Grudge Match

Summary: Just a little mindless violence courtesy of two of the biggest rivals in the galaxy.

Decepticon Shuttle  suddenly drops out of faster-than-light travel in the vicinity of a major shipping lane. A cluster of chubby, defenseless cargo ships find themselves suddenly facing a heavily armed Decepticon warship, which begins to open fire without any warning or provocation. The captain of this vessel is none other than the insatiable Terrorcon leader, Hun-Grrr, trying to feed his need for violence and predation by taking it out on these ships.

Battlecruiser  cruises along through deep space. He's been away from both Earth and Cybertron for quite a while, working on his latest hobby...bounty hunting. Of course, that was mostly just to keep his hand in for when he needs to go Terrorcon hunting. He's no Defcon, but he's managed to catch quite a few assorted galactic criminals out here. No sign of the elusive Terrorcons, though, which makes the whole venture kind of pointless in Scattershot's mind.

Now, after hearing some disturbing rumors about Cybertron, the current state of Autobot-Decepticon relations - for which he finds anything other than 'brutal war' disturbing - and rumors of strange joint missions in space, Scattershot has decided to head on back to the ranch and see for himself what's going on.

Along the way he also thought he'd swing by and follow up on one last lead, a rumor of a Terrorcon sighting near the route he's plotted back to Cybertron...

From Decepticon Shuttle , Hun-Grrr is himself overwhelmed by the current events on Cybertron, hence his presence here, so far away from Cybertron or any of the areas where the Autobot and Decepticon conflict has reached. Until now, at any rate. A predatory grin smears across Hun-Grrr's faceplate as he opens fire on the helpless ships in his sights, disabling thier engines as brutally and efficiently as a jaguar crushes skulls. Enthralled by the duestruction he has wrought, he pays no heed to his ship's sensors, nor to the warnings of another incoming ship.

Hun-Grrr leaves the Decepticon Shuttle .

Hun-Grrr has arrived.

Battlecruiser  vectors in on the attack, guided by forlorn distress calls the hapless crew probably didn't have much hope would be answered. In this form Scattershot doesn't have any expression at all, but he's wearing an internal predatory grin of his own. Odds are neither of these two would enjoy someone pointing out how alike they are in moments like these.

Moments later Scattershot fires his massive engines, accelerating to attack speeds. He opens fire on the Decepticon shuttle with a barrage of thermal beams, lasers, and ballistic weapons systems...all aimed not to warn, not to disable, but to inflict maximum damage - the more crippling, the more lethal, the better.

Small explosions burst along the hull of the Despoiler, scarring the flanks of the Decepticon shuttle, but doing little to disable the ship; The Despoiler is no mere transport, but a machine of WAR, and it would take more than one volley from the likes of Scattershot to cripple it. However, while the ship is unfazed by Scattershot's presence, it's pilot is not. Finally aware of the Autobot in his midst, Hun-Grrr snarls and hands over the controls of the Despoiler to the co-pilot. Nothing, not even reaping the spoils of war, will keep Hun-Grrr from a chance to kill his ancient enemy. He furiously stomps his way through the corridors of the shuttle until he reaches the upper-level air lock. The circular door hisses open, revealing the blackness of space to Hun-Grrr. The starry sky reflects in his red visor, along with the reflection of his sworn enemy. //SCATTERSHOT//

Battlecruiser  barks a short, sarcastic laugh (transmitted across local space so that Hun-Grrr and anyone else in the vincinity who cares to listen can hear). "Hah! I can't believe my luck! I come out here looking for Terrorcons..." His voice, flint-hard and borderline menacing even in normal circumstances, becomes guttural and ugly with hatred. "And I find the one Terrocon I want to SLAG most of all."

He angles himself directly at the Terrorcon leader, not even waiting for a response before opening fire with the lasers on his wingtips. Each burst of fire consists a flash, pencil-thin lines of distortion momentarily connecting the muzzle of each weapon with it's target before vanishing again, repeated again and again.

You strike Hun-Grrr with Winglet Lasers.

Lasers impact Hun-Grrr's armour, leaving behind charred black scars, but Hun-Grrr's stance remains firm. He replies back to Scatteshot over short-range radio, his raspy voice dripping with malice. "SCATTERSHOT! The only one to be slagged will be YOU! Your smashed carcass will float in space FOREVER!" He shouts, and then transforms into his beastly two-headed dragon mode. The beast stomps out across the broad surface of the Despoiler, and begins to spit out vast gouts of plasma-fire up at the more maneuverable spacecraft.

Hun-Grrr falls backwards and transforms into a ferocious two-headed monster!

Hun-Grrr strikes you with Plasma Flames for 9 points of damage.

Battlecruiser  is singed and blackened by the attack. He may be tough and rugged...but this is still his most lightly armored form. But then again, by Scattershot's estimation, he hardly *needs* high velocity and FTL capabilities against the despised Hun-Grrr. What he needs is an even higher volume of fire, and maybe even close-in combat abilities - maybe, if he cares to admit it, it would be more *satisfying* to be in close, unleashing massive firepower in the Terrorcon leader's very face rather than just pecking away at him from across space.

Decision made, Scattershot transforms into his more familiar robot mode, but instead of locking himself immediately to the hull of the shuttle, he can't help but flaunt what in his mind is an advantage over the Terrorcon leader - namely his ability to use small thrusters on his legs along with the main engines now in his boots to maneuver himself in space. He floats above the Terrorcon, shoulder cannons swivelling down to bracket the Terrorcon with fire.

Scattershot transforms into robot mode.

You strike Hun-Grrr with Disruptor.

The thick-bodied, two-headed beast is built for enduring damage and retaliating in kind, not for agilty. Scattershot's shoulder cannons score another hit on Hun-Grrr, blasting pits into his flanks. But, is it wise to taunt the beast? Hun-Grr's four optics glow red, and the beast addles around to get into position for it's next attack. With Scattershot too far for a face-to-face beating, more ranged attacks will have to suffice. Hun-Grrr's two mouths open wide, and a plume of the half-digested remais of Hun-Grrr's last meal, along with copious amounts of digestive acids, spray up at the floating Technobot.

Hun-Grrr strikes you with repeating for 11 points of damage.

Hun-Grrr's repeating attack continues to sear away at you, doing 5 damage.

Hun-Grrr's repeating attack continues to sear away at you, doing 2 damage.

Hun-Grrr's repeating attack wears off at last.

Scattershot is sprayed by the caustic attack, the unidentified half-digested matter bouncing off of him sometimes harmlessly, sometimes annoyingly, but the acids burning into his broad armored form. "grrRAAAAH!" He bellows...then he angles his legs to send him plummeting down at Hun-Grrr. His free hand sinks into his arm, and a chainsaw-like blade comes out, razor-edged links spinning silently here in space. Scattershot angles himself to barrel into Hun-Grrr, then repeatedly slashes the chainsaw back and forth at the two heads!

You strike Hun-Grrr with Chainsaw Sword.

Hun-Grrr backs up as well as his clumsy legs can while remaining clamped securely to the Despoiler's hull. His twin heads lash back and forth on his snake-like necks, trying to minimize the damage being dealt by Scattershot's ripping chain-blade. His eyes take on a hungry look, however, as finally his meal has come within range of his jaws! The two heads, though damaged, still have plenty of fight left, and they lash out, trying to take bites out of Scattershot's armour.

Hun-Grrr strikes you with bite for 10 points of damage.

Scattershot jerks back as the heads snap at him painfully, gouging out chunks of armor plating - but revealing still more armor underneath. He braces his feet against the shuttle's hull and hops back, the small motion sending him flying back in the motionlessness of space. As he goes, he withdraws the chainsaw and slides out his normal left hand, and his other hand is simultaneously bringing his heavy rifle up and around. At the same time the cannons on his shoulders, the winglet-lasers on his lower legs, even the tiny lasers on the back of of his left hand are all oriented on Hun-Grr. And then as Scattershot comes to a stop a quarter of the way across the Despoiler's outer surface...then, all at once they open fire.

You strike Hun-Grrr with Full Barrage.

The barrage of attacks strikes Hun-Grrr's frame simultaneously, resulting in a single, brillaint explosion that envelopes his form. His heads can be seen to pull back in silent roars as he is engulfed in the flare of the attacks, and then, as the explosion dissipates... He's gone! Where has Hun-Grrr vanished to? Moments later, the two heads of Hun-Grrr's beast mode ea thier way out through the hull of the ship below Scattershot's feet, as again the ever-hungry Decepticon lashes out to take a bite.

Hun-Grrr strikes you with Surprise Attack! for 12 points of damage.

Scattershot's weapons stop firing, but still glow with waste heat as they track back and forth, mirroring his aim - but there's nothing to aim at. Scattershot scowls mightily. He's not convinced he obliterated the Terrorcon leader, not after so many tries and so many even *more* ferocious attacks didn't do the trick. So where...?

Before he can even guess Hun-Grrr's tactic, the heads emerge from below Scattershot's very feet, tearing at the heavy armor sheathing his legs. Scattershot knows he doesn't even have time to bring out his chainblade this time. Instead he reaches his hand behind his back and in a snap motion produces a short, brutal fighting knife, blade already glowing with intense heat. It's held in a reversed grip, and without hesitating he stabs it down, aiming for the spot at the base of Hun-Grrr's twin necks.

You strike Hun-Grrr with Thermal Blade.

Sparks erupt from Hun-Grrr's torso at the base of his necks, the wound's edges glowing red from the heat of the thermal blade. The necks flail in frustration, twin jaws widening in a soundless roar. Hun-Grrr's optics are full of an animal-like cunning, anger, and hate that will never back down, never give up. It pushes his forward, and again the insatiable jaws lash out again to bite at Scattershot's armoured frame, as he continues to attempt to devour his eons-old enemy one bite at a time.

Hun-Grrr strikes you with slash for 9 points of damage.

Scattershot grunts again, the pain growing agonizing now, then adds a snarled (transmitted), "Oh, the pit with this!" The thrusters in his boots flare mightily, giving Hun-Grrr a face (or faces) full of heat, but it's not an attack - Scattershot is already transforming back into his cruiser mode. The engines propel him up and away from the shuttle. But even as he pulls away and begins accelrating, he's already engaging his maneuvering thrusters to angle around to come back. Scattershot's not out of this fight yet, just trying a different approach. Before he can bank fully, he's rotating the single-barrel turret on his underside to track Hun-Grrr, keeping the Terrorcon leader in the turret's sights even while he's making his turn to come back to the shuttle. The muzzle flashes with a steady, silent strobing as it unleashes a long stream of shells.

Scattershot transforms into battlecruiser mode.

You strike Hun-Grrr with Artillery Shells.

The beast's hunger for Scattershot's metal is not yet sated, but he cannot fight the battlecruiser while in his primitive monster mode. As he is peppered with shells from Scattershot, Hun-Grrr transforms, bringing up his thick purple shield to deflect the bullets away from his face. Hun-Grrr doesnt' bother to reply to Scattershot, instead he takes aim with with his sonic stun gun, firing a blast of vibrating energy at the battlecruiser above.

The two-headed beast becomes the Terrorcon Hun-Grrr!

Hun-Grrr strikes you with sonics for 8 points of damage.

Battlecruiser  shudders a bit as the energies play over his form, momentarily knocking him off of his course and sending him wobbling off into space. It takes him a while to regain control, but he starts transmitting again even before he's fully redirected himself at the Terrorcon. <> He lines up with the Terrorcon leader, a bright glow building up from within the cannon set in his blunted nose cone. <> He unleashes a searingly bright stream of energy at Hun-Grrr, blazing beams of electrons that pulse into existence even before the afterimage of the previous one has completely faded away. <>

You strike Hun-Grrr with Electron Pulse Cannon.

<> Hun-Grrr spits out a reply, finally goaded into speaking to his hated foe. << I'M not the one who needs reminding, Scatterbrains! Your fancy technology is no match for my BRUTE POWER! >> He shakes his fist at the cruiser, teasingly out of reach. Hun-Grr lets out a snarl over the radio before terminating the conversation, and transforms again into his draconic mode, and Scattershot shouldn't need any help remembering what comes next... The two heads begin to hack and cough, as if the beast is about to vomit. He opens his jaws wide, and spits out a pair of crude missiles fashioned out of Scattershots own ingested armour, spitting them up at the Autobot battlecruiser.

Hun-Grrr falls backwards and transforms into a ferocious two-headed monster!

You evade Hun-Grrr's missile attack.

Battlecruiser  checks his ammo levels and fings that they've run dry. Typical. He turns and powers away from the Decepticon shuttle and it's hated pilot. <> He calls back briefly, before accelerating and streaking off into the distance. Have the ships it was targetting made it safely away? Will the Decepticon shuttle be able to make it back to Earth, or Cybertron, or wherever it was going? Frankly, Scattershot doesn't care! He was just here for the Terrorcon leader, not for a convoy of weaklings who can't take on one single Decepticon shuttle. Since he wasn't able to finish Hun-Grrr this time, he plans to refuel and reload, and then come back and try again. Maybe this time he'll try shooting the brute off of the shuttle first, or blowing up the shuttle around him. Scattershot knows so many ways to go about his work...and he knows that he won't ever quit, not until his rival is finally terminated. Or he is!

Scattershot begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Decepticon Shuttle .