Crystal Epilogue

Tower Promenade

Inside the massive gates, elegant buildings flank both sides of the wide, main roadway into the city, their indigo steel-and-crystal walls gleaming softly in the bright starlight at night, or with a polished luster in the golden sunlight. The road is wide for an additional reason: a fallen tower lies lengthwise down the center, splitting it into two narrower, Guardian-sized lanes and forcing what little traffic there is to slow down. In distinct contrast to the pristine surrounding buildings, the downed tower is dented from its fall and badly crumpled at its base, a grim reminder of the price Omega Supreme had to pay for his city's survival. Due to the slower traffic and perhaps the unsettling testimonial to Decepticon ruthlessness, visitors rarely linger here.

A storm is coming.

Quite literally speaking, clouds of condensed energon vapors have begun to gather over the war-torn expanse of Crystal City, possibly attracted by some atmospheric effect generated by the huge crystalline spires as they pulse and glow with energy flowing up from the planet's core. As the vapors gathered above into ever thickening clouds, a torrent of energon rain began to fall in thick sheets from the sky, driving harshly against damaged buildings and streets in a continuous roar of Cybertron's natural weather reborn in a fury reminiscent of millenia long past.

Despite the cloud cover and curtains of rain, the transformed spires that tore their way up through the city weeks ago are visible even from orbit thanks to their bright glowing presence. Crystal City hums with power again, as the Decepticons have finally finished weeks of delicate repairs. If there are any denizens of Crystal City still lurking behind, no doubt they have long since sought out cover. And not just to avoid the worsening weather...

Cyclonus stands in the midst of it all, energon droplets trickling down his armor, but he pays it no mind. Before him is the complex control console for the planetary tractor beam, wreathed in glowing ancient runes. He stares down at it for a while, pondering something of great import in his mind. Yes, Galvatron showed him how to use this device, gave him specific instructions on what he was to do... and yet... he hesitated. Perhaps Banshee was right when she questioned the devastation this thing could unleash upon them all. Indeed, Cyclonus himself secretly worked to make sure the largest asteroids were carefully towed away from the planet under the excuse they were being "mined." But now...

Screw it.

Cyclonus enters a sequence of commands into the console, and looks up as the towers began to flare to life, crackling with unimagineable energies. "Decepticons," Cyclonus booms, turning around to face his warriors. "Today could mark the greatest day in our history. It could mark the end of the Autobot threat for all time. Or... it could mark your ignominious failure. Which shall I have, Decepticons?"

More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode.

Fusion transforms into robot mode.

Fusion is standing among the other Decepticons watching Cyclonus' speech. He raises a hand as if he's going to ask a question, but as Seekers around him pump fists and call out how the Autobots are ending and all, he holds his peace for now.

Windshear has arrived.

Excise is currently huddled under one of Crystal City's bridges, hiding from the rain. Crouched down and leaning against a wall, he idly fiddles with his iGadget. He stole the Transformer-scaled iGadget from a minibot a few months back and has been having fun with it ever since. Currently he's on Wikipedia, updating Rodimus Prime's page to note that he's "a total fag" and is "totaly lame compard 2 galvatron". The storm is raging overhead, but underneath the bridge Excise is relatively safe. That is, up until Cyclonus calls for them. Looking out at the rain hesitatingly, Excise finally puts his iGadget away and timidly steps out from underneath his cover so he can join the gathered warriors. The pouring rain strikes off his chassis, soaking him within microseconds. "The great day, mighty Cyclonus!" Excise shouts. He figures there's no way the Autobots will attack. It's like 3 AM San Francisco time, which is where the Autobots are headquartered. What kind of dicks would attack at 3 AM? Nah, they'll be safe here.

Arms rotate backwards and legs fold in as Rodimus drops down into his vehicular mode. A moment later his trailer appears out of nowhere and hitches into place on his back.

ITs raining. What the slag. And Windshear got ordered out in the middle of it for what now? Sure the other Seekers are pumping their fists to the speech the SOC is giving but all the Zombie Seeker is concerned about it gettign through this without breaking his armor beacause.. its raining. He listens quietly but seems rather jittery. Strange for this Seeker but he doesnt really care right now.

Dead black and gray Cybertronian Tetrajet transforms into Pretty Boy Seeker Windshear.

The sky splits with a jagged bolt of supercharged electricity, coursing through the energon-heavy clouds above, several striking the tops of the crystal spires, which flare that much brighter as they hungrily absorb the extra power lancing into their cores.

The Autobots are coming, and the Decepticons know this. They -can't- ignore or avoid this conflict, as the very fate of their hard-won foothold upon the planet was at stake. The Decepticons can see their ultimate victory on Cybertron once again within grasp, and the Autobots face the potential total destruction of Iacon and the inhabitants therein. You can sure as hell bet that they're coming. The only question is how.

The first alarms pick up the shuttle coming in, low and fast as it bears in towards the city outskirts. Despite the fact that radar and sensors suffer from the driving rain and chaotic atmospheric conditions, the Decepticon warriors are still alert and ready as the craft burns across the sky towards its destination. A veritable swarm of seekers rise to meet the craft, peppering it with laserfire and blasting entire chunks off with missiles, sending it spiralling downwards as anti-air positions further wreak havoc. The ship crashes down soon after with a deafening rumble and a rush of collapsing buildings in one section of the damaged industrial district. When the dust settles, the wreckage of the shuttle can be seen jutting up slightly over the skyline, as the first Decepticon patrollers close in to finish off any Autobots they find.

Which turns out to be more than they bargained for, as what is left of the shuttle wreckage is torn asunder by clawed hands, soon followed by the rising of metalling beastial forms with glowing red optics that stare at the would-be executioners for only a few seconds, before total hell is unleashed in the form of the Dinobots let loose within the city like five out-of-control demolition crews after having ridden their makeshift 'drop pod' forcefully into the city.

...and the worst part is, they're just the distraction.

The ground starts to rumble forcefully a few minutes later at the edge of the tower promenade section. A tremor that soon builds into quake-like proportions as buildings rumble and shake, sending bits of debris showering into the damaged streets below. Then, with a great shriek of tortured metal, an entire length of street wrenches back, opening up from below to reveal the huge orange claw that peels it aside as easily as one might open a can of sardines, allowing the gargantuan frame of the Guardian to emerge from the underground tunnels that had been carefully dug out all these weeks, just in time for his own full repair and reactivation. His face is cold, mouth set in a hard line, his actions all business.

Omega Supreme has returned to Crystal City, this time as the invader.

"INSERTION, SUCCESSFUL. OMEGA SUPREME STANDING REARGUARD. GOOD LUCK, AUTOBOTS."

With engine roaring, Rodimus leads the charge, driving straight up the 'ramp' that the Guardian has made from the underground areas, his tires briefly catching air before he slams down on the metal road surface beyond. This street was chosen as the entry point, specifically because it is the most direct route to where the Decepticons have gathered around the tractor beam controls, and it is as close as the Autobots could get without giving their position away. Shifting into a higher gear, Rodimus peels out in a squeal of tires on a wet metal surface, his windshield wipers flapping rapidly as his brightly painted frame hurls forward into the driving rain, "Kick it into high gear, Autobots! I give the Decepticons about ten seconds to realize Grimlock's not the main party, and about ten more seconds to realize they're looking in the wrong direction! Let's move it!"

The Protectobot commander reverts to his fire engine mode. Where's the fire?!

Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot > comes roaring up the makeshift ramp not far behind the Autobot commander, all too glad to see all the time spent overseeing those tunnels being dug out and old maintenance shafts refitted hasn't gone to waste. And conveniently explaining why he hasn't been seen much of lately. Like Hot Spot would ever not be doing -something- constructive.

While not really built for such high speed driving and jumping, the Protectobot was built for taking all sorts of punishment, and the firetruck survives the jostling landing with some minor bouncing and jarring but keeps on trucking. "Right behind you boss! Let's remind these punks why they're messing with the wrong mechs."

Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode!

Space-Buggy speeds after Rodimus- though it takes everything his engine's got just to keep up! He traverses the battered terrain with ease, his rough chassis and big tires specially designed for less-than-optimal driving conditions. "Hey, twenty seconds is a long time." he chimes it. "Well, at least it is when you've got high explosives handy!"

Fusion jerks this way and that as the Autobots begin their attack. "Well..." he ventures, "Perhaps the end will come even sooner than planned." Even without all the other Decepticons taking off, transforming or otherwise preparing for battle, he knows what to do. Fusion hustles over to a small crate and pulls out a ridiculously massive shoulder-borne weapon, like someone took a bazooka and then covered it with components, enlarged firing tubes and secondary mechanisms so that he's practically hefting a column of solid weaponry on his shoulder. "I just hope this works better than the original design," he muses to himself.

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Fusion has 'skipped' his action for this round.

Cyclonus is hearing reports of a shuttle having been shot down, followed by reports of the Dinobots emerging from it to unleash havoc, and sends orders to the gumbies to keep them contained as much as possible... then he stumbles, almost falling over as the ground shakes and Omega Supreme's big orange claw bursts forth from underneath the planet's surface. He's alarmed, of course, staggering up... but then he sees that the mighty Guardian hasn't pulled himself up all the way. Maybe he can't? Well, that's something, but Omega has nevertheless granted the Autobots a "secret" path right to their base of operations!

"Decepticons! DECEPTICONS!" Cyclonus yells over the clamor. "Rally, rally! Repel the Autobots at all costs, do you hear me?! This is to be our finest moment, will you fail your Lord and Master now? Will you let the Autobots shame you again?"

The ground begins to shake again, but... Omega Supreme has not moved again. What else could be causing these tremors?

Combat: Cyclonus inspires Windshear, Excise, and Fusion with uplifting and righteous words!

"Ah!" Excise screams as the sky suddenly lights up from the energon lightning strike. He jolts (no pun intended) into a crouch before realizing he's not dead. "I mean... 'ahhhh, that's nice and relaxing and not scary at all'..." Having successfully regained his dignity, he stands up straight again. Excise takes to the skies in robot mode. This is fortunate, because a second later the city's emergency klaxons begin to sound, and Omega "Con F---er" Supreme suddenly bursts up from the ground, sending shards of crystal flying in all direction. "Holy s---! What are we going to do now?" Excise stammers.

Despite the three week Defensive Strategy correspondence course he took over the Internet, Excise is unsure of what to do. Does he go after the shuttle or does he go after the sudden ground force that's appeared right in front of them. Finally picking one at random, Excise shifts into Cybertronian jet mode, increasing his velocity to insane-o speeds.

Alright, Excise m'man. Cyclonus himself is watching and Better make this look good. "Foolish Autobot!" he screams as he streaks towards Omega Supreme and the others with him. "Crystal City is ours now, as it always was!" He considers his targets. Omega? Ha ha ha-no. Rodimus? Mmmmmmno. He doesn't see Landmine due to the flaming Winnebago in the way. That just leaves the Big Blue Boy Scout. Roaring in a strafing run, Excise's ventral electro-cannon turret spews out hot, electric death at the fire truck.

Combat: Excise misses Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot > with his Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap Zap (Laser) attack!

Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleek Cybertronian jet mode.

Windshear hears the order and leaps into the air and transforms. The Seeker lits his afterburners and screams foward laying a path of laserfire ahead.

Combat: Windshear misses Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot > with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear misses Space-Buggy with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear misses Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Warpath arrives from the Memorial Square to the south.

Warpath has arrived.

And bringing up the rear of the Bot column is none other than the red minibot tank, Warpath! "Hey, POW, ZOWIE, guys, WAIT FOR ME!" The red tank trundles along on his treads as fast as they can carry him. "I want to ZOOM, BLAM, pop a Decepticon right in the chassis!"

Warpath folds down into his awesome tank mode.

The Guardian remains where he emerged, his upper torso half visible from where it ripped up through the street level. A far cry from weeks ago, Omega Supreme has been completely repaired, and is fully operational once more. And notably, in the center of his chest, the bright red emblem of the Autobots is visible, even in the driving sheets of rain cutting through the sky.

But he doesn't pursue the Autobots, instead staying at the 'hole'. His instructions were strict in that the Guardian would have to keep the figurative 'back door' open for the Autobots to get out again, and to be truthful, he never argued against it. Being on the offensive, in Crystal City, even after everything that's happened already. It was almost too much.

Rodimus picks up speed as he hurtles through the streets, roaring towards the former excavation site now turned into the heart of the Decepticon activity within Crystal City. A pair of guards try to get in his path, but are rammed aside as the young Prime keeps the pedal figuratively to the metal. Even Windshear's strafing run doesn't slow him down, the street surface peppering about him with laserblasts, but avoiding any real impacts that cause any kind of damage.

Finally, unable to drive any further due to makeshift roadblocks set up on the streets by the Decepticons to prevent an Autobot vehicular charge, Rodimus transforms, rising up on both feet and 'skating' along the street surface in a shower of sparks and liquid energon streams spraying in all directions, his Photon Eliminator Rifle barking repeatedly as he blasts at several Decepticon troopers hunkered down. Now within site of the tractor beam array, and Cyclonus, Rodimus frowns as he feels the ground starting to rumble even more. "This is it, Autobots! Remember what we're here for! Everyone back in Iacon is counting on us, so give it your best and let's kick these Decepticreeps right where it counts!"

The trailer disengages and vanishes into thin air as Rodimus Prime's legs swing down. Arms unfold and head emerges as he stands up in his robot mode.

Combat: Rodimus Prime inspires Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot >, Space-Buggy, and < Warpath > Red Tank with righteous and heroic words!

Suddenly it's raining lasers as well! Plumes of energy and crystalline shards burst from the ground from the shots, forcing Hot Spot to veer sharply from side to side a few times to avoid getting sizzled right off the bat for this battle. "Oh ho, looks like a few of the buzzards caught on quickly. Let's show them what we're made of Bots! For all the mechs back home counting on us!"

As Excise's strafe pass by overhead, cue the oh so familiar sound of transformation, though the firetruck doesn't stop even as the cab splits down the middle and twist to the sides to form powerful arms. Hands slamming into the pavement and pushing causes the rest of the truck to flip foward with it's momentum, unfolding to finish the transformation and landing Hot Spot on his feet, small rooster-tails of energy squirting beneath his heels as the landing skids a bit.

And makes him frown a little. That's going to make his backfire prone flame rifles a risky proposition. But then he needs an alternate... Aha.

The skidding comes to a stop, just in time to slam a big blue fist into the face of a gumbie soldier rushing to the alarms. "Excuse me! Borrowing!" As he falls over Hot Spot crouchs down to grab his rifle and wrench it from the generic trooper's hands. "Probably stolen in the first place, anyways..." Standing back up he turns in the direction of the Seeker that was shooting at him and returns fire with the lifted rifle.

... Which is now firing blue lasers instead of red. Despite being... you know, let's just chock it up to a lazy animation error and get on with the show.

Hot Spot rises up into his strong robot mode, ready for action.

"I'm on it, Rodimus!" Landmine says- and he pours on JUST that last bit of speed to get into the fray! He transforms up into his robot mode- and then there's a flash of sub-space energy, and Landmine's pretender armor seals around him, locking into place. Laser saber in one hand, astro-blaster in the other, he charges into the fray, and opens fire!

His shots go wide, unaimed- mostly to either make the 'cons keep their head down...or perhaps damage the doomsday device itself!

Landmine encases himself in his Pretender armor!

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Combat: Hot Spot misses Cybertronian Jet < Excise > with his Pew Pew Pew Right Back At Ya! (Laser) attack!

Cyclonus grits his cyber-teeth together. The boy. Of course he'd be here. "So, boy Prime," Cyclonus rumbles, stomping forward as he reaches behind his head. "You've come to save the day yet again. But what you don't realize is that it's already too late." He grasps the hilt of his sword, and pulls it up before aiming the tip at Rodimus's chest. "You see, I have pulled down an object so massive that even if it were to fail to hit Iacon directly, the city would be destroyed regardless. Care to guess what that might be?"

Not giving Rodimus time to answer, he lunges forward, slashing at Prime. "You can feel free to try anyway, however--but you won't get past ME in time to avert your annihilation, Rodimus! You have already lost!"

Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with his Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword attack!

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "Pfah--blast it. On my own I am no match for Prime, it shames me to say. Who will aid me?"

< Decepticon > Windshear says, "I can strafe him for you -- on my way now."

< Decepticon > Dr. Excise says, "I, Excise, am wil- oh, wait, Windshear called it. So be it."

Windshear continues to lay down blanket fire toward the Autobots. He has no plans on getting close enough to anyone for some mono e mono because... its raining. But suddenly he changes direction slightly and seems to aim specifically for the Autobot leader.

Combat: Windshear misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser attack!

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "Truly a brave decision, Excise. Do try to keep the others busy, at least."

Cybertronian Jet < Excise > 's daring strafe is undone by Hot Spot's transforming cartwheel. The judges all think it's a fantastic maneuver, but the Darkmount judge deducts points for that skidding landing. Still, it got the Protectobot Commander away from a huge flurry of electro-zaps AND Windshear's rockets. The triplechanger winces inwardly as Hot Spot puts his fist through a Con redshirt's face, stealing his rifle. Hmph. Better him than me, Excise decides.

Tilting, the Cybertronian jet passes between several tall crystal spires, using them as cover to prevent Hot Spot from getting a clear shot on him. The few split-seconds that he gives Hot Spot a clear line of sight aren't enough, and the lasers fly wide. Clearly, Excise cares not about the city's condition so long as he himself survives unscathed. As he soars, Excise wikis Hot Spot to learn about who he's up against. Ok, lets see. Heroic, brave, strong, blah blah, animation error-prone mouth, yadda yadda, Godawful G2 toy, etc etc.

Ah, here we go! 'Compulsive need to protect others'. If there's one weakness Decepticons know how to exploit, it's that one. "Hey Protecto-BOOB, looks like your idiot friends are about to get crushed!" Excise fires a flurry of missiles, but not at Hot Spot. No, he fires it at one of the Crystal City spires, which shatters at the mid-section and topples... down towards a squadron of helpless Autobot redshirts! Spot may be able to rescue them, but can he do it without putting himself in danger?

Combat: Cybertronian Jet < Excise > misses Hot Spot with his Exploiting Any Weakness attack!

Rodimus Prime jerks backwards suddenly as Cyclonus comes in, sword-first. The blade swishes past where the Autobot leader's chestplate used to be a few seconds ago, but the maneuver doesn't go off flawlessly either. The driving rain has made the metal surface of Crystal City's streets slick, and Rodimus' feet go out from under him as he clatters to his back in an undignified heap. "Oof!" Looking up, he sees the seeker bearing in towards him, and quickly pulls into a sideways rolling maneuver, just at the moment that two Decepticon troopers are also firing at him. Lunging out, the young Prime kicks the legs out from under one of them just as he launches to his feet and catches the other one in an armlock.

Twisting the trooper around in a half-nelson, with his other hand clutching the Decepticon's triggerhand, he uses the Decepticon as a makeshift shield as Windshear's shots core through the figure. A split second, Rodimus manipulates the gun-wielding arm of his now deactivated captive, squeezing off several shots at his comrade, then levelling a spray of blaster fire in Cyclonus' direction as well. "Really? Because I could have sworn our sensors picked up none other than yourself taking extra time to -move- all the asteroids in orbit out of reach, Cyclonus! Those that weren't blown up of course. What's the matter, did Galvatron figure it out and slap you over the wrist with his ruler for misbehaving!? I didn't take you for the type who was interested in mass destruction!"

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Cyclonus with his Gumbies are convenient things! attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Arm Blasters": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 14 damage.

Space Miner < Landmine > continues to run for the massive Decepticon machine, running past Rodimus and Cyclonus as the two struggle! This done, he turns- and whips up his Astro-blaster, tracking a certain seeker soaring through the sky. "Hey, can't you see Rodimus is busy?" he quips, and fires off a quick blast!

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > strikes Windshear with his Laser attack!

"This thing's sighting array is off center," Hot Spot objects to no one in particular when his shots all go ary. He holds up the rifle for a moment, then snorts at the large 'Produced by SWINDLECO' on the back of the stock. "Well that explains that." Tosses the weapon over his shoulder, possibly beaning some other generic palette swap unintentionally as he looks up to see where that flying fiend got off to.

Just in time to see the missiles blast into the side of a spire and send it toppling towards the squad trying desperately to keep a foothold in the carnage of fighting between both sides breaking out in the streets. "Haven't you jerks destroyed this city enough?"

Actions speak louder than words, and one thing Hot Spot is also good at is doing both at once, taking a mad sprint across the rain-slicked terrain as the crumpled construction heaves towards the pavement. "Get your heads down!"

Followed by a deafening *THROOM* and a cloud of metallic dust as the pillar certainly hits something hard... but as the smoke clears it's visible that it never made it all the way to the ground, held just a few meters above the troopers huddled to the ground beneath it. With a creak and a groan the broken spire rises back up slowly, until it's suspended over Hot Spot's head by his tremendous strength. "Seeing how much you like hitting this poor abused city..." Leaning back with the spire piece resting against one palm and the other used to prop it up at a angle, the Protectobot chief waits for the jet to make his next pass, and then heaves it like a giant caber toss at the space-jet, "Let's see how you like it hitting back!"

Combat: Hot Spot sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank misses Cybertronian Jet < Excise > with his Laser attack!

Combat: Hot Spot misses Cybertronian Jet < Excise > with his Improvised Projectile Tossing attack! [Pulled -1]

Oh blast, was he being that obvious? Even Rodimus figured it out. "Not all of them, Prime, and besides--NNFFT--" He's briefly interrupted as Rodimus forces his gumby captive to empty a clip into him. "--and besides, asteroids aren't the ONLY celestial bodies out there, or have you already forgotten? Look up, Prime! See your doom approach!" The grim space warrior points upwards, waits for Rodimus to look, and then whips out his oxidizing laser to try and blast Rodimus's right shoulder joint while he's distracted. Cyclonus figures his only chance against Prime is to try and cripple him now!

"Yes, Prime, do you see, now? You can fight and struggle all you like, there is no hope at this point. The *object's* trajectory is irreversible, and shall spell your doom. Oh, certainly you can defeat me, but your comrades and those poor, poor civilians huddled in terror within Iacon will *die.*" Cyclonus smirks ever so slightly.

Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Cyclonus strikes Rodimus Prime with his Oxidizing Laser attack!

Combat: Drained 26 energon.

Windshear takes a hit in his undercarraige and rolls away instantly. For a moment the Tetrajet seems to just hang there in the air as he checks his systems for any additional damage from the rain. Much to his relief, though it looks and feels like 'rain' its not and spinning back around the Seeker launches into another straffing run aimed at anything wearing a red smiley face.

Combat: Windshear strikes Rodimus Prime with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear strikes < Warpath > Red Tank with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear misses Space Miner < Landmine > with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear strikes Hot Spot with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Once again the Combaticons defeat the Protectobots! Take that, you dirty Protectobot! Anyhow, Excise assumes it was his awesome flying that let him evade those laser blasts, not shoddy workmechship. The triplechanger watches with glee as the spire topples towards the Autobot squad. Either the squad gets squished, or Hot Spot gets squished! It's win-win for the Decepticons, and Excise can barely contain his cackling glee. Hot Spot runs towards the spire, and crushes him! Excise laughs and laughs, finding this hysterical. But then... "Wait... WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!" Hot Spot stands, holding the broken spire over his head. If he had optics in this mode, they'd be bulging out right now.

His desire to watch all this unfold makes him get a bit careless, and he only snaps out of it thanks to Warpath shouting at him. "WHOOP!" he barrel rolls to the right, and the laser blast narrowly misses him. Then the huge spire itself comes soaring at him, and Excise gasps in horror, transforming back into robot mode and letting himself fall just in time. The spire passes overhead, and Excise crashes into the ground feet first.

Picking himself back up, he finds himself surrounded by an entire squadron of Autobots. An entire squadron of angry Autobots he just tried to drop a building on. "Nnnnnn," he wheezes. Alright, Excise, time to do the thing that solves all problems. The mech reaches for his subspace holster, drawing out an ener-machete. "YOU WANT ME, AUTOBOTS!? WELL COME AND GET ME!" He slashes at the first Autobot redshirt that gets too close, carving open his torso. Another one kicks him from behind, and Excise has to swipe back at him out of frustration. "Gah! I'll take you all on if that's what it takes!" Bluster aside, Excise just might be able to do it. That is, unless a hero is still available to step in and save the day.

More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode.

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Excise has 'skipped' his action for this round.

"Oop!" Landmine ducks beneath Windshear's strafing run, then makes a beeline for the tractor beam device- shouldn't be TOO hard to sabotage such a thing...right? Again, he raises his gun and blasts away at Windshear- though it's almost as an afterthought, as the miner tries to split his attention between the battle and one of the massive machine's control consoles!

"...maybe we should've brought Perceptor." he grumbles- and then calls out. "Hey! Hot Spot! You know anything about tractor beam tech?" a pause, "Y'know, if you're not busy." he adds on, wryly.

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > misses Windshear with his Astro Blaster attack! [Pulled -2]

Rodimus Prime glares back at Cyclonus, still holding his makeshift captive, that is, until the Decepticon second indicates skywards, and Rodimus looks up like a dope. And it's even worse than he could have imagine.

Encircled in the huge field of energy now rising from the glowing spires of Crystal City, the skyline of Cybertron is becoming dominated by a giant celestial object, growing even more giant with each passing second as it draws closer and closer. The rumbling through the ground grows much more intense with each heartbeat that passes...as the Giant Disembodied Head of Galvatron rumbles towards it's inevitable destination.

Optics wide, Rodimus can only gape open-mouthed. "...you have got to be KIDDING m...HYURGH!" Cyclonus' shot lances straight through the makeshift shield that Rodimus had made out of the trooper, annihilating what was left of him and blasting into his right shoulder, dead on target. Even as he recoils from the blow, blasted back as another strafing run from the seeker shoots up the area, some stray blasts lancing off of his paint scheme, Rodimus can already tell that some of the power output to his blasters has been damaged. Clutching the smoking hole, the Autobot leader sits up straight, then pushes to one knee, grimacing, then levelling a hard glare across at Cyclonus. "I always thought you were the type who preferred a straight up fight rather than pulling the sideliners into it, Cyclonus. Maybe I was just fooling myself, or maybe Galvatron's got your leash pulled tight this time. Either way, I don't care. It's -not- over yet, despite what you think. You really think you've already won?" Falling forward, Rodimus' tires are already spinning when they make contact with the metal street, sending up a sheet of liquid energon followed by the screech of tires peeling out as the Autobot Leader suddenly hurls forward. "JUST TRY AND STOP ME!" With engine roaring, his headlights come on a split second before he angles over, aiming straight at Cyclonus' midriff, and towards the direction of the control panel and whatever Decepticons have rallied around it.

Arms rotate backwards and legs fold in as Rodimus drops down into his vehicular mode. A moment later his trailer appears out of nowhere and hitches into place on his back.

Combat: Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > misses Cyclonus with his Flaming Road Fury attack!

Combat: Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > (Rodimus Prime) used "The Power": A Level 8 VELOCITY attack.

You've got to give those gumbies credit for their determination if nothing else, even if they are being cut down and tossed aside like so many broken toys. They do buy some time though, giving Hot Spot long enough to shake off the dust and get back to the fight, wading straight into the burly brawl going on. Somewhere admist it all machinegun fire pings and sparks off his bright blue armor, but the Protectobot is filled with too much focus to pay it much mind at the moment. He trots right up to the backside of the dogpile, reachs out to tap Excile on the shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?"

Followed by his other balled fist launching a ringing right hook at the braggart's ugly mug!

Then glancing over his shoulder at the shout of his name. "With how old this tech originally was, it's probably magnetic, or even gravitational, as Cybertron's sheer planetary mass would provide counterweight!"

Combat: Hot Spot misses Excise with his Big Blue Fist of Justice (Punch) attack!

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank strikes Windshear with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank strikes Excise with his Full-Auto Area attack!

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "What!? They're trying to access the controls! Windshear, keep Prime occupied! Throw yourself at him if you must!"

< Decepticon > Windshear says, "As you command."

Cyclonus is quite pleased with both Rodimus's reaction and with his successful strike on the Autobot leader, though it barely shows on his dour features. "Oh, I do prefer a 'straight-up' fight, as you put it, but I also prefer to win, and to claim victories in Galvatron's name." The Winnebago comes roaring at him, but Cyclonus sees it coming, and has already transformed and rocketed away into the air before Prime's front fender can smash into him. "Foolish slow boy," he mocks, "I don't need to stop you, just delay you until--"

Up in the air, Cyclonus has a clear vantage point from which he can see Landmine messing with the controls! "--no!" He thrusts himself towards the meddling Autobot, beams streaking out at him. "Autobot! You will not touch those controls, I swear it! Besides, what do you think you can do? Can you even READ ancient Cybertronian? You might only make the problem worse if you use the wrong command!" A bit of violent deterrence with some psychology stacked on top of it!

Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode!

Combat: Temporarily restricting the CORRUPT effect from all of your attacks.

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > misses Space Miner < Landmine > with his Oxidizing Laser attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Drained 8 energon.

Windshear pulls up to swing around and begin another straffing run when the Autobot tank with the speech problem nails him. "I sweat to Vector." The Seeker rumbles, "One of these days, Warpath you are so going to get yours." he starts to line up the Tank for his own private straffing run when his comm lights up. After a moment the Zombie Seeker suddenly pulls up and swings around toward Rodimus.

The Tetrajet goes full miliraty power and heads stragith for Rodimus. Yea this is going to hurt but since when does that stop this Seeker?

Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Windshear strikes Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > with his Ram attack!

Excise is focused 100% on Hot Spot and not Warpath, who's currently spraying bullets into a heavy crowd of allies like a deranged mental patient. A few shots nick Excise's arm, but it appears to only be a flesh wound (armour wound? Whatever). As Excise wades through the Autobot redshirts, carving an angry, vicious path as he goes, it doesn't take long before he feels a tap on the shoulder. This tap is far more terrifying than the wound Warpath could have possibly given him. Excise whirls around, eyes lighting up in horror as he sees a big blue fist rushing towards him. Stumbling backwards, Excise trips over the body of a fallen Autobot and lands on his tailpipe with a loud crash. "OOF!"

While sitting on the ground, Excise points the ener-machete at Hot Spot. "You think you're such a big mech, don't you? All brave, valourous, and all that rot, aren't you? Well it's time to face facts, creep! We Decepticons ruled Cybertron before, and we're gonna rule it again!" He's scared, sure, but he's also angry. Although he's started by the giant head of Galvatron's sudden appearance, he doesn't let him get distracted. Instead, it's Hot Spot that gets distracted by technobabble. Excise takes full advantage by lunging to his feet, pointing the machete in front of him, and charging, aiming to run Hot Spot through the gut with the blade. "RARRRRGHGHGHGHG!" he shouts. Coherency is not dispensed here, fool! Only death!

Combat: Excise strikes Hot Spot with his Heroically Stabbing The Enemy When He Isn't Looking attack!

"How about you make the controls do the POW, opposite of what you want them to," the red tank says, "Or I BOOM, blow a hole in your chassis!" He takes aim at Cyclonus, loading a shell into the turret barrel tube. With a *FOOM*, the shell is launched right at the Decepticon Second-in-command.

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank strikes Starfighter < Cyclonus > with his Conventional Shells attack!

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank (Warpath) used "Conventional Shells": A Level 5 RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 9 damage.

Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > rumbles along at full speed, though it's nothing compared to a space jet, as Cyclonus rockets out of the way. "And you keep forgetting that I'm not alone, Cyclonus! I never am...if you think all you have to do is slow me down, maybe all I have to do is slow -you- down while one of my Autobots can break your toy in a creative fashion!"

The air is suddenly cut off with a heavy *CRUNCH* of impact as Windshear's jet mode crashes into the side of the flaming semi's frame. Forward momentum is sudeenly turned into sideways momentum as Rodimus jacknifes around the point of impact in a shower of sparks, giving a harsh sounding, "Urgh!" at the crash.

And yet he's already transforming, rising up in a motion that's almost a repeat of a fight he had with Galvatron once, before he'd opened the matrix. Except in that case, Hot Rod had ended up down on the ground with Galvatron's fingers wrapped around his throat when it was over. In this case, Rodimus rises up, moving with the momentum, twisting as he goes and coming to a stop as he stands up straight. And he has ahold of the Tetrajet, heaving it overhead, briefly struggling with the weight being off center. "Awful nice of you to volunteer, Decepticon." Rodimus huffs out, mouth set in a deep frown as he concentrates, then proceeds to HURL Windshear with all of his might, aiming straight at Cyclonus' jet form in the process.

The trailer disengages and vanishes into thin air as Rodimus Prime's legs swing down. Arms unfold and head emerges as he stands up in his robot mode.

Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Starfighter < Cyclonus > with his Seekers make good projectiles! Area attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Buzzsaw": A Level 6 AREA-MELEE attack.

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Windshear with his Seekers make good projectiles! Area attack!


 * Pting!*

Landmine brings his laser saber up just in time to deflect Cyclonus' laser beams- and then, as the Decepticon talks, he spares another glance down at the control console. "Ancient cybertonian, great. No WONDER these readouts don't make any sense!"

"But heck, just HOW could it get worse? Explode Iacon twice?" and with that said, Landmine mashes his big pretender hand down on the controls. And again. And again and again. *BEEP BOP BLORP!*

"Hey, anyone know what the glyph for 'emergency shutoff' in ancient binary is?"

*BOOP!*

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "Blast! Excellent hit, Windshear, but let us switch adveraries. Destroy Landmine. I will deal with Prime."

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "...on second thought, I'll deal with them *all.*"

The sound of metal rending metal rings out briefly in the darkened stormy night. Which can only mean that the lunging blade has met its intended mark. Indeed, the sharp point has managed to impale into Hot Spot's lower torso.

But that's about -all- that's managed to penetrate through the Protectobot's armor. Because most of the blade is impaled through one brave Autobot generic that had jumped between the Seeker and Big Blue at the last moment. Hot Spot's optics widen a bit at the sight, and an arm snaps out to catch the groaning soldier as he slides off the blade. Optics already fading he raises a fist weakly. "For Cybertron...." And falls limp.

".. No, -that- was valorous." In a flick of motion Hot Spot's free arm comes up, summoning one of his hand-cannons with the drawing motion. "I'm just doing my job, kicking your tyranical empire in the ball bearings!" Forget worrying about the energon rain, he shoves the muzzle towards Excise's chestplate and pulls the trigger, blue flames of fury spewing from the weapon in a mirror of the weilder's anger and resolve.

Combat: Hot Spot sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Hot Spot strikes Excise with his Fireball Cannon attack!

< Decepticon > Windshear would reply but hes too busy trying to control where hes going to land after Prime fastball special with him as the ball...

Excise lunges, hears that sweet, addictive sound of blade meeting armour, and smiles. But then he optics his optics again, and is shocked to see that another Autobot has heroically sacrificed himself to save the Protectobot. He stares as the Autobot slides off the blade, lands in Hot Spot's arms, and gives a final whispered cry for the future of his homeworld before perishing. Ugh, Excise thinks as he examines the oil covered machete, it's disgusting what lengths Autobots will do to win. And they call /us/ monsters.

More than a little intimidated by this noble act, Excise hesitates long enough for Hot Spot to grab one of his famous fireball cannons. "No, wa-" the cannon speaks, and Excise is engulfed within a blue bonfire. He shrieks, raising his hands over his head and waving the sword around madly. The energon rain does nothing to help put him out, and he runs blindly in a straight line, flames roaring all around him. A few Autobot warriors dive out of his way to avoid getting caught up in the fire. Excise, likely by coincidence, is heading straight for Omega Supreme.

Windshear smashes into Prime and starts to transform to carry the fight on but Primes a bit faster than he thought. In the blink of an optic the Seeker suddenly finds himself hurled into the air. He sails past Cyclonus and is heading toward Omega. Quickly the jet brings his turbines at full power and recalls all the brutal 'training' mission his ex Air Commander would put his Seekers through. With the manipulation of aerolons and rudders and everything else at his alternate forms disposal, Windshear manages to pulls out of what looked like a certain crash landing.

The Tetrajet jet levels out somewhat away from the combat and takes a needed moment to read the warnings on his internal HUD. Prioratizing them he turns and heads back toward the battle. If the bots win this day he's going to make sure it can't be said he didn't do his part to try and stop them.

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Excise has 'skipped' his action for this round.

Combat: Windshear misses Rodimus Prime with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear misses < Warpath > Red Tank with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear strikes Hot Spot with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Combat: Windshear strikes Space Miner < Landmine > with his Full-Auto Area attack!

Starfighter < Cyclonus > takes a round from Warpath, shuddering mid-flight, and narrowly avoids Windshear's body being thrown at him! "Blast, too many threats at once!" Cyclonus curses. "But... perhaps there's a way to thin them out?..." And so he banks around, his bomb bay opening and unleashing a rain of incendiary ammunitions on the combatants below. The energon rain is not ignited by the napalm, but it does have the unfortunate effect of helping to spread the flaming gel even further, and soon a wide area is coated in flames! However, Cyclonus refrained from unleashed his full payload. Afterall, he doesn't want to damage the controls.

"Together, alone, I'll burn you all the same, Prime!" Cyclonus roars over the flames.

Omega Supreme has arrived.

Omega Supreme stomps into the area, shaking things up a bit.

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > strikes Space Miner < Landmine > with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -7]

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > misses Rodimus Prime with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -7]

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > strikes < Warpath > Red Tank with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -7]

Combat: Drained 4 energon.

"All right, that's POW, it! I've had it with you Decepticreeps!" the red tank exclaims. He fires a hot shell at the jets in the air. "I'll BLAM, bring you down yet!"

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank strikes Windshear with his Thermal Shells Area attack!

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank misses Starfighter < Cyclonus > with his Thermal Shells Area attack!

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank (Warpath) used "Thermal Shells": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack.

Rodimus Prime has become a blur of motion now as he tucks and rolls forward, end over end as Windshear's shots impact all around, coming up on one knee just in time to hear the telltale whistle of munitions dropping from above. "Hit the deck!" is all the warning he can give before he dives wildly forward to get clear, slamming down on his chestplate and skidding conveniently under a pile of rubble that shields him from the worst of the explosions. Though he does crash hard into the wall, his injured shoulder sparking painfully and prompting him to grip at the wound for a few moments before trying to do his best to patch it up. "Not much time left..."

Landmine's random pushing of buttons is doing....something. Lights are flashing all over the console, a power display shows the spires around Crystal City, several of which are right here in the tower promenade district, and what must be their energy readouts. It shows one of the spires in fact...the nearest one, suddenly flashing, then a blinking bubble around it disappearing.

The spire nearby shudders, as even it's gigantic frame seems tiny now when compared to the looming GIANT HEAD OF GALVATRON descending from above. A bright flash fills the air, then dissipates as the energy field protecting the spire disappears, though the energy channeling through it continues uninterrupted...for now.


 * FWOOSH!*

Landmine is engulfed in flaming gel! It sears at his cyber-organic shell, and the miner quickly bats the flames out as best he can. And once he does this, he looks down at one of the displays- even if he can't read the ancient language, he can still see the telltale bar-graph of 'losing power' go down!

"There!" Landmine points to the spire in question. "If we can destroy that tower, we can send Galvatron's head off balance- and off target!" and Landmine vaults over the panel- there's another flash as his armor dissapears to subspace, and he transforms to vehicular mode to speed towards it! He raises his turret and fires a blast off at Cyclonus, and then pours on some more speed. "We're gonna need something BIG to take it out, though!"

Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode!

Combat: Space-Buggy sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Space-Buggy strikes Starfighter < Cyclonus > with his Mining Laser attack!

Combat: Space-Buggy (Landmine) used "Mining Laser": A Level 3 RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 8 damage.

Combat: Space-Buggy's attack damages your armor.

Omega Supreme holds the fort. Or rather, the back door as it may be. At first, he drew no shortage of ire from the Decepticons, seekers swarming around the giant Guardian and giving the image of some movie from ancient times involving a blonde and a giant gorilla, or just about any sort of movie coming from Japan during the later years.

As things started to focus more around the battlefield in the tower promenade though, Omega Supreme's area grew quiet, the surrounding radius about him littered with burning Decepticon seekers and a few ruined buildings. Unmoving, he simply watches, and waits. The sight of his city in such a state, the place that he had sworn to protect, if it is causing any turmoil in the giant's mind, he makes no outward indication of it, ever the silent and steady sentinel awaiting the return of his allies. Even the image of the Head of Galvatron filling the sky above is all but ignored as if it were inconsequential.

Until the tiny, flaming figure of a Decepticon warrior comes running through the streets towards him. There is the subtle shifting, a faint creak of the giant frame as the Guardian tilts a bit, peering down at the tiny figure. Even with the comparitive difference in size, the coloring...the emblem, it can be seen through the flames. The distressed Decepticon has run straight at him without even knowing it, most likely. Some Autobots would find this incredibly amusing. Some might even be moved to some sort of pity, their strong sense of empathy even extending to an enemy.

Omega Supreme neither finds this humorous, nor does he feel pity. As evidenced by how the huge claw raises up slowly, hovering two hundred feet in the air for a full three seconds, before it comes SMASHING downwards with all the power and weight of his enormous size, strength and Cybertron's gravity behind it.

Combat: Omega Supreme sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Omega Supreme strikes Excise with his The Claw attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Rodimus Prime quickly patches up some of his minor injuries.

Hot Spot partially lowers the still smoking cannon as Excise screechs with the recoil from explosive fire and goes running off like a mad man. On fire. And more fire thanks to the energon rain, which while not as volatile as it's pure energized form certainly proves to be plenty flamable. "Now -that- is what I call burning justice." ... And then Excise gets his just desserts for the urban destruction from it's former protector. Bad enough that even Hot Spot cringes a bit, even if he doesn't feel the least bit sorry for the bloke.

His punctured protector isn't forgotten though, Hot Spot turning to gently pass off the greyed out body to the one of his squad mates. "Start gathering up the critically wounded and withdraw. We don't need to loose any -more- lives here than necessary. Any bot that can still lift a gun or raise a sword, keep them covered."

Any likeliness to distribute farther orders is cut short by the shout over the faction radio, head snapping in the direction of the controls as great walls of flame go up from the napalm bombs and pools of rained energy being ignited by it. "Ah, slag... Hold on guys!" He drops to the pavement and transforms, sirens blaring to life as he floors it and smashes past a troop of Decepticon groundpounders coming to try and cover Excise's disposal.

Speeding down the rubble stewn, fight littered streets, a pair of pressure cannons deploy over the cab, swivel slightly, and start spraying at the gouts of flame left by Cyclonus' bombing run. Fortunately Hot Spot packed one of First Aid's chemical retardant mixes instead of straight water, which would just make napalm burn more. Unbothered by the intense heat thanks to his flame-resistant armor, Hot Spot focuses entirely on putting out fires to open paths for the other Autobots either still fighting or trying to back off to Omega's position with the wounded and fallen.

The Protectobot commander reverts to his fire engine mode. Where's the fire?!

Combat: Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot > sets his defense level to Neutral.

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot > has 'skipped' his action for this round.

Starfighter < Cyclonus > emits a grunt of pain as Landmine's shot punches right through his armor, and realizes he makes that despite his speed he makes a fine target flying around like he's doing. He resolves to stop Rodimus Prime, if nothing else, and transforms, intending to skid across the slick ground and slam into Prime, hopefully knocking him down, but Hot Spot's foam made the ground even slicker than he thought and he slips and falls flat on his back the instant he touches down. And worse, his momentum keeps him sliding towards Prime, with Cyclonus yelling, but muffled by all the foam covering him and much of the streets.

The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus!

Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with his Whoopsie Daisy (Ram) attack!

Combat: Drained 5 energon.

Excise's eye-sight is blurry. All he sees is blue flickering in front of him. It's a raging, angry sort of blue. Yet it would almost be pretty were it not for the IMMENSE PAIN he is in. Regardless, through the fires the triplechanger can barely make out an object as he runs in a panic. Is it one of Crystal City's spires? He can make out laser blasts all around it. Maybe it's one of the spires the Autobots are attacking? If so, that means there'll be Decepticons there who can aid him. If he can just make it to their lines, he can get a medic to douse him with water (fire retardant foam being trademarked by the Autobots) and then set about repairing him. Excise squints at the looming figure, stumbling over the corpse of a fallen Decepticon defender. Suddenly the figure raises one of its huge limbs into the air, and Excise realizes at the last second that this is not, in fact, one of Crystal City's spires.

-crk-

The claw comes down, and Excise vanishes beneath it. The road shatters, spewing crystals up into the air as the tiny Decepticon figure is driven deep into the planet, torn apart by the girders and metal struts that make up Cybertron's underground. When Omega Surpeme raises his claw again, there's a noticeable dark scorch mark from where he made contact with the flaming Decepticon. Of Excise himself, there's no immediate sign.

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Excise has 'skipped' his action for this round.

Windshear swings back around slowly and ignores more warnings screaming across his HUD. But pulling out of range the Seeker circles for a moment..

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

Combat: The next attack against you will automatically hit.

Space-Buggy speeds on- the sensors in his wheels feed him a steady line of data on the structural integrety of the tower- and then he transforms up into robot mode, putting a trained optic to use in eyeballing the tower for weak points. "...shoot, maybe we should've brought Grapple." he muses-

But then Landmine's got his astro blaster up and raised to his shoulder, and he fires away at one of the tower's support struts with a concentrated blast of explosive energy- not to tear the thing apart (even if it helps), but rather to mark it with a freshly burning crater. "There's your target, 'bots!" he says, pointing helpfully.

Landmine transforms to his robot mode!

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

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

If he wasn't in middle of emergency maneuvers, Hot Spot would laugh a good deal at Cyclonus' slapstick landing. But there's not really time for it. Having done what he can for clearing working space, he retracts the water cannons and drives straight through one final wall of fire to get closer to the target Landmine's helpful button mashing has presented.

The fire truck finally skids to a stop... but instead of rising up into robot mode it expands and folds into an even bigger heavy brick in the form of Hot Spot's base sub-mode. For a number of reasons, one being a more balanced stability. Another being having structural diagnostic sensors in this mode he can use to lock onto the indicitated points in the spire's foundation, finding the weak spots in the struts.

Then the flame cannons on either side of the base swivel around and up a bit, locking onto the spire's lower structures, and letting loose with two massive blue fireballs of explosive fiery fury.

Parts shift and work arms deploy, forming the Protectobot repair station.

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Protectobot Repair Base < Hot Spot > has 'skipped' his action for this round.

Rodimus Prime is just getting to his feet when Cyclonus comes skidding towards him at high speed, the Prime reacting mostly by instinct as he proceeds to lunge forward and over the Decepticon Second, tumbling along and coming up on one elbow, unscathed. But it's not Cyclonus he's paying attention to, even as the unfortunate Decepticon XO goes crashing into the nearby wall where Rodimus was a moment ago. Instead, Rodimus is looking towards the nearby spire that Landmine had pointed out, a sudden flurry of radio conversation going between the Autobots. It's crazy. It's thought up at the last second. It's desperate, but a plan has suddenly been formed.

And it better be a good one, because GALVATRON'S HEAD is now entering Cybertron's equivelant of an atmosphere, the underside of the chin starting to glow orange as it begins its unstoppable re-entry on an arc towards Iacon, guided by the Crystal City tractor beams.

"Go for it, guys!" Rodimus shouts encouragement as he gets to his feet, glancing off to one side, before he reaches out and grabs hold of Cyclonus' arm, forcibly pulling him out of the wreckage where he'd crashed a moment ago. "I'd never thought I'd say this Cyclonus...but YOU are going to be a perfect help here!" With that, Rodimus hauls the Decepticon XO to his feet and starts to...bend his arm back in an awkward angle, and then even further. No, he's not looking to break it off...

...he's making Cyclonus transform. FORCIBLY. Optimus did it to Megatron once, and it's happened before in the past, as Rodimus works Cyclonus over like a Rubix cube, getting him halfway through the transformation before he's already heaving him up overhead. The Starfighter looks ridiculously large compared to Rodimus...and yet he still lifts it up over his head. Barely. The laser from earlier had damaged the young Prime's built-in weapons systems, but his impressive strength is still going strong. And one could argue at a moment like this, it's not just Rodimus at work, but the Matrix in his chest fueling him. The same as when he overpowered Galvatron so long ago. "Nnnnngh.....bring it down. BRING IT ALL....DOWN!" The last word comes out as a shout, as Rodimus finishes with Cyclonus' transformation, and hurls the ENTIRE STARFIGHTER nose-first, forcibly towards the looming crystal spire. And of course, the Decepticon is aimed -RIGHT- at that point that is now superheated from a combined effort of Hot Spot and Warpath both.

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Cyclonus with his The Touch attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "The Touch": A Level 8 MELEE attack.

Combat: You took 19 damage.

Combat: Rodimus Prime's attack has damaged your Strength!

Windshear pulls back into the battle finally and heads straight for Rodimus Prime. Why? Because he can. Windshear brings his lasers online and waits for tone. And while he waits he continues straight on almost looking at if hes going to ram straight into the Autobot leader again.

BEEP

The Tetrajet suddenly fires then pulls up.

Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Windshear misses Rodimus Prime with his Laser attack!

Cyclonus struggles against Prime as his arm is twisted around, but Rodimus is far too strong for him. "What are you--" he begins, but then his nose section is folded up over his head, his legs are forcefully tucked into his body, and before long he's in fighter mode, though his various parts are constantly wriggling as he tries to break free. "RELEASE ME AT ONCE--" Cyclonus booms, and to his dismay, Rodimus does release him--right into the spire! "No! NO! NOOOO--" Cyclonus screams, his mind racing to find a way to get out of this--maybe if activated his thrusters? No, that would just make it worse--but it's only a few seconds before he's smashing right through the spire.

Shards of crystal rain out from the point of impact, followed by bursts of flame, and eventually Cyclonus himself tumbles out the other side, dropping to the ground and looking absolutely terrible.

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

Combat: Regained 8 energon.

< Decepticon > Special Agent Marauder says, "My lord, would reinforcements aleviate the situation, or are you content to personally destroy those Autobots foolish enough to resist?"

"Ha-ha, now that's what I'm ZING, talking about!" Warpath shouts. He aims his turret at Windshear, peppering at him with low-powered shots, hoping the Seeker will run into it like tracer fire.

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank misses Windshear with his Disruptor attack!

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "*ccrrrsh* --arrrrghhh--"

< Decepticon > Special Agent Marauder says, "That last transmission was garbled."

Marauder has arrived.

The Crystal Spire shudders after Cyclonus crashes through it, stray shards exploding out the other side when the Decepticon XO is clear. For a moment, it looks like the huge spire might hold, but then it trembles. And then it buckles. The energy coursing through its frame flares up brightly, like a brilliant sun at point blank range, before discharging with an optic-searing flash and a white ring of released energy pulsing out over the entire breath of Crystal City's skyline. As in slow motion, the spire continues to crash downwards....and it is soon followed by another spire, then another. As the entire network begins to fail with one of its vital 'legs' kicked out from underneath it. The entire city shakes and rumbles as the spires begin to collapse and shatter one after another...

...and the Galvatron head, the giant form, shifts. With the first spire having been gone, its trajectory is changed. Its entire form still dropping like a meteor, but now pushed away from Iacon, overshooting the city on its inevitable plunge towards Cybertron's surface. Like a blazing comet, the Giant Head tears a trail across the sky, vanishing over the horizon.

A few moments later, there is the telltale sign of a gargantuan explosion on the distant skyline, followed by a deep, continuous rumble and an even more intense quake that lasts for a few moments before it finally settles down once more.

And then...? Nothing. The dust settles, debris shifts...and the city falls into relative silence again. Rodimus stares off, before turning to check something with his radio.

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "Blast. BLAST! Galvatron will have me flayed for this! And I'll certainly have earned it!"

Landmine pumps a few more blasts into the tower support- though he soon stops as he sees Rodimus hurl Cyclonus through the air! He staggers a bit at teh crash of the tower- and then MORE at the crash of the Galvatron head. The miner lowers his weapon, silent...

And as he listens to the radio, he can't help but let out a "Whoo! Good one, Rodimus!" he breaks into rowdy, relieved laughter, and tromps over to pat his commander approvingly on the shoulder. "Just in the nick of time, like always!"

< Decepticon > Special Agent Marauder says, "We can't have that, my lord. I am en route."

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "It's... too late. The Autobots have destroyed the tractor beam array. There's no repairing it this time."

< Decepticon > Special Agent Marauder says, "Then we shall present the smoking carcasses of the Autobots responsible to Galvatron."

Rodimus Prime grins a bit sheepishly as Landmine pats him on the shoulder, "It was a team effort and we certainly wouldn't have gotten very far if Hot Spot and Warpath hadn't weakened that strug. But instead of sitting around waiting for the Decepticons to get on a revenge-bent, let's get the heck out of here. Autobots! Transform and roll out!" As he says this, Rodimus is already dropping forward onto his tires again.

Arms rotate backwards and legs fold in as Rodimus drops down into his vehicular mode. A moment later his trailer appears out of nowhere and hitches into place on his back.

Combat: Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

As vibrations lurch through the ground from the towers toppling like dominos Hot Spot is really glad he opted for the mode with stability. Even then the Protectobot mini-base gets a good shaking up. "You heard the Prime guys. Let's go back to the home we just saved." Parts shift around to reconfigure back into his vehicular mode, followed by the ladder base sliding forward and the rear end extending farther back with additional support panels locked in place to increase his passanger space. It's no ambulence but it's enough for some of the weaker gumbies to climb on as he starts chugging for the tunnel back out of the city.

The Protectobot commander reverts to his fire engine mode. Where's the fire?!

Combat: Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot > begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > and Cyclonus

Cyclonus crawls out of a pile of shattered crystals, looking battered and scratched all over. "Prime! PRIIIME!" he rasps, fixing the Autobot leader with a bitter, angry look. "You won't... you won't get away with this! Come back and face me! Dammit, I don't care if you finish me off--FACE ME!" He weakly raises his Oxidizing Laser rifle up at Prime, and snaps off a shot at him.

< Decepticon > Slugfest says, "Aww."

Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Guarded.

< Decepticon > Slugfest says, "No can fix?"

Combat: Cyclonus strikes Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > with his Oxidizing Laser attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Drained 2 energon.

Combat: Marauder sets his defense level to Aggressive.

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "No. No more than we can rebuild a shattered glass window. Once the glass is broken, there's no way to truly put it back together."

Explosions have a wonderful way of creating a low lying fog where none existed before. The dirt, dust, and otherwise debris that had been strewn about the ground, floats up, creating a thick haze in the immediate aftermath. Amidst the fog, there is displacement. Something is moving within it, something large, and dark. There is a low rumble of what is most likely tank treads, preceding its arrival. And then, all at once, there is the unmistakable noise of a Cybertronian in the midst of transformation. Rising up beyond the haze, it is a mountain of a machine, towering above the battlefield, with glowing red eyes, flanked by a silver helmet. More importantly, it sports a rather large barrel attached to its right shoulder, which crackles with energy, building up in power as a pinkish glow emanates from the centre of the barrel. "Lord Cyclonus, I am here." And with his statement made, the railgun fires forth a volley at incredible speed, likely puncturing anything in its path, and its intended target was none other than the bearer of the Matrix of Leadership.

Combat: Marauder misses Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > with his Railgun attack!

Windshear flies over where Cyclonus is ranting at Prime and ponders saying something. He really doesnt care about the consiquences and says, "You sound like Galvatron...sir..." and he wing overs slowly and fires at some Autobot Gumbies to try and pursuade them to leave faster.

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

< Decepticon > Shockwave says, "Cyclonus is correct both literally and figuratively. The collimating array assembly is largely crystalline. Constructing a new one from raw materials is not practical at this juncture."

Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > is already pulling away as he comes under fire, shots impacting against his trailer and stripping even more craters in his magnificient and sexy paintjob. Truly it's the worst victim out of all this. "Hnn! I'm not the one you're going to have to face after tonight, Cyclonus! That dinstinct pleasure belongs to someone else!" With tires squealing again, Rodimus picks up speed, reaching a corner and jack-knifing as he does a perfect drift, even for a semi cab with trailer, around the corner and on his way. Conveniently, the maneuver has him slip-sliding out of the path of the railgun shot as well, as it cores through the building just where he was a moment ago. As he roars down the street towards the waiting form of Omega Supreme, the Guardian covering the Autobot retreat, he calls back once more before he's out of earshot.

"If it's any consolation you can tell Galvatron if he wanted to protect his precious machine so much he can do it himself next time. Good luck with that!" And with that, and the smell of burnt rubber, the Prime is linking up with the other Autobots in withdrawl as they head towards the big hold leading to the underground tunnel that got them here in the first place.

Combat: Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "Thank you, Shockwave, though you may find I am one of the few to understand most of what you just said."

< Decepticon > Shockwave says, "We will have to make adjustments to the timetable. Perhaps Galvatron will see fit to allow the campaign to proceed in a... new direction."

< Decepticon > Cyclonus says, "Hm. We may have little choice but to do so."

Cyclonus asks for no help as he rises, though he does so with great effort, and haltingly. "Nnff, that had better be a *compliment,* Windshear," he warns. Turning towards Marauder, Cyclonus rumbles, "Ah, you're here. Good. Did you happen to bring a broom and dustpan?" he says with disgust. "I'd say we need particularly large ones. And don't forget to collect *me* once Galvatron is done with me." He sneers at the Autobots, not dignifying their mockery with a response they can hear. "Curse them. Curse them all!"

Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode!

Space-Buggy isn't one to disobey orders (usually)- and today's no exception, as he peels out behind Rodimus Prime and heads off as well!

Combat: Space-Buggy begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot >, Flaming Winnebago < Rodimus Prime > , and Cyclonus

Rodimus Prime has left.

Windshear retuns as the bots leave and transforms. The Seeker lands a bit heavily on the ground and in root mode is more obvious the beating that he took. He takes a moment ot steady himself and then smirks at Cyclonus. "Of course it was a compliment..." or was it?

Following the lead of the Leader, the red tank heads back with the others. "Ha-ha! I'll BLAM, shoot you Decepticons later!"

Combat: < Warpath > Red Tank begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Space-Buggy, Marauder, Mitsubishi Furo Fire Engine < Hot Spot >, Excise, Cyclonus, and Windshear

Hot Spot moves north to the Outskirts of Crystal City.

Hot Spot has left.

Marauder narrows his optics as the flaming winnebago and his cohort flees. He steps forward into the now settling dust, glancing around to survey the damage. He notes his fellow tank, but declines the opportunity to get in a parting shot. It wouldn't be worth the round. Instead, he is concerned with the well being of Lord Cyclonus. "Galvatron will not terminate you, my liege. Despite any setback this might have been, you are far too valuable to the Empire."

Landmine has left.

Warpath has left.

Cyclonus kicks a bit of crystalline rubble across the city. "Am I, Marauder? I have failed in spectacular fashion! This tractor array was millions of years old, but now look at it! It lies in pieces all around us. And Rodimus used ME to help bring it down! Damnable boy! I'd rather face death than the shame of delivering my report to Galvatron under these circumstances!"

Windshear lights an enercig and casually starts looking at the damage on his stomach. He doesnt contribute to the conversation right now, just listens.

Marauder looks confused for a moment, as if he expected more to be said, a punch line to a joke, a modifier, something. When nothing is forthcoming, he reinterprets the data in his own unique way. "Yes, this tractor array was millions of years old, but so am I, so is he," he points at the smoking seeker, "and so are you." Of course he isn't sure to what extent Cyclonus remembers his past existence. "I have known many Primes. This one is no different. He will die, as they always do, at the hands of a Decepticon, perhaps your very own."

"Rodimus Prime is not for me to destroy," Cyclonus says. "Galvatron has reserved that right for himself, and I don't think I could take it away from him even if I wanted to. Though, of course, I have no doubt Rodimus will be brought down, how many loyal Decepticon soldiers will fall to him before that happens? How many of our greatest strategies shall be undone by his meddling? No, it is a small consolation to know he will die." He sits down on a chunk of crystal, sneering. "As for my age... perhaps it is true I have millions of years of experience to draw upon, but they're not *my* years. That was another life altogether."

Windshear looks at Cyclonus for a moment. He read the reports on just what happened that day and hes always been mildly curious just who Cyclomus was before he sudden reformat so to speak. "Do you remember who you were before your reformat?" he asks bluntly as he works on his cig.

Omega Supreme has left.

Cyclonus replies only with, "Who I was before my reformatting is irrelevant. He was scum, and that is all you need to know about him. Besides... some secrets I... like to keep under my hat." He grins slightly at his own private joke.

Marauder is loyal, to a point, and he offers a glimpse, however small, into his true personality when he says, "If you have the opportunity to destroy a Prime, you should take it immediately. There will be another one along, soon enough." Before he can go on, Windshear asks a question, one he has pondered himself from time to time. He's always believed that Cyclonus is the reincarnation of Skywarp, and that Thundercracker became Scourge, but confirmation, though unlikely at this stage, would be appreciated.

Cyclonus shakes his head. "You don't know the mind of Galvatron as I do. If I killed Rodimus, Galvatron would never forgive me. Indeed, he'd be forced to kill me, as I would make him look weak by accomplishing what he could not."

Marauder nods his head, conceding the point. "I knew Megatron, I served him. Where he led, I followed. If he had ordered me to march into the inferno alone, unarmoured, and unarmed, I would have. Galvatron . . . I have met, once. Though it was so long ago . . ."

Cyclonus shrugs. "That is what any Decepticon leader would expect of you, Marauder, though a wise one would at least let you have your armor and weapons. Fear not, Galvatron is still an inspiration to us all, Marauder. Though his temper, admittedly, has not... improved."

Marauder shrugs, "No, perhaps that might do for an Autobot. Simply following orders, but we Decepticons should be held to a higher standard. It should be expected that we walk alone, unarmoured, and unarmed into the inferno, achieve our objective, and return for the next assignment." Then, when the topic changes tone, he asks, "What of this plasma bath I read about . . . ?"

Windshear looks at himself and looks at the energon rain still coming down. "Why do you have ot talk about Plasma baths now?"

Cyclonus nods. "Indeed, but we do like to have our troops return alive so they may be sent into the fray yet again. Hm. The plasma baths. Yes... you may recall Rodimus Prime is the one who somehow destroyed Unicron. Well. Before he did so, he hurled Galvatron from that monster's body with such force that he was eventually found on a planetoid called Thrull. Dreadful place, especially if you find yourself lodged in its lakes of plasma, your circuits raised to dangerous temperatures. Galvatron endured such, however. He endured what would have broken a lesser Decepticon in mere seconds. However, it was not without price. He has become an avatar of rage and anger, though perhaps that has an advantage all its own. See how carefully even the most troublesome Decepticons tread in his presence. They fear him more than ever, and it is wise that they do."

Marauder listens, and of course, he plays the skeptic, perhaps giving Cyclonus food for thought, "Have you considered the possibility that his circuits may in fact be functioning normally, and that he appears as he desires his troops to see him, even you? You cannot argue that it evokes certain responses, which can be advantageous to him."

Cyclonus saw the energy crackling around Galvatron's head after they recovered him--a clear sign of damage, in his opinion, but he decides to play along. He is, after all, Galvatron's greatest supporter, is he not? "Hm. I had not considered that, though I *have* observed the effectiveness of such. Decepticons and Autobots alike cower before his rage in a way they didn't when he was Megatron. Oh, make no mistake, Megatron was fearsome, but Galvatron truly terrifies the weak-willed. Even I dread his wrath."

Windshear listens to Cys explanation and humphs when he hears the part about Roddy picking Galvatron up and throwing him. He knows a bit how that feels. Then his thoughts are sidetracked when Cyclonus mentions Megatron. "There is nothing left of the great Megatron from what I see..." he mutters.

Marauder says, "Consider this, if you or I were Megatron, hypothetically speaking, greatest Cybertronian alive or dead, immensely powerful, brilliant, and given a new body, a new form, and a new name, what would you do if given that opportunity. As you said, Megatron was fearsome, but he was still reasonable. He was a Cyertronian that all species could deal with. His motives were plainly spoken. When the enemy can anticipate your responses to stimuli, you sow the seeds of your defeat. Were I in his position, I might craft a new personality, a subtle change, but with profound repercussions. You say that Autobot and Decepticon alike tremble in his presence." Looking over at Windshear, Marauder points, "My point exactly. You, Windshear, fear him. You do not see noble Megatron in there, but something greater, and more terrifying."

Cyclonus gives Windshear a fierce glare. "If *that* is so then it is only because Galvatron is that much greater than his previous incarnation, soldier. Our leader is an *upgrade,* don't forget it." He listens to Marauder next, and doesn't believe a word. He knows Galvatron too well, and the madness is all too real. "You present a compelling argument, Marauder," Cyclonus lies smoothly. "Yes... that makes some sense. Perhaps Galvatron has, rather than suffered an altered personality, changed his persona. Quite a brilliant move. But then of course, this realization is something we must all keep, shall we say, under our hats...?"

Windshear raises an optic ridge at both Mauraders comments and Cyclonus'.

"Megatrons original form and mentality knew when to quite -- /Galvatron/ does not. He racks up damage totals on his own troops to rival what we have after a battle with Autobots. And if Galvatron is so much more then now then before, why havent we won yet?"

Marauder hedges after the fact, "Of course, this is all idle speculation on my part. I only met our lord and master on one occasion. The rest is an educated guess, gleamed from what others have said, and what I found in the databanks during my recovery." Although he may be old, he has barely scratched the surface on what has happened over the last three decades, having been confined to a rock, floating through space. Then, to Windshear, he offers, "And we are his to do with as he pleases, never forget that."

Windshear snorts and his optics flare red. "No. Not this Seeker." yes hes in the Empire now, he serves but hes been a con solo in teh trade routes in space far too long to ever become someones fodder to do with as they please.

Cyclonus gives a tired sigh. "You should feel fortunate that I am too tired to slap you, Windshear... and that Galvatron isn't here. It is no surprise that a Decepticon leader will use physical discipline as he sees fit, nor a surprise that we 'haven't won yet.' War is hard." He stands. "Still, an interesting theory. It may be that Galvatron is even more brilliant than I originally imagined. All the same, I must be off now to face the judgement of Galvatron... and perhaps add to his 'damage total,'" he adds with a sneer.

"Nooo?" Marauder repeats, astounded by the blatant insubordination shown by the seeker, not to him of course, but to Galvatron's will. He is offended on his lord's behalf. He attempts to knock the seeker down with a quick kick towards what appears to be a damaged knee actuator, and then a following stomp of his own foot, slamming either into the seeker's throat, or the smooth surface of Cybertron itself. "You will not speak of Galvatron in that tone around me, or we shall have words, seeker."

Combat: Marauder sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Marauder strikes Windshear with his Go for the Jugular attack!

Windshear finds himself attacked and attacked hard. More warnings flash across his HUD but in what may irritate some opponents he remains silent. Rarelly is he one to vocolize pain no matter how bad and sudden. He realizes systems are damage, combat systems but he doesnt care at this point. "If thats the way you want it to be, slaghole, so be it." he rasps between clenched fangd dental playing and balls up his fists. The familar SHCCINKT sound is heard and twin arm blades extend from the backs of his wrists and the Seeker attacks.

Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Windshear strikes Marauder with his Arm Blade attack! [Pulled -3]

Cyclonus seems quite satisfied at this display. "And it appears that Marauder has saved me the trouble anyway. Very good, soldier, I'm sure you'll be going somewhere important in our hierarchy." He's less pleased when Windshear decides to fight back. "Windshear. Stand. Down. He was right to strike you, and besides, do you really want to challenge him further in your current state?"

"What does it matter, /sir/?" Windshear spits, "Im nothing but fodder anyway...."

Marauder looks down, seeing the wrist blades dig into his armour. Windshear's attack punctured it around his shin, but it is not a deep puncture. Were he a human, it would be called a flesh wound at best, a scratch at worst. "Of course you are, and you will be put to use." He lifts his foot from Windshear's chest, and offers a hand, "See that you are repaired, and if you desire, we will finish this in the simulator. Perhaps you will learn something."

Combat: Marauder sets his defense level to Protected.

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

Cyclonus says nothing this time, but watches closely.

Windshear stares at the hand and sneers. Then he slides back and struggles to get to his feet definitely favoring that leg now. Suddenly he raises an arm cannon and points it directly at Marauders face. "When you need me the most, I wont' be there... remember that." the laser lights up and hums as it builds energy but instead of shooting marauder in the face he moves the cannon over and the shot just shaves past that mechs audio. The sound of course is loud and may set that Audio ringing for a time but oh well. Then Windshear turns his back pointedly at the other mech and prepares to force himself to transform to fly back to base.

Cyclonus waits for Windshear to leave, shakes his head, and tells Marauder, "I don't know what to do with that one. He can't keep his mouth in check, and simply does not understand how the Empire works. Nor does he care to know, seemingly. We may have to terminate him. Regrettable--he did land a fair hit on Prime in the battle, but Rodimus is not nearly as fearsome an enemy for him as he is to himself."

Marauder turns to Cyclonus, though he keeps the departing seeker in his view, "I would be happy to remove that problem from your hands, my lord." He pauses for a moment, as if he himself were debating the meaning of his words. "I believe he has certain attributes that would lend themselves to intelligence work. What he lacks can be taught. And some of what he possesses cannot be learned."

Cyclonus raises a brow at Marauder. "You're going to take him under your wing, so to speak? Hm. Very well. You are free to try. If it spares myself or Galvatron the trouble of atomizing him then I welcome the attempt. For myself, I must go." He transforms and within seconds has rocketed away from the ground. "I have the most unwelcome task of all..."

Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode!