The Grand Agnoraxian Science Fair

Waterfall City

Moving from the aerospaceport to the city proper, it becomes clear that this city is actually situated on an island in the middle of a massive waterfall. The view is amazing, continuing the trend of anomalous and anachronistic technology, waterwheels harness the power of the falls. The best parts of the city are shining triumphs of science, architecture and engineering. Designs that meld long-extinct life forms with gears and obscure glasswork are very popular. Flickering gas lamps light the dark after the sun sets.

The worst parts of the city, however, are a dark contrast. The air is thick with smog. Grim, dirty factories and shambling slums litter the area. In the factories, 'accidents' are extremely common, and the conditions are deplorable. The streets, lacking the bright gas lamps of the better parts of the city, are in no way safe, and the graveyards are haunted by 'resurrection men' who sell even the corpses to less-than-scrupulous experimentalists.

Agnorax is a world of science gone mad, in short, showcasing both its crowning achievements and what horrors may happen when progress is untempered by concern for the worth of life.

Obvious exits: East &lt;E&gt; leads to Agnorax Aerospaceport.

Red Alert has arrived.

Onslaught has arrived.

Compton Xabat has arrived.

James Bailey leaves the Terran Shuttle &lt;Michael Briar&gt;.

James Bailey has arrived.

Marissa Faireborn has arrived.

Sinnertwin has arrived.

The main sapient lifeforms of Agnorax somewhat resemble mid-sized theropod dinosaurs from Earth. Their fashions vagely recall the Victorian era of Earth - corsets, parasols, bustles, and far too many buttons for the females, bloomers for the more daring, and vests, dashing waistcoats, and tophats for the males. Goggles and gears seem to be all the rage.

Today, however, is a special day - the Grand Agnoraxian Science Fair! From all across Agnorax, the up-and-coming young Agnoraxians have gathered to show off their scientific chops. It is a make-or-break event. Those who do well will progress as scientists. Those who fail will be condemned to work as lab assistants or worse - factory workers.

The exhibits are diverse, from model volcanos on real miniature planets, suspended in their own aritificial gravity fields, to cyborg fish with lasers on their heads, to even a rock that has been re-engineeered to sing the Agnoraxian anthem with hit with a hammer.

James Bailey arrives on the outskirts of the Science Fair in his Exo-Tank. The vehicle's more obvious weapons are either covered or hidden alltogether so it looks more like a hover-transport lightly armed for self-defense rather than a frontline war machine. As he coasts to a stop in a parking space, James stands halfway out of the opened canopy, hands reaching inside to operate the controls. He looks around rather than using the vehicle's sensors, not willing to risk electronic scans being detected by someone else's scans and revealing his Exo's level of sophistication. A lot of trouble just to try and keep a low profile in this era of Transformers, but then lately James has been finding these kind of secretive ruses enjoyable (and challenging).

Onslaught has not been dispatched to this planet o enter into the science fair or even to judge the science fair even though, if you asked him, he'd be adequately capable of performing such a scene. No, Onsalught is there to monitor the situation, and to report on any items of interest to the Decepticon cause. At the moment Onslaught is doing this a safe distance away from the science fair site, staring over in the direction of the fair, as he slowly surveys the area. "Hmmm. I wonder if the results of this affair will be truely benefifical."

Fire Chief's Car pulls into the area in vehicle mode, although he's probably even more out of place here than he is on the streets of Earth of the 2020's. Still, he's a well-kept ride, red, white, and gleaming on the outside, clean white leather with red dash and trim on the inside. "Here we are," he reports nervously, and needlessly. "Although it's a bit odd to be going to creatures that look like Dinobots for mathematical expertise."

Science Fair. Colonel Faireborn knows what a Science Fair entails when it's on a sci-fi like world. Accordingly, she is thoroughly going through a virtual armory of guns while relaxing in Red Alert's driver's seat. Several rifles and pistols rest on Red Alert's dashboard, both of the ballistics variety and the energy variety. Stored in Red Alert's trunk is an over-the-shoulder missile launcher, just in case things get feisty. Marissa herself is wearing combat gear, which doesn't look too different than what a typical soldier IRL would wear. As the heroes near the fair itself, Marissa stows the weapons away. No sense alarming the locals, and if anyone asks about her uniform, she'll just explain that this is how all humans dress. As she tucks a pistol in a hidden holster strapped against her chest, she laughs. "Ironic, isn't it," she replies to Red Alert.

Did someone say SCIENCE FAIR?? Science fairs and science in general is a very intricate, interesting, and let's be honest, difficult thing. Obviously not the best activity for someone with a short attention span and even shorter fuse. All this begs one question: who thought it would be awesome to bring Sinnertwin?

The Terrorcon stands behind Onslaught, his arms crossed and his expression bording somewhere between angry and hungry (so, normal). "Who cares?"

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; has arrived.

Compton Xabat drops Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;.

Compton Xabat has left.

Compton Xabat enters the Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;.

James Bailey and Marissa aren't the only humans here. And, unfortunately, THIS human may be one of the most dangerous ones around... Compton Xabat!

The rogue researcher/terrorist is watching a live video feed of a subspace transmission from Earth. On it, Sean Berger and Dr. Archeville are both frowning at the camera. "Xabat, you must stay focused. We're here for the prize, not some trinkets, however fascinating they may be!" Dr. Archeville says.

"Yeah!" Sean Berger says. "Just imagine how much money will make once we ransom the--"

"You'd just ransom off THAT!?" Archeville cries, shocked. "Why, think of the advances in--"

"Gentlemen!" Xabat says, clearing his throat. "Do not be concerned, I know what I am doing. Soon, this little science project will be mine, and then so will the REAL prize." He flicks off the video feed... and looks at the back door to a certain exhibit with a smirk. "By the time those fools realize what happened, I will be long gone!"

Onslaught turns to look over at Sinnertwin, his arms folded across his chest(which enhances his impressiveness by 5 points) before he shifts his gaze back to the science fair and the Autobots and their allies congregating nearby. He points at the rollicking fair in the distance as he speaks more or less about the same as Xabat...even though they are different spaces. "They do, Sinnertwin...and since they do, we do."

The locals seems to have met or at least heard of Transformers before, and they shoot Onslaught, Red Alert, and Sinnertwin very dirty looks, though Sinnertwin gets off lightly for looking kind of reptilian. The humans and their exos draw more interest from the Agnoraxians. One science fair participant approaches Marissa's group and exclaims to Red Alert, "Oh my, what a well-trained pet you have there!" A second pipes up, "Are you sure it is a pet. perhaps it is one of these 'tool-using mammals' that the rumourmongers always mention." The first scoffs, "Surely not! Everyone knows that mammals are incapable of higher thought."

Over by Onslaught and Sinnertwin, yet another science fairee address... Sinnertwin, "Ah, my good sir! What might you be looking for here? Perhaps the exhibits on advanced particle physics?" He assumes, naturally, that Sinnertwin, as the reptile, is in charge.

At the exhibit Compton Xabat is looking for, the owner is off in the little dinosaurette's room, powdering her nose. How very convenient for the wanted terrorist.

Onslaught looks far far down toward the minature(by his standards) sentient reptiloid that approaches the pair of them. He glances swiftly at Sinnertwin as he makes the patened "Don't starting chomping" motion with his right hand before looking at the new arrival again. "Is there something that you are requiring from us?" asks the Combaticon Commander.

James Bailey gives the entrance to the Science Fair one last look before settling his hover-tank on the ground and then hopping off of it alltogether. He walks up to the entrance. He's much less heavily armed than Marissa, although he is carrying a heavier pistol than he has in the past. And he raises a small remote device the size of a car-remote keyfob and uses it to seal his Exo's canopy and lock it with a soft beep - there's quite a few more controls on the device as well, so perhaps he has some degree of control over the machine even when he's outside of it.

In any case, James walks on into the science fair and looks around. He separates from the rest of the little group before Marissa or Red Alert can answer and heads off deeper into the science fair. He seems to look around with interest, but he's also keeping an eye on where Onslaught (the tallest Decepticon being present) is and coincidentally shadows the Decepticons from a safe, safe distance.

Sinnertwin gives an annoyed huff and drops his arms. "Well, /I/ don't, and they shouldn't either!" he shouts, thrusting a clenched fist into the air (this ups his cool points by ONE HUNDRED PERCENT so he automatically wins, sorry Onslaught.) He spins around to face the science fair...dinosaur, glaring at him with all he's got. "Actually, YES you can! I don't care about partical whatevers or...or..exhibits..or...play-doh volcanoes or whatever you have here! IS THERE A BUFFET TABLE?"

"Pet?!" Red Alert exclaims, although he fails to completely hide his amusement. He takes a moment to recompose himself (and thank goodness Marissa couldn't see his facial expression during this business). "Oh, no, I'm afraid you misunderstand. She's not a pet, she's an ally." Urge to kill, rising, Marissa thinks as one of the locals refers to her as a pet. But no, the Colonel maintains her hold on her temper for the sake of the mission. "Thanks," she says in a terse tone back to the aliens from Red Alert's driver's seat, trying to sound grateful for being called well trained. On the plus side, it'll be that much more surprising when (I mean... 'if') she needs to start shooting things in the kneecaps. Red Alert defends her intellect, and the Colonel looks grateful for it.

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; stomps towards the back door to the exhibit. There is a guard there, who holds up a claw and demands, "Halt!" However, while Compton's suit isn't any bigger than the Agnoraxian, it is made of metal and uses more powerful mechanisms. So, the suit simply reaches for the native's throat, and squeezes tightly. "Urk! Urk! Urk!" sputters the poor creature, staring wide-eyed at the glowing red camera that serves as Xabat's eye. One snap later, and Xabat tosses the corpse aside like a bit of trash. He stares at it for a moment, tempted to grab the creature and dissect it later, but no, Dr. Arkeville warned him to stay focused.

And so he does. Wrenching the door's handle off, Xabat walks into the exhibit--and smirks. It's still not open yet. No one should notice him grabbing this little bauble... except for that low-resolution security camera, but that's the idea. Laughing to himself, he wraps his arms around a strange brass device, with looks like a radar screen, numerous widgets, and a lightning orb, hefts it up, and walks back out.

The Agnoraxian who had suggested that Marissa might be a 'tool-using mammal' claps in delight and exclaims over to his more skeptical friend, rather smugly, "See! I told you so. Oh my, this changes everything." The other groans, "But I thought that it was a certain proof of science that head-fur inhibits the capacity for higher learning. I shall have to re-do my calculations entirely."

The Agnoraxian to talking to Sinnertwin and Onslaught thinks for a moment, "The... buffet? Oh, you must mean the experimental kitchens! Right this way. Do beware the salad forks, however, They are quite, quite vicious. The knives are fairly docile, however."

With the guard dead - his clutch of eggs back home will never know their father - Compton Xabat is able to make off with his prize, but as soon as he is out, the owner of the project, Allosa, a little female with a parasol, returns from powdering her nose to see her project gone. She covers her snout with her claws, gasping in horror, and only via force of will is she able to keep from swooning of despair. What ever will she do?

"Erm, excuse me, sir, ma'am," Red Alert begins very politely, "But, well, you obviously seem to recognize what I am. Have there been others like me to visit recently? Other Transformers with my symbol on them?" He does hope that they gather he means the Autobot symbol and not the fire chief's symbol, but Red currently has no fingers with which to point!

"Experimental kitchens, buffets, whatEVER." Sinnertwin gives Onslaught a nudge with his elbow, "How 'bout it? I say we ditch this NERD fest and go spend our time doing something MEANINGFUL and INTERESTING." Eating constitutes meaningful and interesting in Terrorcon minds, write this down. Back to the Agnoraxian, "SHOW ME YOUR KITCHEN."

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; stomps out safely, his prize safely in his hands. He makes his way towards the crowds in general, trying to keep as low a profile as he can, considering. However, there's something odd about this exo. It's painted in a gaudy, yellow/turqoise color scheme, much like a Transformer with bad taste in paintjobs. And there's a badge on him, magenta in color, that might look like an Autobot or Decepticon sigil from a distance.

Onslaught thinks that this could be a very bad idea...Sinnertwin in a buffet could be like heating bullets in an oven. He stops in clutching his forehead in order to maintain his dignity before he shifts his position to look both of them squarely. "Sinnertwin...we have been ordered to observe these proceedings and that is what we are going to do. Indulging your culinary tastes is not an accepted part of the mission."

James Bailey trails along a few rows of exhibits and booths over from the Decepticons as they find a guide. He's still maintaining his innocent cover of looking around in interest at all the wacky Agnoraxian steampunk science on display here (he doesn't have to try hard, this stuff is pretty interesting). Then he catches a flash of that gaudy paint job ahead of him and glances over to look more closely. The colors aren't familiar, but he'd recognize that Exo's profile anywhere. He looks a little more intense now, looking quickly between Onslaught and the Protectorate Exo-Suit, and not having attention to spare for the rest of the science fair other than watching where he's going.

I could kill these dinosaurs, Marissa muses, and there isn't a jury alive who would convict. Pushing such thoughts out of her mind, the Colonel pats Red Alert's dashboard, saying quietly, "It's probably for the best if they underestimate us. Nobody's going to stop to frisk a pet." Marissa rests her arm on Red's rolled down window, as if relaxing. In actuality she is keeping her eyes peeled and looking about for any signs of trouble. Like James, she spots a certain recognizable Exo-Suit. "Protectorate Exo-Suit, Red. Fire class. James has it confirmed," she mutters. Her voice is also being transmitted to her fellow EDCer. "Only active one I know of offhand would be Compton Xabat's."

The male speaking to Red Alert nods his head politely and coughs, looking away. He laces his foreclaws together and says lowly, "Ah... yes." The female with him sniffs disdainfully at the male's hedging and snaps, "Yes! The first time, your kind were banished from here by the First Scientist. The second time, a scientist of your species collaborated with our High Scientist, Urus, but he went mad, smashed all their equipment, and ran away. A dreadful waste."

The Agnoraxian talking to Sinnertwin and Onslaught looks from Sinnertwin, to Onslaught, quite baffled at the conflicting demands. His tail wags with confusion as he suggests meekly, "Well, ah... the experimental kitchen is just down that hallway to the left."

Allosa, having withdrawn her exquisitely crafted personal deathray, complete with sparkles and an engraved unicornasaurus on the handle, stalks off in search of her father... the High Scientist Urus, who will surely know what to do about her missing project! She rushes to his side and tearfully explains to him that her project is gone.

"Already heard," Red Alert answers softly on his internal speakers. "Likely he's here for the same reason we are. It just means we need to find it first." Then, as the dinosaurs answer him, Red Alert says on external speakers, "Aah. Thank you, thank you very much. This, erm, Urus... where was he located, before he ran away? Do you know where he and the other Autobot collaborated?"

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; has arrived.

Noah Wolfe drops Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;.

Noah Wolfe has left.

Noah Wolfe enters the Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;.

Dirge has arrived.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; folds each pod under itself and unfolds to lay down forming its hovertank mode.

Sinnertwin places his hands on his hips and looks up at Onslaught, lips pulling back into a sneer. "I /know/ what we're here for," he starts (which is totally a lie) "And I can OBSEEERRRVVEEEE from over there!" Geeez, Onslaught. Like, duuuhhh. "Besides, it's not like anything exciting OR important is going on. Talk about DRAGSVILLE."

Experimental F-15 &lt;Dirge&gt; glides down from (somewhere), let's call it orbit, homing in on the Decepticon groundpounders.

From Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;, Compton Xabat tries to walk into a crowd of spectators. Not making too much of a stir, just trying to walk out of here as discretely as he can. In retrospect, maybe he shouldn't made the exo so gaudy after all?

Onslaught looks back at Sinnertwin steadily, the presence of the Agnoraxian nearby apparently temporarily forgotten, as Onslaught gestures to include the whole of the galaxy(and Dirge). "Orders that come from the high command are not to be disobeyed lightly, Sinnertwin. Do you wish to tell Lord Galvatron that a vital detail was missed due to your desire for consumption?

James Bailey follows after Compton's Exo, skirting around the same crowd, using his smaller size compared to the locals here to keep himself hidden completely from view whenever he can. By now he's started trying to determine Compton's path based on the way he's walking.

The blue Experimental F-15 warps, bends, and reconfigures itself into the form of Dirge, Decepticon warrior!

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe says, "No Whistler, I won't be selling you to the scientists." A bit of data scrolls across his side screen from within the hovertank, translated from the AI's chirps and whistles. "No! I won't be getting another AI to replace you either. We're just here to look around." he says, interupted by another set of clicks and whistles, "Something about the matrix. All I know is we're to snoop around and see what's what." He touches the window hovering in front of him and slides it aside showing the roadway he's zooming down with the other traffic. He's just entering the city from the aerospaceport and pulls off on a side roadway passing along the edge of the city and the waterfall below.

Dirge transforms and lands right behind Onslaught and Sinnertwin, with nothing more than the shattering whine of his engines and the clank of his feet hitting the ground.

The male protests to Red Alert, "Oh, no. It was the Transformer who smashed their work. High Scientist urus is still here, and he is, how shall I put it..." The female finishes, sighing, "Cranky. You should put it as 'cranky'."

It is just then that Urus, a weeping Allosa in tow, stomps over to where Marissa and Red Alert are. He booms, "A Transformer! I should have known. Guards, arrest this man." He points a claw right at Red Alert.

The Agnoraxian assisting Onslaught and Sinnertwin just stares as the two bicker. His expression seems to say 'what'. A very fangy what.

Sinnertwin gasps! "N-no! I would never want to have to tell Lord Galvatron that!" He brings a hand to his mouth and his lips tremble, the very thought of dissapointing Galvatron crushing down on his very being. He turns to the Agnoraxian and begins to bellow in his face, "NO! STOP TRYING TO TEMPT ME! I AM ON AN /IMPORTANT MISSION/ AND NOTHING WILL GET IN MY WAY!"

"What?!" exclaims Red Alert. "No! Look, you've got me confused with someone else! I'm here to speak with someone named Urus. The matter is very important! The fate of the whole universe could hang in the balance!" For the moment, Red Alert remains a vehicle - faster for getting away. However, his doors unlock, in case he has to dump Marissa out and transform.

Onslaught turns away from Sinnertwin, feeling quite satisfied, but then almost bumps into Dirge. He steps quickl back, turning toward the morbid minded Seeker, before he arranges himself into his usual diginified stance. "Dirge! Have you been assigned to assit in our observation?"

Marissa Faireborn keeps her eyes open as she watches Compoton Xabat making for the exit. She gets James's radio message about the terrorist's departure, but can't see what Xabat has. "Did he steal it or buy it?" she asks Bailey. The answer is that he doesn't know. "Alright well let- wait, what?" Did someone just say something about arresting Red Alert. Marissa pokes her head out of Red's window. "Arrest Red? What for?!" she asks, forgetting that she's just a pet.

Urus roars, "*I* am the High Scientist Urus, and my daughter's science project is missing. Clearly, one of you wretched Transformers is to blame! As usual." He harrumphs. A pair of guard approach Red Alert with handcuffs that look to have been made out of brass and lightning. How they stay together is a mystery. It is more of a mystery how they expect to handcuff a car. One suggests, "Maybe we ought to get a wheel clamp instead?"

The Agnoraxian talking to Sinnertwin and Onslaught decides that he had best be off before the strange tourists do anything rash and unwise.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe gives an inward cringe. He hasn't delt with a real protectorate in a long time and now it's finally happening. Well, at least he's not part of a squad that could get wiped out. But there's still James. Noah throttles up and cranks the hovertank nearly on its side in a right turn. With a blast of his engines the hovertank takes off towards the crowded fair, for a block before slowing. With the throng of people, Noah pulls back on the joystick sending the hovertank rising up and transforming into its robot mode. Noah sweeps his eyes over the crowd and says, "Ok, I'm here...so now what?" Then taps a glowing switch on his control panel.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; unfolds each pod under itself forming arms and legs, the nose folds down revealing a head which flashes its lone optic.

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; stomps past one particular exhibit, when he suddenly overhears, "Observe, the amazing steam-powered suit!" He stops the exo, then turns his suit's camera to the side, observing the exhibit on display. On a stage, one of the Agnoraxians appears to be inside of a loud, clanking, whistling brass suit.

"Fascinating. A steam-powered exo!" Xabat muses. "Hm, seems to be rather slow and bulky, though I could probably learn something from it..." The exo glances behind itself. He doesn't notice James tailing him, thanks to his small size. "Best be going, anyway." And so, he continues to stomp towards the exit.

Fire Chief's Car protests, "Well, it wasn't me! However, you may search me if you like." Yes, Red Alert is perfectly aware that he is packed to the gils with weaponry. However, it's all pretty clearly EDC weaponry.

Dirge's optics flicker as he looks upon Onslaught. "I do not exist to serve the trifling whims of your kind, Onslaught. I am here to watch over you, not to assist."

Marissa Faireborn continues to look out of Red's window. She looks up at High Scientist Urus. "What does your daughter's science project look like?" the Colonel asks. She wants to know in order to find out if this is what Compton took.

James Bailey slows to a stop when Compton's Exo does, turning quickly to pretend to be interested in the nearest exhibit. Looks like some kind of oddly designed minature version of the wheel for a steamer ship, lower part spinning contendly in a large, slightly dented metal tub of water set underneath the wheel. Glowing bits pulse as the wheel swishes through the water. It's either some sort of advanced engine system...or a hydro-power absorber to power death rays. James' money is on the second one.

Allosa, sniffling at Urus's side, withdraws what appears to be a small bomb. She detonates it - harmlessly - and the smoke forms a picture of what looks like an antique submarine radar screen, framed in brass, with an orb full of lightning attached to the side. Urus glares at Red Alert and replies, "Oh, I know your tricks! You have access to a queer dimension beyond the aether, what is called 'subspace'. A search will do no good, not unless you allow me to dissect you."

Onslaught optics would be flickering too, if they were uncovered to flicker, but he steps foeward and leans in toward Dirge. "What is your authority in this matter, Dirge?"

Dirge cants his head to one side and hisses softly, "I am a spirit, Onslaught. Carry out your mission."

Fire Chief's Car sputters. "You'll do no such thing!" he protests. "There's no telling /what/ you'd re-appropriate my parts for!" He starts to back away, his engine revving noisily. "Listen! This is very important! I need to find out what you learned when you worked with Maxitran!"

Sinnertwin looks from Onslaught, to Dirge, and then to Onslaught. He gives an annoyed and generally unamused expression. "As if this 'mission' wasn't terrible enough.."

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe moves his armor off to one lane with parked hovercars. He transforms landing in an empty spot, before landing on skids that pop out from below. Noah keeps his systems on and his engine running however since he'll need them. Just about then, a 'tap tap tap' pings on his side. Noah whips his head around seeing an alien in a white suit and yellow looking badge. He says, "Ya kringlo seefa ka?" pointing at what would be the hovertank. Noah says, "Oh hell...." then smiles hitting the hatch release. The whole half of the tank slides forward showing Noah inside, "Um...hello?" he says to the alien. The alien taps the tank again, "Ya kringlo seefa ka? Seefa ka?" he repeats himself.

Marissa Faireborn looks at the smoke picture. That, she thinks, is a really neat bit of technology. Very artistic. A few quick radio calls to James Bailey and Marissa has the science project located. "High Scientist Urus, sir," she says, again looking up at the large dinosaur, "An associate of mine has located your project and the one responsible for taking it. It wasn't Red. It was a terrorist named Compton Xabat." She relays roughly where Compton is supposed to be by now.

And where Compton is, right now, is perilously close to the perimeter of the science fair's grounds. Seems like he's making his way towards a space port, upon which the craft of some Monacan pirate awaits. Someone walks in front of Compton and hawk him a deathray, but as interested as he might be in getting one, he doesn't have the time. He shoves the peddler aside, eliciting gasps from bystanders.

Onslaught looks at Dirge for a long and slow moment before he shakes his head and begins to walk toward the inner depths of the science fair. "Very well, Dirge...you can watch Sinnertwin. As he is very spirited I'm sure he will provide a challenge for you."

"And he's getting away as we speak," Marissa adds, trying to stress the need for speed. "If you permit it I can have my comrade try to take him down to buy time for your officers."

"Oh, blast it all!" Red Alert shouts. His sirin blares, and he suddenly swerves and takes off, running his active sensors in an attempt to locate Xabat. "Sorry, Marissa, but you're not the one being threatened with dissection!"

Urus snarls, "Maxitran? That unholy transistored machine was good for nothing. He ruined my research, and as soon as my daughter tried to replicate my work, your kind ruin everything!" Urus is, indeed, cranky. Allosa, however, just wants her project back, and she's a little more willing to listen to the aliens. She suggests, "I shall go with them, Father dear! If they are lying, it will be a splendid day to test my metal-to-cheese ray."

Red Alert sweeps the area.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe holds up a finger to what he assumes is one of the police on the planet. He picks up a pencil, then hears something on the radio. "Sorry mate, you'll have to give me a ticket later." He slaps the hatch shut snugging back down in the seat and dropping the pencil and paper. The hovertank rises up and takes off towards the edge of the science fiar. The alien screeches and steps back quickly from the engine wash before is bowled over. Noah pays him no mind and clicks his weapons safty off, just in case. He just hopes he doesn't have to use it.

"N-NO! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE WITH HIIIIM!" Sinnertwin waves his arms around at the departing Onslaught in a feeble attempt to convince him to stay. His arms drop and dangle uselessly by his sides as he sends Dirge a quick glance out the corner of his eye. He shudders. James Bailey hurries after Compton's Exo now, producing his little remote control and manipulating it.

Outside, James' own Warthog starts up, lifts off the ground on it's hovering systems and pulls out of the parkig lot. It starts to slowly make it's way around the outskirts of the science fair towards Noah's. It comes to a stop when it's a little more than halfway there though, blocked by a few local vehicles pumping out clouds of steam as they wait.

"May- whoa!" Marissa exclaims as Red blasts off. Luckily, Marissa is wearing her seat belt. In fact, just before take-off she had to explain to a group of three ethnically diverse children the importance of car safety and also the proper way to install a baby seat. Gripping Red's steering wheel tightly for support, she says, "No worries... I think the gal dinosaur's willing to give us the benefit of the doubt anyhow. Lets not risk that metal-to-cheese ray, though!"

Dirge glowers at Onslaught, and then glowers at Sinnertwin. And then he glowers at no one, falling in step behind Onslaught.

Sinnertwin begins to make faces and rude hand gestures at Dirge as he walks away. Well, atleast he could stand here in peace. "...Should've gone to the kitchen.." he mumbles.

From Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;, Compton Xabat turns his exo's head around as he hears sirens. The lamborghini isn't visible yet, thanks to all the saurians blocking his view, but he certainly notices Noah's exo-tank! "Blast!" Xabat growls, and storms off for the exit. He grabs a saurian and throws him behind himself into the mass of bystanders, hoping to bowl them over and make a big enough mess for him to escape.

Allosa tails after Red Alert and Marissa. She does not run. That would be unladylike. Instead, she uses a small, steam-powered jetpack and some roller-skates to skate after the Lamborghini.

James Bailey has to dive out of the way to avoid getting crushed under falling Saurians. Still on his hands and knees, he scrabbles under a table covered with various death-ray accessories and emerges on the other side. Ignoring a shouted 'hey!' he runs for the outskirts of the science fair, eyeing a small exit close to where his hovertank is waiting on the outside.

Onslaught stops suddenly in his tracks as he hear s Red Alert's siren's begin to blaze away, coupled with James's warthog making it's own exciting sound, before he snaps his head around and points toward Sinnertwin. "Sinnertwin, you wished for something more exciting, and here it is! Now go and find out what it is!" He ignores Dirge, not pointendly, but still completely.

Fire Chief's Car swerves where he has to, although really, sirens are pretty universal for 'get the heck out of the way.' In order to get where he needs to go, they have to /pass/ the Decepticons, but some things - like potentially gaining the co-operation of the person who can tell them how to find the Matrix - are more important than even dealing with Decepticons. While he's no Blurr, Red's a pretty zippy little sports car, and he starts to close in on Xabat's location pretty quickly. "Ready to jump, Marissa?" he asks.

Jayson Redfield has arrived.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe is coming towards the fire suit at a right angle so the commotion in the crowd does little if anything to slow down Noah's warthog. He transforms and skids to a halt lowering his laser rifle at Compton, "This is the EDC. Fire exo-suit pilot, power down and unsuit or...." he ponders this a second, "...or be shot!" Yeah, Noah has no grace when it comes to this. Whistler makes a large wet sounding raspberry at Noah, which he just ignores.

Marissa Faireborn undoes her seatbelt and slides over from Red's driver's seat to the passenger seat, pulling out an energon rifle from underneath the seat while she buckles back up. This is actually difficult given the speed the Autobot sports car is moving at. She's on the passenger side (aka the aptly named shotgun position) now because, as a righty, it's easier for her to lean out the right window in order to start killing things that need killing. It'll also make it easier for her to tuck and roll out of Red when the time comes. "Ready!" The old tuck and roll + transform trick is one the Colonel has mastered by now. It's all a matter of timing and trust between both participants.

Sinnertwin throws his chest out and raises his fists up into the air, a loud bellowing cry ringing out from his maw. "YES YES YEESS! SOMETHING OTHER THAN STANDING AROUND AT A /NERD FEST/! BRING ON THE PAIN!"

Dirge watches Red Alert zip past and immediately transforms to follow. As close as possible. Within feet, if able.

In a flurry of arms, legs, and wings, Dirge reconfigures himself into the form of an Experimental F-15 fighter jet.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; has arrived.

James Bailey drops Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt;.

James Bailey has left.

James Bailey enters the Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt;.

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; has arrived.

Jayson Redfield drops Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;.

Jayson Redfield has left.

Jayson Redfield enters the Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;.

From Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;, Compton Xabat yells over his PA system, "Up yours, EDC! This scanning device is mine, and the CONCURRENCE--" Dun dun DUN!!! "--will use it to find that Autobot trinket, the Matrix! But don't worry... we'll take GOOOD care of it. Hahaha!" He dives into an exhibit labeled, "Amazing New Cleaning Compounds!" and smashes over a table. The chemicals mounted on top of it are smashed out of their beakers and containers, and collect in a noxious pool. As Xabat flees, the chemicals begin to burn and emit a horrible, caustic smoke.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Tank still can't make it through the line of Agnoraxian cars, even with a pilot...and these things don't come with horns. Instead it shifts into it's simulated robot form and fires some small booster jets on it's back, sending it sailing high over the air (visible to anyone inside who's paying attention) and over the traffic.

The Hermes reconfigures into Exo-Suit configuration.

Onslaught spots the rising cloud of chemical smoke even as his scanners pick up on the rising and dangerous chemical signatures in the area. Thinking this might be something interesting at work Onslaught begins to barrel his way across the science fair floor toward the direction of Xabat, leaving the native inhabitants and Dirge in his tracks.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe lines up his target and says, "I've got you now you sonfa...." then bites his tongue hoping his aiming right for once. He presses the trigger and sends out several rapid fire pulse red laser beams from his rifle. The armor skims along on cushions of air from its leg engines so it jinxs from side to side, in case Compton fires back.

From Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield has been at the spaceport this whole time, but the sound of the commotion has caught his attention. He takes off toward the scene as fast as he can on the ground, ready to put the smack-down on Compton. It's not long before he locates James. "Where is he?! Where's Xabat?!"

With the 'thumpathumpathumpa' of his feet pounding against the ground, Sinnertwin hauls ass into the science fair, grenade launcher in tow and mayhem in his mind. His optics locked on his target, he races like a madman like a wolf after its prey. The explosive spewing weapon he loved so much is raised into the air and with the hit of a trigger, he sends a volley of blasts at what he desires to detroy the most...

A project display explodes in firey pieces. "PRAISE BE TO GALVATRON!"

Some of the natives are less than pleased by Sinnertwin's destructive habits, and they chase after him with an automated knife-shooting rotary cannon. Why don't they just use bullets? Well, that would be too *easy*.

BOOM! Noah's shot, instead of striking Compton, passes through the cloud of smoke from the mixed chemicals. Unfortunately, mixed together like this, the chemicals are rather volatile, so the addition of heat to the mix means that the entire display goes up in a ball of flame. The blast from the explosion does, at least, knock Compton's exo over, and the odd steampunk gizmo flies from his hands into the crowd. "NOOOOO!!!" he roars.

Onslaught sees the device flying through the air, his keen tracking sensors able to focus on the object in question, and thinking it must be something valuable he makes his way toward the crowd as he reaches out with his right arm to try and seize hold of the flying item.

Sinnertwin waves his gun around, firing randomly into the science fair. "HAIL TO THE TERRORCONS! HAIL TO THE DECEPTICONS! HAIL TO THE EMPIRE! HAIL TO GALVATRON!" His cries are not hindered by the knives embedding themselves into his hide. "HAIL TO THE KING!"

KABOOM

Another display rains down in pieces.

Fire Chief's Car doesn't eject Marissa on the run, after all. Instead, he hits the breaks as soon as Xabat is in sight. Given how close Dirge was flying behind him, this should mean that the Seeker will have to pull up sharply and will likely overly...

Or he's just about to get rear-ended by a jet plane.

Red Alert opens one of his flip up doors for Marissa to get out. Just in case.

The Agnoraxians hounding Sinnetwin decide that they need to step up to the big guns: the BEE cannon. A horde of oversized, mechanised clockwork BEES tries to harass Sinnertwin, buzzing angrily and waving stingers.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, The tinting on Noah's screen keeps the brightness out of his eyes, but it also keeps Noah from seeing the suit for a second. But he does see the object. He says, "YES! Time for a bit of football!" He pushes his armor forward into a run for the device, just as part of a display rains down on him. "Hey, I didn't cause 'that' one to go up..." he says brushing it off and diving for the object within the crowd.

Experimental F-15 &lt;Dirge&gt; expertly pulls up into what looks like a sharp loop and then transforms, landing a scant -five meters- behind Red Alert. He stares darkly at the Autobot.

The blue Experimental F-15 warps, bends, and reconfigures itself into the form of Dirge, Decepticon warrior!

Red's door flies open and Marissa takes that as the signal to move. She tucks and rolls, bringing her rifle with her, in a practiced move that only takes a split second. Twisting around, the Colonel rifles a short burst of bullets at the quickly approaching Dirge before hauling away from Red to avoid the possible collision. Although the weapon is frighteningly destructive by human infantry standards, it isn't the sort of thing that can take down a Transformer. It may distract him, though, giving Red time to make with the awesome.

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot dashes off toward Noah's signal, using its thrusters to an advantage in order to get there faster. "Noah! You okay?" And then Jayson spots the device that Noah's trying to snatch. Must be the one that Compton was after. "Huh...maybe I should've done football in high school!" He charges for the device to assist Noah.

Dirge draws back at the gunfire. He glares at Marissa. "Terran, you overstep your bounds. If you wish this to devolve into truly base conflict, know that you will die first."

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;'s PA system roars, "It's MIIIIINE!" with the sort of insane rage that only a mad scientist can muster. He barrels towards Jayson's exo-suit, shoulder-first, having no idea who's inside of it. "I'll kill every single one of you, do you understand me?! The Matrix is mine!!!"

When Red Alert's bid to buy himself time and space completely and utterly fails, he's left with little to do but transform and spin. He remains crouched and raises his particle beam rifle and aims it at Dirge. "Back off, Decepticon! I've got more important things to deal with!"

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; strikes Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot with punch.

"RAAARGH! BEEEEESSSS!" Sinnertwin begins to flail around madly. They were tiny, buzzing little beasts. With their clockwork design and their tiny stature. Oh, how tiny they were. Tiny monsters. Tiny. Tiny. TINY! "RAAAAARRRGGGH! GET THEM AWAY FROM ME! DESTROY! ANNIHILATE! DECIMATE! EVISCERATE!" When his flailing and pawing does absolutely nothing to help, the Terrorcon transforms into his awesome Orthrus mode and begins to go medieval on the bees.

With a low growl, Sinnertwin transforms into a two headed beast.

That's your cue, Red, Marissa thinks as Dirge threatens her. The Colonel is under no illusions what the Seeker could do to her, but hopefully it's given the Autobot the chance to get the drop on him. Whether it has or hasn't, Marissa turns and flees, sprinting towards Compton's exo-suit. She wishes she had the time to grab that missile launcher.

Onslaught has just drawn within reach of the device but it falls just past his hand to clatter to the ground. Before he can reach it, however, he sees the rampant Xabat running at fully speed. Not noticing that Jayson is the intended target the Combaticon Commander's instinct takes over and he closes in quickly toward Xabat, swinging out with his fist, as he attempts to knock the man through the wall while staying within reach of the device. "That is now the property of the Decepticon Empire, human! Do not interfere!"

Onslaught strikes Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; with Knock Out.

Dirge's optics flicker and he glowers at Red Alert. "If I were here for conflict, Autobot, we would not be exchanging rote phrases. Fire your pitiful weapon if you wish, though know that I will deliver you to your comrades as a handful of dust if you do so. You and your Terran both. Do not bore me."

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe figures that Jayson can keep the fire suit busy while he gets the scanner. He mumbles, "Not today Protectorate." and goes for the object. He smiles to himself, the weakest is usually ignored which allows them to reach the goal first. As it is the way with most of these things. The warthog scoops up the object and raises it up high. Noah calls out, "Got it!" which in hindsight, probably isn't the smartest of moves.

Allosa, having finally caught up with the much faster jets and cars and exos, watches the expanding chaos with dismay and covers her snout daintily. She murmurs, "Oh my. Oh /my. Perhaps it is time I tested my metal-to-cheese ray..."

"Then why the blazes are you here, Decepticon," grumbles Red Alert, "besides an apparent desire to hover far too close to me." Even as he forces the words out, he sounds distracted, and not all his attention is on Dirge. Huge amounts of explosions, things flying through the air, stampeding dinosaurs... all these are a little much for the hyper-sensitive Autobot.

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot whips around to face Compton...or rather, Compton's exo. "Heeeeey, Xabat!" the pilot emits tauntingly, hoping to keep the man's attention while Noah takes care of the device. "Miss me?" A blade extends from one of the Talon's arms, which he jabs at the Fire Exo's chest area--not to cause injury, but to merely disable him. Hopefully.

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; strikes Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; with blade.

Avalanche has arrived.

Gnaw has arrived.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot touches down just inside of the science fair. Pausing for a moment while James reorients itself, it then breaks into a run for Marissa and Red Alert's position. He knows the Matrix is important...but to the EDC, their commanders are even more so, and without an Exo-Suit she'd be a sitting duck. Besides, now that Noah's got the gizmo, it's in good hands...right??

Marissa Faireborn slips away into the crowd. Dirge could probably hunt her down if he really wanted, but the Colonel is banking on the bigger dinosaurs getting out of the area to cover for her. Slinging the rifle strap over her shoulder so she can run faster, Marissa sees James running for her position, and (wrongly) assumes he's here to back Red Alert up against Dirge. She herself is fine so long as Dirge's attention is on Red.

The clockwork BEES are clearly no match for Sinnertwin as he goes medieval on their little buzzy bodies, and so, the next line of defense is sent in: organ grinder monkeys, who play the most obnoxious music ever.

Red Alert isn't in Hell. He's been there and knows what it's like, and this isn't quite that bad.

But it's close.

From Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;, Compton Xabat manages to land a hit on Jayson, but is immediately slashed in the chest by a blade attack. "Miss you? Oh, sure, Jayson, you're a good pawn!" Then, just as he's about to hit Jayson with something heavier, he is unexpectedly punched by Onslaught right into the air and through the wall of a saurian changing room. Scantily clad Agnoraxians scramble out, shrieking. Eventually Xabat himself emerges, with a pair of dino-bloomers obscuring his exo's head.

"RRAARRRrrgh!" Xabat cries, tearing the bloomers off. "*I* did the research, *I* deserve to yield the benefits of it! That device is mine, GIVE IT TO ME!" Unholstering the long-barrelled plasma rifle from his back, he aims it at Noah's exo-suit, careful to aim low at his legs and not hit the device he stole (which he stole *fairly*).

Arriving later than the rest of his compatriots, Avalanche makes his way onto the scene. The Horrorcon raising an optic ridge, well both that is, as he looks at the natives. "Hmmm, interesting." Is all the leaves his metallic lips. For now, he tries to -blend- in!

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; strikes Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; Robot with Plasma (Medium Power). Dirge watches Marissa disappear into the crowd, but doesn't bother pursuing. His pale gaze settles lightly on Red Alert again. "What is your business here, Autobot, so far away from your home?"

Blending in will be hard for Avalanche, since the natives are basically Allosauruses wearing top hats.

Mechanical Orthrus &lt;Sinnertwin&gt; grabs the last few bees in his gaping maws and crushes them into little clockwork pieces. "Fear me, foolish creatures! You are inferior to me! Mwahahaha! Hahahah! Hahaha-ARGH!" The Orthrus staggers as the organ grinder monkeys appear, their gritty and terrible music reaching deep within his audio sensors.

Onslaught turns away from Xabat and toward Noah as the other man reaches out for the device before he reaches out for the man himself in order to grab the device from him. As Noah is shot, however, he readies himself to leap forward and take hold of the device once it's dropped.

Red Alert's jaw drops and he stares for a moment out of shock. Finally, he shakes his head. "If you don't already know, Decepticon, I'm not about to tell you!" With that, he finally does fire, though his weapon is on low power - mostly, he's trying to create a distraction, even a moment's worth, which he can use to scramble after the lightning-orb-dohicky.

Allosa, inventor of the device, sees that one of the exo-suits has her science fair project. She tries to push her way through the chaos and the crowd, over to near where Noah Wolfe is.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, No, the device isn't in good hands. Noah smiles, then drops it as he sees the long barrel plasma rifle pointed at him. "Oh sh..." Noah says but is jolted as plasma washes over his body. The gathered plasma explodes but thankfully, the armor is built to take a punishment. The armor's arms flinch backward in the explosion and the device flies out of his hands. "....it!" Noah says, finishing as the device goes flying across the heads of several aliens. The pilot turns and says, "Gotta get it!" Of course, Noah is hardly going to be the one to reach it this turn.

From Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, "NOAH!" Seeing Compton go after his friend only ticks Jayson off. He dashes after the device, in the process also firing a laser from an arm-mounted gun, trying to keep Xabat at bay. "Do us all a favor and get lost!"

A roly-poly Shark-ball moves among the Transformers and dino-people. What is this, the planet of the Dinosaucers or something? Sharkticon &lt;Gnaw&gt; doesn't exactly blend in, but he blends in better than the Decepticons and Humans in Exo's, that's for sure.

Avalanche looks about, his disguise working perfectly! ....Even though he's probably recieving more bewildered looks than anything, haven't these people seen a giant mech before?! However, he seems to be dettached from his comrades. As he is looking at the inventions with a sense of wonder. Hey, some of these machines are pretty nifty, and Ava isn't some simple Decepticon drone.

Avalanche does not recieve any bewildered looks. Some hateful looks, yes, but none bewildered. The Agnoraxians know the Transformers, and they do not approve.

Mechanical Orthrus &lt;Sinnertwin&gt; grabs a grinder monkey in one of his jaws and tosses it onto one of the displays Avalanche is looking at.

Onslaught moves forward, still after the device, and having both longer arms and legs then the humans also viying for it he reaches out and grabs hold of it first. He scoops it up, the device small in hand, before he steps back and turns toward the three humans all competing for the object he's currently holding. Onslaught holds it up high, raising his other hand to beckon toward the humans, as he calls out. "You have been bested, humans!"

The grinder monkey ooks angrily and plays some horrible music at Avalanche.

Marissa Faireborn emerges from the crowd, but near Compton rather than Red and Dirge. She raises her rifle and looks down the sights, aiming for that plasma rifle that the terrorist has just unslung from his back. There's a brief muzzle flash as a burst of bullets fly towards the massive exo-suit weapon.

Mechanical Orthrus &lt;Sinnertwin&gt; doesn't miss a beat and leaps onto the grinder monkey. The display beneath him creakes and whines before finally collapsing under his weight and the two creatures slam against the ground. "PRAISE BE TO THE EMPIRE!" He chomps on the monkey's face.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe swings his armor around and transforms, "Hold on Whistler, this'll be a bumpy ride." Whistler gives a twitter as a question, but Noah doesn't answer. He floors the hovertank right at Onslaught, hoping to ram him. Maybe not getting the object, but at least putting it back in play. Whistler gives a screech as it finally sees what Noah is about to do and gives a few warbles and twitters that is probably best left untranslated...for the children.

The grinder monkey attempts to slam its cymbals onto Sinnertwin's audio sensors, ooking wrathfully.

Avalanche leans forward, "That is being a very ingen..." CRASH!! The display is destroyed in an explosion of grinder monkey! Sighing, as the monkey begins to perform for him, he shakes his head. "The one time, I dont have to crush something..." He says to no one in particular. His optics then focus on the mechanical monstrosity, and he bats it away. Dear Primus is the Horrorcon has to get physical.

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; is skewered by a laser bolt, opening up a hole in its armor from which smoke pours out steadily. "URF!" he grunts. "Bastard! I have a different proposal..." Leveling the plasma rifle at Jayson, he prepares to fire, when several armor piercing rounds miraculously penetrate the rifle's energy clip, detonating it instantly and destroying the weapon. "Nooo!" Xabat cries. "How did that happen!? Bah! I have plenty of weapons on this exo-suit!" A fact he demonstrates by swinging up an arm and revealing a wrist-mounted flamethrower. "Would've settled for killing you quickly, but if it's a barbecue you want..."

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; misses Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot with its fire attack.

From Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield is too quick! He avoids the flames, and despite the danger, he's not intimidated. "You've had plenty of chances to kill me, Xabat. I don't think you can!" He slashes at the Fire Exo with the arm-blade again. "Beat it!"

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; strikes Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; with blade.

Mechanical Orthrus &lt;Sinnertwin&gt; squirms and wiggles on the wreckage of what was once a probably very intricate and life-altering science project. "Rararargahraghgaghrgh!" The Terrorcon doesn't do anything other than make a bigger mess.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; strikes Onslaught with ram.

Lightspeed has arrived.

Marissa Faireborn smiles. It is a rare thing for her to do during a mission, but causing Compton Xabat grief is something that does it every time. Of course the man whips out the flamethrower, but that's no doubt better than that powerful looking plasma rifle, and Jayson looks like he's able to stay ahead of it. Good boy, she thinks. "Nice hit, kid!" she calls out.

Onslaught looks down at his registers the impact on his leg, causing his armor to be dented, as he sees Noah's hovertank: surprisingly he laughs. "You will have to do better then that, human, to win this contest!" He steps back and, turning to Avalanche, gestures to him before pointing toward Noah. "I have more pressing matters...Avalance, show this human how Decepticons fight."

Avalanche dims his optics into slits, as his commander issues an order. "As you wish, commander." He affirms, and quickly turns his sights to Noah. The behemoth, moving towards the Exo, those deadly fists being brought up. "Ill be giving you one chance for surrender, human."

Red Alert managed to loose Dirge, erm, somehow. "No you don't, Decepticon," he hisses out, words sharp and rushed. He raises his particle-beam rifle and fires - not at Onslaught, but at the item Onslaught is holding! The very same item he needs to clear his own name, keep from being arrested, and avoid the metal-to-cheese ray!

ed Alert succeeds in grasping Onslaught, throwing him off-balance.

From Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt;, James Bailey watches on his tactical screen as Marissa lights up Compton's Exo. And he was worried about -her-? Still, he marches his Exo forward, careful not to trip on anything important but still trying to get into the scrum for the device. He keeps shooting concerned glances at his tactical screen as it beeps urgently at him.

Onslaught's arm has jerked back as Red Alert shoots at it, sending the device skittering across the floor, before he draws his own rifle and aims it at the Autobot as he moves himself back toward where he thinks the device has landed. "If you wish it, Autobot, then come through me." And with that he opens fire at Red Alert himself.

Onslaught misses Red Alert with his Burning Beam attack.

Allosa sniffles, rather pitifully, as Red Alert shoots at her project. Then, her eyes narrow purposefully, and she tries to push her way through the crowd to try to snatch up her project.

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; takes the blade across the chest, and hydraulic fluids spurt from the gash. The exo's mechanisms audibly begin to grind from the strain of continued operation. Xabat, however, keeps pushing his machine forward. "Ha, can't kill you? You have it backwards. I'm the only one of us who CAN kill the other. Remember your pathetic little display on Cybertron? You could've done away with me so easily and you didn't do it. And you will most certainly pay for it. Now get out of my way!"

Attempting to shove Jayson aside, Xabat charges after Onslaught, just in time to watch Red Alert fire upon the scanning gizmo! "What have you done!?" Xabat screams. He has no idea if he hit it directly, or even damaged it, all he knows is the blinding rage of watching the Autobots foil his research projects yet again. "Bastard!" he cries, opening up on Red Alert with a barrage of bullets from another wrist mounted blaster.

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; misses Red Alert with its Wrist Blaster attack.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe eeks and this one looks bigger than the last one! Noah pulls the armor back and transforms. He holds his hands up and says, "Yeah, no problem....heh...heh..." then points his armor's arm to the side within the crowd, "Look, it's Galvatron! HAIL GALVATRON!" Hopefully that'll distract the decepticon long enough so his other arm can come around with a roundhouse punch to Avalanche.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; unfolds each pod under itself forming arms and legs, the nose folds down revealing a head which flashes its lone optic.

The Sharkticon ambles along until he comes upon a Hermes exo-unit. For some reason, this registers as food. The hungry lil Sharkball opens wide and tries to take a bite.

Gnaw misses Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot with his bite attack.

From Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield snorts. "So I can't kill you...that only means I'm *better* than you. I won't stoop to your level, Xabat!" He nearly loses his balance as Compton shoves past him, but quickly regains it. "HEY!"

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; misses Avalanche with its distracted roundhouse attack.

Red Alert twists out of the way of Onslaught's shot and, amazingly, managing to dodge Xabat's at the same time. "I'm keeping that thing away from you! Either of you!" he shouts. But he spies the Dinosaur-girl going for it... maybe if he just keeps these guys busy while she retrieves it, he can try to talk to her father later? He returns fire on Xabat, attempting to keep his attention - with luck, it'll keep Onslaught's, too.

Avalanche does not look away from Noah, as he tries to distract him. The foot being caught within the large Decepticon's hand, as he shakes his head. "You had your chance..." He adds, as he slowly pulls his arm up. "Now you must pay!!" The Horrorcon's bellow echos through the area, which is probably impressive, given the firepower being thrown down. Avalanche tries to literally lift the Exo off the ground and swing it over his head, slamming it into the floor.

Red Alert strikes Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; with Rifle - Medium Setting.

Avalanche misses Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; Robot with his toss, and slam attack.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot raises it's left arm, manuevering the mecha-shield set on that arm in place in front of Gnaw's gaping maw. Timed right, it jabs into the Sharticon's mouth and cases the jaws to snap shut on the shield instead of on the Exo-Suit's more important (and delicate) servos and mechanisms.

Inside, James gapes for a second as the bite shears the tip of his shield clean off. That shield has blocked RPGs, particle beams, even a high-explosive missile. Recovering, James twitches at a control, causing the remains of the shield swing at Gnaw's head in a quick sucker punch.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; strikes Sharkticon &lt;Gnaw&gt; with punch.

Amongst all the chaos going on with everything here, it could be a feat that the Technobot Lightspeed even manages to find himself, let alone anyone else. "What kind of party am I missing this time?" He said, trying to process everything that he was seeing. "Though it seems that the 'Cons are around, so that does make things easier to figure out."

Dirge seems to be casually disinterested in whatever's going on, drifting out through the fray like an uninvolved ghost.

Marissa Faireborn spares James a quick nod, unaware of his concern for her wellbeing. She assumes everyone thinks she knows what she's doing (even when she doesn't). Reloading her rifle with several snaps, the Colonel tries to keep track of where the McGuffin has gotten itself. Hopefully the thing doesn't break easily. "Hey, dinosaur gal!" she shouts at Allosa, "Does this place have any cops or an army or what?"

Allosa scoops up her device and cradles it gently. She murmurs to herself, "Oh, what a dreadful mess!" To Marissa, she answers, "Why yes, of course, but I do believe that they are busy guarding the Science Fair. It is very dangerous, you know."

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe grits his teeth, and then gasps as the armor is lifted up into the air. Noah feels sick to his stomach as he ends up upside down. "Hey, can't we talk about this?" he asks while flipping a switch. The Warthog's forearm slides open and a handle pops out, his other hand grabs the bladed weapon and yanks it free before plunging it, or at least attempting to into Avalanche's neck. "Didn't think so ya wanker!" he calls out throwing the joystick forward. If it hits, it's one great way to avoid this last attack. If it does not, Avalanche will have to let him go or risk still getting hit with it.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; misses Avalanche with its boker bowie vibroknife attack.

"BLARG!" Sinnertwin bellows, throwing himself onto yet another display.

ELSEWHERE

A group of dinosaur cops guard the Science Fair, snacking on some delicious meat doughnuts.

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot dashes toward Noah's location, the pilot planning to help him get away from Avalanche. "Leave him alone, you overgrown kitty cat!"

Avalanche quickly swings himself to the side, avoiding the blade of the weapon. However, Noah is correct in one thing, Ava has to release him in order to escape the attack itself. "Come here, runt..." He whispers, and lunges forward at the exo armor. It may have escaped his first attack, but now the Horrorcon has worked up some battle frenzy. Leaning his head back, the Decepticon actually tries to headbutt the Warthog's helmet.

Avalanche strikes Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; Robot with Headbutt.

The blast from Red Alert does more than get Xabat's attention--it blasts off the armor plating on his helmet, revealing underlying circuitry and wires, as well as Xabat's angry mug, which, while bloodied, miraculously wasn't blown to hell when the armor was penetrated. "Aagh!" he screams. He tries bringing up a hand to his face, but this merely brings up his bulky exo-suit hand, which is too big to even reach in there. "You will pay for this, all of you, I swear it!" Igniting the rockets on his back, Xabat bounds away into the sky. "I sweeaaaar itttt!"

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe feels the metal rending crunch of a head impacting the armor's head turning it into so much wreckage. The optic blinks out sending a few holo images on his screens to wink out. Noah looks around him and looks concerned, "Um...guys?" he says nervously while backing away and firing his laser rifle. "Now would be a good time to run..." he says, mostly to himself. His hands start shaking, which only fouls up his aiming.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; strikes Avalanche with Gattling laser cannon rifle (single fire).

Red Alert manages to chase off his two opponents? Gracious! He looks over at where the Dino-girl is cradling her doohicky. "If you've got it, get to safety!" That way, they can do a tactical retreat as well.

Lightspeed drew out his weapon, getting himself ready for battle, and going over what data he could on the scene at hand. Red is in trouble, as are the Humans, and the Decepticons seem to be having a ball. "Time to level the playing field." He said, bringing his laser set to its disruptor setting to bear on Avalanche. "Hey 'Con! Your mother was a two-bit processor of a calculator!" Poor, and nonsensical, but its the best he can come up with for now before firing off the attack.

Lightspeed strikes Avalanche with Disruptor.

The Sharkball takes a smack to the teeth! One or two loosen and fall out, but are quickly replaced. The thwarted Gnaw then gets hungrier. But first he has to beat this meal into submission. He curls up into a ball and starts rolling, building up some steam, then rolls right towards James Bailey's machine!

Gnaw strikes Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot with crush.

Allosa attempts to sneak out of the area with her entangled-electron quantum state energy-sensing tracking device.

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; Robot reaches Noah, but doesn't attack Avalanche. "Come ON!" He grabs the Warthog's arm to pull it away from the Horrorcon. "This is just nuts, man!"

Onslaught turns sharply to look over at Red Alert ahd the dino girl before he turns and looks for Sinnertwin. "Sinnertwin, sneak out the device! We shall observe the area and find the device awy from this disruption!" With that the Combaticon Commander moves through quickly toward the exit.

"These Decepticons and /that/ human are more dangerous than any science fair!" The Colonel shouts back at Allosa. Marissa also notes that the cops and army isn't doing so well at protecting the fair against Sinnertwin, but she keeps that to herself. At least the meat doughnuts can never hope to threaten this planet. And they think of humans as primitive! Marissa heads back towards Red Alert to assist him with protecting the dinosaur gal. She's already plotting her own escape route as well.

Avalanche rises up, even as the gatling laser leaves tiny burnholes in his armor. He stomps through it, just seeping all the energy into him. Where's it's disappointing to watch someone dodge an attack, it's far more fear inducing to literally take it without flinching. It seems to be working, as the Warthog begins to pull away. Though, a tiny dent is formed in the side of Avalanche's chest plate, and he turns to look at Lightspeed. Without so much as a warning, Avalanche leaps at the Autobot, his arms upraised and ready to come down on the poor mech.

Avalanche strikes Lightspeed with overhead slam.

Onslaught has disconnected.

Allosa thinks about what Marissa says and replies, "Hmm... I do not think so. After all, my cousin was working on a bomb that compacts enough neutrons for a star into the size of a teaspoon. I really think that is rather more dangerous than this altercation." She continues to try to slip away from the main fight.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot doesn't have it's shield for defense any more, but that probably wouldn't have helped anyway against this unorthodox but damaging (so, so damaging) attack. The entire Exo is rocked back, barely managing to keep to it's feet. Inside, various warning claxons go off. A discongrously pleasant female voice rings out. "Alert. 20% loss of systems effectiveness. Alert." James eyes his computer system in amazement, then slaps a control that silences the warnings. "Yeah, I noticed," he mutters. Then he depresses the foot petals in his pilot's compartment. The Hermes responds by backing quickly away without ever completely turning it's back on Gnaw. As it goes the small hand-held gunpod in it's right arm swings up and unleashes a quick burst of fire at Gnaw, providing it's own cover fire.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; strikes Sharkticon &lt;Gnaw&gt; with SMG Burst.

From Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;, Noah Wolfe flips the rifle onto the armor's back and grabs what remains of the head and rips it off so he can transform. Of course, this also knocks out a few more of his screens. "Awww skip it, I can still drive away." he says, "More than I can say for that bot." He watches Lightspeed getting crunched as his arm is jerked by Jase. He says, "I know this is nutters! I knew this from the start! Let's get out of here." He turns, transforms, and high tails it out of here. He knows James is more than capable of taking care of himself.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; folds each pod under itself and unfolds to lay down forming its hovertank mode.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Sharkticon &lt;Gnaw&gt;, Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot, Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;, XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;.

From Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt;, Jayson Redfield casts a single glance at Avalanche as he takes off after Noah. "Well, on the bright side...I got to see DINOSAURS!"

Exo-Armor Talon &lt;Jayson Redfield&gt; begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Lightspeed, Sharkticon &lt;Gnaw&gt;, Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot, Dirge, Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; Tank, Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;, Red Alert, XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;.

Sinnertwin, after having successfuly destroyed almost every single display, bounds off after Onslaught. "ANOTHER MISSION WELL DONE! PRAISE BE TO GALVATRON!"

Sinnertwin has disconnected.

Lightspeed didn't live up much to his name just yet, as Avalanche was more than able to leap, close the distance, and slam his arms and fists into his head, causing the Technobot to stagger a bit from the assault. "Right... how about this then?" Lightspeed said. In a feat of stupidity perhaps, or tactical smarts, he goes and throws a punch at the larger, more powerful robot. Most likely Lightspeed had a bit of circuits knocked loose from the blow.

Lightspeed strikes Avalanche with Punch.

Alright, Marissa thinks, the dinosaur woman wins this round. In another time or place she'd chuckle at the reply Allosa gave. Marissa falls back to Red's position, and backs her way into a slow retreat, keeping her rifle ready in case any Decepticons make a run for her (although if any Decepticons /do/ make a run for her, she knows her best bet would be to get the heck out of the way).

Avalanche looks down at Lightspeed, the attack doing nothing but causing a large 'CLUNK' to ring out. The massive Decepticon just stands there and blinks. "Ha...haha...HAHAHAHA!" He laughs, and crouches down. "Is that all?!" He demands the smaller mech. Rearing his right hand back, he attempts to pimpslap Lightspeed across his faceplate.

Avalanche strikes Lightspeed with know your place..

It seems like the dinosaur girl is making a clean getaway. Excellent. Red Alert transforms and his door lifts out. "We should be able to get out of here soon enough," he observes, tone a bit worried as he sees Avalanche tear at Lightspeed.

The Sharkball is hit again! And it still hasn't gotten food yet! Gnaw transforms and grabs his 'tail', swinging it over his head and then at the Hermes.

Gnaw transforms into his robot mode.

Gnaw misses Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot with his Spikey Tail Mace of Doom(tm) attack.

Allosa honestly isn't trying to one-up Marissa or anything. It is just that Agnorax is quite a mad world, lacking the logic of other places. She inquires of Marissa, "So, what brought you to Agnorax? You seem in opposition to that beastly man who stole my project."

Lightspeed falls back as he gets pimped slapped and shown his place, another large dent in his head being left now. Quickly backing away from Avalanche, he swiftly turned his weapon into its light-burst mode. "Have a taste of this then!" Lightspeed said, aiming the weapon up at Avalanche's face and firing, hopefully having the desired effect.

"Oh we're sort of looking for the Autobot Matrix of Leadership," Marissa replies out of instinct. The Colonel doesn't think that Allosa knows anything about it, mind. She slowly lowers her rifle as the Decepticons seem like they're occupied. "I don't mean to push or anything, but why are we hanging around chit-chatting? How about we find somewhere safer."

Lightspeed strikes Avalanche with his Light-Burst attack.

Fire Chief's Car does have his doors open, although it'll take pretty grand-scale, well, scale-fudging to fit Allosa inside.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot crouches slightly, waiting for Gnaw to swing. At precisely the right moment takes a quick shuffling step to one side, just avoiding swinging tail. Then springs up, firing the jets set in the thruster-pack and flying into the air in a short, shallow hop that sends it to where Noah's Warthog was a few seconds ago. When it touches down, the Exo turns and aims it's gunpod at Avalanche, unleashing a single shot, not wanting to risk a burst that might hit Lightspeed as well.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; strikes Avalanche with SMG Shot.

Allosa suggests, "Perhaps my father's laboratory. The clockwork guards are a modern wonder." She starts to head off that way, and she seems to be trying to remember something. "The... Matrix? Is that what you said?"

Avalanche cries out, as the weapon is fired and lands home. The juggernaut of a Cybertronian falling backwards, flailing about as he is incapacitated for the moment. In his fit, the land beneath his is torn apart!

"Erm, excuse me, not to be rude, miss, but we really should get out of here." Red Alert pauses. "You're a bit big to sit inside, but if you need to ride on top or... or grapple something to the bar, or something?"

Glad that his attack managed to land and bought them some time, Lightspeed began to pull back, ready to burn rubber, helping himself along with a quick transform into his technocar form. "Time to get moving folks!" He said, staring off. He wasn't leaving the area just yet, as he still had a job to do and helping Red find info out on the Matrix while keeping the 'Cons off of him was the current one.

Lightspeed shifts and transforms into his cybertonic car mode.

Noah Wolfe leaves the Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;.

Noah Wolfe has arrived.

Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt; has left.

Noah Wolfe takes Exo-Armor Warthog &lt;Noah Wolfe&gt;.

Noah Wolfe has disconnected.

"Yeah, the Matrix," Marissa replies, perking up. "of Leadership." She knows all about Matrixes of different sorts by now. The Colonel hastily follows after Allosa, having to jog to keep up with the larger fleshie.

Fire Chief's Car actually remains in place to ensure that the others manage to retreat. He can still hear Marissa and Allosa from where he is.

Of course, this means that there's a police car sitting in the middle of the carnage being more or less ignored.

Avalanche quickly flings himself forward, landing on his hands and knees. "Die...." He grunts out, as his body begins to reconfigure into his tiger mode. The claws of the beast digging deeply into the ground. A rumple emanating from the Horrorcon, as he is then struck from the side by James. Avalanche then roars at the Exo. "Flee!" His words are as cold as ice, literally, as liquid nitrogen is fired from his maw at James' suit.

Falling foward, Avalanche reverts to his tiger mode.

Avalanche misses Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot with his freezing blast attack.

Allosa 'ohs' and explains, "My father, the High Scientist Urus, he was working on a tracking device - much like mine - with Maxitran, a Transformer scientist. They located the Matrix using the equipment, but as soon as they had the location, Maxitran destroyed all the equipment. That's why I rebuilt it as my project." Soon, they are at the laboratories of the High Scientist. They look pretty swanky.

Gnaw is ignored for some reason, but he does not veer from his goal of eating that Hermes Exo-Tank. He rushes at James Bailey's machine, fist out. Well if all else fails, pummel it to death!

Gnaw misses Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot with his punch attack.

Lightspeed keeps himself moving, driving around the area as best he can, giving the current condition of the area. Best to keep his distance from the more powerful Decepticon, and hopefully his speed will help with that. No taunts now, nor battle cries come from the Technobot. What does come, though, comes from the missile launchers that he now has in this form. Both of them. Twin Missiles flying off at Avalanche.

Lightspeed strikes Mecha Tiger &lt;Avalanche&gt; with Missile.

Marissa Faireborn slings her rifle over her shoulder as they reach the laboratory of Allosa and High Scientist Urus. "Very swanky lab you have here," she compliments. Listening to the story, she frowns. "Maxitran... I don't suppose you have any information on him? There's all manner of rogue Transformers running about. I can't even begin to guess which one of them might be posing as this fellow. Do you know what location was reported initially?"

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Robot hops gracefully to one side, avoiding the freezing blast from Avalanche. The move takes it a step to close to Gnaw though, and this time the Exo has to scramble to keep away from the Sharkticon's fist. Inside, James eyes various tactical readouts, frowning. Well, he wanted to draw the attention of the Decepticons. The good news is, it looks like he succeeded. But that's also bad news. Noting Lightspeed's tactic, James triggers his Exo's transformation into it's sturdier tank form and throws it into reverse, firing off his gun almost continously now. This time he sends another stream of fire at Gnaw. The Hermes reconfigures into Exo-Tank configuration.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; strikes Gnaw with SMG Burst.

Allosa moves past clockwork guards and leads Marissa to a room full of mysterious bubbling fluids in tortuous glass structures, setting her device down on a table made of gears. She explains, "I had little to do with Maxitran, I am afraid. My schoolwork keeps me quite busy. I believe... the device read Velocitron, in the Marshall Cluster. Couldn't get any more specific than that, from here. It would need to be closer."

Velocitron. That probably involves racing, Marissa thinks as she follows Allosa. She doesn't know of the planet offhand. "I'll have to talk with your father, then, about Maxitran. Do you know if either of them had plans for this Matrix detector?"

Mecha Tiger &lt;Avalanche&gt; growls as the human is able to avoid his icey blast, so focused he was on the Exo, that the Horrorcon failed to notice the missile flying at him. They strike, and man do they strike hard. The beast cries out in agony as the warheads explode on impact. Leaving a large cloud of techno bits and rubble in it's wake. For a moment, there is no movement from within the cloud. That is, before the beast bursts through, wisps of the wreckage trailing behind him. Avalanche closes the distance quickly, unlike Lightspeed, he just runs down everything in his path instead of weaving around it. Then taking a smaller initial leap to gain momentum, the Horrorcon pounces with a second leap right at lightspeed. Those deadly claws and fangs seeking energon, Lightspeed's energon!

Avalanche strikes Technocar with crush.

Allosa frets over her device, checking to see if it is damaged. She shakes her head and replies, "Not sure. My father was more interested in the ability to track /anything/. The Matrix was incidental, to him." She gestures to a rather large chair with a clear hole cut in it for a tail, and she inquires, "Oh, how dreadful of me to forget! Would you like some tea?"

When Lightspeed thinks back on this mission, he will certainly decide that the next time he fights Avalanche, he'll do it with his fellow Technobots. Computron would easily be able to kick the 'Con's rear. Revenge of the Nerds!

For now, though, Lightspeed finds his sleek technocar mode torn into, claws and fangs tearing car doors and fenders off, as well as various other pieces. Wincing, Lightspeed knew that he couldn't really keep on fighting like this, and to keep on doing so would put him in even more trouble. "Pulling out now!" Lightspeed said, mostly for Red's sake. He just hoped that he managed to do more than enough to keep the Decepticons busy for the mission to be done.

Lightspeed begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;.

Allosa looks confused and tilts her head to the side, "Business cards? What are these business cards of what you speak?" She also seems downcast over the denial of tea.

"Or a phone number or some way of contacting you by radio...?" Marissa asks, still rushing.

Gnaw is filled full of holes! Being flimsy as Sharkticons are, the damage is quite apparent. Angrily, Gnaw jumps up and tries to belly flop onto James' exo.

Gnaw strikes Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; Tank with smash.

Allosa blinks a bit. She says slowly, "Do you mean like a lodestone resonator?" The technology of Agnorax never did follow the rest of the galaxy very well.

Compton Xabat leaves the Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;.

Compton Xabat has arrived.

Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt; has left.

Compton Xabat takes Exo-Suit Fire &lt;Compton Xabat&gt;.

Compton Xabat moves east to Agnorax Aerospaceport.

Compton Xabat has left.

"...maybe?" Marissa asks. "Look, it doesn't matter. I'll just send someone back here with a radio if need be. Thank you very much for your help, Allosa, and I'm glad the Cons didn't manage to... ah, do /too/ much damage." Least they got the science project back. "And for the offer of tea, but I've got to help my friends." Although in this case that just means meeting up with them to high tail it off the planet.

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

From Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt;, James Bailey grimaces as Gnaw flops onto his Exo-Suit. He hears the sounds of metal straining echoing through his pilot's comportmant, and is it his imagination or did the canopy over his head just move a few inches down...? He checks a few screens and notes that his souped up Warthog's hover systems are being taxed heavily by the extra weight, but they're still holding - both the tank itself and the uninvited passenger are still being held in the air. Narrowing his eyes, James adjusts the throttle. Still moving in reverse, he actually accelerates, while at the same time turning so that he's headed straight back towards Avalanche. Right before colliding with the huge Decepticon, James twists at the controls, causing the tank to fishtail around so that hopefully Gnaw goes flying off and into the Horrocon. Even if it works, it probably won't hurt either Decepticon too much, but James will take what he can get!

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; strikes Gnaw with Avalanche, meet Gnaw.

Allosa replies, "Thank you for helping me recover my project. I do appreciate it." She then vanishes off into the depths of laboratory, perhaps inspired to build some better clockwork police.

Marissa Faireborn offers a slight salute to the departing Allosa before turning tail herself. She exits the lab and heads for the rendezvous spot. If Red Alert is also heading there then she can hitch a ride. Otherwise she'll walk.

Fire Chief's Car can be Faireborn's ride. Especially since she just saved him from a report. Woo-hoo!

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/102                    Posted        Author Agnorax                           Thu Dec 04    Marissa Faireborn --

*** TEXT ONLY ***

More proper reports will be forthcoming, I'm sure, but I wanted to quickly pass on this information: Allosa, the daughter of Agnorax's High Scientist, indicated that 'Maxitran' built a Matrix detector along with the High Scientist, but then destroyed it and ran off (persumably after it) once they had the Matrix's rough location. Said location was Velocitron, in the Marshall Cluster. I think we know our next place to visit!

- Colonel Marissa Faireborn

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

==================================== EDC ===================================== Message: 22/29                    Posted        Author Agnorax                           Thu Dec 04    Marissa Faireborn --

*** TEXT ONLY ***

More proper reports will be forthcoming, I'm sure, but I wanted to quickly pass on this information: Allosa, the daughter of Agnorax's High Scientist, indicated that 'Maxitran' built a Matrix detector along with the High Scientist, but then destroyed it and ran off (persumably after it) once they had the Matrix's rough location. Said location was Velocitron, in the Marshall Cluster. I think we know our next place to visit!

- Colonel Marissa Faireborn

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

Marissa Faireborn has disconnected.

Mecha Tiger &lt;Avalanche&gt; breathes out a small gust of frost, as Lightspeed begins to retreat from the area. "Cowards..." He voices. As the Autobot disappears over the Horizon, Avalanche gets knocked by his fellow Decepticon! This was a bad move, as Avalanche now has something to vent his battlelust on! Tossing Gnaw off of him, the beast slowly approaching the exo. "I would suggest retreating, speck...."

Hinder has arrived.

From Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt;, James Bailey slams his throttle into reverses one more time, then spins around so that he's facing away from the Decepticons and and guns his main engines, accelerating away in the direction the other EDCers retreated in.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Technocar, Fire Chief's Car, XF-35B Astral Lightning &lt;Catechism&gt;.

The Sharkticon picks itself up rather clumsily after being used as a projectile against the Horrorcon. "Want foooood," the Sharkticon mumbles, rubbing his head.

Lightspeed has left.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; moves east to Agnorax Aerospaceport.

Exo-Tank Hermes &lt;James Bailey&gt; has left.

Hinder appears from somewhere nearby, pausing to watch the strange not-cons run/fly/drive away. Then she bounds toward Avalanche through whatever kind of chaos remains.

Mecha Tiger &lt;Avalanche&gt; watches as all the opposition is in full retreat. However, something moves about in the rubble. Transforming into his robot mode, the Horrorcon looks down at the small creature. A smile finally appearing on his features when he realizes who it is. "Hinder! Im glad you were not getting in this."

Leaping up, Avalanche transforms into his titanic robot mode.

Hinder slows to a waddle-walk the stops to look up, up, up at Avalanche. "What does Veloci..tron mean?"

Gnaw looks at Hinder, then at Avalanche. "Food?"

Dirge has disconnected.

Hinder looks at Gnaw. "Velocitron means food?"

Red Alert goes home.

Red Alert has left.

Avalanche leans down, uncurling his fingers and allowing Hinder to move onto his palm if she so desires. His head turns towards Gnaw, and he snarls at the Sharkticon. "No! This one is a friend!" He yells at the mech, knowing that it takes a strong hand to get through to the idiotic quint trash.

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/103                    Posted        Author Agnorax                           Thu Dec 04    Red Alert -- Quick text report.

"Visited Agnorax with Lightspeed, Marissa Fairborn, Jayson Redfield, Noah Wolfe, and James Bailey in search of the Matrix. When we arrived, we found a science fair in progress. The natives are familiar with Transformers, and not fond of them - Maxitran was, indeed here. He supposedly collaborated with their Lead Scientist, Urus, and afterwards destroyed their equipment and left.

"While I was present, the science project of Urus's daughter went missing, and I was accused of the theft. I offered to allow them to search me, but they would only be satisfied with a disection. Being as I wouldn't be satisfied with that, we decided to find the project.

"Bailey discovered that Compton Xabat was on scene and, in fact, possessed the object. While in pursuit of him, I learned that the Decepticons Onslaught, Sinnertwin, and Dirge, were also at the fair - and they learned I was there. Once we caught up with Xabat and the Decepticons caught up with us, things went about as one would predict, and they got predictably worse when Decepticon reinforcements Avalanche and... a Sharkticon arrived. Eventually, the local girl, Allosa, was able to recover her science project, and we were able to ensure that she made it safely away from the scene of the battle before withdrawing ourselves. It was from her that Marissa was able to get the information she provided, and for which I thank her.

"Respectfully/Very Respectfully

"Red Alert"

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

Hinder readily starts to climb into Avalanche's hand, but then shrinks away in surprise when he yells, not immediately sure who he's yelling at.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Avalanche says, "I believe Hinder has some valuable information, requesting a pickup."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Shadow says, "Hinder? She is not injured, I hope?"