Plan B, Phase Two

Amazon River Basin

Though vastly depleted from what it once was, the tropical rain forests of South America still claim a vast and seemingly impenetrable stretch of land. Unfortunately, that stretch of land is shrinking quickly, and the jungle is being metamorphosed into one of concrete and steel. The rain now patters on oxygenating towers and chemical plants. Oil wells replace trees, chemists and workers replace tribes and animals. The remaining true forest is owned by various eco-groups and individuals interested in seeing it preserved.

Contents:

BMW R1200RT-P Police Motorcycle &lt;Groove&gt;

Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt;

F-16XL Jet Fighter &lt;Needlenose&gt;

Elita One

Moonracer

Hubcap

Scorn

Loadout

Insecticon Clone Pods

Obvious exits: North &lt;N&gt; leads to Trinidad Oil Fields. Northwest &lt;NW&gt; leads to Panama Canal. Southeast &lt;SE&gt; leads to Brazil. Southwest &lt;SW&gt; leads to Andes Mts..

East &lt;E&gt; leads to Southwest Atlantic. Fly &lt;Up&gt;

Insecticon Clone Pods

====================[ TACS Object: Insecticon Clone Pods ]==================== Tell a friendly administrator to set my OBJ_DESC attribute!

-- This is a weapon object, see '+help WeaponObject' for more info -- Usage Restriction: None                Can You Use It?: Yes Ammunition: None Required Energon: 50 Endurance: 86 / 100                    Mode: 1 of 1 (Vehicle)

=
============[ TACS Weapon Object #9697 ]=========================

In the sweltering humidity and buzzing insect cacophony of the Amazon River Basin, the Decepticons attempt to hatch their latest scheme - quite literally! In the last &lt;s&gt;episode&lt;/s&gt; scene, the Autobots managed to - well, Rumble - managed to destroy some of the clone pods, but many pods remain, and they could pose a serious threat to Earth's food supply if they are released!

However, these Insecticon clone pods are just for idiot copies. Not real Insecticons. In fact, they are missing basic motivational programming, and that programming has to come from somewhere.

Contrail sighs, flicks a goliath beetle off the back of her hand, and admits, "...okay, the internet is probably not the /best/ source, but look at it this way: even if this fails, we just cleaned out a bunch of warehouse space."

Needlenose steps up to one of the pods and, with his hand, wipes off the frost on the front window of the pod. All cloning pods have front windows with frost on them. It's way colder inside the pods than it is outside, you see. Peering inside, he sees some weird Insecticon in robot mode. This really feels like it could backfire somehow, Needlenose thinks, but I just can't put my finger on how. "Ah you're overthinking this," Needlenose says out loud to himself, "With all the knowledge of the Internet they'll have any tidbit of information they could ever possibly need!"

Scorn huffs softly at Contrail while scuttling around the group of unhatched pods, spindly legs clambering over them, the femme only stopping to give them a brief examination by touching along the surface with lengthy antennas. "It's a /horrid/ idea, if you ask me. Especially since you're using part of the Earth's network, of all things. Have you /seen/ what garbage these humans throw around their internet? It's abhorrent!"

Scorn clacks her mandibles in mild annoyance before returning to the pods, quite disappointed with how this has turned out. A possible, deepseated motherly instinct? Maybe. But she wanted these clones to actually turn out good instead of useless idiots only used for fodder. Ah well, maybe next batch. Scorn crouches before shifting into her scythe-armed mantis mode.

Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; is making her rounds through the remaining collection of Insecticon pods, scrutinizing them for any defects or problems. She peers into one and frowns at the weird, retarded Insecticon inside. It makes sense to keep them stupid but it still makes her a little uncomfortable what with also being an Insecticon an all. "The internet is a treasure trove of information. It's also the most disgusting thing I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing." Buzzkill remembers that video she was linked to about the girls and the cup and she shudders.

Buzzkill transforms into her robot mode.

The one about the girls and the Kup was worse.

BMW R1200RT-P Police Motorcycle &lt;Groove&gt; vrooms happily alongside his fellow Autobots, pretty stoked about a trip to the jungle. "I mean, just think about it, Bumblebee," he says to Hubcap, "This is like, probably where they filmed The Lion King. Man, those animals sure could sing. And they say humans can't accomplish anything like, worthwhile you know man? I'd like to see Cyclonus teach a lion to sing that's not like, Razorclaw or something. Predacons, man. You know what would be weird, Cliffjumper? If like, what if...I mean...Like, there was a whole thing with animal Cybertronians and we were all like, Mammbots. Autoimmals. Or something. What would you be? Elita One would probably be an eagle. Cuz like, Elagle One, man. She'd have wings and Shockwave already thinks she's against the law."

And then he pauses for like four minutes before following up with, "I think I missed dinner. Is it after dinner?"

Combat: Moonracer slips into the shadows and out of sight...

Elita One heads up this expedition, and for good cause. The freedom fighter has dealt with several megacycles of underground activity on Cybertron. The advantages of actual foliage on Earth doesn't change much in terms of the strategy, just the manner of use. The Femme Commander squints as she looks down at the Con encampment. &lt;&lt;Alright Autobots listen up, we can't let those pods hatch, but we can't keep ourselves undefended. I've got demopacks on me, and will do what I can to take most of those pods out with a few good charges, if we're lucky, we'll get a few Cons in it too. Hubcap, keep their signals jammed for as long as you can. We do not want reinforcements coming in. We stop them here.&gt;&gt; She turns aside from her kneeling position to her compatriot, "Moonracer, when I bolt, keep them off me." Her receptors flicker again as she looks back to the team, &lt;&lt;Everyone else, play the short game. Hit them as they close in, use the range against them.&gt;&gt; From the halted vantage point above the Pod Farm, Elita leads the charge downhill, "Roll Out, Autobots! Destroy those pods!" She leaps down the steep slope, landing on it with a foot braced forward, sending up clouds of dust as she moves to engage, light blasts of laser fire spray out from her position, eager to draw the Cons forward, away from the farm.

As the Decepticons fuss over the collected insecticon pods, the Amazon rainforest rings with the cries of countless birds and the buzzing of insects, though some are more silent such as the unfortunate goliath beetle that Contrail flicked on its way. Reptiles a plenty are gathered about as well, including one particularly large Caiman that floats lazily along the water's edge, watching the distant evil Decepticons detachedly as it waits for something edible to float within reach, unaware of the fact that as the Autobots approach this place is about to be turned into a battle zone. A moment later, the animal suddenly surges away in a burst of speed, disappearing deeper into the water, for good reason, as a shadow descends over the water's edge where it was lying in wait. Something else watches both Autobots and Decepticons...and waits with infinite patience.

Moonracer nods to Elita One. "Got it Commander," she whispers back. Getting a quick look at her surroundings, she picks out a suitable position behind a thick tangle of trees. Getting out her laser pistol, she takes up sniper position, ready to make vital shots as necessary.

Hubcap tries to focus his attention on what's happening around him. Which isn't easy with Groove gibbering next to him. "It's breakfast time, Groove. Now quiet, I can hear them ... They're using the Internet as a programming aide?"

Deep within the dangers of the deadly Amazon, Needlenose's heightened senses are on full alert as he carefully examines the local fauna. His hours of previous research before coming here will pay off when it comes to dealing with the hostile env- hah, no, I'm just kidding, Needlenose watched an episode of Survivorman and called it a day. Sure Survivorman was in Arizona for that episode but it's basically the same thing. The faux Seeker steps up to the pods' control panel, "Alright, ladies and gents, I say we get this show on the road!" Needlenose claps his hands, "Alright, before we begin, I thought it might be beneficial for everyone if we went over the plan out loud and in detail. We have these extra Insecticon pods," Needlenose gestures at them. "And we have the Internet." Needlenose points to a huge mass of cables that runs to a Comm system that's hooked into the Internet. "And we have Scorn. Put them all together and what do we get? Boom, that's right, army of Insecticons." Needlenose points at Scorn, "Alright, Buzzkill, hook your sister up, willya?"

A voice calls from the bushes. "Wait, I missed that bit, could you repeat it from the bit about the Internet?"

F-35B Lightning II &lt;Contrail&gt; is just going to allow Needlenose and Buzzkill to hook Scorn full of strange cables. They clearly know what they're doing. There is absolutely no way this is an unsafe and unethical procedure. She takes to the air and declares cheerily, "Just going to do a routine patrol to check and make sure that unusually large boa constrictors aren't sneaking up on us!"

That happened to Starscream. It was awful.

It's a good thing there aren't any Autobots around to hear Needlenose, right? Buzzkill nods at the wanna-be seeker and picks up a bundle of cords attached to the main unit, taking a moment to untangle them before moving to Scorn and begining the process of attaching them all. The honey bee starts opening panels all over Scorn's body, ones she probably, didn't even know she had, and jams the cable ends into the exposed ports. When finished, she takes a step back to examine her work. "She's ready," she drones in an unamused fashion before pulling a sinister looking lever on the machine and activating it, mad science style.

"Again, why am /I/ the one that has to do this?" Scorn hisses softly at the group's plan concluded without her earlier, grumbling softly now as Buzzkill moves over to open access panels and jam in various cords here and there. "Erf, not so hard with those!" She snaps at the bee before she finishes, mandibles clicking in annoyance before she settles and stands still. "I expect something big after thi- Gzzk!!"

The mantis is cut short when the lever falls, sending a surge of electricity and knowledge directly into the femme, serving as a dampener before being pumped right into the pods connecting to the other ends. It shouldn't hurt the pod con's minds, no, but to Scorn it's a full frontal assault, her optics flickering manically while she twitches heavily from the boatload of info pouring through her.

Now, Scorn is a special case when it comes to Insecticons. A bit of a rush job, if you will. Ever wonder why she can't turn tiny, or become invigorated when feasting? Yeah. It's only when that particular programming begins to trickle through the line that she suddenly tips over onto her back, screeching with flailing, spindly legs, scythe arms flailing and trying to scratch at her head. "Ergh!! G-Get them out! It hurts, auugh!!!" Oh yes, fresh programming, that should have been there in the first place, is not very pleasent to experiance later on, especially for such important functions.

"Oh wait we're attacking, cool!" Groove blasts forward with a burst of speed, airborne when he hits a natural ramp...The Protectobot manages two flips, purely for style, and transforms into robot mode, stretching out for a swandive with his blaster in hand before curling up to turn his body, tucking into a cannonball. "Ohhhhh man this is gonna totally happen!"

Groove lands directly onto one of the pods, shattering the glass and finding himself laying with a brainless insecticon robot. "Oh hey" He gives the empty Con a nod. "I'm Groove. Feeling very positive about being locked in a stalemate war with you for the forseeable future. Sorry for crashing without a heads up, I know that came off as pretty harsh. Hey do you know Buzzkill? She's a bee. She's stabbed me through the chest like, a whole bunch of times. Anyway, later dude!" He sits up out of the pod and is super attack ok.

Groove transforms into his robot mode. Righteous.

Combat: Groove sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Groove strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with his CANNONBALLLLLLLLLL (Ram) attack!

The switch is flicked, the information starts to flow, and the Decepitcon plot grows that much closer to being hatched, figuratively speaking. And now of course, the Autobots are starting to arrive, in some fashion or another, and the shooting is literally about to start. It's then that the figure starts to move again, water splashing with rapid steps as it steals away from the cover of the foliage, crosses the fast flowing water and begins to draw closer to the brewing conflict, as opposed to away from it. Curious, given that most tend to run the -opposite- direction when the Autobots and Decepticons lay into one another...

Elita One keeps her eyes to the sky. A seeker...Contrail it looked like. She was bound to engage with Elita, after that last debacle on Cybertron. Still, now was a time to cover ground! Sprinting, the Femme Commander rushes towards the Pods, not quite having the mobility of Groove's cycle form.

She raises her cannon towards Contrail, intent on drawing her fire into the pods, friendly fire and all that. She glances at Groove for a moment, then sends several light shots into the sky. She mutters, "Come on in close, Con....We've got a game to play..."

Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Protected.

Combat: Elita One misses F-35B Lightning II &lt;Contrail&gt; with her Laser attack!

Combat: Elita One (Elita One) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Contrail says, "Uh oh, we have Autobots inbound! The pink time witch!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Hubcap says, "Kiss your sky goodbye."

Hubcap's head snaps around as he locates a strong signal. Well, of /course/ they'd use a satellite relay, You don't get cable in the Amazon. Time to put a stop to /that!/

&lt;&lt; I've got a good place to sit tight right now and pick off targets. Do you want me to cover you or do you want me to aim for those pods? &gt;&gt; Moonracer radios to Elita One.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Needlenose says, "Decepticons, initiate plan: Murder Hubcap's Ass!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Wiretap says, "Autobot intrusion level: Annoying"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Wiretap has encrypted this channel.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Contrail says, "Maybe we can feed Hubcap to the clones when they emerge. But he'd be junk food."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Snowblind says, "Well now I wish I didn't have practice."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Snowblind says, "Sounds like you have autobots I could experiment on."

Buzzkill stands beside the machine, monitoring the transfer process with a close eye though she does occasionally glance at Scorn and grins rather sadistically at her reaction to the huge program dump. Suddenly, an alarm on the machine sounds and Buzzkill snaps around just in time to see Groove standing atop the remains of the Insecticon pod he just finished destroying. The nerve of that guy.. "Damn you, Protectobot scum!" Buzzkill shakes her fist and scowls. "You have no idea what you're interfering with!" She transforms into her giant honey bee mode and descends upon Groove, mandibles snapping to take a bite out of his face.

Buzzkill transforms into a giant robotic honey bee. Bzz bzz!

Combat: Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; strikes Groove with her Chomp attack! [Pulled -1]

"Right, good question," Needlenose answers Scorn about why it had to be her, "We'll have someone check up on that afterwards." Once Scorn is strapped in, the Targetmaster shouts, "Ok, Buzzkill, HIT IT!" The mech steps forward to watch as Scorn is zapped by the electricity. If the Internet can't do it, he reasons, nothing can. Needlenose frowns as Scorn starts tipping over and screeching. He glances down at a clipboard he's been carrying around for show. "Uh, I don't think that part is supposed to happen. Buzzkill, should we cancel the experiment?" Before he can get an answer, Contrail announces the arrival of Autobots! Looking up into the sky, he can see a laser bolt streak up after Contrail. It's with relief that it looks like the shooter missed. "Whew, got lucky there, baby cakes," Needlenose mutters under his robo-breath. He doesn't recognize the style of laser bolt, but he doubts it's Hubcap's, who he heard on the Decepticon broadband. That means there's at least two Autobots... probably more. "Blast it. Buzzkill, how much longer until our new army has been created? We- GAH!" Needlenose jolts back as Groove smashes into the pod /right next to him/. "Get off of that, you loon!" he hisses, trying to swat Groove aside even as Buzzkill descends from above.

Horsepower has arrived.

Horsepower tromps into view with heavy footfalls.

Combat: Needlenose strikes Groove with his Swat... wait shoot is that word racist against Insecticons? (Punch) attack!

F-35B Lightning II &lt;Contrail&gt; dodges and reasons that, since Hubcap is so very good with radios, maybe they can grab him, glue him to Scorn, and use him to boost the internet signal to the clone pods!

It cannot make this plan any dumber.

However, first she has to find Hubcap, so she takes some time scouting the forest, making herself a big target for people who might want to shoot her...

Combat: F-35B Lightning II &lt;Contrail&gt; sets her defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Contrail analyzes Hubcap for weaknesses.

Combat: Drained 4 energon.

Horsepower drops his bulk to the pavement, converting into a modified wrecker rig.

Honestly, Scorn's pain isn't helped much when Groove effectively cuts a pod from the collective signal, a feeling akin to a railroad spike jolting through her processor. "Ahhggh!" Seems their pain is hers while she remains hooked up, though the poor femme's screeching begins to die down when that particular programming flood begins to taper off into normal information. She's pretty much shaking at this point while laying still on her back, body curling up a little and legs bending inward like a dead bug while she twitches ever so often.

"I.. I'm go-zzt-nna kill you all.. after thiszzt.." It's all she can really mutter, trying her hardest to manage herself to her feet amongst all the wires. She can't really fight at the moment though, lest she stop the info transfer, so Scorn elects to lend a helping hand instead, mustering her strength and biting back a new, overwhelming void of hunger. Optics settle on the most vivid thing in the area, specifically Elita One's vibrant pink paintjob, and hisses at the other femme, gathering up a gob of nasty acid spit before launching it at her.

Combat: Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; strikes Elita One with her Molten Plasma Spit attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Elita One's Accuracy. (Blinded)

Groove waves. "Oh hey, Buzzkill. That's hilarious. I was just talking about you with this cool bro. Oh HEY!" Buzzkill gets a mouthful of forearm as Groove protects his face from being eaten. "Ok whoah I think everyone really needs to chill down a bit, ok? ACK!" And then Needlenose punches him in the back of the head. "Whoah! Why you gotta act so messed up towards me? Man?" With his non being chwed on hand, Groove squeezes the trigger on his photon gun and basically just starts shooting.

Combat: Groove strikes Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; with his Photon Pistol Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt;'s Accuracy! (Blinded)

Combat: Groove strikes Needlenose with his Photon Pistol Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Needlenose's Accuracy! (Blinded)

Combat: Groove strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with his Photon Pistol Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Insecticon Clone Pods's Accuracy! (Blinded)

Elita One frowns, radioing in to the team, &lt;&lt;Contrail's looking for something.&gt;&gt; She darts through the pod farm, almost absently placing mines in the area set to her remote detonator. Running through her tacticals, she readies her cannon, aiming out towards any of the protoforms nearby. &lt;&lt;Almost out of mines, Bots, get clear as best you can. Won't take out all of them, but it'll be a darn good dent.&gt;&gt;

She pauses to take aim, and just before the cannon fires, acid clings to her face. She cries out in pain, her voice muffled for the moment, "All of the slagging..." Elita shakes her head in vain, blasting out at the pods anyway. They're immobile, shouldn't be THAT hard to hit.

Combat: Elita One strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with her Plasma Cannon attack! [Pulled -2]

The fight going in earnest now, it's suprisingly easy to approach closer. Just at the right moment as an explosion blossoms here, a bit of laserfire chops down a tree there. Calculated, deliberate, each step perfectly placed to bring the figure closer and closer to the battle at hand, moving amongst the fighters fluidly, almost like a ghost. Not due to any invisibility, but -always- being perfectly placed to just...move amongst the foliage and the combatants, until the destination is reached. There is the faint *clack clack clack* of spider-like legs that is the first warning, the sudden appearance of the ovoid form from the ferns as if from nowhere. And then the snaking tendril of a single tentacle, writhing outwards as the egg-shaped body quite literally arrives right in the -middle- of the fight with Needlenose, Buzzsaw and Groove. And it's the Insecticon, upon whom the tendril seeks, aiming right for the back of the mechano-bee's head with a small device, even as the body shifts around to show the gleaming image of a sabertoothed tiger skull in place of where a normal Quintesson face usually sits. "Do not struggle...it will be over sooner."

Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; has arrived.

Loadout drops Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt;.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; strikes Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; with its Plugging into your Brainmeats attack! [Pulled -6]

Combat: Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; has been temporarily incapacitated.

And from the depths of the Amazon, a strange roar emits... wait, that's not a beast's roar. That was an air horn blasting loudly.

It's quickly followed up by the bellow of a high power engine and several trees being reduced to kindling as the large truck comes charging out of the jungle on a full head of steam. "Sorry Ah'm late, got lost upriver!"

Plow already down from clearing his way through the trees, it's already in prime position to possible do some damage if any of those pods happen to be in the way of his barreling arrival on the scene! "But fashion'bly late's better then nevah."

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; sets its defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Cyberpunk Wrecker Rig &lt;Horsepower&gt; sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Cyberpunk Wrecker Rig &lt;Horsepower&gt; misses Insecticon Clone Pods with his DYNAMIC ENTRY attack!

Cyberpunk Wrecker Rig &lt;Horsepower&gt; somehow instead lands RIGHT in the open middle of the field. ".. well that kinda ruin' the momet."

The jamming signal in the area disperses.

Moonracer doesn't like seeing her friends getting hurt like this - especially Elita. She's been in training with the Autobot femmes for so long that having Elita's back is like a second nature - and she resists the urge to immediately fire back to protect her Commander.

And then suddenly Quintesson! A cold panic races its way up her spine and claws its way into her brain. She holds her breath and steadies herself to take aim.

Combat: Moonracer sets her defense level to Protected.

Combat: Moonracer takes extra time to aim her next attack.

Hubcap notes that there are many who ... both wouldn't and actually don't notice him. He takes the opportunity to try and slink into the jungle.

Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; rips a chunk of armor off Groove's arm and swallows it, her awesome, super efficient Insecticon systems immediately breaking it down into energy. The shots from the Groove's photon pistol forces her to pull away and put some distance between the two of them. She rubs at her bulbous eyes with a foreleg, having some trouble seeing thanks to the Protectobot's stupid flashlight gun. "Don't think your silly Autobot tricks will stop me," the Insecticon says with an angry buzz. She gets ready to lunge at him again but she stops dead in her tracks when the mysterious figure slaps her in the back of the head with an even more mysterious device. "W-what the-!?" is about all she can say as she finds herself unable to react further, overcome by the extremely uncomfortable sensation of having her processor invaded.

F-35B Lightning II &lt;Contrail&gt;'s battle computer informs her, Weakness: he's Hubcap. However, the jet peels off away from the main fight, tracking Hubcap deeper into the jungle. Then she stoops out of the sky like a screaming falcon, and at the last moment, she transforms and tries to tackle Hubcap down to the soft loam. "Ah. Autobot. Cheer up. Today, the Empire had a use for you!"

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

Combat: Contrail strikes Hubcap with her Grab attack!

Combat: Removing analysis data for Hubcap.

Combat: Gained 4 energon.

Combat: 's attack finally wears off.

"Because that dirty cheater Streetwise isn't here!" Needlenose shouts back. He remembers when that jerkwad shot him with that effing annoying photon pistol. It felt like... kind of like what it feels like right now. Needlenose reels backwards, "Gak!" he exclaims, trying to cover his eyes after the fact even though that's never helped any of the other times he's been blinded. He thinks he can see stuff, but it's just dark shapes against a slightly less dark background. Stumbling, Needlenose twirls around, doing a quick 360 as he tries to squint through the blindness. "Ah ha, Autobot!" he shouts, drawing Zigzag and blowing away a tree with an electro-bolt. "And another one!" he sets another tree on fire. "Die, Autobot!" a shrub makes the ultimate sacrifice. "You'll never stop our Insecticon army!" he blasts at some passing clouds. The blindness also means he's caught entirely unaware when Archaeonix makes his dramatic arrival. The tentacle slips between him, Groove, and Buzzkill, knocking the Targetmaster aside. Landing and rolling awkwardly, he can hear someone (Elita) shooting at the pod and someone else (Horsepower) shouting as he lands amongst them. He aims Zigzag in all of their directions, including what he's pretty sure is the unexpected arrival of Skids.

Combat: Needlenose misses Elita One with his Die Skids Die! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: Needlenose strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with his Die Skids Die! (Full-Auto) Area attack! [Pulled -1]

Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; grins as much as her face will allow when her nasty spit catches Elita in the face, though it falters when she still hits the pods, sending yet another jolt of pain through her systems. Damn this information, hurry up and download! She readies more spit, but pauses at the rather terrifying visage of a Quintesson crossing the battlefield and go after Buzzkill! Now, she may hate the bee, but that's only to an extent as the sudden urge to help her fellow Insecticon has the mantis hissing voraciously at Archaeonix.

"Quintesson!!" She screeches in alarm at him, legs digging in before she launches at him like some feral beast, ready to dig in those scythes to both save Buzzkill and get a good hold. If successful she'd essentiaally start bite viciously at his egg shaped body, attempting to rip off whatever she can and devour it greedily. Good thing these lines are long enough so she can cover the distance.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; expertly evades Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt;'s attack!

Combat: Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; misses Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; with her Plasma Sheathed Blades attack! [Pulled -1]

"Hey. Uh," Zigzag comments in electrostatic discharger mode, "You realize that /I/ can see just fine, right? If... you maybe want *me* to aim instead?" "Shut up, Zigzag," Needlenose mutters.

Moonracer is holding back, wanting very much to place a shot right in one of those five foreheads - right until Hubcap gets snatched before her very eyes. Frowning and clenching her teeth (does she have those), she brings her gun up to bear - aiming for Contrail's hand. Particularly the one holding Hubcap.

Combat: Moonracer sets her defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Moonracer appears from the shadows...

Combat: Moonracer strikes Contrail with her Laser attack!

Combat: Moonracer (Moonracer) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 7 damage.

Well on the bright side Horsepower didn't accidentally ram into any of the Autobot's present. "Pardon me." The bulk of the wrecker truck hefts itself up into an equally bulky robot, spikes and chains rattling a bit as he takes a look around. Freak quintesson from the past and a bunch of insecticon hatcheries? "Ah kinda feel like Ah walked into a Junkion's horror movie marathon here. What's with the creep factor goin' -- whoa!" As shots right out through the clusters of pods he half-hunchs down, sparks flying as a few nearby are hit by the wild shooting. "Keep yer heads down!", he shouts in the direction of the other Bots as he trudges out of the cluster, pulling one of the large spiked chains off his back and twirling it at his side, then heaving it up to whip it around a few times, making several large sweeps to try and smash some of the pods in the advance, the edge of the chain's arc skimming dangerously close to the targetmaster in an attempt to knock him away from harassing the femmes trying to save Hubcap's bumper.

The wrecker rig heaves up and rearranges into a heavy Autobot form.

Combat: Horsepower strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with his Chain Reaction Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Horsepower strikes Needlenose with his Chain Reaction Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Elita One wipes the stinging acid from her face, shaking off the last of it onto one of the pods. The sizzling acid no longer becomes a priority as she notices the Quintesson. "What in Primus' name...." The exclamation goes unfulfilled as she judges the scene, moving to the unmined part of the pods, her eyes always at the three sided struggle.

Elita One touches the detonator on her wrist as she judges the scene for a few moments longer. "Right, This'll take the fight out of most of them." Silently, she wonders how much worse things'll get if that Quintesson gets enraged. A thought crosses her mind, an old saying...'Hesitation is the enemy, even moreso than....' well, she always changed the last part to whatever the issue was. Steeling herself, she nods, then sets the pod farm ablaze, at least in part as mines start exploding in a concentric series of rows!

Combat: Elita One has created a bomb: "Podfield Minefield"!

Combat: Elita One sets her defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; expertly evades Elita One's attack!

Combat: Elita One misses Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; with Podfield Minefield's Huge Explosion #8887 Area attack!

Combat: Elita One's Podfield Minefield is destroyed!

Combat: Elita One strikes Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; with Podfield Minefield's Huge Explosion #8887 Area attack!

Combat: Elita One strikes Needlenose with Podfield Minefield's Huge Explosion #8887 Area attack!

Combat: Elita One strikes Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; with Podfield Minefield's Huge Explosion #8887 Area attack!

Combat: Elita One strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with Podfield Minefield's Huge Explosion #8887 Area attack!

Hubcap climbs to his feet, gingerly. "All I did was offer the odd suggestion. Nothing that gets mugged by half the Decepticon army."

BOOM!

Hubcap says, "That wasn't me!"

The device remains plugged firmly into the back of Buzzkill's head as the Quintesson holds near. The sabertoothed skull leering down at her as he speaks in a low tone, "Shhhh. Shhh, it will be over soon." In a flash, Buzzkill gets the unpleasant sensation of having something not unlike a sweeping hand probing through her very mind, forcefully if necessary, and scooping up whatever it needs. As suddenly and forcibly as it happened, the device suddenly retracts with an audible *POP* and a hiss. Just in time as Scorn lunges in towards him... ...and the Quint is two body lengths to the right of where he was a second ago. No seeming movement, no flash of speed, just a sudden instant where he has changed positions. And it happens again, and a third and forth time as she keeps slashing, as he quite literally keeps 'blinking' out of the path of her attempts to strike him. His body spins around in place, the Mastodon skull becoming prominent, "Reckless. Emotional, futile." Another swing and another blink, this time appearing behind Scorn. "I know what you intend to do before you have even formed it in your ciruits." And then another blink, not because Scorn attacked him... ...but right at that moment Elita One's bombs go off. And the QUintesson has appeared behind -her-, standing quietly and patiently as the explosion goes off, the flames dying down in the wake of where he was a second ago. "A predictable action, but fortuitous and useful all the same." And again he blinks, this time right back to where he was behind Scorn again, both tendrils reaching out for the back of her head just as he did with Buzzkill, "An incomplete specimen, but potentially useful all the same..." Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; strikes Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; with its Unerring Brainprobe attack! [Pulled -6]

Combat: Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; has been temporarily incapacitated.

Needlenose's vision is starting to clear. Instead of a big dark blur he's able to see a big light blur. Progress! Now that Skids is dead, the Targetmaster gives Zigzag a shake for failing to hit Elita One. "Rrvvbgrgle!" Zigzag says. Optics flashing, Needlenose hesitates, unsure of what he's seeing. That... is a grotesque Quintesson made up of prehistoric animal heads, right? Nah, Needlenose's optics are clearly still damaged. He mentally adds Groove to the dirty cheater category. "Well whatever you are, you need to die," Needlenose declares out loud. Drawing out Sunbeam now, he's got a Nebulon in both hands as he blazes away at the Quint with both light flashes (s'cool when /he/ does it) and lightning bolt discharges. The firepower being put out is very significant as he tries to destroy the abomination. After just a few shots, though, Horsepower clips him with that nasty chain of his... and then the world around Needlenose explodes for reasons he isn't even aware. A few seconds later, Needlenose is laying on the ground in extreme pain. His arms and legs are bending in ways that arms and legs aren't supposed to bend, and his chest is partly melted. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" he shrieks.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; expertly evades Needlenose's attack!

Combat: Needlenose misses Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; with his Dual Wielding Looks Awesome attack!

Contrail is off in the jungle, hunting the wild Hubcap, when the bombs go off a distance away, so she is fine with regards to the bombs.

However, Contrail jerks back, arching forward, her hands releasing Hubcap, and there is an outward spray of energon from between her optics. She jerks like a puppet and takes a few stumbling steps forward before arching over double, clutching her abdomen and coughing up energon.

Moonracer's headshot. Boom.

Contrail leans heavily on a mighty mahogany tree, making strangled choking noises as she tries to get herself back together. Her optics flicker madly as she tries to recalibrate. "What the... I was... Hubcap!" She pushes away from the tree and shambles after Hubcap like a zombie.

Combat: Contrail strikes Hubcap with her Grab attack!

Combat: Gained 4 energon.

The sensation Buzzkill feels as the Quintesson probes and utterly violates her mind is more than unpleasant, it's pretty much unbearable. The Insecticon rears up on four legs, scratching and rubbing violently at her head with the other two in a vain attempt to rid herself of the Quintesson's grip and the unwanted feeling it brings. Thankfully the ordeal doesn't last much longer, Buzzkill finding herself freed from the bizarre, prehistoric Quintesson just in time to get blown up by Elita's impressive bomb.

Buzzkill is thrown back from the explosion, just narrowly avoiding crushing any remaining Insecticon pods under her big, stripey butt. She struggles to regain her composure, fighting against her fatigue and rising to her feet in robot mode. Her hexagonal grenade launcher phases in from subspace and she opens fire on the Quintesson, doing what she can to save her Insecticon 'sister' from the horrible experience she suffered.

Buzzkill transforms into her robot mode.

Scorn's coated blades hiss softly as they swipe cleanly through the air and sink into the dirt where the Quintesson had just been, a bewildered look overcoming her while she whirls around, wondering where he went. Ah, there he is! She moves in to slash again, but Elita's bomb sees fit to stop her, or rather fling her, the force sending the bug sprawling several feet in the opposite direction. "Agh!" It's really thrown her for a loop, large scorch marks darkening one side of her frame, a few plates of cracked armor sparking sporadically, especially from the one or two ports now missing their plug to the machine. Looks like those Insecticons won't be fully functional.

That seems to be the least of her worries now, Scorn venting with a furious, pained hiss while struggling shakily back to her feet, optics still on Archaeonix. Again she rushes him, slicing, slashing, stabbing in a frenzied manner. He's too fast though, too smart as he blinks around, dodging and ending up behind her to stab that nasty tentacle into her head next like Buzzkill, the mantis immediatly freezing up at the strange, debilitating feeling of his mental invasion.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; expertly evades Buzzkill's attack!

Combat: Buzzkill misses Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; with her Kaboom attack!

Elita One retreats through the fire and smoke left by her demolitions, shifting position to see the Quintesson battle. At first, she was going to leave them to their own devices. Apparently her bomb didn't get to him, so she....And then she saw his actions....Her mouth opens slightly as she witnesses the gruesomeness he's displaying on the Con forces.

Having made up her mind, she charges forward to the Quintesson as she swaps to her pistols. With a bellow, Elita fires flares of light at the Quintesson, and a few offhandedly at the pod farm since her other hand was free. "Get your tentacles OUT of her, Slaver!"

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; expertly evades Elita One's attack!

Combat: Elita One misses Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; with her Battle Pistols Area attack!

Combat: Elita One strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with her Battle Pistols Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Insecticon Clone Pods's Accuracy. (Blinded)

The Quint continues to be a nigh impossible target to make contact with. It was hard to see at first, but the air just around his form shimmers just slightly, almost like heat waves off of a metal surface on a hot summer's day. The waves become more intense with each movement that he makes. The blasts from Needlenose's rifle cut through empty air as the egg-shaped form simply keeps changing positions. He isn't actually dodging per se, he isn't actually even -moving- it would seem. Just one microsecond he's standing in one place, and the next he's standing in another as an attack breezes past where he was. Even Buzzkill's grenade goes sailing past in short order, missing its target and detonating in the foliage, soon followed by Elita One's blasts as well. By now the 'heat waves' over his body are at a furious pitch, and the expression on his 'normal' Quintesson face, is one of intense concentration. "FOOLS!" THe T-Rex skull roars out in fury as the Autobots start to attack him as well, as he FINALLY moves for the first time, unplugging the probing device from the back of Scorn's head and scuttling out of the way, "Single minded simpletons! You are blind to that which is before you, only seeing what you -want- to see." His body spins about, bringing the leering face of the Smilodon again, "I expected as much." With the 'heat waves' shimmering wildly over his form, he suddenly makes a motion of his tentacles and they dissipate, like waves of overheating air being washed out to either side. "I am finished here. You may return to battering yourselves against your Decepticon counterparts...fittingly enough! You deserve each other..." As he says this, the Quint begins to backpedal away, spider-legs scuttling as he retreats back towards the foliage.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; sets its defense level to Protected.

Combat: Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Moonracer, Contrail, Elita One, Loadout, Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt;, Horsepower, Needlenose, and Buzzkill

Horsepower apparently knocked Needlenose into the explosions to boot. Well hey, can't really complain about that. "Nice firewawks thare 'Lita." Well it looks like Needlenose is down for the moment, so after a moment listening to the radio the mechanic turns and tromps back into the smoldering field. Not too worried about any stray explosives since his chassis is wisely blast proofed.

Stomping up to the first not-blasted he finds, he clenchs his big hands into fists, the heavy plates on the back of them making reasonable brass-knuckles type weapons as he starts swinging and stomping his way amongst the field

Combat: Horsepower sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Horsepower strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with his I'M GONNA WRECK IT! attack! [Pulled -1]

Moonracer takes position again, dropping to one knee to steady herself, both hands on her gun. "Hubcap, RUN!" she shouts. It seems that Contrail is just not giving up - and she may have to drop the 'Con where she stands. She shoots at Contrail's shoulder, hoping to disable her arm entirely, preventing her from grabbing Hubcap again. If necessary, she's going to shoot the other one!

Combat: Moonracer strikes Contrail with her Laser attack!

Combat: Moonracer (Moonracer) used "Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 4 damage.

"The heck?" Needlenose mutters wearily on the ground, "Did that thing just teleport?" He tries moving his arm, but his hand just falls off from the effort. "...ow." he whimpers as he bleeds in the dirt. "Dude," Sunbeam says, looking down at the wounded Needlenose. "We should totally get him a doctor or something." "Yeah," Zigzag says. There's a long, awkward silence. "Or," Zigzag suggests, "We could just leave him here and start hiking back to civilization." "Dude," Sunbeam agrees.

Buzzkill whips out her pistol and takes aim at the retreating Quintesson but he's gone before she knows it. That whole thing was pretty disturbing, who knows what things that horrible creauture pulled out of her mind. She turns her attention back to the smoldering fields and the bulky Autobot punching his way through the few pods that still stand. The Insecticon transforms and flies full speed at Horsepower with the obnoxious sound of buzzing wings, trying to grab hold so she can give him a nasty stab with her stinger.

Buzzkill transforms into a giant robotic honey bee. Bzz bzz!

Combat: Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; strikes Horsepower with her Piercing Sting attack!

Combat: Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt;'s attack has strange and mysterious effects on Horsepower.

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

Combat: Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt;'s risky attack leaves her temporarily incapacitated!

Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; nearly falls forward when the probe is pulled from her head, mobility finally returning to her body. However she doesn't even notice the Quint taking off into the undergrowth once he's finished with them, the femme still quite stunned, swaying in place with a very dazed look about her, so much so that she doesn't even react to the pods still being destroyed. What she wouldn't give for a thorough processor scrub right now after that ordeal, it leaving a rather filthy, invaded impression in her mind.

It's only after a few moments that her thoughts finally surface, Scorn shaking her head to clear the fog before looking around, appearing quite worried and confused. "What the frag just happened..?" Horsepower's attack on the pods manages to bring her mind back to the fight though, Scorn wincing heavily and looking to the near fully destroyed crop of Insecticon pods. "Ergh.. Buzzkill, they've nearly destroyed all the pods! And where the hell is Contrail?!" Quite obvious, really, but what else can she say? She looks about ready to hightail it out of here, though not before attempting to salvage what she can from the destroyed clones, digging fervently through the lifeless bodies, pulling valuable parts from their insides. ...And maybe nibbling on a few. Can you blame her? That stream of programming awakened some insatiable hunger in the mantis.

Contrail has to give up on hunting Hubcap in zombie-like fashion, because Moonracer just shot out one of her shoulders and also - Hubcap has vanished. Somehow. She starts the trudge back to where she left Scorn, Needlenose, and Buzzkill with the important task of making babies, and when she arrives, she is speechless, a perfect look of incomprehension on her face.

"..."

"What in the PIT happened here!?" Contrail demands, hands on her hips, as she looks around at the... she has no idea. Skid marks. Everything exploded. The clone pods in ruin. Needlenose on the ground, healf-dead. Scorn and Buzzkill looking traumatized. Contrail turns to Horsepower and Elita One, and she snarls, "Autobots. Take your Minibot and /leave/." With her good arm, she draws her whip, and she brings the lightning.

Combat: Contrail strikes Elita One with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack!

Combat: Contrail strikes Horsepower with her Whiplash Whirlwind Area attack!

Combat: Drained 16 energon.

Elita One watches the Quintesson retreat. She surveys the downed Con forces, some of them look like they've been injured in their programming...something worse than simple plasma and...then she gets energy whipped in the back...Again.

Scowling from the pain, she turns to notice exactly who she expected. "You again." Elita growls through a pained faceplate. "I...have a better proposal." She raises her cannon to Contrail, takes aim...then fires at one of the few pods left. "Your forces were just brutalized by that Quintesson. I wouldn't wish what he must've done even on you all. You're beaten, Contrail. BE-AT-EN" She says the word slowly, to emphasize it. "Let us destroy what you've done here, and I'll call it a draw when I get back to base. Now...considering I'm still mostly undamaged except for your whip, thanks for that, and Horsepower, and the Bots we have out in the jungle still...whom you seem to have met, judging by the precision marks. I tell you now to get the hell out of here, before that Quintesson you enraged decides to come back."

Combat: Elita One strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with her Plasma Cannon attack!

Horsepower is just rearing back to deliver one more good smash, but stops with a jerk as something stabs into his upper back. It doesn't hurt too much, but it does bust a few servo regulators somewhere in his bulk. Though Buzzkill may of just gotten herself stuck on some of his spikiness in the process of spiking him. The whiplash, on the other hand, that's none too pleasant as it serrates a gouge in his other side. "Oh, so -now- everyone want's t'play, huh? Welp, fine then, Ah reckon."

Turning attention from the pods for the moment, he reachs with one bulky hand to grab Buzzkill and yank the bee free from impaling his bulk. Considers the moment of ironically using her to swat the pods, but Elita is already firing on them. "How's 'bout ya take yer own trash an' git instead?"

He turns and heaves Buzzkill towards Contrail, both to get the Insecticon off of him, and keep both femmes away from interferring with the femmes on his side of the fight.

Combat: Horsepower strikes Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; with his Femme Flinging (Ruckus) Area attack!

Combat: Horsepower misses Contrail with his Femme Flinging (Ruckus) Area attack!

Combat: Horsepower (Horsepower) used "Ruckus": A Level 2 AREA-MELEE attack.

The Quint continues to melt back into the foliage, moving away from the ruckus and to what would seem to be relative safety. Pausing for a moment, he raises one tentacle, holding a small datapad upon which information splays across for him to peruse briefly, before he tucks it safely away once and for all. "Typical..." The Quint-face sneers, watching as the age-old enemies have returned to blasting each other without missing a beat. And with that he melts back into the jungle and completely out of sight.

Having secured Hubcap from being caught, Moonracer turns her attention to the last of the pods. Taking a grenade from a side compartment, she lobs towards the survivors. "It's over!"

Combat: Moonracer strikes Insecticon Clone Pods with her Pulse Laser Grenade Launcher attack!

Combat: Insecticon Clone Pods is completely disabled.

Contrail half bends and lets Buzzkill fly over her. Then she straightens to her full height, and she says coldly, "I don't negotiate with terrorists." Contrail rubs her injured shoulder, straightening back into place with a hard, sharp twist and sickening &gt;CRUNCH&lt; noise, and then she takes an anti-grav assisted running leap at Elita One, and she tries to clamp one hand at Elita One's collar and the other one under Elita One's chin. Then she tries to tear - up and up. Harrow wants parts. So does Onslaught. How would they like a face?

Combat: Contrail strikes Elita One with her FACE THE MUSIC (Punch) attack!

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt; has left.

Loadout takes Archaeonix &lt;Quintesson&gt;.

Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt; is pretty much evacuating at this point, gathering what precious parts she can while devouring the useless ones, cannibalizing her own kind. She's sad to see them all offline, especially when Moonracer finishes off the remaining ones, but she expertly covers this while feasting and pillaging their corpses, already tearing out the lines feeding into her as well. "Damned Bots.. We were so close.." She hisses softly, hefting her loot and starting to scuttle from the pods in retreat.

Wings snap open, preparing her for flight, but Scorn doesn't even have time to start them, a sudden, awkward look coming over her. "S-.. something feels wrong.." The Insecticon staggers, dropping whatever parts she's craddling, and clutches at her torso with her scythes. Is she going to purge? Maybe die on the spot? Thankfully no, but the feeling is just as unpleasent as her entirety shudders and rattles, plates shifting and compacting in a familiar, but bizarre looking way that has her shrieking in surprise and pain. A function installed, but never used, now kicks on it's new programming likely from the Quint's probing, the mantis compacting and shrinking until she's lost into the tall (at least to her) grass.

"Wha-... What?!" Scorn is pretty much panicking at this point when she finds herself to be os so adorabley tiny, head swimming from the new perspective. "B-Buzzkill! HELP!!" The tiny mantis shrieks in vain, her voice likely just a tiny squeak to anyone listening hard enough. Her scythe arms raise, flailing all around to try and signal her fellow Insecticon.

Robotic Honey Bee &lt;Buzzkill&gt; grunts in frustration when her efforts to pull out of Horsepower's armor fail miserably. It seems her stinger barbs, while totally awesome, have gotten her stuck once again. She cant help but yelp in pain when the Autobot forcibly yanks her out of him, a few of her barbs ripping off in the process, and then hurls her towards Contrail. Luckily for both of them, Contrail ducks and Buzzkill sails right over her, landing in thicket of trees.

When she emerges from the foliage, she's standing in her robot mode and looking very unamused. That is, until she watches Scorn shrink into a teeny tiny little insect lost amongs the grass. "Scorn!? What the hell just happened?" The honey bee rushes over to where she last saw the other Insecticon, taking care not to accidently crush her under her massive (by comparison) feet. Once she finally spots her, looking so damn adorable waving her tiny mantis arms about, Buzzkill whips out jar and scoops her up, quickly sealing it so she can't escape and get lost again.

"Well this is an interesting development.." she muses, staring at Scorn through the glass jar.

Buzzkill transforms into her robot mode.

Needlenose continues to lay on the ground while his Nebulons ditch him. "...I coulda sworn I saw a dinosaur Quintesson," he warbles, optics flickering on and off.

Moonracer looks at the carnage around her.... She falters for a moment, what just happened sinking in. "...." She holsters her gun, hand trembling, looking at the crushed pods. Morality crisis, GO!

"Au-autobots... let's... let's go," she says through a choked processor, before transforming and heading back into the underbrush.

Combat: Moonracer begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt;

Horsepower dusts his hands off. "Ah reckon we're done here, missies." Hubcap's probably long gone himself by this point, so lets just roll on outta here. He turns to make a running start, but then Contrail decides to get all up in Elita's grille trying to take back some commuppance. We ain't going to be having none of that, because unlike the Dark Side Autobots don't leave their own behind.

To that effect he still transforms, belchs of smokey exhaust pluming skyward as overtuned engine roars to life and the truck is already moving at an impressive speed for its size. And loud enough to sound like it's coming right for Contrail!

Only not quite, as the noise was intended just to startle her as the wrecker speeds past, and Horsepower swings his tow boom out in doing so to snag Elita by the arm and yank her into his truck-bed in the process of vacating the location.

Horsepower drops his bulk to the pavement, converting into a modified wrecker rig.

Combat: Cyberpunk Wrecker Rig &lt;Horsepower&gt; sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Cyberpunk Wrecker Rig &lt;Horsepower&gt; begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Moonracer and Robotic Praying Mantis &lt;Scorn&gt;

Needlenose crawls over to Contrail even as she busies herself with brutalizing Elita. "Save me!... babycakes!" he pleads, hugging her leg with his one good hand.

Contrail comes away with nothing of Elita One, which she finds more than a little frustrating. The Decepticon stomps and huffs. Then, after a moment, she shakes her head and reaches up gingerly to wipe some energon away from the hole between her optics that Moonracer left. Then she looks back to see that... Needlenose is still half-dead, Buzzkill has a jar, and Scorn has... vanished? Maybe whatever got Hubcap got Scorn, too. Also, the clone pods are all ruined.

"Frak."

Contrail tromps over to Needlenose and tries to grab him in a fireman's carry. She mutters, "Time to go home, 'baby cakes'."

The now teeny tiny Scorn, while still bewildered, looks royaly steamed after Buzzkill scoops her into a glass jar for safety, the little mantis glaring and hissing softly at the giant femme, attempting to stab at the glass a few times. Sadly, this only leads to it emitting a few cute 'tink tink tink' noises as her blades bounce off the thick glass. She is not happy. "Ugh.. I don't know how to change back! Buzzkill, make sure you pick up those parts for me, they're important!"

Oh how she hopes Buzzkill doesn't stick her on a shelf for decoration.

Buzzkill jostles Scorn around in the jar a bit, obviously taking some delight in her tiny plight, before tucking it under her arm. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." She briefly considers building a shelf and putting Scorn on display. Hmmm.. maybe.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Scorn says, "I'm going to kill you when I get out of here, Buzzkill!"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Buzzkill says, "With what? Your tiny little bug arms?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Scorn hisses over the comm

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Buzzkill says, "Hm, I think I prefer you like this."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Buzzkill says, "So much cuter, less obnoxious."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Scorn says, "I sincerely hate you."

Groove sits up in the middle of the battlefield. "Hey guys, Buzzkill is here!" He exclaims, standing. "And these pods are full of like, Insecticons!" He looks around, confused. "Guys?"

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Buzzkill says, "I'm sure."

Buzzkill has disconnected.

Groove transforms into his police motorcycle mode. Changes his whole perspective, man.

================================= Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/95                     Posted        Author AAR: Amazon River Basin           Wed Dec 12    Contrail --
 * G2 Hypercube Spinny*

There is a hole between Contrail's optics, slowly leaking energon down her face, which she tries to ignore, even though it itches, as she delivers her report, "Well. We had hidden some old, outdated Insecticon clone pods in the Amazon River Basin, so as to allow them to mature and destroy the Earth's food supply, starving the Autobots' human allies. However, the clone pods lacked certain critical programming, which we had to upload. Scorn, Needlenose, and Buzzkill had that under control. Unfortunately, an Autobot ambush hit them in the middle of the upload. That pink terrorist time witch, Elita One, the annoying Hubcap, Groove, the sniper Moonracer," oh, okay, that explains the hole in Contrail's head, "and Horsepower attacked us. Not only did they prevent the upload, but they destroyed the pods. The loss to us is fairly minimal, as the pods were old and only taking up warehouse space, but... Needlenose was severely injured, and I /think/ Buzzkill has Scorn in a jar now?"

Contrail shrugs.

"Yes. Well. The Empire prevails."


 * G2 Hypercube Spinny*

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