Tilting at Windmills

================================= Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/122                    Posted        Author Materials Acquisition             Sun Jul 26    Shockwave -- Shockwave's "face" appears on the screen, set against a background of Darkmount Master Control with its flickering readouts and hushed clatter of typing. "Decepticons of Earth," says Shockwave in that disinterested near-monotone. "Cybertron requires your contributions. Due to our planet's presence in a polysolar orbit, we are now experiencing atmospheric convection. I have studied this phenomenon, which the Earthlings refer to as "wind," on conventional planets with denser atmospheres and have determined that it can be taken advantage of to produce energon via mechanical-electrical generation."

A photograph of a modern electric windmill, looking like a giant airplane propeller on a smoothly tapered tower sixty meters high, appears on the screen. "This is an atmospheric-convection-to-electricity generation station, or 'windmill,'" says Shockwave's voiceover. The image switches again, to a video of hundreds of these spread across the countryside, overlooking waving fields of tan grass. "They are deployed in large numbers in 'wind farms' by the Earthlings," continues Shockwave's voiceover. "Collect as many of these as possible, removing them as close to the base as you can. Transmit them to me in sections via the spacebridge."

Shockwave's flashing eye reappears as the video ends. "Fusillade, you will organize this mission. I recommend use of the Triplechangers and/or Horrorcons as enforcers and one or more members of the Engineering division to perform technical work. My records show that Compile, one of Soundwave's minions, is experienced in such matters." Photographs of each of the Triplechangers, Snapdragon and Apeface, and Compile flash up on the screen in rapid succession. "End of line," says Shockwave, and the transmission from Cybertron ends.

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&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "I have decided that I need an /eyepatch/"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Find me one Redshift"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "What? Get your own fashion accessories."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Comcast says, "I've found you a Redshift, Blueshift."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Comcast says, "What do you want me to do with him?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "/Prepare/ him"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "Where am I supposed to go, the giant evil robot eyepatch factory outlet?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Axis Axis says, "HERR BLUESHIFT DEMANDS IT!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Comcast says, "Blueshift is a 'her'? How did I not know that?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Catechism says, "Actually, Blueshift? I have some eyepatches on hand to redistribute to the good of the Empire. I just need to figure out what to do with this candy factory first..."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Excellent"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "I don't take orders from you, Blueshift. And I still owe you for shooting me with that slow-gun!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Comcast says, "Add poison; continue production as per usual."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "You will soon Redshift, it is better to start practising now"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Since I aquired a THRONE for Ramjet, my ascendance is assured. What have YOU done, Redshift?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "I've... not been wasting resources on MORONIC activities like stealing /chairs/"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Axis Axis says, "Herr Redshift does make a valid point, ja?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Sorry who is that speaking, HITLER?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "I was too busy doing USEFUL things"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "I don't need to go around proving myself by giving Ramjet worthless junk, I don't need to prove anything to /anybody/"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Well Ramjet likes ME more, I got him a throne"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "If it was down to you, he wouldn't have anything to sit on"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "He'd have to sit on the floor"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "You would have our /glorious/ Air Commander sit on the floor"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "No, he'd sit on the command post in his bloody cone-21 or whatever it's called"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "..."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Catechism says, "Redshift, if you /do/ find any worthless junk, let me know? I'm supposed to reassign all the Empire's worthless junk to new, useful purposes."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "/Maybe/"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Anyway, NOTHING owned by Galvatron is worthless, by definition"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "Catechism"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "does Blueshift count? Can you have him recycled into somethig USEFUL?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "Redshift I am a thousand times more powerful than you, I will destroy you for that!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Catechism says, "I think that Blueshift counts as personnel, not materiel (which is totally the military version of material)."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "Maybe we can melt him down into a CHAIR, in case somebody else needs an extra place to sit."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "I had NO idea an alien with two mouths could manage to drink fifty kegs at once. Now that's what I call an educational trip!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "There'd better be video."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Only video I got is of th....well you nevermind!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Scourge says, "Somehow, I'm not surprised."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet says, "Astrotrain! Where've you been!?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Well I sure was surprised! That alien was pretty dextrous for having only six tentacles."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Oh oh oh come here to Texas there's something AWESOME I wanna show you."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "...whaddaya mean where have I been? I was on my banked up leave time!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Granted I don't -remember- much of it but hey..."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet says, "Sigh. Nevermind. The moment was lost."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "-You're- a moment that's lost."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Haw haw, zing. I still got it."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Psst. Bring buckets of paint too."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet says, "..Gnnngh.."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Anywhoo, what's been happening?"

&lt;KNUJ&gt; Monstereo says, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3DnoxzorYg"

&lt;KNUJ&gt; Monstereo says, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay92dXQtXjE"

&lt;NEST&gt; Monstereo says, "To goodness. Cheers!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Hey hey, what were those tolerances again? Two percent?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Wiretap has encrypted this channel.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave says, "Correct. Perhaps it is best that I oversee this operation personally."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Wiretap says, "Within 5% of tolerance would be acceptable, considering they can be repaired during re-assembly."

Texas

Almost a country in itself, Texas offers sandy white beaches, heavy rains, and the temperate waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the south, bleak, barren scrublands in the west, breathtaking sunsets in the Panhandle, rolling hills and myriad lakes in the central region, and lush, towering pines in the east. Mountains, deserts, plains, forests, rolling hills, wetlands, coastal dunes, lakes, and rivers all mingle to form the Lone Star State. The nation's richest state in mineral resources, Texas is known for its oil and natural gas production, nor is it far behind in agriculture, second only to California.

Contents:

Dreadwind

Fleet

Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt;

Ravage

Astrotrain

Shockwave

Fusillade

Obvious exits: Fly &lt;Up&gt; leads to Skies above the Central United States. Southwest &lt;SW&gt; leads to Mexico. South &lt;S&gt; leads to Gulf of Mexico. East &lt;E&gt; leads to Louisiana. Out &lt;O&gt; leads to South Central States.

Houston &lt;H&gt;

Chopshop has connected.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "I hear that RED ones go faster"

Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; is more than meets the eye! Wings seperate and flip forward as engines seperate and extend into legs. Powerful arms fold out and the cockpit turns in and twists out, completing the transformation into the Decepticon Ramjet!

"Oh oh Senor Mo Teef! You look so strong!" Fusillade sing-songs from her check-patterned windmill, "I bet you wax your mustachio every night! Do you think you could help me carry some of these back to Cybertron?" She ignites heel thrusters to stabilize herself as she awkwardly clutches the main nacelle of the disabled turbine, and snips off the last of the attachments, before half-falling to the ground under its weight, and begins strutting over to an unoccupied spot central to the windfarm to deposit the first set of turbine blades on the ground.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Gah these things are heavy"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Okie dokey artichokie."

Dreadwind finally catches up to the other Decepticons, just why they bothered to drag him along for this heist is anyone's guess but as far as he's concerned it's probably to use him as a living shield while the others all run off when the Autobots overwhelm them. Landing a short distance away he watches Fusillade at work, "We're going to decorate them first? We'll lose a good few of our more computationally challenged to the spinning blades, torn appart by centrifugal force, an excruciating way to go."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Catechism says, "Heavy? Need any help?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade's grin is almost audible. "Sure! And bring a bucket! We can add up to 2 percent of their total weight in PAINT."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave recommends, "The best practice when lifting a windmill is to lift with your legs and not with your back."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Catechism says, "I /always/ bring a bucket! Several. Usually."

Ramjet stands not too far away from Ravage, arms folded over his canopy. He strikes a menacing figure, that Air Commander! Well, perhaps not as menacing as merely annoyed! That thin, diagonal slash that his lips have pressed into grant him a look of irritability. Not at anyone in particular but more the general alignment of the universe, the appearance of sunshine, and other dislikable presences that wreak havoc upon one suffering from a circuit-headache. Also, Ramjet has to listen to Dreadwind and listening to Dreadwind is terrible. He is certain that when it comes time for the Air Commander to meet his Programmer and his god of choice, he will be sentenced to his private hell of being couped up in a tiny room with an indestructible simulacra of Dreadwind for the rest of eternity.

Eternity is a long time coming.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Reflector says, "Suggestion... utilize contained gas to lighten mass burden of load, and tow acquisitions rather than heft."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Dreadwind says, "Using your legs or back doesn't really matter if you're too weak to start with you'll just get crushed by it as you topple over."

Fleet transforms into his Fleet &lt;Tetrajet&gt; mode.

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; streaks down from the sky after a quick call into the Imperial computers to figure out where everyone is. Heavy lifting? They need a bucket? Windmills? They had Catechism at 'bucket', honestly. So, this is Texas, it's not on fire, and they're... oh! They're trying to steal windmills! Now it all makes sense. Except for the bucket part. She circles closer to the rest of the group.

Americon has arrived.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "I love bureaucracy, in triplicate!"

Shockwave points at the base of the windmill nearest to him, indicating it with his cannon set to 'laser pointer' mode. "Sever the windmill as close to ground level as is practical, in order to retain the most height in the shaft," he lectures.

Astrotrain eyes the windmills for a few moments, almost dubiously. Not so much at their sheer size, cause y'know, he'd never back away from a challenge of hauling something. "Weeeeelll...." he muses, the 'Senor Mo Teef' personality dropped for now as he removes the sombrero and moustache and tosses them aside, "Long as those things don't go spinnin while they're on board!" He turns and faces Shockwave as he lifts his arms and transforms, thundering down on his eight huge wheels as his rearmost ramp drops down. "Looks like it'd be painful, y'know!"

Spinning and shifting parts result in Astotrain's heavy locomotive form taking shape.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Ravage mimics Shockwave's voice flawlessly as he says,"I could set precision charges to bring down many at once, Shockwave, if that would be more...efficient."

Snapdragon has arrived.

Locomotive is, incidentally, now a lomotive with a sombrero sitting on one of his stacks, his throw was just -that- good.

Fleet transforms into his Fleet &lt;Tetrajet&gt; mode.

"Hey, twinkletoes, glad you could make it," Fusillade says to Dreadwind as she flounces past, this time carrying a bucket of scarlet paint. She spares a jaunty salute to the over-hung Air Commander, and hmms! "Hey, Ravage, I know that whole 'opposable thumbs' thing makes it hard to decorate. We are in the middle of the ewe ess aye, though. Keep an eye out for Autobots for us? I'll do whatever pattern you like!" Cue cheesy grin, before she zips off. Oh. Precision detonations? Hmmm. Fusillade pouts a bit, skeptical of the efficiency.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shockwave says, "That method is also welcome. There are more generators here than we can feasibly carry in Astrotrain in a single load. We will take as many as we can before the inevitable Autobot interference."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "That Senor Mo Teef has some fine haberdashery!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Si, senorita!"

"Astrotr--!" Ramjet is cut off when the sombrero settles back on the train's smokestack. "..Wait! You're not Astrotrain!" His optics glow bright red in confusion. "Y-Y-you.." he says as he steps up to the train, waving his hands as if to command the Triplechanging Mexi-con to leave. "..better get out of here before AMERICON shows up and accuses me of utilizing cheap, Mexican labor! AGAIN!"

Americon's robot legs pop out metallic feather-like objects as they and his lower torso split apart, also revealing an eagle head. The arms and robot head join the main body, and his guns convert into tail feathers and rocket launchers. Americon is now a bald eagle!

Fleet vanishes out of reality.

Fleet has left.

Carly Witwicky has arrived.

A robotic bald eagle's head peers out from around the base of a windmill, staring at Astrotrain for a moment before it slinks back into cover. Maybe you imagined it.

Locomotive's front mounted headlight/searchlight swivels around to look at Ramjet. Almost as if staring in disbelief... ...and then the headlight dims, as if he were narrowing his eyes at some eeevil thought. "So sorry, Senor! The senorita, she paying me mucho grandez for this job, yah?"

Shockwave's sensors twig to the approach of another of Soundwave's minions. "I recommend caution, Ramjet. We are nto alone."

Dreadwind watches as the cons set about the task of dismantling the windmills, then Fusillade prances by enthusiastically, "I don't know why, it's not as if i have any talents that could be applied to this endeavour." Dreadwind stomps over to where the Decepticons have started piling some of their hard taken gains and just stops, doing what he does best he defends the goods, it has got to be better than painting and taking things appart.

Snapdragon appears essentially out of nowhere, but has probably been here the entire time. It's just that now the hulking robot actually speaks; "Hrn. These wind generators...will they actually produce enough energon for us to utilize on Cybertron?" Snaps grimaces as his optics take in the sight of the large wind powered turbines. He is asking no one in particular, but there it is.

Ravage gets to his feet. Precision detonations indeed; such things are amongst Ravage's vast repertoire of skills, easily. He also -just- happens to have a fair amount of highly malleable plastique and the knowledge to turn it into shaped charges. The big black mechanical jaguar pops some of the stuff into his mouth and, to everyone around, appears to begin chewing.

He moves swiftly from windmill to windmill, creating a ring of plastique around each in such a way that, when he detonates them, the bulk of the small blasts created by his rings will explode outwards harmlessly...well, unless you happen to be standing in front of them...the rest of the explosive energy, the tiny fraction remaining, has been precisely calculated to -just- be enough to penetrate the metal and bring down the windmill with very little scarring or damage.

Ravage really enjoys his work.

Boy, if THAT doesn't get the USAF's attention...

Penumbra arrives from the Southwest State region.

Penumbra has arrived.

Carly Witwicky is out for a drive! Why here? Why now? Just bad luck! That is until some explosives going off not too far from the road she just happens to be driving on get her attention. Her eyes turn round and her mouth opens, and then... she hits the gas, moving nearer to try to figure out what the heck is happening.

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; transforms and touches down lightly. She withdraws one of her armada of buckets and surveys what is going on, hand son her hips. Catechism whistles lowly over Ravage's work. Now that is /nice/ use of plastique. She considers the windmills, gesturing with her hands as she thinks. So they're these long, thin objects with fiddly, important bits on one end that need to be kept safe. Hmm. A puzzle! She shakes her head, waves to the other Decepticons, and greets, "I brought the bucket!"

XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position.

"Hnngh.." Ramjet grunts characteristically. His fingers clench into wrecking balls of black and white metal. "Yes.. yes.." he schemes as he takes a step back. "That will be your story. You are being paid by the woman!" Ramjet looks from the left to the right, shifty as all get out. Shockwave gains his attention immediately after. "We're not alone!? D'agh!" He grouses, lifting his arms to brandish his laser-rifles. On command, they hum to life.

Okay, no explosions. Instead, Carly spots the rather oversized (in an uncomfortably familiar way) lurking about the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. Either way, she hits the gas and drives nearer.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "Hey, guys? Something's going on over at the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. If none of you are out here doing anything, I think it's the Decepticons."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Saaay, where's that new transport guy? It'd be a nice change if I was loading things into someone -else- for once."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet pause.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "That's you?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet says, "NO! I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS ALLOWED TO PUT THINGS INTO OTHERS."

Redshift has arrived.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet says, "..wait.. you are talking ab.. hhhnnnhh.. nevermind. CARRY ON."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Slag! I mean uh, Es Bueno es...espanol ey....I got nothin."

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; is on some other road in Texas, not ridiculously far off ofcourse for the sake of timing, but not in the immediate vicinity. What's this sporty Autobot doing in Texas? Why, he's come to visit 'The Burt', ofcourse. And 'The Burt' doesn't have to live with windmills blocking his scenic view. If the Decepticons have their way, Burt territory could expand very soon. He is adjusting to the relatively slow driving back here in the states after mastering the Autobahn roads over seas for the past few months. "What a grand old day here in Texas."

Shockwave takes no particular notice of Carly's car- there are always cars driving around on the freeways here. In this particular region of Earth they behave in a surprisingly orderly fashion which pleases Shockwave, and lets him safely ignore them most of the time. No, he was talking about Soundwave's enthusiastic goon Americon. His eye flickers as he spies a shrewd little eagle head peering out from behind a windmill, and points over Ramjet's shoulder at the apparition before it vanishes again. "I recommend that you not turn around. The Commissar is present."

Dreadwind reaches into subspace for something pulling out a spraycan, it has a label attatched to it which if your optics are sharp enough reads, 'Happy creation day from Darkwing'. Dreadwind stares at it then removes the top and starts spraying one of blades in shiny glossy black, "Damn Darkwing, it's almost as if he knew that i'd need this sometime. He's working in tandem with existance to make my suffering even worse, i just know it."

Locomotive is wearing a sombrero. Yes you read that right, the -locomotive- is wearing an oversized sombrero on the top of its smoke stacks, as it sits near the other Decepticons with its loading ramp wide open.

&lt;NEST&gt; Penumbra says, "Say what? Horse Hollow... didn't I just blur past a sign that said Horse Hollow exit?"

Ravage ignores all else. He is in his element now...well, sort of. It's not often that he gets to work his particular kind of magic with little to no pressure...and so he's able to create some truly fancy things. For example, that windmill on the left? When the plastique around its base detonates the smoke will be shaped in a spiral pattern as it wafts upwards. The one two down from that, on the right? A mobius ring.

For the first time in awhile, the big mechanical cat takes time to have a little fun.

Tink tink tink! A robotic bald eagle tiptoes from windmill to windmill, wings folded up, and head lowered. He's in *stealth mode,* you see. Eventually, the bird tries to clamber up onto Dreadwind's shoulder and *stare* at him. Just... *stare.*

Ramjet tenses. His arms flex in, his shoulders hunching forward as to prepare to strike. Then, suddenly, he straightens out. "Wait!" he says, his voice concerned. Looking to Shockwave, he stares with an unbelieving look. "..A what is present!?"

Snapdragon smirks a bit and rests his gyro-gun barrel on his shoulder. Playing bodyguard was something he knew how to do, something he was good at. The problem with guard duty is that it is mind-blowingly boring. It requires essentially no energy to do, and virtually zero attention is necessary. You can practically be asleep and still do a decent job of it when there are so many Decepticons around. Of course, these things are only a problem for Decepticons that have even a measure of motivation in life. Snapdragon, on the contrary, is perfectly content just comfortably resting, musing quietly about the probability of an Autobot or Terran attack, and waiting for that very possibility.

Foxfire has arrived.

Streaking overhead is Redshift, making a fashionably late special guest appearance, as his curve-winged spacejet mode careen overhead, diving down towards the 'wind farm' that has attracted so much attention. "You were /right/, Fusillade! The red ones DO go faster!" He emits over local broadband, engines roaring as he approaches in typical Redshift fashion.

&lt;NEST&gt; Dee-Kal says, "and Pinpointer was in the middle of it! It was lucky he yelled or he would have been recycled..."

Fusillade seems to have succeeded in rallying interested, and in some cases competent, troops to the task. Satisfied with that much, Fusillade begins punching holes in the base of one of the towers with the tip of her wingblades. PUNCH. Punch. "Huh? What?" She stares for a moment, trying to figure out what Shockwave was staring out. Shaking her head, she wrenches the blade sideways, and with a *plong* the material gives way, causing the tower to keel over. Fusillade dashes over,struggling to keep the dynamo from crashing too hard into the ground. Wait, was that Catechism she spied a ways off? And a car? She hmms. Real resistance may not be too far away! She oofs and grunts, and nnngs and tugs to haul the windmill toward the awaiting Astrotrain. "Hey Dreadwind you got something on ya."

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; brakes and spins to turn around, heading back towards an exit road that leads towards the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. He makes a phone call. "Hi, yeah Burt, it's me. Gonna have to reschedule that streetrace another time, got something weird going down. Yeah... yeah, will do. Ten four. Hehe, say hi to whats her name for me. Take care."

"Commissar Americon," explains Shockwave. "He seems to be monitoring the operation for political orthodoxy. You may want to have Astrotrain discard his disguise before Americon dubs you un-American."

Locomotive swivels his headlight this way and that, even almost painfully twisting it in directions it wasn't meant to go so he can see what's going on. Astrotrain falls silent as Fusillade gets ready to jam that -thing- inside. "...just don't scratch up my interior!" Somewhere, Nelson Muntz would have a laugh at this.

Fusillade purses hematite lips. "I'll be gentle."

Locomotive mutters, "I've heard that before."

Ramjet folds his arms over his canopy once more and turns his cone to the side, looking aloof! "So've I," he grunts.

Catechism is totally fake resistance! Yeeees. She tromps over closer to the other Decepticons, wondering when they got in all these troops from the Mexican and Swedish quarters of Cybertron. She has no yet notices Penumbra and Carly, partly because she is looking the wrong way, partly because she has this problem with not really paying attention sometimes.

Carly Witwicky pulls to the side of the road a bit down the street from the windmill farm - but not too far! She clambers out of her convertable and ducks behind it, then peers over the top. Then she reaches into her glove compartment and removes a pair of binoculers. "Definitely Decepticons," she says softly to herself. Then she lowers them and leans forward. "I've got to do something!"

Because Carly can totally take on all these 'Cons.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "All right, it's definitely 'Cons here."

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Where are ye then? Any'un from Metroplex need a lift?"

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire says, "I'm en route, Carly."

Dreadwind has noticed absolutely nothing, since he's staring at the blade lying on the ground as he sprays he gets about half done before he gives up. "With the abilites at my disposal i am reduced to a menial task like decorating, it's so depressing." He grabs the half painted blades and drags it slowly over to the depressingly cheery transport vehicle.

&lt;NEST&gt; Penumbra says, "Shoot. I should have know. No day is 100 percent perfect. Closing in, Miss Witwicky."

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "I'm at the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. In Texas."

Ravage makes a mental calculation concerning his remaining plastique supplies. After a moments consideration, he doubles back along his path and adds an extra, smaller charge on each windmill he's already set explosives on. He adds a slight time delay fuse; one that will act as an 'air brake' of sorts to slow the windmills fall, preventing unnecessary damage to the human device.

When all is said and done, twenty windmills are ready to fall. And then...a ripple of explosions can be seen has he detonates the main charges. The windmills fall and, a few moments before they hit the ground, another smaller ripple of explosions as his 'brakes' take effect. Smoke in various shapes and forms wafts up into the air, individual puffs considering the cleanliness of Ravage's work.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Departin' Metroplex in five minutes. Who's comin' with me tae help?"

Outrun arrives from the Southwest State region.

Outrun has arrived.

Ravage has disconnected.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "They're blowing it up!"

Fanfare has arrived.

&lt;NEST&gt; Penumbra says, "Punks."

Snapdragon has disconnected.

Red Spaceship &lt;Redshift&gt; does wonder why nobody brought a proper shuttle craft to load all of these supplies into; With no Autobots here to ruin things, this is like taking candy from a baby(if you're into that sort of thing) The little red ship that could flies down and transforms, sauntering up to Fusillade with more than his usual high self-esteem beaming on his face. "Well, Decepticons? Anything I can do to lend a hand?"

Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt; clambers back down off of Dreadwind, but not before giving him one final, suspicious look. He scampers away, body kept low to the ground...

...until he runs up to Carly's car, taking cover behind it. He pokes his head over the hood of Carly's car, watching the Decepticons, but oddly taking no interest in Carly herself

&lt;NEST&gt; Outrun says, "Out run here. I'm already on my way."

The sleek red spacecraft transforms into the winged warrior Redshift.

Locomotive is totally better than a 'proper shuttlecraft'!

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Takin' off now. will swing by tae pick up Foxfire an' anyone else who needs tae get there sooner."

Shockwave, overlooking the wind farm from a high ridge amidst several fallen windmills chopped down expertly by Ravage's demolition skill, explains to Redshift. "Cut down windmills, separate them into a rotor section, a generator section, and a shaft section, then load them into Astrotrain."

Dreadwind sighs heavily as he hears Ravage's explosions knocking down even more windmills, which of course means that someone needs to collect them which will no doubt lead to him having to exert more effort. "It just never stops does it." He moans as he trudges off to drag one of the freshly felled windmills over.

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; nearly drives past Carly's parked car but the big red, white, and blue avian transformer hiding behind it kinda makes it an eye catcher. ~RRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrr!~ He reverses. "Nice rides always attract bad birds, like picnics and ants. Hey you!"

The rumble of his engines is heard before he actually arrives. And when he does arrive, he is quite noticeable. Glittering in the afternoon sunlight, Fanfare makes a direct line towards the energy plant, flying low and at top speed with various Autobot Passengers to help with the situation.

"Ye ready, Foxfire? How do ye want tae deploy?"

Carly Witwicky just happens to be standing next to her car.

Meaning she's now standing next to Americon.

She turns and /stares/ at him, open eyed. "Hey! What the heck are you doing here?" she exclaims, crouching and ready to dart off. Then she narrows her eyes suspiciously. "Why are you spying on your own side?"

Catechism considers Shockwave's disassembly instructions. She muses aloud, "So that way, they aren't so long, and they'll be easier to stack and position?" This moving stuff may not be rocket science, but there is a definite logic to it. She walks over to a felled windmill and withdraws her toolkit, working on giving this disassembling for transport thing a whirl.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "After Ah drop off me passengers, ah'll pull back and land, tae assist with refuelling and other things if needed."

Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt; holds up a feather to his beak, and harshly "SHHHHHH!"'s at Carly and Penumbra. "You'll blow my cover!" he whispers, then resumes his vigil on his teams. He does not answer Carly's question.

Carly Witwicky crosses her arms and taps her right foot in annoyance. "But your cover is my car!" she exclaims, irritated. Then she peers over at the other Decepticons, taking a moment to wink at Penumbra. "Gee, I wonder what the other 'Cons would think if they knew you were watching them..."

"Correct, Catechism," drones Shockwave.

Foxfire stands right near the exit hatch as he rides inside Fanfare. He prepares his anti-gravs for his descent. "Ready as I'll ever be, Fanfare! Let's do this!"

Ramjet tilts his cone back as he stands around, looking like a stern taskmaster. Or just an irritable sot. Bit of column A, bit of column B. "Speaking of utilizing weather phenomena," he speaks up to Shockwave. "We ought to find a way to import the abilities of the Rainmakers on the clouds of planet Earth. An acid-rain deluge on Metroplex would short him out for good!"

Crosscheck has arrived.

Outrun vanishes out of reality.

Outrun has left.

Redshift nods to Chockwave, as ol' one-eye gives him the low-down. Redshift brifly ponders blasting the bases of some of the windmills, but then they'll just fall all over the place. Carrying stuff is too boring, and taking things apart is /not/ his forte. "Huh. Well, you all seem to have the manual labour part down pretty well..." Redshift muses, looking around. "Perhaps I'll run some security sweeps, keep an optic out for the 'bots who're sure to show up." Redshift says, sneaking away from the busy worker bees. He had wanted to talk with Fusillade, but that will have to wait. Insyead, Redshift returns to the sky, making a few lazy patrol loops as he looks for someone to shoot.

Shockwave concurs, "That would be a valuable weapon to have at our disposal on this planet. I recommend you contact Mixmaster. Chemistry is his forte."

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; shifts on his wheels slightly in acknowledgement of the wink. "Hmm yeah, I don't know but it couldn't be good if they did."

Redshift has disconnected.

Ramjet shakes his cone and groans before tilting it forward so he can hold his hand to his face. "You are the unrivaled master of delegation, Shockwave."

Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt; pffts, rolling his optics, which accidentally shorts one of them out. After spasming for a few moments before his self-repair systems kick in, he coughs out, "Ahem, pffft! Like they can do anything! I am a Senator now, and have the power of life and death over most Decepticons!"

Repair Station &lt;Crosscheck&gt; is standing next to Foxfire inside Fanfare. Once again the scientist is called into action but this time he's quite nervous for the autobot response team is lacking on the firepower side. Checking his pistol one last time and replies to Fanfare, "I suggest you drop us right before landing. I'm no commando but that should allow us to take them by surprise."

Crosscheck quickly shifts to his robot mode.

Catechism perks up as Ramjet mentions the acid-rainmakers! They are sort of heroes of her! Catechism has always dreamed of catching them in their secret clubhouse and bludgeoning their secrets out of them. (So maybe she is the crazy stalker kind of fan that needs a restraining order.) She asks idly, "So, when do we steal a hydro plant and stick it in Magnaron? Or... perhaps that would be unwieldy."

"Well, if that's true, then why've you got to /spy/?" Carly asks, confused. She eyes her car, considering just driving off and leaving Americon without cover. But this might be USEFUL INTELLIGENCE.

Then Carly considers the source.

Well, okay. It might be useful stupidity instead.

"Aw reit! haur we gang 'en fowk." rumbles the scottish plane as he rumbles in with all the subtlety as a punch in the nose "Tey havnae noticed us yit, which is guid cause we're in th' wey o lose ur nonexistent element of surprise. On th' coont ay ten, when 'at light oan th' dyke goes red yoo're it! Ye hae it reit crosscheck."

the door unseals and comes open. By now, the Hercules was pretty much overhead now as he banks sharply... making it so that 'door' was now a 'hole in the floor' to his passengers as he slows his speed to a near standstill, shape blotting out the sun and wing dipping below the buildings, a mere 70 feet from the ground.

And that red on his interior side goes red. "Gang! gang gang!!" he barks to his passengers.

Dreadwind's efforts somehow manage to slow down even further as he grabs hold of a partly disassembled mill and drags it begrudingly to be loaded, in fact his progress is so slow it sometimes seems like he's moving backwards.

Astrotrain has disconnected.

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; grunts. "Yeah right. Prove it. Go boss them around. Get in their faces and induce fear and respect.... or are ya chicken?"

Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt; squints suspicously over the car, and whispers back, "I'm huntin' for TREASON! Yes! Treasonous behavior of all kinds, and I would appreciate it if you did not interfere!"

Shockwave's sensor module rotates and elevates towards an approaching sound as an aircraft that had been flying under his radar suddenly appears over the hilly ground on which wind farms are typically built. "My sensors have detected an air transport. It is an Autobot. Prepare to repel ground attack."

Foxfire leaps out through the hole, using his anti-gravs to slow his descent and land safely. Once on the ground, he dashes, heading straight toward the Decepticons and the crime scene. There's probably not much he can do, but he can sure as heck try.

&lt;NEST&gt; Penumbra says, "If only they were all this stupid. Uh, Miss Carly? Looks like we're about ready and rallied to attack here. What do you wanna do here?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "So uh... they're starting to show up."

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "I want to 'help' Americon. The more 'treason' he finds, the better for us, I think!"

Catechism looks up from disassembling a fallen windmill a bit clumsily to see the gaudy Autobot in the air, and she mutters, "There ought to be a law against that." Then, she calls to Ramjet, "Oi! Why haven't you knocked him out of the sky yet? Aren't you supposed to keep it clean? Or was that..." Perhaps she is confusing her psychopathic sky-cleaning Decepticon menfolk.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah /am/ runniung me engines roight? Usually they've got one engine blown up by now... Odd."

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire says, "Good plan, Carly."

Carly Witwicky considers Americon's words, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Then she brightens. "Well, okay! I'll help!" Carly exclaims perkily. She glances at Penumbra. Hopefully he'll realize that the more treason that Americon finds, the better it is for the Autobots. She crouches behind her car along with him, peering through her binoculers. "What have you got so far?"

Dreadwind sighs heavily dropping the part he was dragging along, "Great, now we have to fight against insurmountable odds whilst futiley trying to take all that we can. We're all going to be blasted to tiny pieces..." Dreadwind doesn't bother to look around, some overactive Autobot shoots wildly in his direction eventually and then he has to defend himself, it's such a chore.

Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt; scowls ruefully. "HM! I am not sure, but it looks rather suspiciously like they are NOT using good old fashioned American coal power! That is very wrong, and very bad!"

The voice emitting from Shockwave's chest continues to drone in that disinterested way. "Dreadwind, Ramjet, intercept the transport. Identify and disable whatever comes out of it. Catechism, Fusillade, continue the mission."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Dreadwind says, "They always do, in large numbers as well in ever increasing waves."

Crosscheck follows right behind Foxfire. As he falls towards the ground, he reaches behind his back and pulls the string of a parachute he's wearing. It slows his falls and he gently lands on the ground. Removing the parachute from his shoulders, he tries to spot all the visible Decepticons, "Shockwave...a couple of seekers...Astrotrain...we're dead." Knowing very well that the Autobot won't be able to repel the Decepticons, he trasmits a quick message on the allied frequency and sprints to reach some cover.

Fusillade juts out her gilded chinstrap as she considers the chaos unfolding around her. Hrn. She seems to recall something about /leading/ this particular mission. After trying to steer a few more of the windmills inside the Triplechanger, she frowns a bit at the hundreds of acres STILL covered in windmills. "Loading, sir!"

Carly Witwicky leans over towards Americon. She mutters to Americon, "... not... helping? That..."

&lt;NEST&gt; Crosscheck says, "We've got a major Decepticon force here. I don't think we have the firepower to stop them."

Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules rolls back upright again and accelerates now, passing tantilizingly overhead of the Decepticons now to get into clear airspace once more. HIs meager weapons come online as the glitter catches the light in a dazzle of colors as he moves a few MILES away to have the room to swing around.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Not directly, no."

Foxfire calls back to Crosscheck, "Don't be so negative!"

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "Then we need to come up with some other way to deal with them. Hmmm. They're trying to make off with those windmills. Concentrate on their transports first? I think they've already noticed you're here!"

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah'll see aboot drawing their firepower."

Ramjet turns immediately, having heard Fanfare before Shockwave's warning went out. "Autobots!? FLYING AUTOBOTS!?" he questions with a loud growl, his optics bright with hatred. "Who dares challenge my aerial supremacy!?! AGH!" Ramjet's fingers become tightly-packed fists and just as he is about to do something, Catechism interrupts him. She earns a brow-furrowed glare from the Air Commander.

"HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU NEVER TO MENTION /HIS/ NAME IN MY PRESENCE!?" Who is this mysterious individual who earns the ire of Ramjet upon name alone?! Ramjet's optics would burn even brighter if they could, but Fanfare's arrival already set them to their highest brightness settings. "D'AGH!" he cusses, swinging an arm in Shockwave's direction. "SILENCE! I WILL HANDLE THIS AERIAL INTERLOPER ON MY OWN!"

Ramjet's engines kick in and with a press of his feet against the ground, he leaps into the air. His body quickly reconfigures into his aerodynamic jetfighter mode and he takes off after Fanfare at high speed. His scanners pick up the enormous Hercules and targeting co-processors attempt to lock onto the Autobot's energy signature. Weapon systems come online, their displays glowing within the confines of Ramjet's cockpit. Laser-gatlings selected, they press out of Ramjet's nosecone and spin, peppering the air with searing hot laserfire.

Ramjet transforms! His arms fold into his chest cavity as his legs fuse together to allow his thruster housings to slide snug against his chassis. Wings link together and lock into place as his cockpit twists into position.

Combat: Ramjet sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Americon gasps, muttering back, He mutters to Carly Witwicky, "You... I... know! Dreadwind... around!... not very..."

Combat: Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; strikes Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules with his Laserfire! (Disruptor) attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Defcon says, "You could shoot the windmills."

Dreadwind at least tries to follow orders as he lifts from the ground transforming and heads after the optic watering autojet, "Just when i thought the day would only get slightly worse, that... thing shows up, i just know it's going to blind me." Dreadwind surprisingly joins up on Ramjet's wing, thoguh laggin behind somewhat, it's not clear who's worse off here Ramjet or the Autobots.

Catechism sees that Shockwave agrees that Ramjet is the man for the job of getting rid of that fashion disaster! Also Dreadwind. Catechism cheerily points out, "But Ramjet, I /didn't/ mention his name!" She thinks she has this one windmill about done. Catechism looks over at Fusillade and Shockwave and asks, "Does this look about right?"

Dreadwind leans forwards allowing his body to fall towards the horizontal as his chest flips upwards concealing his head, while his legs pivot and his arms join to form the lower fuselage, to reveal a deadly F-16 Falcon.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "If it's a choice between letting the Decepticons take them and that, that's probably better, but that should be the last option."

&lt;NEST&gt; Crosscheck says, "Negative. There's tons of them around here."

Carly Witwicky grins and gives an absent wave. She mutters to Americon, "... Carly." This would be a dead give-away, were she not considerably younger than she should be. "And you're right, he's not. Also, see that Autobot that just flew in? Only one Decepticon has fired on it! Don't you think that's kind of suspicious?"

As Ramjet turns to follow after him the huge Hercules is mid-bank again, offering a large, barn-sized target. And it seems that Ramjet can indeed, hit the broadside of a barn. The plane's flank sparks and flashes, a trail of glitter flying off behind him with a grunt as he comes fully around towards Ramjet now, bearing down solidly on him. A game of chicken? not... really...

Diving in closer, the air around the Hercules suddenly explodes in a shower of terribly bright light and flares, rivulets of smoke twisted up by his propellers into a familiar shape that rose from the ground into the skies above. A winged shape.

Combat: Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules strikes Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; with his Angel Flares attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt;'s Accuracy. (Blinded)

Combat: Carly Witwicky sets her defense level to Protected.

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; slowly drives away from Carly and Americon, headed towards the windmill chopshop. He honks loudly several times on his rapid approach and calls out, "Anybody who thinks Galvatron is a crazy idiot signify by opening fire!" The car's headlighs flip over and a pair of small barrels deploy. He opens fire on the Decepticon cutting up on the windmills."

Combat: Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; strikes Catechism with his Headlight Jumbly Pulse Blasts (Disruptor) attack!

Combat: You took 2 damage.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Flares awai. Do what ye can while they're aiming fer me"

Americon nods, frowning. He mutters to Carly Witwicky, "... damn thing!... anyone miss... be blasting it! Hmmmm!... must investigate further!" And so, Americon hops away.

Foxfire comes to a stop. He can detect Americon's scent. But he's not eager to attack the other cassette. Not just yet. Figuring he should help Carly rather than simply make himself a target, he approaches.

Fusillade gives a sharp nod to Catechism, straining a bit to adjust the windmill. This was tough work for someone with her servo rating!

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "That crazy bird's wandered off. I'll creep closer to see what I can do to help."

Crosscheck finally reaches some cover as he hide himself behind a windmill. The scientist uses his processors at full speed to find the better course of action. He soon comes to the conclusion that he can only hope damage their transport enough so they can't leave with much loot. Once his decision is taken, he springs into action. He jumps from behind his cover and fires a quick bolt of energy towards the triplechanger before diving back in safety.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "Oh, hey, Foxfire!"

Shockwave's head turns sharply towards the approaching groundbound Autobots as he stalks towards the nearest fallen windmill, picks it up and carries it with him to the next nearest. "Additional Autobots are attacking from the road. That is sufficient for now, Catechism. Astrotrain, launch and deposit your cargo at the drop-off point, then return here unless I countermand that order first. Fusillade, the defense of the objective is in your hands while I gather the windmills which Ravage brought down and prepare them for Astrotrain's return."

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire says, "Figured you could use some help, Carly."

&lt;NEST&gt; Penumbra says, "Well that was a waste damn it..."

Carly Witwicky watches Americon hop away, then shrugs. When Foxfire approaches, she waves. "Oh, hey, Foxfire." Then she pauses and shakes his head. "No, he's investigating further. That's a good thing!" Then she hops to the other side of her car. "So, what do you think, Foxfire? Maybe we can try to tangle some of the transports in the windmills they've already brought down..."

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "No, he's investigating further. That's a good thing!""

Catechism watches as flares explode in the sky, shielding her optics with a hand. It's a bit odd to her, working on taking apart windmills, when there is a fight going down. Then she gets shot by a mouthy car's headlight. Ow! She shakes a fist at the car, but she moves to a different fallen windmill to disassemble for now. She can pound Autobots any day of the week, right? Windmills are special.

Flares go off in the wild blue yonder. The burn of magnesium and aluminum powder create such a light show that it overpowers Ramjet's optical resolution. Everything goes to white and the Air Commander emits a howl from his cockpit, "AGH! I CAN'T SEE!!" His scanners go offline and immediately, his flight path is wobbly. "Nngn... must.. reboot.." he mutters aloud. The system is kicked back in and communication is restored. Bleached-out receptors are thrown into momentary repair and only in a fuzzy haze, does Ramjet's sight returns for now...

..and just in time to see the enormous Hercules barreling at him!

The Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle jerks back and to the side of its flight stick out of sheer surprise than anything else. Its aerodynamic-yet-well-plated chassis swings to the side, its underbelly trying to catch the Hercules by its propellor-decked left wing!

Combat: Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; strikes Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules with his Jet Ram attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules's Agility. (Crippled)

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ach!"

F-16 Falcon is almost pleasantly surprised almost, when in fact he is half right there was a blinding but it was Ramjet not him, which probably means that something a lot worse is going to happen to him. The flying autobot annoyingly flies right across his sights forcing him to take action and open fire. "Oh great they're making it easy for me, i am really going to suffer for this later."

Fusillade ohs, and smacks one fist into the palm of her hand. "Poundin some groundforces. I'll go bomb the livin' bejeebers outta those forces." She takes to the air, although she doesn't transform, given how little room there is to maneuver between individual windmills. PARTICULARLY those that were still rotating. The disruptor fire from Penumbra catches her attention, and with a hand raised to shield her optics from the light overhead. "Not gonna open fire just yet, sorry." And with a hiss of drawn metal, she snaps out her wingblade, and jabs down to sever the lamp assemblies from the Bugatti's chassis.

Combat: Fusillade misses Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; with her Wingblades attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire says, "Yeah, I know. But still."

Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules with his rapid-fire machine guns (Pistol) attack!

The Hercules cannot dodge in time, and the form of Ramjet rips right through his near-left engine. Unlike smaller vessels that would be tossed and spun by the force, the huge plane merely shivers from it as sparks fly. Put put put... Pfft. Goes the engine and the damaged props stop completely now as he soars overhead a second time across the entire scene, the wind roaring behind him. With a rumble he starts to bank and slooooly turn around once more to try and catch the smaller, faster Ramjet, lasers spitting out light towards the Decepticon as he murmers into his radio.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah just lost engine three. How ye doing down there?  *ZAP* ACH!"

Combat: Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules misses Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; with his Laser attack!

And then the Falcon's blast strikes him over the other wing, leaving dark scars and more glitter trails that fall to the windmill site below.

As Astrotrain blasts off and rockets away intot he sky with his cargo, Shockwave busies himself with the windmills, methodically cutting each one into three sections each and stacking the pieces in three separate piles: generators, rotors, and towers. His head occasionally rotates 360 degrees to survey the course of the ongoing battle.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah'm thinking we could use some backup, laddies. Ah'm nae built fer combat and Ah'm down one engine."

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "Darn it! Astotrain's gotten away!"

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah've no chance tae catch 'im, sorreh."

Crosscheck curses as Shockwave orders Astrotrain to take off. The little damage he did to the triplechanger won't slow him down for a second. For a moment, he ponders a direct assault on Shockwave. He theorizes that such an irrational behavior could short circuit his logical processor...however it's only a theory and the scientist is not sure he's willing to test it. No, the best tactic is to change the situation in a way that it won't be profitable for the Decepticons to remain here, so Shockwave will just order retreat...easier said than done. Coming out from behind his windmill, Corsscheck turns his attention towards Fusillade and fires his laser at her.

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; grumbles as Catechisms desire to work makes him look ineffectual and insignificant. "Why you little..." Just then before he can say something ungentlemanly, Fusillade somes in at him making herself known. Penumbra brakes and spins around, and his rear tires then accellerate while his front ones remain braked, and he kicks up gravel at Fusillade. "Blow this, wind witch." Okay so his improvisational insult repetoire needs work. Usually he doesn't even bother with it.

Combat: Crosscheck sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Crosscheck strikes Fusillade with his Anaesthetic Laser attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Fusillade's Agility. (Crippled)

Combat: Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; misses Fusillade with his Kicked-Up Gravel (Kick) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Crosscheck says, "I would not expect reinforcement if I were you."

Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt;'s visual resolution returns in full. "I can see! Finally!" he grunts out. As he continues past Fanfare, his on-board sensors detect incoming laserfire. Wiggling his flightstick from left to right, Ramjet goes for a barrel-roll -- spinning in wide-arcs to dodge those blasts. Searing energy scores over the surface of his thick armor, leaving behind black carbon scores. Evading danger, Ramjet turns around to renew his assault -- only to see DREADWIND making his own attack run. "DREADWIND! CURSE YOU!" shouts Ramjet, loudly, over his external com.

Combat: Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah could trie tae LAND on that pile o' parts. me backside'd damage et."

&lt;NEST&gt; Crosscheck says, "That would put in within reach of Shockwave..."

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Aye, but the Parts would be damaged"

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "Just be ready to run quickly!"

F-16 Falcon lets out a heavy sigh as Dreadwind's shots strike home with unerring accuracy and are then just ignored, just like he always is by everyone else. Angling around sharply a moanalogue can be heard by anyone who cares to listen, "Great a flawless start, i just can't wait for the Dinobots to disembark from that abomination of an eyesore and tear me to..." Dreadwind is cut short as Ramjet berates him, probably for existing, "Yes, cursed i am, cursed to continue when others are allowed to sink finally into the eternal darkness of permanent shutdown." For a fast fighter jet Dreadwind seems to move really slowly as he comes about for another attack run.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky, font and approver of GREAT ideas.

Combat: F-16 Falcon misses Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Hercules with his Thermal Melters attack!

"That wasn't very goo--Hyurk!! Fusillade jerks to a halt as the medic gouges her. With a spasm of overloading servos, she tilts forward at the waist briefly, optics glittering in briefly in bewilderment and rage at the immobilization. Oh, why did the guy with the nice red and black paintjob have to have such terrible lines? She tilts over completely, the kick missing her by dumb luck. Once she clonks into the ground, she snarls in indignant outrage, spitting like a panther, before straightening up and snapping off several shots from the square muzzle of her chromed disruptor, a lurid magenta light briefly illuminating their immediate area.

Combat: Fusillade misses Crosscheck with her Disruptor attack!

Somehow, the Hercules was MISSED by the falcon! Or maybe the heat was reflected off that glitteR? Either way, the Jumbo starts to kill altitude and speed like they were young stupid girls in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. His wings tilt up a little bit, engines pointing further and further up... basically a sitting duck now as he cruises just over the windmills... making them rock back and forth.

"SHOCKWAVE!" his voice booms out over speakers.

"... DUCK!"

and with that he transforms, a little momentum remaining as he flings himself forwards as though to crowd surf, directly at the middle of those three neat piles of parts next to Shockwave.

Folding down and around, Fanfare transforms from a Rainbow Glitter CF-130 Super Hercules into his robot mode.

Combat: Fanfare takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Windmill parts fly everywhere as Fanfare crashes down amongst the pile Shockwave had been working on! And it was such a neat pile, too. Luckily for him none of them, nor the aircraft itself, actually hit him with more than trivial force. Shockwave takes a step backwards and blinks momentarily, calculating that now is the time to enter the fray. "Decepticons, set radio mode to J-14/B," drones Shockwave. "Set data ports three through fifteen to state C." He waits three seconds to let the Decepticons comply (those of them who can figure out the order) before emitting a viral signal on several frequencies he has calculated to be most likely used by the Autobots for radio access. Avionics frazzle and targeting systems flicker, the Decepticons seeming to wobble in the Autobots' sights as Shockwave attempts to corrupt their targeting software!

Combat: Shockwave misses Fanfare with its Targeted Virus RK-99 Area attack!

Combat: Shockwave misses Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; with its Targeted Virus RK-99 Area attack!

Combat: Shockwave misses Foxfire with its Targeted Virus RK-99 Area attack!

Combat: Shockwave misses Crosscheck with its Targeted Virus RK-99 Area attack!

Fanfare sits up a little bit, smiling awkwardly towards Shockwave as he lay at the mech's feet. He blinks at the orders and starts to his feet, making sure to crush as many parts as possible on his way up as he hears that order. As the radio signal goes out, he grunts a little... but luckily he fights it off and instead aims for another pile of parts, firing at it "Ah'll personally make sure thes're compensated fer. ye not 'aving them, Shockwave!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Remind me tae 'ave the bill sent right tae me fer this."

Catechism does try to follow Shockwave's instructions as best she can while Fusillade harries the mouthy car. It's a bit tricky when she's worrying about slotting apart windmills. She does find the time to look up and comment, "Oh. Maybe they heard you, Shockwave."

Crosscheck ducks for cover just in time as the magenta bolt passes right where he was a second again. Fortunately it misses him and strikes a windmill instead. "Where are Sideswipe or Sunstreaker when you need them? That's /their/ kind of thing." The Autobot scientist gets back on his feet and charges right towards Fusillade, knowing very well that he only has a shot if he goes hand to hand with her. Shockwave's attack caugh him offguard but fortunately, he equipped himself with a radio-firewall that switch his frequencies as soon as it detect the attack. A second later, he reaches his opponent and launches his right fist upward towards her head.

Combat: Crosscheck strikes Fusillade with his Punch attack!

Combat: Fanfare takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; is about to utter another growl and curse until Shockwave's transmission interrupts his thought processes. As he cruises on auto-pilot, he sets his radio to J-14/B and his dataports three to fifteen to state C. Not that it does any good -- maybe Shockwave didn't anticipate the Autobots having a steadfast anti-viral program already installed.

"Compensate for THIS!" Ramjet growls as he initiates his transformation sequence. Unfolding into a robot, he straightens into a straight line of Decepticon aerial-superiority. Arms outstretched ahead of him, laser-rifles aimed for Fanfare's enormous shape. "When I get to you, I'm going to RIP you apart with my BARE HANDS!" His fingers press into his palms, firing his weapons in rapid triple-burst cycles.

Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; is more than meets the eye! Wings seperate and flip forward as engines seperate and extend into legs. Powerful arms fold out and the cockpit turns in and twists out, completing the transformation into the Decepticon Ramjet!

When Foxfire gets distracted by the battle (maybe those new senses are a bit overwhelming!) Carly shrugs. Then she grabs her binocs and starts to creep closer, to try to see if there's some way she can help.

Combat: Ramjet misses Fanfare with his Dual Lasers attack!

Foxfire is indeed distracted. His optics dim, given the impression that he's blinking, and registers in his processor what Carly said to him. "Uh...yeah, maybe." He idly paws at the ground. "I'm pretty useless in combat," he grumbles. "Curse my small size."

F-16 Falcon is slightly relieved when his next attack flies wide of the mark, perhaps the increase to his suffering will only be marginal this time. As Dreadwind considers this his overly large enemy decides that flying really isn't for the best when Ramjet is around and crashes into the ground?!? "Autobots defective..." Dreadwind reacts as Shockwave's order goes out and switches frequency, it was bad enough last time he didn't react he's not going through that pain again. He circles as he decides on whether Shockwave really needs his help to defeat such a clumsy Autobot.

Combat: F-16 Falcon takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "You know, if anyone on the ground needs some patching up, I can probably help!"

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "And Foxfire, shame on you! You know as well as I do that your size can be an advantage if you use it right! Just because your best choice ins't direct combat doesn't mean you're no use!"

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; reverses gears and rapidly backs away from Fusillade. And yes, they all heard Shockwave. "Erm, no we didn't!" With that, Penumbra accelerates and turns towards Catechism where she's so diligently at work. The car goes even faster the closer he gets. "Excuse me, I do believe it's quittin' time." He seems to have given up insult banter and gone back to cheesey action hero one liners.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Foxfair! Go an' blow up the other parts mebbe?  Scatter 'em or something so they cannae take all of them at once."

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire is startled for a moment, but then he says, "Yeah...you right. Sorry, Carly."

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "aye, scatter em', try not tae break too many"

Combat: Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; strikes Catechism with his Fender-Clip (Smash) attack!

Combat: You took 5 damage.

Catechism gets knocked away from her work, flat on her back, and gazes up at the mess that is the sky. Her lips curl into a sneer, and she gets to her feet and whips her hand back, as if to throw a punch into the car. Then, she drops her whip into her hand and extends the lash, trying to snare and snap one of his mirrors. "Quitting time? A good idea for /you/. I am a known health hazard in the state of California!"

Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Catechism strikes Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; with her Whiplash Whirlwind attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Fusillade sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Fusillade strikes Crosscheck with her Medium Range Missiles attack!

Fusillade receives a pretty good whack from Crosscheck, shoulders pauldrons rattling together as she is hefted upward slightly. "Urgh, OW, JERK FACE!" She directs at Crosscheck as she scrambles backward briefly, and pops up into the air. She racks up her internal stores, and then dumps out a twelve-foot long missile from subspace into the scientist's lap. "Pucker up!"

The jamming signal in the area disperses.

~RRRRIP~ Off is torn Penumbras mirror along with some door innards with it. "You ain't in California, lil firecracker. You're in the great state of Texas." He transforms and draws his rapier. "And in Texas, Decepticons are softcore fools not worth a lick." He comes at Catechism.

With a series of gear shifts and smoothly sliding components, the Bugatti Veyron sportscar transforms into the Autobot Penumbra.

Combat: Penumbra strikes Catechism with his Rapier Wit attack!

Combat: You took 3 damage.

It occurs to Shockwave that he may have telegraphed his intent by warning the Decepticons audibly which ports to close, but he had been counting on the Autobots not figuring out what he meant. Apparently the solution to this problem is going to have to be something simpler.

"Direct action is required," remarks Shockwave, picking up a twelve-meter-long windmill blade and firing his rockets. Blue flame blasts out from under Shockwave's feet, igniting a fire in the dry Texas grass as he lifts off. Once he's fifty feet above Fanfare, he rotates his hand to point the blade downwards, and cuts his rockets again. Falling.

Combat: Shockwave sets its defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Shockwave strikes Fanfare with its Direct Action Impalement attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Fanfare sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Fanfare looks over his shoulder at the enraged Ramjet and jerks back quickly, the blasts searing past his chestplate "Ye almost het yer own loot, Ramjet!" he goads a little, backing up now from both Shockwave /AND/ Ramjet. But as Shockwave lifts off, he talks into his radio, and the blade slices down, ripping open glittery armor along his shoulder and one side. The mech cries out in pain and jerks backwards, before swinging a fist towards Shockwaves'... front head part. His optics were white now, face emotionless.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare drones "I need to retreat soon..." his voice lacked his usual rolling accent and most emotion "I'm damaged badly...

Crosscheck is not at his place on a battlefield and the fact that he realized too late what Fusillade is doing is another proof of that. The missile strikes his chestplate, partially shattering it. Pieces of metal fly everywhere while a mix of oil and energon starts to spill from his wounds. The explosion knocks the scientist backward and he heavily lands on the ground a few feet away. It takes some time for Crosscheck to get back on his feet and he only manages to gather the will to do it because he knows that he's dead if he doesn't move soon. Reaching behind his back, he grabs his laser pistol and fires back at Fusillade hoping to buy enought time to find a new strategy.

Combat: Crosscheck strikes Fusillade with his Laser attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "I'm almost near you, Fanfare! If you can pull back, I can try to patch you up some!"

Catechism does get stabbed. She looks down at the wound. Then, Catechism shrugs. "So what you're saying is, the folks in Texas won't take a clue from California?" She flicks out the whip again, trying to wrap it around his ankle, yank it back hard, and knock the Autobot over. Her overall attitude radiates, 'Dude, why are you messing with me? I'm just trying to do my job, man!'

&lt;NEST&gt; Penumbra says, "Hm, if only we had reinforcements to come protect U.S. soil and property."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Hey, how much longer?"!attack/2 penumbra=whi

Combat: Catechism misses Penumbra with her Whiplash Whirlwind attack! [Pulled -3]

F-16 Falcon gives up on the endless circling as all the combatants start to pair off against each other and transforms. Dreadwind hangs there in the skies like some gloomy neglected angel come to watch the suffering that existance brings to all that struggle and strive. Which in the end ammounts to nothing, nothing but disappointment and more suffering an endless circle and all to feed the universe's hunger.

F-16 Falcon suddenly halts it's forwards momentum and pulls up as it bends in half. The body of the jet twists and unfolds to become legs, while arms extrude themselves from the fuselage sides.

Combat: Fanfare misses Shockwave with his Enraged Emotionless Uppercut (Punch) attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "I'll try, but we're not doing too well. If I take more damage I will not be able to extract us."

"Texas?" Ramjet says as he swoops down to land, his metal boots clanking against the ground. He's overheard Penumbra as he saucily takes it to Catechism. His suspicion is reinforced when Shockwave sets fire to some dried grass. "All the better then!" he declares. "Once this land is set fire to once more, we will place the blame on the Autobots! Again! Not even SKY LYNX could anticipate his folly occuring a second time! And by a second time, I mean that we're really the root cause of it this time but I WILL HAPPILY BLAME THE AUTOBOTS REGARDLESS!" The Air Commander has spoken!

"Ho, what's this!?" Ramjet lifts his cone back, his optics glowing as he finds something small and pink moving closer to Fanfare. "A human! Well, Autobot! You will regret bringing our attention to your friend.. TIMES TWO!" Pointing one rifle at Fanfare and the other at Carly, he clenches his fists and fires!

Combat: Ramjet sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Ramjet misses Carly Witwicky with his Dual Lasers Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Ramjet misses Fanfare with his Dual Lasers Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Foxfire flicks his ears. While the Decepticons are distracted, now's his chance! He dashes for the pile of windmill parts.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Look out!"

Carly Witwicky has been creeping nearer to the battle for awhile, and when she hears Fanfare's report over the radio, she hurries towards im instead. The human runs the last bit of distance towards her ally, heedless of the damage, and on the last moment, /jumps/ onto Fanfare's leg, dropping her binoculers and retrieving her multitool, hurridely attempting some quick repairs. At the last moment of the jump, though, she's attacked by Ramjet's lasers. Instinctively, she squeels as she leaps, then breaths a sigh of relief as the attack misses. "Okay, hold on, Fanfare! I'll get this jury-rigged... hmm, what does this wire do again?"

Combat: Carly Witwicky quickly patches up some of Fanfare's minor injuries.

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky squeels in automatic fear, then /whews/!

Shockwave steps away from Fanfare's flailing, moving instead to place himself between Foxfire and the supplies. He seems to have reassigned Fanfare from 'deal with immediately' to some lesser category of battlefield factor. His laser cannon comes up and a barely-visible heat ray snaps out of it with a hiss, raking a scorched line across the hillside towards the charging saboteur!

Combat: Shockwave misses Foxfire with its Infrared (Disruptor) attack!

Penumbra steps back. He may not have much bite, but his skill with a blade is nonetheless learned, and he slaps the lash aside with a swat of his sword, moving it into a swirling motion attempting to take away that whip from her grasp as he says, "Your job sucks" is his answer. "I suggest a long reflective vacation and reconsider your vocation." Now he's getting wordy.

Combat: Penumbra misses Catechism with his Disarming swordplay (Grab) attack!

Pt-chang! Several bits of Fusillade's armor fly away, scattering to the ground. "Glad to see I've got your attention, Autobot!" She glances to the side quickly, rewarded with the sight of Catechism's duel with Penumbra, and once again levels her not-so-standard-issue disruptor at him. There's a faint whine of the argon capacitor peeling away excited noble gas from an internal fuel cell, before the fuschia bolt lances out at Crosscheck's missile-scorched chestplate.

Combat: Fusillade misses Crosscheck with her Disruptor attack!

Fanfare drops to a knee, ducking the blast from Shockwave. He nods to Carly "Good un." he rumbles "but ah cannae take much more like thes." he states, returning fire to Ramjet. "Foxfire! Look oot!"

Combat: Fanfare strikes Ramjet with his Laser attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "A dun think we're gonna win the day... Ah'm seeing' fires in the grass now..."

Foxfire practically leaps to the side, out of the line of fire, and he does this without missing a beat, still running. In the process, he dashes around Shockwave and then skids to a stop, promptly spinning around and releasing a stream of flames from his mouth, attempting to hit Shockwave from behind. There's probably no chance that he'll be able to set his charges now, but he's still got to do *something*.

Combat: Foxfire strikes Shockwave with his Fox Fire attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "We need to call in emergancy services. Keeping the fire from spreading is probably more important at this point!"

Dreadwind has disconnected.

Ramjet is struck by Fanfare! He nary takes a step back as his left shoulder is caught by the blast. Pain never reaches his circuits. He pauses, cone turning so his eyes can glance at the damage done. Armor is punched inward, a few small holes burned into it. A wisp of smoke or two, but nothing major. Superficial, even. Ramjet looks back to Fanfare, his features stern and disapproving. He gives a shake of his cone before he lunges after him, big blunt fists presented for the Autobot's face.

Combat: Ramjet misses Fanfare with his Punch attack!

Catechism throws her hands in the air (the whip sort of flying up and flopping around, up too high to be bound by the blade) and protests, "But the last time I got sent on vacation, I had to catalogue the military applications of each place I visited." She rubs her chin. "And I liked it." Since the Autobot seems like an agile little fellow, she switches to the weapon with which she is most familiar: her acid. Glorp!

Combat: Catechism misses Penumbra with her Acid Strike attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Aye. Ah'm nae built fer combat."

Crosscheck finally manages to recover enough to duck out of the way as Fusillade fires back at him. The autobot scientist starts to run between the windmill to reach the position of his opponent. As he arrives a couples of feet away, he grabs the palm of one of the windmill, which lifts him from the ground and launches him into the air towards Fusillade. As soon as he's within range, he launches his knee towards her midsection.

Combat: Crosscheck misses Fusillade with his Knee Strike (Kick) attack!

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah'm thinking we should fall back... th' lands' more important than those parts..."

Carly Witwicky finishes patching Fanfare and looks around, realizing that he's in close combat with two powerful Decepticons, and that the grass is on /FIRE/. Her gaze darts around, and she looks for something to dart behind, unfortunately chosing the pile of parts. Whoops!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Hot sport or Inferno, ye are needed in Texas..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "*hot spot*"

Penumbra back flips, who knew, and back flips again twice more as the acid splatters the ground following him until it is spent. He raises his arm where his dart weapon is mounted, loads up a tracer dart, and fires at Catechism. Not only does it pack the laughable 'whallop' of a regular dart weapon, but it also secretly serves as a beacon he can track himself. If it pierces the target, maybe he will be able to see where Catechism goes for a limited time after she leaves here.... if he misses, he's got a Nelson laugh coming doesn't he? "I would have suggested oil baths and enermargaritas.... to each their own."

Combat: Penumbra strikes Catechism with his Tracer Dart (Pistol) attack!

Combat: You took 3 damage.

Fusillade reholsters her disruptor in her thigh compartment, and braces herself for Crosscheck's direct assault. With a deft flex of ankle servos, she twists aside. There's a faint sizzling hum as she charges up the magnetic recall systems for her wingblades. She doesn't seem to be throwing them this time, though. Instead, the magnetic field coils upon itself, shaping and forming around a gout of plasma that sprouts from her wrist, before she rears back like a minor league pitcher, and lobs it at the junction of Crosscheck's neck. "Not so much fun now, c'mon at least give me some banter."

Combat: Fusillade strikes Crosscheck with her Plasma Caster attack!

Shockwave's head rapidly swivels to follow Foxfire as he dashes around him, registering the blast of fire. Although his chest with its heavier armor protection continues to face Fanfare, Shockwave's legs revolve 180 degrees to come into line with his head. He steps forward heavily, bringing a foot down in an attempt to crush Foxfire into the hard, blackened ground. "Ramjet, Fusillade is under fire. Maintain situational awareness."

Combat: Shockwave strikes Foxfire with its Swivel Stomp attack! [Pulled -5]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Crosscheck says, "arg... I got to back out...one more hit and I'll be in lock down."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Do so. Ah'll follow soon so we can retreat... Foxfire, ye able tae make it?"

Catechism gets shot with a tracer dart. Ow. She sighs and decides to cut out all the fancy stuff and just runs forward and attempts to slug the fellow, fuming, "Because you are a WASTEFUL Autobot! I bet you flush energon down the drain and laugh when it makes a little tornado!" Punching. Don't tell her what can possibly go wrong. She doesn't want to know.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "All right, Crosscheck. Once you're backed away, I'll do what I can to help you."

Combat: Catechism strikes Penumbra with her Smiting the Heathens (Punch) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Daniel Witwicky says, "Mom, be careful!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "I'm fine, Daniel!"

Foxfire cries out as he is stepped on, steadily crushed under Shockwave's foot. He struggles hard, but is unable to free himself, only resulting in making large scratches in the ground with his claws.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire sounds strained. "Shockwave...is...*crushing* me!"

Fanfare murmers again into his radio, keeping between Carly and the Decepticons as Foxfire goes to work. He twists sidways and snaps an arm up to block the punch, returning with one of his own now to try and get Ramjet off of him with a puff. He shouts into his radio as he does so "Aye. Ah'll pick ye up once ye fall back." he looked rather wearied at this, starting to take slow steps backwards. "Shockwave! go pick on someone ye own size!" he shouts.

Combat: Fanfare misses Ramjet with his Enraged Emotionless Uppercut (Punch) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah'll trie ta distract 'im..."

The plasma strikes Crosscheck's chest, setting it on fire. His internal security systems manage to extinguish it. The pain is horrible but he managed to get back on his feet...slowly. Very slowly. The scientist analyzes his current status and comes to the conclusion that he can't continue to fight. "Sorry guys" he mutters before retreating as fast as he can among the windmill.

Combat: Crosscheck begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Catechism, Shockwave, Foxfire, Fusillade, and Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt;

Carly Witwicky shouts, "Foxfire!" She runs towards Shockwave and the small, trapped tape as fast as her two little legs can take her. Then, she tries her best to kick the gunformer in the foot. "Let him go, you bully!" she shouts.

She's going to regret this very soon. In fact, she does so instantly, as she starts hopping up and down on one foot, holding onto the other and shouting, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" She activates her radio and says over it, "I forgot how much kicking one of you guys hurts!"

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "I forgot how much kicking one of you guys hurts!"

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Just Go! ah'll meet ye and fly us home..."

Combat: Carly Witwicky sets her defense level to Fearless.

"I'm aware of someone throwing their FIST at my CHIN, Shockwave!" Ramjet counters as Fanfare retaliates. He takes a step back, leaning to the left as Fanfare's fist careens past him. He snarls openly at Fanfare, brow narrowed down the bridge of his angular nose. When Fanfare challenges Shockwave, Ramjet exchanges his snarl for a smirk. "Perhaps the dumbest thing that I believe just understood you say! SHOCKWAVE!" Ramjet calls out as he glances over his shoulder. "This loaf desires your attention!" The Air Commander leans back, extending one arm forward and swinging the other out. One laser-rifle is aimed at Fanfare and the other at Foxfire. He opens fire.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Crosscheck says, "Thanks Carly."

Combat: Ramjet strikes Fanfare with his Dual Lasers Area attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: Ramjet strikes Foxfire with his Dual Lasers Area attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: Carly Witwicky strikes Shockwave with her Kick attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ah'll follow ye out... we cannae do much more if we die..."

Penumbra gets slugged by the girl in the mustache in Texas. He face plate rippling as his head turns sideways by the impact. His blue optics squint and dim for the briefest of seconds until his head snaps back. "You'd lose that bet, filly." Filly? Is he asking for it or has he just been drawn in too deep by the local lingo? Texas, no matter how you look at it, is bad for everyone's health. However, hearing Foxfire's distress, he transforms and drives at the David and Goliath bout in progress, looking to 'nudge' Shockwave the hell off of Foxfire. Wether he connects or not, Penumbra will then skid to a stop to try and give Carly a ride to jump into.

With a series of gear shifts and smoothly sliding components, Penumbra folds into himself to transform into his sleek Bugatti Veyron sportscar mode.

Combat: Penumbra sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; strikes Shockwave with his Fender-Clip (Smash) attack!

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "You got REAL popular suddenly!"

Catechism shouts after the Autobot, "It was a good guess! Maybe you... spend your time waxing your /face/, yeah! Run off and wax your face, Autobot!" Clearly, running /into/ Shockwave is the same as running away to wax one's face. Catechism takes a frustrated shot at him with an arm laser as he speeds away. Huh, maybe she can finally get back to work or... fire. Oh. Fire bad.

Combat: Catechism strikes Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; with her Zap! (Disruptor) attack!

Shockwave's head completes its rotation, the gleaming yellow eye locking onto Fanfare. It ratchets slightly to the side to consider Penumbra and Carly in their turn, a machine intellect as cold as deep space calculating... and passing judgement!

Radioactive steam blasts in a short, sharp hiss from the vents in his sides and back as he withdraws control rods and his reactor spins up to combat power. His chest flares with purple light, Cerenkov radiation visible through the translucent pink armor. "You will all regret interfering with the Mighty Shockwave's procedures," declares Shockwave in that unfeeling drone, launching into the air and transforming.

Shockwave undergoes an extremely simple transformation to become a giant flying space "laser."

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire says, "Ow ow ow...Carly, Penumbra...thanks for the the help."

Shockwave's cannon barrel glows with light that, although not particularly bright, hurts human eyes to look at it for long. "Right now." A deep, bone-shaking hum vibrates through the air, a tooth-shivering buzz as a blast of coruscating light emits from a muzzle broad enough to park a car in, boring into the ground and raising a mushroom cloud high into the sky.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare says, "Carly!"

Combat: Shoxcannon strikes Fanfare with its Shoxcannon Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Shoxcannon misses Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; with its Shoxcannon Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Shoxcannon strikes Foxfire with its Shoxcannon Area attack! [Pulled -2]

"Oh." Fusillade seems disappointed as Crosscheck bows out, but doesn't pursue him, peripherally aware of a... FIRE? and the pile of windmill parts. Huh. Shockwave suddenly looks like a jungle gym, with all the Autobots and humans festooned upon him! She raises a fingertalon to pick at her suddenly ticklish fangs.

Foxfire escapes from Shockwave now. He indeed looks like someone tried to crush him. His armor is badly cracked and dented. He starts to limp away, only to be caught in the blast of Shockwave's latest attack. He cries out in immense pain as he is thrown off his paws; he lands several yards away.

&lt;NEST&gt; Foxfire says, "I'm...I'm badly damaged..."

It was not often that a large mech can move so fast, but somehow even with his damaged gyros, Fanfare manages to, and the last of the glitter is burnt off his body as the blast strikes him squarely. He staggers, dropping to a knee now, glancing towards Carly on the far side of him, his bulk taking the brutn of the damage.

&lt;NEST&gt; Fanfare 's voice goes blank again "Carly, get Foxfire. I'll grab you two on my way out...

Combat: Fanfare sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Fanfare takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Carly Witwicky dives into Penumbra, managing, in the process, to avoid the bulk of Shockwave's cannon attack! She then peeks outside, then gestures towards Foxfire. "Foxfire, get in here!" she calls. Then, if either Foxfire doesn't move closer to Penumbra or Penumbra doesn't move closer to Foxfire, she /will/ jump out to grab Foxfire!

&lt;NEST&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "I will!"

"Aww, Pitt," Fusillade exhales at the dots of jets starting to soar over the horizon.

"...!?"

Ramjet gawps as Shockwave takes to the skies and transforms. This can mean only one thing: get the hell out of the way. He leaps into the air, foot-mounted engines providing the accelerant needed to propel himself out of the immediate blast radius. "Hnh!" Ramjet muses aloud, marveling Shockwave's fantastic destructive power.

Crosscheck has disconnected.

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; peels out as sson as Carly dives into him, rolling out of the path of Shockwaves tantrum and right towards Foxfire. "Let's go, Foxfire." He moves in close for the drive by pick up, veering to turn towards Fanfare to transfer the evacuees.

Needless to say the intended second shipment of windmill parts does not fare much better than the Autobots caught in Shockwave's blast. Shockwave swivels in midair as if mounted on a tripod, the digital scope on his upper surface locking onto the incoming Air Force fighter-bombers and zooming in to count and consider them. "Decepticons, retreat. We will have to be satisfied with our accomplishments thus far, today." Blue fire blasts out of the grip of the giant weapon as it accelerates and curves away into the sky.

Combat: Shoxcannon begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; and Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt;

Fanfare backs up slowly, keeping himself between the others and the Decepticons, holding his damaged side. He did hope he could still transform and once he reached a clear area, he daringly turns his back, transforming into his huge Hercules form. His engine start up painfully as he drops the back ramp "Penumbra, drive right on in!" he rumbles, voice tight.

Carly Witwicky attempts to pull Foxfire into the car. As soon as the tape is inside, she starts to patch him up. "Oh, poor Foxfire!" she exclaims worriedly.

Combat: Carly Witwicky quickly patches up some of Foxfire's minor injuries.

Combat: Shockwave sets its defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Fanfare takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; gets some Foxfire on his seats. ;)

Foxfire struggles back to his feet. He shakes his head, and then hops into Penumbra once the other Autobot is close enough. The poor little foxbot looks awful at this point.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Hold on tight mates... Thes'll be a VERY rough takeoff... and landin. Ah'm gonna clamp yer wheels penumbra so ye dont roll about, aye?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Vigil says, "Whats going on?"

Carly Witwicky rides Penumbra into the sunset! Or Fanfare, as the case may be.

Fusillade slings a bucket after the retreating Autobots. "BAH!" She turns on her double-thrustered heel, and jaybird struts to the solid slug of fused metal that used to be the windmill supplies. "Abstract culpture!" An on-board camera snaps a shot, before she takes to the skies in classic flying Decepticon superman pose! &lt;Pose Tracker&gt; Fusillade's posed.

Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "We tried ta stop some Decepticons. Eet didnt work. Retreatin' now with injured tae Metroplex, fer transfer tae the pax"

Combat: Fanfare begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Catechism, Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt;, Shoxcannon, Foxfire, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, and Robotic Bald Eagle &lt;Americon&gt;

Fanfare rolls out his jet boosters and hits them. Everything not buckled down in side him meets the rear cabin hatch now as he bursts up into the air... not at full speed, sadly, bits and peices of glitter falling away

&lt;Autobot&gt; Carly Witwicky says, "Uhm, shouldn't we go to the Ark from here?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Penumbra says, "Yes."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Penumbra says, "The Ark is not obsolete. Just out of style. Heh."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Ach. Fergot about the Ark. Ah'll redivert there... *a bad sounding whine is in the background * Engine three out, engine two *BOOM* ... also out."

'*BOOM* One of fanfare's other engines explode from strain as he takes off and he lurches badly, but manages to get away!

Combat: Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; with her Grab attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Broadside says, "Are you over land?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Aye. Divertin' northwestwards tae the Arks' location."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Vigil says, "I will fly to you!"

Bugatti Veyron &lt;Penumbra&gt; feels a strange sensation, as if someone ghostly were groping him. He doesn't mention it. :p

Vigil has arrived.

Just like that movie.

Catechism considers the fire and the general state of the combatants. Time to bail? Definitely. With a ratcheting sound, she transforms, donning her wings to take the air as a jet. She pours on the fuel, converting from turbofan to ramjet operation. At least they got some windmills, right? Not a total wash?

Catechism transforms to her jet mode, which is quite astoundingly simple for the coneheaded model that she is.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "An' someone send someone tae put out those fires!"

Ramjet turns and transforms, orienting himself for an acceleration to orbit. Unlike Catechism, he has no ramjets! He has STARDRIVES instead!

Ramjet transforms! His arms fold into his chest cavity as his legs fuse together to allow his thruster housings to slide snug against his chassis. Wings link together and lock into place as his cockpit twists into position.

Combat: Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle &lt;Ramjet&gt; begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Rodimus Prime says, "If the Decepticons have cleared out, I'll call in the local Emergancy Response, and send in ours to assist as soon as they're available."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Penumbra says, "Luckily it's just grass in a wild field, and not an oil field."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "They 'ave..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare 's accent starts to return more and more heavily.

Fanfare moves southwest to Mexico.

Fanfare has left.

Vigil moves southwest to Mexico.

Vigil has left.

Shockwave goes home.

Shockwave has left.

Shockwave enters the D.Ops' office.

Carly Witwicky moves out of Texas to the South Central State region.

Carly Witwicky has left.

Penumbra moves out of Texas to the South Central State region.

Penumbra has left.

Foxfire moves out of Texas to the South Central State region.

Foxfire has left.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Broadside says, "Just checking if you needed an airstrip over the water. Hang in there! Any landing on dry land is a good one!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Aye. when ye survive et."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Landed at the Ark... ugh."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Vigil says, "I will go try and take out the fire. Maybe if I fly fast enough the winds produced will put it out."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fanfare says, "Thank ye very much Broadside. Ah do appreciate it..."

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/38                     Posted        Author Brief Intel Note                  Mon Jul 27    Penumbra --

TEXT ONLY Stuck Catechism with a Tracer Dart. Maybe we'll get lucky and find out where the Decepticons are taking those windmills they stole.

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================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/39                     Posted        Author Messed With Texas                 Mon Jul 27    Carly Witwicky -- Carly, sitting on top of an oversized desk. Yes, she's still young.

"The Decepticons stole a bunch of windmills from Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor County, Texas. The bad news is, if they get them working, that means they've got their own ongoing energy source, right? But the good news is, I guess they aren't polluting the Earth if they use them! Anyway, Penumbra, Fanfare, Crosscheck, and Foxfire showed up to help, but the Decepticons, represented by Shockwave, Ramjet, coneheaded-Seeker-Girl, Big-Bomber-Girl..." She pauses and frowns. "I really have to memorize these new Earth arrivals sometime," she mutters. "Anyway, them and Astrotrain, and between them all, we were pretty badly overpowered. That crazy bird-tape, uhm... Americon, he was there, but he didn't help his own side. In fact, he was spying on them! He said he was looking for traitors. That might be useful to us!" Then she scrambles over and turns off the camera.

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================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/40                     Posted        Author Intelligence Request              Mon Jul 27    Crosshairs --

TEXT ONLY MESSAGE

The looking for traitors thing that Carly posted gives me an idea. Can someone from the Intelligence Division scope out Americon for me? If my hunch is right, we might be able to have all sorts of fun with the Decepticons. I need to be sure of exactly what he does and who he is before I can go farther forward, though.

Who wants the job?

Chief Armorer Crosshairs

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================================= Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/125                    Posted        Author AAR: Horse Hollow Wind Energy Cent Mon Jul 27   Fusillade --

leading to a spacebridge. In the background, several gumbies are shoving gently misused windmill components through the shimmering portal*
 * Slightly battle damaged Fusillade appears before the moonpool-styled foyer

Hi! I went on a raid in Texas! Turns out the wind farms grow bigger there, too. Ravage, Americon I think, Catechism, Astrotrain, Ramjet, Dreadwind, and Shockwave himself came out to supervise! Eventually the Autobots came to stop us. There was Crosscheck, Foxfire, a normal human not in an exo-suit, Penumbra, and Fanfare that came out to stop us! But we either stomped, melted, or blew them up real good. Catechism was doing pretty good at organizing the stacks in Astrotrain. We had to give up our second load. BUT! We do have the first set available for installation on any of the Decepticon-held surface shield areas, where they can start making energon for us. Provided you tech and building types don't mind showing up to do the honors. I'll be doing sentry watch, and have some energon on hand, if you think that'll sweeten the deal. Fusillade out!


 * old-school Decepticon chest thump salute*

(OOC: Drop me an @mail if you'd like to do follow up RP on Cybertron with any tech or builder types on either Wednesday or Thursday evening, Eastern time. If you want to send along an Autobot/Human/Junkion to spy, that can be arranged too! Non-Combat preferred.)

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