Smoke and mirrors, cloak and daggers



Olympic Stadium(#2563 RLntFMN)

Vast and large, this circular stadium is to house the main events for the Monacus Olympics. Stands surround the center field, with chairs ranging from small sizes to much larger ones, able to seat Transformers of nearly every size. In the very center of the stadium is a raised platform about 30 meters (100 feet) on each side, obviously some sort of fighting arena. Ringing this platform is a wide, level expanse with different numbered rows, which borders the outside of the stands. And yet there is still a lot of empty space in the arena.

Outside of the stadium are abandoned buildings, the remains of an area that Pangalactic Industries is in the process of rebuilding.

Contents:

Arachnae, Comcast, Foxfire, Fulcrum, Hook, James Trent, Marissa, Michael Briar, Mute, Shockwave, and Spade

Combat Pit 1, Combat Pit 2, Combat Pit 3, Combat Pit 4, Commentator's Booth, Events Computer, Terran private box, and The stands

Obvious exits:

West  leads to Monacus Highrise Hotel.

South  leads to Last Chance Alley.

East  leads to PGI Office Block.

Selena Llwyll has connected.

Truly exasperated, Foxfire rolls his optics, resisting the urge to bite the obnoxious creature. "I said 'jerk', moron." He idly glances to Hook as he approaches, raising a brow, but doesn't comment.

Thrangar the Repulsive is about to continue when a loud klaxon sounds. "We will continue this later!" he says, shaking a finger at Rodimus. "But now....ENTERTAINMENT BECKONS!" Switching on the microphone built into his hover platform, he calls out "Fighters! To Combat Pit 1 Prepare yourself for a specticle of fun.. and pain! Fun pain!"

Exo-Suit 1774  has arrived.

Marissa drops Exo-Suit 1774 .

Marissa has left.

Marissa suits up and seals Exo-Suit 1774  around herself.

Exo-Suit 1774  starts up smoothly, generator softly humming.

Michael Briar stands up and climbs up into the cab of the flatbed truck. He comes out a little bit later wearing his flight suit all dark blue and black. Briar adjusts the wire headset on his head and climbs up onto the flatbed. He glances at all, ignoring the alien for now, he climbs into his suit.

Human tech bob says, "Sir, pressure is steady and you're good to go."

Michael says, "Right..." he clicks on his radio and says, "Marissa, you ready to do this?"

Exo-Suit  has arrived.

Michael Briar drops Exo-Suit .

Michael Briar has left.

Michael Briar suits up and seals Exo-Suit  around himself.

Exo-Suit  starts up smoothly, generator softly humming.

A small alien child is running up and down the aisles at the bleachers wearing a golden-coloured mask. He's running around making explosion-like sounds, and giggling the whole way. He bumps directly into Thrangar's hover platform. He pulls back his golden mask (At this point easily identified as a certain Dinobot victor of the Free For All) revealing a giggling three-eyed orange skinned face. "I Snarl! Raaaar!" The young creature says in broken english.

Arachnae watche Briar suit up.. A shake of her head as she turns to head back up into the stands. "Hey.. Hook." A smile that shades puzzled as she stares at the engineer.. "What.. is that?"

James Trent is actually sitting in the front row of the militants box with a couple of other officers. Like he did during most of the olympics, James is looking good and is making a lot of PR. Indeed you can notice a couple of Monacus official sitting next to him. He is talking to one of them, "...Yes, the best part of those Olympic is watching those silly machines bashing each other on the head. But this particular match should be interesting..."

Soundwave has arrived.

Thrangar the Repulsive chortles, covering the small child in droplets of slime. "Ha ha ha! Of course you are, puny spawn of indeterminate parentage! Here! Have a Thrangar Action figure!" Tossing the toy towards the childe (OMG! C9 FRESH! MIB!), Thrangar manuevers his platform towards the pit

Thrangar the Repulsive has left.

Comcast has left.

Comcast has arrived.

Exo-Suit 1774  has left.

Exo-Suit  has left.

Aramasu Hikage nods at Trent and scans the scene looking for...something or someone. Anyway the usually talkative ninja is pretty silent at the moment. Something is bugging him but he's not talking about it. "Indeed. It will be interesting to see the machines and the EDC beat on each other. I am rooting for the EDC afterall they recently upgraded their weaponry with cybertronian grade stuff right ?" he says with an evil grin.

Exo-Suit  has arrived.

Exo-Suit  has left.

Hook sighs and plops the liitle kid down on the ground, and sits down next to him. "Ohh, what are thos?" Wiretap asks, pointing at the EDC Exo-Suits. "Those are Exo-Suits. Humans pilot them so they can interact with us Cybertronians..." Hook looks up as Arachnae asks about the kid. "This is Wiretap, he says he's a ninja spy. He wants to be a Decepticon spy when he grows up." Hook laughs. "Aren't kids just adorable?" Hsays, rubbing the kid's head, trying to act friendly.

Orbital Cannon has left.

Arachnae snorts, "Like a rust infection. Better sanitize yourself." She watches the short varient dart off.. "Hrmph.."

The small child makes a "yeeeeeeee!" sound. It doesn't translate to any commonly-known language, but he's obviously gleeful... until he actualy looks at the action figure. "I snarl!" The small being bellows again, as he demonstrates his combat prowess on the still-in-box Thrangar action figure by bashing it against the stadium's seating. "Raar! Raar! RAAAR!"

Soundwave slips through the crowd, heading for the combat pit. He's late, but considering his hectic schedule of combat events lately, it can be excused. The big blue robot disappears down the ramp.

Orbital Cannon has arrived.

Soundwave has arrived.

Soundwave has left.

Orbital Cannon has left.

"Hey there! My name's Wiretap and I'm a spy. Who are you?" the cute black-and-gold boy says, running up the the Snarl fan. "Wanna play together?"

"RAAAAAAAR!" The small child yells as he starts beating Wiretap with the damaged Thrangar in his box.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave strides down the ramp leading into the combat pit. His ruby red optical band sweep slowly across the pair of terran exo-suits already present, pausing momentarily on the Glaive II. If looks aren't deceiving, the humans have made some technical advances since last Soundwave fought one. Perhaps this match won't be as boring as he had anticipated.

"Waaaaahaaaaa!" Wiretap yells, punching at the other kid. "You

Aramasu Hikage looks in his pockets "Excuse me I have forgotten something in the car outside. I just need to go get it. Should not take to long." The ninja makes his way out of the Militant's box and heads outside the statium.

Olympic Stadium(#2563 RLntFMN)

Vast and large, this circular stadium is to house the main events for the Monacus Olympics. Stands surround the center field, with chairs ranging from small sizes to much larger ones, able to seat Transformers of nearly every size. In the very center of the stadium is a raised platform about 30 meters (100 feet) on each side, obviously some sort of fighting arena. Ringing this platform is a wide, level expanse with different numbered rows, which borders the outside of the stands. And yet there is still a lot of empty space in the arena.

Outside of the stadium are abandoned buildings, the remains of an area that Pangalactic Industries is in the process of rebuilding.

Contents:

Arachnae, Comcast, Foxfire, Hardstrike, Hook, James Trent, Selena Llwyll, and Spade

Combat Pit 1, Combat Pit 2, Combat Pit 3, Combat Pit 4, Commentator's Booth, Events Computer, Terran private box, and The stands

Obvious exits:

West <W> leads to Monacus Highrise Hotel.

South <S> leads to Last Chance Alley.

East <E> leads to PGI Office Block.

You go south to Last Chance Alley.

You move west to the Dim Alleyway...

Dim Alleyway

This dimly lit alleyway leads to a darkerside of the already corrupt place. The alleyway is stacked with crates and the dumpsters from other stores and shops from the Last Chance Alley. There is a slight stench of rotting food, alcohol, and the homeless. The ground is usually wet with something either pooling out of the dumpsters, or with blood on the wrong day. This is one place even the Monacus Police don't come. There are a few underground clubs along the way as well, their doors usually well hidden from the public eye.

Obvious exits:

South <S> leads to The Marionette Palace.

East <E> leads to Last Chance Alley.

West <W> leads to The Black Market.

The air shimmers around Aramasu's body as the Hikage Clan armor materializes around him.

You scan Aramasu Hikage carefully, storing every nuance of appearance and behavior in your holographic database.

Aramasu Hikage has arrived.

Aramasu Hikage leaves to the Last Chance Alley to the east.

Aramasu Hikage> You head north to the brand-new stadium.

Aramasu Hikage> Olympic Stadium(#2563 RLntFMN)

Aramasu Hikage>

Vast and large, this circular stadium is to house the main events for the Monacus Olympics. Stands surround the center field, with chairs ranging from small sizes to much larger ones, able to seat Transformers of nearly every size. In the very center of the stadium is a raised platform about 30 meters (100 feet) on each side, obviously some sort of fighting arena. Ringing this platform is a wide, level expanse with different numbered rows, which borders the outside of the stands. And yet there is still a lot of empty space in the arena.

Outside of the stadium are abandoned buildings, the remains of an area that Pangalactic Industries is in the process of rebuilding.

Aramasu Hikage> Contents:

Arachnae, Comcast, Foxfire, Hardstrike, Hook, James Trent, Selena Llwyll, and Spade

Combat Pit 1, Combat Pit 2, Combat Pit 3, Combat Pit 4, Commentator's Booth, Events Computer, Terran private box, and The stands

Aramasu Hikage> Obvious exits:

Aramasu Hikage> West <W> leads to Monacus Highrise Hotel.

Aramasu Hikage> South <S> leads to Last Chance Alley.

Aramasu Hikage> East <E> leads to PGI Office Block.

Aramasu Hikage> From Combat Pit 2, Orbital Cannon floats into the combat pit like an angelic snowflake. No two snowflakes are alike so he sets up shop next to Soundwave in one corner and nods. It occurs to him that yes, in fact, he and his partner are quite similar. Both names end in *wave, both have a proclivity for creating emotionally unstable transformers and both speak in monotone voices. One is clearly much cooler than the other. "I assume that snow-flake idea is also false," he comments, despite having not actually mentioned it previously. Stupid weather. Blinking with all but the smallest, most infantesimal amount of anticipation for the forthcoming bout, he guages their opponents and dismisses this match as little more than target practice.

Aramasu Hikage> From Combat Pit 2, "In THIS corner", Thrangar booms, his horrible countenance and croaking voice magnified a thousand times on a huge screen hovering over the arena floor, "we have the grueflam...uh.." A toadie whispers into his ear, "...Mackrel Liar! Mackrel is a cold hearted killer with no Frganor, who recently turned down an ENTIRE shipping container of toys to distribute to screetching, underpriveleged larvae!" The crowd boos, mainly because a glowing "Boo!" sign has appeared on the floating screen. "Truly, a despicable being! Also in this corner...um..." (whisper whisper) "...Masmissah Airhorn! I am assured that, despite her unusual appearance, she is a female of the grueflam speicies, and full of internal organs!" He pauses to scratch his distended belly while the crowd cheers. "Opposing them are the two Transblormer siblings, SockSave and RoundDave! Thrangar does not know which is which, but they're awfully impressive looking! I especially like the purple one! I am also told that the blue one can launch Transblormer young from the orifice on its chest! Thus the fight is evenly matched - each team containing one male and one female! It is just too bad both teams are not full of blood! Now...choose who shall fight first... and let this battle of flesh and steel.. Begin!"

Aramasu Hikage> Aramasu Hikage returns to the Militant box with a small datapad. The ninja stays quiet and watches the match with interest all while scrolling through some type of info on the datapad. The sparrow commander nods to Commander Trent.

You slip away into the shadows, moving quietly.

You move east to the Last Chance Alley...

You head north to the brand-new stadium.

Olympic Stadium(#2563 RLntFMN)

Vast and large, this circular stadium is to house the main events for the Monacus Olympics. Stands surround the center field, with chairs ranging from small sizes to much larger ones, able to seat Transformers of nearly every size. In the very center of the stadium is a raised platform about 30 meters (100 feet) on each side, obviously some sort of fighting arena. Ringing this platform is a wide, level expanse with different numbered rows, which borders the outside of the stands. And yet there is still a lot of empty space in the arena.

Outside of the stadium are abandoned buildings, the remains of an area that Pangalactic Industries is in the process of rebuilding.

Contents:

Arachnae, Comcast, Foxfire, Hardstrike, Hook, James Trent, Selena Llwyll, and Spade

Aramasu Hikage, Combat Pit 1, Combat Pit 2, Combat Pit 3, Combat Pit 4, Commentator's Booth, Events Computer, Terran private box, and The stands

Obvious exits:

West <W> leads to Monacus Highrise Hotel.

South <S> leads to Last Chance Alley.

East <E> leads to PGI Office Block.

Hook sits down near Archnae, looking over at Combat Pit 2. "Pound those EDC Suits into scrap!" he yells, wanting to see humans get there afts kicked.

Foxfire looks a bit nervous, rubbing the side of his head. "It's okay," he says, trying to comfort the child. "You'll be all right." Just as long as Wiretap doesn't decide to use the foxbot as a horse.

James Trent waves his hand at Aramasu, "You made it fast..." But soon his attention is back on the Moacus officials. Suddenly he is muttering, but people listening carefully could hear words like : weapon...deal...shipment...contract.

Selena Llwyll sips her cocoa.. Ahh.. bliss.. is chocolate served hot and slightly bitter. Mmmm.. Looking over her shoulder at those that have entered the box or were in it and unnoticed, she waves a hand but goes back to watching the event, not wanting to disturb the two officers.

Someone slips unnoticed into the stadium and finds a hiding place under the stands. The shadowy figure remains immobile getting accustomed to the ambiant noise and movement.

Arachnae sidelooks at Hook, "Eh.." She shrugs and pulls out a datapad, determined to read while all of this is going on. At least she can get some work done in all of this chaos. "Tell me when it's over."

Aramasu Hikage is listening to Trent's babbling while keeping track of something...possibly related to whatever Trent is talking about on the datapad. Periodicly looking up at him and punching in some numbers. "Monacus is indeed the place to shop. We should come more often."

Wiretap lifts his head to gaze at Foxfire with cute crimson optics. He smiles at the cute foxbot, and reaches out to gently pat the fox on the head. "Cute fox. My name's Wiretap, and I'm a ninja spy! What's your name?"

Hook chuckles at Arachnae as she pulls out a datapad. "And I thought /I/ was a workaholic." He says in good humor. "I will tell you who wins."

Comcast soars in on his anti-gravs into the stadium, just in time to watch Soundwave and Shockwave fight the two human squishies. Yaay!

The Seeker finds an empty seat next to (ugh) Hook, the seat that Wiretap abandoned. At least Nae is nearby. Comcast lowers himself into the spot from the skies. A few people call out "Down in front!" As he obscures their vision.

James Trent gives a quick look at Aramasu, "Not so loud. Those oversized microwave could be listening." The nova commander gives a quick look around him. Did he notices something? He almost thought he saw...no that is impossible. He resume his chatting.

Someone begins moving again. Climbing up the stands from the underside. Moving slowly and fluidly...kinda like a spider. About halfway up the shadow stops. Only the head is moving slowly to cover all the angles...The dark figure continues it's ascension towards the top of the stadium.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave glances at Thrangar as the alien concludes his speech. The thought of correcting him passes through his mind, but is dismissed just as quickly. He turns to Shockwave and responds to the larger robot's previous comment. "Confirmed... it is false... order preference?"

Selena Llwyll asks over her shoulder, "We wouldn't have happened to have shopped for some more chocolate?" A crooked msile as she almost sounds like she's teasing.

Foxfire blinks in surprise. Him? Cute? Well, at least he got petted on the head. Animal cassettes like that, you know. "Foxfire," he replies, grinning in embarrassment. "No one's ever called me cute before." He tries to make conversation. "So you're a ninja spy, huh? I'm a saboteur myself."

From Combat Pit 2, Shockwave stares at Thrangar with mild annoyance. "I have found the Judges' Corps this year to be quite... insane, compared to years past. The least the Olympic Committee could do is seek out competant officials with the ability for proper pronunciation and a relative lack of gender-bias." Taking a hard look at Soundwave's chest, however, it occurs to Shockwave that he has never considered whether Soundwave was female or not. "Feel free to commence, if you like. I will remain on the outskirts for unnecessary moral support and, in the unlikely event it is necessary, physical relief."

Arachnae nods as she taps on her pad, "Yes.. I'm a workaholic..." Momentary look up and polite nod to Comcast before she goes back to reading. Granted, if someone actually looked.. she's playing a video game.

At this moment James seems to notice Selena, "Oh Selena, I did not see you. Let me introduce you Zygaloax. He is running a...hrm...business here on Monacus. He is the one who is going to deliver us the special items with need to complete you know what."

Aramasu Hikage grins at Selena. "Exactly. We can find ANYTHIG on Monacus. Even some very rare candy made from stuff not found on earth. It's like a planet-wide flea market." Then he looks at the machine section "With...so many damn fleas."

Selena Llwyll gets out of her seat and walks over to James. "Hello." Not going to mangle that name.. "Ahh.. I see." Peering at Aramasu, she looks puzzled a moment then chuckles softly. "There's always Raid.."

Wiretap giggles and continues to pet Foxfire. Awww, it's so cute. "Foxfire, nice name!" he laughs, scooting closer to the fox. "A saboteur, huh? Does that mean you blow stuff up?" he asks, looking puzzled.

Foxfire thinks for a moment. "Well, usually." He grins. "I set up bombs an' everything. At the risk of my own life! It's a blast!" Literally.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave nods in response and turns toward the humans, stepping towards the ring. Along one blocky thigh, a panel slides open to reveal Soundwave's rifle which extends out of the compartment and into his waiting hand, a la Robocop. His optical band centers on Marissa's exo suit even as he activates his own anti-gravs and lifts over the ropes without pomp.

From Combat Pit 2, Thrangar the Repulsive stares blankly at the contenstants, before contining. "Gender bias? You mean grueflam females do not have internal organs? Curious indeed! Now.. both teams have selected their females to begin the match - a dangerous gambit, as this leaves the weaker males in reserve, and increases the chance that one may devour the other! Now fight, super Tranblormer life forms! And you gruemans too! Fight for victory!"

Someone finally reaches the top of the stadium and keeps a low profile between some firework tubes. A quick look to the left and to the right. Nobody in sight. The shadow moves at a very...practiced speed. Unrolling some form of carpet which contains pieces to a weapon. The practiced hands quickly assemble the weapon. Barrel, scope, flash-suppressor and finally ammo clip. A pull of the bolt signals thr weapon is ready for it's deed. Yes. It is time that those scumbags pay for their crimes.

Comcast nods back at Arachnae, though his optic ridge furrows as she returns to work. "Wouldn't there be better places to conduct some work?" He is wondering what Nae is doing out in the middle of the stadium, but he can't see anything.

Wiretag giggles. "Wow, getting to blow stuff up! Wee! I'm gonna be a Decepticon when I grow up, so I'll get to blow stuff up too!"

Arachnae murmus an absent reply, "have to make an apperence, Comcast. If I hide away somewhere, someone's going to make me come here so why make them waste the effort.. Have I said how much I *HATE* this planet and this yet?" tap tap. tappitytaptap

Nae's playing Mrs. Pacman!

James Trent is still chatting with the the alien next to him, will he ever shut up? Probably not, the Militant commander is now talking about one of his passion...rare wine. "You know, the older they get, they better they become. You are a lucky...man. I have a bottle of Esperanzo Dilatoa 1999 with me." James leans down and grabs a dark bottle into his cryo lunchbox. "See? This is a great vintage"

Wacca wacca wacca, power pill, waccawaccawacca

Foxfire cringes slightly at that. "That's, uh, great." His smile is now forced, as he tries to stay friendly with the boy. "But why a Decepticon? Why not an Autobot, like me?" The fox glances around quickly, the strangest feeling telling him that something's going to happen; seeing nothing out of the ordinary, however, he dismisses it as his imagination and turns his attention back to Wiretap.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave wastes no time as Thrangar officialy starts the match. Moments after the bell sounds, Soundwave's legs kick into action, sending the tape commander hurtling across the combat pit toward the terran exo suit. As he nears Marissa, one massive fist pulls back to deliver a heavy punch aimed across the torso.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave misses Exo-Suit 1774 <ARES> with his punch attack.

Someone lines up his target. I have you now you bastard. This is for all those times you meddled into our affairs. The shadowy assassin squeezes the trigger sending the first bullet with a loud *crack* but a very small flash thanks to the flash suppressor right at James Trent! With the echo in the stadium it's not easy to pinpoint where the noise is actually coming from. The shooter sends forth 7 more bullets to finish the clip each with a loud *crack* which could ALMOST pass for fireworks if not from the holes in the Militant section.

"Well, most of my friends want to be Decepticons; they said Decepticons are more fun and stuff like that." Wiretap looks down at his feet. "Also, when I asked to be an Autobot they laughed..." The boy lloks up as shots are fired. He cringes, not liking the loud sound. "What's that?!" he whines.

From Combat Pit 2, Exo-Suit 1774 <ARES> strikes Soundwave with Power Kick.

From Combat Pit 2, Shockwave reaches into his ridiculous chest and produces a small Decepticon flag. Only interested in showing the most base level of unnecessary moral support since obnoxious fanatics are fools, he simply holds it in a static position and announces, "For the glory of the Empire and the annihilation of the Terrans." There's a good chance he might not even be heard with his normal volume over the background noise from the stands... and Thrangar.

"Not to me you haven't.." Comcast mutters, "But I got the basic idea." He eyes some of the various FILTHY alien species about. "Me, I choose to take into consideration that we are witnessing the superiority of the Decepticons versus all other walks of life, and ignore the fact that in order to do so, you have to surroud yourself with all these PATHETIC organic life forms."

"Hey!" A rather obese lizard-like creature yells from behind him.

"Well, it's true." The Seeker responds to the other spectator.. when both of their attention is diverted by the sound of a gun firing. "What in the name of Straxus..?"

James Trent is just sitting there, minding his own business and talking about wines. Can he do that in peace? noooo. The first bullet hits the bottle and the wine splash on everyone around him. The Militant reacts like the soldier he is. His armor immediately appears around him as he places himself between Selena. Some of the bullets strikes shi seat and the Alien next to him his killed. "WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL!!?? MILITANTS, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK." He gestures at two guards in the back. "You two, get me the bastard who did that." He points where the attack came from. "Whoever did that I want him alive."

In a flash of light, James Trent's armor appears from a subspace around him.

From Combat Pit 2, The crowd roars its bloodthirsty approval as the fighters launch into action. "First strike to Airhorn!" roars Thrangar. "Internal organs or not, she seems to be the match for...uh.. the blue female Transblormer, who I've now identified as RoundDave!"

Hook looks up startled. "What in the Pit...What was /that/?!"

Aramasu Hikage dives down into the box and rolls under the table at the back to protect himself from the hail of bullets. "Get down! Everybody inside the stadium. Stay away from the open!" The ninja crawls into the stadium hallway that connects the Militant section and the rest of the stadium. "Alive ? Hey I want to bed Ms. Mexico let's see who gets lucky first!" Hikage places himself in a safe angle considering the approximate direction the shots came from.

Selena Llwyll was in process of getting herself another mug of cocoa and listening to Mr. Trent when evidently, all hell breaks loose. The mug is dropped as she spins around first, eyes wide. Assassin.. Her smile is gone by the time James is up and she's reaching into the back of her collar even as he suits up and steps in front of her. Out comes a knife that's more sword than anything that had been hidden in a spine-aligned sheath underneath her uniform. "Get the diplomates to safety.." calm, cool and evidently instapissed off.

"A sniper, that's what!" Foxfire is back on his feet, dashing away from Wiretap as fast as he can, hoping to find whoever shot those bullets. "Stay there, kid!" He tries to make his way toward the top of the stadium, where he's certain the sniper is hiding. "Bloody hell," he snarls, using a curse that he'd overhead a human say. Once he thinks he's pinpointed the shooter, he unleases a stream of fire. Why is he doing this? Because he doesn't want to deal with this kind of chaos, and he doesn't want the situation to get any worse. In other words, time to take out the sniper!

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave stops short as his punch is deflected. He doesn't have time to move out of the way of Marissa's robotic enhanced leg, but based on the light scratch that she leaves in his armor, he didn't really need to. The large robot doesn't even rock from the blow so light was the impact. He glances down at the human and resonates, "Surrender is acceptable... defeat preferable... you choose your fate." His opposite hand, the one with the rifle, reverses hold on the weapon and brings it swinging down toward the exo-suit's helmet area at a sharp angle.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave strikes Exo-Suit 1774 <ARES> with Rifle Club.

Arachnae was playing her game.. ahem.. working.. But those shots seemed awful close.. and unmuffled from arena filters and fields.. With a confused look, she glances upwards and blinks, "What?" Frowning, she looks over at the pit fight in progress, assigns the loud weaponsfire to a faulty field and goes back to.. reading.

From Combat Pit 2, "Clearly," Shockwave begins in response to Briar's tauntings, "you are under an incorrect assumption as to the nature of this competition; the goal is annihilation. However, if you wish to commence with negotiating your surrender now, we might accomodate you." He glances at Soundwave as his opponent receives a Rodney King-ing. "Then again, perhaps not." He leaves the issue of his rule over Cybertron unanswered. A human with a small fraction of a life-span, which may become much shorter momentarily, surely has no real knowledge of the events that occurred millions of years before his birth.

From Combat Pit 2, Exo-Suit 1774 <ARES> misses Soundwave with its Electron Projection System attack.

Someone frowns as he apparently missed! Someone's boss won't be happy to hear that. The shadow does not bother disassembling the weapon. Instead the shooter places a small explosive on the rifle. Something that should wreck it good enough to hide evidence. A stream of fire passes about 10' away from the sniper's position. Ok /maybe/ firing 7 shots in rapid succession was a bad idea. Just /maybe/ he should have stuck to the plan and go for 3 tops. Alas his general direction has been identified which requires our sneaky sniper to make a very fast and daring escape. The shooter places a grappling hook near the stadium's external wall and repels down the outside wall so as to bypass the security and anybody inside the stadium who might intercept him.

Wiretap starts running running and runs straight into Hook, who is sitting near Arachnae and Comcast, if you remember. "Help me mister!" he squeals, looking scraed.

Hook picks the boy up and cradles him in his arms, trying to comfort him. Hook wants him to shut up, see?

From Combat Pit 2, "And RoundDave retalliates, no doubt fighting to protect her young, which she carries in a special pouch in her midsection!" Flicking off the mic, Thrangar mutters to one of his toadies; "Take a note - make tear jerking miniseries about that. Start taking reference pictures of RoundDave to use later." Flicking the mic back on, Thrangar's horribly enlarged image once more addresses the audience, "And Airhorn is so rattled that her shot goes wide! Hopefully we'll get to see some horrible violence here today! Kids love violence!" There's a shot of some kids in the crowd, wearing "We love violence" and "Yay Thrangar" T-shirts.

Aramasu Hikage calls out to Trent "I counted 8 shots total. Anybody hurt ?" He looks around for Selenal. "Selena ? You in one piece ?" The ninja looks around trying to figure out where he would go if he was going to try something like that.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave returns his rifle to its customary grip as Marissa begins to speak. The human has let her emotions grow strong. Good. Her judgement and reflexes may easily become impaired if Soundwave's studies on the subject have been accurate. The theory seems to borne out a few moments later when he easily sidesteps a telegraphed electric tackle. "God is irrelevant... your defeat remains inevitable." To emphasize the points he raises one leg and swings out at the exo-suit as it goes by.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave strikes Exo-Suit 1774 <ARES> with Big Blue Boot.

Foxfire silently curses as he apparently misses his target, and heads back down to the floor level of the stadium. He mutters something darkly, optics again showing anger and hatred; thankfully, that soon passes as he eyes the Militants. "Everyone okay?"

Someone disappears into an alley leaving behind only the busted wreckage of his weapon.

[Armored] James Trent looks around him as the militants guards take off and head for the Sniper's position. Meanwhile Monacus police starts to block the entrances of the stadium, "I have several wounded here and...oh no, those bastards killed Zygaloax."

You go south to Last Chance Alley.

You move west to the Dim Alleyway...

Dim Alleyway

This dimly lit alleyway leads to a darkerside of the already corrupt place. The alleyway is stacked with crates and the dumpsters from other stores and shops from the Last Chance Alley. There is a slight stench of rotting food, alcohol, and the homeless. The ground is usually wet with something either pooling out of the dumpsters, or with blood on the wrong day. This is one place even the Monacus Police don't come. There are a few underground clubs along the way as well, their doors usually well hidden from the public eye.

Obvious exits:

South <S> leads to The Marionette Palace.

East <E> leads to Last Chance Alley.

West <W> leads to The Black Market.

Aramasu Hikage> Selena Llwyll stands there with a short sword in hand, looking less scared, more irate. A shake of her head as she answers Aramasu, "I'm fine. All in one piece.." She turns and looks.. and lets out a short series of unmuffled oaths involving whoever that was, a screwdriver, a marine battery and certain soft anatomical parts including internal organ displacement. "Lovely..." THe blade, with some difficulty, is once more threaded into the back sheath under her uniform, hair neatly covering the hilt.

Aramasu Hikage> From Combat Pit 2, Thrangar the Repulsive winces. "Oooh... that has to hurt! Airhorn's arificial metal carapace has been cracked like so many delicious ufdars between the teeth of Thrangar.. and she's tagging in the perdiferous Mackeral to take her place! A risky move, sending a male to fight a female! I expect RoundDave to merely consume him whole, like my beloved spouse attempted to do on my wedding night! Ahhh, memories!"

Aramasu Hikage> Comcast finally notices where the action is coming from. Oooh, the Militant encampment. No worry, then. "Those are the ones that insist us 'machines' are worthless, even though they garb themselves in machines of their own, so they only all the more resemble us, yes?" He says with a bemused smirk on his face to Arachnae.

Aramasu Hikage> Hook picks the young mechanoid up, and heads over to when Foxfire is. He sets the young boy down next to the tapebot, and looks over at the Millitant section. "I usually don't care for Millitants, but what the heck was that about?"

Aramasu Hikage> From Combat Pit 2, Shockwave glances between the pair of exo-suits, addressing their concerns separately, and chronologically. "You are mistaken, Secretary General Briar; I have never attempted to kill you, but rest assured that if I prefered you dead, you would be." Shifting his attention to Marissa, "As for you, Soundwave's capacity for logical deduction is beyond your ability to comprehend; you should not comment on subjects which are so clearly beyond your ability to perceive." Marissa's sparking exo-suit versus Soundwave's paint-chipped armor seems to underline his point, at this moment.

Aramasu Hikage> Arachnae looks back up from her eading with a somewhat irritated expression on her face. "Militants.. Avoid them. Nasty. One offered me a visit to their center of operations not all that long ago.. I know they were up to something..." Her wings flick. "If they get killed, that's one less enemy we have."

Aramasu Hikage> Aramasu Hikage runs down the hallways franticly looking for an emergency exit so that maybe he can catch the bastard. Although he has no clue what he looks like. Our suspect is probably the only guy in a hurry to leave the stadium instead of getting TO the stadium. Yes quite the detective our ninja is.

Aramasu Hikage> You go south to Last Chance Alley.

Aramasu Hikage> You move west to the Dim Alleyway...

Aramasu Hikage enters from the Last Chance Alley to the east.

Aramasu Hikage has arrived.

Aramasu Hikage fades from view.

The Hikage Clan armor shimmers for an instant and vanishes into subpace revealing the Sparrow commander Aramasu Hikage.

You move east to the Last Chance Alley...

You head north to the brand-new stadium.

Olympic Stadium(#2563 RLntFMN)

Vast and large, this circular stadium is to house the main events for the Monacus Olympics. Stands surround the center field, with chairs ranging from small sizes to much larger ones, able to seat Transformers of nearly every size. In the very center of the stadium is a raised platform about 30 meters (100 feet) on each side, obviously some sort of fighting arena. Ringing this platform is a wide, level expanse with different numbered rows, which borders the outside of the stands. And yet there is still a lot of empty space in the arena.

Outside of the stadium are abandoned buildings, the remains of an area that Pangalactic Industries is in the process of rebuilding.

Contents:

Arachnae, Comcast, Foxfire, Hook, James Trent, Jazz, Selena Llwyll, and Spade

Combat Pit 1, Combat Pit 2, Combat Pit 3, Combat Pit 4, Commentator's Booth, Events Computer, Terran private box, and The stands

Obvious exits:

West <W> leads to Monacus Highrise Hotel.

South <S> leads to Last Chance Alley.

East <E> leads to PGI Office Block.

[Armored] James Trent is not really busy shouting order into his radio, "I want the Nova in the air asap, we may be able to him from above. Commander Hikage will dispatch the Sparrow. What ever you may find, give if to the monacus security forces. We will fully cooperate with them. Just make sure they do their job right and to get a copy of the report...who ever dared to shoot at me will pay."

"It appears they haven't been killed yet.." Comcast mutters as he looks at the action. He's honestly considering helping chase the would-be-asassin, if only to get the backs up of the Militants. "More's the pity. But they're just pathetic humans playing dress-up, what is so nasty about them Arachnae?" he says, turning to her. "They don't look so... Arachnae, are you playing a video game?"

Foxfire glances up at Hook, but says nothing, and shoots a quick glance toward Aramasu. He's thinking about going after the sniper, as well; even the little trickster wouldn't do something so underhanded as a sneak attack. His mind made up, he takes off at a gallop, intent on leaving the stadium to track down the attacker. He's not doing this to help the Militants! Really! He'd just like a little taste of 'justice'...

From Combat Pit 2, Exo-Suit <Glaive II> strikes Soundwave with double hand smash.

Arachnae blinks, "One of them killed a packmate. That's what's nasty." her wings flick, "I'm calculateing material recycling efforts from Africa, Comcast. this is no video game."

Sure enough, on the screen are hordes of numbers.

Aramasu Hikage returns while uttering a little curse and what he might have been able to do with his trusted bow nearby. Oh well...Wars are not won with 'what ifs and what not'. He shakes his head and approaches Trent. "Our sniper was very well prepared it seems. I was not able to spot him. He might have taken a different alley though."

[Armored] James Trent sends his armor back into its subspace pocket and turns to face Aramasu, "Do you have any idea about the..origin... of the sniper?"

In a flash of light, James Trent's armor disappears into a subspace

Selena Llwyll kneels and works on helping the few persons that did get marred by this. The dead person she ignores. Blood on uniform.. Won't be the first time, nor the last. At least this time it isnt hers. "Just stay calm.. Breathe in.. breathe out. Going to get you somewhere safer.." Apply pressure. Basic basic first aid.. "..."

From Combat Pit 2, Thrangar the Repulsive says, "And the evil Mackrel strikes RoundDave! But Thrangar must remind the crowd that, even if his team DOES win, they shall not recieve the entire set of Thrangar Action Figures and Playsets!"

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave stands in one place, literally inviting the attack that Briar enthusiastically delivers seconds later. The exo-suit's arms swing up, catching the Decepticon just beneath his tape compartment. In response a small dent appears appears in Soundwave's armor, creasing the metal ever so slightly. Soundwave's optical band flashes. So this one has indeed made advancements. No matter. He still poses no threat. These thoughts pass through the robot's electronic brain in an instant, and the next second his own hands are swinging together sans rifle to clap at the ornamented helmet below.

From Combat Pit 2, Soundwave strikes Exo-Suit <Glaive II> with Clap.

From Combat Pit 2, Shockwave would yawn, if he were so inclined for such displays. And, you know, if he had a mouth to speak of. "That your facts are heinously mistaken and ill-perceived, as expected from such an emotional species." He leaves the conversation hanging at that, as revealing specific points of error would be a tactical mistake. Content to watch Soundwave continue to administer a beating to the new opponent, he looks on with mild interest. The Decepticon flag still remains stationed in his hand, having not flinched once from its initial appearance.

Comcast snorts.. "I see." me murmurs. He sends a silent message to DCI on earth to transmit /everything/ on Militants to his datacache for updating on the matter. "Huh, who would do this? I've heard nothing about our own faction organizing such an attempt."

Aramasu Hikage shrugs "I don't know. I will have to take a little trip around the presumed position. Maybe the gun left some shells or maybe he discarded his gun altogether. That was a popular tactics among earth biker gangs in the late 20th century." With that the Sparrow commander heads for the top edge of the stadium near the fireworks tubes looking for clues. Shells, leftover equipment. Anything.

Arachnae glances at Comcast. "I wouldn't bother. Honestly.. I want to strangle them with my own hands, not waste someone elses time. But.. I'll just have to settle for them dying of natural causes. I know I'll outlive them

Jazz is going to come into the stadium in the middle of a mess like that. Right. That kinda sucks for him, doesn't it? Especially since he has to try and go around where the security has been set up near the exit. Gotta say this much. Jazz has some amazing timing sometimes. A-Ma-Zing.

James Trent sighs as he looks at Zygaloax's body and at the wine on his uniform, "What a waste...such a good vintage..." He looks at an officer near him, "I want security to be reinforced here. Who ever tried to kill me may make another attempt on one of us. I'm going to the police station, you can contact me there."

From Combat Pit 2, Exo-Suit <Glaive II> misses Soundwave with its mini-missile volley (energon warhead) attack.

Selena Llwyll gets up and wipes her hand son her pants as personages of the medical persuasion get to the box and take over. "I'll stay here and clean up." Frown.. yes.. that is a frown.

James Trent leaves the stadium through the east exit gates.

James Trent has left.

James Trent arrives from the skyscraper to the east.

James Trent has arrived.

James Trent leaves to Last Chance Alley.

James Trent has left.

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