Spotlight: Red Alert

Overview: Can Red Alert and the Autobots find a killer before he strikes again? And will the Decepticons get in the way?

Barracks

This is the barracks area where the Autobot troops spend the time between operations. Recharge tables line the walls and in one corner is a training area for combat duels and such. A gun rack lies in another corner, and along the far wall is a holoviewer. Assorted Autobots are here joking with each other, practicing, or just simply resting. Along the back part of the wall is a long bar, stocked with various types of energon, and even a few human drinks stored on the shelves behind it. The build looks distinctly Junkion, cobbled together from spare parts here and there but overall quite sturdy. A truly oversized jukebox has been installed in one corner.

Players:

Powerglide               Red Alert

Objects:

Arcee's Room < AR >        Beachcomber's Hideyhole < Bluestreak's Room (BR)

Chromia's Room < CMA >     Cleansing Station         Defcon's Quarters < DQ >

Double-Take's computer la Foxfire's Den            Gears' Quarters

Hot Spot's Base < HSB >    J-Turn's Quarters < JTQ >   Lightspeed's Quarters

Mishap's Locker          Moonracer's Corner        Nitro's Workplace < NW >

Outback's Garage < OG >    Phoenix' Quarters < PQ >    Pipe's Hidey Hole < PH >

Powerglide's Crib        Raindance's Sneaky Planni Raptor's Keep

Scattershot's Quarters < S Skids' Row < SR >          Slag's Barracks

Sludge's Suite           Sonicboom's Quarters < SBQ Spectrum's Domicile < SD >

Spinout's Turf           Steeljaw's Catbed < SJC >   Tempo's Sanctuary

The Good Twin's Hangout  The Twin's Place          Tracks' Quarters < TQ >

Trailbreaker's Lodge < TL > Twin Twist's Table < TTT > Whirligig's Space

Yellowjacket's Bunk < YB > sample cubicle

Cleansing Station

At various points through the barracks area there are cleansing stations, which Autobots may use to clean themselves. These generally use cleansers that are much too harsh for humans, but some have been adapted to human use. If someone looks very closely at the one nearest to Powerglide's quarters, one may find the faintest traces of a salt crust on the drain.

Nightbeat has arrived.

Talazia Keldahoff has arrived.

Red Alert is crouched next to one of the available cleansing stations, examining some faint white residue with an intent frown on his expression. He mutters something about missing his nose, then rubs his face. The parts are almost finished, he's been told, and he should be back to normal in a day, at most.

Won't everyone else be overjoyed?

Nightbeat smells faintly of gunsmoke and quick-setting patching compound. One look at him says he's been in a fight recently, given that the aforementioned patching compound has been applied to him and hasn't even been painted over yet, and he looks none too pleased as he totes around an evidence bag containing a small (human-sized) pair of wireless headphones. At first, it looks like he's going to make a straight trajectory for his office, ignoring all those gathered here, but then he stops and pauses, still not looking at those gathered. Instead, he squints at the cleansing station, the same one Red Alert is crouched near.

Broadside has arrived.

Tailgate enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the south.

Tailgate has arrived.

Kup is standing next to Red Alert, arms folded. "So, whatcha got, Red?" The old mech is looking in better condition than usual, mostly because he got fixed by a Junkion before he had a chance to ditch repairs after his last fight.

The door to Powerglide's room is kicked open and the sounds of obnoxious and stupidly loud rap music leak out. Pieces of trash and some torn magazine pages flutter out onto the floor as Powerglide exits into the main area. He kicks the door closed. He's so damn classy. He rubs his forehead and looks over at the INVESTIGATION group. "Oh, you guys here to clean the stations?"

Tailgate clankity-clank-clanks into the barracks hall. Is he.. skipping? Oh dear.

Broadside is looming over Red Alert's shoulder like a huge but good-natured shiny-headed baliff.

Talazia Keldahoff trots her way in in the Ventress Exo-armor and tilts her head at Red Alert. "What's the matter, Red?"

Red Alert straightens up, frowning, and gestures to the cleansing station ('l cleansing station'). "Just that salt in the cleansing station that Foxfire found. You know, the stuff that was identified as being from the North Atlantic?" He crosses his arms and glowers at Powerglide. "Right here. Next to Powerglide's room?"

Nightbeat would look disturbed by Tailgate's skipping if he wasn't so very jaded. A jewellery store in China ain't half as jadeful as Nightbeat. He stows the bag with the headphones in subspace and shoots off sloppy salutes to Red Alert and Kup, which is a tell-tale sign he hasn't been reading his messages. Again. Nightbeat looks over at Powerglide skeptically.

Mirage has arrived.

Powerglide stares at Red Alert for a while, trying to understand what he's heard. He points to himself with a finger, "Me?"

Cutter, a minor, almost faceless Autobot (he has a facemask) with a salvage bout alternate mode who's lived here for quite some time (remember Cutter, everyone?) wanders down into the barracks, no doubt heading towards his non-objected room and looks around at the gathering crowd. "Wow," he observes. "This is quite a crowd gathering!"

Tailgate skips, indeed, up to the cleansing station at the focus of everyone's attention. And there he begins to wash his hands. "Cleanliness is next to mechliness, as yomommatron always used to say!" he tells no one in particular.

Salvage boat, dammit.

Any relation to Runabout?

Not that Cutter is willing to talk about.

Kup returns Nightbeat's sloppy salute with one of his own, then turns his attention back to the trail of salt. "Huh. Yeah. And Powerglide ain't exactly much of a swimmer, now..." He turns towards the Minibot and fixes him with a menacing GLARE. "ARE YA?"

Nightbeat steeples his forefingers together. Clearly, he has walked into a mystery! Getting plastered in his office can wait. He points out, "If he was flying low, it'd be easy for him to get salt spray on his underbelly. Too easy." Nightbeat actually does remember Cutter, but only because he has a photographic memory and curiousity enough to kill off a whole pet store's worth of cats.

"Why are you yelling at me? I just woke up," Powerglide whines. "Uh, I mean, I just got done with my drills. And cleaning duty. And such." He coughs and looks around, "Look, can we all just leave now?"

Tailgate shakes cleaning fluid off his hands. "Powerglide!" he yells. Sure, the other minibot is /right there/, but he yells anyway.

Talazia Keldahoff ponders at all of this. "sounds like either Powerglide's either been flying over the ocean or he was tailing someone over the ocean." she says quietly. "Is this the Sea Salt Forfire mentioned?"

"So you're saying that we should check Powerglide's belly?" Red Alert asks, tone thoughtful. He frowns and tilts his head. "But is he really strong enough for all that?" He places his hand on his head and exclaims, "Tailgate! That was evidence!" as the Minibot washes his hands.

"Strong enough for what?" Cutter asks, heading towards the door to his room. Which just so happens to be right next to Powerglide's. Then he chuckles at Tailgate. "Ah, Yomommatron... how I miss her!"

Powerglide rubs the side of his head, "Wait, wait, wait. Let's start over. What are you guys talking about? Sea salt? Evidence? Did something happen that no one told me about?" He stares at Cutter. "And since when did you have a room next to mine? /Who are you/?"

Kup points accusingly at Powerglide. "Yeah? Well, let's see your patrol logs. See if you actually did anything on those patrols, huh?" He gives Tailgate a look, briefly, as he finishes washing his hands. He scowls. Tailgate is crazy, sure, but crazy enough to commit multiple, cold-blooded murders?

Nightbeat observes, "Thing is, salt's really soluble in water. Y'know. Ocean and all. But you know what it means? It washes off real easy." He sighs a bit as Tailgate destroys evidence. Oi. Someday, he oughta teach these people how to handle a crime scene, but that would involve being responsible. Ugh.

Talazia Keldahoff blinks a bit. "hey guys? If Nightbeat could get the salt off the floor.....Red? could you get the salt off of the legs of the Ventress? I was over the Atlantic Recently.....you could compare it. As you could from Fanfare. Me first."

Tailgate looks up at Red Alert. And Kup. And everyone, as he starts to bounce from foot to foot. "What was evidence? Why are we yelling? What's going on here!? WHY CAN'T WE JUST ALL GET ALONG?!" he cries, plaintively.

Cutter rubs the back of his head, looking as innocent of any wrong-doing as a mechanoid with a faceplate can look. "I've been here for ages!" he exclaims, then tilts his head and looks at Powerglide. "I think you were drunk anytime I've seen you while going in and out of my room, come to think of it. Anyway, I'm Cutter!" He holds out his hand towards Tailgate to shake it by way of introduction.

Red Alert sighs and frowns. "That's appreciated, Talazia, but we already identified where it came from. I was hoping to ID who it had been attached to, though." He rubs his nose again, and grumbles.

Tailgate calms down immediately and says, all friendliness and docility, "Hi, Cutter, I'm Windcharger!"

Tailgate shakes hands. Actually his hand isn't articulated enough for that complex level of grasping, but he makes a go at it.

Cutter's optics flicker in surprise and confusion as he returns the handshake. "Then how come everyone's been calling you Tailgate?" he asks.

Powerglide looks away from Cutter when he brings up the 'excessively drunk' thing. Quick, change the subject! "Uh..patrol logs, uh, sure. Right. Hold on." He opens his door and dissapears inside only to reappear after a few minutes with a large cardboard box. "They're in here somewhere..uhh..let's see.."

Tailgate 'blinks,' himself. "What else would they call me?"

Nightbeat does not take orders from dames! Okay, that's a lie. He takes orders from Elita-1 sometimes! He's not sure how that broad didn't drive Optimus Prime to drinking, though. Nightbeat raises a finger and asks, "Hey, Captain? Can't we just get the tapes outta those security cameras you love so much? See who used that station?"

"Well, you said your name was Windcharger," Cutter points out.

Somewhere in the midst of all this crazy action and adventure, the silent one makes his presence unknown. He kind of fades into optical view from nowhere, not being too far from the action, but not being too close either. This would be the bot known as Mirage. He basically just stands nearby, immediately continuing to listen to the conversation that's happening. It's almost as if he's been here for this whole time. But, with him and his invisible nature, who really knows how long he's been hanging about here. Hm.

Tailgate gives Cutter the 'you're crazy' look. "Uh.. Windcharger died. Man, talk about no tact /what/ so /ever/."

Talazia Keldahoff says, "it was a shot in the dark, Red." She says before looking to Nightbeat. "sorry. thought I had a decent idea, Nightbeat." She says while leaning out of the open chest-plated canopy of the Ventress."

Nightbeat might know how long Mirage's been there. He does have keen powers of observation backed by enhanced senses. Then again, he might not. Either way, Nightbeat's not saying. He arches an optical ridge at Talazia and murmurs, "Touchy, touchy."

Having a conversation with Tailgate is often like playing a game in which the rules keep changing. Also without you knowing you're playing. The minibot perks up and turns to address the crowd, clanking his hands together. "Okay, so, like, someone tell me what's going on before I burn on outta here. It's getting boring."

It takes a moment for Red Alert to realize he's being addressed. Then he blinks at Nightbeat and his palm clangs against his forehead. "Of course! Why didn't I th- sedatives." Then he shakes his head and tells Nightbeat, "You need to check an updated roster," then nods towards Talazia. "Well, thanks for the suggestion, either way."

Cutter's optics widen into horrified 'o's' at Tailgate's comment. "Oh, he is? Oh! I'm terribly sorry to hear that!"

Red Alert explains to Tailgate, "It's the sea salt. We think it's connected to the Decepticon and human bodies found by the EDC a week or so ago." He sobers and looks around the room. "The Decepticons are one thing, we are at war, but if an Autobot has been killing humans, they need to be stopped."

Silverbolt enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the south.

Silverbolt has arrived.

Kup scowls as he waits impatiently for Powerglide to get back, tapping his foot. And while he's gone... "By the way, Tailgate," Kup grunts, "Mind tellin' us where you been lately? I mean, I don't REALLY wanna know, but I gotta ask, since, well..." He struggles for a way to explain it tactfully. "...you ain't all there, ya know?" Yeah, couldn't do it.

Nightbeat slaps his forehead with the butt of his hand and grumbles, "Oh, right. What's it now, Commander Red Alert?" He pulls out his datapad and syncs back into Autobot City wireless, briefly glancing over his messages and the roster, and he makes a face. "...Sergeant. Wait, sedatives? And Punch said /I/ was the drug addict in Intel. Of all the..."

Powerglide looks up from his Box-o-Papers. "Woah, woah, woah, woooaaahhh...You mean to tell me there are bodies involved now? Bodies killed by an /Autobot/? Why was I not informed!?"

"Because you obviously don't review the messaging system reports!" Red Alert snaps at Powerglide, crossing his arms.

Tailgate rolls his optics ceilingward. "Murder? BOOOORing! Anyway, I saw Powerglide covering himself in sea salt and olive oil slapping himself with a fly swatter and crying about being a 'bad air-e-o-plane.'" Beat. "Whatever that means. Oh, hi old dude. Uh.. old Kup. Kup dude. Um.. Kup Kup? I take umbrage at your insinuation but will defend to the death your right to make such /stupid/ accusations."

"I told Cliffjumper," replies Broadside. "I thought all you little guys talked to eachother."

Cutter scuffs his feet as he realize /he/ hasn't been checking the messaging system reports, either.

Powerglide throws an arm around Tailgate, "Ahahaha, yeah! Tailgate! You curazy guy! Saying weird things!" He leans in and hisses, "What did I say about telling people about that!? God, you are such a canary!" Powerglide lets go of the Minibot and slaps him on the back, "Ahahha! Ignore him. He's insane."

Foxfire has arrived.

Silverbolt walks into the middle of something... and he's not sure what it is. Granted, Red Alert is involved which means opening your mouth could get you in trouble. Of course, keeping your mouth shut could get you into trouble too. Silverbolt simply stands off to the side and listens. He's just a warrior, nothing to see there.

Kup shakes a fist down at Tailgate. "Why, you!!! You crazy little--if I find out you did this I swear to Primus... right to the moon!" Now that Powerglide has returned to his field of vision, Kup quickly turns his wrath upon him. "And what do your logs say, Powerglide? You actually do 'em, or gundeck 'em?" Gundecking is a term for checking in items on a checklist, like say for routine maintenance, but not actually performing what the item requires. In other words, it's being lazy.

Tailgate oofs! as Powerglide slaps him on the back. This obviously knocks something loose. "YOU'RE a canary!" The minibot folds his blocky arms across his blocky chest. Back to Kup! "I totally read that report like the words were jumping off the page into my /brain/, you know? And the first thing I thought with my thinking thing was.. hey, what if Foxfire found that hideous, ugly, evil salt because /he/ was the one that put it there? Y'know, a little CPA." Then he starts to get lost. "Uh.. or was it CFA? CPO? IPO? CEO. No wait... oh.. how about CYA? What does that even mean, anyway? Y. It's such a funny letter. /Sometimes/ a vowel? Make up your fracking mind, /Y/!"

Nightbeat whirls around and looks over at Silverbolt, pointing a finger and demanding, "You! Where have /you/ been? Have you seen Powerglide over the North Atlantic, by any chance?"

There is a rather large crowd around Powerglide's room at this point, and the cleansing station right next to Powerglide's room. The crowd includes Cutter, the Autobot with a salvage-boat alternate mode who happens to have the quarters right next to Powerglide. Remember Cutter? He's been here for years!

Foxfire steps out of his room, looking vaguely irritated. He comes to a stop and paws at an ear with a slight wince. "What's all the noise out here? Is this about that damned salt? Ugh..." He pauses, and turns to Tailgate as he mentions a new 'theory'. "*Excuse* me?"

Tailgate steps out of Foxfire's way. "Oh, you need the cleaning station? Sorry, have at it."

Tailgate gives a double thumbs up.

Powerglide shrinks back as Kup hollers at him. "No! No! I have them! I swear! Please don't hit me!" He squats down and resumes searching through the box. Searching means throwing stuff around in this case. Magazine. Magazine. Drawing of Slingshot. Another drawing of Slingshot. More drawings of Slingshot. A photo of Slingshot. "Oh! Here!" He pulls out a folder with all the logs in them. "See? Totally up to date! No need to look at them!"

Kup quickly interjects, "No, don't have at it! We're investigating!"

Foxfire shakes his head. "No, not that." He'd like to stay away from the stations entirely if he could help it. "What was that about me putting the salt there?"

Tailgate peeeeeeers at Foxfire. "Salt? Who said anything about salt? I was just accusing you of being a horrific, terrible, gruesome murderer. What's salt got to do with that?"

Tailgate stage-whispers to Foxfire, "Nice work, by the way."

"But there's also a footprint in the lobby," Red Alert points out, "that's way too big for Foxfire."

So, Silverbolt has been seen. And he's not pleased with being addressed in such a manner, even by a surperior officer. The stern look of the Aerialbot Commander turns negative. He glares at Nightbeat. "I've been at Peterson Air Force base doing repairs and maintaining a patrol." He crosses his arms. "And prior to that I was off-planet dealing with other duties." Silverbolt steps up to Nightbeat. "Anything more?"

Presented with this contrary evidence from Red Alert, Tailgate shouts at Foxfire, "I knew you didn't have the tire rods for it! Fraud!"

Foxfire facepaws. "Just...just stop talking, Tailgate." He approaches Red. "Made any more discoveries?"

Kup snatches the logs from Powerglide VIOLENTLY, crinkling them in his hands as he looks them over. Do the logs check out? Who knows, but Kup doesn't seem happy. Of course, he hasn't been happy for some time, now, but hey.

Red Alert shakes his head. "I was trying to get a better look at the ones we have, since that seems to be all we've got to go on." Red Alert crosses his arms, frustrated.

Talazia Keldahoff ponders. "is it a full footprint or partial, red?" She then looks to Foxfire. "Hey Foxy. we were just looking at your sea salt discovery. I offered salt from the Ventress as a comparison, from when I escorted Fanfare from the UK the other day, but seems Red knows where it came from, but not WHO."

Cutter looks down at his rather large, squarish feet. Feet that would fit many commonly sized Transformer footprints readily. He sighs. "I'm really sorry to hear that folks have been getting killed, but you know... this is war, and that sort of thing happens." Then he shrugs. "Anyway, if no one needs me for anything, I'm going to go defragment."

Mirage is, for his part, quietly observing and making mental notes about the actions and reactions of the Bots in question and those doing the questioning. He's not really the type to say much of anything at this point, as he's trying to make sure that he's paying more attention to the possible things that could be clues than he is anything else at the moment. Again: Hm.

Foxfire sits on his haunches with a quiet sigh. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."

Nightbeat snaps, "Oh, no! You're not going anywhere, Cutter. For one thing, this is a crime scene, and no one leaves. For two, you are... a /boat/. Don't think I didn't notice."

Tailgate waves a blocky hand at Cutter, dismissively. "Yeah, whatever, Cuttotron. Why don't you go back to boating it up in the ocean where you turn into a boat and float on the ocean water all the time, and stop reminding me about my dead friend constantly, jerk."

"Of course I'm a boat!" Cutter answers Nightbeat, shocked. "I mean, I've got boat-bits all over me! It's kind of hard to miss!" He turns to look at Tailgate and blinks several times, confused.

Foxfire pins his ears back and gives Cutter a look. "I don't think I like your attitude. Are you even *helping* here? If not, then be quiet."

Nightbeat waves a hand dismissively, "Yes, yes, you're a boat." The detective asks, deadly serious, "Now, have you been on any patrols in the Atlantic lately? - and Foxfire, don't aid and abet him! He's clearly being evasive, Don't give him an excuse to shut up!"

Foxfire waves his paw. "Right, sorry. Keep talking, then, Cutter."

Cutter hunches his shoulders and looks embarrassed as Foxfire yells at him, then looks up at Nightbeat, optics round, faceplate hiding anything else. "Why, sure, I've been on patrols in the Atlantic. Rodimus ordered all ocean-goers to step up patrols, after all!"

Tailgate rolls his optics. Again. "Suuure, let's jump all over the guy that turns into a boat just because this horrifyingly brutal crime of passion, dismemberment, and passion came to its end on the /water/ where a /boat/ would be the perfect suspect in every single conceivable way, and just because even his name, /Cutter/, suggests that he may in fact enjoy /cutting/ things like /dismembered corpses/! You guys are such paranoid jerks, I don't know why I put up with any of you. Hrmph."

Kup tosses the reports back at Powerglide, creating a huge mess of cyberpapers. "These reports are over fifty years old, you dingbat! Don't you have anything more up to date? Because this ain't lookin' good for..." Just then, though, he catches Nightbeat cornering Cutter out of the corner of his eye. He watches that for a moment, then harrumphs and returns his attention to Powerglide. "Like I was sayin', this ain't lookin' good for ya!"

Nightbeat calls cheerily to Tailgate, "A paranoid jerk? Gee thanks! That's the nicest thing anyone's ever called me." Then, he goes back to grilling Cutter. "Long, lonely patrols on official orders, huh? Clearly, you're a man who doesn't make waves." Nightbeat should probably be shot for that pun. "Right MO for a killer who tried to hide the bodies and didn't take credit in any showy way."

Powerglide is showered in papers. "Uh, I, it's...Well, you see...I..." He coughs. "I..I don't know what happened to the newer ones! Those are all I have! Honest! They must've been stolen!"

IN THE DISTANT PAST..

Powerglide, Groove, and Beachcomber are all sitting around in Powerglide's room. "Hey maan, I got the stuff. You got the wraps, brah?"

Powerglide scoffs, "No. But I have something even better!" He pulls out his folder of duty logs. "I doubt I'll ever need these again. LET'S SMOKE THAT SHIT!"

NOW..

Powerglide coughs.

Talazia Keldahoff steps back and lets the interrogators go to work. She then ponders something. "Red? Got a moment? Can you show Foxfir the footprint really quick?"

"Just be quiet!" Foxfire snaps at Tailgate. "You're not helping!"

"Yeah!" Cutter exclaims in response to Tailgate's rant. "You guys are being alt-modist!" Nevermind that there's an AIRCRAFT CARRIER in the room or anything. Then he shakes his head desperately. "But... but I didn't do anything!"

Red Alert turns towards Talazia and crouches, indicating that yes, he's paying attention to her. "Well, Foxfire's the one who found it, actually."

Tailgate looks annoyed at Foxfire. "Whatever, woofy." But his annoyance is short-lived, and he looks over at Talazia and points at her. "I know, what if the /slave driver/ over there did it? Maybe those poor dead jerks were freedom liberation fighters just trying to liberate and free the humans' cruelly bonded servants?"

Foxfire nods at Talazia. "Yeah. I found it and thought it was, well, odd. And my name is not Woofy, Tailgate."

Nightbeat thinks that Broadside would be taking credit if he sixed a bunch of Decepticons and criminals. Wreck and rule. This killer wanted to be anonymous, and Cutter has an unexceptional service record. In fact, Cutter is forgettable. He shakes his head and insists, "Nah. I'm just asking you if you have an alibi, because if you don't..."

"YOU GEE ELL WHY, YOU AIN'T GOT NO ALIBI. YOU UGLY, YEAH, YEAH, YOU UGLY!" Powerglide bursts out.

Mirage goes invisible.

Mirage facepalms.

CLANG.

Mirage returns to being visible.

Kup points the Finger at Powerglide. "You better have a way to prove yer innocence, Powerglide. And don't worry about that other guy. Cutter's a good lad." He stops for a moment, face going blank. "Or am I thinkin' 'a Chopper? I get those two confused sometimes."

Talazia Keldahoff nod quietly. "OK. I didn't know Foxfire found it. Have you compared it to anyone else's footprint? It might be unique." she says completely ignoring Tailgate. She then looks to Red Alert. "Checked out that possible lead I gave you, Red?"

Cutter cringes. "N-n-n-n-no... I... I don't guess I do." He blinks at Powerglide, then stamps his squarish foot. "I am /not/ ugly! Now you're being alt-modist again!"

Tailgate gets his ire up. He is increasingly ireful. "The human's not even bothering to deny it! Where were YOU on the night of March 25th, meatbag?" Point, point point point.

Powerglide throws his arms in the air, "Prove my innocence to what!? I don't even know what I'm being accused of!" He turns to Cutter and pokes him in the face with a finger, "And you! Just get over the fact that you have a stupid alt mode!"

Silverbolt rolls his optics and heads out.

Silverbolt leaves to the Main Lobby - First Floor to the south.

Silverbolt has left.

Nightbeat points out, "Oh yeah, we're /all/ good lads, until we get cerebro-shelled or start working for the robot devil or walk away from the war to go play with wormholes!" He pauses and looks a bit shifty. "Mostly good lads, anyway. Boss, we gotta suspect Cutter. He was there, there are no witnesses to say what he was doing, and he's not the type to take credit, just like this killer."

Foxfire shakes his head. "No, but I've been considering it. All I know is that it has to belong to someone who's bipedal...although I don't know why there's only *one* footprint, when logically, there should be at least a few more, I think."

Talazia Keldahoff snerks at Foxfire. "unless he was hopping on one foot."

Foxfire rolls his optics. "Yeah, yeah, smart-arse."

"Perhaps, the suspect attempted to cover his tracks and simply forgot one." Mirage tosses out to see if that will be of some assistance, as he circles the group and makes more mental notes for himself and his own investigational purposes. Nightbeat's the loud one, Mirage is the.... holy crap, where'd he go?! Oh, there he is over there... one.

Broadside protests, "I don't think a boat is a stupid altmode."

"He's in denial," Powerglide whispers to no one in particular while pointing at Broadside.

Talazia Keldahoff chuckles. 'as far as I'm concerned, the only stupid altmode is an Insecticon or a Soapdish."

Nightbeat mutters, "Of course you wouldn't, Broadside." More loudly, because Nightbeat /is/ loud, he asks Broadside, "And do /you/ have an alibi?"

"It's not stupid," Cutter pouts. "Most of this planet is water!" Then he blinks at Nightbeat. "What? Suspect? But I didn't... I mean... I wouldn't..!"

Broadside is, actually. He does hate his boat mode. He just doesn't want to encourage the robocism.

Tailgate ughs! "I think you should arrest the boat, the human, and uh... Foxfire here. Yeah, totally Foxfire. Let 'em sweat it out in lockup with Bubbatron for awhile! They'll be singing like automatic singing machines before morning!"

"Yeah! It's obvious that Foxfire is the culprit!" Powerglide exclaims, his fist in the air. "ARREST HIM! ARREST HIM! ARRESSSTTT HIIIMM!"

"Can we send Tailgate somwhere else for a while?" Foxfire asks. And then, he looks to Nightbeat, twitching his ears. "So who's the main suspect, again? Sorry I missed out on the beginning of this, err, 'discussion'." He snarls warningly at Powerglide.

Kup growls at Powerglide, "Murder, you idiot!" Nightbeat explains the facts to Kup, then, and the old-timer frowns. "Fine, if you think Chopper's a suspect, then we'll lock him in the brig for the time being. Now, come along, Chopper. Don't worry, if ya didn't do it, we'll get this cleared up in a jiffy..." He advances upon Cutter with a pair of handcuffs that somehow appeared in his hands. Is this the end for everyone's favorite forgettable boat-y NPC?

Tailgate points accusingly at Foxfire. "See, he's trying to get rid of me for speaking THE TRUTH!"

"FOXFIRE, YOU FIEND! You provoke one minibot, you provoke them all!" Powerglide hollers, stomping up to the cassette fox. "MURDERER! MURDERER! MUURRDEERREEERRR!"

Talazia Keldahoff just.....shoots Red Alert a look like 'why me'....before looking towards Kup. "You have someone else in mind, kup?" She then just.....peers at Tailgate, then Powerglide....then stepping in front of Powerglide. "knock it off."

Nightbeat balls his fingers into fists and orders, "No, we can't get rid of Tailgate for a while! No one leaves this room right now. He could be in collusion."

Powerglide stares up at Talazia and shakes a fist at her as well. "Oh! I see how it is! Trying to cover for your MURDERER friend! YOU'RE AN ACCOMPLICE, AREN'T YOU! I know your number, lady!"

"Stay out of this, human," rumbles Broadside quietly (which is still pretty loud), reaching out to carefully warn the exosuit away with a finger on its bubble. "This is robot business."

Tailgate bounds up right behind Talazia's armor, penning her in between himself and the also-too-short-for-this Powerglide. "Oh no you can't use that poor exobot to bully us! Cast off the bonds of your oppressor human and fly free, exobot!"

"I really haven't had a chance to check into that, Talazia," Red Alert answers the human, "though it does make sense. But my sensors are still dimmed."

First Aid enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the south.

First Aid has arrived.

Foxfire sits up a bit and groans, sinking his head into his paws. He's picking up these habits from all the simply bipeds he hangs out with. "Tailgate, Powerglide, shut up. And Broadside, don't talk to Talazia like that."

< Earth > Super Action News says, "This just in on SUPER ACTION NEWS! Self-proclaimed Presidente-for-Life, Emperor of Justice, and Abbot of Peace Abdul Fakkadi, the ruler of Carbombya, has gone missing! Eyewitness reports suggest that "some kind of transforming robot" was at the scene, and it left behind a note saying, "This is the last one. Sorry, Autobots." What could it meeeeeaaaan!? FIND OUT ON SUPER ACTION NEWS!"

Tailgate rolls his optics some more. "Somebody please take Old Yeller out back.. and.. y'know."

Powerglide points at Foxfire, "No! YOU shut up! MURDERER!" Then he points at Talazia. "Or should I say..MURDERERS!?"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Primus"

Kup isn't paying attention to the news, and so slaps the cuffs onto Cutter. He yells over his shoulder, "Pipe down, you morons!"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "I was going to talk to Abdul Fakkadi about the location of the 'cons..."

"We got ways of doing this, Powerglide," says Broadside. "Let Nightbeat and Red Alert sort out the guilty, they're experts."

< Autobot > Saboteur Foxfire, in response to the "Primus" comment: "He's not here at the moment. Can I take a message?"

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Noo! Fakkadi you jackass, you owe me money!"

< Autobot > Powerglide says, "Yeah, tell him that FOXFIRE IS A MURDERER!"

< Autobot > Kup says, "Why? He hates our guts."

< Autobot > Nightbeat says, "Not on channel, Powerglide."

First Aid strolls in, leading a small group of six orphans from a local orphanage. "...and this is our barracks, where we can have our downtime when we're not out on missions. We also enjoy socializing here." *Somebody please take Old Yeller out back.. and.. y'know.* *No! YOU shut up! MURDERER!* *Pipe down, you morons!* The Protectobot doctor stops in his tracks, stunned. The orphans gawk. "Uh..." says First aid.

Cutter tries to back away from Kup at first, then he slumps, then he holds up his arms. "All right. I'm innocent, so... so... I'm sure you'll be able to tell that soon enough!"

< Decepticon > Astrotrain says, "...who with the what-now?"

< Autobot > Powerglide says, "Oh. Sorry."

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "He's dealt with the Decepticons in the past.  I figured he might be nice enough to tell me where they might be."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Grah! Do you have -any- idea how much this is gonna set me back?"

< Autobot > Mirage says, "One guess as to why he's 'suddenly missing'"

Foxfire points a forepaw accusingly at Powerglide. "Why are you always quick to accuse me of things you *know* I'm not capable of? What do you have against me? Is it that I'm a quadruped? Or are you just racist against anyone who's not a Minibot? And don't talk to Talazia like that!" His ears twitch. "Uh...First Aid?" He rushes over. "Show them around here later," he whispers. "Things are a bit heated right now. Take 'em to the lounge or something." He smiles at the children. "Hi!"

< Autobot > Kup says, "...wait, Fakkadi's missing?"

< Decepticon > Astrotrain says, "To which I return another question."

Red Alert frowns. His vision, sight, and hearing are hampered, but his radio is still working fine. "Hey, Kup? Did you get that news report?"

< Decepticon > Astrotrain says, "Do you have any idea how little I care?"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Yeah... just announced on the news"

Talazia Keldahoff taptaps her Comm. "that's odd. Red? You listening to the news?" Before she looks to Broadside. "If you're saying this is Autobot business Broadside, I'm trying to help. with Powerglide and Tailgate screaming at the top of their lungs, nothing is going to get done.......of course, with powerglide's fixation on Foxfire lately....." She then let's that drop.

< Decepticon > Excise says, "Mebbe he left all his money to you in his will."

< Decepticon > Astrotrain says, "HAW HAW HAW I'm awesome..."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "And if Swindle is to be believed, Silverbolt's right about dealings."

"KEEP HIM AWAY FROM THE CHILDREN! HE'S A MURDERER!" Powerglide hollers. He begins to sprint like a crazed gazelle towards Foxfire, only to jump and attempt to tackle the little cassette.

< Autobot > Saboteur Foxfire says, "'Cons probably got 'im... Maybe they're as sick of him as we are."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Haw haw phooey, A-train. This is a dark day for robotkind."

Kup was just dragging Cutter off to the brig by the shoulder when he notices the orphans there. Kup's jaw falls open a bit. "Oh, Primus. Uh. Don't worry about this, uh, kids, he's, uh, uh..." He struggles for a response, then frowns at Red Alert. "News report? The hell you talking about?"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "I am no pleased."

Broadside tries to catch Powerglide by the scruff of the neck between finger and thumb to lift him off the tape. "Hey hey hey. Ease down, hotshot. Justice will be served."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Doesn't sound like it, Foxfire. They seem to be moving back and forth between indifference and annoyance. Apparently he owed Swindle money."

Combat: Broadside sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Broadside strikes Powerglide with his Grab attack!

< Decepticon > Astrotrain says, "Phooey on you! I'm still awesome."

Nightbeat could have Mr. Muzzle go reasure the orphans, but given that his head would have to fall off to do so, he thinks he'll stay in robot mode. He explains, "The news - is that the killer again? A note? That's different. Maybe a copy-cat. But we gotta get out there while the scene is fresh!"

< Autobot > Mirage says, "What better way to collect on a debt than to collect the payee?"

Foxfire hunches down, ears pinned back with a snarl. "Powerglide, you're *pushing* it... *Thank you*, Broadside."

Tailgate immediately pulls his gun and points it at Broadside. "Hey now! Put him down! Let's all just BE COOL!" He screams that last part at the top of his electronic screaming box.

< Autobot > Talazia Keldahoff says, "Red? can you....?"

Red Alert turns towards Kup. "Fakkadi's gone missing. Eyewitnesses say it was a transforming robot, and whoever did it left a note behind saying, 'This is the last one. Sorry, Autobots.'"

Powerglide thrashes and twists and writhes in Broadsides grip. "LEMME AT 'IM! LEMME AT 'IM!"

First Aid nods silently to Foxfire. To the group of orphans (one of them looks just like Tiny Tim. He waves back to Foxfire with a quiet 'hi'), the Protectobot says nervously, "Er... well, I think we should maybe take a break. You all know the way back to the lounge, of course. Groove's going to need your help baking those cookies!" Apparently the tour involved cookies, proving once again that Protectobots are the best at public relations. The orphans, nervous around the Autobots as they yell at one another, head back to the Autobot lounge. First aid meanwhile turns around. "Whoa, easy there Powerglide! What's going on here?" He moves in between Foxfire and Powerglide, but Broadside already has things well in hand.

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Sounds like I'm going to have to collect Swindle."

< Autobot > Saboteur Foxfire sounds very annoyed, but is trying to keep his cool. "Only reason Swindle cares about *anyone* is if they owe him something."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

< Autobot > Red Alert has encrypted this channel.

< Autobot > Talazia Keldahoff says, "Mirage? can you get to Carbombya please?"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "I can take him."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Awesome as you may be, you coulda been -so much awesomer- with some nice Carbombyan upgrades. But no, alas, there will be no Decepticon Christmas this year."

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "I'm at Metroplex"

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "I'm on my way, Swindle."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Perhaps we should take a shuttle?"

< Decepticon > Excise says, "Well how about we just go swipe everything he has since he isn't around to sell to us anymore?"

< Decepticon > Shadow says, "'Awesome' is not quite how I'd describe you, Astrotrain..."

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Your call... I'm standing by outside of Autobot City."

< Autobot > Talazia Keldahoff says, "I asked Mirage because they said he was taken by a 'transforming robot', and he can turn invisible......"

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "But you owe me, okay?"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "In fact, we'd better go. The Decepticons plan to take advantage of the situation and are moving out."

< Autobot > Nightbeat grumbles, "Yeah, yeah, everyone in the shuttle."

< Autobot > Mirage says, "What timing."

< Decepticon > Hun-Grrr says, "Me owe him Boomslang from where him Boomslang shot me."

Kup's optics light up with realization and horror, and then he yells, "EVERYONE SHUT THE FRAG UP AND LISTEN! We need to catch this killer before he claims another victim! If this guy offs the leader of a country in cold-blood it'll torpedo our rep! So I want all of you people in the shuttle and over to Carbombya! I'll take care of Chopper! Now get going!" Grumbling, he hauls Cutter away.

< Decepticon > Hun-Grrr says, "Maybe him Swindle be careful to no stand directly under him Boomslang. Me think bombs just fall off him Boomslang at random."

< Decepticon > Hun-Grrr says, "Maybe better that way than if he aim."

Kup then apologizes to the orphans with, "We're not usually like this, really! Tell ya a story some time."

< Decepticon > Astrotrain says, "Why the frag would I want upgrades from a buncha squishies?"

Broadside looks aside at Kup, holding Powerglide off the ground. "Kup, what do you want I should do with Powerglide?"

"SJGDGRRAFASDG" Powerglide...says.

Kup replies, "Take him with you! If he tries to run, kick his aft!"

Tailgate waves his gun around some more. "Aw, no one takes me seriously. One of these days..." The minibot puts his gun away and sulks off.

Broadside nods and tromps off, carrying Powerglide away.

Foxfire shakes his head. "Thanks, Kup...my thoughts exactly. Tell Mr. Ego here to stop making wild accusations, too. In any case, I don't need this slag. I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me, though I doubt it." It's clear that he's angry, but trying to stay calm. He stalks back toward his room, where he'll probably be doing some private investigating.

First Aid watches Foxfire, following after him. "Heya, Foxfire. I'm sorry you're having to go through all this grief with Powerglide. I don't know what's gotten into him recently. Is there anything we can do to help you feel better?" he offers. This is about all he can say before Foxfire'll make it to his room.

Red Alert has left.

Foxfire stops, flicking his ears. "Powerglide...just never really seemed to like me. I try my best, and I even try to be friends with him, but it never works out. He just wants to fight with me." He shakes his head. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'll just look around for some more clues."

Nightbeat has left.

"I'll talk to him and see if there's anything that's been bugging him," First Aid promises. "I can't think of any reason he'd be so opposed to a fellow Autobot, so it might be something unrelated that's causing him stress."

First Aid has left.

Foxfire has left.

Mirage has left.

Talazia Keldahoff has left.


 * Spinny!*

Carbombya

The grassy hills and savannas in the east, bordered by ancient volcanos and sprawling lava fields, are the only part of Carbombya not made up of barren desert. Until recently, the country depended on meager livestock herding and subsistence agriculture, but upon the discovery of a huge reserve of very high-grade oil beneath the shifting desert sands, things changed radically. The struggling democracy weathered multiple coup attempts by greedy neighbors and other interested foreigners before finally succumbing to the tender mercies of a home-grown dictator. There are no refugees from war torn Ethiopia being taken in as slave labor, not here under the enlightened rule of President-for-Life Abdul Fakkaddi!


 * SPINNY!*

The trail to the killer, and Abdul Fakkadi, leads to a dock on the shores of the red sea. There are innumerable shipping crates, loading vehicles, and trucks here, so finding the culprit may not be easy. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Carbombyan Defense Force is here, wandering about and looking for something to shoot! Really, though, the CDF is just a bunch of non-uniformed jerks with Kalashnikovs, RPG's, and Technicals. They give the militia fighters from Blood Diamond a bad name.

Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > drives down a dirty, sandy road through the town and toward the dock. He honks his horn constantly to get the attention of the CDF militia. "Hey, you guys!" Beep beep! "I need some information, so you and me, we're gonna have a little chat!"

"I shouldn't have come along," Red Alert worriedly tells the Autobots. He rubs his nose and sighs. "Without my enhanced senses, I'm useless for this." There's a bit of an edge to his voice, one that suggests that the meds might be wearing off, and as he looks around, he occasionally examines a vehicle rather closely. He frowns and looks towards town and the sound of the jeep honking. "Someone seems to be causing a disturbance..."

Talazia Keldahoff has arrived.

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > has arrived.

Talazia Keldahoff drops Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff >.

Talazia Keldahoff has left.

Talazia Keldahoff enters the Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff >.

A whine of turbine engines precedes a wash of hot wind and a swirl of dust, which is in turn followed by a loud thump. Boomslang seems to materialize in the midst of the CDF, brandishing his gauss rifle. "I advise you tell Swindle what he needs to know."

Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air!

Gentlemen, you've been had! That's no jeep, it's a Swindle!

In the hot desert sun, its hard to see things. And even harder to decide if its real or just a mirage. Still, the light from the sun glints off something in the sky. The sunlight bounces off some white object in the sky. Behind the glinting light is a jet trail. As the object gets closer and closer, its pretty obvious its an antique jet liner, a Concorde. Now who would be flying one of those into Carbombya?

Swindle is soon on his feet standing next to Boomslang. "Yeah! I advise you.. hey, I'm the talker! You're the quiet one with the big gun, get it right!"

First Aid pats Red Alert on the shoulder, "Red, it isn't your sensors that we value in you," he says. "It's your friendship, analytical, and dogged determination skills. Now I know for a fact that none of those three have been affected by your medical issues, so don't you worry. Just keep your chin up and your optics on the prize. You're doing just fine." The Protectobot glances around at the loading vehicles and crates for clues. This is where Streetwise would be useful. He hears the honking but apparently doesn't think anything of it. He also keeps his optics peeled in case any of the militia members get frisky with those guns.

Nightbeat says sharply, "That's crazy talk, Red Alert. You ain't valuable just because you've got a nose a bloodhound would kill for. You're valuable 'cos you're a raving paranoiac, and I mean that in the nicest way possible, who sees a killer in every shadow - including the shadow that the killer is actually in." Hmmph. Noisy and hot here. Screws with /his/ sensors. Kinda makes him envy the sedated Lamborghini.

While most of the CDF soldiers cower in fear from the Decepticons--nobody told them they had to fight giant robots!--one fellow with a white shirt, baggy pants, and a purple afro saunters up to Swindle, casually bracing a gold plated AK-47 against his shoulder. "'Ey, I am Ultra Colonel Rambo. Yeah, we know who ya here for. We trying to find him, too. Think he's here, but the men are too stupid to tell vehicles that turn into robots from vehicles that are vehicles, ha ha ha!"

Red Alert glances up as the antique - and rather familiar - Concord approaches, then smiles faintly at First Aid and Nightbeat. "Erm, thank you." He stops at a nearby vehicle and crouches, then blinks. Then he transforms. "Even so, this time I may get more done in this mode."

Red Alert transforms into his Fire Chief's Car mode.

Swindle laughs easily and -in no way mockingly-. "Ah ha ha! Obviously I've found the -right- man to talk to, Ultra Colonel!" he tells Ultra Colonel Rambo, quite pleased with this fortuitous find. "How can we be of assistance, the Decepticons are here to help!" Easy grin, easy lie.

Silverbolt flies over the dock and takes a quick look at the area... and quickly spots Swindle. "Well, well. Just the Decepticon I wanted to talk to, " says the Aerialbot Commander to himself. He begins a long turn around to get a good strafing run attempt at the docks. Would Silverbolt actually do something so... reckless. I guess we are going to find out.

Some of the CDF troops squint up at the Concorde, and begin to fire up at it. A useless gesture--there's no way they could hit it, and even if they did, what would they accomplish? Eventually, though, some of the subcommanders smack their underlings upside the head, which begins the shooting to a halt.

Boomslang raises a brow at Swindle but keeps his mouth shut. Swindle's a faster talker than Boomslang, who must admit a certain amateurism in these matters. Boomslang drums his fingers on the foregrip of the rifle and narrows his eyes. He's a shrewd and cunning thug, but Swindle is a specialist.

Low Level, Low End Autobot Gumby seems to be doing everything he's supposed to be doing right now. That's right, the little automobile comes driving up into the fray of the other Autobots, making sure to stick close to Nightbeat. There's a reason why they call this Autobot: Rookie. He doesn't have anything to say, this time. Nope. He's just... observing. Yup. That's right. Rookie, the Autobot!

Nightbeat looks over at Rookie and demands, "Where did /you/ come from? You weren't on the shuttle!" Was he? "Slaggit, if you're the killer, you're /dumb/."

Fusillade soars down into view from the skies above.

Fusillade has arrived.

Boomslang taps Swindle on the shoulder and gestures upwards with his thumb. "Concorde." In the year 2030, there is only one Concorde still flying.

Whatever form he was in before, Silverbolt reveals his real identity by transforming into his robotic self.

It must be time to take to the skies, as Silverbolt transforms into his jet mode: the famous Concord SST.

First Aid glances over at Rookie. "Er. Hello!" he says, deciding not to start accusing this unknown Autobot as being a murderer just yet.

Swindle looks up, shielding his eyes with his left hand as the CDF troops start firing up at Silverbolt. "Well would ya look at that.." he comments, pursing his lips. "Well, Ultra Colonel, it looks like the Autobots have shown back up to finish the job -- possibly on all of ya. What's it worth to ya if we two big fellas here provide for, shall we say, your common defense?"

Rookie looks up at Nightbeat and tries to look all innocent. "Meesa' no killa noooooobody! Meesa' jussa' long for dee riiiiide!"

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > Jet is flying along side of Silverbolt........no big deal, right?

Fire Chief's Car activates his radar as he rolls along. "Hmm?" he asks Nightbeat as he moves forward. "Who's that you're talking to- oh, good heavens, what section of Cybertron are /you/ supposed to be from?" As his radar runs, he mutters, "Just what /is/ Silverbolt up to...?"

Now, Ultra Colonel Rambo has heard that Abdul Fakkadi might owe the Decepticons some money, so he really planned to save Fakkadi, make him "disappear," then feign innocence as to what happened. So, he was about to tell the Decepticons that they have the situation under control when he gets a phone call on his cell phone. "Yes?" he says into the phone. He listens for a moment, then pales. "We're... looking for him, sir." Rambo sweats nervously. "Y-yes, Mr. Xabat, I understand." Closing up his phone, Rambo realizes that he has no choice but to find Fakkadi ASAP, lest he suffer the wrath of one of the most feared terrorists on the planet.

"I... ahem, yes, I see." Rambo says to the Decepticons, also noticing the Autobots popping up everywhere. "There is a shipping crate full of a hundred million dollars worth of arms and munitions on this dock. If you repel the Autobots so we can find our leader, you may have it!"

Not being able to hear the discussion, the Concorde continues down towards Swindle. But no attack occurs. Instead the air vibrates with the loudspeakers as Silverbolt speaks, "Swindle. I want to talk to you. Although, it seems you and yours kidnapped the man I was going to talk to." The jet flies past quickly... not giving Swindle a chance to respond verbally.

Talazia Keldahoff leaves the Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff >.

Talazia Keldahoff has arrived.

Rampage enters from Rampage's Mecha-cave.

Rampage has arrived.

Combat: Fire Chief's Car initiates a radar sweep of the area.

Talazia Keldahoff has left.

Talazia Keldahoff enters the Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff >.

Nightbeat holds his head. People who try to look innocent have this uncanny way of actually looking GUILTY. Of course, to Nightbeat, everyone looks guilty. Rookie just looks guiltier than usual. He says slowly, "Rookie, where have you been? How did you get here? And /talk normally/ before I..." He pauses. There are nice Autobots here. Nightbeat leaves it at that.

Swindle starts to answer Silverbolt, "Huh? What'd you say? Slow down so I can.." wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh. The Combaticon spins on his heel, watching Silverbolt fly off toward the horizon. "Holy crap, what was that about?"

"Our people are on their way," Boomslang whispers to Swindle, leaning down. "Shall I engage the Autobot?"

A small dot hovers over the horizon, swathed in a haze of sand vortices. Kurds scatter as the thunderous roar of a quartet of afterburners roast the already sizzling desert skies, the arrowhead silhouette of Fusillade's bomber mode snapping past Swindle's location just a breath after Silverbolt's own supersonic form. A raucous, < < WHERE IS HE?! > > is directed to the area at large. A camel faints a half mile away.

First Aid gives Nightbeat a little look, ensuring that he does indeed just leave it at that. "Come on, guys, this is getting crazy. We're starting to turn on each other just because one of us /might/ be responsible for a crime. We can do better than this. We *have* to do better than this."

Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > is running through the desert. Suddenly he comes upon a fainted camel. He pauses to bat at it. If he were a Terrorcon, he'd probably eat it. Then he hears the screech high in the air and starts running off after the bomber.

Swindle touches his hand to his chin, thoughtfully, as if thinking deeply. Then he flashes a grin to Boomslang. "Sure thing. I want to see him picking sand out of that crooked nosecone of his for -weeks-." Swindle winks at Boomer. "Capiche? Put on a big show, these yokels won't know any better." He turns to Rambo. "Yes, Ultra Colonel, we accept your terms! Let's see.." he pulls out a piece of paper and a pen, "hundred million... contingency fee... documentation and.. transportation clause.. there." He hands the contract to Rambo. "Sign here.. here.. and... here, please."

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

Rookie coughs. If coughing can even happen in a transforming robot. So, well, this is what happens. "Sorry, Sir! I get a little carried away!" And this is why Rookie is doing that saluting thing to appear more on the side of Nightbeat. "I was on the shuttle. Behind you. Stowed away. Didn't want to cause a ruckus when you all started piling in." Explanations.

Nightbeat would like to give that look back to First Aid, thanks. He doesn't need it.

Smokescreen has arrived.

CDF soldiers scatter and flee every which way as the B1-Lancer swoops overhead. Some of them even fire their AK-47's about at random, causing more than a few friendly fire incidents amongst them. Ultra Colonel Rambo, a rather silly looking Carbombyan clad in baggy pants, white shirt, and purple afro, yelps up at the bomber, "We are looking for him, we swear!" Apparently he was the only one smart enough to look for faction symbols.

Nightbeat glares at the Rookie and says slowly, "Y'know what? I can hear a screw drop from five miles away and count the threads on it. Don't give me that, 'Oh, I was just behidn you'

Boomslang pops the little-used scope up out of his rifle, adjusts it for range, eyeballs the tiny speck on the horizon that is the incredibly fast Silverbolt, drops to one knee and settles himself against the recoil, adjusts the scope again, and fires. The whiiiiiine-CRACK of the coilgun blows dust devils of wind back around the CDF forces as the 25mm slug blasts through the sky, plasmating a shimmering purple line as it breaks through atoms of oxygen at one fifth the speed of light.

Combat: Sneak Attack!!

Combat: Boomslang misses Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his 25mm Gauss Rifle attack!

Nightbeat glares at the Rookie and says slowly, "Y'know what? I can hear a screw drop from five miles away and count the threads on it. Don't give me that, 'Oh, I was just behind you' garbage." He pauses as Boomslang appears, way up above. "Oh, yeah. Should've been listening for /him/."

With a tiny sonic boom the rifle shot passes by Silverbolt, leaves the atmosphere and heads directly out into space, ignoring Earth's gravity almost completely.

"Well, I did warn that there were Decepticons in the area," Red Alert complains as he rolls forward, radar still running. "Now, come on, we're waiting time."

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > Jet pulls up as Silverbolt makes his pass.....however, she has other designs. Spotting Rampage out in the distance she goes to head him off....

From Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff >, Combat: Talazia Keldahoff sets her defense level to Protected.

Smokescreen instinctivetly ducks his head at the sound of the sonic boom, but then glances up skyward to make sure it's not heading downward toward him. He then shakes his head and, drawing out his disruptor weapon, continues to trude forward. "Say what you like, it's not dull around here..."

Concord SST < Silverbolt > banks hard at the last second. The sonic blast slides by Silverbolt's sleek form. "That was close." Silverbolt picks up the inbound Decepticon bomber. He immediately begins evasive maneuvers while coming back around towards Swindle and the sniper. His radar keeping an eye on Fusillade.

Dipping one wing wide in a sharp bank, the Lancer twists upon itself before transforming in a flurry of scissoring orgiami folds. She plunks down in a crouch by Fakkadi's highest ranked men, possibly familiar to them from the relatively frequent Decepticon visits to their black market. And the incident with blood-spattered tents used to create decorative Transformer-scaled burkas. With a nasty hiss, she hunkers down and looms over Ultra Colonel, seething. "Name the three individuals and organizations most likely to have perpetrated this travesty..." She flinches slightly at the rifle crack, clearly wound up.

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: Silverbolt sets its defense level to Guarded.

Swindle pulls out a TF-sized bullhorn and brings it up to his mouth. SQQQQUUUUEEEEEEAL. He turns some dials on it. "Sorry! Sorry.. testing! Testing! One-two! There we go!" his voice booms out into the surrounding countryside. "Autobots, may I please have your attention? We know you have kidnapped the esteemed.. what was that stupid.. oh yeah, Esteemed Senor Monsieur El Presidente for Life, Abdul Fakkadi! We demand his immediate release, so that we may all go back to our terrorist and terrorist-related activities, forthwith! As a measure of my good faith (and since he's a terrible shot and missed), I have asked my colleague here to fire a warning shot at Silverbolt, as many of you will have noticed! As a continued measure of my good faith, I will now fire a warning shot at.. that guy. Heads up!" He draws his blaster pistol and squeezes off a shot at the rapidly approaching Rookie. Oh no, not the nameless redshirt no one's ever seen before! Cruel fate!

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Swindle strikes Mirage with his Blaster Pistol (Disruptor) attack!

First Aid scowls inwardly as the Decepticons unleash their attacks. Within a moment his photon pistol is in his hand. "Rookie, watch out!" First Aid exclaims, but he's too late. The Protectobot steps forward, pointing an accusing finger at the Combaticon. "We didn't do anything to Fakkadi, Swindle! If you /really/ want him to be found then you'd be helping us instead of shooting us!"

The Tiger charges headlong at the Ventress, which seems to have spotted him and is on a collision course. Growling savagely, Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > leaps, trying to tackle or swat at the Exo with his claws. "Oh goody, a chew toy with a chewy center!"

Ultra Colonel Rambo coughs, staring up at Fusillade. He's not used to having to deal with powerful and angry females, let alone giant robot females. "Ah, ahem, greetings, Fusillade. Well. We have some suspects. The Autobots. The EDC. And until I got a certain phone call, I thought perhaps Fakkadi had been kidnapped by... him." He points over Fusillade's shoulder at a descending battlesuit. It looks rather odd--almost like it's been wrapped up in bedouin-style cloths (made of asbestos). The suit settles down near the Decepticons, and its red camera scans across the area.

"Hnnh," rumbles the voice of Compton Xabat from the suit. "Wonderful, Decepticons. I assume you believe that Mr. Fakkadi owes you something?"

Combat: Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > strikes Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > Jet with his catscratch (Punch) attack!

Smokescreen strides up to where First Aid is standing, his Disruptor rifle pressed against his shoulder, and aimed more or less in Swindle's direction. "I dunno about that, First Aid...Swindle only charges for his help, and it's pretty much not worth it even if you can afford it."

< OOC > Smokescreen is quite free.

< OOC > Red Alert says, "Smoke vs. Fire?"

< OOC > Nightbeat ponder just going to bed and reducing the size of the scene.

< OOC > Smokescreen says, "It's a natural."

< OOC > Smokescreen says, "Goodnight, Nightbeat."

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > Jet is literally smacked on the node by the leaping tiger. normally this would mean the plane would careen into the ground, but the armor transforms and stays in the air. Then the armor fires back at the tiger....

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > Jet transforms into its Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > Robot mode.

Fire Chief's Car stays near the docks, though at this point he can certainly hear Swindle's speech. He sighs heavily. "And the problem is, yes, the Decepticons are liars, but it really is believable that we've done this. The note was too us!" He pauses besides one vehicle. Occasionally, Transformers /do/ cover their faction symbols, after all...

Rookie gets blasted like there's no tomorrow and as he goes down, that pretty much means he's not there anymore. Where the holy Primus did he go? Who knows. The Shadow knows...

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > misses Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > with its Disruptor attack!

The animators decide that two Autobot sports cars with ultra hearing is one too many, and Nightbeat gets written out of this episode. They'll probably find next him at a bar, with no idea how he got there, but that's pretty typical for Nightbeat, anyway.

"Well, he's a valuable resource and we definitely don't want YOU getting your filthy Automated-Robot clamps on him, let's put it like that," Boomslang snaps back, ejecting the shell casing from his gauss rifle and chambering another round as he lifts off, raising more dust around the CDF in the process. Once he's about sixty feet off the ground he transforms and roars away to intercept the incoming Silverbolt.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Protected.

Mulling over the list of suspects, Fusillade's expression darkens visibly. As Xabat speaks up, her hematite lips pull back to reveal several sets of viciously filed fangs, and she twists around to peer at the suit. "YOU wouldn't understand. There's no EDC present, but there ARE.... Autobots." A distinctly vengeful expression crosses her face as her wrath is properly directed, and she leaps back to the skies with a wave of sand. Peering about at the layout of the Autobots and Decepticons present -- oh hey, Rampage was playing with an EDC person, they ARE here after all -- she begins selecting the location of the docks that has the highest density of Autobots.

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

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > misses Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his Autocannon (Pistol) attack!

< OOC > Red Alert notes that he is attackable. He's just ICly focusing on getting the job done.

Combat: Fusillade sets her defense level to Neutral.

"Better that than starting a firefight over this," First Aid responds to Smokescreen. Swindle blasts Rookie, and Rookie seems to be... gone? The Protectobot immediately begins searching, though there's no real clue as to where the Autobot went. Swindle doesn't pack /that/ much firepower...

The vehicle Red Alert is looking at seems to be in better condition than most of its peers. Indeed, it's of completely different make. The other trucks are some sort of brand-less Chinese-made crap, while what we've got here is a regular GM truck. Hmmmmm.

Smokescreen keeps his rifle aimed as he quickly glances over at First Aid as he speaks before turning to look back at Swindle. "One shot does not a firefight make. Course, things could get sticky after that...but I'm good at getting out of sticky situations."

Once again, the sleek narrow form of the jet liner manages to evade another attack. Silverbolt angles slightly, sends out a narrowband radio transmission. The Concord performs a loop to bring itself into an attack angle on Boomslang. As the white plane levels out, 2 small guns on the wingtips of the Concord open fire.

First Aid points up into the sky, "Tell that to Silverbolt and Boomslang," he says. Talazia and Rampage are also starting to brawl, but this is outside the Protectobot's line of sight. On the plus side, it doesn't look like there's much collateral damage.

Combat: Concord SST < Silverbolt > strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > with its Laser attack!

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > raises a gauntlet towards Smokescreen, firing away at the diversionary tactician with the built-in .50 caliber gun. "Hmph. Whatever, Decepticon. Do what you do to the Autobots. Just remember that Fakkadi is MY responsibility."

Meanwhile, CDF troops try to contribute to the fight against the Autobots by shooting at them, but mostly they end injuring themselves through friendly fire and ricocheted rounds.

Swindle watches as Rookie 'blows up,' then looks at his gun, then back to where Rookie was. Still yelling into the bullhorn: "Holy crap! Did anyone else see that?! Cough-cough-ahem, I mean, yeah, kidnapper, take that!" Swindle looks all shifty-opticked, tosses the bullhorn away and then starts whistling and moving off to the side. As he ducks under a flapping tarp, he shields his eyes and looks up at Silverbolt again. Sharp optics focus in. "Hey, Boomslang!" he radios. "He's got a crease in his engine compartment about halfway up on the left side. Knock him good there, and maybe he'll fall down go boom, 'kay!"

Combat: Swindle analyzes Silverbolt for weaknesses Boomslang can exploit.

Combat: Targetting Error: No target named 'smokescreen'

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > misses Smokescreen with its .50 cal (Pistol) attack!

Fire Chief's Car starts to roll past the out of place vehicle, then pauses. Suddenly, he transforms and backs up a few steps before walking in a slow circle around the truck. He may not have his sensors now, but he's still trained in observation... time to put that to use!

Smokescreen is about to respond to First Aid, but just about then Xabat has Fire open up on him with the .50 cal. Smokescreen neartly dodges to the side, neatly slipping into a crouch, before he levels his rifle and fires a single beam shot toward the Exo Suit. "Yeah, and tell that to him!" he comments to First Aid.

Fire Chief's Car transforms into his Red Alert mode.

Combat: Smokescreen strikes Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > with his Disruptor Rifle attack!

Combat: You took 0 damage.

Combat: You took 0 damage from that attack on your exo-suit.

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > has been temporarily incapacitated.

Combat: Mirage activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight!

MEANWHILE, on the SURFACE of MARS:

Twenty minutes and forty-three seconds have passed since, back on Earth, Boomslang first fired at Silverbolt. A glowing speck pierces the thin Martian atmosphere in a flash and impacts like a tiny comet, sending up a plume of molten rock and splashing out a crater on the surface.

BACK on EARTH:

Boomslang rolls hard as Silverbolt fires his lasers, but he's not fast enough and Silverbolt tags him in one wing. "Yeah? Good to know!" he sends back to Swindle, trying to maneuver around to get onto Silverbolt's tail so that he can hit that engine. The burr of the Sidewinder's seeker head gives way to a blare- he's got tone! One of his Sidewinders hisses off of the rail and swerves towards Silverbolt in a silver flash.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > strikes Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his AIM-9X Sidewinder attack!

Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > manages to avoid the blasts leveled at him by the Ventress. He rolls onto his back and tries to kick the Exo with his hind claws. "How much does it take to get to the chewy center of an exo?" he growls.

Combat: Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > strikes Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > with his Kick attack!

Rookie is no longer a threat. Swindle has made sure of that. But that's sort of anti-climactic. Even for a Redshirt. If only there were even pieces of him around. That might make more sense. As there doesn't seem to be anything like that... huh.

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > is nailed again by the tiger as she starts to fly up from the ground. The pilots start moving rather rapidly to keep ahead of the tiger....and hopefully hit the tiger this time....

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > sets its defense level to Protected.

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > misses Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > with its Medium Machine Gun attack!

The vehicle does not seem to respond to Red Alert's investigating. It just quietly sits there. But then, a bunch of CDF troops, led by Ultra Colonel Rambo, appear behind Red Alert! "You there! Autobot! Where is our leader? Where did you take him!?" Rambo yells.

Silverbolt feels oddly as Swindle gives him a scan and hears the advice given. "Oh ****" The Concorde attempts another defensive roll; but, even Silverbolt's speed and agility can't keep him from eating the sideswinder missile. An explosion occurs and the huge jet begins to spin. Silverbolt mentally cringes as he attempts to pull out of the spin. He manages to do so and pulls up just before impacting into the desert. As a matter of fact he pulls up hard enough to bring Boomslang back into his crosshairs. Silverbolt spins himself to cockpit side up as he begins to charge his batteries. "Enough of this..." Silverbolt discharges a blast of power at Boomslang

Combat: Concord SST < Silverbolt > misses F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > with its Electrostatic Battery attack!

Swindle pushes the flapping tarp out of the way and flies up into the air. Those crazy Decepticons, even their jeep-formers can fly! "Okay, enough of the shenanigans! You Autobots better turn over The Esteemed Senor Monsieur El Presidente for Life, Abdul Fakkadi -right now-, or.. okay, you know what, threats -really- aren't my strong point. But -I-, colleagues, sirs, and guests, am a -Combaticon-. And while the other members of something I like to humbly call the Bruticus Attack Division And Support Squadron crew may not be here to enjoy a few -totally random- explosions, I am on hand to record them and sell them to the rest of my team as an entertaining diversion, or, depending on how things go, possibly a hilarious blooper reel. So please, lend me your ears and I'll demonstrate the sound of your asses hitting the pavement after making the sound of your asses hitting some -highly explosive rounds-! This, my good friends, is HOW COMBATICONS ROLL!" Even with his seemingly wild-firing from midair, his shots are all very precisely timed.

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Swindle strikes Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > with his Scatter Blaster Area attack!

Combat: Swindle strikes Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his Scatter Blaster Area attack!

Combat: Swindle strikes Smokescreen with his Scatter Blaster Area attack!

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > goes phwomp and leans forward a bit. Doh.

Red Alert straightens and puts his hands in the air, although considering he has a rocket on one shoulder, this is a pretty empty gestures. "I didn't take him anywhere!" he snaps, tone lecturing. "And as for where he is, that's exactly what I'm trying to find out right now!" Then he kneels and examines the license plate of the vehicle in front of him. So much for showing that he doesn't intend any sudden moves!

F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > drops chaff and pulls up, the lightning bolt sizzling into the cloud of little metal strips instead of Boomslang himself. He climbs away, rolls over and dives back, pursuing Silverbolt with autocannons at the ready!

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > misses Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his Autocannon (Pistol) attack!

The Tiger refuses to stay still! He rolls to avoid the shots and then opens fire with his sidemounted guns. "I'm goona fill you fulla lead!" he snaps at the human occupying the Exo.

First Aid rushes towards Red Alert, seeking to back him up as he continues the search. "We don't know where your leader is," he tells Ultra Colonel Rambo. "Autobot's honour." He gives the Scout's Honour sign. Perhaps they are coincidentally the same?

Combat: Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > misses Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > with his Gun-Ports attack!

Smokescreen is just standing up from his successful shot against Xabat when, much to his surprise, he's struck by Swindle's impressive sharpshooting. He's not overly damaged but the shot does cause him to topple over and drop his rifle before landing on his side. Smokescreen does, however, have another trick up his sleeve...or rather on his shoulder. He clambers to a kneeling position as his left shoulder launcher snaps up and blasts off it's mounting toward Swindle. "Don't blink, Swindle!", he announces helpfully.

As Fusillade prepares to bite out a response to Xabat, Smokescreen's shot lands true. Stifling a mean-spirited laugh, she turns slightly to more closely examine the Autobots present. The motion of red and white catches her attention, and settling on a roof, she shrugs faintly, gives an 'eh', and squeezes off a pot shot at First Aid.

Combat: Fusillade misses First Aid with her Disruptor attack!

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > is able to get out of the line of fire of these bullets! yeesh...someone needs to wake up. Hopefully the arm guns on this exo will be able to hit the tiger this time.

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > strikes Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > with its Laser attack!

The license plate says, "Tricky." Tricky? Uh oh. UH OH. OH HELL NO. There's an actual Autobot by that name!

Ultra Colonel Rambo gestures towards Red Alert and First Aid. "You lie! Let me show you what we do to LIARS in Carbombya! Men, prepare to FIRE!" The CDF troops raise their rifles...

With all the defensive maneuvering, Silverbolt isn't surprised by his miss. The stern warrior continues on... until he gets waylaid by Swindle out of no where. He pops up his radio and barks something. and then pulls a hard vertical climb to avoid the autocannons of the Hornet fighter jet. Two targets for one Aerialbot. Silverbolt decides that Swindle has been causing most of his problems. First, providing tactical information and then taking the cheap shot. Silverbolt breaks off his attack on Boomslang and drives towards Swindle. Silverbolt isn't doing evasive maneuvers; he's looking to break Swindle down. Did Air Raid take over Silverbolt's body or something?

Combat: Silverbolt sets its defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Concord SST < Silverbolt > strikes Swindle with its Ram attack!

Combat: You don't have any ill-effects to shake off!

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack.

"Watch out, Red!" First Aid exclaims. He spies movement from one of the rooftops and immediately identifies his attacker as Fusillade. "I'll try to hold her off, but be careful! She could plaster this entire area if it strikes her fancy." The Protectobot tucks and rolls behind a car, using it as cover. This won't help if Fusillade breaks out the big guns, but it should help against the small arms fire that Rambo's troops are levelling at him. "Wait, Colonel!" he protests. "You don't want to get involved in this. Once we've driven back the Decepticons we can work together to find Fakkadi."

Combat: First Aid sets his defense level to Protected.

Red Alert's optics widen. But before he can act, he's being threatened by Rambo. He turns towards the humans, hands up. "No, no, you don't understand!" He starts to look towards First Aid as the other calls for him, and is about to shout when First Aid spies her and dodges. He finally draws his weapon, something that no doubt alarms the troops, and starts to aim towards the bomber... when he instead focuses on the truck in front of him. He turns his rifle on it, and orders, "All right, Tricky. Give back the dictator!"

Combat: Smokescreen damages himself.

Combat: Smokescreen strikes Swindle with his Shoulder-Mounted Missile attack!

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

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

F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > gets back onto Silverbolt, taking the opportunity of Silverbolt's pause in evasion to dive on Swindle to unlimber one of his heavy weapons; the powerful AIM-7 Sparrow is one such he holds in reserve for such an opportunity, as it's much less agile than the Sidewinders. "Yeaaaah, show me that rear angle," he coos as he gets onto Silverbolt's tail and locks onto the Concorde's tremendous exhaust. The Sparrow veritably leaps off of the rail on its way to the target.

Swindle is hit with a missile and plowed into, midair! "Ow, slag, ow!" he yells, tumbling down into the ground. "Love tap! It was just a -love- tap! Yeesh, you people take this stuff too slaggin' seriously sometimes, I swear!" He picks his battered form up and brushes sand off -- luckily he's sand-colored, so it doesn't show. "Okay, Silverbolt, I didn't really want to have to hurt you, you know. You're an Autobot plane, I'm a Decepticon car.. you know what it's like." Cheesy grin. "But whatever you do, hold still." Swindle aims his arm cannon up at the Concorde, and it makes a little whu-PMMMM noise, sending a sizzling magnetic bolt at the Aerialbot commander!

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Swindle strikes Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his Gyro Gun attack!

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Concord SST < Silverbolt > 's Agility. (Crippled)

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > misses Concord SST < Silverbolt > with his AIM-7 Sparrow attack!

Suddenly, the truck roars to life, and begins to pull away from Red Alert with a surprising burst of speed! Maybe there isn't that much cargo in that trailer of his. "WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME TO DO MY WORK IN PEACE!?" the truck screams. Meanwhile, Ultra Colonel Rambo dives to the ground as the CDF troops freak out and start shooting everything including each other.

Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > snarls as the laser hits him. Enraged, he pounces at the Ventress, intending to turn the Exo into a chew toy for serious. Claws come out and fangs are bared. And the Tiger is ANGRY! If someone doesn't find a TV to turn on soon...

Combat: Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > misses Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > with his Mauling attack!

After crashing into Swindle, the Concorde continues on... rolling on and tumbling end over end... into the water. Must have been the water cooling Silverbolt's engines or just hitting the water, but the sparrow missile crashes into the water and does no damage to Silverbolt. The Aerialbot transforms into his robot mode and swings out his firearm. "Here, Swindle... now I'm not a jet anymore. I'm just a warrior." He pulls the trigger.

Whatever form he was in before, Silverbolt reveals his real identity by transforming into his robotic self.

Combat: Silverbolt sets its defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Silverbolt strikes Swindle with its Pistol attack!

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > is able to slide out of the way again.......she's getting very lucky now. however, she had to keep Rampage from joining the fight. time to bust out the rifle. however......she finds it's near time for a tactical retreat since the dictator is missing.......

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > strikes Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > with its Medium Machine Gun attack!

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > roars back to life, and suddenly charges across the dock towards Smokescreen, heedlessly crushing CDF troops as he closes the distance. "How dare you immobilize my suit!" he snarls over his PA system. "It's a highly tuned piece of electronics, and I won't have you damaging its systems!" His flamethrower whips up and blasts a torrent of napalm at the diversionary tactician!

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > misses Smokescreen with its Flamethrower attack! [Pulled -3]

There's a faint rumble from Fusillade as she skips backward away from First Aid's shot, followed by a light, mocking laugh. She settles back on the building's edge, and continues to very carefully peruse the streets for any sign of Fakkadi. This isn't terribly effective. She opens her left wingblade, and idly begins to pick soil out from underneath her talons.

Smokescreen is lucky again as Xabat comes trashing and crashign his way across the ground. Smokescreen whips around, neatly leaping out of the path of the flame. He shoots a cheeky grin as Xabat as he keeps out of the reach of the flame. "What's the matter, not got any insurance? Okay, how's this...this time I won't touch you at all." Smokescreen turns his back on Xabat, raising his arms over his head, but then he suddenly transforms into his stock car mode. The engine revs and out from his tailpipe comes that trademark mixture of black smoke which plumes outward across the dock toward Xabat.

"Erm, excuse me, guys," Red Alert says to the CDF members, taking a few bullets as he tries to speak. He quickly gives up, shouts, "I'll be back to help, First Aid!" then dives forward and transforms, speeding after Tricky the truck.

With a rapid arranging of parts and doors Smokescreen shifts into his stylish race car mode.

Red Alert transforms into his Fire Chief's Car mode.

Combat: Smokescreen strikes Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > with his Smokescreen attack!

Combat: You took 0 damage.

Combat: You took 0 damage from that attack on your exo-suit.

Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > 's Accuracy. (Blinded)

Swindle takes the ping on the knee, starting to hobble away with a limp. "Ow, you shot me! You shot me right in the knee! Ohh, you two," he frowns and waggles a finger at Silverbolt and Smokescreen. And by finger, I mean gun. And by waggle, I mean BOOM. There's a big ol' spray of highly explosive projectiles at the two Bots (and this time much of the street in general). Swindle quickly ducks behind a low concrete wall for cover. "Hey, how about we call a truce? You drop all your weapons and fly away, and I won't chase you! That's fair, right?" he yells from his side of the wall. To himself, he mutters, "Please be stupid enough to fall for it.."

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Swindle strikes Silverbolt with his Scatter Blaster Area attack!

Combat: Swindle strikes Smokescreen with his Scatter Blaster Area attack!

First Aid remains where he is for a while longer, still scouring the rooftops for more signs of Fusillade. "Don't worry about me, Red. I'll be fine. But be careful. Fusillade's still there. Not sure what's looking for but it might be our missing dictator. Either that or a fresh target."

F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > roars down over the dockside town, flaps down to bleed off speed as he swings around to flank Silverbolt. He transforms and hits the ground with rifle ready, ducking behind a building and firing down the street without really looking where he's shooting. "How're you doing, Swindle!" he yells from behind his wall.

The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Boomslang misses Silverbolt with his 25mm Gauss Rifle attack! [Pulled -1]

First Aid decides to take a risk as he receives a transmission from Silverbolt. The Protectobot shifts into ambulance mode and zips out from behind the car he was using for cover. This might make him a tempting target, but he's got places to be right now.

First Aid falls forward, arms sliding in and legs flipping about, transforming into an ambulance.

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > yells in rage as he is quickly lost in a cloud of black smoke. He waves his exo-arms furiously to clear it, but the smoke just sticks to him. "I'm going to vivisect you for that, Autobot! Do you understand? You're going to be an experiment! A lab specimen! Graaah!" In frustration, he blasts napalm in the general direction of where he thinks Smokescreen MIGHT be, although he'll probably just end frying a lot of CDF troops and a significant portion of the dock.

Combat: Targetting Error: No target named 'smokescreen'

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > misses Smokescreen with its Flamethrower attack! [Pulled -2]

< OOC > Boomslang says, "Aww, that's a shame, Mirage."

"This is pure Decepticon stupidity. Came here to talk and you guys start a gun fight." Silverbolt runs towards Swindle. His armor heavily damaged from all the attacks from the 2 Decepticons. Some mecha-fluid dripping out of various holes. Silverbolt then takes a 90 degree turn and heads behind a building. His optics scanning for First Aid. "Medic... I need a medic." (no attack)

Combat: Silverbolt takes extra time to steady itself. [Pass]

Combat: Silverbolt sets its defense level to Guarded.

"How dare you try to turn ME into Swiss cheese!" Mecha-Tiger < Rampage > roars. He transforms and swings his energy sword at the Ventress. "I'm goona chop you in half!" he shouts.

Rampage's head slides down to his chest, his body rising upright. His robot head appears where his beast mode head had just been, and he now stands before you in robot mode.

Tricky screams as he races away, "LEAVE ME ALONE! It's not ready yet! I can't KILL him yet. I need a few more minutes, then he can't hurt anyone anymore! Why do you care about him so much, anyway? He's one of the worst petty tyrants on the planet! A human rights abuser! A Decepticon sympathizer! He DESERVES this!"

Combat: Rampage misses Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > with his Sword attack!

Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > moves away from Rampage again. Thankfully....the pilot knows when to cut her losses and bail.....and bail she does. transforming and rocketing away......

Smokescreen isn't where Xabat thinks he is...well, he was, but he isn't anymore. He pulled a tight turn once he kicked in his smokescreen, and has roared past the Exo-suit while keeping clear of the flames he's sprayed and is still spraying. "Maybe next time! I've got things to do!" Unfortunately, his speed puts him more or less in the path of Swindle's shots which pepper his front and shatter one of his headlights. He swerves and tries to correct his course. < No attack >

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

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > sets its defense level to Protected.

Combat: Ventress Exo-Armor < Talazia Keldahoff > begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Mirage, Smokescreen, Rampage, Ambulance < First Aid >, Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > , Fire Chief's Car, and Fusillade.

Ambulance < First Aid > 's tires squeal as he makes a sharp turn, skidding as he rounds the corner of the building Silverbolt hid behind. Popping back up into robot mode, First Aid jogs the last few steps towards the Aerialbot. "You've got it," he replies. Battlefield work like this doesn't afford much time for surgery, per se, but using the surgical lasers in his fingers, First Aid is able to seal up numerous cracks in Bolt's armour, stopping the bleeding where he can.

Ambulance < First Aid > 's front section fold back as a pair of legs and arms fold out, transforming into First Aid.

Combat: First Aid quickly patches up some of Silverbolt's minor injuries.

Boomslang winces at Swindle's angrily shouting voice echoing in his cone and leaps up onto the roof, taking a knee to aim at Silverbolt's back from a stable vantage point. He dials up his coilgun to full charge and squints down the sights...

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Silverbolt with his 25mm Gauss Rifle attack!

Swindle pops up from behind the wall. "Oh no you didn't just armor him up!" he yells at First Aid! "Look, while it -may- be against the Geneva Convention to shoot medics, I regret to -remind- you that Carbombya as a sovereign nation has elected not to participate! So I can shoot whoever I want! Including you! Something to think about -while I'm shooting you-!" Swindle hops the wall, transforming and swerving through the street, drawing a bead on First Aid with his cannon and firing.

Swindle's no sucker! He transforms into a Jeep and gets ready to roll!

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > misses First Aid with his Gyro Gun attack!

"That's not the point!" Red Alert shouts after Tricky as he speeds after the GM truck, sirens screaming. Odds are, he's supplementing communications with the radio. "He's a /human/ criminal and if he's not killed in battle, his fate has to be determined in /human/ courts!"

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > shakes off most of the smoke, snarling to himself, and finally manages to spot Smokescreen. "You! Damn you to hell, Autobot, for all the trouble you've caused me!" He runs up to the Autobot, attempting to kick him and flip him over!

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > misses Smokescreen with its Kick attack!

Smokescreen has recovered himself after Swindle's shot and, seeing that the other is transforming into his jeep mode, kicks his engine into life. He roars forward just as Xabat approaches, which leaves him looking rather silly, and leaves Xabat in the dust...for the moment, anyway.

Just as First Aid finishes some repairs, Silverbolt takes another blast from Boomslang. Silverbolt looks at First Aid and nods, "That's enough to get me through this. Now get out of here before..." Before Swindle or Boomsling take a shot at you; but, Swindle takes a shot before Silverbolt can finish his warning. Silverbolt looks between the two targets of choice. Swindle or the Assassin? Silverbolt aims his Discharger Rifle at Swindle and acts like he's going to take out Swindle. Instead, he quickly changes targets hoping to catch Boomslang off balance. Swindle just isn't THAT much of a threat.

Combat: Silverbolt misses Boomslang with its Electrostatic Discharger Rifle attack!

As First Aid's surgical lasers work to help his Aerialbot friend, the pair of them come under attack by Decepticons. "No respect for the medical profession..." he mutters. "We have incoming, Silverbolt. I'm afraid we don't have much time for complete surgery. I hope you're good to go on returning fire!" The Protectobot backs away from Bolt just as Boomslang cuts loose. Taking several hops backwards, Swindle's gyro gun blasts repeatedly strike the asphalt just where First Aid was a moment before. "Actually that only applies to medics who aren't armed, Swindle." First Aid lands in a crouch, firing several photon pistol blasts back at his Combaticon rival. He then twists and aims up at Boomslang, doing the same there. "As you can see, that doesn't include me."

Combat: First Aid strikes Boomslang with his Photon Pistol Area attack!

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

Combat: First Aid misses Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > with his Photon Pistol Area attack!

Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > sweeeeeeeeeerves around First Aid. "WhooOOOoooa!" he yells, up on two wheels for a moment. Somehow managing to not tip over -- this time -- he skids to a halt, then guns it once more to pass First Aid like the bull in a bullfight. His cannon fires as he passes. "Ole! This is good, I'm glad we can have this talk, First Aid, I think we're really bonding here!"

Combat: Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > misses First Aid with his Scatter Blaster attack!

Hmm! Zany car chase on the periphery of town, slightly to her south and west... medic tending to injured on the field to the east... both make for pretty nice targets. Or, at the least, good entertainment. However, she couldn't help but wonder about that big ol' SUV and the sports car chasing it. Red and white... hey that's an Autobot! She thinks. But they were going fast. And like any good predator, she chases after retreating prey. With a flare of boot thrusters, she spears through the air, first pulling alongside over the car chase on the streets below, and... oddly enough, pulling ahead. She doesn't transform to bomber mode, but instead, with a distinctly determined look on her chiseled features, slams down on the ground several dozen yards in front of the vehicle, wingblades brandished and ready to receive the oncoming vehicle.

Womf! The dazzling flash of the photon gun overloads Boomslang's eyes, causing his vision to static out for a few moments before it starts to come back, but gradually. "Slag it all, I forgot the Protectobots all carry those stupid things!" he curses vehemently, falling back while laying down a suppressing fire of low-power slugs.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Silverbolt with his 25mm Gauss Rifle attack! [Pulled -2]

Smokescreen is still accelerating toward Swindle, going a good deal faster then he should be really, and this is proved when the other skids to a halt to open fire at Swindle. He claps on his brakes to slow him down but, however nice they are, they aren't perfect. Therefore Smokescreen neatly collides with Swindle at the rear with a loud -thump- and a squeal of tires.

Combat: Smokescreen strikes Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > with his Ram attack!

Tricky snarls back, trying to sideswipe Red Alert and knock him into a crate, "The UN doesn't want to do what MUST be done with this man! They're afraid of trying to clean up all the little pieces! Yeah, they all resent him, but are they willing to try and restore peace to the country if he were to die? No. They haven't got the ball bearings for it. But I do. I'll end his reign of fear and terror!" Noticing Fusillade in the way, he blares his horns. "Get out of the way, Decepticon, or you'll be victim number seven! Heheheh!" Tricky's starting to sound more and more unbalanced as he speaks!

Another round hits Silverbolt in the chest. His armor explodes in green mecha-fluid. Silverbolt falls back slightly and covers the wound. The Aerialbot Commander looks a bit concerned. He jumps into the air, transforms, and makes for the sky. A radio wave is sent out as Silverbolt makes his escape.

Combat: Silverbolt sets its defense level to Protected.

It must be time to take to the skies, as Silverbolt transforms into his jet mode: the famous Concord SST.

Combat: Concord SST < Silverbolt > begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > suffers a Charlie Brown moment as his kick goes awry, and his momentum sends him down onto his back. As he stands, he growls at Smokescreen, "Fight like a man! Oh, wait, that's right, you're just a soulless machine, aren't you? Ha! Ha ha!" He flips his arm gauntlet up again, firing a low-powered laser at the Autobot.

Combat: Targetting Error: No target named 'smokescreen'

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > strikes Smokescreen with its Laser attack!

"Tricky! Will you listen to yourself! Your processor must be malfunc- yiiiiii!" Red Alert breaks suddenly as Tricky tries to sideswipe him, sliding behind the other vehicle. When he sees Fusillade in front of the truck, he slides to a stop behind other Autobot, skidding sideways for the last few feet to serve as a roadblock all by himself. "Tricky, you need help," he says evenly, "Now, give the human back, and accompany us back to Metroplex. First Aid will take good care of you."

Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > 's rear fender crumples a bit under the force of the impact. Minimal really. But it throws him into a skid, sideways, causing him to flip over three for four times, battering him all to hell. But he lands on his four tires and starts skidding out of here as fas as he can! "You'll be hearing from my lawyers, Autobots! Don't think this is the end of this!"

Combat: Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle > begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Concord SST < Silverbolt >, Smokescreen, Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > , and Fire Chief's Car

"I'm not enjoying this as much as you are, Swindle..." First Aid replies, demonstrating why nobody ever goes to him for advice on snappy combat quips. "We could have avoided all this... it's clear we're both trying to find Fakkadi, but now we're accomplishing nothing useful!" The Protectobot is unaware of Red Alert's progress, perhaps. Swindle nimbly evades the photon pistol blast with some fancy driving, but First Aid responds with some fancy jumping, again skipping out of the danger zone. Just as First Aid is about to run out of room, the Protectobot is saved by Smokescreen crashing into the jeep. "Thanks, Smokescreen!" he calls out with obvious relief. This gives the doctor enough time to whirl around and try blasting Boomslang again so he can cover Silverolt's retreat.

Combat: First Aid misses Boomslang with his Photon Pistol - Lethal Force (Laser) attack!

Fusillade's gilded shoulders straighten visibly, her saffron optics flaring behind amber goggles as she hears Red Alert's exchange with the unbalanced SUV. "OH, he's IN THERE, is he? Best news I've had all night! And don't think just because you've given the other Autobots the slip, you little street thug, that you think you can take on a /DECEPTICON/. You got your street moves from the ten o'clock news, HAW." And with that, she rears back, before lunging forward with both wingblades to fillet the four-wheeled pest.

Smokescreen would keep up the chase on Swindle but he's got other problems at the moment...namely Xabat, who is madder then a wet hen with a ruined perm. The laser beam scrapes across his rear, causing the metal to bubble and slightly melt, but he doesn't stick around for long. He shifts gears into reverse, and attempts to just back over Xabat. "Hey, watch that thing!"

Boomslang ducks behind one of the crude brick buildings of the Carbombyans to evade the photon shots- they're not comfortable dwellings but they're sturdy enough to use as cover. Dashing across the street, he works his way closer to First Aid until he's close enough to hear him from just around the wall... which is when he strikes, popping out into the alley with his rifle in hand!

Combat: Smokescreen strikes Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > with his Ram attack!

Combat: You took 12 damage.

Combat: You took 6 damage from that attack on your exo-suit.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Boomslang misses First Aid with his 25mm Gauss Rifle attack!

Tricky yells, "I don't need any help, I just need ONE MORE MINUTE!" He shrieks loudly as he bears down on Fusillade, heedless of her slicing blades--which turns out to be a fatal mistake, as the weapons punch through his grill and through his engine. Tricky emits a strangled grunt as his engine sputters and dies, but he might still collide with his attacker, considering the momentum he built up. As for the trailer, it's sloooowly beginning to drift to the left.

Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > emits a "Hwurgh!" as the car backs into his exo's legs, sending him tumbling over the Autobot's form. The terrorist kicks out at Smokescreen while he's close, seething with rage. "Your agonizing death will serve as a warning to all other Autobots!" he yells.

Combat: Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > misses Smokescreen with its Kick attack!

First Aid tracks Boomslang as best he can once he ducks behind the building, but quickly loses him. < < First Aid here. What's the status of the mission? If we're not making any progress then we should try to move the fight outside of the city where we won't put anyone else in danger. > > First Aid runs around the corner Boomslang vanished behind, but the Decepticon is already gone. It is more luck than skill that the Protectobot evades the shots coming his way, having crouched to get a better view of where he thought his opponent was. Whirling around and caught in the open as bullets whiz by his head, First Aid gives Boomslang a surgical laser bolt with his free fist.

Combat: First Aid sets his defense level to Neutral.

Fire Chief's Car transforms and now starts to run, to close the distance between himself and the GM truck. "No! Tricky!" he shouts, drawing his rifle. He turns his gaze on Fusillade, aiming his rifle as well. "Back away, Decepticon."

Combat: First Aid strikes Boomslang with his Surgical Laser Blast (Laser) attack!

Fire Chief's Car transforms into his Red Alert mode.

The Tiger chases after the rapidly retreating Ventress! But once it gets out of range, Rampage keeps going. After all, he's going to have to make book if he's going to catch Hell's Kitchen in time!

Combat: Rampage begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Concord SST < Silverbolt >, Smokescreen, Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat > , Fusillade, and Vintage Army Jeep < Swindle >

Boomslang lunges in spite of the cutting laser beams, going for First Aid's chin with the butt of his rifle!

Combat: Boomslang strikes First Aid with his Rifle Smash (Kick) attack!

Smokescreen again does the legendary Van Pelt maneuver as Xabat quickly recovers and attempts to kick him. However, unfortunately for Xabat, Smokescreen has already gunned his engine and is blazing down the road leading out of town. Perhaps he can pick up the trail of the sneaky Swindle!

Combat: Smokescreen begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Concord SST < Silverbolt >

CRUNCH! There is indeed enough momentum from the truck? SUV? Fusillade has no idea anymore, as the inertia carries the vehicle over and on top of the Decepticon. There's a muffled, outraged screech from underneath the vehicle in response to Red Alert. "WOULD if I COULD! It's ON. TOP. Of. Me," calls out from underneath the front of the vehicle, punctuating each word with a vicious stab upward. The trailer teetters from the force of the collision, the jerking motion threatenting to make it jackknife!

First Aid is, all things considered, a decent enough shot and capable of remaining calm under fire. But he's not much of a close combatant and Boomslang has him outmatched, smashing the doctor in the face with the butt. First Aid snaps back, landing on his butt, skidding a short distance before coming to rest against what's now a crumpled car. Parts of the vehicle have fallen off from the collision. The doctor hopes the owner has insurance... unless the owner is an evil Carbombyan terrorist, in which case he... still hopes the owner has insurance, but also that his premiums go /way up/. Getting back up to his feet, First Aid chucks one of the car doors that fell off towards Boomslang.

Combat: First Aid misses Boomslang with his Diagnosis: Murder! attack!

< OOC > Boomslang says, "Yaaay you got to use it. :D"

< OOC > First Aid has used it before :-)

< OOC > Smokescreen says, "Well, goodnight everybody."

"Oh. Uhm. Good point!" Red Alert answers. He rushes towards the vehicle, trailer and all, and tries to pull it off of Fusillade. On the one hand, this might free her to attack him, but on the other hand, it'll mean she won't be stabbing Tricky repeatedly anymore.

Although much less well armed in this mode, Boomslang is a lot trickier. He steps away and his edges blur momentarily; the car door whirls straight through him as if he was smoke, and then an invisible fist comes whistling towards First Aid's noggin from about six meters to the right of where Boomslang appears to be swinging his arm at nothing.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Boomslang strikes First Aid with his Displacer Punch (Punch) attack!

Tricky continues onwards across the dock for a good long while, even without engine power, likely scraping Fusillade up good against the cracked pavement. The trailer does indeed jackknife perilously far to the left, at least until Red Alert grabs onto the back of it. Even so, it drags him along for the ride, too, until finally the whole thing grinds to a stop. Finally, Fusillade and Red Alert just might here some panicked, "Mrrf! Mrrf! Mrrrrrrffff!" from inside the trailer.

"What the heck?" First Aid exclaims as the car door passes harmlessly through what he thought was Boomslang. He realizes he's been had a split second too late, and Boomslang's fist nails him in the side of the noggin. The doctor's head recoils back, and he raises a hand to hold it. That one hurt. "Very tricky," he murmurs. Knowing he can't trust his vision, the Protectobot can only guess as he flails with his free hand in the direction that the punch came from, even though Boomslang appears to be elsewhere. < < Red? > > he transmits again. < < Status? > > He's sounding a touch desperate.

Combat: First Aid misses Boomslang with his Sissy Slap (Punch) attack!

Boomslang flickers out entirely as First Aid swipes at him, leaving his footsteps and his mocking laughter behind. "What's wrong, 'Doc?' Feeling a little lost?" sneers the harsh metallic voice circling the medic.

Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight!

A trail of white and grey streaks in the asphalt tell-tale where Fusillade's form had gotten dragged. As Red Alert pulls the cab aside, Fusillade springs upright with an angry snarl, spattering energon -- not her own -- on the intel officer and the ground. < < Tricky? What kind of awful name is THAT?! > > she bristles out onto local radio, tensed and ready to continue scrapping with Red Alert. However, she catches the faint sounds, and turns to the trailer, marching up to it and scrutinizing it for any obvious entry points.

Silverbolt takes flight to the Skies above Northern Africa.

Silverbolt has left.

First Aid nearly loses his balance as Boomslang's tricky (not the mech) moves leave him hitting nothing but air. The Protectobot turns in a slow 360, trying to be ready in case Boomslang comes at him from any angle. He attempts to place the voice but it's tough to pin down. As he waits for Red to give him the 411, First Aid takes this opportunity to seal up a crack in his faceplate that the butt of Boomslang's rifle gave him.

Combat: First Aid quickly patches up some of his minor injuries.

Red Alert steadies the trailer, then frowns up at Fusillade, then looks at the trailer and its muffled noises. Then he looks at Tricky... injured, possibly dead tricky. Then he looks at the trailer again. He makes a decision. He blasts the lock on the trailer, then darts towards Tricky, to see if there's anything that can be done for the Autobot... although from what he's hearing, that's unlikely.

Boomslang reappears standing right behind First Aid, aiming his rifle at the doctor in a one-handed execution-style. "Lights out."

Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air!

Combat: Sneak Attack!!

Combat: Boomslang strikes First Aid with his 25mm Gauss Rifle attack!

Then, as RED ALERT blasts open the lock on the trailer, Abdul Fakkadi stumbles out of the back, arms and legs bound together, gagged, and clad only in his underwear. He looks absolutely terrified as he hobbles away from the place he almost died in. "Mrrrrphhh! Mrrppph!" he cries. And inside the trailer are an assortment of mechanized arms for grabbing and cutting, and on the interior are several corkboards upon which thousands of pictures of people were carefully pinned up. Later investigation will reveal that they are all victims of Fakkadi's rule--innocent people put to death for saying the wrong things, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

First Aid reacts as fast as he can, rolling away from his current position. This causes the rifle burst to, instead of blowing his head off, glance off what would be his collar bone were he human. There's a horrible gash with bullet wounds, but First Aid's still moving. "Not just yet!" he says, folding into ambulance mode. He takes off as Red Alert finally replies to his pleas for information over the broadband. The ambulance is hauling butt over towards Fusillade, Red Alert, and the others.

First Aid falls forward, arms sliding in and legs flipping about, transforming into an ambulance.

Upon locking optics with Red Alert, Fusillade snarls softly. The intel officer judged well -- the bomber's focus is elsewhere than 'shoot Autobot.' She strides over to the denuded, terrified Fakkadi. She briefly swivels her head to peer into the trailer, but what lies within doesn't hold her attention for long. Holstering her main weapons, she crouches down, hands clasped. "Hay," she drawls out.

"Hey! Hey!" shouts Boomslang after First Aid, breaking into a sprint. "That's OUR warlord and sometimes ally!" He leaps into the air and transforms, strafing the ambulance as it hurries off on a humanitarian mission, in a blatant show of evil.

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

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > misses Ambulance < First Aid > with his Autocannon (Pistol) attack!

Seriously, shooting at an ambulance that's going to go pick up a hostage and possible torture victim. Hella evil.

Red Alert snorts faintly as Fusillade talks to Fakkadi. It figures that if there's a human they'd take to, it'd be one like /this/. Meanwhile, Red Alert does what he can to check on the ruined Tricky. While he's not trained as a medic, he has a fairly high general level of technical knowledge... either way, though, First Aid should be there in a moment.

"You can't /own/ a warlord and sometimes ally, Boomslang!" First Aid retorts as he speeds off. Ricochets slam into the road all around First Aid, with the shots making the parallel lines of bullet holes that occurs whenever planes try to strafe things and miss. Skidding to a halt in front of Red, Fusillade, Fakkadi and what's left of Tricky, First Aid shifts into robot mode. As he surveys Tricky's condition, he comments, "I'm afraid I've brought a triggerhappy jet with me..."

Ambulance < First Aid > 's front section fold back as a pair of legs and arms fold out, transforming into First Aid.

Abdul Fakkadi turns awkwardly as Fusillade calls out to him, and his eyes light up. Oh, joy, he's never been so happy to see a female! He hops towards her, like a contestant in a sack race, except without the sack, and just a terrified, almost naked old man.

F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > roars past overhead, but stops firing as soon as First Aid reaches the other two. Apparently he does have a concept of collateral damage after all. It just doesn't normally apply to humans.

Glancing up from hovering over Fakkadi, Fusillade chirps out in response to First Aid, "Pincher maneuver!" What did he expect with a Decepticon behind him and one in front of him! Fusillade snaps up wrists, and with a wicked, gleeful grin, readies to send off a shell in the medic's direction. The insistant, muffled yelling by her ankles, however, cause her to look down. "Oh, awright. How's the mining business these days? And I ain't talkin' digging!" A quick flick of her index finger's pointed tip frees the mouth gag, although with a stylish flare of wingblades that Fakkadi seems keen to hide within.

Red Alert looks up at First Aid, then nods. He glances over at Fusillade's near-attack, then looks back at First Aid. "Let's just get him and get out of here before they change their minds," he suggests.

First Aid's exmaination of Tricky does not reveal good things. "We need to get him back to base, Red," he says in a grave tone. With the Decepticons looking like they might try blasting even if it puts Fakkadi at risk, the Protectobot winces as Fusillade briefly aims at him. He remembers how incredibly painful those were in Koraja. "Agreed," he tells Red Alert, shifting back down into ambulance mode. Red can help get Tricky onto his roof for transport, but if First Aid's suspicions are correct, it wouldn't matter if Tricky were already in a surgical bay. He isn't going to make it.

First Aid falls forward, arms sliding in and legs flipping about, transforming into an ambulance.

Combat: Ambulance < First Aid > begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang > and Exo-Suit Fire < Compton Xabat >

There's no sign of Boomslang. Maybe he's engaged his cloaking field again and is down at the docks stealing the reward for Fakkadi in the confusion.

Red Alert does help, transforming and following after First Aid. It doesn't matter that the Autobot's gone 'round the bend... if he can helped, they need to help him. The question is, can he be?

Red Alert transforms into his Fire Chief's Car mode.

Combat: Fire Chief's Car begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F/A-18 Super Hornet < Boomslang >

The instant the gag is gone, Fakkadi rambles on and on about Autobot conspiracies, EDC complicity, everyone is trying to kill him, everyone wants his oil and his land, and oh gosh where are his men why have they abandoned him SOMEONE will pay for this. "...but they will never have my land or my oil!" he shouts for the seventh time, drooling a bit from the side of his mouth. "Carbombya is stronger than the Autobots, ha ha ha!"

Fusillade gathers her legs underneath her as she sits, and nods a bit with the ruler. She tosses in a few disinterested, insincere 'Mm-hmm, you got that right's, before trying to steer the conversation to Qatar's amazing buildings and architecture. Or falconry. Or camel races.

MEANWHILE

< Decepticon > Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Guys guys where /is/ he?!!"

< Decepticon > Geo says, "Where all good humans belong, in a compost heap?"

< Decepticon > Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Shall I come and gut him slowly?"

< Decepticon > Grey Snapper, Fusillade practically squeaks. "He gave me awesome things! I'm coming over RIGHT now."

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "Actually we want this human intact. But we found some of his men and they might have leads. We could use the hand, Autobots are moving in too."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Fusillade is on her way, guys."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Heya, sky queen. Get down here fast so we can be some big damn heroes for the humans. If we save the day, we'll all be sitting on huge piles of cash that the IRS can't even get -close- to!"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Silverbolt, the Decepticons intend to try to make themselves look like good guys by making you look like the bad guy. Watch yourself."

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Air Raid isn't here, Red Alert. So, no Aerialbot will cause any collateral damage.  (whispered) I hope."

Focus enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the south.

Focus has arrived.

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Okay, someone just took a shot at my 6... but I see a Decepticon inbound. Someone make sure I don't take something up the tailpipe."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "I'm watching /and/ listening. I'll give you a heads up when I can."

< Autobot > Nightbeat says, "The cloaker is Boomslang. He's a pain."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "Careful. He tends to fire randomly."

< Autobot > Mirage says, "Huh."

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Okay... I'm done now."

Broadside is guarding Powerglide, who is a danger to himself and others. Mainly Foxfire.

Powerglide hmpths. He looks just as amused as the Wrecker guarding him.

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Yeah, Silverbolt, take it! I -hate- that guy!"

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "It's a hit!"

Focus drops Focus's Refuge < FR >.

Broadside crouches down and leans over to look at what Powerglide is drawing. "What's that in her mouth? A head?"

Powerglide looks up (and up and up and up) at Broadside. He frowns, despite the fact no one can tell, and goes back to his beautiful art. "Yes."

"Whose head?" wonders Broadside, crossing his hands over his knees.

Powerglide is on his hand and knees, furiously scribbling the perfect touches on his propaganda. I MEAN, ART. "Uhmm...some..guys, I guess."

Broadside says, "It's pretty good," says Broadside, who can't draw at all (on normal paper) due to the size of his hands, "but shouldn't Foxfire be red?""

"It's pretty good," says Broadside, who can't draw at all (on normal paper) due to the size of his hands, "but shouldn't Foxfire be red?"

Powerglide brings his pencil crayon up and taps it against his faceplate in deep thought. "Why red?"

"Well, isn't Foxfire red?" asks Broadside, who never actually looked at Foxfire that closely.

< Autobot > First Aid says, "Did that truck just talk, Red?"

< Autobot > Smokescreen says, "Is it that hard to believe?"

< Autobot > First Aid says, "I thought it was a normal truck."

"Pffft!" Powerglide adds more blood to his drawing. "If he was, maybe I'd like him a little more." He pauses for a moment. "..I think he's blue or something?

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Why would you just assume that?"

< Autobot > Powerglide says, "More than meets the eye, dude."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "Well, I... don't normally suspect every vehicle of being a Transformer..."

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "Yeah, he's not Red Alert."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "... You don't?"

Broadside rubs his chin thoughtfully, a gesture that still works when you lack a mouth. "Well, he should paint himself red to go with the 'fire' thing. Shooting fire and all."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Hey!"

< Autobot > First Aid says, "I have to admit I don't think I'm alone in this."

< Autobot > Broadside says, "I don't either."

< Autobot > Broadside says, "Trailbreaker kind of does though so I guess... Red Alert isn't alone either, right?"

< Autobot > Broadside says, "I mean, Tailgate. Sorry, I get those guys mixed up."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "No /wonder/ security is so lax these days! And I am /not/ like Tailgate. I know full well that human-built machines are just machines. I simply also acknowledge the possibility that a machine /may/ be a Transformer until proven otherwise!"

"Hey yeah! That's a pretty good idea!" Powerglide exclaims. "But, does he ever actually shoot fire? I've never seen it."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "Sorry Red, I'll try to do better."

< Autobot > Broadside says, "Yeah, uh, I'll keep an eye out for that. Other transforming boats."

Broadside has to think about that one for a minute. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen him shoot anything. But why else would he be named Fox Fire?"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Good." He seems to think Broadside is totally serious.

Powerglide scratches at the side of his head. "I..I don't know. Maybe he just couldn't think of a better element to throw onto his name?"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "First Aid, can you meet me at these coordinated < blah, Blah > ... I'm taking a beating."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Bad! How are you?"

< Autobot > Talazia Keldahoff says, "i'm gonna be bugging out too, Silverbolt."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "You got it, Bolt."

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "Not too bad! I got no idea where Fakkadi is though."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "How about we blow this town? Y'know.. up."

< Decepticon > Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "I'm on strike."

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "I'm kind of low on bombs, I brought mainly missiles, if someone... ahhh, there we go."

< Decepticon > Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "No, I'm not STRIKING, I'm -ON- strike."

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "Oh... but we don't have a union!"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "The Decepticons appear to intend to use mass explosives."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "Bleah. You know what they say, femmebots are from Unicron's Head, manbots are from Charr."

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Well, some of them do, anyway."

< Decepticon > Swindle fixes: *fembots

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "Is that... do they say that?"

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "What? Seriously? Well what they actually say is JUST SHOOT SILVERBOLT, DAMMIT!"

< Decepticon > Boomslang says, "All right, all right, hold your horsepower."

< Decepticon > Swindle says, "I'm gonna be picking my horsepower up off the street if we don't knock him out soon!"

< Decepticon > Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Tragic."

< Decepticon > Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder growls. "What is this "femmebots are from Unicron's Head" nonsense? Unicron created no females.

< Autobot > First Aid says, "We have incoming, Silverbolt. I'm afraid we don't have much time for complete surgery. I hope you're good to go on returning fire!"

"Maybe he just likes alliteration." Where did a Wrecker learn the word 'alliteration?'

Powerglide thinks about that for a second. "What's alliteration mean again?"

Broadside explains, "It's when words start with the same letter on purpose."

"Ohhhhhhh...I /guess/ that makes sense. Still a stupid name.." Powerglide lifts his drawing into the air, "Hey! What do you think?"

"Is this drawing based on true events?" wonders Broadside, concerned about Foxfire. And for Foxfire.

"Maybe!" Powerglide exclaims. "He could easilly be the true murderer! I mean, it's pretty obvious if you ask me. I don't even know why they bothered making me a suspect! Heh!"

< Autobot > Silverbolt says, "I'm going to have to pull out. I've got a lot of internal damage."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "We'll cover you, Silverbolt."

Broadside nods repeatedly although he has no idea. "Sure, sure. What's obvious to you about her?"

Powerglide gets ready to go off on a tangent about how horrible Foxfire is until he remembers that there really isn't anything suspicious about him. "Uh...well..He's..a cassette. You know who else is a cassette? Ravage. Also, he's a fox. You know who else is an animal? Ravage. The point I'm trying to make is that Foxfire is just like Ravage: pure evil."

Broadside considers these charges. "Hmm. Sounds like it'd be good enough for Red Alert."

"Tch, yeah. Poor Reds. I wonder what it's like to be as nuts as he is," the minibot muses.

"We might never know," sighs Broadside.

Powerglide shrugs, "Hell, he's not as bad as some of the Autobots we've got. Sheesh, I wonder if we even screen 'em."

< Autobot > Tricky says, "Overriding stasis... lock... goodbye--" PZZHHHHH

< Autobot > First Aid says, "Who?"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Tricky. Relatively recent transfer."

< Autobot > Grimlock says, "He dead now?"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "That's what I'm trying to find out."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "Red! It's good to hear your voice. I've been calling and calling. What's the status of the mission? Can we get out of here yet?"

< Autobot > Red Alert says, "Meet me at < co-ordinates where he, Fusillade, and Tricky are > . But, uhm... I think we're about done here."

< Autobot > First Aid says, "I'm on my way!"