Dominated

&lt;Earth&gt; CNN says, "This just in! A Decepticon shuttle has landed in Washington DC! The hatch is opening... smoke is billowing out! We can't see what's going on! One thing is for sure, though... we need the Autobots!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Of all the consarned things... Autobots, scramble, double-time! Better go see what scheme the Decepticons are up to /now/."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "You can count on EDC backup, Kup! I'm en route."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire grunt-snorts, as if jolting out of a defrag cycle. Considering he's been up all night working, it's not much of a surprise. "Whowhatwherenow?!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Eh, better'n nothin', lad. What're you boys packing?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Sorry to wake you outta your beauty sleep, Jeftire, but a 'con shuttle just landed in DC, and any way you wanna slice it, that's trouble."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "... No kidding... Sorry, I was up all night working on the subspace stealing problem. Give me to clicks to suit up and take off."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "I've got my Pegasus and it's ready for a fight!"

Smithsonian Institute

Along the sidewalk is an extremely long building which appears plain and boring, if not for its tremendous size. Colored a light beige hue, the only indication of what it holds is a small sign at the southeast corner of the building, declaring it to be the famous Smithsonian Institute, a repository of human history and valuable relics of its past. Peering inside the building, you can make out what appears to be a World War I aircraft hanging from the ceiling and several dinosaur structures.

Contents:

Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt;

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;

Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;

Grapple

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;

Tremor

Galvatron

Winnebago &lt;Rodimus Prime&gt;

Obvious exits: Fly &lt;Up&gt; leads to Sky over Washington, D.C.. North &lt;N&gt; leads to Pentagon. South &lt;S&gt; leads to Arlington National Cemetery. East &lt;E&gt; leads to Great Mall. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Outskirts of Washington, D.C..

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire realizes he's getting ahead of himself. "Er, do the rest of you need a lift there?"

Fusion has arrived.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Sounds great, Jetfire. Let's get saddled up and roll out!"

A Decepticon attack was just announced over the news networks, so it should be no surprise that Rodimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, is in the Mall area!

Well, it /should/ be no surprise to those who don't know that he recently went missing, at least.

The Winnebago of doom is driving at an unrushed pace directly throw the center of the Mall, which /is/ more than a little odd. And... is his Autobot symbol a bit crooked?

Galvatron has emerged from the smoke fuming from the Decepticon shuttle several minutes after it landed. Several police cars roll up, and their occupants disembark and aim guns up at him, but they don't fire, as they know it's a useless gesture. Inwardly they wonder why they even bothered. Galvatron, fortunately for them, ignores the police officers and stomps past them. He appears to be headed towards the Mall, no doubt for a confrontation with the Autobots.

Steamroller &lt;Tremor&gt; is rumbling along, laggin behind Galvatron even at top speed. Police cars, vending machines, and an ATM perish spectacularly beneath his pad-foot roller. As he transforms to stand at his leader's side, he laughs at the puny attempts of the humans to impede their progress. "Izzat all you got? Why even try? Maybe ya wanna get flattened!"

The big roller separates, fists sliding out to lift the front end of the compactor, legs flip down and extend, and the head slides up to reveal the smirking face of Tremor!

Fragment marches upon the Mall like a Stormtrooper behind the tall and ominous Galvatron, with cold seriousness of a soldier who just got a dear john letter in the post along with notice of draft for another tour of duty in the thick of the hotest stinkiest enemy territory immaginable... with everybody's least favorite inept yet unfragable Seargent leading the way no less. From one hand he spns with machine motor like rapidness a nunchchaku. He graze-bashes a hotdog vending cart aside.

Fusion on the other hand doesn't ignore the police. He sends streams after stream of shells firing off from his bulky new shoulder cannons. He targets the (unoccupied) police cars for now, setting one one fire, melting the next with acid, perforating a third with guided drill-bits. "You know," he comments in a conversational tone. "Wheeljack's advanced designs don't seem so complicated. Mainly you just need to understand that seldome did he take anything past the prototype stage, and he was an Autobot first and fore--LOOK OUT!!" One of the drill-bit shells somehow veers off course and heads back in Fusion's direction, forcing him to duck. "Er...well, maybe a little more study is in order. I'll stick to the basics for now."

Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; can get halfway around the Earth in 30 minutes, so it's little surprise that it takes less time than that from blasting off from Autobot City before the large aircraft is blazing full-tilt towards DC, carrying whatever Autobots needed a ride inside. "I'm not all that surprised they're attacking the captial. With their recent string of success it was inevitable they get cocky." The veritech's shadow passes over one of the roadways as Jetfire dips in low and opens the rear bay for the others to jump or drive out as necessary, slowing down just enough that the Autobots can jump or drive out without hurting themselves or loosing the momentum to get into the actual fight. "Remember, this place is extremely important to our human allies, so lets try and keep collateral damage to a minimum if at all possible."

Meanwhile, he's running over several more dozen calculations and ideas in his head, hoping he's gotten everything set right with how relative little time he actually had to work before this came up. Hardly the first time he's had to put science into action flying by the seat of his cockpit, though.

Was that... nah, couldn't of been. Was probably just a sensor shadow due to the congregation of so many structures so close together in the capital or some such. No way it could of almost been what it vagely looked right moving close by.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; is with the small human contingent with the Bots sent to deal with the latest Decepticon threat, dropping out of a transport (or possibly Jetfire, as the case may be) and using flight engines to make a swift but soft landing at one side entrance to the Mall. The head of the exo-suit pans left and right, the pilot running a quick scan for endangered tourists and workers as well as the destruction caused by the threatening Decepticons.

Oh, Washington, D.C.. The place reminds Kup of Planet Bureaucracy, and while he barely escaped from that world with his life, that's a story he doesn't much like to tell, if only because it /always/ puts everyone to sleep, without fail. He paces in Jetfire's hold, antsy, his trigger-finger twitchy. Unthinkingly, he reaches from his trusty old musket... and his jaw drops. Cursing up a blue streak, Kup finally exclaims coherently, "My musket's gone! The slaggers took my musket. I swear on Vector Sigma, when I find the glitch-head who took it, I'll thrash his skidplate back into the Stone Age!" Then, another thing gets his attention, as he looks out a conviently placed window. About the only thing that could stop his ranting about his musket, in fact. "Jetfire, take us down! That's Rodimus Prime down there! And what stupid stunt is he up to now?"

From Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield has decided to fly by himself rather than hitch a ride inside Jetfire--that way no one can see that he's a tad nervous about being so high off the ground, which he is rarely concerned about as going into battle causes him to forget his fear of heights, as mild as it is. The Pegasus speeds along toward D.C., and upon his arrival, he spots a certain Winnebago, and his eyes widen slightly. "Rodimus!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Rodimus Prime! I'd been worried that... well, never you mind. But why's his transponder off?"

Grapple just so happens to be one of the 'Bots using Jetfire as a hitchhikers' ride to DC; really, it's the best way to travel when speed is a must. So, the architect is there and not too far from Kup when he hears the exclamation. "Prime is down there?!" He rushes to the window in question to see for himself.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "That's a good question. I have a bad feeling."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire, despite the outburst about Rodimus, remains practical as possible, "Kup, confirm the disappearance of your weapon please. It may be integral to stopping their ability to do so."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "...oh, got a lil' carried away. Just... happy to see that Rodimus Prime's still up and rolling. Where was I? Oh yeah, my musket! I tried to access it, just now. Y'know, do a pre-crisis check on it, and it plain weren't there."

Grimlock has arrived.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "I had theorized that with an Autobot prisoner to study they would be able to do so sooner than anticipated."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "However... I have to some extent planned on this finally occuring... Primary focus is to keep them from destroying the city first though!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Save the science for later and set us down next to Rodimus Prime, Jetfire. Where there's a flaming paint job, there's gonna be fire."

Winnebago &lt;Rodimus Prime&gt; rolls right up next to the Washington Monument. He stays there, silent for a moment, as he spies the Autobots and EDC members arriving. Hmm. Still in the air, but coming in fast. They should be here soon enough.

He transforms and turns towards the crowds of humans there. Despite the presense of the Decepticons, many seem calmed by the presence of Rodimus Prime, that familiar Autobot symbol emblazoned on his chest.

But why are his optics red?

He begins speaking. "People of Earth! You know me as Rodimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and I have a very important announcement to make!" He glances up... need to make sure the Autobots hear this one, too.

Grimlock has been in Jetfire's passenger bay this whole time. Really. And now? He's not at all happy about it. "AGH ME GRIMLOCK HATE WAITING!" And with that, Grimlock hits the emergency hatch-opening button, and dives out into the air! He activates his anti-gravs just in time, and then lands upon the ground with a *THOOM!* not too far from Rodimus's position. "Hn! Me Grimlock glad see you Roddy-mus! What you big announcement?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sam says, "Er.. Autobots, this was planned announcement..?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Nuthin' I ever heard. What cockamaimy nonsense's gotten into the lad's head now?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Still got that feeling. Something just doesn't feel right...but I can't put my finger on it."

Galvatron glares at Fusion. "Be careful those weapons do not harm ME, soldier. Wheeljack's inventions have always been..." He stops himself, and makes an angry face. "...nevermind." While he doesn't mess with the cops, he does allow himself a smirk as he watches his soldiers sending them scattering in terror, screaming as their cars are crushed or go up in flames. It comforts him to know that even if he doesn't take part in the mindless destruction, he will always have plenty of eager Decepticons around to make up for it.

Stepping past the wreckage his troops made, he walks through the mall and approaches the Washington Monument. Oddly, despite the presence of Autobots there, he doesn't appear to be making any aggressive actions as of yet.

Tremor looks into the sky above the Great Mall with a smirk on his face. The Autobots are arriving, of course, swooping in to save the day as per usual. Their predictability will spell their doom someday, he's certain of it. He casts his gaze further, toward the ridiculous spire the humans must have erected in honor of some worthless figure from their dimly-remembered history. It is much improved by the presence of Rodimus Prime - and that is something he never thought he'd admit. Kicking the twisted, burning wreck of a SWAT vehicle out of his way, he hurries to join Galvatron. "This outta be good," he laughs as Rodimus begins speaking.

Boomslang has arrived.

Fragment narrows his purple optics looking around with vigilance from the ant-like movements of the local humans, to the incomming Jetfire, to the brief moment of ineptitude over the unfamiliar weapon his fellow soldier weilds. Fragment considers what he himself carries that was not his own until recently and is thoughtfully hesitant to draw it.... His mouth twitches as Rodimus Prime rises from wheel to foot and begins to speak. "Good. Bad. We're the guys with the guns." And so he finds he must indeed draw the stolen weapon. It's timing. Away goes the nunchaku and out comes Blurr's Electro-Laser. It hums to power as he holds it at ease pinting upward.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Be on your guard Autobots. Any one of us could be a victim next, especially if they have the subspace periscope with them."

Fusion sighs wistfully as he raises the still-smoking cannons to a guard position. "As you command" he murmurs by rote, before walking little circles around the wrecked vehicles to inspect his handiwork. "Yes, that Wheeljack, truly a megaprocessor among micro..." he trails off, turning his optics skyward. "Do the rest of you hear that? Heavy-thrust aircraft engines, but that's no Seeker model..."

Boomslang follows close at Galvatron's heel, a faithful hound just waiting to sink his teeth into a worthy opponent. He's cradling a long silver rifle fed from what looks like a paintball hopper, and scanning his baleful yellow gaze back and forth across the wanton destruction as if daring one of the human "authorities" to make a move.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; hurries forward from the edge of the Mall, out toward the area where Rodimus is making his announcement. On his way, he waves some of the police back to get them out of harm's way, taking up a position at the edge of some trees next to the reflecting pond, where he can see what's going on from the side.

Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; lets out an exasperated sigh at Grimlock, or it could just be his thrusters hissing as he shifts proverbial gears. Well, at least the doors are open for the others thanks to the Dinobot... and at least Grimlock is one that can fly. He lets the others get out as well, before transforming himself and landing on the ground with a solid thud, eyeing in Rodimus' direction without saying much.

Something was very, very wrong with this to him. If Rodimus had escaped, why didn't he tell them?! And how'd he get to Earth afterwards without asking? Not likely the Decepticons would just give him a ride after all.

From Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield keeps part of his attention on the Decepticons, but most of it is on Rodimus. The exo-jet begins to descend, and in one fluid motion, it transforms to robot mode and lands on its feet before the Autobot leader, who he stares at, in apparent disbelief. What's with the crooked Autobot insignia and the red optics? Those little details fails to escape Jayson's notice. A feeling of dread washes over the young soldier--something definitely isn't right here, and a horrifying thought crosses his mind, though he refuses to believe such an idea. And what could this announcement be? "Prime..."

Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Jet transforms into its Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot mode.

Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; transforms into his Jetfire mode.

Fusillade has arrived.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sam says, "Hrm.. Galvatron, four others. Not good."

Boomslang's eyepatch flips up and the telescopic lens underneath extends as he zooms in on the distant roaring of the Autobots' approach, attending to Fusion's warning. He steps a little further behind Galvatron and snaps the patch closed again. "Thanks to my telescopic vision, FUSION, I can tell you that that's no seeker... that's JETFIRE, Autobot scientist and space combat expert!"

Grimlock glances over at Rodimus- and then he narrows his optic ridge as he sizes up the Decepticons. Oh, this is bad. And as a reflex action, he grabs for his Energo Sword...only to find his fingers closing around...nothing! "Huh, whuh?" he grunts, and glances to Rodimus, as if expecting an explanation!

Something was very, very wrong. That was forefront on Grapple's mind as Jetfire lands to let them all out. Why was Rodimus about to set off a speech instead of trying to guard the humans from the attacking Decepticons? Why was he there making a speech at all instead of trying to contact them? Warily, he reaches for his subspaced rifle.. And finds it gone. Wonderful. So, with a deep sigh, he takes a slightly smaller gun that, for some reason, was still there, and follows the others.

Kup wants to believe that Rodimus Prime stowed away on the Decepticon shuttle, cunning and stealthy, and has just now escaped, and he wants to announce to the people of Earth that he's safe and alive and that he's still there to protect them. Kup even wants to believe that the Decepticons are just standing around because, cowards that they are, they're terrified that Rodimus Prime is going to rip them a new set of audio ports for the indignity of his capture.

Kup wants to believe all that so very badly. He's out the hatch as soon as Jetfire sets down, the THUD no more than jarring his stride, and he throws his arms in the air, demanding, "Well, out with it, lad! What's the deal?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Hnh? Who take me Grimlock sword!?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Oh, blast it all, not you, too!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grapple sighs. "My rifle appears to be missing, as well."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Well that's just optimal..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says quietly, "Does everyone see what I see?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Did you check under the couch cushions?"

Winnebago &lt;Rodimus Prime&gt;'s lips quirk in a faint smirk that vanishes into a more serious expression. "Ah, good, there you are," he murmurs as the other Autobots arrive. Louder, he says, "My announcement is this:" and he reaches to his chest and removes the covering that had been there, painted to look like his normal chest. Beneath it is the same, famililar flame pattern, but a bright purple Decepticon symbol crudely branded in the center. "IT IS TIME YOU ALL BOWED TO YOUR NEW MASTERS!" he shouts, drawing Kup's laser musket from subspace and grinning wildly as he fires it at Kup and shouts, "Roller! Get your chubby little ass out here!"

Back at the Decepticon shuttle, Roller zooms out the hatch, heading straight for the Mall.

Rodimus Prime drops Evil Roller.

Combat: Winnebago &lt;Rodimus Prime&gt; sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Winnebago &lt;Rodimus Prime&gt; transforms into his Robot mode.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Oh my God!"

Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Kup with Kup's Acid Musket Laser's Acid Musket Laser attack! [Pulled -3]

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Acid Musket Laser": A Level 3 RANGED attack.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, ".. What the slag.."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "GRR!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sam says, "... oh.."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Okay, -this-.. this I had not calculating on occuring."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grapple says, "..Oh, this isn't good."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "It okay! Us just need find REAL Roddy-mus! Then him can have race or somethings with fake one."

Galvatron spreads his arms wide as he laughs maniacally. "HAHAHA, yes, that's right, Autobots! Your precious hero is ONE OF US! And without HIM, you are ALL DOOMED! Hmhahahahaha! Decepticons, destroy the Autobots--ONCE AND FOR ALL!" And Galvatron wastes no time going after one of the other big threats in the area--Grimlock! He hurls himself at the Dinobot with a flying knee. "NYRRRAHHHHH!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire deadpans, "Been there, done that."

"Jetfire," Tremor says to his cohorts. "Fun's startin...strap up, yeah?" Following Fragment's lead, he, too, produces his recently-acquired weapon. it is one with which Grimlock should be intimately familiar. The energo-sword crackles as he draws it from subspace, and it sears the air with a vicious hum as he wheels around to face the oncoming do-gooders. he slashes once, burning a news van clean in half. Then he turns on the nearest foe. "Gonna enjoy this," he leers at Grapple, "In real nasty ways!"

Combat: Galvatron strikes Grimlock with his Kick attack!

Combat: Tremor strikes Grapple with Grimlock's Energo Sword's Energo Sword attack! [Pulled -2]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, ".. Well, there's Kup's musket and Grimlock's sword."

"That's the signal! Hit 'em high!" Boomslang shouts to the other Seekers, levelling Prowl's rifle and spraying a tight burst of green acid pellets at the Autobots' ride in an attempt to keep them from escaping!

Combat: Boomslang misses Jetfire with Acid Pellet Rifle's Lingering Acid attack!

Soundwave has arrived.

Missing Autobot weapons. Rodimus changing sides. Jetfire. The chance at collateral damage. This perfect storm of factors has generated enough drama to pique Fusillade's interest. Another chorus of searing racket begins to echo off the low walls of the various monuments scattered across the Mall, and the bomber roars over the area just in time for Rodimus's announcement and Galvatron's order to strike, even going so far as to transform to robot mode, and flash Jetfire a leer and a delicate wriggle of fingers before opening up on him with her nickel-plated sidearm. "You never call, you never write..."

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.

Combat: Fusillade misses Jetfire with her Disruptor attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "... Oh, great, HER too!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Rodimus...!"

Fragment pays attention to the dramatics dutifully. A happy Galvatron is a relatively safe Galvatron, afterall. And now that the surprise is sprung, Fragment crouches, levels the Electro-Laser, and points it at Grapple. "Are we having fun yet?" The blue claw-like blaster glows and discharges the voltonic beam at the big yellow architect.

Fusion levels his (ahem...okay, Wheeljack's) cannons at the Autobots spilling out of Jetfire and targets the easiest looking mark he can find. Easy, as in large and yellow. tk-tk-tk-tk! go the cannons as they spew out a fresh stream of shells. These are none other than Wheeljack's infamous gyro-inhibitors, which to the sorrow of many a Decepticon are known to upset stabalizers and movement systems all at the same time.

Combat: Fusion strikes Grapple with Wheeljack's Shoulder-Mounted Cannons's Gyro-Inhibitor Shell attack!

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

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

Fragment pays attention to the dramatics dutifully. A happy Galvatron is a relatively safe Galvatron, afterall. And now that the surprise is sprung, Fragment crouches, levels the Electro-Laser, and points it at Jetfire. "Are we having fun yet?" The blue claw-like blaster glows and discharges the voltonic beam at the titan-like scientist.

Combat: Fragment misses Jetfire with Blurr's Electro-Laser's Electro-Laser attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Someone try and subdue Rodimus and find out what the slag is going on. I'll deal with the psycho Seekers here."

From Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield can only stare some more as he is overcome by a sudden unwillingness to fight. "Rodimus!" he calls out, almost trembling with terror. "What happened to you?!" A laser gun extends from the Pegasus's right arm, and Jayson points it at Rodimus, but he finds himself unable to will himself into firing upon an Autobot, especially one whom he considers his friend. Even if said Autobot is under Decepticon control right now. "Stop this, Rodimus!" he pleads. But, knowing his luck, Rodimus won't listen to him.

Kup's not often left at a loss for words. He's a chatty storyteller, always with an anecdote ready for any situation.

Kup's speechless, now. His jaw hangs open, and he looks plainly bewildered. It's like he just can't comprehend what he's seeing. Then, a gob of all-too-familiar acid comes whizzing by, and his combat reflexes, which have saved him time and time again, have him ducking behind an immaculately trimmed hedge before he can even so much as think. Finally, words come to Kup, and he hollers, absolutely furious, "I didn't raise you to be a Decepticon! Now you get that ugly symbol offa your chest and give me back my musket before I take you out behind the woodshed!" Kup doesn't wait on bringing the violence, though, instead leaping over the hedge and trying to clock Rodimus Prime in the side of the helmet, to either knock him off his high horse or just plain knock his block off.

Combat: Kup misses Rodimus Prime with his Knocking Some Sense Into You (Punch) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup fumes, "...aaaugh, slippery little bootleg! And I thought Hot Rod had done every possible stunt and more to deserve a hiding, but this... this tops that. To turn /traitor/! Why, I oughta..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "It's entirely possible he's being mind controlled or some other means of altering his behavoir. The Decepticons -do- do that sort of vile stuff."

Grapple is right behind Kup! ..For a few minutes, anyway. He barely gets a few steps out of Jetfire before Tremor's attack hits him dead on. He yelps and reaches for what weapons he has left after the rifle theft --- and is promptly struck again by Fusion. He hadn't even gotten a chance to attack and is already badly injured. "For the love of..!" Still, he makes an attempt, at least, and fires in the general direction of the first Decepticon he spots; Tremor, as it winds up being.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; stands up running off to the left, in a clockwise circle around the Washington Monument. Just before the ARES cuts a sharp turn onto a sidewalk path, Sam levels the suit's laser at Fusion and fires a pulse of green energy. The Exo-Suit quickly moves behind some more trees, to try and put a little cover between him and the Decepticons.

Combat: Grapple strikes Tremor with his Laser attack!

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; sets its defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Fusion with its Pulse Laser (Disruptor) attack!

"Whut?" Grimlock so eloquently growls at Rodimus's rant- which distracts Grimlock enough for Galvatron to get in a hit! *KLONG!* The dinocommander reels- but then he transforms! For while Grimlock may not have a weapon handy...it still stands that he -IS- a weapon! And thus, Grimlock transforms! He snarls and circles around Galvatron, wary- and like a wary wolf, he snaps his jaws at Galvatron, attempting to carve a chunk out of him! Grr! With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out.

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; sets his defense level to Guarded.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sam says, "Large Decepticon contingent. Tactical recommendation?"

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; misses Galvatron with his CHOMP! (Kick) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield doesn't respond.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup seethes, "Mind-control, bah. I'm gonna strangle the little twerp!" Don't think he'll have any good tactical advice until he calms down, and that may take a while.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Do I want to ask...?"

Distracted by Rodimus' sudden proclimation.. but not so much he's forgotten there's several heavily armed (and with stolen weapons!) Decepticons present, and that they've essentially walked into an ambush. Acid pellets and weapon blasts leave scorch marks on the ground as the Air Guardian once again reminds people of just how agile he is despite his size by leaping out of the way of all three of the attacks aimed at him, landing several meters to the side with a loud clunk as his legs flex briefly to absorb the landing. Frowns as he sees poor Grapple getting ganged up on, though the expression is quickly lost out of sight as his combat helmet locks in place over his head. "You know, if I was a more arrogant mech, I'd be insulted."

Unlike seemingly everyone else present, Jetfire pulls his proper rifle out of subspace with no trouble. "Here I am, the faction's head scientists and one of their biggest aerospace fighters, and no one's touched my armaments? I'm hurt, really." A flick of the controls switchs the weapon to spreadfire mode as he settles into a more defensive stance, and he opens fire on the trio of decepticons trying to gun him down.

"Sorry, no time for slap slap kiss kiss right now," he adds in snapping back to Fusillade, nor does he spare her from the volley of return fire.

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Guarded.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Patchwork...Rodimus is..."

Rodimus Prime's red optics flare up at Jayson's question. "I've been enlightened," he answers, grinning maniacly. He leans back, twsiting out of the way of Kup's punch, smirking at the old man. "No, you didn't raise me to be a Decepticon." The smirk widens into a grin. "But I got better! All those years, denying Cybertron's /rightful/ place ruling over all other planets? And for what?" He points at Jayson. "Do you know how many times I've been blasted by Galvatron because /that/ little idiot keeps jumping in the middle of our fights? /PRIMUS/! Even I only did that to Optimuse once!" He turns Kup's rifle towards Jayson. "Well, you know what? Now it's payback time!"

Combat: Jetfire strikes Boomslang with his Particle Rifle Spreadfire Area attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: Jetfire strikes Fusillade with his Particle Rifle Spreadfire Area attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: Jetfire misses Fragment with his Particle Rifle Spreadfire Area attack! [Pulled -1]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Rodimus is what...?"

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; with Kup's Acid Musket Laser's Acid Musket Laser attack! [Pulled -4]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "He's a Dece--gyah!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Jayson? He's a dece...bal?  What's wrong...?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Somehow he's been made a Decepticon."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire speaking over the sound of energy weapon firing.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Is trick! Fake guy or something! Me Grimlock gonna bite him face off n' then us find new one!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "He's -what-? Where are you guys?  Is everyone okay?  Do you need help?"

Tremor laughs as he carves into Grapple. "Ohhh by the PIT! That felt great! Whatta you got now, Grap, huh?" He looks up then, snarling as Fusion seems to go after his target. "Find yer own meat, weirdo!" He is presently caught in the act of shaking his fist by a shot from Grapple's laser pistol. Blaster in the face, spiderweb cracks spread out across his visor. He topples backward, a nice black scar smoldering on the side of his head. "AGHH! OH YEAH! That's it, Graps! But I give as good as I get!" Regaining his footing, Tremor stomps forward, swinging Grimlock's sword above his head. It shall never be known what amount of damage this blow might have done, as he trips on a pile of twisted metal and char-blasted masonry and faceplants nicely as he goes in for the kill.

Combat: Tremor misses Grapple with Grimlock's Energo Sword's Energo Sword attack!

Galvatron jerks his torso back just in time to avoid Grimlock's jaws. "Too slow, Grimlock!" He glances over at Rodimus to see how he's doing, and smiles as he watches Rodimus settle a score that's no doubt been lurking in the back of his mind for a long time. "Heheheh, good, Rodimus! Take your revenge on him! And don't worry, I'll keep that abusive old rustbucket away from you, too!" He whips out his mace, snaking it out at Grimlock's snout, then lashes it out at Kup's head, next, the chain extending itself to reach the old Autobot.

He overhears Jetfire, then, and growls to himself. Nobody thought to take away Jetfire's weapons? He isn't happy about that at all...

Combat: Galvatron strikes Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Epic Flail Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt;'s Accuracy. (Blinded)

Combat: Galvatron strikes Kup with his Epic Flail Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Galvatron (Galvatron) used "Epic Flail": A Level 3 AREA-MELEE attack.

Combat: You took 11 damage.

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

Fusion flinches back at the sudden pulse of energy from Sam's Exo-Suit, distracting him momentarily from Grapple. "Who--where...?" Fusion eyes the little stand of trees. "Ah...gone to ground already? Tsk tsk..." He reaches up and taps something on the side of one of the cannons before continuing. "I'd imagine these were never designed to be used against human technology...but in all of the ways that apply here, a metal is a metal." The next shots fired are extremely slow-moving. So slow that it's easy to follow as they bracket the trees on both sides, and once past veer towards the Exo-Suit hidden behind them.

Combat: Fusion strikes Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; with Wheeljack's Shoulder-Mounted Cannons's Magnetic-Inducer Shell attack!

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; has been temporarily incapacitated.

Boomslang falls back under the barrage of particle beams coming from the direction of Jetfire, and circles around the Washington Monument to come at the battle from another direction. "Commander! Bracketing fire coming your way!" Leaning out from behind the monument, Boomslang lets fly with a long stream of Prowl's favorite acid pellets for the King Dinobot.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Boomslang misses Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with Acid Pellet Rifle's Highly Corrosive Acid attack!

From a small crevace in the aircraft above, in his miniature size, Soundwave positions himself for optimum accoustic effect. He then begins to emit a horrible screeching sound at the pressing group of Autobots.

Fragment tuck-rolls from his crouched position as he misses the agile giant Jetfire, making a leap from the multi-targetting Particle Rifle fire. Putting the Autobot weapon away, He draws his trusty old Gravel Gun, always fully stocked with mineral chunks mined from the mind numbling vast and bland asteroid belt in Earth's Solar system as of late. His black mouthguard transforms into place covering his lower face now for battle. The rifle fires off a volley of the small rough space debris, trailing dust behind every rock after Jetfire. "Know how to take away your hurt. Replace it with a different pain."

Fusillade clicks her ceramic heels together, but the maneuver doesn't net her much in the way of maneuverability in robot mode, and she gets pelted with weaponsfire as a reward. Hissing a bit as the shots bite into her shoulder armor, she backflips away, gaining distance. "Don't like you spreadin' your attention around like that!" With a harrumph, she squints in concentration, tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth, "Now, don't make me have to break out the big guns, hun..." She ratchets up the settings on her Desert-Eagle styled disruptor, sending out several focused beams at the nimble aerial Guardian.

Combat: Fusillade misses Jetfire with her Toe-Popping Cherrybomblets (Laser) attack!

Combat: Fragment strikes Jetfire with his Gravel Gun (Pistol) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Anyone?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "Hn! Show up! Bring guns!"

Combat: Tape Deck&lt;Soundwave&gt; strikes Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Enhanced Sonics Area attack!

Combat: Tape Deck&lt;Soundwave&gt; misses Jetfire with his Enhanced Sonics Area attack!

Combat: Tape Deck&lt;Soundwave&gt; strikes Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; with his Enhanced Sonics Area attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Bring some red paint, too, lass."

From Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield is completely stunned, stung even, by Rodimus's words. Is he nothing more than a nuisance who gets in the way? Perhaps he is right--maybe Jayson has no business being on the battlefield. Slowly, he lowers the arm-gun, and in that instant his armor is struck in the chest by Kup's rifle, catching him off-guard enough to send the Pegasus sprawling onto its back. It lays there for a moment as reluctant tears spring to Jayson's eyes, and as he commands the armor back to its feet, they start falling. "Dammit, Rodimus!" he says at last. "I don't want to fight you!" He falls into silence, trailing off, the Pegasus clenching a metal fist. It looks for a second as if it is going to rush forward in an attack, but it hesitates, giving Rodimus another clear shot at an attack should he stay interested in the hapless EDC soldier. He stays his ground as he is assaulted once more, this time by Soundwave's sonics, but he ignores them.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; tracks the shots flying wide past the trees, then ignores them as he starts to move forward to get a good shot back at Fusion. Sam doesn't notice when the shots actually turn to fly straight at him, and the ARES is struck squarely in the back. The magnetic shells do their work, and the suit's power becomes inconsistent, flickering off momentarily and causing its momentum to knock it straight over on its face due to a lack of any other control.

Patchwork has arrived.

What is the sound of Kup's fuel pump breaking to see the boy he raised to become the paragon of all that is Autobot as a filthy Decepticon? Apparently, it sounds much the same as Kup cussing. Can you even /DO/ that with a machine language compiler? And how would you ever fit a banana jack cable into a USB port? But Rodimus Prime's not just a wretched traitor, no, he's a stinking thief, too, rust icing on a smelt cake, and he's using Kup's own musket to put human lives in danger! Perhaps proving Galvatron right about the abusive comment, Kup lunges for Rodimus Prime, heedless of the Epic Flail swinging its way over at his head. He grunts as the side of his helm is caved clean in, and he sees stars for a moment. Vision still blurry, he nonetheless tries to grab Rodimus Prime by the elbow and lower arm, to lever him into a throw. Kup snarls, "This isn't you, Rodimus. Listen to me. You can't blame a boy for having no sense - he's a boy!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Rewind says, "It's a little know fact that we've seen Rodimus Prime in an evil incarnation over 5 times in various forms for various causes. Perhaps it coincides with a planetary alignment cycle? I'll have to do some research on this."

Combat: Kup strikes Rodimus Prime with his Throwing Your Weight Around attack! [Pulled -3]

Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; reels! He shakes his head, and snarls- he's able to duck past Boomslang's acid barrage, but not Soundwave's terrible screeching noise! "Rargh!" he bellows- and then he storms forward- barreling towards Galvatron with a lowered head- he snaps at Galvatron in passing, and then thunders forward, attempting to bear down on Boomslang next, clawing and biting! And, let's face it. It's Grimlock, so if he happens to step on a tape deck, or send a bit of debris that way, that's a bonus!

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; strikes Galvatron with his Dino Rampage Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; misses Boomslang with his Dino Rampage Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; misses Tape Deck&lt;Soundwave&gt; with his Dino Rampage Area attack! [Pulled -4]

Well, at least everyone wasn't targeting him solely, anymore. Why they did so in the first place, Grapple had no idea. Perhaps he should consider a less bright paint color. Regardless, he now has a single point of focus on; namely, Grimlock's sword being wielded by Tremor and aiming in his direction. Thankfully, there's no real need to dodge, not with the particularly impressive faceplant the Decepticon performs; still, everything else is momentarily ignored with the general idea of surviving. At least, there's a bit of luck on his side! Still wincing in pain from the earlier hits, he aims his guns at Tremor once again.

Combat: Grapple strikes Tremor with his Laser attack!

Jetfire watchs Boomslang break off to engage Grimlock, even as he's ducking under the barrage from Fusillade's guns... having asteroid mineral shot at him is a bit more unexpected as some of the grit manages to get between the joints of his armor. "No wonder you guys had to steal our weapons, if that's the best you've got to offer as an attack," he retorts, darting sideways a bit and then leaping off the ground to transform. By sheer timing and luck alone missing the sonic blast as he's abruptly moving both acceptionally fast and at a different tangent that tne soundwaves.

The jetfighter rockets into the air, loops over and comes down again ... And Fusillade is going to be even less happy when he, not only splits his attention, but skips over the femme to lock onto Fragment instead, and a heatseeking missile is sent screaming towards the Seeker. "If you want our weapons so badly... here, have some of this!" Jetfire transforms into his Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; mode.

Combat: Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; strikes Fragment with his Heat-Seeking Missiles attack!

Patchwork heard the call over the radio, and when she heard what was going on, Patchwork was quick on her way. She likely won't be of much use, other than dragging bots off of the field, but that hasn't registered with the medic quite yet. It's not the most elegant of entrances, but the femme makes it in one piece, which is a start. And what a sight she arrives to, which seems to stun her for a brief moment after she comes to a stop, staring.

Redfield's reaction is more then a little unsatisfying and Rodimus frowns. But then Galvatron encourages him... Galvatron encourages him, so it must be right! Rodimus moves in, before he's thrown to the ground by Kup.

"You'll pay for that, old man," Rodimus snarls up at Kup. He pushes himself to his feet. "This /is/ me! This is more me than I've ever been before! He might just be a boy, but if he doesn't start fighting back now, he's going to be a dead boy!" And then he smirks a horrible grin. "And even if he does."

For some reason, Rodimus doesn't move to strike - in fact, he seems to be trying to hold Kup's attention. The reason becomes obvious when Roller comes zooming from behind the veteran, firing his targeting laser at the elder!

The bright yellow crane shifts and changes form in to a big.. Yellow and blue Autobot! Yay, yellow!

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Kup with Evil Roller's Spotting Laser attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Spotting Laser": A Level 2 RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 6 damage.

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

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Kup!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Eh, don't worry about me. Get your head in the game before you lose it, Redfield!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire mutters. "Com'n, take the bait, take the bait...."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "I can't...I just can't! I can't fight Rodimus!...but...he...I don't want him to hurt you, Kup!"

Fragment turns and runs from the incomming heat seeking missile... which has a lock on his hot aft. "Wuh-oh!" He veers left. It follows and gains ground. He veers right, it keeps lock and gains. Fragment dives as a last ditch effort to shake the missile... and it nails him. He is pummeled into an explosive crater by the impact detonation in the green grounds of the Mall! "Uhhhg." He rolls over and draws Blurrs weapon once more. Nowhere to take cover in the small scortched hole in the earth, Fragment tracks the flight path of Jetfire. "The slower you are, the better I like it."

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Fragment misses Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; with Blurr's Electro-Laser's Electro-Laser attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Y'know what they say. Y'always hurt the ones you love. So hurt Rodimus Prime /real good/. The sooner he's down, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire, calmly, "Jayson, -none- of us want to hurt Rodimus... but he's clearly not in the right processors right now, and the only way we're going to be able to correct whatever they've done is subdue him first."

Tremor has just enough time to get to his feet, swearing fit to beat old' Kup, when he is shot in the side. He stumbles, barely vertical, and drops the energo-sword. "Aahhffff-" he scrabbles to pick up the weapon only to space it again as he finds his footing and turns back toward Grapple. "I love an Autobot that fights dirty!" He pounds his palm with one huge fist and then hurls himself forward with both arms raised.

Galvatron steps away from Grimlock as Boomslang gives his warning. While Grimlock gets fired at, Galvatron watches Rodimus to make sure his conversion to the dark side was going well. This distracts him enough that Grimlock manages to seize him by an arm with his jaws. "AGGHHH! Release me, damn you!" He furiously pounds away at Grimlock's neck and chest to try and get him to let go. "Damn you, Autobots! Rodimus, blast this thing off of me!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Hurt him only enough to get him down, and...and then I can take him away, and I'll make him better, I promise. OKay?"

Combat: Tremor strikes Rodimus Prime with his Tectonic Shock Area attack!

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

Combat: Tremor strikes Grapple with his Tectonic Shock Area attack!

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

Combat: Tremor strikes Kup with his Tectonic Shock Area attack!

Combat: Tremor (Tremor) used "Tectonic Shock": A Level 2 AREA-MELEE attack.

Combat: You took 6 damage.

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

Combat: Tremor misses Patchwork with his Tectonic Shock Area attack!

Combat: Galvatron misses Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Bare Hands attack! [Pulled -4]

Irresistable. As soon as Jetfire flashes his wings and thrusters, Fusillade is on his tail like white on rice. The Decepticon transforms, and ignites her own thrust-vectoring afterburners to tear off through the air after him. Condensation clouds puff out from her bomber mode's cockpit and waist as she cracks the speed of sound. Shouting and cursing after him, she wrestles with gravity and soon gains enough altitude to turn this tit-for-tat into a full on grudge match. She escalates. Exponentially. A cruise missile drops out of her main weapons bay, activates its own wings and engine, and soars and jinks after the heat signature of the superfighter.

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 Fearless.

Combat: Fusillade uses up a charge on her Torn Page from Nightbeat's Detective Manual booster pack!

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; with her GBU-27 attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Who needs fixing right now? Or should I just start...finding something else useful to do?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire, melodramatically. "Well slag, there go some of my weapons. I guess they finally got their act together."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Rodimus Prime needs his fragging /head/ fixed, but don't worry, I'll box his circuits until he gets back to thinkin' straight."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grapple says, "..Oh, dear. I.. I believe I should try to back out of this fight. I'm injured to what is likely not a good point."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire then back to the fight at hand, "Grapple could probably use some support Patchwork."

Tape Deck&lt;Soundwave&gt; shifts his weight and slides out of the way of Grimlock's leap, narrowly avoiding his gaping maw, then transforms. Flustered by Grimlock's exposure of his well-thought-out hiding place, he loads a missile into the launcher, draws a bead on the back of Grimlock. "Grimlock inferior. Anything else superior!" he says with as much of an air of frustration as he is capable of, pulling the trigger.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "I'll come help when I can, Kup...I'm coming, Grapple! Hold on!"

The small blue and silver cassette recorder unfolds and expands, transforming into the Decepticon Soundwave.

Combat: Soundwave strikes Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Missile Launcher attack!

Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; makes a "Hnh?" sort of sound as Boomslang so mysteriously dissapears! He grunts, and halts in his tracks- even dropping Galvatron's arm for a moment- which apparently is enough to make the purple commander's punches fly wide! "Hnh. Me Grimlock hate when thems do that." he grumbles. "But me Grimlock LOVE doing this!" and that said, he turns back down towards Galvatron, raising a clawed foot in an attempt to *STOMP!* down on Galvatron's head! And then...an idea strikes Grimlock, and he turns to bellow over at Rodimus. "HEY! HEY YOU RODIMUS!" he snarls, "How come you take order from this guy? Him WEAK, see!" *Kastomp!* Soundwave's missile strikes Grimlock in the side, but that's not about to slow him down!

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; misses Galvatron with his Dino Crush attack! [Pulled -3]

From Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield blinks, sending a fresh wave of tears down his cheeks. He seems frozen for a moment longer, but as he sees Rodimus attack Kup, he is finally spurred into motion. "Forgive me, Rodimus!" He urges the Pegasus forward, throwing a metal fist at Prime's cheek.

Combat: Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; strikes Rodimus Prime with its Punch attack!

As Tremor's attack blasts just in front of her, Patchwork snaps out of her shocked reverie, and she quickly turns around, dashing towards Grapple. "I'm coming!" calls the glitter throwing femme as she dashes towards him, digging out a few items for an emergency repair as she crosses the relatively short distance. Trying to insert herself between Grapple and Tremor, as best she can, Patches hunches her shoulders to try and hide the other bot while she hastily makes a few emergency fixes.

Combat: Patchwork quickly patches up some of Grapple's minor injuries.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; starts to stand back up as various systems begin to come back online. Fortunately for the pilot the suit is lost in the fight long enough to fully recover. Sam pushes forward out of the trees to get some cover -behind- him since the shots seem to be coming from everywhere. Grimacing, he looks across the field at the carnage, then raises the laser on his suit's arm, directly at Soundwave. He charges the weapon as much as possible, then drops to one knee to steady his aim.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; sets its defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Soundwave with its Medium Laser attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sam says, "Back online. Status?"

Grapple gets out a single incredulous sigh. "Oh --" and then Tremor knocks in to the ground. The force of it sends him smacking in to the ground a short distance away from where he was standing a moment ago and his HUD flaring a good deal of warnings. Oh, those red lights probably aren't a good thing, are they? He attempts to stagger back upright.. And, oh, hey, look, there's Patchwork! "Oh.. Oh, good.. But there's still quite a battle going on." Though, he seems a little too shaky from getting beaten about so much.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Sam...are you okay?"

Kup sputters angrily, "Not you, too, Roller!?" as the scout car lights him up with a targeting laser that burns off the topcoat of his paint where the beam focuses. Shrugging off the burn, the Constructicon-wannabe then makes the earth shake, rattle, and roll under Kup's feet, tearing up one of Kup's ankles. Limping just a little, he tries to snatch back his musket, barking, "The only one paying is gonna be you, and I'll take it out of your hide if I have to!"

So why do they send Kup off on diplomatic missions, anyway? He's about the exact opposite of tactful.

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

Combat: Kup misses Rodimus Prime with his I want my musket back slaggit! attack! [Pulled -2]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sam says, "Yes. Attacker has system destabilizer, temporary effect."

Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; scores a direct hit, while keeping a rearward sensor on Fusillade pulling in behind him even as he tilts to the side and banks away from Fragment's return fire with Blurr's stolen gun. The last thing Jetfire wants right now is to loose any of his valuable mobility. A small port in the rear opens up and spews out a cloud of chaff, disrupting the targetting on Fusillade's missile and sending it veering away.

Several warning lights flash on the cockpit controls as 'holes' appear in his weapon systems. "Well, slag. It looks like the thieves finally got up to date," he growls dramatically.

Finishing his banking turn, the spacefighter comes flying back towards Fusillade. "Aw, are you upset that I'm not sharing with you, hon?" The 'hon' is rumbled out almost sarcasticly. ".. And it looks like your friends finally got to pilfering my stuff! Well, damn." In a final burst of speed he closes in, and abruptly erupts back up into robot mode, and attempts to slam his foot down on the fighter jet's chassis before the femme-con realizes what's coming.

Veritech Spacefighter &lt;Jetfire&gt; transforms into his Jetfire mode.

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Aggressive.

The Spectral Seeker displaces from the melee as quickly as he can, bounding in long jet-assisted strides up the Capitol Mall. Boomslang springs onto the roof of the Capitol Building and climbs the dome to get a better angle on Jetfire. Stowing Prowl's acid gun, Boomslang unpacks his coil driver from its hardpoint and sets it up on the golden dome, dialling in Jetfire's range with his Evil Eye. "What you can't see, you can't dodge," he reassures himself, Jetfire's continued flaunting of the best the Decepticons have to offer becoming something of a sticking point.

Combat: Boomslang analyzes Jetfire for weaknesses.

Combat: Jetfire strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Literal Flying Kick (Kick) attack!

Rodimus Prime snorts as Galvatron calls for his help. "Galvatron, if you can't deal with /Grimlock/ by yourself, you don't deserve to be leader, anyway." And then he stumbles as the ground beneath him starts to shake. "Hey, WATCH IT, you!" he shouts at the construction vehicle.

He's still recovering his balance when Jayson punches him in the leg. The move that doesn't so much as chip the paint, and he smirks. "Was that supposed to hurt?" he asks arrogantly. Then he grins. "Well, at least you're /finally/ showing some spirit!" He kneels and makes a grab for Jayson, a move that brings him and Kup's rifle out of the way of Kup. "You're feeling grabby, huh, Kup? Well, catch this!" he shouts, throwing the exo-suit (or a piece of ground shaken up by Tremor) with all his force at Kup.

Meanwhile, Roller comes around for another attack, but he hesitates when he sees Jayson under attack. Getting revenge on the Autobots who left him in subspace is one thing, but no one said anything about humans...

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; with his Thrown Exo-Suit With Creamy Jayson Center Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Kup with his Thrown Exo-Suit With Creamy Jayson Center Area attack! [Pulled -2]

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Buzzsaw": A Level 4 AREA-MELEE attack.

Galvatron is dropped to the ground by Grimlock, and his optics widen as the big Dinobot drops down towards his face. "Hnnngh!" he gasps out as he catches the boot just before it impacts. "Nnnnghhh... Rodimus... I... ORDER... you... to... SHOOT him!" he snarls as he strains against not only Grimlock's strength, but his considerable weight. "I am YOUR LEADER! I call the shots!... Hnnnghh... and you'll obey me... OR BE DESTROYED!" While Galvatron isn't in a great position to counterattack Grimlock, the strain placed on both combatants' servos from this test of strength. "I'll get him off anyway, Rodimus!... Hnnngh... just you wait! And then you'll be SORRY!"

Tremor cackles as the ground crack beneath him. A shock shudders out from the crater he now finds himself standing in, opening great stony tears in some places into which several vehicles, small structures, and unfortunate people tumble. It's a solid hit, and it leaves his fuel pump hammering and his visor burning with vicious glee. "That's the way you do it!" He stands up, momentarily disoriented from the expenditure of power, and gives Patchwork time to attend to Grapple. But he isn't dizzy for long, and when he regains himself he finds yet ANOTHER interloper horning in on his fight. With a growl, he draws Grimlock's sword and slashes at the medic. "Outta the way!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "DAMN I suck...WHOA!"

Combat: Tremor strikes Patchwork with Grimlock's Energo Sword's Energo Sword attack! [Pulled -1]

Fragment narrows his optics as the flying Autobot out manuevers the beam of the stolen weapon a second time. The thing is supposed to be super-useful the way it is designed, but so far in his hands it doesn't seem to work out as well as it did in its original owners faster hands. "I will master you or to Charr be damned." Moving from the blackened torn up earth spot, Fragment rushes to the side of the long field behind some trees, all the while firing space rocks up after Jetfire as he transforms for cover fire on the move.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Colonel Nate Briar clicks on his radio. "Jayson, get off your private chat channel! You shouldn't be talking about your personal life!"

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Galvatron strikes Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Test Your Might Hit the A button! (Smash) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "H-holy crap...Nate, is that you?!"

Combat: Fragment misses Jetfire with his Gravel Gun (Pistol) attack!

Fusion creeps around the trees to look for Sam's fallen Exo-Suit. Unfortunately, by taking his sweet time Fusion has allowed the EDC member to recover and then depart the trees, leaving Fusion to keep walking around until he circles the entire grouping of flora and emerges back where he started. Just in time to watch the Exo-Suit open fire. "Hm," Fusion muses, tracing the path of the shot and then gazing across the massive battle unfolding. "I suppose I'd better keep using these where they'll do the most good." Patting the cannons affectionately, he lifts into the air and then transforms into his aircraft mode, engines blazing as he streaks back towards the greater fight. Heat rays spew out towards Grapple as he goes.

Fusion transforms into jet mode.

Combat: Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt; strikes Grapple with his Thermal Beam attack!

Fifi loved blowing up. However, as the nimble Air Guardian makes no less than eight evasive maneuvers, its fuel very quickly redlined. The missile's microprocessor essentially says 'Eff this noise' at the prospect of trying to hit Jetfire, and futzes off to go fly through his chaff cloud and detonate in a duck pond. With a mortified groan, Fusillade pulls up hard, repositioning herself to gamely attempt a stand-off firing against Jetfire. Her rotary launchers ratchet inside her, settling on some munitions too dumb to get their feelings hurt. And then...

CLONG!

With a squawk, Fusillade plunges downward several hundred feet from the impact, several sections of her airframe creaking in protest at the abuse. "GAH! Not in THIS mode, you freak!" Fusillade throttles up her thrusters to accelerate out from underneath Jetfire. Things are starting to get ugly. She points her nose in the air and throws her rack in his face.

The bomber jettisons her entire front weapons container, and its payload of bombs, slinging them in what will hopefully be in his direction.

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

Seeing that Galvatron has Grimlock well in hand, he turns to Kup, who has seen worse days, but not bad enough in Soundwave's opinion. Leaping from the wing of the aircraft, he drops with both feet flying toward the grizzled old Autobot.

Combat: Soundwave strikes Kup with his Smackdown attack!

Combat: Soundwave (Soundwave) used "Smackdown": A Level 5 MELEE attack.

Combat: You took 9 damage.

Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; is grabbed and thrown, but it sails right past Kup and goes skidding along the ground for a few seconds, leaving a trail of metal shards in its wake. Jayson gives a small groan before getting the armor back on its feet. He takes a deep, shaky breath, ignoring the tears that continue to fall. At this point, he is severely doubting his abilities as a fighter, and once again reluctance to do battle with Rodimus overwhelms him. But something inside his head tells him to attack again. A blade extends from the wrist of the Pegasus, and it rushes forward again, it's thrusters giving it a boost into the air so that it can plunge the blade into Prime's chest.

Combat: Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; sets its defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; misses Rodimus Prime with its Arm Blade attack!

"Oof!" And Grimlock is thrown off balance! He crashes into a nearby sidewalk, leaving a large crater of concrete! But he's soon pushing out of this crater- and he transforms to his robot mode- and now he's got his double barreled blaster in one hand, and his Galaxial Rocket launcher in the other! "Hn! Me Grimlock still have these!" he says- perhaps a bit surprised at the fact- but he's firing the blaster on full automatic, scything fire at Galvatron...and Tremor, too! "HEY! GIVE ME GRIMLOCK SWORD BACK!" he yells from across the battlefield. "OR ELSE ME GRIMLOCK RIP YOU LEGS OFF!"

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

Combat: Grimlock misses Galvatron with his Laser Barrage Area attack!

Combat: Grimlock strikes Tremor with his Laser Barrage Area attack!

Patchwork flashes Grapple a grin as she finishes patching him up. "No worries...now go get out of the way-ugh!" Her grin turns to a grimace as she arches her back, Grimlock's sword cutting deep through her armour. She's slow to turn around, but manages it eventually, glaring up at the Con as best she can. "Go away." Because that ultimatum has always worked before, right? Pushing to her feet a bit unsteadily, Patchwork trades her repair items for her blaster...but instead of firing at Tremor, she's shifted, and turned to

Patchwork flashes Grapple a grin as she finishes patching him up. "No worries...now go get out of the way-ugh!" Her grin turns to a grimace as she arches her back, Grimlock's sword cutting deep through her armour. She's slow to turn around, but manages it eventually, glaring up at the Con as best she can. "Go away." Because that ultimatum has always worked before, right? Pushing to her feet a bit unsteadily, Patchwork trades her repair items for her blaster...but instead of firing at Tremor, she's shifted, and turned towards Rodimus Prime. "Stop being a meaniepants, Rodimus...or I swear I will paint a rainbow on you AND glitterize it...!"

Combat: Patchwork misses Rodimus Prime with her Pistol attack!

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; is completely ignored after shooting Soundwave. The pilot seems like he is by no means concerned about this lack of attention, and rushes forward a few dozen yards only to drop to a knee and take aim against the Decepticon Communicator again. Before taking the shot, he looks around again, a little exposed but trying to maintain some sort of situational awareness.

Grapple is hastily being patched up by, well, Patchwork, when Tremor runs in with the sword raised. He yelps and tries to rush up to help the medic -- and is promptly blindsided by heat rays. Now, he seriously was considering not being bright yellow-orange on a battlefield. At least Patchwork's quick work helped him get to a slightly better position than he had been before; he's not as shaky as before, now, but his would-be-savior is likely in more danger than he is. So, instead of firing on Fusion, he blasts at Tremor!

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Soundwave with its Medium Laser attack!

Combat: Grapple strikes Tremor with his Laser attack!

Kup ducks under the thrown exo-suit, knees loose and limber for all that his ankle still feels like it wants to give out on him. That's just too bad, really; the ankle can just suck it up as far as Kup's concerned. This fight is really getting to Kup, though. Where did he go wrong? Where did he fail? If he'd make it back sooner from that blasted diplomatic mission, could he have talked some sense into Rodimus Prime and prevented him from going to Charr alone? Would this never have happened? And Redfield's just plain getting murdered for his hero worship. Grapple's in a bad way, Kup hears. Roller's gone bonkers. Jetfire's gal-pal is being him trouble, and all that's not even the half of it! D.C.'s never going to be same, that's for sure.

Kup's turning all this over in his head when Soundwave gets the drop on him, literally. Irate, the old man squawks, "Soundwave! I don't got time to worry 'bout the likes of your scum, but I guess I can make a special exception, just for you." From the ground, where he was knocked down, Kup tries to boot the hard surface of his good heel into Soundwave's kneecap.

Combat: Kup strikes Soundwave with his You didn't need that robot-patella did you? attack! [Pulled -1]

Jetfire smirks behind his helmet as his foot makes solid contact, and uses the opposing forces of impact to push himself off while giving Fusillade a little extra shove towards the ground. Though knowing how well of an aerial fighter she was, that maenuver likely wasn't actually going to ground her like it would a lesser Seeker. The diving leap throws him to the ground while he's recovering, hitting it in a tuck and roll maneuver as more space rocks chew up the ground around him.

Unfortunately its just as he comes out of the tumble that the femme unleashes her payload, at just the right timing between maneuvers before he can leap out of the way again. Smoke and sparks fly as the bombs pummel the pavement of the Mall around him, knocking the Air Guardian backwards out of the blast. Jetfire stumbles a bit and falls to a knee, the servo-joints sparking as it smashes the ground harder than he would of liked due to having to try and support his weight. Of the two Decepticons fighting him, Fusillade is by far the bigger threat, he knows. Jetfire and Fusillade go quite a ways back... But he can't leave the other out, either. "And here I am, without most of my weapons now, whatever will I do... Oh, that's right. Improvise!"

The 'antennae' on the sides of his helmet abruptly flip foward to reveal themselves to be guns, strafing several energy blasts first after Fusillade. And then all it takes is a literal turn of his head to fire several at Fragment as well.

Combat: Jetfire misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Head-mounted Vulcan Blasters Area attack!

Combat: Jetfire strikes Fragment with his Head-mounted Vulcan Blasters Area attack!

"/Busy/, Galvatron!" Rodimus snarls as dances out of the way of Jayson's knife strike and then ducks beneath Patchwork's pistol. He brings Kup's musket around to fire down at the human again, trying to get the little bug out of his way. Sheesh, when did Galvatron go from the best boss over to evil step mom? He even takes a moment before firing a glop of acid right towards Redfield...

...One that hits Roller instead as the little car that could interposes himself between Rodimus and the human. The acid splashes all over the little guy, devouring his armor, causing sparks to fly and crackle as particularly important processor housings are eaten through. The stench of melted electronics is wretched to anyone nearby.

Rodimus's optics open wide in shock as he sees what he's done. "Roller!!" he shouts, voice now pained. Jayson's entreaties, Kup's swearing, Patchwork's glitter-threats, none of these seemed to do anything, but now... now the Prime is wavering.

"... Roller?"

Boomslang analyzes Jetfire's armor type through his enhanced vision. A depleted uranium core should do the trick. Selecting one from his supply with sure fingers, Boomslang fits the iron-jacketed sabot round into his mass driver's chamber and works the bolt. The high-pitched whine of capacitors builds, the red bar in his HUD gradually rising from 0% to 100%. The bar goes green. Boomslang chases Jetfire's fast-moving torso with his reticle, trying to get him settled in the sights. He mouths a prayer to the Creator, who gave him his hands, that he might shape the world, and his deadly will, that he might use those hands for what they're best suited, and pulls the trigger. Gold sheeting peels off the Capitol Dome in the backblast as the half-molten slug blasts downrange.

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Evil Roller with his Photon Eliminator attack!

Combat: Evil Roller falls to the ground, unconscious.

Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air!

Combat: Sneak Attack!!

Combat: Boomslang strikes Jetfire with his The Will to Kill attack!

Combat: Jetfire falls to the ground, unconscious.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "...that tears it."


 * spang*

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.

Fusillade SCOWLS.

Fusillade slowly glances over toward the Seeker.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "Rodimus..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grapple says, "..Oh, dear."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grapple says, "This is not going well at all."

Boomslang ejects the crackling shell casing and gives Fusillade an exaggerated shrug from the top of the Capitol Dome.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Grimlock says, "THEN FIGHT HARDER."

Galvatron manages to force Grimlock off, but it isn't long before the Dinobot follows up by trying to shoot him. He rolls across the ground to avoid the stream of lasers, which tear apart the concrete walkway he had lying on. "Hunf... curse you... very well, then. One for you, Grimlock--" He fires a blast from his cannon at the Dinobot, then... directs his aim towards Rodimus!(?) "AND ONE FOR YOU, FOR DARING TO DISOBEY ME!" BZOOOWWWWW!

After he fires, he notices Rodimus just standing there, watching what Rodimus did to Roller. "Don't just stand there, you fool! Roller was weak anyway, we don't need him! Press the attack... unless you want ANOTHER SAMPLE OF MY IRE!"

This is easily the most entertaining fight Tremor has had in a while...and now Grimlock is involved. "Yeah, right," he says to Patchwork, "Sure thing, darlin." He steps toward Grimlock, setting up to intercept this paragon of fighters. "Ya beat me good last time," he begins, "this time I got yer number!" He rushes forward then, sword at the ready. He takes a mighty swing, but Grimlock catches him with a shot to the shoulder. he staggers, and then Grapple comes back to haunt him. He falls, hit in the head yet again, transforming to try and keep from faceplanting this time. Damaged as he is and fuming, he tries to regain himself and run Grimlock over, ignoring Grapple in favor of a stronger opponent, as is his way.

Tremor retracts his fists, falling forward as he slams his arms together to form his roller. His legs retract, flipping upward. With a declining sequence of five 8hz pulses, Tremor transforms into a soil compactor!

Combat: Galvatron strikes Grimlock with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! [Pulled -9]

Combat: Galvatron misses Rodimus Prime with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! [Pulled -9]

Combat: Steamroller &lt;Tremor&gt; strikes Grimlock with his Flatten attack! [Pulled -2]

Soundwave reels backward at the double assault from Kup and Sam. "Useless flesh creature. Your interference has brought your own destructionnnn!" Soundwave says, his last word becoming a sonic barrage upon them both.

Combat: Soundwave strikes Kup with his Sonics Area attack!

Combat: Soundwave (Soundwave) used "Sonics": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 7 damage.

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

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

Combat: Soundwave strikes Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; with his Sonics Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;'s Accuracy. (Blinded)

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;'s Agility. (Crippled)

Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt; transforms after flying over Grapple and Patchwork. He gives Tremor a quick glance and then looks back towards the two Autobots again. "Don't worry, I'll handle these two," he suggests after the fact. Then he adjusts the cannons set on his shoulder and looks between the pair again. "All right, who's - excuse me a moment while I reroute some energon pathways...ah, yes there. Thanks. - Who's first?"

Fusion transforms into robot mode.

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

Fragment crouches once he reaches the thin treeline on the well manicured grounds of the Smithsonian Mall. He rises to peek over the lush greenery. A mistake. Jetfire's antenae blast socres him right in the faceplate! The mouth guard burns and smokes and he transforms it away, huffing at the heat and smoke churning from his mouth and nose. He drops down once more. And lo, what does he find at his feet? That pathetic little source of human nutrition, the hotdog cart. And in the gaping open side door compatment of it a propane tank. Fragment rips it out, a faint hiss coming from the nozzle as the inner valve is damaged, and he rises, ready to hurl it up and over at Jetfire. "Improvise this!.... what?" Boomslang sneaks in for a lethal blast and the giant is taken down. The little tank still hissing, Fragment frowns and looks for a new target quickly now as the potentcy of the makeshift grenade deminishes... Ah, the old time Autobot war veteran, Kup taking on the monotonous Soundwave. This may help the uncharismatic bore out. The propane tank is hurled...

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Fusillade bristles indignantly as Boomslang takes all the fun out of the evening. "Kill thief!!!" she hisses at him after sending a barrage of curses his way. She stomps over to Jetfire's limp form, and with a sulk, gives him a sharp kick to torso. Puckering hematite lips in a moue, she glances left, glance right, and YOINKS off his helmet, tucking it under one arm as she continues to grumpily walk toward some of the rubble. Canting her head to the side as a flash of orange-yellow and blue catches her optics, her demeanor seems to cheer up quite a bit as she spies Grapple. "Hey. How you doin'?"

Combat: Fusillade takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

Combat: Fragment misses Kup with his Propane Tank Grenade (Laser) attack!

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

From Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;, Sam winces as the sonic attack starts shaking his suit apart. Controls and sensors start to come apart in their housings, and a large crack appears on the suit's visor. Standing back up, Sam tries to guide his suit back toward some cover, but the gyroscopes keeping the armor stable have been knocked off kilter and he ends up making some vague lurches in the direction of the trees. This doesn't stop him from giving himself some covering fire back at Soundwave, engaging the suit's pulse laser.

Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; whips around after missing, preparing to slash at Rodimus, but then Jayson haults in his would-be attack, watching as Roller takes a hit meant for him, and Rodimus reacts to it. Breathing heavily, and still sobbing in silence, he slowly lowers the arm with the wrist blade, and, actually against what may be better judgement, he begins to approach Rodimus, raising his armor's other, currently unarmed hand toward him as the battle continues to surround him. "Prime?"

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Soundwave with its Pulse Laser (Disruptor) attack!

As fate would have it, trying to gun down the two other Decepticons with his helmet vulcans has turned Jetfire's back towards the Capital building. Leaving a opening just primed for Boomslang to take his shot, a shot that registers on Jetfire's attention much too late to put his evasiveness to use. In almost slow motion he turns partway and then keels violently to the side as the shot rips into his upper shoulder and back. "Yaaagh!" The air guardian staggers, one hand going up to grab the wound, but it's torn into something extra sensative, having ripped through right where his booster pack connects to his framework, and thus the armor is thinner thanks to having to allow for fuel and control lines in his vehicle mode. With a grunt he looks in the direction of the building and the Seeker perched on it.

"Nice shot .... Too late, but nice shot."

What's -that- all about? Who knows. Could even be delerious babble from the damage. No one's going to get an answer out of Jetfire, because that's when the damage finally takes toll in its entirely and his systems forcably shut down to prevent farther damage from excersion, and Jetfire crumbles over onto the ground with an emotionally deafening thud.

Thanks to his battle helmet, no one can see the smirk on his face as he's gone off-line though....

Grimlock again is sent reeling to the ground from Galvatron's might! Just long enough for him to be steamrolled- literally! Grey armor (well, black in places, from the scorch marks) dents...and this just makes Grimlock mad. "RAAARGH! WHERE AM ME GRIMLOCK SWORD?!" he demands of the steamroller- sure, logically, he should be beating on Galvatron- but Tremor has the misfortune to be within arm's reach. "GIVE BACK! NOW!" and with that, Grimlock attempts to sink his fingers into whatever part of the steamroller he can grab, and, shifting to a standing position, he attempts to hammer Tremor into the ground over and over and over again, like the world's largest and most destructive child testing the durability of a tonka truck. "RARHGH!"

Combat: Grimlock strikes Steamroller &lt;Tremor&gt; with his Dino Crush attack! [Pulled -2]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire manages a vage chuckling before going off-line.

Kup's face and hands twitch as Roller is put down a whole lot more brutally than Old Yeller. Rodimus Prime was going to do /that/ to Jayson Redfield, one of the men of the EDC, the defenders of Earth who gladly put their lives on the line against the Decepticons. Kup might not always see eye to eye with them, but he's got some grudging respect, when they man up and ain't being a bunch of sissies. Then Jetfire falls to a sniper on the Capitol Dome roof. Soundwave's unholy racket hammers his audios until Kup can barely hear himself think. A propane tank goes flying past Kup as he sprints towards Rodimus Prime. He reaches for the musket, but this time, he just tries to wrestle the barrel up and place the flared bore right between his own optics. Hoarse, he demands, "Go on, Rodimus Prime. Do it, if you're really a Decepticon."

Because if Rodimus Prime really was going to murder Jayson Redfield, he's not the boy Kup raised at all, and that's just not something Kup can bear.

"Rodimus, do n't do it...please..." Patchwork doesn't fire again at the Prime, instead leaving Grapple and Grimlock to deal with the C ons near her, and moving towards the much larger Bot, lowering her pistol to her side as she looks from him to Kup to Jayson and back. "You're stronger than that meanie baby Galvatron...you -can't- let him win this way. You just -can't-!" she implores. From the front, she looks remarkably in tact, but from the back its another story entirely.

Fusillade cat-calls, "Give 'er five across the face, Roddo!"

Grapple jumps a little as Fusillade approaches. The architect does a full on double-take at the stolen helmet before looking around wildly to gauge the current stake of the fight. Nothing appears to be going well in their favor. So, he aims the guns he still somehow has and aims them at Fusillade.. But doesn't fire. Instead, he appears worried and trying to edge away. Confusion attack appears to have been extra effective.

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

Soundwave staggers backward, then withdraws behind a heap of rubble which seems to have that petina of something aged, rare, and impossible to replace. Whatever it was, it's gone now.

Steamroller &lt;Tremor&gt; is clearly getting cocky. He rams Grimlock, of all bots, reveling in the feel of that armor collapsing beneath his drum. But, as he's backing up to prepare for another attack, Grimlock does what he does best and shows Tremor the err of his ways. Tremor is heaved into the air and bashed unceremoniously into the dirt again and again. His knock-down gaurd bends and breaks to dangle like a lame limb. His tires spin meaninglessly. All he can do is transform and try to push himself away with both feet in the hopes of gaining some ground. but, if he's going to do that, he might as well try and push off of Grimlock's face! His lesson is unlearned just as quickly as Grimlock pounded it into him.

The big roller separates, fists sliding out to lift the front end of the compactor, legs flip down and extend, and the head slides up to reveal the smirking face of Tremor!

Combat: Tremor strikes Grimlock with his Bootface! (Kick) attack!

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

Boomslang vaults off the roof and onto the street in front of the Capitol, runs between the anti-carbomb bollards, and makes his way back towards the battle. "I got it, Soundwave. You work around the other side," he tells the spymaster, stowing his rifle and ejecting his combat knife into his hand as he closes in on Sam's exo-armor. "Come here, little meat-creature. I'll clean you like a fish."

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; with his Combat Knife attack!

Rodimus Prime is still in a daze over what happened to Roller. He doesn't respond to Galvatron, ignoring the blast that passes meer centimeters behind his back. He doesn't respond to Jayson. At first, he doesn't even do anything as Kup moves the weapon in his hand to his own forehead. As the Autobots and the EDC plead with him, he starts to work his mouth, optics still wide and staring. He starts to tremble, mouth still moving noiselessly, and then he shutters his optic covers over those bright red lenses, drops Kup's laser musket, throws his head back, and screams. Then he opens those red eyes again and looks down at his own chest in horror. Moving jerkily, his hands come up, and then he digs his fingertips deep into his chest on either side of the Decepticon faction symbol. He reaches deep, deeper than he would need to in order to pull off the armor, and then rips his chest panel off, leaving a gaping hole through which the empty Matrix can clearly be seen.

His fingers open and the chest panel clatters to the ground. A round, disc-shaped device can be seen clearly on the other side, one that might be familiar to Autobots who knew Wheeljack.

And then Roddimus Prime collapses to his knees.

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes himself with his Ripping Out His Own Chest attack!

Fusillade, still riled up from the aerial battle and getting ticked off by the other jet, looks positively delighted when Grapple raises the gun. However, when he stands there, struck dumb by her looming presence, she hmmphs to herself at the delay in response. "Phhht, don't wanna talk, fine! You can at least entertain me. DANCE!" she snaps out her sidearm again from her thigh compartment. The muzzle flashes magenta as several high-powered bolts are sent to his feet and legs.

Combat: Fusillade strikes Grapple with her Toe-Popping Cherrybomblets (Laser) attack!

Fragment eagerly awaits the sound of the tank exploding. Instead he hits nothing but air... and the tank hits the lawn... impotently draining of the combustable cold substance inside. On the ground an ant loses a leg but goes on in life to make the colony queen a happy matriarch. Fragment rises and stares in disappointment. Kup has moves. Maybe Fragment can rectify that problem with Blurr's weapon. He moves from the treeline and declares, "Take it easy, old one. Slow down or you'll have a fuel pump malfunction."

Combat: Fragment misses Kup with Blurr's Electro-Laser's Electro-Laser attack!

Combat: Fragment (Fragment) used "Electro-Laser": A Level 0 RANGED attack.

Fusion turns his cannons towards Patchwork. He's not shy about shooting another in the back, and for that matter he needs to use up the remaining shells he's carrying before the Decepticons win this battle, the war against the Autobots, and all fighting everywhere. Ahem. Well anyway, that and he's been dying to see what this one does. "This is for Science," he croons to Patchwork before unleashing the dreaded Shrapnel-Needle shells.

Combat: Fusion strikes Patchwork with Wheeljack's Shoulder-Mounted Cannons's Shrapnel-Needle Shell attack!

Galvatron stomps towards Rodimus Prime, glowering, Grimlock forgotten for the moment. "He's left himself vulnerable! Go on, shoot him! It'll be easy! Think of all the times he slapped you around for questioning him!" Galvatron imagines that Kup's mentoring was a lot worse than it probably really was. "All the times he sent you on pointless assignments just because he could! The chores! The hard labor! Well, this is your chance to pay him back, Rodimus Prime, and complete your transition to being a DECEPTICON! KILL HIM!" He waits a moment, his jaw falls open as Rodimus Prime rips out his Dominator Disc!

"NOOOOO!!!" Galvatron screams. "You can't... no! I was so close to final victory! Fine, I'll kill all of you MYSELF! Observe as I use YOUR weapon against you, PRIME!" And before Galvatron, there appears Rodimus Prime's trailer! Wait a minute... that's the Pepsi Convoy trailer! Galvatron looks down at it with a confused expression for a moment, but then hops aboard. "Ehm, right. DIE!" Galvatron looks a bit nonplussed as the cannons fire some sort of cola, but maybe they'll still prove effective?

Galvatron drops Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer.

Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer

=
[ TACS Object: Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer ]=============

This is a trailer of sorts, one designed to go over a rather non-standard, aerodynamic vehicle cab. Most of it (except for a short platform on the bottom) is open air, and sitting on the flat bed form, held in place with a clamp, is a giant Pepsi Max bottle, the opening and lid peeking over where the cab would be.

--

This is a weapon object, see '+help WeaponObject' for more info

--

Usage Restriction: FACTION             Can You Use It?: No

=
============[ TACS Weapon Object #9830 ]=========================

Combat: Galvatron strikes Patchwork with Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer's Dew Goo Area attack!

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

Combat: Galvatron strikes Grimlock with Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer's Dew Goo Area attack!

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

Combat: Galvatron strikes Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; with Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer's Dew Goo Area attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;'s Agility. (Crippled)

Combat: Galvatron strikes Kup with Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer's Dew Goo Area attack!

Combat: Galvatron (Galvatron) used "Dew Goo": A Level 2 AREA-RANGED attack.

Combat: You took 9 damage.

Combat: Galvatron's attack has damaged your Agility!

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

Combat: Galvatron misses Rodimus Prime with Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer's Dew Goo Area attack!

Jetfire is soooooo glad he's already unconcious and thus not a target... whatever the hell that is.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; keeps the arm cannon trained on Soundwave, but Sam is unable to snap off another shot before Big Blue ducks behind the rubble. The suit sensors are still trashed so he doesn't notice Boomslang walking up to shank him, taking the stab right in the 'kidney.' Energon gushes out of the secondary tank before the auto-sealer kicks in, and Sam quickly turns around. "No, Decepticon," he answers, jaw clenched. "Maybe will dismantle you, use for parts." He kicks off of the ground, using the flight engines to bring him up past Boomslang's face. The suit's foot swings out at the Seeker's torso, and Sam tries to use that as a launching point to get some distance from the Decepticon.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Boomslang with its Kick attack!

"Prime!" Jayson cries as Rodimus tears into his own chest, watching as the flaming mech falls to his knees. The Pegasus practically leaps to his side, where it kneels. "Prime..." And then, he is attacked...by some sort of soda. "What the hell?" He lifts his gaze from Rodimus to Galvatron, but doesn't move from the former's side. He aims the arm-gun at Galvatron, and fires a laser straight toward the Decepticon's optic. "Get lost, you creep!"

Combat: Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; misses Galvatron with its Laser attack!

Kup murmurs, "I knew it, lad," though just what Kup knew is left unclear. Shooting a wrathful glare at Galvatron, Kup sinks down on his knees next to Rodimus Prime, offering a shoulder to lean on, and he urges, "C'mon, let's get you back up, there's a lot of Autobots and humans out there right now who could use your he-heh!" He can't help but break down snickering when he sees just /which/ trailer Galvatron got. Serves him right, the dirty sneak. Then Galvatron covers Kup in... Mountain Dew? Uh? That's what Kup gets for laughing! And his joints feel all gummed up, too.

Grimlock would love to just hang around and beat the snot out of Tremor. Really. But, the burning hiss of acid on his armor snaps him out of his rage! Or, at least one sort of rage- for as Grimlock may indeed be the strongest...he's also loath to see strength abused by picking on hapless architects and medics! And so, Grimlock bellows once again, transforming to his mighty dinosaur mode! "Rargh!" Tremor gets a dismissive bat of his tail, and then Grimlock thunders to the rescue of Grapple and Patchwork! He barrels towards Fusillade and Fusion- his jaws snap down at the femme, and then, with a flick of his neck, he attempts to hurl her bodily at the scientific seeker! "Me Grimlock say leave thems alone!"

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

With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out.

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; strikes Tremor with his Dino Rampage Area attack! [Pulled -3]

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; misses Fusillade with his Dino Rampage Area attack! [Pulled -3]

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; strikes Fusion with his Dino Rampage Area attack! [Pulled -3]

Grapple is distracted, oddly, from the threat right in front of him by Rodimus's horrid wail. He turns his head to stare, openly gaping, as the Prime pulls something out of his own chassis. Even from the distance he's at, he can recognize the device. "..A dominator d --" And then there's someone firing at his feet. At his already damaged state, it's all he can do to jump back and try to avoid the shots. He snarls at Fusillade and, this time, fires.

Combat: Grapple misses Fusillade with his Laser attack!

Patchwork is struck in the back for a second time since arriving - she really should expect as much from her ' honourable' opponents. Stumbling, the medic doesn't stop her forward momentum, but it certainly slows...and nearly is forced to stop as she's hit a second time, by Galvatron. "Prime...Kup, you gotta get him out of here." she encourages over her shoulder as she comes around to send a quick shot off towards Galvatron.

Combat: Patchwork strikes Galvatron with her Pistol attack!

Patchwork is struck in the back for a second time since arriving - she really should expect as much from her ' honourable' opponents. Stumbling, the medic doesn't stop her forward momentum, but it certainly slows...and nearly is forced to stop as she's hit a second time, by Galvatron. "Prime...Kup, you gotta get him out of here." she encourages over her shoulder as she comes around to send a quick shot off towards Galvatron.

Combat: Patchwork strikes Galvatron with her Pistol attack!

Boomslang rocks backwards from the impact of the exo-armor kicking off of him, but he's on the job and that didn't hurt enough to put him off his quarry. He swings his left arm up, autocannon snapping out of the forearm, and fires a short burst of heavy machinegun bullets at the exo as he charges after it. "I seriously doubt THAT," he sneers at the human pilot's suggestion.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; with his Integral Autocannon attack! [Pulled -2]

Soundwave stays behind the rubble, covered from fire. He presses a few buttons on his wrist to recalibrate his energon flow.

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

Fusillade laughs nastily as the weaponsfire first makes Grapple do funny things and then damages him. With Jetfire's helmet still wedged under her arm, she gets several good laughs in at the mini-bot's expense. However, at the very close "ROARRRRRRRGH" and "THUNK" "THUNK" of approaching Dinobot feet, she turns briefly. Her saffron optics bulge in horror at the approaching maw of Grimlock, and with a shrill, girly shriek, she lunges foward, grabbing Grapple by his robo-collar, and STUFFING him in Grimlock's mouth. It's GRAPPLE that goes flying, and not Fusillade, toward Fusion. Promise.

Combat: Fusillade strikes Grapple with her Everlasting Gobstopper attack!

Combat: Grapple falls to the ground, unconscious.

Fusion is sent flying by an indeterminate impact. He tumbles through the air in a short arc, bouncing across the ground a few times with stolen shoulder cannons flying off in different trajectories. Finally he pulls himself up, though by this time it's way too late to see what actually hit him. Firing his foot-thrusters, he lifts into the air to survey the battlefield and sees Grimlock, one of the biggest targets still remaining. Shrugging internally, Fusion sends out a few mild energy bolts in his direction.

Combat: Fusion misses Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Disruptor attack!

Galvatron swivels the turret back down at Rodimus Prime. "Well... that's the LEAST of what this trailer can do!" he says, trying to sound confident atop this incredibly ridiculous, commercialized contraption. "Now watch as I direct this.. this... cola-flavored superacid?... at... you." He cringes. It's so hard to boast about your enemy's demise under circumanstances like this. He can't take this seriously no matter how hard he tries.

Just then, a bright flash appears in the sky, far overhead. Soon after, Galvatron hits the fire button on Rodimus's turret, and it EXPLODES IN HIS FACE! "AAGGHHHH!" Galvatron cries in frustration and alarm as he's forcibly ejected from the trailer by a fountain of acidic cola! "What... what is this!" As he lands on his back, he gets a chance to look up... and sees the explosion overhead! "What? No! The The Subspace Extraction Team! They... they've been destroyed!? Dammit... that's what Jetfire's invention must have been for! And now, somehow it has disabled our stolen weapons!"

Combat: Galvatron strikes himself with Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer's Maximum Refreshment attack!

Tremor plants both feet in Grimlock's face and pushes himself into a flip. He lands in a crouch, energon pounding through his fuel lines, and draws the Dinocommander's own weapon. "You want this so bad," he says, "how about I plant it in your face?" He starts a charge, but then suddenly there is Pepsi spraying everywhere. Tremor ducks, thinking that he is avoiding the jets of liquid, but he ends up crouching right into a swipe from Grimlock's tail. This dismissive bat sends him flying, dismissed right across the mall to land at the head of a furrow with his chassis sparking and leaking fluid. His stolen sword lies useless mere feet from his twitching hand.

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

"Stupid thing didn't work anyhow," Boomslang grumbles, and blows the explosive bolts on the hardpoint he had Prowl's acid rifle attached to. With a sharp clang it falls to the ground and skids across the street to come to rest on a grassy knoll.

Rodimus Prime looks uncertainly up at Kup with optics still crimson as the veteran tries to bring him back to the here and now. "Kup... Roller.. I k-k..." and then the area is splattered with soda-goo. Rodimus Prime is shielded by the elder by the corrosive stuff, but the attack at least manages to snap him out of it. He turns those red eyes towards Galvatron before narrowing them. "Galvatroooon," he growls out, voice horse. "GALVATRON!! I'LL KILL YOU!!" he screams, springing to his feet and charging towards the Decepticon Commander as Galvatron is blasted across the Mall by soda-acid. Fury twists the Prime's expression into a demonic countenance more fitting the symbol he just discarded than the one he naturally wears as he makes a grab for Galvatron's throat.

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Galvatron with his Bare Hands attack!

Fragment sneers first as he fails to hit anything with Blurrs gun, and then adds a little more liup curl as the Decepticon career of Rodimus Prime comes to an abrupt end. He tries to squeeze off another blast at the elderly warrior but nothing happens but a weak whine from the electro laser. He grunts in disgust. "Everything Autobot is useless and a distraction." He casts aside the blue weapon and unclamps his nunchakus from his sides and charges at Rodimus Primes personal cheerleader Kup.

Combat: Fragment sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Fragment misses Kup with his Nunchaku attack!

Combat: Fragment (Fragment) used "Nunchaku": A Level 4 MELEE attack.

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; moves do dodge out of the way, but catches part of the burst in the right arm. The suit's main cannon sparks as it takes damage, and Sam quickly has to reroute power to keep it from overloading. "Hrm," he grumbles to himself, then addresses Boomslang again. "Not your planet. Plan failed," he says, as the suit head tilts in the direction of the abandoned acid rifle. "Your time to go, now." He raises the damaged arm cannon and fires it quickly, standing his ground. It sparks some more.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; misses Boomslang with its Medium Laser attack!

Patchwork is a little surprised when her shot hits Galvatron, if the widening optics are any indication, before she's grinning as Rodimus Prime charges Galvatron, offering up a girly cheer as she watches. "Yay!" In her cheer, she fails to do anything useful, far too happy to do both.

Combat: Patchwork takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass]

&lt;Autobot&gt; Patchwork says, "Is everyone okay, still?"

Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; throws Grapple at Fusion by accident! It's something he realizes just moments after it actually happens. "Uh. Ooops. Sorry?" he ventures, and then glances at Patchwork. "...me Grimlock think you proly should fix that guy." he notes- even as Fusion's blasters *ping!* from his armor! Grimlock grunts- and then turns back towards the seeker- returning fire with eye lasers of his own! *zzow!*

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; strikes Fusion with his LAZOR (Laser) attack!

... Oops. It was only suppose to contain the device, not blow it up... But Jetfire didn't get a chance to actually -test- that. However, this is a suitable outcome to needing to field the experimental 'subspace boobytrap' earlier than expected.

If he was awake he'd probably have some sort of explaination, like the containment field crossed with the subspace extration of the microscope causing an energy backlash cascade that not only disabled the device but detonated whatever power supply it was attatched to for drawing that much power.... in the end, the results are the same and the setup worked out, and Jetfire had managed to fight long enough to keep the smarter Decepticons present busy before they could figure it out. But now they know what the 'Too Late' and passing out smirk was for; Jetfire just out-scienced them, xanatos gambit style.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Can't say I'm right as rain yet, lass, but I'm feeling a lot better now."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire is still unconcious. Or he'd explain what just happened overhead

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jayson Redfield says, "I...I'm fine...unless you count all the bruises I'm gonna have..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Rodimus Prime knows what happened because he can hear the Decepticon frequency. But he can't hear this one, so he can't explain it.

Kup gets to his feet, still moving slowly and stiffly due to the Mountain Dew gumming up his works. He smiles fondly and remarks proudly as Rodimus Prime expresses his desire to kill Galvatron, "Ah, that's my boy." Now that all is a bit more right in the world, Kup's optics narrow, he snatches up his musket where Rodimus Prime dropped it, and he hunts about for Soundwave, because he figures he owes the cassette master a belting and not the kind of belt found in a tape reel, either. Then the grey Decepticon ninja geologist or whatever the frak he's supposed to be whirls some nunchaku around at Kup, who yawns, says, "One moment, I'll be back for you," and proceeds to try to forcibly haul Soundwave out of the rubble.

Combat: Kup misses Soundwave with his Stand and Fight attack!

Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; gets to its feet quickly as Rodimus goes for Galvatron. "Get 'im, Prime!" he calls, then he brings up the arm-gun again, but with Rodimus so close to Galvatron he hesitates to fire, fearing that he'll miss and hit his Autobot ally.

Galvatron's optics go wide as Rodimus grabs him by the throat! It's an alarmingly strong grip--especially since Rodimus's rage is fueling it! He tries to force his arms off, but Rodimus nearly has a death grip on him. "Hnnngh... hrk... gurk..." For a moment, Galvatron thinks that he actually might be killed by his nemesis. Then... his sadistic side takes over, and he grins evilly. "Heheheh... heh... admit it... Rodimus... you... LIKED it... you... liked living without a conscience! And you almost got that... hrnnh... precious little human... heheh... he'd never have gotten in your way again... ha ha ha...."

"We've got plans WITHIN plans, meat," grates Boomslang through his teeth, wincing at the panic and destruction coming in over his radio. "We're not beat yet."

Damn that Jetfire! Boomslang didn't shoot him FAST ENOUGH. Boomslang hopes he doesn't get blamed for this somehow. Lunging forward to grab for the human suit, Boomslang tries to pin it to the wall of the Smithsonian Institute with his forearm.

Grapple gets, perhaps, a few brief seconds of flying through the air. Most people would, perhaps, use those moments to think about the situation or family. As the architect goes flying, he manages to think about the entire battle and how insane it had been. ..And then he sees Grimlock's mouth. He lets out a yell and a flail before he's not only chomped, but thrown. It takes that much for his systems to finally go, 'Slag it', and quit. Nightnight for the Grapple.

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

Combat: Boomslang misses Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; with his Forearm Pin (Punch) attack!

Fusion gets blasted out of the sky by the return fire. Tumbling and trailing smoke, he just manages to assume his jet mode again, then blasts up away from the ground. After gaining altitude, he wings over and then streaks back down at Grimlock, firing a long burst of thermal beams in a classic strafing run.

Fusion transforms into jet mode.

Combat: Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt; misses Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with his Thermal Beam attack!

Fragment silently marvels with incredulousness as Kup effortlessly evades by walking away and reaching for Soundwave. He transforms and rockets upwards for a higher vantage point, and deploys his Scorpion array Phase Cannon. "Turn your back on me..."

A rapid transformation brings about the peculiar grey spaceship before you now.

"Gah ha ha, that's AWESOME!" Fusillade points and laughs as Grimlock mauls Grapple. However, the situation, judging from the radio chatter, has taken a rather dire turn for the worst! Hunching shoulders, Fusillade surreptitiously crams Jetfire's helmet into her chest bays, and then takes to the air, transforming as she goes on her way to pound on the Dinobot commander's armor with what remains of her payload. Bombs away!

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 misses Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; with her Bombs attack!

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; misses Kup with his Phase Cannon attack!

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; (Fragment) used "Phase Cannon": A Level 5 RANGED attack.

Tremor struggles to his feet, leaving the sword where it lies. The only one on the field who can help him is currently engaged...he has no recourse but to try and distract Kup long enough to allow Soundwave to break free. He struggles to pull his pistol, aims with shaky hands, his left arm limp at his side. "Sounders..." he groans as he pulls the trigger.

Combat: Tremor misses Kup with his Laser attack!

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

Soundwave ducks a few stray shots that whizz over the edge of the rubble. Inspecting Tremor quickly, he immediately finds the sparking linkage that has cracked and come apart. Quickly, he switches hands to a welding tool, and patches him up.

Combat: Soundwave quickly patches up some of Tremor's minor injuries.

Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; glances up as Fusillade makes a bombing run at him- and, watching the explosive device plummet downward, he waits, knowing full well he's too slow to dodge it...only to suddenly grab it out of the air with his teeth! And, with a whip of his neck, he hurls THAT at Fusillade! (Though there's an extra moment where he makes sure it isn't an Autobot he's throwing). And as the bomb tumbles gracelessly through the air, Grimlock's jaws open again, and he spits out a gout of flame- detonating the bomb in midair, and perhaps catching a bomber in the ensuing makeshift flak!

Combat: Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Fire Breath attack!

Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; is too small and quick to get pinned so easily. Instead, Sam sidesteps, using the suit's jets to fly past Boomslang, skimming just a few feet off the ground. As he passes the Decepticon, he turns and snaps off a shot at the Con's back. "Can discuss, possible? More productive.."

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Boomslang with its Laser attack!

Patchwork leaves Rodimus to deal with Grimlock, seeing as she hasn't been much use in that department after the one hit. The femme switches out her pistol for her rifle, coming back around to face Tremor. "You don't look so brave now...!" she informs him...but when she sees Soundwave playing medic, the Bot medic hesitates, rifle wavering between the two before she finally squeezes off a shot at Tremor. She can't quite bring herself to attack another medic type.

Rodimus Prime is ready to kill the Decepticon Commander here and now, and his grip only tightens... until he processes what Galvatron just said. His (still red) optics widen and his mouth opens, his expression wavering. It's at this moment that his grip loosens, and while he doesn't let go entirely, it's easily enough that Galvatron can now break free!

"No... no..." he protests. "I didn- it was that... that thing!"

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

Laser to left of him, laser to the right, Decepticons aim like Stormtroopers. Kup just laughs and notes, "If you never learn to turn your back on a Decepticon, he'll just shoot ya in the face. Now I said I'd be back for you, didn't I?" He gives his musket a quick check-over and a pinch for luck before aiming it at Fragment. Oh, musket, how Kup has missed you! Fragment probably won't enjoy the reunion much, though.

Combat: Kup strikes Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; with his Acid Musket Laser attack! [Pulled -5]

Combat: Patchwork strikes Tremor with her Rifle attack!

"Don't listen to him, Rodimus!" Jayson calls. "You weren't yourself! Just kill him, now!" He keeps his arm-gun aimed at Galvatron, but still hesitates to shoot. It's clear that he does not blame the young Prime for what happened, though he is still hurting from what Rodimus previously said to him. He'll deal with that later now. "Kill that son of a bitch! Kill him for what he did to you! To your friends!"

"Maybe another time, vermin," Boomslang replies, cocking his head at a radio transmission. He slots his knife back into the spring-loaded socket in his wrist, crouches, and leaps into the air with a roar of jet exhaust.

With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet.

Just to idle note, Jetfire is still laying here unconcious with a massive hole blasted in his shoulder/back. And some grit in his knees thanks to that damn gravel gun. Just saying, feel free to finish fighting off the Decepticons first.

"WOW! That's some control there! The metal skin on that batch was kinda thin, Grimlock. Whoa, wait, WHAT? No I don't want it back!" the bomber chatters down at the Dinobot, and accelerates skyward to clear herself of the detonation. And Galvatron sounds the retreat. "We can try that trick a few more times though, but it's past my curfew. BYE!" She rockets up into low orbit, and to go lock herself in her quarters with her latest toy.

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;

F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt; ignites his afterburners with a snap-BOOM and blasts off over the city, barely above the trees and power lines to avoid return fire. In moments he's over the skyline and away.

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt; sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt; begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt;, Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Soundwave finishes welding the broken linkage and its enclosing panel as Galvatron gives the order to retreat. Angry and frustrated, he looks over at the battle field, and his optics dim. The trailer...Pepsi! All of its annoying, disruptive broadcasts clogging up the airwaves amidst the useful data. Frenzy trying to dance like flesh creature Michael Jackson and then corroding himself with the stuff when he was brainwashed by Bombshell into thinking it was energon. "Die Pepsi, Die!" he yells, his harmonic pitch quavering with anger.

Combat: Soundwave strikes Rodimus Prime's Pepsi Convoy Trailer with his Missile Launcher attack!

Tremor fumes as Soundwave repairs his busted linkage. He dislikes Soundwave, and he has to fight to keep from wincing and pulling away whenever ol Gruesome touches him. He manages quite well, only flinching a couple of times. When he is finally back in fighting form, more or less, he gives a snarl and raises his pistol to fire on Kup a second time. "Chew on this, old timerAAAGH!" Just as this cliched taunt is leaving his vocal processor, Tremor is hit by a shot from Patchwork's rifle. "Fembot slag! You...you gotta a walloping coming! Watch your back!" With this, at Glavatron's order, he joins his comrades in retreat.

Combat: Tremor begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Kup, Soundwave, Rodimus Prime, F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt;, Galvatron, Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt;, Patchwork, Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;, Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Galvatron finally shrugs off Rodimus's grasp, and begins to sprint away. "It wasn't JUST the disc, Rodimus! Remember... it only changed your allegiance, but left everything else INTACT! That WAS the real you, and you know it! Hmhahaha, I guess this wasn't a total loss, then! I got to see what you're really like, PRIME!" He launches himself into the air with a blast of flame, soaring over the Washington Monument, then over the White House, an image that will eventually appear on Time Magazine.

Combat: Galvatron begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt;, Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt;, Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;, Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt; breaks off his latest attack run and then lifts into the air. His engines glow as they power up and send him streaking away.

Combat: Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt; begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Combat: Soundwave begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Rodimus Prime, F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt;, Galvatron, Pyramid Fighter &lt;Fusion&gt;, Patchwork, Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;, Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt;, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer

Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; gets a nose smearing of musket acid. It sizzles and corrodes but the Decepticon ship lingers with an air of hate. Galvatron making the call for retreat and his comrades taking off. Removing all ground for redemption on the field of battle. He calmly curses "Damn you." The ship then rises and gives escort to the shuttle that carried all the Decepticons here.

Combat: Spaceship &lt;Fragment&gt; begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

From Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;, Sam lifts a hand like he's waving to Boomslang. Then he notices the Most Hated Soundwave still wandering around the battlefield trying to blow up a Pepsi truck before running away. It's almost enough to confuse him out of shooting at the Communicator. "Hrmm.." Okay, actually it isn't. Zort.

Combat: Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt; strikes Soundwave with its Medium Laser attack!

Rodimus Prime screams and pulls his photon eliminator from subspace (yeah, he still has that) before he fires after Galvatron, but he's too slow to have any chance of hitting him. Then he slumps his shoulders and looks down at his feet, his hand opening to let the photon eliminator clatter to the ground. He lifts his head to survey the battlefield, the damage done to this normally beautiful, vibrant area; the unconscious Grapple and Jetfire; and Roller, unconscious or worse. All this desctruction... and he /helped/.

He turns and trudges towards Kup, trying to look the veteran in the optic. Then he holds out his arms, wrists up.

"Kup. I'm turning myself in."

From Exo-Armor Pegasus &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield watches the Decepticons retreat, and heaves a shaky sigh. He lifts a hand off the exo's controls so he can wipe his eyes, his cheeks still stained from the previous tears. He looks over the results of the battle, and feels a twinge of guilt that he was so focused on Rodimus instead of the others, choosing not to assist them when they needed it. And the guilt deepens as he recalls vividly how he froze when confronting the Decepticon-controlled Prime...and all the times that Rodimus was injured because of him. Silent for a short time, Jayson directs the Pegasus over to Rodimus to stand beside him. "It wasn't your fault, Prime," he emits, his voice soft and almost hesitant.

From Exo-Suit ARES &lt;Sam&gt;, Sam bounds over to Kup and Rodimus (with judicious use of the suit's jets) once it looks like the Decepticons have all cleared out.

"Blah blah blah...!" Patchwork calls after Tremor as he turns and flees with the others. She lets him go, however, watching for a long moment before she turns back to the other BOts. "Everyone okay?" she wonders, looking mostly alright from the front. Not waiting for an answer, the medic moves for Roller, kneeling next to him to check on him. "Rodimus, maybe you can help me haul these guys back, before doing anthing like that? Please?"

Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses F/A-18 Super Hornet &lt;Boomslang&gt; with her Grab attack!

Robot T-Rex! &lt;Grimlock&gt; snorts a bit in dissapointment as he DOESN'T explode that lousy bomber- and then he tromps on over towards Kup and Rodimus, looking confused. "Hnh." he says, scratching at his head- and then he takes a moment to look on over at Jetfire's mangled body. "...me Grimlock will call Metroplex. Get shuttle."

Jetfire will just lie over here and wait for everyone to stop fawning over Rodimus being back, its alright. I'm use to it, after being forgotten trapped in ice for a few million years, woke up, retrapped, woke up again just because the Autobots needed a taxi, and then forgotten by the end of the second season. Don't mind me.

Blame Starscream for that one.

Rodimus Prime glances up towards Patchwork, then down at Kup. "I do still need to be cleared by security before I can resume my position. Or... or anything else you decide. But if you trust me for the moment without cuffs, I /can/ help get the injured," please just let it be injured, "home."

Kup looks Rodimus Prime over, gaze steely. If there's one think Kup hates more than a coward, it's a traitor. But Rodimus Prime didn't turn traitor on purpose. Kup saw the Dominator Disc. Kup raises his arm and tries to clasp Rodimus Prime's hand, grunting, "C'mon lad, the lass over there says she needs your help." If Rodimus Prime won't move on his own, Kup will drag him. He continues, "Don't think I ain't gonna chew you out, because I'm gonna, and you're gonna need new audio sensors when I'm done, but for now, we're Autobots, and we have a job to do."

Rodimus Prime nods. "You're right, though. Getting them to repairs is the important thing now." Then he smiles grimly as he turns to head for the injured. "But... I think I'd like it if you got me new optics before you get me new audio sensors!"

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/146                    Posted        Author AAR: Washington, D.C.             Sun Jun 06    Kup -- Kup appears, glowing a faint green. This is because he's covered in weaponised Mountain Dew. He looks very, very tired, and the lines under his optics are even more pronounced than usual. He recounts, "Well, we got a call that the Decepticons were causing a ruckus in Washington, D.C.. There, I met a Decepticon I never, ever expected to see."

He shakes his head, and his gaze gets distant. His voice hoarsens, but he forces himself to go on with the report, "Rodimus Prime. Guess the Decepticons got a Dominator Disc out of Wheeljack's subspace pocket and suborned him. It were real hard to believe. He's back now, but we gotta get him bug-checked and debriefed. So for the time being, I'm granting him Security Class 1," which is the lowest in this episode.

"We faced off against not only our own leader but Galvatron, Soundwave, Fusillade, a sniper Seeker, some ninja geologist, a science Seeker, and a Constructicon wannabe. We took heavy losses. Both Grapple and Jetfire are down for the count, and Roller's dead. For good."

Kup sighs. "But Jetfire's gambit worked. The Decepticon ain't gonna be raiding subspace pockets no more, and just in time, too. The Decepticons lifted my musket, Grapple's rifle, Grimlock's sword, Blurr's laser, and Rodimus Prime's... Pepsi trailer." Kup breaks down snickering, but snickering over the Pepsi trailer is how he got covered in Mountain Dew.

"So, I gotta thank Jayson Redfield, Sam, Grimlock, Grapple, Patchwork, and Jetfire for doing a bang-up job, but be on the alert. The Decepticons claimed that this cockamamie scheme was just a part of something bigger. Now maybe they're windbagging, but can we afford it if they're not? Oh and... I guess we gotta have a funeral for Roller. He went out saving that Redfield lad."

Kup doesn't mention from /who/, though. He just turns off the camera.

The Autobot Spinny

=
=================================================================