2030 Olympics: Space Race

Medusa Cascade

The Medusa Cascade, an area of space tens of thousands of light years across, and considered completely impassable by many. The mix of gases and ion and elements that make it up create a beautiful red, green and blue artwork splashed across the galaxy, but these same factors confuse sensors, leaving ships vulnerable to the many gravity eddies and rogue asteroids within.

Contents:

Alkor Zephyr

Obvious exits: Coreward &lt;C&gt; leads to Further Into the Cascade. Out &lt;O&gt; leads to Deep Space - Subplanar.

TACS Racetrack

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============[ Welcome to the Racetrack ]========================= Your average everyday oval-shaped race track, with the accompanying grandstand. Bookies wander around offering shady deals to the multitudes of myriad aliens flocking to watch the competition.

-( Race Conditions )--

POSITIONS PER LAP: 20                 LAPS PER RACE:      6

ENERGON PER TURN:  8                  MAX BASE VELOCITY:  11

--

Type !racehelp for a list of commands

Type !placements for current standings

=
=================================================================

Contents:

Ramjet

Blueshift has arrived.

Blueshift leaps into the air, flipping into the form of a small spacecraft

Blast Off has arrived.

Blast Off heads skywards his legs shrinking and merging, his arms merge together and move to conceal his head finally the transformation to Space Shuttle is complete.

Fragment has arrived.

Race: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; joins the race.

Race: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; joins the race.

Kup has arrived.

Sunder has arrived.

Astrotrain has reconnected.

Race: Sunder joins the race.

Dredclaw has arrived.

Parts spin, components shift and Astrotrain's body grows in size until he is an enormous space shuttle.

Sunder's head disappears into his chest, his wings fold around him, and now he is in Sweepcraft mode, his headcannon still visible.

Soundwave has arrived.

Race: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; joins the race.

Swoop has arrived.

Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Fearless.

Soundwave has left.

Soundwave has arrived.

Race: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; joins the race.

As you venture into the Medusa Cascade, your radio crackles with a nearby transmission..

"The stage is set! Twenty-four ordinary denizens of the galaxy are about to go head-to-head in the most extrordinary racing course ever devised! Those brave enough must be able to endure FUEL-SUCKING turns... SPECTACULAR gravitational pulls... and CATASTROPHIC decompression! Only the swiftest and fastest will survive this wrath and earn a shot at GOLD and immortality! The epic competition begins now to see who will emerge victorious and who will... become STARDUST!"

Near the racetrack, which is nothing more than a series of beacons serving as fixed points in space, a black-and-white striped ship maintains its stillness. Within, two gelatinous commentators are visible within the ship's yellow-stripe viewscreen.

"Hello Universe, welcome to the Space Race of the 2030 Olympics! I'm T.O.R. and this is Tee-Ess-Arr and toda--- *BZZZZrrrOOOSH*"

Suddenly, there is a ripple in reality! The striped referee-ship disappears and is replaced with a rather unspectacular blue box with "POLICE BOX" in well-lighted white letters above a pair of doors! Oh dear!

Combat: Dredclaw sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Sunder sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Fearless.

Race: Catechism joins the race.

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

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Blueshift sets his defense level to Fearless.

"Uh.. 'allo? Oop. Oh my. It seems this whole Engine nonsense has caused another tear in the cosmos!" comes a pleasant-sounding voice over the comms. Well, slightly frantic. Maybe even floofy. Definitely a bit of a swoosh, at least. "Oh! Is this the Olympics? Well! This is a lot more space-based than bef--.. oh right, this is the 2030 Olympics? They did that split, between the air and space races, didn't they? Bit of a different decision, for certain. Since the hosts have been temporarily co-locationally displaced, there's no sense why the show can't go on! Will all of the contestants please line up at the starting line? Well. Staring /beacon/ really."

Blueshift zips up to the start lines. On his side are the words "DRINK COKE". It seems that Blueshift has SOLD OUT

Race: Race Track is initialized. Ready to begin a new race.

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes his place in line, eyeing the competition paying special attention to those that are likely to be a threat and ignoring those that are beneath his attention. It's clearly going to be a tough race and hopefully this time Swindle hasn't managed to hobble his chances just to makes sure he wins more on the betting.

Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Fearless.

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; pulls into position as well. His ion drives glow brightly as he maneuvers. The Sweep is eager to show his space-racing skills.

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; hopes there are asteroids to lose these other racers behind in, otherise he may not stand a chance.

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; jets on down to join the line of other space-capable types taking their positions! With thrusters glowing a faint blue, the ONE AND TRUE Decepticon space shuttle takes a quick sweep of the area with his sensors, and makes a sudden shocking discovery. "...WHAT!? No Autobots!? Aw c'mon, I call foul!"

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; sees that Blueshift is out to bite the wax tadpole today! This will be the first real test of her skills as a spaceship. Before now, all she's really done is go from Point A to Point B and look for pieces of dead Cyclonus floating in space. This race will really stretch her hybrid engines to the max!

"OH MAN" shouts Blueshift towards the television cameras. "I could TOTALLY drink some COKE right about now"

Coke-o-tron 5000 transmits to Blueshift, "bzzFive hundred quatloos transferred to your Swiss-planet bank accountbzz."

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; slides into place opposite his twin. "For the empire"

"Well.. things look a bit, purplish, don't they?" the person within the Police Box says. He sounds like he's scratching his head. "No matter! On your mark! Get set! Go-Bot!"

The starting beacon deactivates, allowing everyone to go!

A very large space luxury yacht is parked near the sidelines, its large, panoramic viewports offering the excited passengers the opportunity to view the match. The viewports even offer light amplification so that the viewers can actually see the contestants against the bleak blackness of space. Occasionally they'll wave at the racers, trying to get their attention, but one of them, a large hooded figure, is content with merely watching and observing. The other yacht-goers give him a good bit of clearance.

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; thinks, oO(That might be relevant if there were non Decepticons in this)

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 11 positions.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- +Blue Spaceship               11  0   FEARLESS       -- +Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         11  0   FEARLESS       -- +Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    11  0   FEARLESS       -- +Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          11  0   FEARLESS       -- +Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 11 0   FEARLESS       -- +Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        11  0   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 11 0   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Blueshift rockets quickly across the depths of space. "Nnnn" he mutters. "Why aren't I winning, this is awful. I must start to kill!" He dips down and tries to sideswipe Fragment like a huge jerk!

Combat: Blue Spaceship strikes Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; with his Full-Body Strike attack!

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; powers his engines to the max and shoots for the skies, further along the track, keeping level with everyone else as they all leap from the starting line. Blast Off watches Blueshift veers suddenly and keeps on going.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; keeps up with the rest, all relatively neck and neck. Unicronians. Triple changers. Combaticons. Seekers... and whatever the heck that oddball Blueshift is supposed to be... oh right, a fellow spacer. Respect your superiors, Frag-me-boy.... except his superior opts to slam into him. Bits and pieces of him fragment away to drift in space. He is fast with his manuevering thrusters, and tries to take Blueshift down with him as he loses control.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; strikes Blue Spaceship with his Scorpion Class Nudge (Ram) attack!

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; streaks off with the rest! Hopefully he'll get a medal he can display in his trophy case! Alongside his gold for the Quiz Show.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is completely shocked and unhappy that there are no Autobots to show up in this event! It never even occurs to him that this could be used as something to brag about with accusations of the autobots being too cowardly to show up or somesuch. Either way, he ALMOST misses the starting beacon going off...and a moment later has SLAMMED his huge speedy frame forward in a dull roar of acceleration. "Well fine then!" he snarls to himself, more than anything, concentrating on the path straight ahead. For the moment, anyway. "I'll just take what I can get then!" He hasn't hit anybody....yet. Usually you gotta get past that first initial rush before the destruction derby starts...but of course then you get guys like Blueshift that go and break the mold. Way to rebel!

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; has mixed memories of the Medusa Cascade. She's spent some time out here hiding, but it is... one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy. Fleet was lost out here for years, his circuits being baked by the radiation of eight suns. Crashing out here would be, ah, simply dreadful, wouldn't it? Falling to one of the strange and savage planets, no way off with one's stardrives crippled... Catechism, feeling a bit oddly driven under the sway of the stars, veers toward the already-dangerous Blueshift. Returning to her senses, she pulls away and gets too close to Blast Off, as a result, perhaps slightly clipping the Combaticon.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; with her Ram attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: You took 1 damage from that attack.

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; streaks out beside his twin, ion drive glowing brightly. He makes no attempt at attacking anyone.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

The Police Box pilot transmits. "Things've gotten off to a roaring start, only to get completely ugly! Let me just do a quick IDENT-ping to determine... fantastic! It looks like COKEshift has just smashed righteously into Fragment, only for Fragment to decide an-eye-for-an-eye on COKEshift. They'll be squabbling it out for quite a bit!"

"..and Astrotrain, Blast Off, Dredclaw, and Sunder simply favor a live-and-let-live approach as they continue along! But Catechism doesn't seem to be caught by a gravitational well and trying to veer off, she clips into Blast Off!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Your movements are slowed slightly due to your earlier collision.

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 5 positions.

At the head of the race... a silver oblong probe shows up in another mysterious ripple of space! It is transmitting! "I AM NOMAD," it declares. "IMPERFECTION DETECTED. STERILIZATION PROTOCOL ENGAGED." It begins firing lasers at the competitors! Watch out! "I AM NOMAD." Do not confuse it with that round probe called DAMON.

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===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Blue Spaceship               11  0   FEARLESS       -- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         11  0   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    11  0   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 16 0   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          2   1   FEARLESS       -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 2  1   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        2   1   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

"Nooo!" cries Blueshift as Fragment smashes into him. "Do not cost me the race, fool!" With that, he hits his thrusters to maximum, trying to outrace his foe!"

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

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; is hit and hit hard, opening a rift in his side his engines cutting out, "Aaargh! I see it's going to be that sort of race is it? Such disgraceful behaviour, but then again it's to be expected of those with no social graces." Finally his engines spark back to life and having dropped way back decides that the only thing is to go for it.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; indeed decides for now on the "live and let live" approach. &lt;&lt;My brother, things are looking good for us now, are they not?&gt;&gt; he asks his twin. The obstacles don't seem to faze the Sweep.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; grunts after Blueshift. Seriously, why is that guy one of his bosses? "Whatever sir." The scorpion Class spaceship reaccelerates to try to catch up. The NOMAD appearing ahead, Fragment would think organics were the imperfections, not machines. Must be a malfunctioning probe. He spins and banks around the POS class probe.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; would blink, if he could. As it is, his sensors pulse once as the....thing appears ahead of the pack. A sudden turn of his entire large frame has him banking hard to one side as a series of laser blasts chop by where he was a split second ago, his big frame far more agile than he has any business being, truthfully. For a moment, he ponders, seeing a sweep to his right and a sweep to his left...but he doesn't make a move just yet. It's neck-and-neck and these three are at the head of the pack. He shall wait, and bide his time, waiting to pounce...LIKE A FOX! Because Astrotrain is stupid like a fox.

The luxury yacht chugs along after the contestants, safely outside of the beacons denoting the racing course. A few stray shots from Nomad hit the yacht, but the ship's shields are so formidable that Nomad might as well be sneezing at the huge ship. It does provide an interesting lightshow for the audience on board, however, as the shields ripple violently in all sorts of brilliant colors after every impact. Some of the onlookers scream in alarm, and others are largely amused by it, but one watcher--the massive hooded figure--does not even react at all. Clearly, this small taste of battle, which easily impresses the civilians, doesn't even faze this mysterious bystander.

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Space is vast and oddly desolate. That is something the F-35 has been learning, in her scanty few months as a space-capable vessel. Here she is, in a cutthroat ship-crash-ship race that is being televised all across the galaxy and watches by hooded men in space yachts, and yet, space, yawning and vast just stretches out around her, and she couldn't reach out and touch someone even if she wanted to. As the desolation settles over her, she cuts her engines slightly and falls back. Whatever that NOMAD (or DAMON?) is ahead, she'll let someone else find out, as she corkscrews away from the shots that come hear her.

Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Protected.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 4 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; pushes his ion drives to the maximum output. No time to think about being trapped in subspace anomalies... he's been there done that, and was nearly cannoned by Galvatron for dwelling on it once he was rescued. The Space Attack XO tracks his twin's progress, knowing full well that they are fairly evenly matched for speed. Sensors identifying the obsticles, he slices past with as little deviation as possible. &lt;&lt;Circumstances change quickly, Wingsib. Keep a sensor out for the rest of the field.&gt;&gt; One turret angles slightly to actively scan Astrotrain, yet the weapons module remains silent. (Duh...it's space!)

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"The race has settled into a quiet pace now. Astrotrain, Dredclaw, and Sunder are leading the pack. Behind them, but distant, is Catechism. It appears Blast Off, COKEshift, and Fragment have just begun to reorient themselves and plot a new flightpath to rejoin the race... one that wisely takes Fragment out of the way of that mysterious space probe! Ace flying, mate!"

Nomad continues flying away, seemingly disinterested with the competitors! Anyone who is stellar at quick-calculating trajectories will find it heading directly for the outlying planet of Alkor-Zephyr. "I AM NOMAD. IMPERFECTIONS MUST BE STERILIZED. I AM NOMAD.."

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 11 positions.

Space seems oddly calm.. for NOW.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Blue Spaceship               2   1   FEARLESS       -- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         2   1   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    2   1   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 7  1   PROTECTED      -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          13  1   FEARLESS       -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 13 1   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        13  1   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

This is going to be one of those horrid days isn't it. Blueshift is lagging behind badly, quite badly in fact as it seems everyone goes really girly and passes all the time. "This will be a giant draw!" he shouts, swerving to the side to wing-swipe Blast-Off

Combat: Blue Spaceship misses Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; with his Wing Slice attack! [Pulled -2]

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; is clearly still having trouble from his early injury as a shower of spaeks erupt from his side and then he pass the strange probe that decided to show up and make this race even more barbaric. Blast Off dances between the laser fire and thankfully isn't hit, "Stop shooting you worthless junkpile i'll get around to destroying you later, since that's what you appear to desire." Then Blueshift has a go at taking him out, deftly barrel rolling out of the way Blast Off speeds on determined to catch the leaders or kill someone trying. "Pathetic Blueshift, scared your abilites are inferior? Well they are."

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; is wary of Astrotrain, to be sure...but he decides to take no action against him. At least, not yet. If things continue as they have, the three of them look good for the medals. He hopes his twin isn't unduly reminded of his ordeal.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; hears Blueshift and agrees. So what does he do? Why, he tries to appease his commander... by making it less of a draw and giving him a nudge.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; misses Blue Spaceship with his Scorpion Class Nudge (Ram) attack!

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is suffering from a dilemma. Indulge in his love of carnage, or play nice and see about getting a medal, and maybe even winning! Which is something he also loves. Carnage or winning? Which does he love more? The hopeful possibility of a third option is also going through his head for that matter, the slight hope that some of that carnage from the racers behind them will circle around and allow this standoff between the three pack leaders to devolve into something more...chaotic! "Still sucks that there's no Autobots to crunch." He complains audibly. You tell em, Astro.

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; continues to be stuck in the middle with... no one. She starts to pay some attention to her surroundings, bleak and empty as they are, and she notices NOMAD heading off to that blasted world where the Fifth leaks over into the Third. She imagines the space probe thing will probably get fried, but if not, something worse will doubtless happen. It's calm. Too calm.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 4 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; agrees with Astrotrain, &lt;&lt;The Prey was too wary of our obvious mastery of the element to try to contend with us.&gt;&gt; He isn't above a little mayhem himself, but for the moment continues to plot when to unleash the gifts of the Chaos Bringer. &lt;&lt;It's really too bad, I would have loved to settle a score with the Shuttlebeast...&gt;&gt; Sky Lynx was a favored target of the Sweeps.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

But.. on the way to Alkor Zephyr, Nomad winks out of existence with another ripple-effect. What madness is this!?

"Astrotrain, Dredclaw, and Sunder continue holding their strong leads and they're keeping it friendly! Catechism has slowed down considerably, her position as fourth about to be overtaken by what appears to be Blast Off! Blueshift and Fragment are having a bit of a love-in! And while they do, I shall make a banana margarita. I keep a banana in my pocket at all times, you know. I like bananas. Bananas are good!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 11 positions.

Suddenly..

BWOOP, BWOOP, BWOOP, BWOOP!

Your sensors send your collision alarms into chaos! Dead ahead, meteors streak out from the darkness! They are enormous, round chunks of space-debris with glowing trails threaten to smash the competitors into pieces! If you manage to gain a close enough look -- you might find a chunk of Cyclonus's helmet sticking out of it!

Combat: Blueshift sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Blueshift sets his defense level to Protected.

Blueshift shifts to a more defensive stance as the meteors crash in. "Noo!" he cries. "I was so close to.. uh... winning." He starts spending more energy to avoid the dangerous obstacles. "Damn you Ramjet, SOMEHOW this is your fault!"

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

Meanwhile.. in a different part of space.

Ramjet suddenly jerks his cone to the side, looking disturbed.

"What is the matter, Air Commander?" A plain white Seeker with an image of a V6 stamped to his forehead asks.

"Uhh.. nothing!" Ramjet tilts his cone back and snorts. "I just had this .. strange feeling that someone, somewhere, was cursing my name at this very moment! Continue with your work, moron!"

"Yes sir!" The white Seeker salutes, "The Engine prevails!"

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; is determined to catch the leaders if only to spite those that tried to ram him out of the race and proving his superiority at the same time never hurts. Blast Off comments drolly, "Meteors? Well i've never had to deal with them before. Well i suppose i should show the others how to handle them properly." Not slowing in the least he relies on his natural agility to swerve and evade the firey death, some coming a little too close for comfort, not that he'd let anyone else know that.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Meteors are no sweat to an agile Sweep. Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; easily skims around these obstacles. &lt;&lt;Something tells me they will make this more challenging&gt;&gt; he shortranges to Dredclaw.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; keeps a cool head as his sensors light up. "Ahhh... rocks with 'go'." His sensors sniff each as he adeptly skips between each with rolls and shifts in heading. The miner in him unable to resist learning the composition of such space dwelling bodies. He gets close to them not out of incompetent flying, but out of curiousity. And then he picks up the upcomming reading of refined metal like that of Cyberttronian armor and he snakes through the meteorites to pick it up with a scoop panel opening up. Catching first meteorite dust and then the metal object. "Gotcha..." His internal display communicates: ANALYSING SAMPLES But the geometric cgi diagram of the object is enough for Fragment to identify before any readout....

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Meanwhile... in a different part of space

Blueshift is standing by a large console system, ticking off various boxes on a notepad. A Seeker walks up to him. "Hey Blueshift, shouldn't you be in the space race?"

Blueshift stares at the seeker. "But I /am/. I /am/. The Engine prevails!"

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is an oooold hand at this deep-space thing. He's been doing it longer than most others around here! Longer than Unicronians, longer than recently modified spacey types, and even imitation space shuttles! "Hah! Meteors? Gimme a REAL challenge!" Well it's not quite the carnage he was hoping for, but he'll take it! He gives a sudden burst of power to his thrusters, rocketing up a bit and unleashing a sudden discharge of firepower from his undercarriage lasers, shattering the nearest space rock and flying through the debris spraying in all directions. "Bwahaha!"

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; HOPES Blast Off catches up with her. Then she could try to hit him again. That would be radical. Maybe a space-time ripple can make Blast Off catch up with her! This place is just lousy with space time ripples, when it isn't being lousy in general. She wonders, if she flies in the shapes of a pentacle, could she summon - ARGH, why is Cyclonus's helmet hurtling through space, trying to smash her? Oh, and meteors, too.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 4 energon.

The luxury liner plows through the asteroids heedlessly, and while this still frightens a few of the more timid passengers, most of them have caught on to the fact that their ship is nigh indestructible, short of crashing into a moon. And so, they clap, and ooh as the rocks bounce off the shields, casting brilliant ripples across its surface. The passengers begin to wonder, though, how the racers are faring in such a bombardment. But where is the hooded figure? What does he think? Hm, he's not here anymore...

...no, he's /outside/ of the ship now, stomping across its dorsal plating, watching the racers carefully.

What a jerk.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; growls as meteors fill his viewscreen, the Sweep barrel rolls and swerves to avoid some armor crunching badness. He desperately wishes to unleash his proton missiles on the rocky interlopers, but his weapons ports remain in lockdown. Hopefully some of the rest of the racers won't have the agility to dodge the merciless hunks of... was that Cyclonus' helmet!?!?!? No time to double check...he presses on.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

And back to the race! The Police Box pilot makes a sipping noise and then promptly erks, "Oh! This is still going on, innit? Well! It looks like Astrotrain, Sundclaw, and Dredder.. er. Dredclaw and Sunder, oh heavens they all look alike!" Robot racism. You just heard it here. Somewhere, Omega Supreme is shedding a tear. "..those three have already crossed for their second laps. Catechism is nearing to catch up. Blast Off is right behind her, and both COKEshift and Fragment behind him!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 11 positions.

"..oh wait! My console is beeping! It looks like the race beacons are being realigned to change the pace! Looping around a planet.... and to a nearby moon, it looks like the racers'll have to use the planet's native gravity to slingshot themselves around if they want to keep up!"

Combat: Blueshift sets his defense level to Fearless.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         17  1   PROTECTED      -- Blue Spaceship               18  1   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    4   2   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 9  2   PROTECTED      -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          15  2   FEARLESS       -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 15 2   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        15  2   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Blueshift pulls his boosters up again as he races towards the planet. But then as he looks like he will go too far out into space, a grapplox hook shoots out from his side, hitting the moon and pulling him around in a circular motion, lending the blue spaceship a bit more speed

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

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; seems to find himself in a vacuum within the vacuum of space as no one is really near him, with the track changing ahead of him being somewhat behind the leaders pays off he has time to calculate the optimum trajectory that will hopefully catapult him into the lead.

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; notes that they're starting to lap people. This is where it gets tricky. But he rams no-one, for he knows that ramming breeds retaliation, and he wants to keep up top speed for as long as possible.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; finds the leading racers coming up from behind as they approach the slingshot test in the race. Still doing what his boss seems to want, Fragment makes the move about the gravitational bodies and then uses braking thrusters to try to jar one of the Sweeps from moving on.

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; strikes Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; with his Scorpion Class Nudge (Ram) attack!

Aaaand that's exactly the moment that Astrotrain was hoping for! No sooner does Fragment make his move on Dredclaw, and the triplechanger's sensors detect the satisfying impact of metal against metal, than Astrotrain decides to make his own move. "A'right, I was gettin tired of this stalemate anyway! Time to shake things up a little!" And with that, he makes his move on Sunder in turn, not going for anything fancy, just trying to put his blunt nose under the Sweep's much smaller frame and give him a simple brute-force nudge into that gravity field of the approaching planet, even as the triplechanger tries to slingshot himself around it with enough momentum!

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; strikes Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; with his Ram attack!

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; is not an old hand at spacing, and dealing with the gravity well is more than she can handle. She spins out and is sucked down by the planet's gravity. Catechism has to fight mightily to pull out, and by the time she does, she finds herself rather behind. Or perhaps no more behind than she was before. The race fans will know how she's doing before she does!

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 4 energon.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "Hng. Guess what I picked up out here on the course."

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; is well used to slingshotting around planets and other gravity wells too... he however isn't intent enough on his positioning locator, as Fragment totally waylays him. Astrotrain takes out his Twin whom he was counting on to keep the Sweeps' dreams alive. &lt;&lt;So be it.&gt;&gt;

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; strikes Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; with his Ram attack!

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Something valuable, I should hope?"

"Our competitors are keeping themselves keen on making the slingshot! But just as the lead three make their way ahead, Fragment manages to take advantage of his boost by slamming into Dredclaw! What a shake-up -- and he's veered right into Astrotrain! The race for first place is in a huge shake-up!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 11 positions.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- +Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         2   2   FEARLESS       -- Blue Spaceship               9   2   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    15  2   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          15  2   FEARLESS       -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 15 2   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        15  2   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 0  3   PROTECTED      --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

But wait! That's no moon! The moon that was on the other end of the slingshot spins in place and SPLITS OPEN, revealing a hideous darkness within! "OM NOM NOM NOM!" It's some manner of Pac-Moon-Man, threatening to gobble up the racers!

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF... NOT ANOTHER PAC MAN MOON!" Blueshift ejects cans of delicious Coke, and starts to suck them up with his fuel nozzle. "THANK GOODNESS FOR COKE!"

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

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; sighs to himself as what was turning back into a nice straight race to show off your abilities degrades back into violence as the leaders start to lap the slower moving cons. On the bright side he might have a chance of getting past the leaders, however it will no doubt prove challenging. As long as he or one of the Sweeps wins the race Blast Off will be happy, can't have one of the socially sub standard winning gold now can we? Blast Off drops some special Swind Co. additive into his energy tank and boosts forwards hopefully out running the slow chomping moon rock.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; veers away from the chomp-chomp-chomp of the Moon. Something about that was way tooooo familiar. He growls at Astrotrain. &lt;&lt;Keep this up, and none of us will get medals&gt;&gt; he shortranges.

Combat: Sunder sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; is dead last at the moment, but the monotony of the eary portion of the race has been given a little chaos. Now with his cargo and Catechism about to enter her third 'lap' in the race just behind him, Fragment tries to regain some energy and opts not to throw a wrench in her cogs. And besides. "What the frag is that?!" He just wants to outrun the ridiculously horrific body in space that apparently is able to chomp.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

The luxury liner is able to keep up not due to its speed--it accelerates very slowly--but by cutting around the "track." It catches up with the racers just as they're zipping past the moon, as a result. The passengers within the liner had thought, up to this point, that they could handle any terrors the race could throw at them, but they're soon proven wrong by Pac-Moon! They shriek in panic and scramble towards the escape pods even as the captain desperately tries to reassure everyone that everything's fine!

The cloaked figure standing on top of the liner, though, merely regards Pac=Moon with a brief glance before turning his attention to the racers. &lt;&lt;Astrotrain,&gt;&gt; he transmits to the triple-changer. &lt;&lt;I hear you've lost some weight. Hm hm hm.&gt;&gt; The way the stranger says it, the idea of Astrotrain "losing weight" sounds like a funny new joke.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "Hng. Depends I guess." He sends a HUD image to all on frequency, the cgi scan diagram of the hunk of helmet in his sample hold. "Recognize that? I do."

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is also nudged in turn by the other sweep! Oh the inhumanity of it all! Where a lesser experienced or smaller Decepticon might have fallen into the trap of the gravity well after being knocked off course, he simply applies even more brute force to his thrusters and literally slams himself out of it as he starts to pick up speed again. "Bah!" he responds to Sunder, "It's all gonna be Decepticons takin the medals anyway! Most of the fun's gone out of it without any Autobots to scrap! Heck I wouldn't have even minded that blowhard Sky Lynx trying to muscle in on..." He trails off then as he suddenly receives a transmission from the sidelines no less, and if he were in a mode that had optics, they would narrow slightly. "Awright, who the frag's pollutin my personal airwaves!?" Distracted by the speaking, he concentrates on going straight ahead for the moment.

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "OH BY PRIMUS"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blueshift says, "No what is it"

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; has somehow ended up in the lead?!? But /how/? All she's been doing has been hanging out in the middle of nowhere and been rubbish at flying in space! Fragment is uncomfortably close behind her, and... oh Straxus, no! Not a Pac-Man moon! Catechism blasts on the afterburner, frantically trying to get away!

Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Fearless.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 12 energon.

&lt;&lt;UNICRON!?!?&gt;&gt; Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; almost veers INTO the path of the moon-muncher, but quickly recovers and zips away, his hull sporting several dents from the mayhem that he just untangled himself from. &lt;&lt;Great, now we have to make even better time if we are to regain the lead.&gt;&gt; he would glare at Fragment, if he had optics to glare within this mode....

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"WHY WON'T ANYONE LOVE ME," the Pac-Moon-Man sobs as its meals get away from it. "NOW I MUST FILL THE GAPING HOLE IN MY SOUL WITH BADLY WRITTEN ROMANCE NOVELS. BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOO WOE IS ME."

"..that poor moon creature!" the Police Box Pilot transmits. "All alone in the universe, the only one of its kind! With the huge shake-up, Catechism has pulled ahead in the lead! Blast Off has caught up to the huge mess of Astrotrain, Dredclaw, and Sunder as they begin to streak forward at a strange attempt at second! COKEshift is third in place, with Fragment lagging a distant fourth!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 11 positions.

Space turns calm.. FOR NOW.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- +Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         13  2   FEARLESS       -- Blue Spaceship               0   3   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    6   3   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          6   3   PROTECTED      -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 6  3   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        6   3   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 11 3   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Zoom zoom. Blueshift has noone to interact with, so he just zips though space. "This is fun" he mutters to no-one. Inside, he is crying

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

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "A chunk of Cyclonus' helmet?!"

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; has now got to be very careful being stuck amidst all those that sudenly decided to turn the race into a space demolition derby. He considers trying to take out one of the nearby opposition but the ache in his torn side tells him that it's best to try and get the hell out of Dodge.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; is eager to avoid getting hit again...so he just makes sure he stays defensive for now.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; leaves the moon-thing behind, not giving two-fraks about it's 'feelings'. The seemingly 'safe' open space ahead a welcome respite after that little motivator. Energon still low from so much expendature, he continues to move onward without looking for trouble while conversing on the empire frequency. Also watching the 4 who run behind the leader, all too scared to take risks a moment ago and through at least half the race so far.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"I'm just an admirer, Astrotrain," the mysterious figure says as the luxury liner he's standing on chugs along after the racers. "An admirer of your work. Hm hm hm." Meanwhile, escape pods are jettisoned from the liner, full of panicking passengers. Some of them look like they may drift towards Pac Moon, so who knows, maybe he'll get some friends after all?

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "Hmf. Good. Someone knows what happened to the commander. Someone knows."

"A'right that's it!" Astrotrain states suddenly, deciding for himself that enough is enough is enough. Screw the medals...Decepticon dominance of this match was already assured from the start! As he races neck-and-neck with the second place leads, a winner in Astrotrain's little moral compass finally emerges. And that winner iiiiis...? CARNAGE! Abruptly the space shuttle VEERS to the side, putting his huge frame right in Dredclaw's path. Is he playing for strategy? Heck no, he's just trying to hurt the sweep as much as he can and still claim it's legal! ...and there's still the issue of that someone or other talking to him through the radio! "Admirer eh?" he snorts, "Well I -am- pretty awesome..."

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; strikes Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; with his Ram attack!

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; sees that Fragment is the only one who can possibly oppose her lead, despite being vastly behind her. Clearly, something must be done about him, then! While space is deceptively calm, she drifts over toward Fragment, trying to position a wingtip just under him. Then, she spins along her long axis, trying to tip him, before speeding back to her previous course.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; with her Ram attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: You took 1 damage from that attack.

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; guns his engines as hard as he can, trying to eat some of Catechism's lead away. He moves aside, trying to make sure there is room to avoid further collisions, should they come hurtling his way, but Astrotrain has decided that he's not to be left alone. The Sweep's hull caves in as the massive shuttle bears down on him. &lt;&lt;Sunder! Do not get entangled, Fly!" He angles his trajectory to try and bend Astrotrain's engines out of alignment.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; misses Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; with his Ram attack!

"Catechism is pulling ahead -- but it looks like she's feeling insecure, as she whacks Fragment with the tip of her wing! Further back, things're getting unpleasant quickly as Astrotrain slams Dredclaw away while Blast Off and Sunder shoot along, more content for first! Blueshift is hanging in, trying to catch up and assert himself as a contender!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Your movements are slowed slightly due to your earlier collision.

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 5 positions.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         13  2   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        6   3   FEARLESS       -- Blue Spaceship               11  3   FEARLESS       -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 11 3   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 16 3   FEARLESS       -- +Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    17  3   FEARLESS       -- +Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          17  3   PROTECTED      --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

"Ugh, I am a contender!" cries Blueshift as he ducks and dives amidst the space debris. "I'll show you, mysterious voice, I'll show you all!" He loops himself underneath a passing meteor, using it as a space-shield

Combat: Blueshift sets his defense level to Protected.

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

Then.. another ripple of space! Another shower opens up, this time... the results ar far pricklier and horrifying than one could even imagine! Strange, soft-bodied entities akin to a KOOSH ball come in mass quanities, but their wavy spines do not bring happiness! They bring DEATH, as they have razor-sharp ends that carry COSMIC RUST!

With a barrel roll and a close called dodge, Blast Off pulls clear of the pile up within his pack ending up zooming along with Sunder. Trouble is what should he do now? Then the space ripples and lets out spiky balls of some sort, favouring his undamaged side as rust in his open wound will spell his doom he pulls in close to Sunder maybe he will provide a useful shield?

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; is now at the head of the Pack, but he knows not how long that will last. He is taking no chances. &lt;&lt;My brother, I will at least try to win this for us&gt;&gt; he promises to Dredclaw. Fortunately, Blast Off doesn't attempt to ram him, so Sunder returns the favor by leaving the Combaticon be, for the moment.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; is sent spiralling and loses control of his forward momentum, going off course. He grunts as now he has to get back on course. "Ruthless and risky jeopardising your place. Good for you." When he returns to the race, he catches up to, while still being behind in lap placements, Astrotrain and Blueshift. Space, man. It's a funky field. Because looky looky, the weirdness resumes. "What kinda ~censored~hole sector is this?" He shoots through the things with conservative light phase blasts from his scorpion array mount. The Decepticon way. Screw going around. His deflector repulses any debris or dust that gets in his way.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"Oh no ya don't!" Astrotrain calls out as the Sweepcraft tries to do some damage back. Nothing fancy in this case, as the triplechanger quite literaly uses his larger size and mass to bully free of the entangelment with the other spacecraft, rocketing ahead as he starts to pick up speed again. Evil Koosh balls from space proceed to assail him in large numbers...were he a good guy or a part of a futuristic Starfleet it would no doubt cause great problems as he would be sworn to protect life and not harm innocents of any sort! Luckily, such things don't apply to him, as he generously zaps the little beasts with his blasters as he picks up speed once more, noting that things have gotten peaceable on the front of the pack again. "Bah! this a race of Decepticons or huggy-bears? Where's the CARNAGE? The floating space junk? The burnt out hulks!?"

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "Ah, but the silence. Some for wonder. Some for something else maybe."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Oh?"

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; has fallen behind while trying to shore up her lead! Infinite woe to her! There is only one option now: to punish those who dare to be ahead of her! Since she has already shown Blast Off her infinite wrath, she pursues Sunder instead, trying go all cow-tipping on the Sweep. The evil koosh balls, however, may thwart her efforts and give her a dreadful case of rust that she will then blame on the Junkions.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; with her Ram attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: You took 1 damage from that attack.

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; is left in Astrotrain's wake as his attempt to foul the larger Con's engines is for naught... He sinply accelerates and flies through the generous swath cut by the blasting shuttle and thus isn't bothered by the rust-tipped kooshballs of DEATH.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

The mysterious figure says to Blueshift, &lt;&lt;We will see, Decepticon. Yes, yes we will. But I must say, it does amuse me to see all of you at each other's throats. Very entertaining, indeed.&gt;&gt;

"The space dust is starting to clear.. and Blast Off and Sund--- oh good heavens! Catechism has braved the mighty koosh swarm, petted the cat, and exacted wrath on Sunder! Sunder's just lost his bid for first place! And Catechism just put her second place in jeopardy! Blueshift and Astrotrain might've just launched back to the top, while Dredclaw is trying to catch up. At the end is Fragment, trying to make it to his third lap!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Your movements are slowed slightly due to your earlier collision.

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 5 positions.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         4   3   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          17  3   PROTECTED      -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        17  3   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 1  4   FEARLESS       -- +Blue Spaceship               2   4   PROTECTED      -- +Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 2  4   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    8   4   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

The KOOSH swarm flies off for parts unknown!

"Hah!" shouts Blueshift across the radio frequencies at the stranger. "I was talking to the voice in my head so THERE!" he continues rocketing along like a huge jerk, staying under his meteor

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

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;'s plan pays off but not in the manner that he expected as Sunder is crashed into by Catechism slowing them both down and putting him in the lead? Yep nothing but clear space ahead and no one with range of ramming, not that Blast Off would want to he's hurting enough already. Oh this is bad, if he wins the bragging could continue until the middle of the next Olympics.

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; utters a multitude of various curses as Catechism rams him. Blasted Seeker! The Sweep sees red as he recovers, and the culprit speeds out of range. The Koosh balls were easy enough to avoid. What other tricks the racetrack maintainers had mind, the Sweep could only guess.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; makes it to the third. Finally. As the koosh-rust-death things disperse, his weapon shuts down and he finds himself still in pace with the two who are a lap ahead of him. his blue boss cowering. "Tsk tsk."

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; strikes Blue Spaceship with his Scorpion Class Nudge (Ram) attack!

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is back up near the front of the pack again! Who'd have thunk it? As he spots the Sweep and Seeker entangled in a crash as he rockets past, the Triplechanger can't help but smirk to himself a bit. "A'right now we're talkin!" And with that, his thrusters ignite brilliantly as he soars after Blast Off! The race ain't over yet!

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; has petted the cat and has done everything that really matters. She sees ahead of her Blueshift and Astrotrain, and she is posed with a dilemma. Blueshift is sometimes annoying, but he is also very hard to hit. Astrotrain is very hard to hit but perhaps not so hard to hit as Blueshift. Who shall she try to tip, as she goes on her spree of evil and mayhem in the space lanes? However, Fragment solves the problem for her by creaming Blueshift, so she instead makes a play for the Triple-Changer.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; misses Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; with her Triple-Play (Ram) attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; sends a datapacket at his Twin as he catches up and presses ahead with him, perhaps they can pull something out of the debacle this has become, but it will take a Unicron's portion of luck to pull it off.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"We've got a bloody different race going on than just moments ago! With Dredclaw and Sunder struggling to regain their lost footing, Blast Off has.. blasted ahead! Behind him are Astrotrain and COKEshift, but COKEshift's just gotten rear-ended by Fragment who is still dead last! Catechism, on third, tries to stump Astrotrain but to no avail!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Your movements are slowed slightly due to your earlier collision.

Combat: You are running low on energon!

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Race: Advanced 5 positions.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Blue Spaceship               2   4   PROTECTED      --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 6  4   FEARLESS       -- +Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          8   4   PROTECTED      -- +Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        8   4   FEARLESS       -- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         9   3   FEARLESS       -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 13 4   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    19  4   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
============[ Sorted by Track Position ]=========================

"Curse you!" cries Blueshift to Fragment. But there is noone about to hear his screams, he is once more alone in space. So he flies off gain

Combat: Blueshift sets his defense level to Fearless.

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

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; notes that the Seeker that rammed him is still in range. However he knows she is extremely difficult to hit. He takes the chance that anyone ramming him would miss, hoping to shoot far ahead if they fail.

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; breathes a sigh of relief, mometarily anyway as he stays ahead of the fisticuffs, nothing ahead and a great wish to stay well away from ramming he jets on his engines blaze dulls slightly however as his extra spice additive burns up. "Damn i knew i should have got two cans of that liquid schwartz from Swindle, but there's no way i was going to get indebted to him again, not after the last time."

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; notes that the Seeker that rammed him is still in range. However he knows she is extremely difficult to hit. He takes the chance that anyone ramming him would miss, hoping to shoot far ahead if they fail. &lt;&lt;My brother, if we are attacked, avenge me,&gt;&gt; he shortranges to his twin. One of them has to come out ahead, at least.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; goes back to conserving energon... this is all very taxing being the chaos guy in the race...

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt;'s sensors are on the ball this time as he catches Catechism approaching him from behind, her intent quite clear. "Not this time!" he calls out, suddenly blasting to the right and shooting the remnants of one stray meteor as he sprays the path behind him with bits of shattered rock to slow the seeker's approach down. It's as he gets some more distance under his belt that he becomes aware that he's in a relatively quiet spot of the track, his thrusters burning heavily as he soars along behind Blast Off...just out of range for the moment, anyway. "Hrnnn, play the game Astro...play the game!" he mutters to himself.

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; continues to be showered by an abundance of choices, even as she falls farther behind. Then again, who cares about winning? She has a pointed head, and she missed the demolition derby! She doesn't care if it takes the last of her energon - she is going to take a swipe at one of the Sweeps! Which one? Darned if she can tell them apart.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; with her Ram attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: You took 1 damage from that attack.

Combat: You are running low on energon!

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; is rammed by Catechism. Growling he tries to return the favor, gunning his engines while still entangled.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; strikes XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; with his Ram attack!

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; (Dredclaw) used "Ram": A Level 3 VELOCITY attack.

Race: You have been hit by Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;. Your movement rate will be zero next turn.

Combat: You took 13 damage.

"Blast Off's as good as his name says! He's holding onto that first place position quite thoroughly as he quickly approaches making his fifth lap. Behind him but a ways off is Astrotrain, followed by Dredclaw and Sun-- no, make that just Sunder, as Catechism wipes out Dredclaw! Sunder might have a handle on third, but Blueshift is moving to catch up! Fragment is still in last place, looking quite spectre-like in his grey paintjob!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: You recover from your crash.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

-- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         0   4   FEARLESS       --

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 6  4   FEARLESS       -- +Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        8   4   FEARLESS       -- Blue Spaceship               13  4   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          19  4   PROTECTED      -- +Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 4  5   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    10  5   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Blueshift is super tired, but on he goes like a trooper

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

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; somehow manages to stay ahead and out of trouble, though Astrotrain looms large behind him on the straight sections of the course, Blast Off manages to pull it back when it come to the cornering. A classic battle of sheer power versus agility and control, "Are we going to settle this like gentlemechs Astrotrain?"

Combat: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; is hopefully going to regain his lead...for now nobody can touch him and he sighs in relief. He can afford to drop his guard for now, and focus all his energies on getting back in front.

Combat: Sunder sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; grunt-grumbles gruffly at the commentry, "Flashy is for people who wanna get shot." And now with nobody close by and no hazards, he just flies.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; laps around and approaches Catechism's position again, and given there's no other targets he wouldn't put it past the seeker to make another try on him! Normally he'd be more than eager to just slam right back into her and return the favor, but now there's the very real possibility that he may take it as the race is almost over. In the end, he growls and decides to try and make a run for it! The worst part is that he can't take any defensive maneuvers as he has to go all out just to stand a chance to take a position or at least hold the one he has! "I'll show ya gentle-mech if ya just come a few shuttle lengths closer!" he growls towards Blast Off, but of course he can't reach him for the moment.

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; is seeing stars, and it's not 'cos she's in space. It's because that Sweep she whammed just whammed right back into her! She vents liquid hydrogen into space, which quickly boils. By the time she has recovered, Astrotrain has lapped her! Does she go after Astrotrain again, or does she goes after the Sweep that sixed her? She tilts side to side, shrugging, and she goes after her own white whale.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; with her Ram attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: You took 1 damage from that attack.

Combat: You are running low on energon!

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; will make Catechism rue the day! RUE!

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; knows that he may not be able to make it to the end of the race, Astrotrain and Catechism both have done a number on him. He tries nonetheless, using a camera-pod as cover as he zips past.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Combat: Dredclaw sets his defense level to Protected.

"Huh. I didn't know spaceplanes could shrug like that.." the Police Box Pilot marvels. "Blast Off's got one lap to go and he's heading to it faster'n... well.. fast! Astrotrain's trying to keep his second place lead solid, but he's been reamed by Catechism! Sunder is behind them, trying to clinch that second while Blueshift is right behind. Dredclaw passes up his chance to ruin Blast Off's parade and Fragment seems to be chugging along!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; crosses the finish line!

Race: You don't have enough energon to race!

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

--

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 6  4   FEARLESS       -- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         11  4   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        19  4   PROTECTED      -- +Blue Spaceship               4   5   FEARLESS       -- +Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 4  5   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          10  5   FEARLESS       -- Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt;    1   6   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Blueshift somehow regains the powers of life, as he blasts forwards. "FOR BLUESHIFT!" he shouts as he rockets into his DESTINY. And his DESTINY is to finish and not collapse

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

Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; was about to ease off the power and try to shuffle safely through the undoubtedly backstabbing back markers but then the finishing line comes up and he... wins! Soon as he is across the line he veers sharply from the race course and away from any nasty retribution that might be headed his way. "Well it would appear that grace and fairplay win the day!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Grace and fairplay my exhaustpipe, that was luck!"

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; tries desperately to catch up to Blast Off, but it seems Blast Off has made the finish before he could! He's in the home stretch, and he can taste that silver medal. It would have to do. &lt;&lt;My brother, I shall triumph for us. It is not gold, but it is significant.&gt;&gt;

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; grumbles back at the commentry, "Quiet you.... you impossible man..." And still no further additions to the hazards this race has presented so far, Fragment just wants to finish. It'd suck not to... indignity would blow sunflares... and now Catechism has fallen behind him... maybe he won't be dead last.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Fate has dealt strangely then."

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is glad at times like this that the makers didn't just bless him with lots of agility, but also made him very very tough for those many moments when his speed just isn't enough. As sparks fly off into space after the impact with Catechism, he makes more than a few promises of the nasty, nasty things he'll do to the seeker. And he makes no matter of hiding it either...unless one has a cannon sported on their arm, the triplechanger is notorious for not caring much for rank and other fancy luxuries. "So close, and yet...so fraggin far!" Nonetheless, he recovers from being blown off course again, righting himself and blasting forward with a deep ROAR of ignition as he rockets ahead! Do OR DIE TIME! Maybe he can snatch a bronze if he's really, really lucky.

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off says, "Now now Astrotrain, no need to be a poor loser."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "Luck is made, not received."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Naw see, yer misunderstanding me."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "I'm just ticked I didn't get a chance to crunch you yet!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "In fact...hold still! I'm comin up on the finish line..."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off says, "Really Sunder! I would expect better from you."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "Why?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off sighs, "I don't think so Astrotrain."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "What are you talking about, Combaticon?"

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; has, so far, hit Blast Off, Fragment, two different Sweeps, not that she can tell them apart, and Astrotrain. There is only one Decepticon left that she has not touched, and so she has to give it a try. Because she is evil. It says so on her box. She angles toward Blueshift, still leaking slowly, and she tries to nudge him off track.

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes Blue Spaceship with her Ram attack! [Pulled -2]

Race: You have attacked Blue Spaceship. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Combat: You took 1 damage from that attack.

Combat: You are running low on energon!

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Race: Space Shuttle &lt;Blast Off&gt; leaves the race.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; can do nothing but press forward as fast as possible, the way is clear, he maggrapples the camerdrone for lasting cover. "How about a racer's pov....it's good television."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off says, "Well someone of your obvious heritage acting in such a base manner, it's most unbecoming."

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"Blast Off wins! Blast Off wins! Grace and fair-play has indeed won the day! Good show, ol' chap!" the Police Box Pilot cheers. He's left everyone else in his space dust, no one is even close! And now homing in for second is Sunder, followed by Astrotrain and COKEshift. Or it was COKEshift, until Catechism bashed him away! Dredclaw's about to make his fifth lap, while Fragment is right behind him!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; crosses the finish line!

Race: You don't have enough energon to race!

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

--

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 6  4   FEARLESS       -- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         2   5   FEARLESS       -- +Blue Spaceship               4   5   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        10  5   PROTECTED      -- Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 15 5   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt;          1   6   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Sweepcraft &lt;Sunder&gt; crosses the finish line! The Sweep is elated that he got Silver. &lt;&lt;I have done it, my brother&gt;&gt; he shortranges. He transforms with a flourish and hovers in place.

Sunder shifts into his fearsome-looking robot mode.

Race: Sunder leaves the race.

Blueshift explodes in a pile of bloody ash as Catechism hits him. "I will kill you!" he shouts, blasting towards the seeker, his deadly blades sliding out, lasers humming up as he tries to smash into her

Combat: Blue Spaceship strikes XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; with his Wing Slice attack!

Combat: Blue Spaceship (Blueshift) used "Wing Slice": A Level 4 VELOCITY attack.

Race: You have been hit by Blue Spaceship. Your movement rate will be zero next turn.

Combat: You took 16 damage.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Oh, congratulations on your Gold Medal, Blast Off."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Haw haw haw, woah! Lookit that little Bluenose go! And yer worried about -me-?"

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; is going to get Bronze again! He got Bronze during the landrace too! Apparently this is going to be a habit of some sort. Makes him wonder if he should have been competing in every single event, even those he wasn't suited for. He might have walked away with enough bronze medals to put everything else to shame! Or maybe he's just kidding himself. Either way, the triplechanger leaves Blueshift and Catechism behind as they tangle and apparently Blueshift goes berzerk for good measure! "Woah ho ho! Now -that-'s more like it! YEAH give us some proper entertainment like!" His sensor lights blink rapidly as he soars towards the finish line for third place!

Combat: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; has now hit everyone on the track. Except for herself. There is only one thing left to do, clearly. Catechism veers off, flying straight toward a marker buoy! Can she manage six out of six, or will she fail to collect them all? And then Blueshift kills her. The world will never know if she could have hit that marker buoy, in some Zen fashion, hit herself! Two pieces of Catechism go floating off in space, forever! Or until the next episode. Actually, the two pieces start to look like they might collide into each other...

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; strikes herself with her Ram attack!

Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt; (Catechism) used "Ram": A Level 3 VELOCITY attack.

Race: You have attacked XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;. Your movement rate will be halved next turn.

Race: You have been hit by XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;. Your movement rate will be zero next turn.

Combat: You took 15 damage.

Combat: You have foolishly damaged your own Agility!

Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack.

Combat: You have foolishly damaged your own Agility!

Combat: You are running low on energon!

Combat: Drained 5 energon.

Combat: Blue Spaceship's attack continues to damage you.

Combat: You took 4 damage.

Combat: Blue Spaceship's attack has damaged your Accuracy!

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off says, "Thank you Sunder, i see the sentiment needs to be returned, well done on the Silver."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Why, thank you."

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; decides to just finish the race. Even if not in the medal standings, his Wingsib has secured another and that will have to do.

Combat: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"Sunder goes for se--- oh dear. He's transformed. And he looks as awful as the Dominator did just before he stole that Trakenite's body. Could use a spot of moisturizer there. Astrotrain's heading for third and this race could possibly be over..!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; crosses the finish line!

Race: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; crosses the finish line!

Race: You recover from your crash.

=
===============[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                        Pos Lap Defense-Level

--

-&gt;XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Cate 6  4   FEARLESS       -- Blue Spaceship               9   5   FEARLESS       -- Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;         13  5   FEARLESS       -- Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt;        1   6   PROTECTED      -- +Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrai 6  6   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance

-&gt; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; uh... flies. And his bronze for the footrace Astrotrain wasn't in remains, in this reality, his. Else-reality, Astrotrain pets his bronze for the footrace, and every other event the one from this realm didn't participate in.

Race: Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; leaves the race.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Dredclaw says, "Congratulations, Blast Off, Sunder, and Astrotrain. A pity we were forced to contend with each other and not the Autobots, but good showing of mettle."

Race: Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; leaves the race.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Air Commander Ramjet says, "..That was the most boring thing I have ever watched."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Woulda been better with some Autobots to scrap."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Woulda been better if I'd been there!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Heck I'd even take a Junkion or two! I think we oughta petition the organizers to let them Junk-freaks bring a spaceship next year."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "I'd love bashing it to bits."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off says, "Well i would have preferred a less barbaric competition Dredclaw but the sentiment is appreciated."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Fragment says, "When there are no Autobots to contend with in a race, you are all Autobots to me until the last medal is taken."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain sputters, "Less barbar..."

=
================== 2030 Olympics ================================

Message: 37/119                   Posted        Author

Space Race Results                Sat Aug 29    Ramjet

--

Gold: Blast Off

Silver: Sunde

Bronze: ASTROTRAIN

Susan B. Ramjet Award: Catechism, for ramming everyone -- including herself.

=
=================================================================

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Indeed"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Astrotrain says, "Where's the fun in that!?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off says, "It may well have been Fusillade, just where did you get to?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Grey Snapper, Fusillade mumbles something about pole dancing lessons.

Decepticon Shuttle &lt;Astrotrain&gt; crosses the finish line in third place! He transforms after crossing, drifting along in robot mode as he spins about to take stock of the situation, Catechism's current plight as Blueshift finishes her off drawing a pointed finger and a few good guffaws for good measure. He turns then towards the announcer's booth and shouts (or rather transmits) for good measure, "You high muckity mucks talk with your higher muckity mucks and make more Autobots show up next year! Escort em at gunpoint or something, I don't care!"

In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode.

"..and Astrotrain takes bronze! Just in time, as I've seem to have corrected this bizarre time-space quibble! Farewell! Don't jumping into messes with people of other, alternate realities!" The Police Box disappears, replaced by the black-and-white striped referee ship.

T.O.R. transmits, "What just happened?!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Blast Off doesn't comment on Fusillade's hobby.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Boomslang says, "Well, I'm intrigued."

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; transforms as he crosses the finish line and heads to congratulate the winners and then to seek a quiet spot to make repairs.

"Race you back to the Bar Moon," Sunder says to the others, nodding at Dredclaw as his twin finally crosses the Finish Line. At least one of the Sweeps got to represent in the medals for this event.

Sweepcraft &lt;Dredclaw&gt; makes note to lookout for weakened dance poles in the bar moon.

The wings of the Sweepcraft smoothly swing back and around, legs extend and turn as Dredclaw emerges into robot form.