Deep Space Adventures!

THX 11

At the centre of this system is a brown dwarf star. A number of planetoids orbit at various distances from the sun, ranging from gas giants to small balls of dirt and ice. None are particularly suitable for anything larger than an outpost, but the star itself is highly desired for astronomy scientists wishing to learn more about the nature of the universe. A sparce but wide asteroid field is located at mid-range. The high radiation levels make sensors a touch sketchy.

Research probes deployed to the star system THX 11 had recently begun picking up on a subspace energy signature near one of the planetoids orbiting the brown dwarf star, so what would Perceptor do but take off in a research vessel with a few of his comrades to investigate? After all, the star itself was something of scientific interest as well, due to the rare nature of the atomic interactions occurring on its surface.But on this particular cycle, the main focus was locating and investigating whatever the source of that subspace energy was.

The scientist continues to examine the readouts on the multiple holographic displays surrounding him, keeping a close optic on the signal he's been tracking as the ship approaches the fringes of the system. The ship's sensors falter a little, due to radiation levels increasing, but Perceptor had anticipated this and had installed weak null fields around the sensor arrays to minimize interference. He activates them now, and the sensors recalibrate, returning to normal after the momentary glitch.

The signal is getting stronger now as the vessel enters the star system, and the ship's sensors begin to pinpoint the source of the energy: One of the larger planetoids in the system, positioned near the edge of the approximately mid-ranged asteroid field. Thankfully, it isn't a very dense one, so avoiding the rocks shouldn't be too difficult.

"The signal appears to originate from large planetoid #103524." Perceptor reports over the internal comm to the various other Bots and gumbies working navigation and other functions, indicating the celestial mass on a holomap that is being emitted from a projector at the center of the control room. Fortunately it doesn't appear to be the same one upon which a NASA vessel and EDC forces had been destroyed by scraplets a few meta-cycles ago. "We will set the the craft down upon the surface of the specified celestial body. ETA in approximately four breems."

Fanfare stirrs as he hears Perceptors' voice. How he heard it, considering he had music blasting into his audials the entire time, one can only guess as he straightens in his seat, having been catching some nap cycles. PUlling the headphones off, the blasting noise of Helloween is heard before he shuts it off "Hrm. ah dun like the radiation Perceptor. Es et safe?" he asks.

One of Shockwave's current missives, among all the others, was to keep an eye on the space research. Considering right now, most of the other directives involve confrontation, Laserbeak had deigned to retire to Earth orbit, either scanning or attaching himself to outbound EDC or Bot ships.

The current Bot vessel was tricky to get close to, as it was a scanner ship. One that could detect him if he wasn't careful, so his timing was paramount. Well before the ship hit THX-11, he drifted towards the vessel, attaching himself to it with his claws, as protected as possible. Space transit could be rough on a bird! Still, he manages well enough, curled up...Tight beam transmissions to the nearest Con satellite report back the object of interest...if there were any Cons about.

F-35B Lightning II  does deep space patrols, being as she /can/. She intercepts Laserbeak's transmission after it has bounced a few times, and she diverts her course. Contrail is not in the system yet, but being as she travels faster than light with her FTL drive engaged, she soon will be. So if Laserbeak needs backup or a distraction, he will have one in short order!

The ship is navigated carefully toward the planetoid, and its sublights begin to power down as it approaches the mass' rugged surface. This particular celestial body was too large to be classified as a simple asteroid, and too small to be a planet, though it was probably -almost- large enough to be one.

As soon as the ramp is lowered, Perceptor is making his way down it, datapad tracking device in hand. He gives Fanfare a quick reply.

"Radiation levels are high, but I have employed personal shielding devices. Now...if you would accompany me to the objective, that would be much appreciated. The Decepticons may have optics here, despite its remote location."

"Much obliged." remarks Fanfare as he starts to tromp down after Perceptor "Should Ah move us closer via me wings, or is et within walkin' distance? " he drawls "aslo, does that shieldin' extend tae ME?" it seemed an important question to the big black and yellow mech, standing out like a giant eyesore.

Quite frankly, Re-entry sucks when you're outside a ship. Laserbeak puts on his to-do list to 'get upgraded for space transit'. He files it underneath, 'sneaky plan number fun' and 'annoy Swindle'. It's a busy week ahead for the Beaker.

The radiation in the area was causing some problems for his sensors, his vision and transmission capabilities were popping and crackling...himself too if he stayed too long. Still he had a job to do, no guts......something something.

He climbs to the top rear side of the craft to do his spying...then pauses. Laserbeak notes how the two left their craft alone. Even if the dreaded Space Club was activated, it'd be worth it to investigate it just a smidge before following the two. Plus he can help Contrail home in on the vehicle.

F-35B Lightning II  pops out of FTL in orbit above the... well, dwarf planet, perhaps? (Elf planet? Hobbit planet?) She descends towards the location that Laserbeak has indicated, but it'll take a few minutes to complete the descent, and the Autobots may be gone by then.

Before Fanfare could finish his question, Perceptor had already slapped a circular device to his waist area. It beeps a couple of times and lights up, activating the shield the scientist had been talking about. Yep, always two steps ahead of the game. That's Perceptor for you.

As for Fanfare's first question. "Hmmm...I am not certain." He says, watching the readouts on his datapad. But then he nods. "It appears to be a few kils north." he responds, pointing northward toward a region full of strangely-shaped rock formations. Or are they rocks? At any rate, he transforms down into his smaller microscope form to it easier for Fanfare to carry him.

"I will transmit the positioning data to your internal comm." And he does just that, sending the other Autobot the coordinates of the location the signal appeared to be originating from.

Perceptor folds down into his microscope secondary form.

Errrping abruptly as he was mechhandled by Perceptor, the giant mech lifts his arms to make it easier. "... Ahm surprised ye had one in me size." he remarks, not at all ashamed of his girth. Nodding, he picks Perceptor up carefully, and then transforms, easily carrying the small microscope that lands in the pilots' seat as his wings snap out. His blades start up slowly...

And he starts to move forwards, speeding up sluggishly on his way as he starts to rumble along "... Ah Cannae get enough lift. Ah guess Ah'm well and truly 'rollin' today." he declares.

Folding down and around, Fanfare turns into a Can of Whoopass Yellow and black checked CF-130 Super Hercules.

Laserbeak ponders fiddling with the Bot shuttle...and does so subtley. It wouldn't do to strand them here, but have them KNOW someone messed with their stuff. Communications was messed up, and a log of all previous transcripts was downloaded. The usual routine minus scratching "AUTOBUTTS SUCK' on the floorboards.

He detects the loud rumblings of a transformation mode. It was time to get to work again, all of his chicanery would have to wait until later. He flies out of the shuttlecraft, slowly keeping watch on the Bot movement.

While he detects a Con seeker inbound, its hard to identify due to this cursed radiation. When in range, he'll provide Contrail with the heads-up, as well as the fact they haven't gotten to their quarry yet...

F-35B Lightning II  cautiously approached nearer to the Autobot shuttle, and when she is in visual range, she transforms to car mode and drives up nonchalantly. The radiation is making her itchy, but oh well, she will just have an anti-rad shower later. She does a quick radio transmission that will simply identify her as who she is to any Decepticons in the area (basically, just to Laserbeak).

Turning into a police car, Contrail fights crime! Wait, that's not right. Contrail causes crime.

"Thank you, Fanfare. The shield is able to expand to a shape with maximum diameter of approximately 0.125 kil, enough to encompass a combiner as large as Defensor, if necessary." Perceptor explains. After a few clicks, the positioning system would inform Fanfare that the two Autobots had arrived within the radius that had been marked by the tracking program. They find themselves among a vast array of either very strangely-shaped rocks or ruins of an ancient structure. It's kind of difficult to tell...

Perceptor exits Fanfare's cockpit and begins snooping about, searching for subspace energy traces or anything that might give him a clue as to what exactly it was that he was staring at.

As for Laserbeak, the bird Cassette would find that the ship wasn't totally empty, though he is stealthy enough that none of the gumbies manage to spot him.

CF 130 Super Hercules  in a Yellow Can of Whoopass Paintjob slows as they pull up, and transforms again, humming along to some internal beat "Sounds good tae ken!" he peers at the nearest rock, then squints at it. He steps back, trying to get a different look at it as he starts to look all over, searching more manually than Perceptor.

The vulturebot squints as the two stop, transform and investigate. His own senses reach out to try to locate whatever they're going for. Maybe to take it, maybe to blow it up. Perceptor's scanner gets some static for a few moments as Laserbeak calibrates to it. Sub-Space signatures....That was always worth checking out, though it rarely was useful enough to weaponize. Being the team player that he is, Contrail receives the same data.

Lamborghini Gallardo  gratefully accepts Laserbeak's brief. Hmm, just two named Autobots, one of them a nerd and the other rather reckless... those are not /bad/ odds. She considers, and she suggests something.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Fanfare's feet gives way. It turns out that what they were looking at was actually an ancient structure (as opposed to weird rocks) that had been covered with layer upon layer of dust and debris over the vorns. And, being as ancient as it was, it was quite eroded in many places, especially right where Fanfare happened to be stepping...

Thankfully, it doesn't end up being too far of a fall, though.

Perceptor hurries over to where his comrade had fallen and calls down to him. "Fanfare, are you all right?"

"AUGHHHH!!" yelps the bigbot as he dissapears into the black. THe ground shivers as he lands in the darkness below - not far for a mech his size at least. he grunts, and turns on his flight lights to illuminate the room he was in "Aye! Ah'm fine!" he calls back up "Ah think ah found et though!"

Laserbeak almost cackled! Stupid Bots and their stupid inability to fly...among all other things. That sort of pratfall was going on the message board back home. Maybe add some wacky sound effects...

Laserbeak's squinty eyes flicker, it'd be quite the advantage if they BOTH fell into the hole. Who knows where it lead though? He was comfortable with either scenario really, as he starts analyzing Perceptor. In a cycle or two, things were bound to get very amusing.

Combat: Laserbeak analyzes Perceptor for weaknesses Contrail can exploit.

Lamborghini Gallardo  considers Laserbeak's reply, and she starts to slowly head on off the way that the Autobots went, driving along at a sedate pace. If the ground is caving in... well, she'll just let the Autobots find all the sinkholes first. And if they don't both fall in? Maybe she'll think about giving Perceptor a push.

Upon illuminating the room he is in, the large Autobot would find himself in what looked like an abandoned lab or medical facility. Again, it was hard to tell exactly what it was, it was so old and dilapidated. There is a lot of run-down machinery in here and everything, like the structures above, is covered in dust and debris.

"Hmm..." Perceptor examines his datapad, and nods. "I believe you are correct, Fanfare. The subspace energy particles are most dense at this particular location."

If Contrail had been planning to push Perceptor into the hole, there was actually no need for that. He pushed himself off of the edge, jumping the short distance into the deteriorating facility below to join his comrade.

CF 130 Super Hercules  in a Yellow Can of Whoopass Paintjob ughs a little bit as he looks about "Not another one." he rumbles, whirling his blades slowly. He extends both hands to catch Perceptor if need be on the way down "Ah got ye!"

Laserbeak chirps into the short range radio. Underground facility! That explains the strange readings. He perches on the hole's edge, scanning below. Certainly a stealth expert like him could maintain cover in the area, but Contrail....

His thoughts trail off as he hovers slowly down into the hole. In a place like this, there'd be no mech to hear you scream. It ruffled his ener-feathers.

Lamborghini Gallardo  has no chance of maintaining cover, no. But if the Autobots are looking at her, they aren't looking at Laserbeak, now are they? She transforms and jumps down into the pit with a flashy landing. She calls out, voice weak in the thin air, "Hey, what are you nerds up to? Digging your own graves? How handy for me!"

In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode.

Perceptor is caught by Fanfare, and nods his thanks to the other Autobot, though his efforts probably weren't really necessary. He scopes out the room, glancing at his datapad occasionally. Finally, he moves over to a cylindrically-shaped structure on the far side of the room, situated atop another geospherically-shaped structure. Both are covered with dust, so he begins brushing some of it off. He has a look of excited fascination on his face. If this was what he thought it was....

In fact he is so excited that he doesn't even appear to notice that Contrail has arrived.

Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Protected.

Startled as Contrail abruptly lands right in front of her, Fanfare stares at her... and after putting PErceptor down, the winged bot straightens again. Without a word, he lifts back a fist and swings a fist at her face.

Combat: CF 130 Super Hercules  in a Yellow Can of Whoopass Paintjob misses Contrail with his Preemptive Strike (Punch) attack!

Folding down and around, Fanfare transforms from a Can of Whoopass Yellow and black checked CF-130 Super Hercules into his robot mode.

The gunner has no idea how Perceptor manages to talk him into going on these little trips. Especially when Bluestreak has /no/ idea what the scientists are doing and /no/ clue about any pitfalls that may happen. Nonetheless, when Perceptor told him he was the best bot to watch his back.

Well, a willing bot willing to go to places that were sure to be dangerous no matter how many times he is told that there is nothing to worry about, really. So engrossed was he in looking around and watching all their backs that he didn't notice both Fanfare and Perceptor jumped down. "Hey!" He called as he jumped down to catch up to them. Then he saw Contrail step out. It is never a dull night.

Combat: Bluestreak sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Robots in disguise! Needlenose transforms into his F-16XL Jet Fighter mode!

F-16XL Jet Fighter  is finally getting the hang of this space flying thing. You can tell by the way he's ducking and weaving like he's out of control. "Urk," Zigzag says, trying not to throw up from underneath Needlenose's left wing. The F-16 blasts past Contrail, doing what is no doubt an intentional lateral spin followed by three quarters of a barrel roll. "Wait, hold on. I got it now. Watch, I'll- wait, no, hold on. Alright, now I've go- actually wait, hold on again."

Stealthbot #1 Laserbeak mutters under his beak, and by mutter, he actually chirps very disapprovingly. The attack was bravado and ill-timed. What really irked him was that he didn't catch Bluestreak. The Bot was probably on roving surveillance. Fortunately he had some reinforcements inbound as well, assuming everyone wasn't slagged before he arrived. He quietly regards the situation from his cover, giving Bluestreak the analysis treatment. That'll show him for not showing up on radar.

Combat: Laserbeak analyzes Bluestreak for weaknesses Contrail can exploit.

Contrail is totally not punched at by a plane. That did not happen at all. Instead, Fanfare tries to punch her for calling him a nerd, and she leans far back, almost bending back double under his blow. She stares up at Needlenose's less-than competent flying as Laserbeak tells her all of Bluestreak's secret weaknesses. Contrail calls out, "So, dorks, we meet again! I'll kill the scientist last just in case he's trying to blow up the universe again." She drops the floor and tries to sweep Fanfare off his feet with a sweep of her leg.

Combat: Contrail strikes Fanfare with her leg sweep (Kick) attack!


 * CLANG!* The kick slams into Fanfare's legt... hardly moving him, but leaving a really nice mark on the behemoths' armor as he yelps "Ach! TDo ye even ken what that word MEANS? " he remarks a little bit "And blow up the universe? heh. look in a mirror, lassie!" while she was down, he lifts both fists over his head to bring them down together on her head. "Hurry up Percy!"

Combat: Fanfare misses Contrail with his Hammerstrike (Smash) attack!

Perceptor was busy examining the cylindrical object when he heard a kick clang into Fanfare. He jerks upward and whirls around to find his comrade being attacked by none other than Contrail! The Decepticons really did have optics everywhere, didn't they?

"Your attempt to demoralize me with inaccurate information is futile, Contrail." he rebukes. "I did not attempt to destroy the universe. Only a parallel dimension that was actually devoid of lifeforms."

He quickly draws his weapon from subspace and levels it at the triplechanger.

Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Perceptor misses Contrail with his It was uninhabited! attack! [Pulled -2]

Bluestreak takes the moment to aim for Contrail... then watches as Needlenose comes in. "Should have known they don't come alone..." He says as he takes careful aim at Contrail, since all her focus was on 'the nerds'.

Combat: Bluestreak strikes Contrail with his This one is for the nerds! (Pistol) attack!

Laserbeak hesitated. The combat was pretty touch and go, there was some melee, a bit of light weapons fire. Both sides were feeling each other out. He mused over the idea of killing Perceptor himself....after some good old fashioned energon interrogation. Maybe watch Fanfare melt... Good times

Fanfare was a rather large Bot. Contrail went into melee. He quietly does his part to encourage a good facemelting against the mech. Again, good times.

Combat: Laserbeak analyzes Fanfare for weaknesses Contrail can exploit.

Contrail grins very, very wide and laughs, "I find your denial charming! Devoid of lifeforms? Sure, whatever gets you to rest. Now, see, if you had a /healthy/ mentality, you'd just own up that, 'Yes. I destroyed a universe. It might have been inhabited by life nothing like the life we know. And I hope it was. Because mass murder is /great/.' You Autobots, though... so much repression of natural desires! Look, you can't even hit for bolts!" She pushes herself up from the floor and rushes past Fanfare, evading his strike, and she twists out of the line of fire of Perceptor's laser. However, Bluestreak does land a hit. As Laserbeak's scout report on Fanfare loads up in her HUD, she draws her long, two-tailed electric whip and shakes it out, unreeling the length of it.

Combat: Contrail sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Contrail strikes Perceptor with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Contrail (Contrail) used "Whiplash Whirlwind": A Level 3 AREA-MELEE attack.

Combat: Contrail strikes Fanfare with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Contrail strikes Bluestreak with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack! [Pulled -2]

F-16XL Jet Fighter  reverts to robot mode, managing to slow his velocity better in this mode. The atmosphere on this planetoid is way too thin for his ailerons' tastes. Drawing both Sunbeam and Zigzag, the Targetmaster eyes the ruins of the medical facility through the hole Fanfare made. He slowly descends through it just in time to see Contrail unleash the pain with the whip and Perceptor go down. "...I'm, uh, I'm feeling uncomfortable here."

Laserbeak shakes his head. That daze from Contrail's mass whipping sent his sensors spinning. The radiation must've played tricks on him. He takes a few moments to clear his head. Then....then the vulture strikes...maybe. If someone's back is turned.

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

"Heh. Yer talkin' sweet lassie, but remember ye aint so clean yerself." remarks Fanfare simply, his optics bright as he watches her evade. He grumbles al ittle bit in annoyance, then lifts an arm, the whip wrapping around it and searing him. He barks out in laughter, and this time decides to go a little more high-tech, his pistol coming out to fire at the femme without mercy. "Ye trie and act all 'innocent' but ye ken ye aint so."

Combat: Fanfare misses Contrail with his Pistol attack!

The scientist hadn't taken much time to aim at Contrail, which was likely the reason why he'd missed. Plus half of his mind had still been running through various methods of trying to get the device he had just discovered to work, as it had numerous applications. It might even turn the tide of the war...

But now he was getting lashed by the triplechanger's energon whip. He attempted to sidestep the attack, but he didn't move quickly enough.

The scientist prepares to fire again. "You do not understand, Contrail. Temperatures within the other dimension were far too high to accomodate any sort of sapient lifeform. There is a possibility that simple organisms may have existed, however if anything higher inhabited it and was able to survive such extremes, such lifeforms would have easily evaded or averted the disaster."

He fires his weapon again, hoping to score a hit this time.

Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Perceptor strikes Contrail with his 'Natural' is subjective anyway! attack!

Things were actually starting to get pretty hot for combat...and Laserbeak was far too close to it. He takes advantage of the chaos to slip out of frame, where he will quietly wait for the debacle to get over with. A bird has to look after himself of course...and whomever was left afterwards maybe.

Combat: Like the wind, Laserbeak is gone!

F-16XL Jet Fighter  waves Zigzag around threatening as he lands at the bottom of the hole. "Hey, looks like we found someone who's an even worse shot than you," Needlenose taunts. "Shut up!" Zigzag retorts, but both Needlenose and Sunbeam just laugh at the electro-static gun. Swaggering on closer to the actual battle, Needlenose shouts, "Hey, Perceptor! You're preaching to the choir, dude. We're kinda /proud/ of you for blowing up that there universe. You're like a hero! You'd be a shoe-in over in Decepticon town. C'mon, give it a thought! You get a free Decepticon insignia and everything!"

Even as Needlenose makes fun of Perceptor, Zigzag acts on his own accord, determined to prove that he's not the world's worse shot. Taking aim, the electro-static gun fires a lightning bolt at the scientist even as he snipes Contrail. If this hits, Perceptor will find his circuits spasming out of control.

More Than Meets The Eye! F-16XL Jet Fighter  transforms into robot mode!

Combat: Needlenose strikes Perceptor with his Electrostatic Overloader Rifle attack!

Combat: Needlenose (Needlenose) used "Electrostatic Overloader Rifle": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

Combat: Needlenose's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Perceptor.

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Perceptor's Agility. (Crippled)

Contrail just argued that mass murder is great. It's pretty hard to say that she is trying to pretend to be innocent. It is more like she is being openly sociopathic, which is probably accurate. Perceptor's strike is... quite damaging, actually. Blows out one of her lift servos. "Hmm... hmm. Riiiight. Would have been way too simple to be sapient? And yet you Autobots whine /so much/ when the humans claim you can't possibly be intelligent! I mean, how do you even speak with your foot in your foot like that? Is it... like this?" She tries to demonstrate on Fanfare.

Combat: Contrail strikes Fanfare with her Kick attack!

Perceptor sighs. This was a waste of time. The fighting, -and- the arguing. The fighting was kind of necessary at the moment, but since the arguing wasn't really, he gives up on the latter.

He doubted the Decepticons even knew what he was after. Well, Contrail might be onto him, but Needlenose? Doubtful. He is thinking seriously about how he might grab what he thinks might be a subspace energy conduit of sorts, toss it to Fanfare and get the slag out of there before the Decepticons had a chance to snatch it from him. But then his circuits are overloading as Zigzag hits him with the electrostatic weapon.

Fanfare appears to be having difficulty hitting Contrail, so he feeds the other Autobot some targeting data. Hopefully that will help.

Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to assist Fanfare's next attack.

Fanfare may be slow on the offense today, but he had lots of practice it seems, protecting his face as he leans back, the foot skipping off his bald head. He rumbles, chuckling "Ye seem tae be trying tae upset me. But yer failin' miserably lassie. And news flash. That's YER foot, nae mine!" he remarks smugly. "Ye also ken nothing about science. Go read up on et. Mebbe ye'll actually understand tha words we speak." Blinking at the data, he nods "Much obliged. " before snapping his wings out - a kind of half-transformatno, and then whipping to one side, intending to simply SLAP her with one wingtip.

Combat: Fanfare strikes Contrail with his WingSmash (Smash) attack!

Needlenose holds Zigzag up, "Whoa, nice move," he admits. "Hey, Fanfare! You see that? You see that right there? Even Zigzag just hit his target! He's got a better hit percentage than YOU so f-" then of course Fanfare finally connects on Contrail with his mighty Gerwalk Smack. "Whoops, well, nevermind then I guess." Eager to not be left out of the spotlight, Sunbeam now takes a shot, trying to brighten up Perceptor's day by overloading his optic circuits with a powerful flash.

Combat: Needlenose misses Perceptor with his Light Burst Discharger attack!

Combat: Needlenose (Needlenose) used "Light Burst Discharger": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack.

Contrail wonders if Laserbeak got enough intel. Or if Laserbeak just changed Perceptor's browsing history to one hundred My Little Pony Videos. Contrail points out, "Denial is a river in Egypt! - and we should probably steal that sometime, Needlenose. I think the Nile would look better on Mars, yeah? And speaking of stealing... Needlenose, take that off Perceptor's hands." She snaps and gestures at Perceptor's nonsense. Then she tries to cover Fanfare in acid.

Also, Fanfare's attack really hurts and makes her limp a bit.

Combat: Contrail strikes Fanfare with her Acid Strike attack!

Sunbeam's discharger comes Perceptor's way, but this time he'd expected another attack from one of Needlenose's partners and managed to dodge it, throwing an arm up over his face as well. He pulls the cylindrical device from its housing, metal groaning against metal as it is forcibly dislodged after vorns of sitting there. Once he's grabbed it, he raises his weapon with one arm, firing off in Needlenose's general direction while he commed Fanfare.

<>

Combat: Perceptor strikes Needlenose with his Concussion Blaster (Laser) attack!

"Righto!" rumbles Fanfare as he hisses, his paint job burning away now. Somewhat battered, he backs up quickly from her as he transforms, doubling over until his giant form appears. His wings start to tilt up entirely, his rear hatch open for Perceptor to enter... once everyone was in, an explosion of noise announces the Giant Mech's activation of his powerful JATO rockets, filling the room with sound as he takes a risk to lift off INSIDE the hole... losing one wingtip on the way out as he sears out into the sky like a NASA shuttle, hopefully leaving the Decepticons behind in the literal dust.

Folding down and around, Fanfare turns into a Can of Whoopass Yellow and black checked CF-130 Super Hercules.

Combat: CF 130 Super Hercules  in a Yellow Can of Whoopass Paintjob begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

Needlenose hmphs as the scientist dodges the flash, holstering both his Targetmasters. "You got it, 'Trail," Needlenose says, activating his anti-gravs. Blasting forward with his hands outstretched, Needlenose takes the light cannon blast to the shoulder but manages to stay on course. "So once again, Dr. Perceptor, once again what was briefly yours is now mine!" He tries to snatch the cylinder out of the Autobot's hands.

Contrail supposes that, since Fanfare has run away, and since Needlenose has failed in his assigned task, she can give it a try, attempting a surreptitious snatch. Maybe Needlenose will have distracted Perceptor. Maybe.

Combat: Contrail strikes Perceptor with her Grab attack!

Combat: Contrail (Contrail) used "Grab": A Level 0 MELEE attack.

Yes, there is a lot of dust and debris that is kicked up when Fanfare uses his rockets, and it fills the ancient underground room. Perhaps that was why Needlenose had missed.

Anyway, Perceptor hefts the device with him as he jumps toward the open rear hatch, but then Contrail grabs his leg, pulling him back down. However, he manages to toss it up into the open hatch and out of the Decepticons' reach. Assuming Fanfare doesn't leave his friends behind, he waits outside for Perceptor to get out of the tussle he is in.

Perceptor shakes his head at Contrail. "This battle has no purpose, I do not wish to waste energon. Nor do you, if you are wise." With that, he turns and does his best to boost himself out of the hole using some of the larger pieces of machinery or piles of debris lying about and grab onto Fanfare's rear end before the large Autobot took off.

Combat: Perceptor begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from CF 130 Super Hercules  in a Yellow Can of Whoopass Paintjob and Contrail

Needlenose throws his hands in front of his face as, instead of snatching himself some primo McGuffin, he instead plows straight into dust central. "Ack!" he says. Blinded, he smashes into the side of the hole and bounces off, landing on the ground in a pained heap. This means it's between Contrail and Perceptor now!

Contrail is quite unwise! But Perceptor escapes with his McGuffin. Because it is after the commercial break. She looks to Needlenose and declares, "I call 'not it' on delivering the PSA." Then she runs off, leaving Needlenose with the task of teaching children a life lesson. Sucker!

Turning into a police car, Contrail fights crime! Wait, that's not right. Contrail causes crime.

Combat: Lamborghini Gallardo <Contrail> begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from CF 130 Super Hercules <Fanfare> in a Yellow Can of Whoopass Paintjob

...TO BE CONTINUED?