El Paso Debacle... of Destruction!

Texas

Almost a country in itself, Texas offers sandy white beaches, heavy rains, and the temperate waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the south, bleak, barren scrublands in the west, breathtaking sunsets in the Panhandle, rolling hills and myriad lakes in the central region, and lush, towering pines in the east. Mountains, deserts, plains, forests, rolling hills, wetlands, coastal dunes, lakes, and rivers all mingle to form the Lone Star State. The nation's richest state in mineral resources, Texas is known for its oil and natural gas production, nor is it far behind in agriculture, second only to California.

Streaking through the blood red skies of Texas rips one of the Decepticons' own ahead of a specialized attack squad sent to demolish the airport located in El Paso. The Autobots hold up in Ayotzinco have proven to be quite the annoyance to the Empire, that being their lone stronghold in the predominantly Decepticon occupied region... Their mission this cycle was to strike the Autobots in their hearts by dealing a major blow to the pathetic humans that live under their protection within the gates. Nothing but slaves to Galvatron, the humans represented the Autobot's goodwill intentions on Earth, and the foolish bots would die to protect them. Pathetic...

Warsong: &lt;&lt;Decepticons, we are approaching our mission objective! May the tarmac run red with Earther blood! Make sure that the hangars and planes are ground into dust, and that the air traffic control towers meet an explosive end... For the Empire!&gt;&gt;

Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; runs to the Airport, eagerly anticipating turning a Boeing 757 into a chew toy. &lt;&lt;Let's stomp em!&gt;&gt; he shortranges back to Warsong.

Tantrum was mostly tapped for this 'specialized attack squad' because of his penchant for ramming into inanimate objects for no apparent reason. He was never the most efficient soldier, but it was hoped that, since he typically smashed stuff up for kicks and grins, he could accidentally be useful on a mission which essentially consisted of smashing stuff up. He flew clumsily behind Warsong, ready to do his part, so long as that part was simple enough for his processors to understand.

Below the flying Decepticons is a shadow, a fast moving one darting from point to point making full use of any and all available cover a break in available cover means that for a while a black panther is seen darting across open ground but it is soon hidden as more shade is reached.

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

Twin Twist instantly converts into his drill tank form with a flash of motion too fast for the eye to follow and a sound like a slamming door.

Harley &lt;Groove&gt; coasts along a highway, following a distress beacon sent out from the airport. Sure, they hadn't been attacked yet but everyone was on high alert, and it was hard to miss Decepticons entering the airspace. Any other day Groove might've left it up to the heavy-hitters, but he just happened to be in the vicinity, and... the poor humans! The ones they'd been busting their afts to keep /safe/... Figures.

Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; bets Groove was on high alert, all right. 420, get on high alert every day! A long swirling cloud of dust kicks up behind Twin Twist as he rips across the dark yellow countryside, closing in rapidly on the wayward Decepticon radar contacts. "Hang on, gonna get a bit rough when I go under," he says to his lone passenger, Eject, as he digs in his drills and dips under the surface with a rumble and a grinding sound.

Combat: Twin Twist sets his defense level to Protected.

It had been a slow day. And by slow day, Eject meant a slow 'sports' day. Besides the Yankees winning again last night &lt;Bore!&gt;, the Autobot hadn't really done much this Wednesday with the exception of going over some Madden 2010 on Teletran (Yay!) Besides his leisure, the Autobot was still continuing to monitor Decepticons' communications and he had picked up some chatter about some stuff going on at the El Paso Airport.

Riding along inside Twin Twist's drill form, the tiny casette glows to life as it emits a few messages out to the rest of the Autobot team in the area. &lt;Alright Autobots!! I'm pickin' up the play signals from the purple team. Looks like the stadium for this game is around here.&gt;

Combat: Eject sets his defense level to Guarded.

If a police motorcycle with no apparent driver strikes onlookers as quirky, the sight of a robot gal running instead of hovermoding is probably somewhat quirkier. Nevertheless, the Junkette has taken to using two feet instead of her alt mode. She keeps pretty good pace, actually.

Warsong grins from audio receptor to audio receptor as he hears the repliy of Rampage. That's what he likes to hear, Mechs that are eager to show the Autobots just how frail they are! &lt;&lt;El Paso airport in range... Let us bring swift death from the skies! Our first target is the air traffic control tower! We will blind them, and then divide and conquer. Decepticons descend and demolish!&gt;&gt; With that, the lead Decepticon angles downward sharply and begins a free fall toward the airport below, a broad grin upon his face as a steady cackle flows from deep within as he plummets toward the surface.

The Tiger finds a small Piper aircraft parked on the outskirts of the main Airport, probably some human's private leisure aircraft or training vehicle. He pounces on it and bats it aside. It bursts into flames, so the Tiger moves on to the next aircraft he sees.

As the Decepticon forces descend on the Airport going straight for the control tower, the advancing shadow turns away from the main assault leaving it to those that care about being noticed and reaping their glory. Secure in his strength and abilities Ravage heads towards the main terminal to plant a hidden surprise should the other Decepticons bite off more than they can handle.

Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; plummets towards the Earth below, grinning. He emits no comm chatter, only a slight grunt faintly reminiscent of his alt-mode. He falls directly towards a large truck parked on the tarmac, changing form as he nears the ground. He plows into the hapless vehicle like a bomb, erupting forth from the burning wreckage mere moments later with an animal bellow.

Tantrum sort of drops forward, changing into his steam-snorting mecha-bull mode.

The airport had already canceled arriving flights, and was attempting to evacuate those within before things got too rough. Groove leads Deeks to help with the evacuations, heading for a terminal and transforming. "You get the humans to safety and I'll defend, got it Junkette?" Unspacing his pistol, Groove keeps a wary optic on Tantrum but maintains some distance.

Groove twists and folds into his robot mode.

"Woah!! Holy underhand pitch attack!!" emits the casette as Twin Twist buries under the ground for the dramatic entrance that only a two-ton drill could pull off. Scanning the frequencies, Eject picks up the humans screaming for help over his local-band channel. &lt;Autobots! Looks like the Purple Team is already blitzing away!! The airport is in a handi-cap match!! We better get this 28 sweep going pronto to defend our human teammates!"

Popping up into his robot form, the casette-bot grabs onto Twin Twist's dashboard as the rocky ride underground continues. Withdrawing his gold-plated blaster, Eject readies himself for the iminent combat. "Let's show this group of bench-warmers who the real A-team is!! Yeeeea!! Eye of the Tiger baby!"

In the blink of an optic, this blue casette pops up into the form of Eject!

Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; grinds through the darkness, following the readings produced by his clicking seismic sonar. "Something heavy stomping around up there... hope you're ready to rock and roll, sportsfan," he warns Eject. "Because it's about to GET HOT!" With an explosion of asphalt chunks, rock and dirt, the tarmac blows open and Twin Twist comes roaring out of it, drills spinning as he crashes back down towards Tantrum!

Combat: Twin Twist sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; misses Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; with his Drills from the Deep attack!

Dee-Kal gives her fellow Team Protecto a thumb up. "Got it!" She makes for the terminal waiting area, to see what she can do to assist, if anything. "But I will be watching!" She takes to the air slightly. Cat. Bull. Robot-con. Jet? Maybe. She refocuses, and monitors the evacuation in progress. Hopefully the action will be kept well away from the main terminal area...

One of the first to drop, but last to land, Warsong's heavy feet come down upon the tail section of a Boeing 777, snapping the plane's spine like a twig. Debris lifts into the air around the Decepticon, as seats, suitcases, and drink carts spill out of the gaping hole in the large vehicle. Rising from his crouched landing, his ruby-red optics quickly scan the area for the primary target as a clawed hand moves to grab hole of one of the plane's tail fins. "Rrraaagh!" he growls, as he snaps the largest piece of fin still intact from the 777 to carry as a makeshift shield and begins to sprint for the control tower as the Autobots begin their offensive!

&lt;&lt;It looks like the welcome wagon has laid out the red carpet, mechs... Lay waste to their chassis, but do so with much collateral damage! Their presence here WILL cost them! But above all else, have FUN!&gt;&gt;

Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; is happily ripping into a Gulf Stream now, shredding the wings and disarticulating them from the main fuselage. The crew fortunately wasn't on board.

Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; snorts, ejecting steam from both nostrils. He extricates himself from what used to be a cargo truck noisily and with, if at all possible, massive amounts of additional damage. He begins charging directly towards the distant control tower, picking up speed. His target is instantly revealed through his own lack of subtlety. Will anyone seek to interpose themselves?

Ravage makes his way into the main airport, there's still a few people brave or stupid enough to be trying to ensure that everyone is out safely as the battle kicks off outside. Keeping out of sight as much as possible in the more crowded environment Ravage makes his way to the center of the building.

Groove can't help but grin at Eject's unmatched enthusiasm. His optics fall on Warsong as he lays waste to the commercial jet, watching some souvenir wine shatter on the tarmac. As the tank-bot heads for the control tower, Groove aims his pistol, if only to draw the mech's attention.

Dee-Kal taps into the control tower frequencies. Something is definitely amiss in that direction. The young Junkion flies over quickly to see what is going on... in time to see Tantrum picking up speed as if to - charge the control tower?! "Kanban ni "Danger, stop" to kaite arimasu..." she murmurs under her breath, lands and hurries over as fast as she can... but not quite directly in Tantrum's path. Instead the little Junkion casts a hologram, as best she can in Tantrum's path... of a MIRROR, to reflect his own charging image back at him. Surely it won't be as easy at that, though... will it..?

Combat: Groove misses Warsong with his Photon Pistol attack!

"Let the destruction derby begin Twin Twist!" emits Eject as the huge drill just misses Tantrum. Deciding to join the fight and assist as much as a casette-bot can, the sports fan leaps out of Twin Twist's passenger door. "Picking up radio chatter all over the area, Eject picks up on some security guard running from a 'metal tiger thing' inside the terminal."

Picking up a quick spring, the Autobot makes his way inside to see what's going on. He hoped he could help any other humans from getting hurt. &lt;I'm taking the pass down the sideline and to the terminal Autobots! Send me the snap count if you need me!&gt; It's a good thing Eject is smaller in size as the Autobot slips through the main entrance and into the large hallway. "Yo! I'm here to help!! Anyone seen a 'Metal Tiger' thing around here?!"

Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; charges right through the spot where Tantrum would have been if he had not gone running off to try to fight the control tower, and rattles to a halt, braking one tread to spin around and pop his cockpit open so that Eject can dismount and run off into the terminal. "Good luck in there, watcher back!" rumbles Twin Twist, getting back up to speed and rolling across the tarmac towards the battle.

Combat: Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

A mere pistol shot isn't enough to deter Warsong from his course! Especially when the shot only strikes the plane tail fin that he's carrying as a shield. Ah, such battlefield cunning! Such on the fly ingenuity! One might confuse Warsong for actually being more than a mindless berserker brawler! The air traffic control tower grows larger and larger before him, primed and ready to be mowed down his impressive weight. The Autobots must act fast if they are going to stop the Decepticons! Fortunately for the control tower, the sight of both Tantrum and Warsong approaching with such hostile intent has indeed left most of the building vacant as crowds of humans stampede for emergency bunkers, while others simply flee out the back door!

&lt;&lt;Obliterate the tower, Tantrum! Plow through its support structure as if it was nothing more than a great pillar of cheese!&gt;&gt; Yes, Warsong heard that cheese was supposedly frail...or was that butter?

Combat: Warsong inspires Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; with terrifying and patriotic words!

Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; moves on from the Gulf Stream to a Lear Jet, quickly making short work of it before heading to the main terminal and pouncing a 737. Who knew WestJet flew down here? Screaming Canadian passengers pour out of the white plane with green and dark blue trim.

Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; is totally fooled by the hologram of a mirror reflecting himself back at him. Dee-Kal's cunning plan succeeds! Tantrum being who he is, however, it succeeds in a slightly different manner than might be expected. Spying a copy of himself on a collision course, Tantrum increases his speed as best he can and lowers his massive head to hit himself head-on with as much impact as possible. Of course, there is no such impact and Tantrum stumbles when he expects to ram into a solid adversary. He trips and falls to the ground, rising again in robot mode and bellowing, if possible, even louder. He whirls an electrically charged battle sword around him in an impressive but ineffective display, looking about for someone or something to smash.

The giant orange and red mecha-bull transforms into a giant orange and red robot! Who'd've thought that thing wasn't just a regular old non-transforming giant robo-bull?

Combat: Tantrum sets his defense level to Aggressive.

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

Ravage ignores the somewhat noisy entrance of the Autobot tape, he's finally reached his optimum destination and prepares to drop of his little surprise a panel on his side opens revealing a compartment two small extensor arms then emerge and drop off a shiny metallic device that activates on contact with the ground. Swiftly the arms disappear back inside the compartment and Ravage moves off intent on drawing the Autobot interloper away and back to the main fight Ravage runs back out onto the airfield.

Ravage drops Proton Bomb.

Combat: Ravage appears from the shadows...

Groove vents an annoyed sigh as he's promptly ignored. Making sure Deeks is able to hold her own, he turns and dashes after Warsong, looking to trip up the mech with a few laser shots to the feet. &lt;&lt;Twistman, hurry up and get over here!&gt;&gt; Because really, Groove doesn't stand a chance out here by himself. He's a bitty bike.

Combat: Groove sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Groove misses Warsong with his Laser attack!

Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; arrives as noisily as always, drills gleaming as he downshifts and accelerates towards Warsong like... well, like a drill tank. "Holdyer horses! Who do you think I am, Topspin? I ain't got no jets!"

After chatting with Paul Blart - Airport Cop(tm) for a few seconds, Eject follows the fat man's pointing finger towards the center of the airport terminal. Sweeping his golden battle visor from side to side, the casette-bot tries to pin point the exact position of the Decepticon. As he finally spots Ravage, he raises his blaster and gives chase. "Come back here you overgrown mascot!! It's time to step in the ring with the Golden Boy!!"

Running right past the area where Ravage dropped his proton bomb, the Autobot fails to notice the device as he continues to try and catch up with the quicker Decepticon. Stopping for just a second to steady his aim, the Autobot pulls the trigger on his gold-plated blaster. Almost instantly, a pair of bright-red energy bolts fly in Ravage's direction.

Combat: Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; strikes Warsong with his Drill Spear attack!

Combat: Eject strikes Ravage with his Gold-Plated Blaster (Laser) attack!

Dee-Kal would probably facepalm if she could hear Eject's attempts to locate the metal tiger and help out. Not that she herself is the best at everything. Mind you, the hologram mirror trick worked! - sort of! Okay, so she stopped Ferdinand from ramming the control tower. Now what? H'm. 'Well', she shrugs to herself, 'Improvisation time...' She brushes the dust from her wingfins and steps out sweetly so Tantrum can see her. "Oh, my stars, I saw you collide...!" she expresses. "Are you dizzy? You must have *such* a headache..!" ...

Puny laser beams are nothing against the might of the Boeing 777's impenetrable tail fin! At least they weren't until the second round of laser beams shredded it to bits... D'oh! Warsong snarls as he drops the tattered remains of his shield, but it was too late to stop him from his course! The immovable object, undaunted in his quest to destroy the air traffic control tower manages to overlook the Drill Tank barreling toward him from behind! Flying into the air Warsong slams face first into the radar/comunications tower, rocking the entire mass. Windows shatter across the tower from top to bottom, exploding glass outward for hundreds of meters as primary power flickers off before coming online thanks to back up generators. "HAHA!" he exclaims before rising to his feet in order to spin about and face the Drill Tank. "You only aide our cause, Auto-bozo!"

A clawed hand moves swiftly to grab hold of the tread upon his shoulder, And Warsong's optics narrow considerably as he glares at Twin Twist. "Eat slag, Autobot scum!"

Combat: Warsong strikes Drill Tank &lt;Twin Twist&gt; with his Tread-Whip attack!

Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; finishes tearing apart the 737 when he notices Groove going after Warsong. "Oh no you don't, hippy-bot," he snarls, tearing after the Protectobot. He puts out his paw to try to send Groove sprawling before he pounces.

Rampage succeeds in grasping Groove, throwing him off-balance.

Rampage collapses down onto all fours, his beast head replacing the position of his robotic head. He now stands before you in Tiger mode.

Ravage is stuck in the hind quarters as he tries to draw Eject away from his little insurance policy, he continues to run away from the main complex and back towards the main conflict area, perhaps for assistance, he does however glance back at Eject his optics sending a quick blast of energy at the bot.

Combat: Sneak Attack!!

Combat: Ravage strikes Eject with his Optic Blast (Laser) attack!

Tantrum transforms and takes off toward Dee-Kal in all his inarticulate glory. He has some ground still to cover, though he's making good time. Perhaps if he'd thought about it a moment he'd have remembered that he has a nifty rifle to fire as well. But that's just Tantrum.

Tantrum sort of drops forward, changing into his steam-snorting mecha-bull mode.

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

Lashed to the ground by Warsong's swinging tread, Twin Twist recovers almost instantly albeit with a rather nasty dent across his belly. "Ya lightweight! You ain't gonna scare a Wrecker with that kinda talk!" shouts Twin Twist as he transforms and lunges at Warsong. He's actually quite a bit smaller than the Decepticon, but his rapid punches, although unlikely to do much harm, make it difficult to counterattack.

In a blur and without the normal transforming sound, Twin Twist slams upwards into his robot form.

Combat: Twin Twist sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Twin Twist misses Warsong with his Flurry of Punches (Kick) attack!

Groove grunts as he's scraped along the asphalt of the tarmac. "Oof! Scram, catman!" Lifting his pistol, he jams the barrel under Rampage's felinoid chin and hopes it stays. "Planes ain't chew toys, aren't you missing the Lost finale or something?"

Combat: Groove strikes Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; with his Disruptor attack!

Dee-Kal glances skywards. Well, if she can't make conversation, there's a half a thousand cartoons to help her deal with situations like this. With a dashing pose she summons her favourite comfort blanket from subspace, holds it in both hands, twirls it around her head and shoulders then back to holding it in before of her with a deft flick. "Oide!" she challenges, shaking the red fabric. "Torro, torro!" Her favourite, fluffiest REDDEST comfort blanket. RED. Oh, yes.

Eject continues his Forrest Gump a-la-run as he chases Ravage and with his velocity maxed out, he doesn't have much in the way of dodge advantages. As Ravage's searing beam of energy comes flying in, the attack strikes the casette-bot in the lower leg, sending him end over end into a heap. "Arggh!! Uggh...talk about a blind-side quarterback sack."

There's no time to lay and cry about an injury though. Springing back up, Eject leaps onto a fleeing luggage cart. "Yo!! Follow that Cat!!" As the driver speeds up to pursue the Decepticon, the Autobot tries his most daring move yet. Bending down to get some good elevation, Eject flies from the cart to the cat!! "Let's get this touchdown A-team!!"

Combat: Eject sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Eject strikes Ravage with his Touchdown attack!

"Lost? That show is lame!" The Tiger snorts, "I'd rather watch Hell's Kitchen and that's not on til tomorrow!" He is barely grazed by Groove's blast of disruptor, and snarls and tries to bite the Protectobot. "If you want Lost, I can make it so."

Combat: Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; strikes Groove with his bite (Punch) attack!

Ravage finally reaches the edge of the devestation caused by the other Decepticons and has some decent wreckage to use as cover, unfortunately a little too late as Eject does some odd sports thing, barrelling him over. Ravage is quickly back on his feet again, jumping into part of a wrecked plane he fires a missile at Eject from the safety of cover.

Combat: Ravage sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Ravage strikes Eject with his Heat-Seeking Missile attack!

Warsong's optics narrow and a smirk plays across his face as he listens to the Wrecker. "Oh, really? I AM the lightweight!?" he barks, crouching down to the ground where his left clawed hand plants before him. "C'mon, Autobot... Quit talking and try DOING!" he shouts, just as Twin Twist begins his charge. Hmm, that was faster than he thought! Pushing off of the ground in a hefty leap, Warsong kicks in his antigrav systems to add to the propulsion sending him high over the flurry of punches coming from the Autobot.

"Hahaha!" 'Song barks, pointing down at the Wrecker. "You call that an attack? You couldn't hit the broadside of... Well, BROADSIDE! HAHAHA!" he continues to laugh before cutting his flight systems to land directly on top of the air tower, the already damaged supports of which groaning and whining under his weight. &lt;&lt;Decepticons, show them no mercy! This battle will be ou-EERRR!!!&gt;&gt; Perhaps he should have found a better place to land, as in the next instant the control tower topples in on itself, burying the Decepticon under tons of rubble...

Combat: Warsong inspires Ravage and Mecha-Tiger &lt;Rampage&gt; with majestic and wise words!

Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; is simply too angry to think straight. He charges forward, building momentum and ferocity with each step. Regardless of whether or not he somehow manages to strike his opponent on his way by, his momentum carries him past and directly under the control tower as it falls. Two for one!

Combat: Giant Mecha-Bull &lt;Tantrum&gt; strikes Dee-Kal with his Grab attack!

You head back to OOC-land...