Touchdown on Nebulos

Summary: The Autobots set up base on Nebulos, but Scourge the tracker is on their trail!

 City Commander Ultra Magnus says, "Autobots, we've received reports that the planet Nebulos is being used as the current base of operations for the techno-organic exo-shell's creator, Thunderwing. In order to head off the creation of any more of these weapons, we are going to strike out against Thunderwing, locate and destroy his base, and take him into custody. We need to deploy to Nebulos ASAP and set up a temporary base for use until Thunderwing is located. I'll need a team to accompany me to establish the forward base. Volunteers?"

 Cliffjumper says, "You can count on me, Magnus."

 Sunstreaker says, "I'm in."

 Scattershot says, "Yeah yeah. You know I love shootin' things."

 Grand Slam says, "I was going to the worst place in the world and I didn't even know it yet. Astro-minutes away and dozens of light years through space that.. huh? Oh.. yes. Uh. Magnus, I'm in. Am I to understand that this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist?"

 Red Alert says, "A temporary installation on Nebulos? Site security could be a challenge. I'd better come along."

 Raindance says, "Yes we will need a rough and tumble commando, Red Alert, thank you!"

 Whirligig says, "You guys have fun. I've got stuff I need to be working on."

 Red Alert has encrypted this channel.

 Red Alert says, "Even with Encryption I consider this to be an unsecure channel. Everyone please also adjust your frequences to the following ."

Nebulos

''Up close, the differences between Nebulos and Earth are much more obvious. Though both have an abundance of plant-life, on Nebulos everything is... changed. The flowers aren't quite the right shade or shape, the trees are taller and twisted, the beautiful waterfalls just wouldn't seem -right- next to their cousins on Earth. The animal life here range from tame to extremely dangerous. ''Koraja is the capital of Nebulos. Its alien buildings resemble something out of a sci-fi book which (poorly) guesses what the structures of the future will look like. There is a huge wall, about 40 feet tall, that circles around the city. In the centre of Koraja is a courtyard with elaborate fountains surrounding a statue of four arms reaching up and supporting a Nebulos globe. There are police officers, but their weapons are non-lethal. There is no army to speak of.

Sunny Valley

''Through a miraculous confluence of geography and happenstance, a fertile valley has developed here amongst the arid plains and foreboding jungles of this area of Nebulos. There is a small lake in the middle, from which all the lively greenery in the area springs. Hills and mountains flank this secret garden, protecting it from the ravages of nature. Butterflies flit about as predator and prey alike share the fresh waters. Tall trees provide shelter from the vicious sun and small red and yellow flowers flaunt themselves in clusters around the valley. This would be a nice place to retire.

 Raindance says, "Magnus this valley looks good, it would be a nice place to retire!"

 Ultra Magnus says, "No retiring here, Raindance. But yes, this valley should work fine for our purposes. We'll set up base at my location."

Fire Chief's Countach  drives in a wide circle around the chosen site. "Preliminary sweeps indicate our perimiter is secure, Ultra Magnus. Nothing but Autobot signals detected in the area. Well, that and a few birds."

Scattershot reconfigures into his humanoid robot form, hands flexing and feet stomping. His head ratchets into place, looking grim.

Scattershot squints at Red Alert, then leans back and crosses his arms. "Ya sure they ain't SPY birds?" he asks, only half-teasing.

Cliffjumper radios back, surveying the area by off-roading the crap out of the all-too-tire-crushable terrain, "I ain't seein' anything either. Headin' back to base camp -- but I got a bad feelin' about this."

Sideswipe wanders down the path that leads to the valley, stopping just behind Red Alert, as he takes a look around and nods approvingly. "Nice place here...kinda weird thinking the Connies had anything to do with it, huh bro?"

Sunstreaker takes a look around the place they've wound up in as he stops next to his twin, taking in the scenery with a curious expression, his hands resting against his hip plates. "Huh. Can't say I disagree with y'there, Sides. Seems to... I dunno... serene, I guess?"

The valley is mostly quiet, just animals about. But from a distance, you can see smoke rising from what looks to be a settlement. Raindance bobs up and down as he scans all this. "Local life forms a bit to the north sir!" he bleeps. "If you could bipeds as life. Personally I do not. There is a nice fly hive somewhere here too..."

Arriving at Nebulos, the Autobot Shuttle Golden Age had touched down miles and miles from Nebulos' capital city, amidst a clearing surrounded by jungle. Arriving within a wide, rich valley clear amongst jungles and plains, Ultra Magnus strides out amidst the group of Autobots, blue eyes sweeping around him in a thoughtful glance. "... Right. Keep an eye out though, Red Alert. This planet still has Decepticon influence; we can't be too careful." Turning, he looks around him, glancing off towards the location of the ship. "We'll have to set up fast. The sooner we can find Thunderwing's labs, the better."

'Someday this war's gonna end', Grandslam thinks to himself as he rolls down the shuttle ramp and follows the rest into the valley. 'That'd be just fine with the boys on the ship. They weren't looking for anything more than a way home. Trouble is, I'd been back there, and I knew that it just didn't exist anymore.' As his inner monologue keeps rolling on, his highly tuned audial sensors record everything around him. "Sounds like they might be intelligent" he adds to Raindance's assessment. Hard to tell from this distance. Could be just birds.

"Flies aren't intelligent!" Raindance bleeps. "Magnus, can't we just firebomb Nebulos to the ground, surely that would solve all our problems!" The little triangular unit hovers up slightly above the trees. "And I hate pre-fab bases, they are so tacky!"

Sideswipe nods again in agreement with his twin as he rests the barrel of his weapon in his left hand as his other hand remains curled around the butt. "Maybe that was the plan, bro...who'd think Connies would come to a place like this? I guess even their busted up brains can think up something sometimes."

Cliffjumper transforms as soon as he reaches base camp, immediately helping to put up a Robot Wall or whatever these prefab bases are made out of.

"Triangle's got a point," Scattershot agrees, jerking a thumb towards Raindance. "Magnus, I know ya ain't never agreed with me on this, but this planet's GOT ta go. Just lemme planetbuster it." His optics look half=determined, half-pleading. "Jus' this once?"

"Natives?" Ultra Magnus questions of Raindance, gaze turning towards the north. "--No, Raindance, Scattershot. We are -not- firebombing the planet just to get Thunderwing. How many times do I have to tell you? It's just not how we do things. Furthermore, the native species of this planet could more likely use our -help-, not a planetbuster. The answer is 'no.'" As Magnus speaks, he moves back towards the shuttle, lifting and moving materials towards Cliffjumper to help assemble the RoboWall.

Sunstreaker glances at the other conversations before his optics flicker... a mechanical simulation of the movement humans call "rolling one's eyes." Shaking his head, he looks over at his brother. "Maybe. It's either that or they did it by accident. They're just stupid enough to stumble on something like this and not realize it's great cover."

"No, I meant.. you know what I meant" Grand Slam replies, knowing it's pointless to argue with Raindance. Planetbusting.. if that's how Scattershot fought the war I began to wonder what they really had against the Decepticons. It wasn't just insanity and murder, there was enough of that to go around for everyone.

"C'mon, guys, keep it together," Cliffjumper says as he continues to work on helping with the base. He grins good-naturedly. "The last thing we wanna do on Nebulos is lose our heads."

Sideswipe looks doubtfully over at Scattershot as he turns and makes his way back up the trail toward the shuttle to help move the stuff from the shuttle. "I dunno, man. They're pretty dumb a lot of the time but that doesn't mean they're not sneaky." He hefts two handfuls of the building materials onto his shoulder and starts making his way toward Cliffjumper.

Scattershot throws up his hands in disgusted surrender, then stalks off in a random direction, muttering angrily under his breath.

"Sneaky, bro, but not /bright/. Not /this/ bright, anyway," Sunstreaker comments, heading back up the trail behind Sideswipe. "Eh. Either way... they're here and we gotta beat 'em down. That's the way it goes."

Sideswipe puts his load of building materials on the ground before turning around and heading back up the trail for more. He grins at his brother in passing before nodding and giving him a thumbs up. "They'll never know what hit 'em, bro, never know what hit 'em."

Red Alert also helps with the construction efforts, and also spends a moment double-checking the strength of each part of the wall once it's ready. "Looks like we're off to a good start...but we'd best keep our guard up. No telling what could be out there." He shoots a calculating look at some of the taller trees.

Grand Slam does his part by bumping halfheartedly into the walls. If anyone asks, he's testing their ability to withstand impact. Beep beep!

Sunstreaker smirks as he drops his first load and goes back for another, rolling his shoulders in a way of showing he's more than ready to thrash some Decepticons. "When do they, bro?" His optics are bright, his smile is mischievous, and his pose is completely ready for action. "When do they?"

Cliffjumper finishes his bit of the work and slams his fist into his palm, making a metallic 'clank' noise. "Awright, let's get some people who can fight -- bring some pain to those Decepticrumbs!"

Sideswipe has also retrieved another load which he carries past his brother as he flashes him another grin. "They even have a tough time of it when they're even looking right at us."

Red Alert adds a few more finishing touches to the robo-walls, fiberobtic cameras and motion sensors and whatnot. He rigs them so that they make simple alarms go off rather than trying to connect them to a central security system...since it's unlikely that a slapdash base like this would even have a control room.

Red Alert drops Sign - Security by RedTech! (tm).

"You got it, Magnus," Cliffjumper says. "You two goons get in the fancy suits, and let's do it," he says with a smirk over at the Glitter Twins, pounding his fist into his palm again.

Red Alert waves after the departing Autobot heroes. "Good luck, you three. Don't let your guard down for an instant!"

Sunstreaker would have replied to his twin, but he's too busy scoffing at Cliffjumper. Just one swift drop-kick... but he won't. He's better behaved than that. "Let's do this!" And off he heads.

Grand Slam tests the integrity of Red Alert's sign by running into it a couple of times.

Frowning as Cliffjumper and company depart, Ultra Magnus refocuses his attention on the wall being built. Resuming work on it, he gives a brief nod to Red Alert. "Keep an eye out. Who knows what the Decepticons have done to this place." He resumes his work on the FOB, laying down massive metal girders in various random locations that definitely help contribute to the building.

From the bushes comes a rustle, a crack and then... a Nebulonse man stumbles out, coughing and bleeding as he falls at the Autobots feet. Looking up at the large robots, eyes wide, he gives another cry. "Noooo!"

In the sky, a small dot appears. It grows progressively larger, taking on a dark shape -- a bit like a bullet, or some sort of wedge, or... an airskiff. But what are its intentions? Well. That's a bit of a pickle, isn't it? Luckily, the answer is provided when it fires a brilliant red burst of death down toward the Autobots. "Leave this planet or be buried here!" the voice of Scourge booms as he soars downward.

Scourge strikes Ultra Magnus with Disintegrator Cannon.

Grand Slam executes a perfect three-point turn and rolls up to the Nebulese..Nebulosian..Nebulesque..alien. "What's the problem?" the tank improbably emits, the biped's cries and screams like music to his ears. Music by Vanilla Ice.

The Nebulonese man is dressed a bit like Elvis, but that is alien fashion for you. He falls back as Grand Slam approaches, waving out a hand to try to ward him away. "No... no more!" he cries hoarsely

"Wha--" Ultra Magnus looks down as the Nebulese man approaches, blue optics blinking with surprise. "It's a native...! It seems to be injured. Grand Slam, Raindance, help him out--HURGH!" Magnus is cut off as soon as a sudden BLAST of power crushes into his frame in a deafening explosion, ripping off chunks of armor as the City Commander is sent flying. Body smoking, Magnus crashes with a screech of metal across the ground, looking up towards the sky. "-SCOURGE-! Autobots, Decepticons in the area! Keep the Nebulese man safe and take Scourge down!" As he speaks, Magnus launches off both his missiles through the air, red rockets ripping through the sky for a dead-on path -- straight for Scourgeboat.

Ultra Magnus strikes Spacefaring Gravy Boat  with Missiles .

Scourge, struck by red rockets' glare, lets out a howl and transforms, landing on the little Nebulan man. Oops. "You will /die/ for that, Ultra Magnus!"

Raindance bobs away as Scourge crushes the Nebulonese man. "Uh, Grand Slam, this might be a time where HANDS and FEET are appropriate. I think it is THAT time again. But apart from THAT time, it is also time to... merge!" The tape flips into the air, turning into a pair of legs, which starts to run about in a circle, waiting for grandslam

Raindance shouts, "Raindance and Grand Slam, MERGE to form Slamdance!"

With a shudder of metal, the Raindance and Grand Slam undergo a stunning transformation and combine into the mighty form of Slamdance!

The poor Nebolonese man has his legs crushed by Scourge, gasping out, blood soaking into the ground as he croaks, twitching, crying for help. This probably isn't his best day

His daughter is getting married tomorrow. :(

"You..." Ultra Magnus' sentence trails as Scourge gets back up after -crushing- the poor Nebulesianesean man's legs. "... No, Scourge," the City Commander growls unpleasant, hand clenching tightly into a fist. "-You- will pay for that." This is accentuated by a forward rush, as Ultra Magnus twists his mighty metal body around to grip Scourge and throw him -away- from the comparatively smaller alien. "Slamdance! Hurry, tend to the Nebulan!"

Ultra Magnus strikes Scourge with The Ol' Heave Ho!.

Ultra Magnus is marrying her :(

Scourge is staggered backward by the massive punch from the hulking City Commander -- it's almost like he's open to attacks from others as he recovers!

Slamdance clenches his HANDS and shakes his FISTS at the dreadful hunstman lands right on the alien's legs.. and right in front of the two-mech gestalt! "Curse you Scourge!" he yells, using his MOUTH, his LEGS (which he has two of) almost shaking with rage. "Uh.. okay Ultra Magnus" he replies, wondering just what the city commander expects him to do. He's a journalist, not a medic! "So.." the PERFECTLY NORMAL AUTOBOT WITH THE CORRECT NUMBER OF LIMBS says, turning to kneel next to the injured alien. "Tell me where it hurts."

Scourge quickly recovers!

The Nebulonese man slowly rolls on the ground, taking out a crumpled photo of his daughter from his pocket, now smeared with blood. "Let the rings of Nebulos curse you Decepticons!" he cries to Slamdance as he coughs more blood. "Your creature has killed me..." And at that point, from the forest emerges a gigantic spherical unit, with a huge Decepticon insignia emblazoned on it, tentacles writhing!

"Your bravado is impressive, Ultra Magnus, but at the end of the day, you remain an /Autobot/." Scourge laughs coldly, withdrawing his energo-axe, which vibrantly glows with hate and pain and angst and other stuff. "You lack that certain /KILLER INSTINCT/!" He lunges, swinging for Magnus' throat.

Scourge misses Ultra Magnus with his Deathsc--uh, axe attack.

"I'll get you, Scourge, and you little Huntman Brigand too!"

Slamdance has seen enough episodes of ER, Scrubs, The Flying Doctors and various other medical shows to know that this guy's probably going to die. Nevertheless, the best gestalt in the world tries to help by ripping the alien's clothing into strips and staunching his wounds, cutting off blood flow to his ruined legs. If only he had a blanket! He's probably in shock! And as the tentacle ball rolls into view, so is Slamdance. "Ultra Magnus! Do you see that as well with your eyes? I think mine are lying to me!"

The Nebulonese man tries to stop Slamdance ripping his clothes. "No!" he cries. "You may take my life, but you may not take my body!" Naughty Slamdance

Leaping backwards, Ultra Magnus deftly and just barely outmaneuvering Scourge's mighty energo-axe which is not a vibrantly deadly Deathscythe. Landing with a massive, shuddering impact, Magnus lashes outward, sweeping down and then -exploding- forward in an amazingly dramatic uppercut, ideal when seen in slo-mo, aimed straight for Scourge's chin. "And you lack anything even -remotely- close to skill, -HUNTSMAN-!" --Though, he pauses in the middle of his one-liner, optics blinking towards the creature. "What... is that? I see it, Slamdance! Take it out!"

Ultra Magnus strikes Scourge with Slow-Motion Uppercut.

The tentacle monster rolls into the clearing, and scanning Scourge quickly, identifies him as a superior. Lights flash across its surface as an electronic voice buzzes out. "By your command. Hail Thunderwing." Rolling forwards, its arms lash out at the Autobots, attempting to protect its new master. "Harvester unit 142 in assist."

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy unleashes its area_melee attack on Ultra Magnus and Slamdance, striking no one.

As Magnus belts him fiercely, Scourge is knocked into the air, head snapping back like a Street Fighter character. He rises again, and utilizes the distraction of Thunderwing's contrapulous fabtraption to swoop in again, intent on pressing sharp thumbs directly into Magnus' optics. "Do not worry, Magnus, /sight/ will no longer /encumber you/!"

Scourge strikes Ultra Magnus with Gouge Away.

"By the power of my mighty fists, each with their prerequesite number of fingers and associated thumb, I swear, this alien's maiming will be at least partially avenged!" With that mighty cry, Slamdance swivels to face his spherical assailant, Grand Slam's cannons swinging down over the gestalt's showerders, to release a devastating burst of sound!"

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy evades your Hits of the 80s attack.

"You-- gnnnrAAAAAAAGH!!" Ultra Magnus lets out a bellow of pain as pink claws dig into his optics, blue lenses cracking and shattering beneath the force exerted. Eyesight just barely functional, Magnus lashes out in kind, his large plasma rifle ripping forward to press directly into Scourge's face. "Guhn-- nnf-- Get. -OFF-!" And there, he releases a single blast of plasma, directly into Scourge's face.

Ultra Magnus strikes Scourge with Plasma Rifle .

The soundwaves wash over the tentacle creature, but they have no effect. Later it will be discovered this is because the creature is actually powered by a Chris De Burgh cd. For the moment however, its attention is turned to Slamdance. "Profile:Threat. Biped. Eliminate" it growls, two tentacles lashing towards the heroicly proportioned gestalt, intent on hurting it something bad!

You evade Decepticon Tentacle Thingy's slap attack.

Similarly blinded by the plasma burst, Scourge must rely on his other senses -- unfortunately, he's a bit too angry to think that one through, as he attempts to tackle Magnus into the hastily-made base's wall. "HAAAARRRGHHH! You only seek to /delay/ the INEVITABLE, Magnus! I will RETURN you to OBLIVION!"

Scourge misses Ultra Magnus with his Tackle attack.

Never gonna GIVE YOU UP sings Rick Astley as the Deceptisphere rolls towards the valiant Slamdance, the Autobot executing quite a spectacular back-flip to avoid the flailing tentacles, his foot swinging up to strike at the monstrosity at the same time. Never gonna LET YOU DOWN

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy evades your Never gonna RUN AROUND and DESERT YOU attack.

"Guh... reroute available power to audio sensors," Magnus mutters to himself as he stumbles back, his optics mere shattered remains of what they once were. Only able to discern vague shapes now, he instead relies on Scourge's bellowing, just -barely- moving to the side of the tracker's sudden forward lunge. "You didn't do a very good job of it -last- time, what makes you... nng... think you'll do any better -now-?" And to accentuate this, Ultra Magnus lashes out towards Scourge's vague form, hoping the sound of Scourge's bellowing voice will help guide his boot directly into the Unicronian's back.

Ultra Magnus misses Scourge with his Super Stompin' attack.

The tentacle monster may be big and misses all the time, but it is at least dexterous. To some degree at least. The tunes of Rick Astley simply give it more power as it locates in on Slamdance, writhing about, an electronic bleeping roar emitting from its circuitry as a laser shoots from the centre at the gestalt.

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy strikes you with plasma for 16 points of damage.

Stomped square between the wings, Scourge lets out a choked cry before pushing himself up. "This time, you don't have your beloved Junkions or that accursed human /boy/ to rely on to /save you/!" His own optics are mottled and deformed from plasma wounds, but his other senses are still beyond compare, and he whirls around, attempting to quickly catch Magnus with a shot from his headcannon.

Scourge misses Ultra Magnus with his Disintegrator Cannon attack.

"Never gonna give, never gonna OW!" yells Slamdance, as the sudden and unexpected beam from the whateveritis smacks him right in the crotch! Oh well, that's mostly Raindance down there. "Keep going, Magnus!" the pink and blue combiner says, wincing at just how badly the Decepticon is beating him. "You can do it! And if not, well.. I don't think I can beat Scourge AND this thing. One or the other, that's it!" Dancing backwards a few steps with the sheer joy of two mechs that usually don't have a leg to stand on, Slamdance changes the frequency of his sonics, attempting to use Rick Astley as a jamming tone to temporarily halt the device's murderous rampage. With the gift.. of song.

You successfully strike Decepticon Tentacle Thingy, who is now temporarily incapacitated.

Sensors picking up the blaring sounds of the amazing Rick Astley, Ultra Magnus also hears hints of other activity; he just barely sees the bright flare of power from Scourge's headcannon, hearing it fire off along with the Decepticon's bold proclamations. With a sudden leap, Magnus -soars- through the air, landing on the ground in a tumble that kicks up an excess of dirt from all around him. "And -this- time, I'll show you just what it means to mess with an Autobot, -Scourge-!" With this proclamation, Magnus releases several rounds of high-powered plasma through the air, burning red beams cutting through the sky in a vague path towards where he last heard the tracker.

Ultra Magnus strikes Scourge with Plasma Rifle <Full Power>.

The tentacle creature rears for another attack... and gives a sad 'bloop' as it is hit, tentacles flopping to its side. It seems the tunes of Rick Astley can make even the stiffest tentacle flop. Loosely it shakes a tentacle in the direction of Slamdance as it gathers up the strength to attack again

This is it. This is Slamdance's chance to strike a real blow against evil, to partially avenge that random guy over there who may or may not be dead. Striking a heroic pose, he faces the death orb, standing resolute and proud in the face of evil as he raises one hand and recites his oath. "From the shoulder. Beyond the wrist. Look out evil..."

"...here's my FIST!"

You strike Decepticon Tentacle Thingy with Arm-Mounted Proton Missile.

The blast scorches Scourge's chest, eliciting another bray of anger from the bearded Sweep Commander. "I can /smell/ you, Magnus. Firing that weapon was a big mistake -- the smell of ozone and coolant carries /all too well/ in this air." He is still -- and then, in a flash, he's moving, taking to the sky and then swooping back downward, intent on kicking Magnus to the ground so that he might create a new Matrix cavity with his claws.

Scourge strikes Ultra Magnus with Broken Hands.

Some of the tentacles explode off as Slamdance punches the creature, which now rises up, lights flashing like a devil Octopus! But instead of attacking, it's midsection starts to open up and split. "NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTER" it emits, a yellow light eminating from the centre as it is revealed, sending a blast of pure FEAR energy towards Slamdance!

You are temporarily incapacitated by Decepticon Tentacle Thingy's FEAR attack.

Unable to really see Scourge, Magnus is a sitting duck for the Unicronian's flying assault. Struck in the chest by the flailing Decepticon, Magnus is driven into the ground -- but not before he seeks to get a firm hold on Scourge's shoulder. "Guh!" a growl of pain escapes him as Scourge claws at the thick metal of his chest armor, beginning to dig thick gauges across it. Yet, before he can completely-- "It wasn't -- nnggh -- a -mistake-, Scourge." Magnus pulls back his right fist before unleashing it like a massive piston of pain, aiming to SLAM his giant metal fist straight into Scourge's throat.

Ultra Magnus strikes Scourge with Maximum Throat Punch.

"By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth!" gasps Slamdance, as a horrible FEAR RAY stops him dead in his tracks, one arm half raised to deliver another mighty blow to the death orb. "Being.. overcome..by fear. Feels like.. possessed.. by.. space..shark..thing.. must.. resist... think of... paintings! Maternal production unit!" Searching deep within his core, Slamdance searches for the willpower to carry on! A search that will no doubt be sucessful.. but only if his monsterous oppenent lets him live long enough!

One of the main effects of the fear ray is to tint a persons hair with streaks of grey. Unfortunately Slamdance does not have hair, so the Autobot is not down for the count. The spheroid Decepticon battle unit rolls towards Slamdance, lights flashing in multicolours, and as the Autobot is busy on a voyage of internal self-discovery, raises a tentacle to emit a gigantic energy sword in the shape of a space-whale, and SMASHES it down at him! Repeatedly!

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy strikes you with WHALE for 8 points of damage.

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy's WHALE attack continues to sear away at you, doing 4 damage.

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy's WHALE attack continues to sear away at you, doing 2 damage.

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy's WHALE attack wears off at last.

The throat punch /nails/ Scourge, smashing his robot larynx inward and caving in most of his neck and mid-clavicle-region. "Ggghhg. Gkk. Hgg. Hk. Hk." With a sudden spew, a torrent of black oil shouts out of his mouth, as the blinded hunger falls back, clutching his ruined throat. "Hh. Ypggh. Yh. Yh py fr tht." Switching to his rarely-used Explosive Head Rounds, his headcannon lets out a loud CRACK as it fires an oversized incendiary bullet toward Magnus.

Scourge misses Ultra Magnus with his Explosive Headcannon attack.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Quit it! Ow! Ow! Stop! Ow! Quit it! Ow! Seriously! Ow! Stop! Ow!" cries Slamdance as he's beaten repeatedly about the head with a energy construct in the shape of a space whale. "Ah hah ha ha" the gestalt laughs in a slightly dazed fashion as the orb finally stops smacking him. "I win. Because I WANTED you to use that attack, so I could get close enough to do.. THIS!" Suddenly lunging forward with the grace of a drunken master, the little combiner that could attempts to grab the thing's core and yank it out! Or at least pull out some important wires or something.

You strike Decepticon Tentacle Thingy with HEARTBREAKER.

Ripping backwards and back onto his feet in a week stagger as Scourge coughs and sputters, Ultra Magnus presses a massive hand against his ruined optics, frowning deeply. Scourge continues to hack as Magnus rises, looking around him in the vain hope of actually being able to -see- something. "No more obnoxious bellowing. That's better--" That sudden *CRACK* clues Magnus in to something being amiss and, as soon as it happens, he LEAPS through the air. Soaring above the vicious bullet by mere inches, the City Commander continues his forward fling, descending towards Scourge fist-first, as if he were some sort of superman. "This. Ends. -NOW-!"

Ultra Magnus strikes Scourge with Flying Punch.

As Slamdance yanks at the creatures glowing yellow core, it starts to jerk, the space whale construct shutting off as the tentacles writhe above its head. And then suddenly, it is still. Like a statue, it stands above Slamdance, posed for the attack, but frozen in place. And then just like a huge heavy statue balanced primarily on tentacles, it starts to topple over, the mass of it heaving straight towards the Autobot in its death-fall

Decepticon Tentacle Thingy strikes you with crush for 31 points of damage.

As his round explodes in the dirt, blasting that Nebulan guy's body to bloody pieces that rain from the sky, Scourge is fist-dropped, smashing his jaw right off his body. A sparking, bloody mess, he swings again, widely, and misses totally -- and then, realizing what terrible shape he's in, he takes to the sky, enacting a labored, arrythmic transformation and weaving uneven lines through the sky, a contrail of smoke marking his way.

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

CRUNCH

For a few moments there's silence, as the dust settles around the fallen machine. Of Slamdance there is no sign. Then, slowly, impossibly, an arm works its way out from under the deactivated death-orb and waves a triumphant fist in the air. "Woohoo!" comes the muffled cry. "I win! I win!"

"...Now could someone get me out from under here?"

Hearing the boom of the gravyboat's engine's igniting, Magnus can only make out the vague form of Scourge retreating. The City Commander's lips sit into a firm line as he looks around him. "Slamdance? Status report--" he's cut off by Slamdance's own voice, head jerking in its direction. "Guh... I'll be right there, Slamdance. The creature -- it's been taken care of? What about the Nebulan?" Groping blindly through the air, Magnus grips the mechanical monster, using his considerable strength to pry it up off the ground to allow Slamdance up. "Is he alright...? Scourge damaged my optics, I can't -- can't make out much of anything right now."

Unfortunately, like the twinky bastard he is, Scourge murdered the poor Nebulonese man to death. He lies in bloody pieces on the ground. And then a women runs through the undergrowth, clad in a wedding dress. "Oh daddy!" she cries! "Daddy!" She shakes a fist at the Autobots. "You monsters!"

Slamdance crawls out from under the wreck as Magnus lifts it from him and shakily gets to his feet. "I defeated it using many and varied parts of my body" he states. "The Nebulan.. ah.." the pink and blue robot looks around, optics taking in the bloody chunks, and now the crying child. "I'm afraid it's dead, Ultra Magnus. Very definitiely dead. I think Scourge landed on it. There's another one here, but I don't think it wants to be looked after."

Ruined optics looking vaguely in the direction of the Nebulan girl and her dead father, a deep frown settles over Magnus' lips, head tilting to the side. "..." He's silent for a long moment, dropping the ruined creature to the ground and placing a hand against his temples. "... There's not much we can do about it now, then. Considering what the Decepticons have done here... they probably don't want any of our help. Let the other grieve. We need to get in contact with the others and see how they're holding up."

<Autobot> City Commander Ultra Magnus says, "Red Alert, status report."

<Autobot> Red Alert says, "Ultra Magnus...I'm ashamed to admit, our mission here is a failure! All Autobots on Tycros, abort! Repeat, abort mission!!"

The girl continues to cry, and runs over to Magnus, punching at his foot. "Decepticon /bastard/!" You took my home, you took my mother and now you take my father! And I was to get married today to a wealthy space potato farmer! You should rip off your head in shame!" She is of course, referring to the traditional Nebulonese apology of ripping off ones head

<Autobot> Sky Lynx says, "Greetings Raindance, I hope all is alright tonight?"

<Autobot> Raindance says, "Alls well with me, but the Autobots on Tycos might need some help in pulling out"

<Autobot> Sky Lynx says, "What is going on?"

<Autobot> Raindance says, "We got reports that the Cons were attacking the planet Tycos, obviously in more numbers than we imagined at first"

<Autobot> Sky Lynx says, "Seems to be a rather normal pattern for them lately."

<Autobot> Sky Lynx says, "I see--"