blind ass has to lead a commando squad, so be it. We're getting him back. Smokescreen, Jazz, any of you sneaky-types, I could use one of y'all for the mission. 'Shot out!"

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