Man Behind the Curtain

Summary: WHO brought Thunderwing back from the depths of space? WHY was the Autobot Penumbra found drifting and half dead? WHERE have the Deluxe Insecticons gone? WHO has been committing acts of sabotage and murder in the Decepticon camp? WHO has been plotting on the sidelines, setting up the pieces? WHO is the old enemy about to return?

These answers and more are revealed when the Autobots stage a heavy assault on the damaged NCC.

Landing Pad 

''The smell of heated tarmac hits you first as you survey the landing and liftoff point for all flights to Cybertron. The wreckage of previous battles here are off to the back in a jumbled heap. To the southeast is the massive form of Autobot City itself, a bit battle-scarred, but still operational. Surrounding you on all other sides are forests of large conifer trees.''

''The spaceport absolutely sparkles with a new shine - in fact, it's almost blinding in direct sunlight. Spots are a thing of the past, and each building has a brand new coat of paint. Even the *scrap* piles look like they've been cleaned off and straightened up.''

You say, "Hey guys...I've got a little trick in mind regarding the broadband. Everybody play along."

 Jazz has encrypted this channel.

Raindance has arrived.

 Bumblebee says, "I want to go..."

 Rodimus Prime says, "Good work, Jazz."

 Jazz says, "I'm a little rusty, but that should do it."

 Rodimus Prime says, "The Decepticons have been weakened by the recent accident at New Crystal City spaceport. I plan to finish the job."

The sound of a growling, turbo-charged ener-diesel engine snarls as a flame-colored high-tech six-wheeled family recreational vehicle -- /from hell/ -- peels down the main exit gate from Autobot City. Slamming the emergency brake, Rodimus' tires lock -- squealing and belching the black smoke of vaporized rubber as he powerslides right up to the entrance ramp of the Alpha Trion, transforming with a graceful backflip and landing with his long, black photon eliminator rifle in hand. He looks to one side, awaiting his comrades.

The high-tech winnebago transforms into a robot. Rodimus Prime is back! Let's party!

Hot Spot is, at present, fueling one of the shuttles -- or, rather, completing the job as he shuts the fuelport hatch on the side of the craft. "Prime," he says with a solemn, respectful nod.

Jetfire flies on down and before landing, he shifts and folds into his own robot state and lands, giving a chuckle to Rodimus. "Glad to see you up and about. Need me to help out?" He asks, walking to the autobot leader. He looks to Hot Spot and gives a nod to him.

Silverbolt is already in the area and has his rifle all ready as he watches Rodimus ride in. "Feeling better Rodimus?" He says as jetfire flies in. He then smiles to Jazz. "Looks like we've got another party coming."

 Powerglide says, "So..what's goin' on?"

Jazz gives Rodimus a worried look. "Okay...well, bad news is there's no real encryption running on our regular broadband. That was an old algorithm the Decepticlowns broke a long time ago. Sorry Rod. But we can maybe work that out in a second. For now, let's use the channel < intel-Bot> for real jabber about this op. Don't think it'd take the Decepticons long to figure that one out either, but only if they know to look for it. We keep up a running chatter on our regular comm frequencies, they might not catch on at all."

Jetfire says, "Soundwave isnt the type to let himself be careless so I suggest we use the channel only when we need to so he wont figure it out."

Rodimus Prime gives Jazz a frown. "Next time, tell me that /before/ you drop a bluff on the broadband, Jazz," he mutters, flipping open his wrist panel and adjusting his communication settings with a twist of a knob. "Okay, the temporary channel looks good. Everyone, synchronize your communicators." Rodimus slaps his wrist closed and looks to Hot Spot, offering him a strong handshake and a grip on the shoulder. "You've always got a place by my side in a firefight, Hot Spot." The Autobot leader nods to Jetfire. "You as well, Jetfire. And Silverbolt -- You can count on it. We're going to smash the Decepticons all the way back to Orion's Belt."

Silverbolt chuckles and adjusts his comms as well....and even touches a button next to it. "That's for the Aerialbots. Whenever they come online....they'll know that we're going into action." he says before looking to Jetfire. "You up for this Jets? even after what happened when we got prime back?"

 Jazz says, "We're getting set up for major assault, Pee-Gee. Either NCC or the Argosy. Hit 'em while they're down. If we get the Decepticlowns covering both places at once."

Jetfire nods. He raises a hand to his head and, his blue visor glowing a bit. "Alright, proper frequencies as well as other frequencies monitoring as well." He says and turns to Silverbolt. "If the situation was reversed, The decepticons would attack us. This way I can be able to perhaps get my hands on some of the things they are working on, so we wont be too surprised."

 Powerglide says, "Oh, wow."

 Jetfire says, "Want to come Powerglide?"

Jazz nods sheepishly at Rodimus. "You got it." He did mention he had a little trick in mind with the broadband, but he can see how that could easily be misinterpreted. "Well, guess the cyber-cat may or may not be out of the bag. Up to you how you want to handle it."

 Powerglide says, "Oh man, I dunno. I have a busy schedule. Y'know, between making out with my adoring fans, and having my picture taken fo- Yes."

 Silverbolt says, "Nah. Powerglide doesn't wanna come to this party.  too much Energon and he's too small to handle it."

Jetfire says, "We could split up into two teams. Send a decoy team to attack one place and send the real strike to another."

 Powerglide says, "Rrrgh! Bolts!"

 Jetfire says, "Sadly I think I believe Silverbolt over Powerglide."

Powerglide enters from the Entrance to Autobot City to the south.

Powerglide has arrived.

Powerglide stomps on over, "I AM NOT TOO SMALL TO HANDLE ANYTHING!"

Silverbolt grins broadly over towards Powerglide. This is not the greeting smile....this is a 'I've Manipulated you perfectly' smile.

"Do we even know what happened to the Decepticons yet?" Hot Spot asks, walking over to join the crowd. "I mean, I heard something about an explosion, but they seemed able enough to defend the Argosy from the EDC last night." Powerglide growls and crosses his arms, "Ohhh...I see what you did there. You think you're SO clever.."

Jazz flashes a thumbs-up at Jetfire. "Not a bad idea. But how about one real attack, and one staged attempt at infiltration?" He glances over at Powerglide and Silverbolt, but after a while nods. "Keep it up, guys...but how about you keep it to the regular Autobot broadband channel? As if we're still getting ready to go. But then on the Intel-Bot channel we can handle the real mission coordination."

Silverbolt chuckles. "We need you Powerglide."

Powerglide places his hands on his hips and struts up to Silverbolt, looking as conceited as ever. "Of course you do! I mean, I /am/ the best, after all."

Rodimus Prime points to the sky, barking orders in full military leader mode. "Silverbolt, Jetfire, Powerglide -- Transform! You are to supply air cover. Jetfire, you'll be our emergency extraction in case the shuttle gets downed. Keep your aft in one piece out there. Hot Spot, Jazz, Raindance -- you're with me. Our primary objective is to destroy their spaceport infrastructure and -permanently- ground them on Earth. Secondary objectives are their R&D facilities and command nerve center. If we get cornered, prepare to pull out at a moment's notice."

Rodimus whirls and points a finger at Hot Spot. "New Crystal City /isn't/ the Argosy and we're /not/ the EDC. We're the Autobots." He claps his hands together in a loud metallic CLANG. "Let's show 'em what we got, people! TRANSFORM -AND- ROLL /OUT/!"

Silverbolt nods to Rodimus before looking to Jetfire and Powerglide. "I've got point you two. Let's go." he says transforming and rocketing into the air.

Silverbolt transforms into his plane mode

Jazz transforms and rolls out!...driving about 50 feet to enter the shuttle.

Hot Spot just walks back into the shuttle that he was fueling a minute ago.

Powerglide scoffs and straightens himself up at the mention of his name, "Yes, sir! Right away!" He gives Silverbolt a nudge, "Try to keep up, buddy. If you can, that is." With that, he transforms and lands in his AMAZING alt mode.

Powerglide pulls his arms in and falls into his jet mode.

NCC Spaceport

''Very large and flat, like the NCC spaceport always has been, there remains the room for spaceships and aircraft of all shapes and sizes to land and take off, whether they're equipped with VTOL or not. The large hangers, warehouses for incoming supplies, and maintenance stations are still there, although now they seem to mostly exist on the northwest edge of the area. Where once the runways were silver Cybertronian, an impurity has been added to give the whole area a frost-blue tint. Also new are the rows of sharp, jagged, upward pointing structures to the north and south that crowd together enough to make passage difficult without flight. Beyond the southern border that these provide is the sparkling ocean, and far behind the north edge, the distant peak of Mount R'Lyeh can be spied. Past the hangers and warehouses is the raised structure of the Command Center, set atop a maze of metallic supports that appear to the eye no sturdier than dandelion fluff, but in fact are more than sufficient to serve as support for the Empire's commanders while at the same time cushioning it from the vibrations caused by the activities of the spaceport. Several passages wind their way beneath the Command Center, allowing individuals access to the Spinal Pathway without having to first pass through the nerve center of the city.''

Contents: Rodimus Prime

Blueshift has arrived.

Hot Spot has arrived.

Silverbolt has arrived.

Powerglide has arrived.

Slingshot has arrived.

Jetfire has arrived.

The New Crystal City Spaceport looks like it has just crawled up from Hell. Piles of burnt rubble have been pushed into vaguely orderly patterns by the likes of Long Haul, but nonetheless the damage remains evident -- imagine, if you will, a glimpse backward in time, to the burnt-out shell of Autobot City circa 2005. A few shuttle carcasses have their guts open to the air, and in a few points around NCC, energon silos have seemingly burst like overripe pimples, emptied in the course of what looks like abject chaos.

Someone, quite frankly, hit the Decepticons harder than they've managed to be hit in a long, long time.

Nothing hurts like a one-two punch -- and Rodimus Prime knows it better than anyone. The Autobot assault shuttle comes in hot and fast, at a sharp, trans-orbit angle of attack that leaves it bathed in a fiery orange-red glow of plasma from atmospheric friction. "Hope you all paid attention in high-altitude drop maneuvers training," Rodimus casually offers in something of an aside over his shoulder as he slaps the "AUTO-PILOT" switch on. Moving to a cargo locker in the shuttle, he pulls the door open, revealing a series of sleek disposable silver jump packs with red Autobot symbols emblazoned on each. "Get 'em while they're hot," he says, pulling one out of the locker and clipping it onto his back. "Silverbolt, Powerglide, Jetfire: Lay down a strafing pattern. I want the LZ to be clean and still smoking when we touch down."

Concorde SST  banks as he picks up speed for this. <> he says waiting for Powerglide to take the lead and fine before unleashing his own missiles.

<<Who do we send then thank you note to for this?>> Jetfire radios as he flies behind Silverbolt. <<Alright Powerglide, lead the way!>> He says, waiting for powerglide's orders before firing down with missiles.

Strapping on the JUMP pack that is, all things considered, a bit comically small for his gigantic combiner-leader box of a body, Hot Spot nods to Rodimus before leaping out after the jets.

A-10 Thunderbolt pulls up ahead of the other two jets, rocking side to side a bit. <<Heck yeah, I'm leadin' this thing! Let's hit the landing pad and drop bombs on it and stuff.>> So he just repeated what Silverbolt, SO WHAT? <<Although it looks like someone else already did, am I right?>> Engines roar as he soars over to their destination.

Concorde SST <Silverbolt> falls back behind Powerglide and chuckles into the comm. <<Just hit the landing area and we'll shoot around your bombs Powerglide.>> He chuckles at that. <<Got that Jetfire?>>

Blueshift is currently sorting through some of the wreckage that lies about. If anyone asks, he is looking for evidence that will implicate the Sweeps but really, he's just looking for things to steal. And then he looks up, optics widening as he takes out his pistol and shoots a few shots into the air. "Autobots!" he screams gutterally

Jazz takes the next backpack from the locker and slips into it with an easy familiarity, adjusting the straps for his size (fits anyone from a size 5 to 8!). He jumps out of the door after Hot Spot, a sleek aerial swan dive without even activating his jetpack that lets him quickly fall ahead of the Protectobot leader. Jazz wiggles the bits of the carmode spoiler on his feet to make him pull up as he approaches the ground, and then finally activates the jetpack in a full-burn burst that reduces his speed so that he can land lightly on his feet, rifle out and ready, in a region the flying Bots have just -finished- bombing.

Rodimus Prime crosses his arms over his chest and tips over backwards out of the open ventral bay of the high-altitude Autobot shuttle -- a seemingly suicidal move. But suddenly, one of the fists crossed over his chest presses the red stud in the control wand clenched within, and the disposable landing pack clipped to his back suddenly flares to life -- a bright, white-blue ion ignition trail buffeting the Autobot leader's fall. Descending with one knee raised in the air in a heroic jacknife, he raises one fist, chrome wrist-barrels lasering low-power photon blasts across the Decepticon emplacements.

<< I got it.>> Jetfire radios as he fires and bombs, so Jazz has a place to land. <<Do we continue bombing or go help the others?>>

< intel-Bot> Jazz says, "Startin' to see some response from the 'Cons. If anybody spots an access panel or a working commputer terminal let me know."

Consider the irony: the Spaceport sure could have used a Protectobot last night, but now here one is, shooting his twin fireball cannons everywhere as she cuts a streak through the sky. Until:

"INSECTICONS!" Hot Spot calls, as a tse-tse fly and a locust appear out of nowhere with a loud communal buzz. "Where did they even come fr-- AAAGH!"

Though he fights valiantly, Venom and Ransack chew through not only parts of Hot Spot, but more importantly, parts of his jet pack. His course becomes erratic and his altitude dips immensely -- until he crashes into the ocean, disappearing.

A-10 Thunderbolt zooms over the landing pad and immediatly begins to shoot missiles at it. <<BOOM! BLAM! KAPOW! YES!>> He's been hanging out with Warpath again, probably. <<LET'S TEAR THIS SHIT UP, WOOOH! C'mon Bolts!>> Another missile is fired again, you know, for good measure.

< intel-Bot> Jetfire says, "I got one-Or not, Powerglide hit it. There is another over there, transmitting coordinates."

Concorde SST <Silverbolt> is right behind Powerglide as he drops his bombs. Firing a barrage of missiles in the landing area as Powerglide pulls up and fires another missile.

<Autobot> Hot Spot says, "Going down -- Mayday -- May--"

<Autobot> Hot Spot says, "*SPLOOSH*"

<Autobot> Hot Spot says, "*"

Blueshift covers his optics as he sees the Deluxe Insecticons buzzing about. "Uuuugh!" he shouts as he fires a few shots off in the direction of Powerglide. "Insecticons! I thought we'd got rid of those guys. Can this day get any WORSE?"

Blueshift strikes A-10 Thunderbolt with Ham-laser.

<Autobot> Raindance says, "Hot SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT"

<Autobot> Raindance says, "I, Raindance will lead the Protectobots now!"

<Autobot> Rodimus Prime says, "Don't worry about him -- I'm sure DepthCharge will dredge him out before their giant squid can."

<Autobot> Rodimus Prime says, "I mean, like -- 60/40 sure. Anyway -- focus!"

<Autobot> Hot Spot speaks in an automated recording: "This is an automated recording. If you are hearing this, then I am lost, presumably in space. My signal beacon has been activated. If I cannot be recovered immediately, I appoint Tracks leader of the Protectobots. Thank you all." Click.

<Autobot> Raindance says, "NOOOOOOO"

<<NO NO NO, SILVERBOLT. THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO IT. Watch me, I'm a pro at this.>> And just as he's about to show the Aerialbot how to properly missile the shit out of something, Powerglide is hit with firepower that reminds him of a ham sandwich he once ate. <<Forget the landing pad, bomb that creepy thing down there!>>

Geist hears the call and activates his invisi-cloak. He emerges from NCC and observes, calculating how best to defend the base.

Blot comes trundling out from behind a dilapidated space vessel the space vessel is fairly deteriorated since this region has allready seen significant bombing, but Blot's tactical foolishness is brilliantly rewarded as sees Jazz make a snazzy jet pack landing. He laughs menacingly as he runs up to throw a fist in the Autobot's face. "Blot thinks you stinks!" He charges with no telltale hint of mirth nor irony. The decepticon follows this with more laughter as he swings with a fist, slow and powerful, at the center of Jazz's chest.

You evade Blot's SUPAAAAAAHHAMFISTO attack.

Concorde SST <Silverbolt> pulls up and out of the defense's. <<You're with me, Jetfire! Stay out of the range of their cannons until they need us!>> He says as he rockets up into the sky.

F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> comes flying in from a patrol, where she was going over something that was particularly worrying her only to arrive to something else that is perhaps more worrisome. She's honestly not sure - what is worse: volcano or Rodimus Prime? They're both fiery and extremely dangerous to Decepticons. She transforms and hangs in the air, trying to get a better idea of where she may be most useful.

F-35B Lightning II 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 body, and her wings rotate into position at her hips.

Sweepcraft <Sunder> arrives at the scene from the Argosy. Well, it wasn't surprising that the Autobots were taking advantage of the previous night's chaos. "Rodimus Prime! We will make your return short-lived for this!" he shouts as he prepares to engage.

Shockwave heard about the attack while in the lab and steps out from one of the hallways. He executes a quick scan of the area in order to figure out who is where. The purple cyclops fires up his nuclear reactor and prepares for some serious pest control duty. Without a word he strides onto the tarmac looking for the closest target.

Jazz eyes the approaching Blot. At just the right moment he performs a quick backwards sommersault, letting the fist pass by harmlessly underneath him and then landing a few feet farther away from Blot. Then suddenly there's a massive explosion from a nearby Autobot missile hit! Jazz is momentarily obscured by the blast. He doesn't flinch though, as due to the usual Autobot pinpoint accuracy (or pure random luck, take your pick) the explosion is close, but not close enough to be threatening. Instead, he uses it for cover - by the time the the smoke clears, he's turned away from Blot and is headed off to the side, where an open access panel lies. Who knows what lies inside, or if it's even functional? Jazz is about to find out!

< intel-Bot> Jazz says, "These guys caught on faster than I thought they would. Don't think we brought enough party favors for -this- many guests."

Blueshift ducks away from Powerglide as the jet strafes over as he notices Jazz going for a panel. "Autobot sabotage!" he shouts out. "They're at it again sir, they're trying to blow us up TWO DAYS IN A ROW!" He runs at Jazz, leaping into the air slightly as his feet rockets kick into life, and shoots off a shock rod at the Autobot's head. "Try to mess with OUR heads will you?"

Blueshift strikes you with Shock Rod for 11 points of damage.

Geist remains under his cloak of you-can't-see-me-ness and picks his way carefully around the chaos of the invasion. And there's an Autobot sneak now. What is Jazz up to over there? Geist changes path and starts carefully navigating through the battle and explosions to investigate.

You're looking at one pissed off Constructicon. Hook has been working every second since the the explosions the previous day, repairing areas all over the city. The spaceport was just beginning to be repaired after it's near-destruction at the holographic hands of Cyclonus... and now THIS. Hook launches himself into the air, gripping his pistol in one hand and his hook, cable included, in the other. "We have enough to deal with without petty squabbles with the likes of YOU, Autobots!" He shouts to the sky, where many flying Autobots are present. His sharp optics pick out a target amongst the chaos and explosion. Rodimus Prime. Hook is certainly no match for the young Autobot leader, but in the chaos, anything is possible. He flies towards the flame-painted Autobot, firing off scattered blasts from his plasma pistol.

Hook strikes Rodimus Prime with Plasma Pistol -Low.

"Faster, Ramjet!" goads Megatron encouragingly from his hardpoint clipped to the Seeker's undercarriage. "I refuse to be caught unawares a second time!"

Rodimus Prime has yet to complete his descent when the vigilant HOOK catches him with a stray plasma blast. It catches Prime right in the connector coupling securing his descent pack into place, causing the apparatus to become unstable -- sending Rodimus into a cartwheeling spin on his way down towards the ground.

"No need to just pick off a piece," Rodimus quips, ripping the damaged pack off of his back with one hand. "Why not have the -whole- thing?" He tosses the sputtering jetpack at Hook, which spirals in a deadly curveball of bludgeoning goodness. Rodimus hits the ground in a rough tumble in the meantime, rolling into an unsteady crouch.

Rodimus Prime strikes Hook with Jetpack Bludgeon.

Streaking out from the storm-whipped clouds comes the Argosy's reinforcements. The roar of their engines blotted out by the occasional thundercrack will serve them well as they soar toward the Autobot invasion in classic pincher-manuever. Flanked by several lavender F-15s is their lead, the highly modified white F-15 better known as Ramjet (callsign: the Monarch). Beneath him, between two lengthy Jericho missiles, is clamped an instrument of destruction. Its slender ebon barrel protrudes from Ramjet's belly, its silver frame mag-locked in for safety. "By your command, Megatron!" He replies thunderously from within his cockpit. Swinging his flight-stick around, Ramjet tilts it in and subsequently dives for the mainland.

"All Troopers -- weapons hot! Target all Autobot invaders and destroy!" Ramjet commands his lavender escort. Jetting across the distance, he along with the lavender Decepticons, open fire at Jetfire, Powerglide, Silverbolt, and Slingshot. Mere scatterfire at best, aimed to send the Autobot air-support into a tizzy. "Coming up on the mainland, Megatron! Ready for deployment!" Ramjet declares as he tilts down and sweeps across the ruined Spaceport. The mag-lock securing Megatron releases.

A low audible rock tune can be heard as Mesa transforms into an AH-64D Apache Longbow, only to have it be drowned out by the roaring rotor blades.

Jazz throws up an arm at the last second, so that Blueshift's shock rod strikes his forearm and not his head. Unfortunately it's his rifle hand. "Yowch! You clowns are onto our tricks, huh? Well tell me if you've seen -this- one." Jazz moves his other hand in an underhand throw motion, tossing something into Blueshift's chest. It something small and spherical...and once it gets close to Blueshift it unleashes a massive, intense burst of sound.

You strike Blueshift with Sonic Grenade.

Catechism decides to go after the A-10 Thunderbolt II, because she is a Lightning II, and they must duel their stormy-themed IIs! She transforms back into jet mode and attempts to strafe Powerglide, trying to clear their airspace. These neighbours are so annoying nosy... and messy.

F-35, Marine Corps variant, 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.

Megatron unlatches and drops from Ramjet's hardpoint, transforming as he plummets towards the ground. An unusual battle cry is heard: "Decepticons... DEFEND!" The Slag-Maker opens up with his cannon before he has even touched down, firing rapidly at the Autobot fliers in a whirling, tumbling motion which recalls Optimus Prime coming to the defense of Autobot City some years ago. One can almost hear music playing... wait, no, that's Rodimus' gig.

Megatron unleashes his Fusion Cannon (suppressing fire) attack on Jetfire, Slingshot, Powerglide and Silverbolt, striking Slingshot and Jetfire.

An AH-64D Longbow chopper hovers overhead, out of the way of various battles. It makes no aggressive action towards either group, but just hovers up in the sky none the less. It has no discernable markings, identifying it's loyalties. However the Decepticons know full well who it is, as it is transmitting troop placement,both enemy and allied, and battlefield data to all the Decepticons below. The strange sound of Cybertronian Heavy Metal emits from the chopper strangely enough.

Catechism strikes A-10 Thunderbolt with 25-mm GAU-12 cannon <Short Burst>.

Blueshift staggers about, clutching his hand to his audial sensors as the sound burst cuts through his head. "Nnnnn curse you Autobot!" he screams as he points a finger at Jazz. "What have you done!" In anger, he lunges for Jazz, hands eager to try to rip out the Autobot's optical sensors. "How dare you attack our city and frame Cyclonus!"

Blueshift strikes you with Eyegouge for 4 points of damage.

Blot swings at Jazz and misses, the autobot doesn't even notice the big slimey stinker barreling past him in the slightest and Blot had thrown so much momentum into the blow that he just continues to charge across the flat surface of the spaceport. This suddenly brings him crashing towards the exchange of blows that Hook and Rodimus Prime have begun to engage eachother with. He tries to slow down, but has built up too much momentum, his feet dart out from beneath him and he falls into a slide, careening, arms flailing wildly, straight at the Autobot Leader. "GO HOME AUTOBOT!" He yells at the last moment as if this was his intention all along!

Blot strikes Rodimus Prime with Punch!.

Geist sees Jazz has been sniffed out and is occupied, so he resumes sweeping the spaceport for other potential sneaky troublemakers while under his handy invis cloak.

Shockwave scans the area and spots his counterpart/nemesis Jetfire providing some cover. The cyclops locks onto the Autobot "I would have expected you to know better than to go along with a suicidal plan like this Jetfire. I shall /enjoy/ performing the authopsy." he says before firing a small microwave blast.

<Earth> Patrick Moore says, "For all you sky watchers out there, Comet Lucifer's Hammer has changed direction and is heading towards the Earth! Now, this is nothing to worry about, the /mass/ of it is too small to do any damage, but those in the south will see a real lightshow tonight!

A little red, white, and blue cassette pops off of Shockwave's back, and transforms into a familiar bald eagle. It circles around the cyclops, jabbering, "I am very sorry, Shockwave! I was asking where I could find Soundwave again, and I think they misheard me and thought I was looking for you! Well, I was not! Still, I was tired so I stuck myself to your back for a while! Also, you caused me a great deal of injury when you sat down and crushed me against the seat of your chair! It hurt a lot, but I do not blame you, sir, especially not here, in--" He finally notices the Autobots flying in and blowing everything up. "HOLY FRAKKING FRAK!"

<Autobot> Raindance says, "Guys, get some snaps of the comet for me!"

Hook's satisfaction at having struck his target -The worthy Rodimus Prime- is short lived, as the Autobot leader's jet pack careens towards Hook's face. The jetpack bowls him over, sending the Constructicon hurtling towards the landing pad below. He saves himself from a rough landing, and he glares at Rodimus. Hook looks up in time to hear Megatron's shout to DEFEND, his spirits raised as thier illustrious leader arrives, to turn the tide against the Autobots! Hook grasps the rocket pack which had struck him, and with a sly smile, he aims it towards Rodimus, throwing the switch to ramp it up to full power... and releasing it, towards Rodimus's legs.

Hook strikes Rodimus Prime with Return to sender!.

A-10 Thunderbolt can't help but let out a little snicker at Slingshot getting a shot on him from Megatron. Oh, c'mon! The guy was a prick! Normally, now would be the time he said something snarky about Slingshot, and he would patt himself on the back for being such an amazing bully, but there was someone buggin' him. A little someone named Catechism that liked to shoot stuff at him. <<Aaaaargh, bugger off!>> He retaliates in a similar way. Similar, meaning he shoots right back. With a laser. Pew pew!

Powerglide misses F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> with its laser attack.

A shadow drapes the spaceport from far above.

Overhead, a huge round shape has blotted out the sun. Its center glows yellow, illuminating its underside in hellishly garish tones, and highlighting the two sharp, curved tendrils jutting out from around its apparent maw. It is huge, but seemingly flat, like a flying saucer or a space platform. And it is slowly lowering from the stars.

Jazz grimaces as Blueshift's fingers scratch away at his custom optic visor. Blue's still a little close for Jazz to use his rifle or another grenade (besides, he hates to use the same move twice). Instead, he reaches behind his back, grasping the thin cylinder-shaped handle of a melee weapon. "Ever heard of cyber-ninja? New interest of mine." He explains off-handedly. He pulls out the weapon...

Revealing that it is TF-sized sai. Jazz spins the weapon around in his fingers, despite the fact that they're thick and blunt robotic digits, so fast that it blurs into a gleaming disc. When it stops Jazz is holding it in an overhand grip, and he immediately plunges it down at Blueshift's foot, trying to nail it into the ground!

You strike Blueshift with Cyber-Ninja Spike.

F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> throttles up and flaps down, tilting her nose up, almost standing on her tail like a rocket, partially to evade Powerglide's shot, partially to get a better look at what is above her. Above her is a certain helicopter. Mesa... has something to answer for, she feels, but now is certainly not the time. He has good taste in music, anyway. She levels off her flight and rains down a strafing run upon Powerglide.

Catechism misses A-10 Thunderbolt with its Zap! attack.

Reinforced White F-15 Eagle <Ramjet> hugs the ruined Spaceport surface, deftly navigating between chunks of debris and shattered starship. His scanners pick up the Terran report -- the meteor is headed towards Earth. Inwardly, Ramjet grunts. Every day is a bad day. Initiating his transformation, Ramjet converts to robot mode and takes a position on the ground. He swings his arms back, aiming his rifles haphazardly at the Autobot invaders and firing off shots. None of them manage to hit anyone -- and they don't seem to be at aimed at anyone in particular. Instead, Ramjet keeps up appearances and waits for Cyclonus.

Reinforced White F-15 Falcon <Ramjet> 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!

CLANG! Rodimus takes a blow from one of Blot's flailing claw-arm things in the robo-kidneys, stumbling forward just in time to catch his own rocketpack with another matching KARANG! of abused metal. "Ugh," Rodimus rubs his chest, grimacing. "Why did I think this was going to be easy?" He delivers a deft karate-chop to Blot's "neck" -- if he has one -- while trying to sprint up the hill, trying to maintain some momentum for his charge -- though the Decepticon defenders have arrived in force and nothing can ever be quite so simple.

Oh, and then a UFO appears. "For the love of Sparkplug," he curses under his ro-breath.

Rodimus Prime strikes Blot with Chop.

Geist observes, not reacting with shock, but intrigue and patience.

Megatron hits the ground at a jog, cannon humming menacingly. "This is an unusual step for you to take, Rodimus! Your predecessor never crossed the line into offensive maneuvers; he had the Wreckers for that. It surprises me that you would descend to sully your hands so!" The shadow of the 'comet' falls over Megatron as he advances, sweeping Jazz out of his way with the back of his hand as he does so, but he hasn't noticed the source of the shadow yet, so intent is he on Rodimus Prime.

As the sun is covered and the fighting continues in the shade, the maw of the descending craft spews a yellow light down on the ruined spaceport, casting everything in its sickly color.

Blueshift is distracted by the ship that has entered above as he moves away from Jazz to raise a hand and scream. "WHAT THE FRACK IS THAT?!" Unfortunately for him, it gives Jazz the opportunity to stab him in the foot, as he reels around in a panic, flailing his hands, lunging for Jazz with a desperate slap

You evade Blueshift's slap attack.

You evade Megatron's One Side attack.

The chopper feeds data to all the Decepticon troops below, fully aware of said approaching object. And because it is aware, so are the Decepticon troops below. The chopper moves away only to into the familiar form of Mesa. He lands beside Megatron all weapons drawn, and ready for battle.

Mesa's rotor blades instantly stop as the various parts begin to form into his robot mode, followed by the low audible sound of a drum and bass tune.

Concorde SST <Silverbolt> is still flying around when his sensors lock into the 'comet'. <<What in the name of Primus?>> He calls out. <<Jetfire? you see this?>>

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> begins to fly around the Decepticons, pestering them. First, he gets in Blot's face and begins screaming, "HEY! Listen! HEY! Listen! HEY! Listen!" Then, again, he swoops in front of Hook and flaps his wings in his face. "HEY! Listen! HEY! Listen!" Lastly, he lands on Mesa's head, and leans his head forward until he's staring upside-down at him. "HEY! Listen! HEY! Listen!" Occasionally he remembers to point a wing at the strange saucer thing.

Sweepcraft <Sunder> growls as he sees the odd spacecraft, but figures that the Autobots should be sent packing fairly soon. He darts towards Jetfire, firing his disruptor. They need to get at least one menace out of the air, at least.

Sunder misses Jetfire with his disruptor attack.

Hook has no time to gloat over his successful attack on Rodimus, and the impact of a jetpack isn't likely to have done any lasting harm anyway... Something far greater and far more terrifying has taken him full attention. Hook takes to the air again, and attempts to back away from the sickly yellow light emanating from the THING bearing down on them. He tries to sweep away the annoying bird flapping across his field of vision, but no no avail. "What... Americon! This is no time for GAMES!" He shouts, trying to grasp the bird and throw him away like a discarded pizza box.

Hook succeeds in grasping Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon>, throwing him off-balance.

Shockwave watches the incoming saucer and freezes for a few instant trying to figure out what is going on and if this saucer is there to support the Autobots. A quick look at the Autobot's reactions seem to indicate /No/.

<Earth> Patrick Moore says, "Comet Lucifer's Hammer has now passed Mars, and is heading with incredible speed towards Earth. What does this mean for astronomy? Well..."

The massive craft halts its descent, although it continues to shine its powerful, bright yellow aura down upon the Spaceport, illuminating the whole area in surreal high-contrast. The mouth begins to flex, triangular 'teeth' springing up around the sides with a whine so loud that it momentarily drowns any sound from the battlefield below.

And from the center of it, a shape emerges.

Standing atop a small hovering disc with a podium sprouted from it, Cyclonus makes his appearance, finally. On the podium is what appears to be an enormous tome, which he casually flips open. When he speaks, it is so amplified that he can be heard across the entire battlefield, even though he is absurdly high up in the sky.

"Before... we begin the /slaughter/," Cyclonus states, his voice deep and grave, "a /reading/."

Jazz throws up both forearms in a Crystallocution blocking moves, deflecting Blueshift and also blocking Megatron's backhand - kinda. He manages to prevent the blow from denting, but is still flung back by the strength of the Decepticon leader's blow. "Ooof! Okay, so I still need a few more lessons..." But Jazz manages to turn the motion into a backwards roll, taking him even further away from Blueshift. When he comes back to his feet he backpedals, doing his best to lose himself in the chaotic swirl of other fights and combatants. He follows the look of others up to the comet coming down on them.

Cyclonus adds: "From the Grey Book of Primus."

Jazz er, and Cyclonus too.

With a sharp bank to the right, Powerglide manages to avoid getting all fried up by the second shot fired upon him. <<God, I know I'm the sexiest thing you've ever seen, but c'mon! You're cute and everythin', but you ain't really my type!>> His engines' roaring ceases slightly and he goes to drop altitude and get below his stalker, er, attacker. His mind is elsewhere, for he's distracted by the Big Ass Thing In the Sky (tm) and..is that Cyclonus? Yeesh!

"I'm listening," Ramjet mutters into his commlink as he discharges his rifle-capacitors in the other direction. He holds to his cover, glancing warily from the giant saucer to Mesa, then back to the saucer. Then, Cyclonus makes his appearance. His eyes widen. Not the Grey Book of Primus! Ramjet sneers from his cover and clenches his hand into a fist. Wait for the reading. Wait for the reading...

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> squawks as he is flung into a crate full of packing materials. "I just wanted you to listen! Argh!"

Megatron turns around and eyes the UFO warily, shielding his eyes with his left hand. "Cyclonus? Cyclonus!" he shouts up at the glowing craft. "I demand that you set aside this superstitious nonsense at once!"

Rodimus Prime scowls at the sight of Megatron's bucket-shaped countenance across the din and fury of the battlefield. Obviously, seeing the murderer of his mentor isn't making his day any better. "Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty, Megatron --" He calls out, piefacing a Decepticon Jet who tries to tackle-hug him. "To take out /yesterday's/ garbage!" Rodimus is never too afraid of a flying saucer to exchange quips with evil-doers, that is for certain.

"Didn't I cut that guy in /half/?" He complains in exasperation upon seeing Cyclonus again. Quickswitch has arrived.

Above the battle, above Cyclonus, above the strange looking ship, in the darkening sky appears a bright light. Another star. The comet Lucifer's Hammer as it hurtles towards the Earth

Accelerated, Quickswitch transforms into a sub-orbital jet.

Thunderwing with the Black Book. Cyclonus with the Grey Book. There's gotta be a White Book, just by simple logic - but who, and how is that person going to make Catechism's life a pain? She cannot discuss such conjecture with anyone - it is forbidden. There's a horrible, gawing sinking feeling in her fuel tanks. There may not be any 'after' to this, no matter what Ramjet wants. Catechism does snap off a half-hearted shot at Powerglide as she awaits Perdition to break out.

Blueshift rips his foot free as Jazz escapes, treating that as a victory. "LORD CYCLONUS!" he calls, as he spies the Decepticon commander. "They have been conspiring against you! Making you look to be a traitor!"

Catechism misses A-10 Thunderbolt with its Disruptor attack.

"Evidently," asides Megatron to Rodimus, "you didn't do a very good job of it."

< intel-Bot> Rodimus Prime says, "Jetfire, this is Rodimus. Do you copy?"

Hook sends of a few hasty messeges to the other Constructicons scattered about the city, telling them to make thier way towards the spaceport, in case the might of Devastator is required. Hook backs away, slowly, trying to get out of the hideous yellow light. His observant optics spot another object, a transient from space, who's arrival can be no mere coincidence.

Jazz pokes his head out from behind a gumby Seeker close to Megatron. "No way, I saw the pieces. Two of 'em."

Moonracer makes a dynamic entry, arriving near the back of the pack, laser pistol in hand and ready as she storms across the flat and open surfaces of the spaceport. Her keen vision easily picks out Cyclonus and his book that he is holding up so highly and proudly. "Well, that can't be any good. And I'm not going to let him throw that at anyone, nosirree!" She squints one eye closed, still running, although a little slower now taking aim at Cyclonus' hand. "What IS that you have in your hand?" She shouts, hoping to divert that horrific monsters attention just enough to give her that golden opportunity and squeezes the trigger. Hoping the answer will inconveniently, for Cyclonus, become a 'bullet hole'.

Geist walks up behind Blueshift and uncloaks briefly. He slaps Blueshift in the back of the head and then cloaks again.

Moonracer strikes Cyclonus with pewpew!.

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> pokes his head out of the crate, sending little styrofoam pieces flying everywhere. "Wait! Don't shoot him yet! We need a reason to shoot him, first!" He thinks for a moment. "Do we have a reason?"

As soon as Blueshift escapes the grasp of Jazz, a more terrible force 'swoops' in to decimate the Decepticon. The pteranodon Dinobot glides from seemingly nowhere, it's colossal wingspan consuming the very image of Blueshift in it's shadow.

Swoop emits a reptilian hiss as milky white predator eyes fixate on his quarry. The prey has no chance.

Titanic talons extend and clasp onto him, holding him firm like a vice while the gargantuan serrated beak lunges forward... thrusting deep for Blueshift's center with all the force of a freight train. While he does so, the uncontested monster of the skies emits a deafening shriek, otherworldly despite it's primal natural heritage.

"Heeeere's SWOOP!"

Ramjet gives crate!Americon a light bonk on the head. "Shut up! I can't think!"

Blueshift is distracted by Geist's slap, and literally EXPLODES into shards of metal as Swoops claws rend him, tearing him apart as he screams a cry of rage, scattered into pieces amongst all the debris of the spaceport

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> arghs as he bonked back into the styrofoamy depths.

A-10 Thunderbolt manages to avoid being shot. Again. Even though he's too busy gawking at what's going on, instead of actually, you know, doing stuff. He has robo-ADD, okay!? Ratchet said so once. Maybe.

<Autobot> Swoop says, "Sorry me Swoop late, me Swoop get lost. Me Swoop also say Septi-cons taste like junk!"

<Autobot> Monstereo says, "I resent that remark."

Megatron is standing near Rodimus Prime, shouting at Cyclonus to stop being a superstitious fool and come down here this instant, not that it seems to be doing any good.

"From the Epistle of Primacron to the Colony of Paradron," Cyclonus says, finding his page, ignoring all the chatter below.

"'And Krok did say to me, o my disciples, "The ground does shaketh where I step, and I am thus the strongest." He did then, upon saying this, slam his foot upon the earth of Paradron beneath him with great force, and the earth did split, and shatter, like unto the rending of armor.'"

Cyclonus is about to continue when Moonracer's laser strikes his hand as he's turning the page. "Hhghk! /Insect/," he murmurs, but does not respond. With his smoking, damaged hand, he turns the page.

"'But so also did Banzai-Tron say, when Krok did finish speaking, and upon the shattering of the earth of Paradron beneath the feet of Krok, "But I am the swiftest, and though the earth shattereth not where I step, nor does the blade of grass disturbeth, and nor will those in my way hear when I am to approach them, nor will those in my way see when I am to approach them, and for this I am the strongest." Banzai-Tron did then step lightly and with care, and Krok did not see Banzai-Tron, as Banzai-Tron did creep like the lowliest animal upon the earth of Paradron, so lowly was he as to avoid the slightest notice, and to not be seen."

Cyclonus glares down at the crowd, before he continues: "But I said to the both of them 'I am not mighty, the earth shattereth not beneath my feet. I am not swift, the blade of grass moveth and bend where I trod. But I am the cleverest, and in my way I have built the shatterer of worlds, who will incinerate the grass with the mere presence of his being. They will call him the Chaos-Bringer, for the ruination he brings, but I am truly the Chaos-Bringer, for I have created this instrument of destruction, and it is my mind and my will that has set him loose upon creation, to go forth and uncreate. And for this reason... /I/ am the mightiest of all."'"

Cyclonus slams the book shut and smiles. "He is returned. Rejoice -- in your last moments."

Hook already said it was the return of the chaos-bringer, not that anyone would listen. "... This must be how Dreadwind feels..." He mutters, as his warnings have gone unheeded. "The chaos-bringer... Is the creator, not the creation. Then who is it? A question for another time, perhaps, as there are bigger things to worry about. Hook continues to back away, as he tries to formulate a method with which to deal with the huge, ominous object floating above his city.

As Cyclonus finishes talking, the snap of the book shutting it intercut by the rumble of thunder, as in the sky above, the light that is the comet Lucifer's Hammer plunges into Earth's atmosphere, turning into a flaming inferno that streaks across the sky, trailing lightning in its wake as it gets larger and larger, and starts to fill the sky and...

There is a COLLOSSAL explosion as it impacts across the base of Mount Ry'lyeh, sending plumes of smoke and molten rock into the air as the sky turns to ash from the impact, the stars blotting out with a dust sheet.

The Mountain itself has, in less than a second gone from tall and proud to having a huge chunk carved from it, completely aflame

And inside that apocalyptic area, where there was a comet, a tall Transformer-sized figure stands, tall, proud, but only in silhouette as his form is covered by the flames and smoke and ash that rises up. Two mighty arms stretch out, and through the haze, it appears as if there are two horns upon his head.

It was NOT a comet

"This shouldn't be a problem," Rodimus Prime states aloud, smirking despite himself when Moonracer opts to just shoot Cyclonus mid-monologue. "I mean, all I have to do is just open the Matrix again, right?" For some reason, Rodimus sounds vaguely sarcastic.

"Autobots, I don't like the look of this. Fall back to defensive pos--" Rodimus is cut off as a blast of flaming rocks and ash knocks him onto his back, sending him tumbling down NCC's smooth, metallic turf.

Mesa doesn't say anything. His sword and guns are drawn as he stands close to Megatron acting much like his personal guard. The mountain explosion ironically does not phase him. His mono-optic moves around in order to take in all the combatants around him. His optic then focuses on Megatron as if to ask him what to do next. As if...

F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> decides that she needs more altitude. Lots more altitude. In fact, she needs several planets more worth of altitude. It's not panic or fear. There's nothing cowardly about wanting to look at something unknown and on fire from a distance away. On the plus side, the volcano seems calm.... so far. Then, she looks down. There's Mesa, weapons out, right next to Megatron. Hnn. She flies higher.

The weird sub-orbital jet with the dual wing-cannons remains high in the sky and locking into formation behind the Aerialbot leader when he sees him, "I always knew those Unicronian malformations were a few cpu cycles short," he snorts. He's staying up in the sky to observe the comet in case it's--

-sigh- Nevermind. His targetting system melds to the 'comet' as it descends and keeps on it as it hits the ground, "What have we here...?"

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> squawks shrilly as the impact from the comet knocks the crate over, and him with. Packing peanuts are scattered across the space port, further complicating any attempts to clean it up later. Presuming the whole place isn't annihilated in an apocalyptic battle.

Transforming, he rises up into robot mode, hides behind Mesa's leg, and peeks around it at the mysterious shape. "Oh, no... I know who that it is! I heard about him on TV! It's the robot devil!!!"

Americon undergoes a patriotic transformation into his All-American robot mode!

A-10 Thunderbolt continues to fly about, slower and lower than before, however, as he's still gawking at everything going on. Eventually, he touches down and transforms, since there's no real reason for him to be up and about right now. "Woaaaaaahh..."

Powerglide transforms into his stylin' robot mode.

Hook braces himself for the monumental impact, which scatters rock and rubble over his already heavily damaged city. He grits his teeth, staring at the newly arrived... whatever it is. WHOever it is. Hook has never seen anything like it, and probaly never will again.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "You boys heard the Rod-man. Break off and regroup by him!"

Megatron's strong iron hands clench into fists, narrowing his eyes at this fresh outrage; one insufferable offense set atop another. The thunderous impact drives him to one knee, ash raining down around him as he rises.

"Cyclonus, if you have gone so far as to somehow... revive Unicron in a fresh embodiment, you will suffer GREATLY for it. I refuse to bend to that ravenous madman ever again!" Megatron raises his cannon arm and charges it, advancing through the dust and burning rock towards the horned figure outlined by the fire.

"SHOW yourself and RECEIVE a TRAITOR'S DUE!" shouts Megatron, explosively indignant over the thrumming sound of the cannon cycling.

Swoop makes a short pass for Rodimus' position but is quickly cut off by the firewarks. His glide comes to a halt and the dinobird hovers while caught in complete awe by the spectacle of the latest fiery arrival.

The pteranodon already knows what to do. He mutters something on the Autobot frequency with a low growl before shifting his course straight for ground zero.

<Autobot> Raindance says, "So uh, got some good snaps of the comet for me?"

<Autobot> Swoop says, "Me Swoop get closer look!"

Jazz materializes again out of the press of combat, this time close to where Rodimus was sent sprawling. He stands close to the leader, rifle ready to cover him while he gets back to his feet, but in the meantime trying to watch what happens with the comet. Who IS that...?

Shockwave watches the comet crashing but for some reason does not seem too surprised. Possibly an overly dramatic entrance but the psychological impact is doing it's job. Shockwave slowly backs away towards a more defensible position with his back towards one of the hangar walls.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Totally, Raindance."

From the depths of Cyclonus' bizarre and ominous UFO, something emerges. Something small and barely noticeable from such a distance to anything Transformers-sized. A diminutive, green-and-yellow rhinoceros beetle buzzes past the blue-armored Cyclonus, making obscure clicking noises as it goes. The stowaway Insecticon buzzes about the battle site, setting down on the detonated head of Blueshift. "It's almost *kik* time." From there, the concealed and tiny Barrage will just wait, while buzzing out inaudible insults in the dismembered Blueshift's general direction. Because he's just that mean.

<Autobot> Raindance says, "Excellent"

<Autobot> Rodimus Prime says, "Whatever that is, it ain't no comet."

<Autobot> Quickswitch says, "Certainly not, sir."

As the comet strikes and its true nature slowly unfolds, Cyclonus leaps from the podium, which retracts into the UFO. He transforms into his jet mode, soaring well over the others' heads toward the crash site.

Leaping into the air, Cyclonus transforms into a spaceship.

<Autobot> Hot Spot says, "(blub)"

Swoop peers back over his massive wings where Cyclonus gives chase... the space jet's superior acceleration closing the gap between the two at an alarming rate.

Lifting one wing, he barrel-rolls just heartbeats away from collision with the Decepticon. The Dinobot emits a cacophony as he wails, distraught with disorientation and vertigo for a moment.

Mesa still hovering barely off the ground, offers Megatron his assistance, "/Lord/ Megatron are you ok?" The ever loyal bot asks the imposing visage. Megatron reaches out to offer a hand then quickly retracts it as Megatron would probably rip it off just for the sake of doing so.

CRUNCH

The figure steps through the blackening wave of smoke and ash, huge booted feet hissing against the ground as molten rock from the impact sluices off them, the ground turning to dust in his footsteps from the sheer heat

CRUNCH

The figure becomes more distinct as he walks forwards, slowly and calmly, glints of silver showing through the chaos, and bright red optics burning like the fires of the pit itself.

CRUNCH

"Traitor?" the voice booms out, as a low humming permeates the air, an orange crackle coming from one arm. "TRAITOR?" The voice echoes even amongst the noise of the battle and crackle of the flames.

CRUNCH

The figure stops, the smoke clearing. What was thought to be horns resolves itself into two points of a three-pointed crown-like helmet, that offsets a powerful, grey face that burns with fury. And then, as the last of the smoke clears, one silver arm, atop which a huge orange cannon rests, swings up to point at Megatron. "TRAITOR?" He roars.

And it is Galvatron.

Galvatron has arrived.

Stnding around like slack-jawed yokels isn't going to get anything accomplished. Hook, seeing Cyclonus heading for the site of the crash - and the location of the mysterious visitor-, takes to the air, but stays at a safe distance... He sees the menacing arrival, and the surgeon is stunned: Galvatron?? How can this be? Is it the real Galvatron, or some sort of imposter? The Galvatron body was supposedly still in Oord Space, after having been stolen by the humanizing Azreal. HOW? and by WHOM?

Cyclonus /buzzes/ Swoop, overtaking the Dinobot so closely that the pterosaur can no doubt feel the heat of the Unicronian's nuclear engines. He cuts a pin-tight arc after soaring past Galvatron, coming up behind his chosen leader to provide air support.

F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> pauses in the air, still. She can do that. She can hover. Catechism is a loyal Decepticon, willing to die for her cause, but that's the thing. She's loyal to her cause, not to any one Decepticon. This is a rare case where Catechism is actually ging to have to THINK: who embodies the Decepticon cause better - Megatron or Galvatron? Of course, if one is fake or crazy, that will make her life a lot easier. Megatron was inspirational at the Museum, just days ago, everything a tyrant should be. Does she go with what she knows or favour the dark horse - whose minions continually try to blow up everyone?

Swoop blinks and flaps his wings several times to keep a hover as Cyclonus singes the tips of his mammoth wings. Raptor eyes narrow as the silhouette comes into full light and reveals itself to be none other than Galvatron.

Swoop hisses at the sight while he hovers before the two Unicron-spawns. The Dinobot screeches in bewilderment, uncertain just what to do next.

Powerglide just continues to gape, occasionally turning to look at Megatron. Then Galvatron. Then Megatron. "Woooooaaaaahhh..."

Shockwave slowly turns towards Megatron in order to gauge the other mech's reaction and the ramifications of what he is hearing on the channel. This situation may prove more volatile than first computed.

Rodimus Prime pushes himself up into a crouch position, brushing the dust and soot and ash and Primus knows what else from his normally polished shoulders. "Best case scenario: They take each other out," he states dryly, his tactical gears clicking despite the surreality of the situation. "Worst case: They decide to team up with us." He raises his photon eliminator to his shoulder. "Jazz, as soon as one of them so much as /looks/ at us, open fire -- is that clear?"

"Fina*kik*lly." The words are uttered to soft to be heard before that beetle suddenly lifts from Blueshift's head, making a beeline in the direction that Cyclonus had blasted off to. As the insect flies, it rapidly expands into the full-blown form of Barrage. "HAIL GALVATRON!" the Insecticon shrieks, transforming fully into robot mode when he makes his way to Galvatron, hovering just above and just behind the advancing mad robot. "HAIL *kik* CYCLONUS! HAIL THE -TRUE- DECEPTI*kik*CON EMPIRE!"

Americon stands around, gawking like an idiot. "I... uh... I... I don't know what to do! Americans support their leaders! But now we have two, and they don't like each other!" He grimaces, holding his head, as if it's all to much to absorb at once. "I... I don't understand! Somebody help me out here!"

"THE CHOICE IS SIMPLE," Cyclonus emits in a fierce bellow. "WALK WITH A DEAD MAN, AND SHARE HIS FATE."

Megatron's cool red eyes narrow under his scowling brow. Thoughts almost audibly whirl behind that glare, the great ruthless intellect springing into activity at the sight of, bewilderingly, himself.

He straightens his back. His feet scrape against the ashen ground as he sets his stance; he knows too well the power in those star-forged limbs of unknowable alien minerals far exceeds his own honest Cybertronian steel. For a long moment he seems doubtful, tense; he might charge or flee, a flipped coin fallen on its edge.

A light comes into Megatron's face as he seems to realize something, pieces of a puzzle slotting into place and a cohesive whole revealed. "I should have known better" hisses Megatron in that dry, 4-packs-a-day rasp, "than to leave your thread uncut. My greed, it would seem, has undone me."

The Slag-Maker's eyes flick back over his shoulder, head turning the barest fraction towards his troops. "But for all your power, I have something you don't have, 'Galvatron.'" He holds out an open hand towards his men and women. "Allies. Decepticons- ATTACK!"

A brilliant light pours forth from his right arm towards Galvatron in a torrid beam; Megatron knows that he can hold nothing back in this battle!

Mesa smiles at the return of his true leader. He doesn't hesitate to bring his weapons to bear on Megatron. He attempts to swing at the Fusion Cannon on Megatron's arm, in hopes to buy Galvatron an extra chance to work this fool over. Mesa knows he will probably die or be heavily damaged for this, but he does so with pride as evident by the battle cry of "FOR THE EMPIRE!" At least we know where the most loyal Decepticon's loyalties lie.

Mesa strikes Megatron with Rotor Sword.

F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> realises something. It doesn't matter which one is "real". All that it matters is which one can *lead* better than the other. Now, a leader whose minions blow up what are their own shuttles to prove a point? She has to call that pretty shaky. Megatron strikes Galvatron with Fusion Cannon (standard output).

Ramjet bellows,

"ENOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUGH!"

A clenched fist is swung against the crate Americon is stuffed into, sending it clattering away as Ramjet appears on the battlefield. His arm thrusted in the air, its attached rifle gleaming with reflected laserfire. By weapon and will, he makes his stand. By weapon and will, he takes control. Tilting his head up, the glow of storm-wracked clouds blanket his face. His optics burn hot with clarity. He understands now. With so much as a thought, his winged chassis lifts into the air. Soundlessly and with rarely-demonstrated grace, as is what befits the Weapon guided by the Will of the Empire. Ramjet raises his other arm, his hands reaching out to grasp at the heavens. They clench in, creaking against plated palms as the righteous anger rolls across his frame.

"/YOU/" Ramjet snarls, pointing his finger at Cyclonus. "YOU. SCUM." The affirmation is direct and vicious. "I knew it all along, Cyclonus. ALL. ALONG. Beneath the cool exterior. Beneath the no-nonsense attitude. Beneath the dedication lies ROT. A VICIOUS. CONSUMING. ROT. A PLAGUE OF DEMONS COME TO SATE ITS HUNGER ON THE EMPIRE ITSELF." From the clenched finger extends a finger. It jabs accusorily in the space between Ramjet and Cyclonus. "I know you. I know your name. I know your -race-. I know what you stand for and what you fight for. You could have had it all, Bombshell! RESPECT. POWER. GLORY. INFAMY. But you couldn't keep it in control, could you? Was it all too much to keep in check?! Oh. Oh. OH. OH IF WE WERE ALONE ON THIS NIGHT, CYCLONUS. I would be all too eager to rip you apart with my BARE HANDS. But not tonight. Tonight you are no enemy of mine. Not while our mutual enemy, the Autobots, stand and watch -- waiting to pick off whomever stands."

Throwing his arms out, Ramjet spins around to address his colleagues-in-arms. He snorts. "FRIENDS. CITIZENS. WINGMATES. ATTEND CAREFULLY." Swinging his outstretched finger back into a fist, Ramjet thrusts it into the air. By weapon and will. "TONIGHT EVERY WARRIOR MAKES THEIR DECISION. EVERY SOLDIER HAS A SAY. EVERY SINGLE TRANSFORMER WHO HAS EVER TAKEN UP ARMS AND CHANNELED THEIR WILL FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE MAKES THEIR CASE. TONIGHT, AS OUR ENEMIES ACT AS OUR AUDIENCE, OUR POLITIC TAKE STAGE OVER OUR CONFLICT. TONIGHT. WE COULD DECIDE BETWEEN GALVATRON AND MEGATRON. TONIGHT WE COULD TAKE UP ARMS AND CHANNEL OUR WILL AGAINST EACH OTHER.. AND THEN SHORTLY AFTER, BE ELIMINATED BY THE ENEMY THAT ENCROACHES BY OUR SHORES."

"DO NOT!" Ramjet shouts at Mesa, aiming his left rifle at the Decepticon. "DO NOT. OUR SCHISM IS TO BE LEFT TO US AND US ALONE. DO NOT FIGHT AGAINST YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, MY FELLOW CITIZENS. INSTEAD. LET US PUT ASIDE OUR DIFFERENCES TONIGHT.. AND JOIN AGAINST OUR ENEMY. YOU KNOW.. over -THERE-!" Ramjet spins around, pointing at the teeming Autobots.

Quickswitch had not been present for the war of 2005. He had, in fact, never encountered the Decepticon Leader before he'd been destroyed and rebuilt into the abomination Galvatron. Amazingly, there was no linear jump from one to the other, no struggle of logic processes as mind struggled to reconcile the impossible in front of him.

The Six Changer had never known Megatron.

The Six Changer only knew of the abomination he was more than pleased to see destroyed.

The two could exist side by side, even destroy themselves, for all he cared. However, his processes twitch anxiously--"..Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?" He looked from dreaded spawn to dead Cybertronian.

Cyclonus' response to Ramjet is simple. He opens fire, with a curt "Bombshell is dead. As is Megatron. As are you."

Cyclonus misses Ramjet with its Laser attack.

Ramjet is totally failing at his attempt at being the Unifier!

As Mesa gives the order to begin operations, Decepticon Gumby troops spring forth, to attack other unsuspecting Decepticon Gumbies in the background, seemingly ignoring Ramjet's proposal of peace. Chaos starts to ensue.

Megatron's strength is far beyond Mesa's; the helicopter blades skate across the smooth surface of his cannon and etch a slash across his upper arm, but his aim remains true; the arm that can withstand that recoil is not so easy to shove aside.

Galvatron lowers his head, optics almost aflame as he continues slowly forward, the earth hissing and spitting from protest, as his armoured feet, still red-hot from re-entry, touch the ground. His fist clenches and the cannon on the side of his arm starts to whine with power. "I look about me" he hisses "and all I see are WEAK-WILLED TRAITORS!" One hand points accusingly at Hook. "I will deal with you Constructicons later, for daring to build this... this... MOCKERY!"

He points to Megatron this time with his cannon-arm, silver gauntlet outstretched. "I look at you, whatever you are, whatever foul homonculous the Constructicons dredged up, and I see only weakness. Floundering pathetic weakness. The Decepticons are strong, they are merciless, and when there is fat, that fat is CUT OFF. The Decepticons ARE Galvatron!" His cannon glows with barely restrained power.

"No Ramjet!" he calls, barking out. "*I* am the Empire, it embodies my every will, and when someone threatens me, there is no GREATER enemy. Destroy this 'Megatron', destroy him now!" And at the same moment Megatron shoots, a blast spews from Galvatron's cannon, at the so-called leader

Galvatron strikes Megatron with Galvatron's Fury.

Americon gasps sharply as Mesa takes a shot at Megatron, and draws his hand guns, aiming them at the heli-con. But... he just can't bring himself to pull the trigger. Holding his head in his hands again, he grimaces, trying to think of what to do. The Decepticons are killing each other, and both present equally compelling arguments that he will be horribly murdered if he doesn't join them. What he needs is... a tie-breaker!

Rushing over to the Autobots, Americon hops around, waving his arms. "Hey! Hey! Hey guys! Got a favor to ask of you! Uh, who do you think I should side with? Megatron, or Galvatron? I am not really sure, here! If you help me out, I promise not to loot any comic book stores of their precious rare cards for an entire month! I swear!"

Concorde SST <Silverbolt> is....still flying above the melee until Galvatron shows. Of course...this leaves him rather dumbfounded as he transforms and lands near Rodimus. "Orders sir?"

Rodimus Prime glares as Americon runs up. Hell certainly has frozen over when he's suddenly been recast as a Decepticon guidance counselor. "Silverbolt," Rodimus says, turning to his comrade. "I see us in the middle of a Decepticon Civil War. A target-/rich/ environment just ripe for the pickings." He checks the power indicator on his rifle. "Let's make a bee-line for their Command Center. I want New Crystal City deader than... Old Crystal City. You got that, soldier?"

A red and white F-4 dives to get a closer look and to form up next to and behind the Concorde's wingtip. << oh. I was hoping you had some orders... though it could be interesting to watch so long as they don't start shooting at us.>>

F-35B Lightning II <Catechism> has to factor in one other thing: Galvatron splatted her at the Okympics. Megatron has never done that. He totally could, she's sure, but it hasn't happened. (Yet.) Megatron's the one who took her hand-drawn Decepticon flag and planted it on the Smithsonian. Megatron's the one who knew what suffering it was to be human. No. She will not let herself be intimidated by those who seek to rule solely through fear, forgetting fear's twin sword of respect. Catechism transformers and attempts to drop out of the sky and land a heavy kick on Mesa, snarling, "I knew it! You were there at the dockside fire, and you vanished for a bit during the holo-speech!"

F-35B Lightning II 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 body, and her wings rotate into position at her hips.

Catechism strikes Mesa with Falling Kick.

"Another *kik* fool who can't accept the truth," Barrage remarks blandly of Ramjet, buzzing higher into the air. "There is no room for weak*kik*ness. -Burn everything-." Barrage's sonic rifle swivels, pointing towards Megatron with single-minded determination. "Starting with this *kik* -abomination-." Compressing his finger on the trigger, Barrage will fire a sudden burst of sonic fire at Megatron in accordance with Galvatron's wishes. "-Ruin him-!"

Barrage strikes Megatron with Sonic Rifle Volley.

Geist distances himself from the field of battle and uncloaks. He watches the chaos with a grimly annoyed expression.

Shockwave is starting to have doubts...or as much doubts as this situation can cause. Probabilities are shifting by the second. His gaze turns towards the Autobots this is not good. There are way to figure this out, unfortunately none of them are really expedient.

Concorde SST <Silverbolt> taps his helmet and smiles to Rodimus. "you take your strike squad into NCC. I'm gonna stay out here....and bring out the big guns, Rodimus. I also hear the Technobots are Enroute. Get going." he says before pushing Rodimus towards the door.

Silverbolt changes into his robot mode.

Hook narrows his optics as his perfect reputation is soiled by the words of Galvatron. Hook knows what he knows, and he KNOWS that the true leader of the Decepticons is wearing the mantle of Megatron. It isn't the name, nor the face: But the presence. The true leader of the Decepticons never left! Hook grips his weapons tightly, and makes his way towards Galvatron, trying to flank the newly-grey Unicronian. He knows Galvatron's strong points, and his weak points, being chief surgica engineer. Ge grips his plasma pistol, and fires off a shot at Galvatron's midsection.

Hook strikes Galvatron with Plasma Pistol -High.

Megatron stumbles as the two devastating energy beams cross eachother and strike with explosive force, but he whips his arm back up from the half-crouch the blast forced him into and fires again, even more powerfully than the first. "You will NOT! The Constructicons are MINE, and they serve me FAITHFULLY and WELL. Their only failure was in not destroying you before now, and I will accept the responsibility because I gave the order to keep you ALIVE! You are REDUNDANT now, 'Galvatron.' For eight million years I have carried the Decepticon standard, and I am in NO MOOD to let you RUIN them."

Megatron strikes Galvatron with Fusion Cannon (high output).

Americon frowns up at Rodimus Prime. "Yes, that is very interesting," he says as he overhears Rodimus's plan to wreck NCC while the Decepticons are busy and distracted, "But you need to answer my question! I'm really confused here and everyone is killing everyone else!"

Powerglide grabs Americon by the shoulders and shakes him, "Don't you get it!? Now's your chance to start your OWN army! Be your OWN leader! GO! GO! GO! DO IT! NOW!"

< intel-Bot> Silverbolt says, "Technobots. What's your ETA?"

Scavenger follows Hook where he goes. It's much easier then trying to follow the right 'tron, at this rate. He protects Hook to his right as he flanks Galvatron, his own laser cannon ready.

Mesa whips around to see Catechism. Hearing her shpeal about what Mesa was up to doesn't surprise him. She is pretty observant. "I apologize for nothing. I have always served the Empire ever since the begining, and I will continue to do so with ever fiber of my being. No one ever questioned my loyalty in the past. And no one should now." Mesa readies himself for an inevitable attack from Catechism. Interestingly enough, there seems to be no music playing from Mesa, even as the battle mask covers his face. It's eerily silent from Mesa.

< intel-Bot> Scattershot says, "Inbound now. 30 seconds."

Sweepcraft <Sunder> is feverishly scanning both Megatron and Galvatron, trying to probe for any clue as to who is who. "Do my sensors deceive me? Their signatures are IDENTICAL!" he exclaims. He's so confused that he continues to scan, hoping to discover any subtler hints.

Sunder sweeps the area.

< intel-Bot> Silverbolt says, "bring the big guy. Orders are to level the city."

Rodimus Prime climbs up out of the scorched crater he was taking refuge in, scowling down at Americon again. "Have you considered surrendering to us?" As Powerglide makes a grab for the Decepticon tape, Rodimus shakes his head. "He's not worth your time, Powerglide. Cover my six!" Rodimus runs towards the command center, firing a few blasts from the hip, Rambo-style.

Streaking through the crowded skies on a blistering path towards New Crystal City. << oop, 'scuse me, pardon me, watch out for the engine wash, Darkwing!>> and so on emanate from the large bomber. Earlier in the cycle, she had remarked that either Galvatron or Megatron could very easily kill either of them -- the matter of choosing sides was simply a preference for one's flavor of death. However, the only thing worse than a traitor was a frickin' FENCE-SITTER, and so there are two very small, arguably short-sighted motivations to her final decision. She got to squeeze someone's trigger earlier. As far as she could tell, that same someone was the longest continguous consciousness that she was aware of, and, well... that same someone didn't snarl on her at radio just a few minutes ago. So, cutting off any Autobot fliers that may be in the area, the Lancer pierces towards the clash of the titans. Steering clear to let them exchange blows in the time-honored fashion, she makes a point to instead intercept those who might be trying to interfere. There's a quick chirped out, "Hi Mesa! Hi Catechism! Have fun killing each other!" before she plows right toward Barrage, engine intakes WIDE OPEN.

Fusillade strikes Barrage with ram.

< intel-Bot> Rodimus Prime says, "Scattershot, I need that blast door on the command center -eliminated-. Copy?"

Silverbolt transforms and flies up into the sky.....JUST as the f-4 flies into the area. Thankfully...Slingshot had been circling out of range. <<Time to spread the pain guys. Let's bring Superion!>>

Moonracer pauses for at least a moment, like everyone else, unsure of what is going on, of what to do, everyone seems stunned, waiting it out. But finally after a few moments she scowls, there is simply too many Decepticons here, and even if the one half of them kills the other half, that's still a lot of Decepticons. She draws on Megatron, then rethinks this and points her weapon at Galvatron, having picked her victor, she'll wait and see before she declares her bet.

Geist disappears into the maze of filigree beneath the Command Center.

AV-8B Harrier II <Slingshot> flies high, and has been in the background the entire time. Really. He even got hit by stray fire at some point when he got too close. Currently he's marking time, listening to Silverbolt, and looking for that opportunity to SHINE, and let everyone else see it. And there's the boss's word-- <<Gotcha, Bolt!>>

Galvatron staggers back from the blast slightly, and then throws his head back, a roar of laughter filling the air. "You give me scant amusement at least, imposter. Be it Avatar from the grave, some unsightly Quintesson device, or another quaint trick. But know this!" His cannon heats up again, bathing himself in a sickly orange glow.

"You thought me dead, thought the Lord of the Decepticons would be locked away forever in stasis, trapped in the body of a foul human. But your plan failed. For at the moment of transfer, my body was returned to me. Broken. Scarred. Injured at the hands of these so-called Azreal. I survived, I crawled out of the pit by sheer will-power alone, until I could restore myself, and see you dead at my feet!"

"I am Galvatron" he hisses. "I am Lord of the Decepticons, and I DO NOT forget my enemies!"

He raises his cannon arm again and fires, this time the shot arcing just beside Megatron's head... towards Rodimus Prime as he heads for the Command Centre!

Galvatron strikes Rodimus Prime with Galvatron's Wrath.

Silverbolt shouts, "Aerialbots, MERGE to form Superion!"

With a shudder of metal, the Aerialbots undergo a stunning transformation and combine into the mighty form of Superion!

Superion has arrived.

Superion floats into view, scanning the area below him.

Americon flails as he is shaken around by Powerglide, and yelps, "My gosh, you're right! I must start... THE SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION! And it will be right here, right now, here in... AMERICA!" He grins as he whips out his guns again, preparing to shoot them at, er, something. "Wait... who do I kill? I don't understand! And for the record, Americans never surrender!"

"Cut a swath of *kik* destruction--" Barrage's ranting doesn't last long, before he's suddenly rammed at high speeds, metal shrieking and rending beneath the force of the blow and sending the Insecticon flip-flopping through the air. As he is flung backwards like a ragdoll, though, Barrage suddenly transforms, the rhinoceros beetle in his place now buzzing with energy at the tip of his horn, glaring at Fusillade. "Hnn. How *kik* useless. Another traitor." And then he simply fires off a massive beam of highly concentrated photons straight for Fusillade, holding nothing back.

Collapsing in on himself, Barrage shifts into his beetle form. He's still probably shooting things.

From the sky can be seen two fast flying objects, neither taking on a recognizable shape for a while. As the two get closer, and closer still, the forms finally take shape. It's the Technobots! Afterburner and Nosecone are holding on to Scattershot, while Lightspeed is riding Strafe like Seabiscuit. As they approach, Scattershot inverts, dumping his passengers to within feet of their fellow Autobots, the Technobot leader continuing on as ordered. Putting the blast doors to the command center in his sights, the massive battle cruiser looses every weapon he's got. When the smoke clears, the door still stands. Circling back around, he radios his team <Alright, boys. You heard Command. That door goes and it's bein' a might bit subborn.> There's a pause as he adjusts his trajectory and comes in low. <You know what that means.>

Transforming as he lands, he calls out, "Lightspeed, Nosecone, Strafe and Afterburner. MERGE TO FORM COMPUTRON!"

Powerglide pulls his own gun out, waving it around in the air, "The French, of course! They think they're SO cool with their TOAST and their FROG LEGS and their UNSHAVEN ARM PITS, but we're better! We're.." He wipes away a non existant tear, "American.." Barrage strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with Photon *kik* Cannon.

Scattershot shouts, "Technobots, MERGE to form Computron!"

With a shudder of metal, the Technobots undergo a stunning transformation and combine into the mighty form of Computron!

Computron has arrived.

Computron strides in while making a series of computations.

"Funny.." Ramjet spits as he swings to the side. The destructive lance pouring from Cyclonus's rifle narrowly misses him, but leaves a charred stretch across his chest. "I guess you--...." Ramjet turns his head to the side, watching Computron and Superion form. ".. that, uh, really killed my witty comeback, Cyclonus. Uh. Temporary truce?" Ramjet rolls his armed shoulders in a shrug. He can't see a point in attacking his XO when two Autobot super-warriors are sitting on the sides.

Sixshot has arrived.

Moonracer blinks as Galvatron, she adds more emphasis to him as a SERIOUS target, lays into Rodimus Prime now. "By primus, not on my watch!" She shouts firing a blast from her tiny pistol at the Unicronian leader's horned head. He certainly seems the most dangerous of them anyway. Then she goes running along the outer perimeter of the enormous free-for-all with nebulously drawn battle lines trying to gauge what's really going on.

Moonracer strikes Galvatron with pewpew!.

"Rodimus!"

The pteranodon's attention shifts back to the doppelganger. Swoops eyes narrow as the Dinobot shrieks. He need not understand who was real, they were both Decepticons. His long beak snaps at Galvatron and Cyclonus. "Septi-cons!"

With that he lets loose twin rockets from his ventral underbelly. Gemini projectiles the scream along their trajectory, leaving a trail of white smoke in their wake.

Swoop unleashes his area_ranged attack on Cyclonus and Galvatron, striking Galvatron.

Focus leaps out from the cover he was in, probably nearby how the autobots got here in the first place. The autobot kung-fu mech comes in running, but what he can do? Who can say. Focus has no guns, so instead of attacking with his own weapons, he decides to do his own thing. He knows how powerful some of these guys are, so he at most wants to stay out of this fight and only jump in if needed. He runs full out for the hangars and warehouses in the northwest edge of the area.

The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet.

Catechism feels as if she is caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea with no anti-gravs. If she takes out the enemies to the -tron of her choice and thereby assures that she's on the winning side, there will be no side left when the Autobots are done. If she hunts down Autobots, as she really ought to, she could come back a condemned traitor for striking Mesa. Since her kick connects, she then flips over in the air before landing. At his reply, she sighs and says, "I hate to do this. We have gestalts knocking down our door, mesa. No one.... no one's ever questioned my loyalty, either, you know? I guess when you get right down to it, this is like religion - all semantics. My reading says Megatron. Yours says Galvatron. So be it." She pulls back a fist and tries to punch him in the battlemask.

Cyclonus dodges Swoop's rocket nimbly, barrel-rolling because he is a sick-ass space jet who's totally fast as hell. "A truce, Ramjet?" Cyclonus transforms, letting his heel-thrusters fire as he tries to shoulder-check the conehead in a beeline direct from the sky. "I think not."

Catechism strikes Mesa with Smiting The Heathens.

Cyclonus shifts into his imposing robot mode.

Cyclonus strikes Ramjet with ram.

"Rodimus?" asks Megatron, ducking and turning as the shot goes over him and nails Rodimus Prime instead of himself; that one was a surprise. "You fool, Galvatron. Rodimus is second rate! My nemesis is dead, long years gone."

Megatron almost sounds sorry for the fact. "Since he fell at my hand the Autobots have been but a shadow of themselves. All their greatest heroes lie moldering under the cold iron ground. My only explanation for my failure to defeat them when I possessed your body was that I was also a shadow of MY self. The power Unicron gave me when he imbued me with that body, the body you wear, made me soft. I grew fat on SHEER COSMIC POWER. But no longer!" Megatron sweeps a hand out as he draws his plasma saber and ignites it, the blade leaping out from the hilt. "I will defeat the Autobots with CUNNING and GUILE. Your time of brute force is DONE." In accordance with his word Megatron charges low, sweeping his blade up in a deft carving motion.

Megatron strikes Galvatron with Plasma Saber.

Superion lands with a thud after forming.....and his optics flash. "COMPUTRON! COMBINED FIRE ON THE DOOR!" He yells out as he aims his right arm for the door Rodimus indicated.....and the sound of his cannon winding up is almost deafening before the loud crack can be heard.....denting the door with the impact.

Scrapper has arrived.

Shockwave makes his way towards the command center to initiate the transformation sequence for the city. The cyclops disregards all the targets for a few moments and focuses on the job at hand. Always time for cleaning up later.

Shot in the back. The ultimate trademark of an ultimate villain -- besides crippling pain, the main expression on Rodimus Prime's face is disappointment. 'I should have thought of that,' probably, but it comes out as: "HUUUARGH!" Rodimus' heroic charge quickly turns into a ragdoll crumple, sparks flying from the small of his back where Galvatron's high-power beam struck, sending the Autobot leader tumbling to the ground in a damaged heap.

"PRESS THE ATTACK!" Rodimus hisses into his wrist communicator through the pain. "/FINISH THEM/, Autobots!"

Mesa reels back from another attack by Catechism. As he floats backwards form the blow, he holds up his pistol at Catechism, but he noticably hesitates when aiming at Catechism. "I..." Mesa doesn't say anything but instead fires at Catechism, purposfully missing her. At some poin Mesa does need to retalliate as he can't get beat on forever. (No attack from Mesa this round.)

Shockwave begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sixshot, Superion, Fusillade, Galvatron, Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Swoop, Cyclonus, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, Megatron, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Americon blinks at Powerglide. "But... but... who are the French?... Who are the patriots?" Inexplicably, he adds, "La-le-lu-le-lo!?"

Metal dents and glass shatters as Ramjet takes a chestload of Cyclonus's shoulder. "HNNGH!" Thrown from the skies, he can do little but hurtle through the distance as he comes to grips with re-orienting his systems. The jets that cap his boots fire in spurts, belching flames in on-and-off succession as he struggles to reignite them. The ground is coming up quick and Ramjet begins to sweat. "hnn..... ARG...!" At the last second, they ignite fully, flaring with powered thrust. Ramjet leaps for the air, aiming toward Cyclonus. "NNNNNNYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" He bellows angrily as he converts to his aerodynamic mode -- positioning his nosecone for Cyclonus's stomach.

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.

Ramjet strikes Cyclonus with Wheelchair'd!.

Hook quickly ducks low behind some convenient rubble, and he lets out a sigh of relief as he has avoided the ful brunt of Galvatron's anger. Or at least, avoided the use of Galvatron's fusion cannon. Hook edges closer, trying to put the pieces together. Galvatron claims to be the real Galvatron, returned to his body after the mind-transfer procedure. But the process was perfect! And it doesn't explains Galvatron's actions against his own troops. Hook is ton between fighting for Megatron, and fighting to preserve the city he built here on earth... But this city is too important. If the Decepticons as a group /survive/ the confrontation, they will need a base. He will not let it be destroyed! Hook takes to the air, calling his Constructicon brethren to his side. He flies towards the site of Superion and Computron, and while still airborne, sends the command to combine.

"You?" Galvatron purrs as Megatron slashes at him. "I can destroy you at my leisure. A twitching paradoy of myself? A throwback to the madness that once ate at my mind, that was /cleansed/ by Unicron? I think NOT!" He raises a hand to deftly tear at Megatron's chest.

"Cunning and guile are mere watchwords for cowardice. Decepticons need no such thing. They strike and strike hard! I will DESTROY you, and then I will DESTROY whoever your true twisted master is!"

Hook shouts, "Constructicons, MERGE to form Devastator!"

With a shudder of metal, the Constructicons undergo a stunning transformation and combine into the mighty form of Devastator!

Devastator has arrived.

Galvatron strikes Megatron with Rend.

Powerglide glares at Americon, gripping his shoulders as tight as possible. "M...M..." He lifts his head up into the air and screams, "METAL GEAR!?" Then, he shoves the red, white, and blue cassette away. With his fists.

Powerglide misses Americon with its Get out da way attack.

Catechism raises her fist again, for another attack, but she pulls it short when she sees he isn't fighting back, and she urges Mesa, "Look. The Autobots are RUINING us here, no matter who we serve. You and me, right now, let's go after Superion, and when this city is safe, *then* we can try to kill each other for having different opinions." Her fist opens, and she holds out her open hand to Mesa.

The rend of metal on fanblades is briefly satisfying. The downside to swallowing bugs whole is that sometimes they sting back, and Barrage does in a big way. Fusillade lurches midway through the air, energy crackling over her form as she howls. Still mid-air, she transforms midair, and snarls as she snatches one hand out to hopefully hold him at arm's length. "Our duty is to the EMPIRE! That supercedes any single one of us, or THEM!! But make no mistake! The one I choose will propel us to new heights of sector-spanning conquest, and actual, REAL prosperity on Cybertron! Don't you EVER forget that! Now go sink your mandibles into a gestalt's limbs, where you will be most useful."

Fusillade succeeds in grasping Barrage, throwing it off-balance.

Called back from all the comotion going on back at the City, Sixshot was treated to quite the spectacle. Gestalts, Autobots, Decepticons...fighting not only Autobots, but Decepticons? A merry mess, one that played out equally on the channels as it did below. Following orders was going to be, interesting. Either way, one could never go wrong with just shooting Autobots, and Focus was literally the 'focus' as he dropped down from his higher altitude, diving towards the hangers...not for shelter.

"I don't think you're heading in the right direction Autobot!" Calling down to him, he tracked a pair of weapon fire towards him as he descended low.

Sixshot misses Focus with his Concussion Blaster attack.

Mesa winces at the next oncoming attack, but his mono-optic moves in Catechism's general direction when he doesn't feel a fist land on his face. He hears her words for a moment, and then takes her hand and states, "Ok lets go. An attack on 3 fronts is not a good thing at the moment." Mesa taps into his arm for a moment then states, "Ok I am ready to trounce some Autobot tail pipe." Heavy Metal starts pouring from Mesa as he charges towards the Autobots.

Americon leaps onto one of Powerglide's arms as he tries to punch him. "Yes! Metal Gear! Probably! And now I am going to possess your mind by taking over your arm... well, I'm not sure if that's how it works, but it's worth a try!" He clings onto the arm and tries to "control" it with anti-gravity (and punches).

Megatron's armor screeches and rips as Galvatron tears at him like a beast! "You were not CLEANSED," he replies, bringing his knee up hard to try to break Galvatron's grip. "You are UNCLEAN. An unclean thing, a mad demon's creation. Today you have destroyed nothing but my trust in Cyclonus... but in the process you have done me a kindness by showing me who my truest soldiers are."

Megatron strikes Galvatron with Rising Knee.

Americon strikes Powerglide with Fist of Freedom(?).

The cucussion blasts explode all about Focus but his relative speed keeps him from getting hit. The mech grunts as he leaps into a roll to slow his momentum, "That is a matter of opinion. Perhaps pulling a more powerful decepticon from the main fight was my reasoning? To give my bigger autobot brothers time to finish their job?" He whips his hand across himself sending several metal leaf shaped blades out at the diving sixshot.

Focus strikes Sixshot with Kunai Blades.

Catechism gives Mesa's hand a firm but painless squeeze if she'll let him and favours him with a genuine grin, murmuring, "Thank you." Turning her back on him may be a poor idea, and she knows it, but all the same, she whirls back around, hheading back into the main fray. She raises an arm gun up at Superion and fires. Maybe it's nothing, but after a while, even nothing can add up.

Catechism strikes Superion with 25-mm GAU-12 cannon <Long Burst>.

"The -empire- belongs to *kik* Galvatron, not some -throwback- to a weaker *kik* age. You pick nothing but the most in*kik*ane choice--" But once more, Barrage doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence; grasped solidly and then -flung- through the air, the artillery-heavy Insecticon screeches with the buzz of metal wings scraping through the air, making a short recovery. He is about to make his way back to Fusillade, when he takes note of the two massive Autobot combiners, gaze squinting pointedly. "... Hhn. This could prove problem*kik*atic." For now, he takes no move, buzzing around to choose which of the two would be most ideal to target.

Computron turns to Superion and nods, "TARGET ANALYSIS CONCLUDED: COMMAND CENTER DOOR COMPOSITION: 22.5 PERCENT DURANIUM - 14.5 PERCENT NOSTRADIUM - 40 PERCENT TITANIUM COMPOSITE ALLOY - 13 PERCENT MULTI-PROCESSED STEEL COMPOSITES - 10 PERECENT TRACE ELEMENTS. IDEAL ORDINANCE ANALYSIS: DUAL CONCUSIVE DEVICE - OPTIMUM TARGET LOCATION CONCLUSION: DEVASTATOR." and the big nerd-bot raises what looks like a large version of Strafe's twin cannons, combined into one huge gun, and blasts them at the limeycon.

Computron strikes Devastator with Lullabies.

Through all the mayhem, Swoop caws. He watches as Decepticons duke it out with one another. He'll not hold arguement over a blessing. The dinobird instead leaves the fueding sub-factions be, gliding over towards Rodimus' position, circling the commander with a defensive aerial position.

"METAL GE-" Powerglide manages to choke out before being socked right in the face. "Oh, bitch!" With a growl, he tries to escape, but alas, the cassette has him by the arm, "Let go, you're not my type, either, man! Let go!" Eventually, he gives up his pulling and pulls his leg up to knee Americon right in the robo-gut.

Galvatron is knocked back by Megatron's knee, but he snaps his head up, rage burning deep within him. "You know nothing of what a true soldier is. You are soft and weak, you have forgotten how it is to fight for every scrap, to claw for every advantage. That is the way of Galvatron. Let me EDUCATE you in power!"

He bunches his fists together and swings them at Megatron's face.

"You! You are the monster who dares try to subvert my power. But know this. ALL that have tried to upsurp me have FAILED and died a painful, lingering death. Make yours quick, that is the mercy I offer you today!"

Powerglide misses Americon with its NO MEANS NO attack.

Galvatron misses Megatron with his Galvsmash attack.

As the gestalts trundle about, Fusillade keeps a shrewd optic on which ones are engaging which. As Catechism engages Superion, she earmarks him for further punishment, but seems to be waiting to see which of the two Autobot combiners engage Devastator. And then, she has her answer. Even as Shockwave announces the transformation sequences, she barks out, "Aerospace and allies, ascend so we may reaffirm our grasp of the skies!" And then, with saffron optics blazing behind amber goggles, she bares fangs, gives a barracuda smile, and levels one pointed fingertalon at Superion, before whipping around and clipping off a shot from her chromed Desert Eagle disruptor.

Fusillade strikes Superion with Low Output Shot.

Speakers blare abruptly in a very loud, no-nonsense tone: "WARNING - SHARK MODE TRANSFORMATION INITIATED". From the ground, thick plating extends to cover the entirety of the skeletal city, forming a skin around the newly-formed Shark.

<Autobot> Focus says, "Oh dear, that can't be good..."

KLANG!

The impact of nosecone to chassis is unmistakeable. Ramjet sends Cyclonus barreling out of the sky. "ARGH. Where did he keep that BOOK!?" He snarls under the shattered remains of his canopy. Losing sight of Cyclonus in the thick of battle, he opts to deliver his fight to the Autobots instead. Tilting his flightstick to the side, the white F-15 dips its wing to curve around, allowing him to swoop around and come up from behind Catechism. Transforming into robot mode, he lands on the ground with a faint clink. "SO!" Ramjet shouts over the din of battle. "I take it you're AGAINST being bound and gagged for my enjoyment!?" Raising his right rifle, Ramjet aims for Superion and clenches his fist, firing off his weapon. Reinforced White F-15 Falcon <Ramjet> 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!

Ramjet strikes Superion with M61A-1 20mm <Burst>.

Sixshot would pay for his distraction by the chatter on the broadband, a sharp metallic ring was drowned out by the crash of the titans nearby, and the damage is hardly enough for the sixchanger to take notice. Lodged there in his armour, he made up his mind about what to do. Autobots first, then...the conflicting leaders second. The Empire is what was supposed to survive, leaders...well. They came and went, didn't they? "Time? You think you're going to take up a lot of /my/ time?" Sixshot laughed roughly, banking sharply before swiftly changing into a smaller lithe form...the form of his primal touched down at a bounding run, jaws wide. "Don't be so vain!" Aiming to clamp down on an arm to tear out whatever his teeth could latch into.

<Autobot> Swoop says, "Me Swoop say it might be time to go."

Falling foward onto all fours, Sixshot stands poised as a winged wolf, claws and teeth at the ready.

Megatron strikes Galvatron with Right Jab.

Sixshot strikes Focus with bite.

<Autobot> Monstereo says, "Shall I alert the medics, Mr Wayne?"

The six seperate Constructicons have merged into the original combiner. The titanic body of Devastator moves forward, one earthquake-inducing step at a time. The chaos erupting around him this day far outshines the events that unfolded yesterday, and are far too much for the simple minded titan to comprehend. The overruling feeling from his parts is to SAVE THE CITY, and with that thought in mind, Devastator lumbers forward to face Superion and Computron. "Autobots will not destroy city! I will CRUSH YOU!" Booms the thunderous voice of Devastator, as he looms over the battlefield. He reaches out with his huge purple hands, and tries to put his titanic strength to bear.. by Ripping Computron apart.

Megatron steps in, ducking under Galvatron's enraged two-handed swing, and comes up with a quick jab that catches his enemy right on the chin and snaps his head back. "Decepticons!" he calls, stepping away while Galvatron is momentarily disoriented and breaking into a run for the hangars. "Retreat to the hangars! Quickly!"

Devastator strikes Computron, but the shot doesn't seem to phase him from his calculations.

Mesa brings his hip gatlings to bear on the Autobot monstrosity. The poor bot's immitation of a true Decepticon. Loyalty issues will definitely have to be put aside for the time being. Mesa checks his HUD for a lock and begins to squeeze off some rounds on the gestalt

Mesa strikes Superion with Hip Gatlings.

Superion is hit by many sets of small arms fire from decepticons. "DON'T YOU HAVE OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT!?" He says before he uses his left arm to swat at all who have attacked him.

Focus is ready for this and already has his arm up for Sixshot's wolf form to bite into. But instead of resisting the mauling, he pushes off the ground with his feet and goes limp like a ragdoll to follow the swinging maw. Now that he's in mid whip he brings his legs up to attempt to wrap around the strong wolf neck while his other hand snaps two fingers into an armored, but still vulnerable spot on the wolf's neck area. "What do you...*SNAPcrunch*...guh...think?" he says in mid chomp.

Focus strikes Sixshot with Crystalocution: Fracture Strike.

Swoop screeches as the city begins to transform, only adding another strata of the madness and insanity that is already well underway. The chaos becomes physical as the very environment around them seems to close in. Insticts kick in for the dinosaur. Pteranodon talons lurch downward and grab Rodimus' wide shoulders, holding them firmly without letting claws scrape his exterior armor.

With the strained beating of his wings, each flap gaining tremendous altitude... he and the Autobot commander take to the air and away from the disorienting scene below.

Swoop begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Americon springs off of Powerglide's arm just before the knee connects. "You never who you can trust ON THE BATTLEFIELD," he says while transforming into bird mode. "But still, I have to believe in the mission, because that is what a soldier does! Loyalty to the end!" He soars away, thrusters flaring as he rockets towards Megatron. "...I'm not really sure if anything I just said made sense!"

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!

Powerglide growls lowly to himself, shaking a fist for a few seconds before dropping it to his side. "Do you think love can bloom on the battlefield?" he says to a random gumby that just happens to be walking through this whole mess. In response to the gumbys stoney silence (and his eventual destruction by a piece of stay shrapnel), the minibot shrugs, "I guess you're right."

Superion unleashes his Tantrum attack on Fusillade, Mesa and Ramjet, striking Mesa and Fusillade.

Galvatron is knocked back, shaking a hand in a cursing gesture as Swoop escapes with the body of Prime, his face a rictus of hatrid. And then his gaze snaps back to Megatron as he sees his foe sprinting away. "Yes!" he calls as the battle rages around him. "Run and hide 'Megatron'. Run and hide with the TRAITORS who would follow you. But know this, I am the Lord of the Decepticon Empire, and I ALWAYS prevail. You will fall as many have done before!"

A flash in his optics, the tyrant leaps into the air, transforming into a very large silver cannon, that rotates its barrel as it fixes Megatron's back in its sights, and blasts a furious flurry of white-hot plasma at the escaping leader.

Galvatron transforms to cannon mode

Sixshot roared, not in pain but rising annoyance. He reared and tossed his head, aiming to throw off the Autobot even as the sudden stab of pain started to receed. And if that didn't work, "I'm going to crush you like the useless fleshling pet you Autobots are!" the winged wolf started to unfurl, rising higher into the air as Sixshot regained his robot self. Oh, he heard the orders, but first, he formed a fist and slammed it down towards the Autobot, either to knock him off if he persisted...or to smash him literally into the ground.

Galvatron strikes Megatron with galvcannon.

Megatron falls to the ground unconscious.

Sixshot reverts with a swift series of twists into a formidable robot.

Sixshot strikes Focus with Kiss The Ground.

Catechism takes a small measure of pleasure in the fact that even Decepticons wrapped up in deadly civil war can put aside their differences to beat on Autobots. She sees Fusillade joining in on the attack on Superion. If only they had Bandit, Magma, and Breakneck here and some really good duct tape... hey. Catechism never had her combiner components removed. She roars at Superion, "A *loyal* Decepticon's first priority always has to be laying you Seeker rejects to rest!" Her red optics flash with angry light when Mesa and Fusillade are struck, and... no. No. She's dead. Megatron just fell. The gun she was aiming at Superion falls, and she tries to run to Megatron's side. It's over. Maybe she'll reach Megatron's side before Galvatron kills her, if she's lucky.

Computron's metal body begins to screech with the strain of Devastator trying to rip him into parts. The behemoth himself doesn't make sound. Well, no sound aside from his booming voice, "DATUM: DEVASTATOR'S GRIP - STRONG. DATUM: CHANCE OF APPENDAGE LOSS WITH LACK OF RETALIATION - HIGH. DATUM: FOOTING UNSTABLE DUE TO CITY TRANSFORMATION. DATUM: CURRENT TEMPERATURE: 98* FAHRENHEIT. BARAMETRIC PRESSURE: 23." The giant's arm is continually being torn as he speaks. "CONCLUSION: UPPERCUT." As he says it, Computron throws his free arm up into Devastator's midsection or jaw. Whichever will keep his arm connected.

Computron strikes Devastator with Super smart, not so strong uppercut.

Mesa is knocked back considerably. Armor pieces fly off of him as he soars through the air, only to have his trajectory stopped abruptly by a nearby wall. As he impacts into the wall, more peices of armor fly off, as well as on of his hip gatlings. He falls to the ground with a dull *thud*. For a moment he lies there, ironically the music still plays. Back up systems engage and he begins to stand up, looking at the mighty gestalt. "Curse you Autobot." He struggles to get up and leans agains the wall he hit. His Mono-Optic begins to glow and a burst of light erupts from it, almost as if in anger, towards the mighty bot.

Shockwave steps out of the command center after initiating the transformation sequence and the countdown to submersion. He still has some time to thrash some Autobot pests before dealing with the other problem at hand.

Mesa strikes Superion with Laser Eye.

Megatron hits the ground hard, his sword flying from his hand and skittering across the ground. "I should have known... not to put my back to him..." he gasps, reaching out to his troops.

In a surprising reversal of roles, Devastator finds himself the defender of a city instead of it's destroyer. This requires a changof tactics that Devastator simply cannot process, in his conflicted, simple mind.. but the overriding urge to destroy the Autobots is enough to drive him onward. Devastator stumbles from the attack, his jaw fractured, and the titan barely stays on his feet. Out of the corner of his optics, he sees a sight that makes the rest of this nightmarish scene look like a tea party: (imposter? real? friend or foe?)Galvatron smiting Megatron(leader? hero? enemy?) with the might of his Unicronian-powered cannon. Devastator turns, slowly but surely, and raises his massive purple weapon. Computron forgotten, all he can see is Galvatron. All he can see is Galvatron being destroyed.

Even with Focus's guard up Sixshot's fist is too quick and lands square on his face. His body buckles slightly turning from the hit but Focus just uses that momentium to his advantage. At least he's not getting as pounded as he was with Avalanche. Turning all the way around he takes half a step back crouching slightly with arms out and behind him with palms up. He takes in a mechanical breath and says spitting out energon, "I am a master of circuit-su and you shall not break me." then launches into a seceries of open palms slap, each one moving faster than the other one after another, in just half a second it sounds like gatling cannon fire from Focus's palms and they strike out everywhere on Sixshot. The open palm strikes happen one after another, first twenty in just a second, then sixty, eighty, finally he reaches around one hundred hits before planting the largest one square in Sixshot's chest. That is of course, assuming he pulls the move off. If not, then all this neat posing would be for naught and Focus gets pwned...and rightly so!

Devastator strikes Galvcannon with Super Nova.

Galvatron falls to the ground unconscious.

Focus strikes Sixshot with his Circuit-Su Water Form: One Hundred Open Palms attack.

The span of Superion's palm is quite wide, and connects quite nicely when Fusillade's attention is drawn by the denoument of the clash of the -trons. With a resounding, jarring -*>THWACK<*- she is send hurtling toward the terraformed ground. Splaying on all fours to absorb the impact, she tenses up visibly as catches the cloudy blue-grey blur of Catechism lunging in to Megatron's side. Uttering, "C'mon, faster girl, he can't kill us all, he can't kill us all, he can't... go go go..." Springing back up to feet, with pieces of space-tile falling off her frame, she gives a saucy snarl, and snaps off a pair of shark-faced, checker-warhead tipped heat-seekers toward the junction Superion's left leg and torso.

Fusillade strikes Superion with Pucker Up, Prime!.

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> swoops down onto Megatron's back, trying to grab onto his shoulders with his talons. "Must... get... Megatron... to... safety... but... he... weighs.... so... much... must... remind... him... to... go... to... gym... more... often..." He grunts with effort as he tries to pull the much heavier Decepticon the rest of the way into the hangar. His thrusters roar, but his tiny body can only slowly drag the legendary Decepticon along the floor.

"Cate-CHISM!" Ramjet roars after her. Letting Fusillade fend for herself for the moment, he turns and ignites his boot-jets. Skating across the battle-scarred Spaceport surface with plumes of fire at his heels, he races after the other jet, determined to snatch her up before she gets caught in the blast that takes Galvatron out.

Ramjet succeeds in grasping Catechism, throwing it off-balance.

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Teach me to take a nap...what the HELL is going on?"

Having been, er, rammed pretty hard by Ramjet, Cyclonus got lost in the fray for a bit. Upon seeing Galvatron go down, though, he flies toward his fallen leader, cutting a path through anyone foolish enough to get in his dang way. "GALVATRON!" he screams, before scooping up his leader and doing that thing where he juggles him in such a way that when he transforms the slumped, broken form of the leader is in one of his cushy space-leather seats. "You will pay for this, you traitorous Hounds," he hisses, before shooting off into space. The gigantic UFO (remember that?) follows.

Leaping into the air, Cyclonus transforms into a spaceship.

Cyclonus retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots.

Megatron cared more about saving the city than Galvatron. Galvatron just wanted Megatron dead. Catechism weeps window-washer fluid tears as she rushes, trying to reach Megatron's side.Then, a bolt from the heavens - or Devastator, rather - takes out Galvatron, and Catechism lets out a whoop of sheer, unadulterated joy. So distracted, Ramjet snatches her from the path of the blast itself. She struggles and protests, "Ramjet, let me go now! I must be at Megatron's side!"

Sixshot had to hand it to Focus, he was a persistant pest. And when he killed him, he'd talk about the move that actually managed to make him pause before rending him limb from limb! A low gutteral sound echoed in his vocalisers as he staggered back beneat the barrage, each strike hitting home at the sensitive circuitry beneath the heavy armour. He's unable to do more than try to recalibrate the stressed electronics, his internal systems moving at a speed to compensate...if his mouth were visible from behind the faceplate, it would have twisted into a bared grin, no humour about it. But the sudden flare of crimson in his optics was warning enough, that focus had better start praying to Primus, because when he got moving again-- he would only wish he were fighting Avalanche once more.

Shockwave watches as both leaders are down and prepares to issue orders for their recovery just as Cyclonus recovers 'Galvatron'. He keys his radio sending some particular order to a particular someone.

"Come to your Houndin' senses, woman." Ramjet grunts. "If you serve the Empire, then you serve no one man. You serve the cau--" There is an audible squelch -- he just received a transmission. With Catechism close, she can hear Ramjet mutter, 'I'm listening,' back. ".. you serve the cause," he tells her.

Superion is not too horribly amused when the decepticons rebound and attack him again.....but it didn't really matter. When Fusillade hit him with her attack, he points his cannon at her....and it winds up loudly until Devastator turned around to shoot Galvatron. Then his cannon immediately swung around to aim at Devastator. nope...no remorse here.

Superion strikes Devastator with Electrostatic Discharge :Extra-Crispy:.

Ramjet grunts into his transmitter.

Catechism tries to crack Ramjet right in the cone with a punch to get him away from her and snaps, "Ramjet, I've weighed the options, and as far as I'm concerned, Megatron's better for the cause than Galvatron."

Focus has another trick up his metal sleeve in reguards to his water form style. Should he pull it out? No, instead he sets his form back to crystalocution with two fingers one hand up, the other to his side. He launches his side fingers at another vital spot lower down at Six's body. He's not about to to jump up to hit him in the head. Sixshot's a biggun! Focus understands his techniques will get more than a few cons mad at him, only because he can do this.

Focus strikes Sixshot with Crystalocution: Vitals Strike.

Catechism misses Ramjet with its Crack to the Cone attack.

<Autobot> Perceptor says, "To coin human vernacular, All hell is breaking loose."

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "...Oh. Well.  That sucks, huh?"

Ramjet catches Catechism's wrist. For someone who spends most of his time dulling migraines with fuel-booze, he has awful-good reflexes. "Nnnh.." he snorts. "I -happen- to agree with you, woman. I just didn't want you slagged. Well. Yet." He lets go and gives her a light shove. "Come on. I'm calling the CAG. We need to get Megatron's chassis back to base. Shockwave mentioned he can keep him safe from other... assassins."

Vaning and flexing one wingblade, Fusillade hunkers down in a defensive stance, preparing to make at least an attempt at parrying Superion's weapon should leaping out of the way fail. Once that proves to be unnecessary, she snorts at the gestalt, and then sprints over toward Catechism, Ramjet, Americon, and the fallen Megatron. "New plan, kiddies. New Crystal City's going to slip under the murk, and I can pretty much guarantee that they're just waiting for him -- " she points to Megatron -- "in there. Let's get him back to the Argosy," she proposes in what couldn't possibly drive a further split in the faction, oh no.

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon>'s optics somehow bulge as the spaceport starts to become a little more slanted, and in the opposite direction from where he was trying to drag Megatron. "Um... Need a little... help here!" he grunts as, despite his struggles, Megatron begins to slide off in the wrong direction.

Mesa tries hard to stand up, but something in his leg broke loose and he falls to the ground in a heap. He props himself up against the wall, and reaches for his pistol nearby, which fell out of his hand when he hit the wall. His HUD is flickering like mad and stasis lock warnings are popping up every few seconds, but he aims his pistol at Superion none the less and fires. The music is still playing a distinctly Cybertronian Heavy Metal.

Megatron lies around pretty much unconscious and gets tugged to and fro by Americon.

Mesa strikes Superion with Chaingun.

Mad? Oh yes Sixshot is, well he's rightly getting there. Forced to take the following blow, it was enough time for his systems to get back online properly, movement returned to him even as another spark of pain lanced up his midsection. A long hiss sounded like heated steam, flexing his fingers he brought the paired weapons back to his grip pointing both muzzles down at Focus as they began to glow. "Play is over." He was going to get serious. It was all a diversion really, the bigger choice had to be made soon-- and that was where alliegences lay. Pouncing Focus was a lot easier.

Sixshot misses Focus with his Concussion Blaster attack.

Ramjet's plan is interrupted by the CAG. "Shockwave said he can keep Megatron safe if we take him to his lab. We take him to the Argosy and the Sweeps might get him."

Catechism sighs and grumbles, "What did you think I was going to do, weep over Megatron's body uselessly? Of course I wanted to move him somewhere safe. We'll figure out WHERE that is once we get him." Both Fusillade and Ramjet's suggestions have merit. Now, if Ramjet will finally let her, she tries to move to Megatron's side and help lift him, reverently.

Ramjet coughs at Catechism. "Well. Sort of," he says in regards to her weeping over Megatron's body uselessly. He then averts his eyes.

Shockwave leaps up and lands near Megatron's body in order to provide cover for this extraction. "Hurry up we only have a one or two breems maximum before the city goes underwater." As if to emphasize his point water is beginning to wash over the ground, not alot but 6 inches or so.

"THEM," Fusillade growls out in response to Ramjet's reasoning about the Unicron-spawn. Best not to push her luck with how much sway she has with them. With a sharp, irascible nod, she gestures to Ramjet and Catechism to alternately grasp ankles and wrists, and haul him off. As for herself, she takes to the skies to see just how well ordered things are at the airbase.

Devastator is satisfied and confused, his massive rifle still aimed at where Galvatron fell. The smoke rises slowly, and he stares, trying to comprehend what he's done. Did he just kill the leader of the Decepticons? Devastator is knocked out of his reverie by a blast in the back, and he wheels around clumsily, to face Superion. Devastator's raw fighting instincts kick in, and he lashes out with his huge rifle, using it like a club to smash at Superion's head and shoulders.

Devastator strikes Superion with Blunt Force Trauma.

Catechism balls a fist, extends her spiked knuckles, and shakes it at Ramjet, growling, "I may weep, but I do not weep uselessly. Understand?" She glances over at Mesa thoughtfully. Then, she asks, "Can you guys handle Megatron? I have an idea." She does wait to make sure that someone will be there to help Megatron and take her place.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Job well done, guys! Now, how do we get out of here?"

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Magic."

<Autobot> DepthCharge says, "Fly up."

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Hahaha, oh, you."

"....." Ramjet falls silent as Fusillade flees. Likely, then, Catechism will tend to snaring Mesa. This leaves Ramjet, and possibly Americon, alone with the duty of securing Megatron. "You've gotta be Houndin' kiddin' me... hnnh. Leave it to me to do all the real work in this Empire. Let's go, Fearless Leader.. nnnh.." Ramjet grunts, reaching down to pick up the remains of Megatron by his shoulders. "Lead the way, Commander Shockwave."

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "You...and your 'jokes' and 'clever banter'."

Megatron slouches over Ramjet's shoulders and almost inaudibly mutters something about how this won't be the last time you see me, Prime.

<Autobot> Superion says, "BY FORCE."

Focus tenses then relaxes. He feels the blast incoming and steps to the side letting it slip past his back. Focus says, "I quite agree, my final technique then..." and snarls. His anger rises from deep within, the anger he needs to actually activate and drive this technique. Normally Circuit-Su requires calm and is directly for defense. But some aspects of it, particularly its use of su/energon, can fall in the more malevolent use and is a grey area between Circuit-Su and Crystalocution. This is exactly where Focus is going now, unlocking some dark part of himself he keeps under strict control. Grinning from ear to ear now, his hand starts glowing, particularly in the fingers. The hand is claw like and he launches himself straight at Sixshot jamming the claw right at Six's chest.

Focus strikes Sixshot with Circuit-Su Water Form: Five Fangs Open Palm.

Focus drains energon from Sixshot.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Hahahaha, Silverbolt and Slingshot are actually tolerable when they're Superion."

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "...I like Silverbolt."

"Yes, Mighty Megatron. Yes.." Ramjet mutters with a sigh. As he lugs the Slagmaker toward Shockwave's laboratory, an idea strikes him. "...!" He raises his optics with thought. "... Ramjet is your greatest soldier. Make Ramjet Air Commander. Make Ramjet Air Commander. Make Air Commander Ramjet. Er," he grunts, "I mean, make Ramjet Air Commander!" Ramjet mutters quietly, hoping Megatron might be susceptible to sleep-learning.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Yeah, so does Quickswitch. But, you know, in a 'Tracks' kind of way."

Computron moves with Devastator, countering him and making for a rather clumsy dance of the supergiants. "HYPOTHESIS: LACK OF ATTACK ANTICIPATION ON DEVASTATOR'S PART DUE TO DISTRACTION OF UNCONCSCIOUS LEADER. FACTOR: NEW CRYSTAL CITY NOW IN SHARK CONFIGURATION. FACTOR: CONFUSION OF BATTLE. THEORY: DEVASTATOR WILL NOT ANTICIPATE DIRECT ASSAULT. CONCLUSION: HIGH YIELD ATTACK." the big sciencebot thumbs a switch on the big gun he's carrying and fires on the joker-themed Decepticon.

Computron strikes Devastator with Acid Burn.

Catechism just rolls her optics at Ramjet. For now, she races off after Mesa. She has to trust that Ramjet isn't lying, that he isn't planning to slit Megatron's throat and tear out his energon pump as soon her back is turned. As she tries to close the distance, she takes a shot at Superion.

Robotic Bald Eagle <Americon> phews as Ramjet picks Megatron up, and flits off for a brief moment, then settling upon Ramjet's shoulders. He takes a few moments to make himself on his new perch, adjusting his talons so that he's in the most comfortable position possible. "Ah, thanks for taking over for me, Ramjet! I was getting worried that I would lose Megatron for a moment there! Now we have to figure out a way to get Megatron and Galvatron to agree to be co-Presidents! That's not really how it works, but maybe it can with an amendment or two!"

Catechism strikes Superion with Acid Strike.

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Uh-huh..."

Ramjet groans. "Can this day get any worse?"

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Mhm!"

Yes, it can, Ramjet. You could be Dirge.

Shockwave leads the way for Ramjet while firing randomly to discourage any Autobot pursuers. "Once we know he is safe, the flood will clean up the deck."

Or Wheelie.

Shockwave disappears into the maze of filigree beneath the Command Center.

Shockwave has left.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "I saw it with my own two eyes. I was drunk at the time, and I was also facing the other way, but I saw it."

MEANWHILE...

Thrust tinkers at the controls of the Argosy, Ramjet's Pandora account displayed on-screen. "Ramjet.. listens.. to ABBA!?" Ramjet sighs inwardly. At least he can get back to base after this, and listen to some ABBA.

Or can he!?

Perhaps Sixshot stole all of Ramjet's ABBA.

To a mechanism Superion's size, the rising water is a bare puddle on the ground. Still, the giant seems to notice, and the great head pauses as if... thinking? heedless of laser, acid and assorted bursts marking the combined armor.

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Right..."

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "It was hot."

"Is that it? Your 'final' technique?" Shrugging off the drain in his energy, Sixshot didn't appear truely phased by the attack. Oh, it was all cumulative, but it would be no suprise to Focus that the sixchanger still had a ways to go before succumbing. The Autobot had a lot more to worry about aswell, with the city starting to submerge, time was more on his side. He started to collapse, a lot more guns bristling into the fore and all trained on Focus as he did. "You need to do better." And he fired.

Dropping to the ground, Sixshot splits and realigns into an intimidating armoured assault carrier, bristling with weapons.

Sixshot strikes Focus with taser.

Ramjet drags Megatron to Shockwave's lab!

Megatron drag drag drag

<Autobot> Superion says, "LITTLE BOTS NEED A LIFT?"

Ramjet disappears into the maze of filigree beneath the Command Center.

Ramjet has left.

Megatron heads northwest, climbing up into the brains of the beast.

Megatron has left.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Can I ride on your shoulder, Superion? I've always wanted to do that."

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Ooh, ooh, I want to ride on a gestalt's shoulder!"

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Bugger off, Fox, I called it!"

<Autobot> Perceptor says, "Excuse me if I sound obtuse, but doesn't Superion come standard with two shoulders?"

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "I want both!"

<Autobot> Perceptor says, "Now you're just being greedy."

<Autobot> Superion says, "SUPERION IS STILL FULLY ARMED, YES."

Americon disappears into the maze of filigree beneath the Command Center.

Americon has left.

<Autobot> DepthCharge says, "By default, I believe someone of virtue should sit on the right shoulder. Someone of poor character should sit on the left. Since I believe both Autobots Foxfire and Powerglide would be assigned to sit on the left shoulder, I can see why there isn't enough room."

<Autobot> Focus growls, "Dispite my urge to KILL this one right now...yes. It would be wise if we left soon.  My master warned me about releasing what is hard to control in me."

Superion watches as the Decepticons starts to file out. But.....he still raises his cannon towards Mesa. "I HATE PESTS!" he yells as his cannon tracks Mesa.....and the cannon emits a loud crack as the round fires.

<Autobot> Perceptor says, "I agree DepthCharge, there is plenty of room on the left shoulder for both - after all Superion's size is vastly many times that of both."

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!

Superion strikes Mesa with Electrostatic Discharge :Extra-Crispy:.

Mesa falls to the ground unconscious.

Fusillade begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Decepticon Shuttle <Astrotrain>, Sweepcraft <Sunder>.

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Aww, DC...!"

<Autobot> Mirage says, "Do you really want Foxfire and Powerglide to be in such close proximity of the other?"

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Only if Foxfire kisses as good as his brother."

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Smooch smooch"

Catechism is good at kidnapping people. She's helped kidnap at least two different Autobots. Besides, kidnapping Mesa would be for his own good! If her side wins and he's in a cell, he'll be spared. If her side loses and he's in a cell, he'll probably get a medal for being stuck in a cell. When Superion hits him, Catechism visibly winces. She knees at his side to pick him up and sling him over a shoulder, murmuring, "We see the same ideal. Only our lenses are different."

<Autobot> DepthCharge says, "Taking a laser scalpel to my radio now."

Mesa takes the full brunt of the shot and falls to the ground in a smoking heap. Still functioning but barely.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "How 'bout you two let Superion pick who gets which shoulder?"

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "Powerglide, my fangs have been recently sharpened. Don't make me use them."

It seems that the Decepticons have allowed the jaws of the city to be open just barely wide enough for the water from the oceans to continue to fill the space. Seems that the Decepticons are trying to flood the Autobots out... or is it something else?

Focus crouches and leaps upwards. The beam glances his arm but it's not painful. But like Sixshot, this can be culamative to Focus and he's slowly feeling it too. He throws his arms out sending several spinning projectiles at Sixshot before hitting the arc of his jump. Computron's supposedly high-yield attack makes no visible damage on Devestator's rough exterior, but it does serve to grab the might green giant's attention. Devastator turns from facing Superion, uncaring that the Aerialbot combiner just blasted Mesa out of the sky, and grins from ear to ear at Computron. "DESTROY!" He roars, and lashes out with his Scrapper-leg in a giant kung-fu kick, aimed at Comutron's giant robot crotch.

Focus misses Sixshot with his Shruikan Blades attack.

Devastator strikes Computron with Bucket-Powered Kick.

Catechism gathers up Mesa, pained to her core by this civil war. The water will flood this area, so they had best be off - to the brig, regretfully.

Catechism disappears into the maze of filigree beneath the Command Center.

Catechism has left.

Mesa disappears into the maze of filigree beneath the Command Center.

Mesa has left.

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Oh, don't be jealous Foxfire."

<Autobot> Saboteur Foxfire says, "...Jealous of what?"

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "I'm sure you taste like candy and cheap cigars too."

Powerglide begins to clamber up Superions ankle, "DUDE, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Superion leans down. "EVERYONE! IN MY HAND!" He yells as he makes a grab for the Shuttle as well. Though he still looks to Poewrglide. "POWERGLIDE! YOU CAN FLY! SO CAN YOU FOXFIRE!"

Powerglide crosses his arms and frowns, "I knew that. Don't think I didn't, cause I did." He transforms back into his awesome plane mode, "Let's go home and get drunk, guys. Wooh!"

Powerglide pulls his arms in and falls into his jet mode.

For whatever reason, instead of driving foward to literally try to plough on over the Autobot, Sixshot shifted again as the water started to rise, back to the lupine form with arching wings over head. He bared his teeth in a parody of a grin. "Sink or swim Autobot, I can do this till you drown." Was he letting him go? Maybe...or maybe he was waiting to rip into him as soon as he turned his back.

Computron gets kicked in the shin by Devastator. Afterburner can't take that kind of pain. Computron hops around on one foot, stentorian voice audible for a couple of kilomters: "OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: PAINFUL -- LOGICAL COURSE OF ACTION: STRATEGIC WITHDRAWL, OBTAIN EXTERNAL PLATING PATCH REPAIR -- OW. OW. OW. OW. OW."

Jazz climbs into the hand, then quickly walks up the attached arm to make room for others...he doesn't stop until he's sitting on Superion's back. Much better view from up here. "Autobots!" he shouts, "We are leaving!" He scatters a handful of small metallic objects down him, each small but with an ominously blinking light that's beeping and flashing. At first slowly, but then steadily getting faster.

<Autobot> Jazz says, "Everybody grab onto Superion! Computron! As soon as you're clear, de-merge and take off!"

Devastator can fight any Autobot, but he can't fight the tide. With the Autobots retreting, and the city(now a giant robot shark or something) safe, the clamouring from his component minds pulls apart his psyche, and Devastator returns to his component parts.

Devastator separates into the individual Constructicons.

Hook has arrived.

Scrapper has arrived.

Devastator has left.

<Autobot> Focus says, "I'm not trying to sound like a hero, but take off without me. I'll head off out of the mouth."

<Autobot> Powerglide says, "Okay!"

Superion YELLS. "NOW!!!!!"

Computron separates into the individual Technobots.

Scattershot has arrived.

Strafe has arrived.

Computron has left.

Focus is in mid jump when he blinks his white optics down at Sixshot. But then he sees the water rushing in and quickly swamping the area they're fighting in. He starts dropping and transforms hitting the water but then popping up. Water crackles around him as his hover disks snap against the water. He says, "Another time then Sixshot..." and turns to head out of the water disappearing into the surge of water coming in.

Focus spins his torso around while his backpack flips onto his shoulders. The legs lock together and the whole thing falls back on cushiony repuslor fields. In a blurr of motion, Focus transforms into a hovercar.

Focus begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Decepticon Shuttle <Astrotrain>, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, A-10 Thunderbolt, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Scrapper hits the ground, but then crumples as additional Constructicons all land on him. Some demerging efforts are clean, and some are not. Scrapper shoves Bonecrusher off him and stands up. "And don't come back!" he yells at the retreating Autobots.

A feminine voice calls out over PA systems: "Electro-shock defense systems activating in five minutes. All personel must clear the spaceport before it it is completely flooded."

Falling foward onto all fours, Sixshot stands poised as a winged wolf, claws and teeth at the ready.

Engines begin to roar as the Warthog gets ready to take off, wheels trudging through the water that began to quickly fill the base, shark, thing. "Let's bounce!" Powerglide then takes off towards the opening, leaving this terrible, terrible place behind.

That announcement was all that saved Focus, and he turned to head back into the depths of the sinking City. Another time? Sixshot would relish finishing the job. Sixshot begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Decepticon Shuttle <Astrotrain>, Focus, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, A-10 Thunderbolt, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Sixshot heads northwest, climbing up into the brains of the beast.

Sixshot has left.

Hook is enraged at the ner-destruction of the New Crystal City, and there is much work to be done... But right now, he has some serious thinking to do... Hook, without a word, stomps back inside the safety of NCC.

The Technobots get clear after breaking down Computron into his component pieces. They leave as they arrive, in air, the two landbased mechs 'riding' the airbased ones. "Quick, let's get the slag outta here," Afterburner comments, "Before I take anymore of a beating or Strafe here decides to take on the entire lot of them himself!"

Strafe begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from A-10 Thunderbolt, Focus, Scattershot, Markdown, Decepticon Shuttle <Astrotrain>, Superion, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Moonracer, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, Jazz, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Superion begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from A-10 Thunderbolt, Focus, Decepticon Shuttle <Astrotrain>, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Moonracer, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Strafe vanishes out of reality.

Strafe has left.

Scattershot begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from A-10 Thunderbolt, Focus, Scrapper, Markdown, Decepticon Shuttle <Astrotrain>, Superion, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Sub-Orbital Fighter Jet <Quickswitch>, Moonracer, Sweepcraft <Sunder>, Jazz, Onslaught, Combaticon Hovertransport <A1>.

Much like the jaws of that strange asteroid monster in The Empire Strikes Back, the jaws begin to seal themselves shut! Can the Autobots make it out in time?

Quickswitch has been lost in a seizure of emotions, including awe at the combined mighty forms the Autobot gestalts reprisent, but when Jazz calls retreat, the misbegotten Six Changer manages to slip somewhat out of its grasp. He heads toward one of the evac shuttles, disoriented.

Superion gathers everyone that can't fly into his hand, and activates his thrusters. Of course.....this means lots of noise from his thrusters as the jaws begin to close. Hopefully....he'll make it. if not...he'll blast his way out.

Sweepcraft <Sunder> had been watching all the goings-on, and trying to beat back Autobots, and was still horribly confused by the turn of events. Megatron and Galvatron at the same time...how in the Pit was that even possible? If it were up to him, he'd decide based on who thrashed whom in combat.

Scrapper takes one last look at the fleeing Autobots. He hates them so much! He ought to kidnap one or two and experiment the hell out of them. That'd teach them to ruin his beautiful city. With the warning about the place getting flooded, Scrapper grudgingly falls back to the safety of the rest of the city.

Landing Pad <AC>

Quickswitch has arrived.

Powerglide has arrived.

Powerglide transforms into his stylin' robot mode.

Superion has arrived.

Superion floats into view, scanning the area below him.

Superion lands after a really really long flight of carrying Autobots and having Jazz surf on his back and Foxfire riding on his shoulder. Well....all good things must come to an end.....and he lands, lowering that hand to the ground.

Quickswitch appears nearby, apparently having tailed Superion home. The large cubic form lands with a mighty thud, scraping against the tarmac. The Six Changer turns, huge form much more graceful than its build would suggest. He stands, hands on mutant robot hims and peers upward with quiet interest and awe at Superion, but not too far upward, for Quickswitch comes, perhaps up to the gracile gestalt's waist, or even taller. A quick grin, and he, looking on the mighty warrior has one thing to say.

"Wow, Superion! I thought you'd be bigger!"

Superion stays down until all of the Autobots are out of his hands. "I HAVE A LOT MORE FIREPOWER IN A SMALLER FRAME THAN THE OTHERS." he says simply....he then begins to stand back up.

"Not even as big as Broadside," Quickswitch says to himself, still grinning, "So, uh," he cocks his head, looking at the gestalt from another angle, "Wow... I don't doubt that, uh--sir," the Six Changer finishes up with that term of respect, unsure of that exactly, "I've never talked to one of you gestalt guys before. Hey, kickass..."

Jetfire arrives from Earth Orbit.

Jetfire has arrived.

Superion looks around at the various bots on the tarmac, no reaction to Quickswitch's assessment apparent. "MISSION COMPLETED," the behemoth finally asserts, and with that Superion's joints loosen and demerge into his component Aerialbots.

Superion separates into the individual Aerialbots.

Silverbolt has arrived.

Fireflight has arrived.

Fireflight enters the area and looks around.

Skydive has arrived.

Skydive walks into the room, paying attention to every detail.

Slingshot has arrived.

Superion has left.

Quickswitch weeps bitterly.