Rounding up the Strays

Primitive Village

At the foot of a vast and craggy mountain huddles a crude village in a natural clearing. The inhabitants are hunched and bestial humanoids which would stand almost thirty feet tall if they were not so bowed.

These potbellied semi-sapients are covered by nothing more than sparse red hair and crude loincloths made of bark and large leaves sewn together, and they seem to possess no language, no art. Some of them clutch unshaped wooden clubs and other rough implements, but their attitude is mainly one of fear, not aggression, and they instinctively flee at the approach of something the same size as themselves, while pursuing smaller beasts to consume them. All of them are obviously male.

Their village, if it can be described as such, is little more than an open space in the jungle where animal skins have been draped over low branches to form lean-to shelters. They pile the split bones of their kills in a reeking hole at the center of the village; there is no firepit as these creatures are not capable of creating fire.

Another shot rings true from the hand cannon, super heated plasma makes short work of another flimsy hut.. reducing the tree to ash, and sending the Femaxian native inside running for his life. The fire burns, reflecting off of Cyclonus' optics as he reflects to only three cycles before.

THEN. Briskly striding the course of the command hub in Tetrahex, the Decepticon Overlord overlooks a status report on their operations south of the border. Work has stalled, due to either slaves being freed by cursed Autobot operations or dying off from starvation or poor work conditions. Slamming a closed fist on the console, Cyclonus curses aloud before throwing the report to the ground.. in pieces.

NOW. Two more shots from the weapon, and even more brutish males run in terror from the Unicronian. "Decepticons, we must restock the pantry." he almost chuckles, floating in the air overhead. Turning to his troops in question, the nasty scowl returns. "What are you waiting for, a double encrypted message? Fetch!"

Motormaster turns to the ground forces and bellows Cyclonus' orders in slightly more explicit terms. "Fan out, both sides! Don't get isolated! These things will pull your head off if you let them, and there's worse than these brutes out there- Autobots have been sighted in the surrounding hills. Separate the herd and bind them for pickup, then move on, don't let them scatter so far we can't collect them! Breakdown, you're with me! Move out!"

Motormaster charges up the electric shockstick he's been issued for this mission and tromps off into the trees to catch some giant neanderthals.

Frenzy folds his arms, looking straight up at Cyclonus. The tape doesn't look interested in the whole capturing aspect of this mission, but he's willing to battle the Autobots. "Hey duder... um, Cyclonus! I'm just here to kick Autobutt if ya know what I mean," the tiny tape, Frenzy, replies. "Capturin' slaves and all aren't my style, but scrappin' the outer shell of those dopes. Slaves and all... they are like boring classical pieces."

From 30,000 feet up, Fusillade grumbles in response to Cyclonus's shout, "That's some choice wording." Nevertheless, the Lancer hies to his call, and sleeks back her wings along her frame as she dives to join the fray. "Gah, they're all over the place, there's no way we're going to be be able to keep them from hiding in this dense jungle!" She pauses, "UNLESS..." With a twist of ailerons and tail slabs, she peels away, and begins dropping napalm, corraling at least a few of the hooting brutes to the vicinity of the village using fences of fire.

Breakdown fidgets as he stands next to Motormaster. "Roger that, Motormaster! The sooner we're off this planet, the better!" He looks suspiciously at the foliage surrounding the village. "But the real threat isn't those natives, it's those creatures! They could be anywhere!" He falls into step with Motormaster, on the lookout for anything and everything. His heightened sense of awareness quickly pays dividends as he points to a pile of fallen sticks. "THERE! There's one under there, I can see one of his hairs!" Yes, that would be one single, solitary hair.

Tentakil smiles pleasantly at the fleeing natives before blasting away with both of his weapons partially coating natives, huts and the ground with streaks of highly adhesive ooze. Tentakil's smile broadens and he almost jumps excitedly as he hears that the natives like to get all cozy and personal, "They actually want to come to me already, i can't wait!"

Never again can Loadout 'roll out' like Autobots are supposed to, and to say that he misses that ability dearly would be an understatement. Nonetheless, if there is one thing he has learned to do, it is to adapt to the situation and make do with what he has. Or make do with what others have. That's why, right now, he's doing his best not to fall off as he balances/perches on the bed of Kup's cybertruck mode, both his hands gripping the edge of Kup's 'cab' to help prevent him from falling off. He's not too concerned about being too heavy...Kup's a tough old bugger, right? "What exactly -is- the plan supposed to be anyway?" He shouts, having to raise his voice to be heard over the rushing wind of acceleration.

Flying not really too far off the ground Fireflight keeps in a tight formation with his fellow Aerialbots. Since the shuttle's landing a few cycles ago they have been on patrol, they know that the cons are going to do somthing with the people of this planet but not exactly sure what.. well Fireflight has no idea really, He's not read anything but his harry potter book for the last few weeks. He's not the fastest reader and tends to throw it around if there are scenes that don't seem right. He emits to his fellow aerialbots, "Hmmm, You guys have any idea whats happening? I've not seen anything on my side... Well trees mostly.. and they look strange..." he pauses as he hits some turbulance, "Wow, that was fun, Can we look for some more, I really miss a nice patch of turbulance..."

F-15E Strike Eagle  streaks along the treetops keeping pace with his brother Aerialbots as they fly in formation, or as close to one as they can manage with Fireflight. "So likes what's the deal here fellas? I totally was not paying any attention to that briefing." Banking a bit to the right he avoids flying smack into a cluster of birds that suddenly soar up from the jungle below. "Man it's think down there, glad I don't need to walk. Haha! Course I don't see any good places to put down either. Ah no matter, I'm sure you'll make us a landing strip sooner or later anyhow Flight." Rolling back into his normal position in the formation he can be heard letting out a sigh, "You guys seeing those flashes up ahead? Looks like we better haul afterburner."

F-16C Falcon  flies in on one side of the Aerialbot formation. The sound of their combined jet engines creates a rolling, near-constant noise most listeners would usually associate with the Decepticons. But the warmer colors, prominent red symbols and their something...friendly...about the way these jets fly reveals their alliegiance. "I'm afraid first we'll have to learn more about what's going on here first," Skydive replies to Loadout out loud in that way that Transformers have of talking no matter how far apart. Probably something as simple as 'radio'. "But from where we are, it appears as though the action is...on the ground!"

 Fusillade says, "Aight, they're roped off, should make it easier for you folks to grab them. Whup, I think I saw something on the horizon!"

Loadout ain't heavy; he's my Autobot! No, the old warhorse isn't bothered to be toting around Loadout at all. Kup replies cheerily, "The plan? Same plan as always - find the Decepticons and stop'em from menacing the natives."

Fortress Maximus follows behind Kup on foot, in the sea of forest on Femax, "Just ahead ought to be where the Autobot team that was sent to disrupt the Decepticons' operations here had requested for backup."

 Motormaster says, "If it's anything other than potential slave labor, burn it to the ground!"

"Still your vocal processor.. tape." Cyclonus rasps downwards, at Frenzy. "Like it or not, you're here to SERVE." Another hand cannon shot impacts against a gargantuan tree in the middle of the village. Weakened by the forceful blast, the large and old tree begins to creak with a large whine before shifting weight and very slowly breaking in half.

"Motormaster, lead the charge." Cyclonus asides to the Stunticon Commander, who's got pretty much everything covered off the bat. "Leave the horizon.." the Overlord trails, transforming into altmode. <> he finishes, inferring the large space lancer already raking the skies.

Cyclonus transforms into his Starfighter mode, Galvatron must need a ride somewhere.

Motormaster kicks the debris Breakdown was trying to draw his attention to, scattering it- hiding underneath is one of the Femaxians, a hunched and trembling figure only somewhat smaller than Motormaster himself, and easily bigger than Breakdown. With an ululating howl the brute scrambles out of his ruined hiding place and flees, and Motormaster lunges into a pounding run after him, tackling the Femaxian to the ground with a deep thud and trying to wrestle it into submission- it's like wrestling a humanoid triceratops. "Breakdown, bind its arms! And keep watch for others!"

Satisified with her work as the other Decepticons begin wading through the walls of flame to begin grappling with the massive humanoids, Fusillade exhorts, "Be quick about it, the fire's not going to burn forev-- WHOA! Hey guys, guys! There are some other fliers here, Autobots. I'll go play with 'em, give you guys some cover while you're catching them all." Cyclonus orders interception while she's chattering, and she replies with a clipped "Aye-Yi!" The supersonic bomber wheels aroundon Cyclonus's afterburner exhaust, and then whips toward the Aerialbots. Nearly Silverbolt's size, she dips one wing, rolling partly to slice through the formation of smaller aircraft, gargantuan vortices spiralling in her slipstream's wake.

Tentakil stops blasting and holsters his guns as he runs towards the nearest native arms outstretched as if in a welcoming embrace, "Here creature creature, what a nice being you are so strong and powerful. You'll just love coming along with us. You'll get to make so many new and squishy friends. You'll like that won't you? Yes you will!" Unlike the brutish Motormaster Tentakil prefers to use a soft voice and kindness to lure his prey into striking distance.

Breakdown leaps on top of the brute only a moment after Motormaster does, pulling out a pair of ener-cuffs. "Once I get these on, you'll never get them off!" he says with a smirk. However, Breakdown isn't as strong as Motormaster, so he struggles with the creature's tree-trunk like arms. "H-holy Primus, this thing's really strong!" He struggles to bring the primitive's two arms close enough together to bind them!

Frenzy sighs in defeat. To serve, he says... What a bore! But he can't do anything now as he must follow the orders of Cyclonus or else. He reluctantly follows Motormaster into the charge, unready without his pistol out and his cool grove. Rushing around the area, he tries to spot an available Femaxian within the village. The only one in his sight is the one Breakdown and Motormaster is wrestling. "Hey guys! Let me help you out there! I don't mind a fine wrestle against this dope!" Adding to the pile, the little tape leaps on top of the brute.

F-16C Falcon  peels off from the other Aerials. <> he calls out over Autobot frequencies (unnecessarily as every Aerialbot pretty much knows what to do in this situation - namely a huge Decepticon flyer streaking into their midst, you break formation). But then he adds a few more instructions. <> The two normally reckless Aerialbots when put together can sometimes keep each other out of trouble. Skydive himself pulls up until he's nearly vertical and then increases power to his engine, clawing for altitude. <> he calls out as he ascends. <>

Combat: F-16C Falcon  sets his defense level to Protected.

F-15E Strike Eagle  runs a systems check as he brings up a weapons store display on is HUD. With everything in order he keeps his optics on the objective and the larger airframe heading their way. <> Doing his best not to deviate too far from the flight plan as he avoids the passing Lancer, Air Raid slips back into position near Fireflight as Skydive instructed. <>, he responds to some comment over the radio. Checking once on Fireflight he adjusts course and kicks his afterburners on, "Lets go have some fun."

Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle  sets his defense level to Protected.

Cybertruck  pulls up to the outskirts of the village, keeping in mind what Skydive's saying, that they have unfriendly company up in the sky. He warns Loadout, "End of the road. Hop off. We're going in by foot now, and stay sharp." Kup transforms and grabs his musket, looking for just the right opportunity to ruin some Decepticon's day.

The pickup truck rises up into the old veteran Autobot, Kup.

"I...see." Loadout states dryly as Kup explains the 'plan' for the situation. And HOW have they managed to keep the Decepticons from winning the war outright? Of course he comes from a time when people did more thinking about a sutuation and not nearly enough action. Why do you think Optimus was such a revolutionary leader back in the day? As Kup skids to a halt and starts to transform, Loadout leaps clear, landing with a slight *THUD* next to the old Autobot. Who knows, maybe they came from around the same time era, but Kup has actually -lived- the last 9 million years. Loadout sort of slept through it all... The shorter medic has no weapon to pull out, but he does raise one hand to shield his optic visor as he peers ahead, taking note of the situation. "My word!" he exclaims, spotting Motormaster and Breakdown trying to wrestle down one of the brutes. "It appears that they're trying to capture the natives!"

Combat: Loadout sets his defense level to Protected.

After hearing the break formation command he totally ignores everything else. Thats what Fireflight normally does, He dives down to get as low as possable as he watches the massive Decepticon flyer in the air. Continueing to watch the bomber, Getting in close he considers his next move, Yes, a perfect plan, He'll keep in low, Then once it flies over head he'll pull up swiftly then fire a pair of missiles in it's weak underbelly... Well that was the plan. It was a shame about the tree, This old tree must have been there for a thousand years, Why didn't it move? If it would of Fireflight wouldn't have hit it and crashed into the floor, he emits over a narrow autobot frequency, "Hmmm, Code 1, It's happened again... OOCH!" Looks like Fireflight is out of it already...

Space-Going B-1R Lancer cackles out, "Fox four! Fox four!"

Any doubt on whether or not the Seekers were planning to be subtle is dissolved by the sound of afterburners from the heavens above, causing Fortress Maximus to pause a moment to try and look through the dense forestry that's obscuring most of his line of sight to the skies. Thankfully the dissipating trail of air streams in the skies assists the large blocky Headmaster leader in locating the supersonic bomber, << Try to avoid anything reckless, remember, we're here to keep the Decepticons from enslaving the Femaxians in this area. >>

With Kup having transformed back into his robotic mode, Fortress Maximus actually has a chance to catch up, and catch up he does as he finally appears behind the two, fusion-powered photon rifle in hand. He narrows his optics as he looks towards the direction that Loadout had indicated, "We can't let them have their way, time to do what we came here to do."

The large neanderthal struggles against the combined Decepticon might, kicking and flailing like a cornered Machdragon. Finally gaining an upperhand when Frenzy jumps into the fray, he manages to flail to his feet and start hoofing it.. towards the Autobots!

Noting their formation, Cyclonus breaks off and dives down towards Fireflight. Intending to bury the nose-needle deep into the Aerialbot's frame, he's quickly deterred when said Aerialbot crashes into a tree.

Quickly adjusting heading, the Decepticon Overlord pulls up and fires off some shots at the underbelly of Skydive.

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> misses F-16C Falcon <Skydive> with his Death From.. Below! (Laser) attack!

Tentakil ignores the dogpile of the other more land based Decepticons, if he's going to hunt down a new Femaxian friend to take home to labour to death he'll do it alone. The male Femaxian hesitantly approaches Tentakil one of his legs is encased in slime. "Yes that's it come a little closer, come on i won't harm you. Oh i'm sorry did i hit you before? I didn't mean it but you were running so fast i thought you'd leave me far far behind, you wouldn't do that would you? No, no you wouldn't, you want to be my friend." Tentakil takes a step closer his hand and tentacles reaching out in a non-threatening manner.

Motormaster flicks out his shockstick and sprints heavily after the fleeing Brute! Lightning crackles around the spike-studded club as he closes in and attempts to apply it to the small of the brute's back and bring the beast down!

Breakdown grumbles at his inability to snare the brute, and hustles after Motormaster. "You know, it's a good thing I'm not working with Tentakil! That guy really freaks me out!" And once more his heightened awareness of even the slightest danger comes handy as he hears the Autobots driving and flying in! "A-Autobots!" he yells, snapping a finger towards them. He fires a laser blast at Kup, which he may, in retrospect, find was a bad idea.

Combat: Breakdown misses Kup with his Laser attack!

"Animal modes are an abomination," grumbles Motormaster in reply. "The Black Book of Primus says so. Tentakil is an especially unclean example." Frenzy falls off the retreating beast after losing his grip., something he did not expect. The tape lands flat on the ground and slowly gets up. "Hey! If you guys weren't so weak-" Frenzy didn't have time to finish as he witnesses Motormaster sprinting towards the fleeing Brute. "Hey! Wait for me!!" Frenzy calls out to Motormaster as he quickly runs after the Con.

Flashing her glossy white underbelly in a taunt at the unfortunate Fireflight and Skydive, Fusillade aims to foil the remaining Aerialbot, Air Raid. "Alright, no need to worry about what's going on down THERE. C'mon now, you're being AWFULLY shy, you can fly better than THAT" she chides him as she begins saturating his airspace with lower-powered argon disruptor blasts.

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> with her Disruptor attack!

Kup looks away, turning at just the right moment to observe a Femaxian struggling a net. He rushes off to try to dislodge the net, heedless of damage to himself, which luckily drags him away from Breakdown's laser. Kup likes busting heads as much as any Autobot, but he tries to remember WHY the Autobots are fighting - for those who can't defend themselves.

F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> can be heard sighing even over the sound of his engines as Fireflight slams into the trees. <<I swear that guy is a pure menace in the air, I'm just glad it was a tree and not me this time.>> Seconds later Cyclonus rockets past having altered course to go after Skydive. <<Aww slag, watch it Dive you've got a bandit on yer six!>> As Skydive stalls and vanishes into the trees Air Raid can be heard cursing up a storm. "Am I the only one who knows how to fly? I'm so signing you guys up for flying lessons." All thoughts of his tree hugging brothers is dispelled as he suddenly comes under fire. "Hey now, watch the wings!" Rolling to avoid the energy blasts the F-15E does a bit of fancy flying to bring his own weapons on target. "How rude of me, I'll try to be more outgoing from now on." As he comments gunfire erupts from his internal gattling cannon.

Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his 20mm M61 Cannon (Laser) attack!

Loadout ducks reflexively to one side, but Breakdown's shot wasn't meant for him, it was meant for Kup! And luckily the old codger doesn't get hit somehow either. Even though Loadout isn't much of a fighter, it still rubs him the wrong way when he sees Kup running off to do the right thing and still getting shot at for it! So he raises both arms and points them in Breakdown's direction. "Don't you dare!" Ports on his forearms flip up and outwards, revealing cannon modules built into his forearms, menacingly pointing forward as they start to build up with power. It all looks very ominous and dramatic! And the whole image is shattered as the cannon modules unload with a flurry of ion bolts similar to what he fires in his alternate form, except that his forearms spray all about from the recoil as he flails like a sissy. "AAAAAAUGH!"

Combat: Loadout misses Breakdown with his Ion Dischargers attack! [Pulled -2]

F-16C Falcon <Skydive> 's dive is aborted by the lasers from Cyclonus. He rolls aside in time to avoid the blow but stalls out momentarily, sending him to the trees as well. "Not again," he sighs.

"Hands off the natives, Stunticons! That's as much pain and suffering that you're going to be inflicting upon them today." Fortress Maximus shouts out firmly as he brushes pass the foilage that had been concealing him and sprints out into the open towards the Femaxian brute that was being chased by Motormaster. He attempts to step in between the Stunticon commander and the Femaxian brute.

During all of this, a compartment on each of Fortress Maximus' foot slides open and his two drones, radio controlled by Galen, races out into the area. The unarmed drone, Grommet, activates its newly installed sensor module and begins scanning the skies as it analyzes the data in the area and transmits certain data over to the lone Aerialbot in the skies.

Combat: Fortress Maximus takes extra time to assist F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid>'s next attack.

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "Th-that's one of those new Autobots that merges with other Autobots! I see why he has to become somebody else's gun--he can't shoot straight, himself, haha! Uh, b-but we gotta knock him out before he realizes he's no good solo. F-Frenzy, you hit pretty hard, right? Well, I can tell you RIGHT where to hit him!"

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "Oh really now? If ya need somethin' taken out like a Bot, then I'm the right man!"

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "See th-that bot that shot at me? The one thats like one of those old generics? I'm gonna upload some targeting data, stand by..."

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "I left ya a few astro-seconds, so I didn't see anything. But I'm commin' back to beat that Autobutt up!"

As another Aerialbot is lost to the foliage of Femax, Cyclonus pulls off his attack and refocuses on another problem on the field that's sprung up.. Fortress Maximus! <<Fusillade, I'll leave the last one to you.. see to his end!>>

Breaking off the attack formation, the Starfighter lines with the Headmaster Commander and fires off a salvo of munitions. <<Motormaster, go -through- him if you must!>>

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> strikes Fortress Maximus with his Death From.. Above! attack! [Pulled -3]

Breakdown is visibly shocked at the incoming spray of gunfire, and he throws himself to the ground, letting it streak over him--but perhaps he needn't have bothered, for as Breakdown looks up, he's amazed to see that the gunfire has hit everything but him. "Hahaha, what was that? You're an even worse shot than Misfire!" He then squints at Loadout, and seems to be mumbling to himself as he communicates with someone over the radio.

Combat: Breakdown analyzes Loadout for weaknesses Frenzy can exploit.

A stacatto salvo of ammo rounds punches the air, whisking past the Lancer's nosecone by a bare handwidth. Fusillade pulls up hard, her inertia causing her to backslide while her thrust vectoring engines strain to change her velocity. "Your wings? Oh, you mean those wide fat triangle things with a targeting reticle on them!" Fusillade teases Air Raid. The whine of capacitors charging crescendos, and the bomber belches forth a human-sized bolt of shaped laser energy at the smaller, more nimble F-15E.

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> with her I have one of those too! (Laser) attack!

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "--you spaz, that wasn't even half an astrosecond!"

Motormaster finds himself stymied by the imposition of the literal steel wall that is Fortress Maximus! "One side, deserter! You can give up whatever hopes you have of turning this planet into another one of your humanoid-zoos.. we're going to put these miserable beasts to some USE! Pick some other pet to coddle for your own moral satisfaction!"

Transforming, Motormaster tries to drive between Max's legs and run down the Femaxian! He's betting that the heavy-planet organism is tough enough to take it.

Motormaster slams his great mass to the ground, converting into a big black cabover semi.

Tentakil ignores the snide comments from the other Decepticons and the small fire fight starting to break out, his prey is almost close enough just a little more. "Yes that's it no need for fear i won't harm you, none of us will, i'll take you somewhere safe away from all these nasty scary noises, come on i'm sure you'll enjoy it it's wonderful and right by the sea." He takes another step forwards and his hand holds the Femaxian's hand almost gently as his tentacles snake up its arm in a gentle caress, until it's too late. Tentakil lashes out with startling speed attempting to overwhelm and engulf before dragging away his prize.

After recieving what Frenzy calls a 'distress call from a weaker con then him,' he changes course and retraces his steps back to Breakdown. Good, he gets to finally challange a poor Autobot to the death! The tape makes an entrance by rolling into the scene... which did not make sense, but he thought it was cool. "The Frenz is here, maybe. Going to destroy an Autobot baby!"

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "Oh, don't ya criticize me! Just be lucky I made an awesome entrance! Not every day do ya get a cool entrance by The Frenz!"

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "Yeah, yeah. Well, just shoot him and I'll give you a hand of applause!"

Loadout isn't exactly up on all the Decepticon names right now execpt for the really well known ones. He hasn't exactly had a chance to build any 'history' with any of his enemies as of yet. Though it was getting to be a habit that he kept getting pointed in Motormaster's direction the last few times... ...that's neither here nor there though. And perhaps it's lack of experience that tells him he's being set up by Breakdown for another Decepticon to intervene. Perhaps the mere -thought- that he would be ganged up on in this fashion not even occurring to him in the slightest.

Afterall, he has no confidence in his combat abilities whatsoever. "I don't know who that is you're talking about but it doesn't matter! We're not going to just let you get away with this!" His forearm blasters continue to fire, this time a bit more low-yield as he's -trying- to be more careful about how he aims, quick little *PEWPEWPEW*s issuing out as he fires 3 shot bursts as carefully as he can. Yeah he's kidding nobody. Those shots are still spraying like crazy, the recoil of his own weapons being too much for his own good. If he hits something, it's due to luck, not skill.

Combat: Loadout misses Breakdown with his Pewpewpew! attack! [Pulled -3]

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "My Pistol is the 'number one hit' after all."

F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid>'s shot hits nothing but empty air as the bomber manages to avoid being hit. As the only Aerialbot left in the skies Air Raid pays special attention to keeping himself in that very element, well for the most part. Not bothering to slow he charges ahead pulling up and banking hard before impacting the larger aircraft. As he arcs around energy bursts just miss slamming into his right wing. "Yeah these things. Take a good look." He wing waggles a bit in flight. "Or you could just watch what I'm hauling under them." As he starts to line up to take a shot data starts to stream across his HUD and updates his targeting data. <<Aww yeah, thanks for the candygram Maximus. Like fish in a barrel.>> With target lined up a single missile is launched streaking forward with destruction on it's mind.

Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his AIM-9X Sidewinder attack! [Pulled -2]

Space-Going B-1R Lancer, broad side of a barn.

It's hard to tell if the Femaxian brute that Fortress Maximus had blocked Motormaster off from can recognize what the Autobot Headmaster leader's intentions were. Probably not. Not that it matters much to him, as long as the native is running in the opposite direction of the Stunticon commander, then his objective has already been accomplished. "If you think I'm going to stand by while you turn yet another planet into slaves to the Decepticon war machine, then you're fooling yourself!" Fortress Maximus retorts back, the expression on his ruby visored faced grim and determined as he puts his strength into his massive arms to hold off Motormaster's attempts to pass by him.

His attempts, while initially successful, is cut short though as the armour plating on his exposed rear is strafed by Cyclonus' oxidizing lasers, a few of which strikes his lower left leg and causes the massive Autobot Headmaster to buckle under the assault. Just enough time for Motormaster to transform and brazenly slip through in between Fortress Maximus' legs! "Kup! Loadout! Motormaster has slipped through, can you stop him?" In the meantime, the Headmaster leader raises his fusion-powered photon rifle and takes aim at Cyclonus before leveling off a few retaliatory weapons fire of his own.

Combat: Fortress Maximus strikes Starfighter <Cyclonus> with his Laser attack!

The Femaxian Brute that was lulled into Tentakil's lucious lies ducks at the last moment, then reels backwards in a scurrying momentum to get away from the Seacon.

Returnfire scorches his cockpit, sending black char marks all down his royal purple frame. Keeping his bearing, the Decepticon Overlord swings around in a wide arc and aims for the gun-hand that just left nasty marks on his chassis.

<<Do -not- sully in our workings, Autobot.>> Cyclonus manages to emit, right before impact.. or whiffing.

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> misses Fortress Maximus with his Ramming Disarm attack! [Pulled -2]

An incoming missile alert sounds out in Fusillade's cockpit, and the Lancer dumps out a spray of flares, lighting up the sky like Nebulan New Year. The missile plows into the flock of intense heat signatures, detonating away from the bomber. "WHOOOOOAA that's more like it, yeah! Show me your teeth!" Fusillade goads Air Raid. However, at the the ongoing debacle below, she groans internally. "Oh for the love of -- this is going to cut into my drinking schedule!" She breaks away from the Autobot, and instead transforms, falling down from the sky to sprawl in an awkward landing atop the Femaxian brute that the other Decepticons have corners. "Hey pookey, wanna come home with us?"

The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet.

Combat: Fusillade sets her defense level to Aggressive.

"Alright, now watch and learn, from the guru of combat, Breakdown!" With the data Frenzy recieved from Breakdown, he spots Loudout's weakness point that he can aim at. Places his right fist in front of him while he grabs his pistol with his left hand. WIth his thumb, he aims carefully at the Autobot's spot. "Hehe, this chump's gonna be EASY to hit with my awesome, cool aimin'! And... with the little help from Breakdown. Anyways, eat pistol damage fool!" Holding his word, the tape fires at the Autobot, believing one-hundred precent it will hit!

Combat: Frenzy misses Loadout with his Pistol attack!

While Frenzy deals with the gun-bot, Breakdown stands up, grinning. He decides, against his nature, to let the Autobot just shoot at him. Just as he thought, the rounds are being sprayed randomly everywhere. "Hahaha, you're better off as an accessory, Autobot!" Breakdown mocks, and turns towards bigger fish. Hm... oh, Kup's still here, trying to shoot someone out of a net. Breakdown levels his concussion rifle at the native, figuring it ought to screw his systems up enough that he won't be so successful at that. "Don't worry about him, old-timer! Worry about US!"

Kenworth K100 Aerodyne <Motormaster> transforms back into his hulking robot mode and gestures menacingly with his shockstick at the poor brute Fusillade's turned her tender mercies upon. "On my mark! Take it!" He lunges for it and tries to shock it into submission so that between himself and Fusillade, they can capture the lairy beast! With a loud clacking and grinding sound, Motormaster pulls himself up into his grim humanoid form.

Breakdown looks baffled. The animators haven't drawn Kup into this scene for a while! Shrugging, he fires at Fortress Maximus instead.

Combat: Breakdown strikes Fortress Maximus with his Concussion Rifle attack!

Tentakil's smile falters for a moment as a struggle ensues with the brute but somehow he slips free of his powerful grasp, possibly due to Tentakil having to mentally stop himself from tearing his prey into many pieces. The Femaxian starts to run as best he can, with his ruse failed Tentakil transforms and lumbers after the Femaxian. "No no my friend you want to come this way, here let me help you." A single tentacle charged with electricity lashes out attempting to stun the brute into submision so what if a wriggling friend is more fun, he will take a stunned one if he has to.

Tentakil transforms into his huggable Krakenoid mode.

With a **WOOSH** the Sidewinder rockets off as Air Raid watches eagerly waiting for the explosion to follow. When that fails to follow he grumbles and double-checks his stores. Task complete he glances below and can only laugh as Fortress Maximus gets shot in the aft. <<Hahaha! Oh man that's one way to be a rear guard there Maximus. I wish I had a camera.>> Forgetting his altitude as he was laughing the jet is suddenly smacked by the top of a tall tree. "Ooof!!! Owww!! Slag-it I'm getting as bad as Fireflight. Pull up, pull up!"

With a burst of speed the F-15E gains some altitude as the tree gets singed in the process. "Ooops. Well least I didn't crash into it." Scanning the skies quickly and half expecting a salvo of death to be raining down upon him he is surprised to find that he's alone. Alone in the air over the village he lets his engines slow then stall. Like a rock he starts to drop before transforming and landing hard on the ground. "Well not the best landing, but best I can do with no runway. I'm not Slingshot after all and it's better than the other guys did." Spotting a brute he runs at him flailing his arms. "I'm gonna getcha'!! Better run! Ooogly boogley!"

Slowing the F-15E breaks apart transforming into his robot mode.

To Frenzy's credit, it's not that Loadout is incredibly difficult to hit overall, but with all the flailing and such and random movements, it's more or less than he's a bit of a spastic target to hit at the moment. While backpedalling a bit, he tripped over a rock and fell on his backside, causing the blast to streak clear overhead by a body length or so. What it -does- make him aware of is the fact that he's coming under attack from another angle. "Gyah! Get away from me, you!" He exclaims, scrambling to his feet again and leaping away, stepping backwards more as he tries to lay down some more cover fire. This time he keeps his shots as single ones that fire from his forearms in weak blasts. While his accuracy is still all but ruined by his defensive movements, at least there's no more danger -this- time that he's going to end up hitting something that he didn't intend to, besides Frenzy if he gets really really lucky. For now, anyway.

Combat: Loadout misses Frenzy with his Low-yield single shots. (Disruptor) attack!

With so many things happening all over the place, Fortress Maximus doesn't have time to keep his optics glued on Cyclonus and after squeezing off his shots he promptly turns his head back towards the direction of the fleeing Femaxian brute that Motormaster is chasing, "Blast the trees down behind the natives, see if you can cut off Motormaster's direct path of pursuit!" The large blocky Autobot Headmaster points a finger towards the treelines and shouts out the suggestion. This momentarily lapse of attention is enough of an opening for Cyclonus to attempt to exploit! It would have succeeded too if it weren't for Galen who, from the perspective of the two drones, notices Cyclonus approaching at frightening speeds to ram him.

Fortress Maximus manages to spin to the left and avoid getting rammed but this action puts him right in the path of Breakdown's fire! While the Headmaster leader is reeling forward in pain, Gasket is directed by Galen to enter an attack run on the Stunticon aggressor, his two dinky little laser cannons firing away in an attempt to pull the enemy off of its main body.

Combat: Fortress Maximus misses Breakdown with his Gasket's dual laser cannons (Disruptor) attack!

Kup is busy wrestling with a net that he just cannot defeat. It's frustrating. Reminds him of the time that the Net Lords captured him and his batallion and forced them to operate pedal looms to weave cloth made out of their own wires. However, the epic struggle of Kup versus net isn't really all that interesting, so the animators stop drawing Kup and then start drawing something more interesting, something like a... dinosaur?

And there's that dinosaur! "Hnh? Whut going on? Me Grimlock hear stuff going on!" And he storms through the treeline- one would think a dinosaur would be more at home in the jungle...but, well, this is an alien jungle that Grimlock just got to! He grunts, then glances around, taking in the chaos. "Hn. Whatever goings on, me Grimlock think it look like fun!"

And that's not the only suddenly animated dinosaur! A little cassette-stegosaur pelts furiously towards where the other Decepticons are. "Me am here! Me help catch! Cut down to size!" Slugfest's chainsaw-plates rev noisily. That should at least give the Femaxian brutes some pause.

Not one to be deterred, or ignored, Cyclonus immediately takes the fight right back to Fortress Maximus. Only this time, on the ground. Transforming mid-air, the Decepticon slowly gravitates to the ground.. before cutting thrusters, ending his fall with a large crash. The ground gives though, and Cyclonus in all his robotic glory strides from the mini-crater.

"Fortress, the Femaxians belong to me!" he calls out the Headmaster, drawing his sword from the back and charging forth. Before collision, he breaks off and makes some hasty side slashes at Maximus' side.

The Starfighter flips up, transforming into CYCLONUS!

Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Cyclonus strikes Fortress Maximus with his Diamond-Boron Carbide Sword attack!

Frenzy twitches his pistol with his mouth wide opponent, doubtfully witnessing what he saw. All the data sent to him, the aiming, and the full confidence, his shot was missed... by the opponent tripping. No dodging, no ducking, but trippping! How can he, the great Frenzy, miss an opponent like that? It's unbelievable! This is not acceptable! But thinking about the occurrence almost got Frenzy shot as he realizes in a mare moment that an incoming shot is directing towards him.

The Frenzy quickly dodge roll the attack, leaving no wound whatsoever, lucky. "Bah! This Autodope is almost on my list for top necessary deaths." He pushes himself off the ground and springs into action as he charges towards the Bot. "You messed with the wrong Con, you turkey!" Frenzy exclaims as he, when approaching closer to Loadout, leaps into the air with his right leg forward, "Now prepare to be scrap metal by the all-powerful Frenzy!"

Combat: Frenzy sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Frenzy strikes Loadout with his Kick attack!

"Breakdown, look behind you!" Motormaster shouts at his underling as he and Fusillade bundle away one of the Femaxians. Turning towards Gasket, Motormaster's eye lasers draw a pair of thin red lines which jog back and forth across the ground scoring black tracks in the grass as he tries to focus the beams onto Fortress Maximus' little drone!

Combat: Motormaster sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Motormaster misses Fortress Maximus with his Optical Heat Rays (Laser) attack!

Krakenoid <Tentakil> continues to waddle awkwardly after the Femaxian, but now it looks more like he's playing a game of catch with it as both seem unable to open or close the gap between them. The pair lumber off into the woods eventually one of them will tire and the game will end and Tentakil will drag back a new slave for the Empire.

Breakdown screams loudly as he's fired on from behind, seemingly aware of the attack even before Motormaster warns him. The paranoid Stunticon leaps into the air, lands back down as a car, and begins to drive wildly about the clearing! "GET AWAY FROM WHERE DID THAT DRONE EVEN COME FROM!?" Breakdown throws himself down to the ground, transforming into a white Lamborghini!

Combat: White Lamborghini <Breakdown> takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"GAH, guys, do something!" Fusillade demands as Breakdown and Motormaster tangle with Fortress Maximus. She hooks her fingers into the woolly auburn cape of the Femaxian brute's shoulders. A despairing howl escapes the thing as it windmills its arms about, clocking the bombardier roughly in the helmet with a cinderblock of a fist. The two bobble about like a drunken stiltwalker. Baring teeth, she digs a heel into the small of its back, and yanks in the direction of the transport, "Cyclonus is gonna MURDER us if we don't bring back SOMETHING for all this trouble!"

Air Raid watches in satisfaction as the Femaxian brute takes off running after having the living daylights scared out of him. Dusting his hands off he turns back to the village proper to see where he can lend a hand. <<Alright fellas be advised I got my feet on the ground so air cover is limited.>> Drawing his rifle he stalks past some flattened huts in search of other brutes to save or more Decepticons to shoot at. Passing a few more destroyed outbuildings he can see the larger frame of Fortress Maximus not far off and starts heading that way.

It'd probably be humiliating for anyone else that they just got kicked by a tape into next week. Loadout is thrown back by the impact, landing on his aftplate and skidding a few paces, the smaller Decepticon packing more of a whallop than you'd expect. Or perhaps it's the fact that Loadout really isn't the strongest Autobot around. In fact he'd probably be rated pretty low, come to think of it. It's not really so much a humiliation as it is accepted truth that he's got no business going on one with Decepticons on the front line. Noo, out here he's got to do what he does best, but there seems to be no one else around that he can make use of! Or at least that -was- the case, until he spots a metal T-Rex coming through the jungle nearby, Grimlock's head poking above the foliage. That'll do nicely. Scrambling to his feet again to get away from Frenzy, he abruptly leaps up and, without warning, lands on Grimlock's back. "Grimlock, please don't ask questions!" He calls out quickly, before he starts to shift and transform. Parts interlock, magnetic clamps secure him into place, and he proceeds to interface right into place on Grimlock's form, clamped onto his upper back, but the barrel of the cannon swinging down and angling over the Dinobot Commander's right shoulder, the tip gleaming menacingly as it comes to life with power going through its frame. A cable snakes out and plugs into a port on Grimlock's neck, feeding targeting data and systems readouts to the Dinobot even as Loadout's generators come online, starting to feed more juice to his capacitors. OMG! DINOBOT WITH BIG GUN!

Loadout's arms lift above his head, parts lock together and his torso spins about as he transforms into an imposing looking heavy cannon.

Combat: Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

"That ain't happening! Not while I'm still here to shatter that fool's ambitions of yours!" Fortress Maximus replies angrily, his facial expression showing definite signs of hostility now as Cyclonus goads him on. The large blocky Headmaster braces himself, his arms readied as Cyclonus makes his attack. A large gash is made across Fortress Maximus' right shoulder blades as he shields himself from the initial slash and throws his entire weight forward in an attempt to snatch the Unicronian had wandered within his hands' reach and slam him into the ground, << Shepard any of the local natives away from the area if you can, Air Raid! >>

Meanwhile, both of Gasket's laser cannons fails to land a shot on its intended target and in return it narrowly avoids Motormaster's optic beams! With the drones also now being exposed to the threat of being shot at, Grommet is sent racing over to Gasket where the merges into Cog and ducks for cover in its more agile form.

Combat: Fortress Maximus strikes Cyclonus with his Over the shoulder body slam attack! [Pulled -1]

"Wait. Whut?" Yeah, that was a question. But then there's a gun turret stuck on his back, and Grimlock can do only one thing: smile. "Huh! Me Grimlock guess me Target-master now!" And with that, he lowers his back, sending off a blast at Motormaster! (Hey, he was there). "Only me Grimlock BETTER, 'cuz it me Grimlock 'steada some weenie guy who hang out with him Fortress Maximus!" *BZZOW!* That next one is sent off at Fusillade! "Oh! There him Fortress Maxymuss." Grimcock says, noticing the Headmaster commander. "Me Grimlock just get to this planet! Why am we here again?" and, just for fun, Grimlock scythes more of Loadout's fire in the general direction of anything Decepti-conny!

Combat: Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> misses Motormaster with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> misses Fusillade with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> misses Cyclonus with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Motormaster comes back from shoving their Femaxian into the transport just in time to witness the disappointing display. "The Dinobot!" exclaims Motormaster, throwing out a finger towards Grimlock as ion blasts fill the air (but not, somehow, the air immediately surrounding any of the Decepticons). "Stand tall and BRING it DOWN!" Motormaster shakes out his right arm, panels opening as his atom-smasher cannon deploys from his forearm and locks into the forward position. The barrels spin up momentarily and the heavy thudding report sings out as Motormaster starts laying down a barrage of fire against the King Dinobot!

Combat: Motormaster sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Motormaster strikes Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> with his Atom-Smasher Cannon attack!

Slugfest runrunruns, charging at the Autobots while zipping past the Decepticons. Chainsaw blades still revving, he makes a beeline for the erstwhile-targetmaster Grimlock. "Stoopid Dinobot," the little stegosaur says, "You no stop us, we take them all! And us make pets of them and call them George. You go splatter now!"

Combat: Slugfest strikes Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> with his Chainsaw Plates attack! [Pulled -2]

White Lamborghini <Breakdown> yells back at Fusillade, once he calms down, "F-fine! Whatever, I'll help capture the things! But how..." Then he realizes he's already in car mode. "Oh, right! Yeah, maybe I can.... uh..." He tears off without finishing, and bears down on one of the Neanderthal stragglers. The ogre-like creature sees him and tries to run away, but Breakdown is much faster in this mode. And instead of overpowering the creature, Breakdown instead transforms, springs up, grabs the creature by his shoulders, and then, using his momentum, tosses the man-thing forward to let it land in a heap. Breakdown himself lands on his knees. "Oh yeah!"

The white Lamborghini pops up into the jittery Breakdown!

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

The force, that Fortress Maximus employs, creates a new indention into the Femaxian landscape. One that's shaped like a robot, but has bunny ears on top. System sensors flash before his screen, audible error rings and alerts can be discerned over the faint buzzing sound. Armor crackles, breaks at the hinges and falls away. But amid it all, a faint light grows from the hole. A bright purple light.

And from it's depths, races out the Decepticon Starfighter that still strikes fear into the hearts of many a spacecraft pilots. <<Fusillade, to me!>> the Overlord barks out over the broadband.. obviously unpleasant with the current situation. Gaining altitude, Cyclonus loads his bomb rack with his incendiary specials and draws a bead on the Autobot side of the field.

<<All those rescued, shall burn.. just like their would be rescuers. Keep tight formation, one-two kockout punch!>> he transmits the last of his orders, before going into his strafing run. The bomb bay doors open up from below the craft, and from it two oversized bombs drop out.. tumbling through the air. They hang for a delicate and precious moment, before colliding with the Femaxian soil.

SKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOMMMM!!

Cyclonus transforms into his Starfighter mode, Galvatron must need a ride somewhere.

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> strikes Frenzy with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> misses Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> strikes Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> strikes Fortress Maximus with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> misses Air Raid with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> strikes Slugfest with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack! [Pulled -4]

The massive firepower coming from Grimlock is unexpected. Although the shots go wide of the awkward wrestling match between Fusillade and the Femaxian brute, they certainly do a good job of further spooking the already addled male. With a howl, he leaps free and runs off into the underbrush. Fusillade, rubbing her skidplate, props herself up on one elbow, before glaring wickedly in the direction of the Autobots. "I was SO CLOSE!!" she shrieks, giving no indication of hearing Cyclonus's orders, so much as acting out of petulant rage.

"If we can't have them, NO ONE CAN!" she fiercely decrees, before inundating the village and surrounding jungle with a merciless downpour of unguided bombs. Depending on the quickness of the other Decepticons, and their relative positions on the ground, they may wind up having as bad a night asthe Autobots and Femaxian natives.

Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock> with her Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Fortress Maximus with her Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Air Raid with her Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> with her Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Motormaster with her Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Frenzy with her Bombs Area attack!

The destructive fury of both bombing runs takes it's toll on the planet.. and it's countryside, and that toll is a heavy burden indeed. Like a match to some tinder, the combination of the Incendiary bombs and BLANK light the surround hillside with.. FIRE. Precious and destructive fire, dances through the treelines and acts to cut the Decepticons off from the Autobots.. as well as light up the rest of Femax's vegetation.

Back and forth, the burning brush fires lick.. wax and wane, so bright in fact that they could be discerned from orbital observation.

Where's Smokey the Bear when you need him?

"He, he, he. I got that Bot good! Now, to help capture more of those-" And before he knew it, explosions, explosions, and more explosions occur everywhere around Frenzy. The explosion damage his metal plating and wounds him terribly, but still surviving. He is critically hurt for being in the middle of the strike, and quite frankly he's angry that nobody waited for him to retreat out of the bombing area.

<Decepticon> Cyclonus says, "Decepticons, the flames shall cleanse their insolence. Round up the strays!"

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "You big... *cough*... stupid bombers! Why didn't ya... *cough*... wait for me or at least tell me!"

Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> somehow, SOMEHOW manages to avoid getting damaged by all the bombs and firepower flying around from the two Decepticons doing their attack runs. He's jolted, and jostled in place, but held firmly onto Grimlock's body and, fortunately, shielded from the blasts by the Dinobot's big bulk! So there's definetely an advantage to his chosen partner here! Not that he'd voice that to Grimlock though. Through the data feedout being exchanged in the cable that joins him to Grimlock, he can't read the Dinobot's mind, but he -can- sense where the Dinobot's attention is going, able to see where he's looking. And he can tell what target that Grimlock is starting to pick to vent his rage on. Well, whether or not the Dinobot decides to use his firepower, Loadout can -still- help. Whether or not Grimlock notices, a holographic display starts to appear over his right optic, showing his chosen target, giving a hand in predicting movements, and a nice little red targeting reticle....

Combat: Loadout takes extra time to assist Robot T-Rex! <Grimlock>'s next attack.

<Decepticon> Motormaster says, "Good pattern. Frenzy, don't stand in the fire. Breakdown, Slugfest, herd whatever slaves you can into the transport- we'll withdraw under cover of the smoke!"

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "Why wouldn't I be leavin' now, dope?"

<Decepticon> Astrotrain says, "Relax Frenzy. Ya know you can always just drink till it don't hurt no more."

"ARGH." Grimlock first snarls as Loadout proves himself to be a crappy targetmaster...and then again as he comes under bombardment by what seems to be an entire regiment of Decepticons! He hunkers down, enduring the blasts- his own bulky armor serving to protect Loadout by sheer virtue of having something big and angry between him and the Decepticons.

"GR! Me Grimlock gon have do this RIGHT." he says- and transforms! He reaches back and snags Loadout from his back, balancing him in a massive hand like a proper gun. "Hnnn. Maybe this help." he says...and with that, h Grimlock storms through the burning battlefield, blazing away! He picks his shots, this time- first testing Loadout's firepower on Slugfest- and then, Grimlock snaps off a second shot at Motormaster...and then, Grimlock turns his fire upwards! He's almost a beretta and a few doves short of a John Woo movie, the way he's doing this.

There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode!

Combat: Grimlock strikes Motormaster with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack!

Combat: Grimlock misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack!

Combat: Grimlock strikes Slugfest with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack!

Combat: Grimlock strikes Starfighter <Cyclonus> with Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout>'s Ion Rapidfire Area attack!

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "Yeah.. or listen... *cough*... to my favorite jams."

Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> BRRRRRRUUUUUUMS like a minigun.

<Decepticon> Motormaster says, "Because Cyclonus hasn't SAID you can leave now! While our duty remains undone your 'jams' will have to wait!"

Air Raid gives a nod towards Fortress Maximus, "You got it Maximus." Running towards a cluster of huddled brutes he starts motioning them off to a safe direction. "Run! What are you fools doing just standing under a tree?" As the group starts to move Air Raid can only shake his head in wonder. "They sure grow them stupid here." Turning to see if there are any other foolish Femaxians in the area he stops and cocks his head listening. "Hmm I know that sound." Scanning the skies his mouth drops open as he yells, "We've got incoming! Take cover! Run!"

Doing as he suggested Air Raid starts to haul aft to the tree line. Mere feet away the fiery explosion rocks the area throwing him back as flames spring up and dance among the trees. Scrambling back to his feet the Aerialbot is again thrown as more explosive force hammers the area. Crashing down he glances at a damaged wing seconds before something-soft pelts his frame. Examining the item he looks away quickly and wipes a dark blotch off his arm. "Eewww, I don't even want to know what that used to be." Pulling himself up Air Raid stumbles through the smoke trying to find the others.

Despite being effectively goaded by Cyclonus, some parts of Fortress Maximus and Galen still unconsciously holds back the full might of his strength when he caught the Unicronian from the air with his titanic grip and spun the entire weight of his body around and straight into the ground. Maybe Cyclonus hasn't been pushing Fortress Maximus' berserk button hard enough yet? Fortress Maximus doesn't try too hard to keep Cyclonus rooted to the ground though, silly technical pacifist, this error in judgement becomes the impetus of disaster as he watches in horror as the Unicronian, now far up in the skies, opens up its bomb bay doors and drops incendinary bombs towards the ground below!

Fortress Maximus' optics widens underneath his ruby visors and the first thing the Headmaster does is charge towards the nearest Femaxian brute and puts his body over the helpless native as the wave of fire washes across his back, melting armour. Unfortunately Cog shares a similiar fate from the first bombing, the feedback of the damage transmits back to the main body, causing Fortress Maximus to grimace in pain, "Ugh."

The second wave of bombing from Fusillade comes and goes, this time Fortress Maximus and the native under his protection is escapes unscathed as the Headmaster leader summons his drone to guide the native towards safety while he looks up in anger. The Headmaster leader leaps into the air, his body enlarging as he reconfigures into his battleship mode where its mortar launchers swirvels around to bear at the airborne Decepticons.

Air burst mortar shells are loaded into each of the dual barrelled launchers before it is promptly lobbed towards the general direction of the two airborne Decepticons!

Fortress Maximus transforms into his Battleship <Fortress Maximus> mode.

Combat: Battleship <Fortress Maximus> misses Starfighter <Cyclonus> with his Air Burst Mortar Shells Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Battleship <Fortress Maximus> misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Air Burst Mortar Shells Area attack! [Pulled -2]

<Decepticon> Cyclonus says, "Your.. tunes, matter very little to me. The capture and enslavement of these specimens however, do."

<Decepticon> Fusillade says, "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

<Decepticon> Boomslang says, "Sounds like somebody's enjoying some flak."

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "I'm weak, man... no more work. I would've said 'screw this' and left a astro-sec ago, but can't do it because of you!"

Payload delivered, two of them, Cyclonus streaks for the skies and alights the fusion reactor that powers his systems. <<Decepticons, we've attained our objective.. any lingering shall be met with -considerate- reprimands.>> the Decepticon emits over the broadband, before making his exit stage right.

But before he does, Grimlock manages to land a shot. Not anything to go running back to Galvatron crying about, but a respected shot none-the-less.

Combat: Starfighter <Cyclonus> begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

<Decepticon> Cyclonus says, "Decepticons, we've attained our objective.. any lingering shall be met with -considerate- reprimands."

Motormaster catches an ion barrage to the shoulder as he ducks his head to shove a terrified (and somewhat scorched) Femaxian into the transport. "Inside! Everybody into the transport! We're lifting off and we're not waiting for laggards!"

PWOMPH PWOMPH! The air around Fusillade lights up with flak from Fortress Maximus in retaliation of the scorched earth campaign. "Toodles!" she chirps out, before summoning her rocket booster packs from subspace, and hauling her wide tailfins up into space, presumably as escort for the retreating transport.

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Starfighter <Cyclonus>

When the tape finally hears the order of retreat, he gladly retreats, though in a bit of pain. Frenzy quickly runs through the forest, though huffing and puffing, until he reaches the transport and eneters it.

Combat: Frenzy begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Air Raid, Breakdown, Motormaster, Slugfest, Grimlock, Starfighter <Cyclonus>, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "I second that! Let's get the heck outta here!"

Motormaster leaves it to poor Breakdown to get the Femaxians in the hold secured properly and goes to the fore of the shuttle to take the controls. The last Decepticon aboard has to hustle to catch the ramp before it raises, but as soon as they're on the slave ship lifts off and rises over the raging fire to blast away into outer space.

Combat: Motormaster sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Motormaster begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Air Raid, Slugfest, Starfighter <Cyclonus>, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Slugfest cries out as Grimlock's next barrage hits him. Fortunately, Cyclonus has now ordered a retreat and he turns and runs right for the transport. He may be stupid, but he's not so dumb that he sticks around during a retreat when Grimlock is there. It's just too bad he didn't get to do more to the Dinobot Leader. Like paint him to look like OverKill! His little feets move him with surprising speed.

Combat: Slugfest begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Starfighter <Cyclonus> and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Breakdown drives back into the shuttle with the last catch of the night, and mostly keeps the savages in line by pistol whipping them repeatedly.

Combat: Breakdown begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Air Raid, Motormaster, Slugfest, Starfighter <Cyclonus>, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

<Decepticon> Fusillade says, "I swear if these things start eating our Mexicans"

"Me Grimlock say this planet stupid!" Grimlock snarls, and then looks down at Loadout. "Target-masters stupid too! Me Grimlock like me own gun." he grunts- but, seeing the Decepticons flee with their ill-gotten gains, Grimlock snaps Loadout up for one last blast...at Frenzy! Poor tape. It's more a matter of spite at this point, as Grimlock soon tosses Loadout away- and as an afterthought, he hears Maximus' radio message about firefighting. "Hnh. Shoulda brought him Defensor instead!"

Combat: Grimlock strikes Frenzy with his A LAZOR (Disruptor) attack!

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "M-maybe the Mexicans will be too spicy for them, haha!"

<Decepticon> Motormaster says, "It would be a worthwhile trade! Each of these brutes has the strength and durability of a hundred Mexicans! And a fraction of the brainpower. The... lack of numbers might be an issue unless the likes of Hook can figure out a way to increase them."

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "AAAUGH! That Dino somehow hit me!"

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "We could steal some f-females, too, maybe? Just put them in the same room, and, uh, wait for however long we have to?"

<Decepticon> Motormaster says, "But still, a much worthier workforce, considering the disadvantages inherent in the filthy organics."

<Decepticon> Motormaster says, "Ugh. I hardly like to think of it, Breakdown. We may need to kidnap Kup to make it happen. He had an... unseemly expertise on this planet's rituals."

Ion Assault Cannon <Loadout> is tossed away like so much unwanted garbage! He transforms in mid-air as he's thrown end over end, before landing again on both feet, dropping to a crouch and shooting a...glare back at the Dinobot commander. Somehow, trying to hammer it into Grimlock that it was -all- his own aiming and not Loadout's strikes him as being a futile gesture. Not to mention the irony that -Slag- of all people seemed to like his gun mode just fine. Fate deals a strange hand sometimes. Dusting himself off, the ancient Autobot lets out a sigh and takes stock of the situation, noting the flames going through the forest, as well as the condition of those nearby. "Plenty of work to be done, still..." He cuts off, head tilting forward as a sudden expression of agony crosses his features for a split second. Gone almost as quickly as it had appeared before he straightens up and gasps. "...getting more frequent."

The cannon splits at the muzzle and the stock, spinning in the center and unfolding into the Autobot Loadout.

<Decepticon> Motormaster says, "Don't stand by the window, Frenzy."

<Decepticon> Astrotrain says, "These things still need food and water like other organics, right?"

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "Oh, no! We don't want to kidnap him! He'd always been talking about how he's going to kill us j-just like this time he killed a bunch of other Decepticons that kidnapped him!"

<Decepticon> Breakdown says, "Or would be talking--I don't know I can't think THESE THINGS WON'T SHUT UP EVEN AFTER I HIT THEM *THWAP* *THWAP* SHUT UP!"

<Decepticon> Frenzy says, "Oh quit bein' a whiner baby. You're annoying the heck outta me!"

<Decepticon> Astrotrain says, "I still say you Stunticons need to lock him up in a cage when ya don't need him."

"CYCLONUS!" Fortress Maximus bellows from his externally mounted speakers as he floats atop of the sea of fire beneath him, "You and your Decepticons have crossed the line this time. This -wanton- destruction. It will not happen again!" The battleship slowly turns about towards the retreating Decepticons, his weapons batteries firing futilely in an effort to down the departing conquerors, "Enough lives have suffered and ended as a result of my hesistations. The next time we meet, I WILL NOT HOLD BACK!"