Deadly Mine

Orbit of Cybertron

The world floats serenely below in remote, golden splendor, most imperfections removed by distance and the obscuration of the enveloping atmosphere, except for that huge, missing chunk in the lower quadrant. The icy vacuum of space is studded with jeweled stars that blaze with unearthly brightness, overshadowed - or overbrightened - by the brightly, golden light of the two suns of this system and the occasional flash of prismatic light from Tria, one of the moons.

Landmine has arrived.

Fusillade has arrived.

Boomslang has arrived.

Since Cybertron was forced into the Alpha Centauri system, its presence has affected the other celestial bodies in the system to varying degrees. The stars barely budged, of course, but many asteroids were captured by the planet's gravity and pulled into orbit. One such massive asteroid is being busily mined even now... BY THE DECEPTICONS!

"Work harder, fools," Cyclonus tells a bunch of newly sworn Decepticons, freshly branded denizens of Crystal City. "We must complete our survey and proceed to secret the asteroid away before we are detected by the Autobots. I'll not have you tarry!"

One of the new Decepticons, covered in soot, holds up his hands, whining, "But, Lord Cyclonus... the work has been brutal! We have to rest!"

"Rest? You must rest?" Cyclonus says, giving the worker a look that causes him to quake in fear. "Are you *certain?*"

"...no, no, Lord Cyclonus, I can, ah, work quite a while longer! Haha!" says the worker, and he gets back to work with his vibro-pick.

"Well, that's weird."

That's Landmine's decree upon catching sight of a certain astronimical report- one doesn't work as an asteroid miner without picking up a working knowledge of astrophysics. "I'd better check it out!" and soon enough, he's boarded a small Autobot shuttle, taking a roundabout path towards the space-rock- the real question is, will the 'cons be too busy working to notice him?

"Oh." Landmine says, as he sees a decepticon logo pop up. And another one. And many, many more. "This...could be interesting."

"You get refuelled at the end of your shift," Boomslang tells the fretful worker. "That's more than some get. You should be grateful. The Autobots don't even disburse fuel as good as ours. They have filthy organic-based fuel their Earth-slaves bring them."

A gumby comes up to Cyclonus, handing him a datapad. Cyclonus reviews it, then gives the gumby a questioning look.

"Sir, that's our gravimetric analysis of the asteroid," the gumby reports. "Long story short, it's much heavier than it should be. See? Low metal content and all that. Doesn't make sense! Frankly, I don't know why it's so heavy, but I think that it would just be a waste of energy to tow it--hurk!"

Cyclonus has him by the throat almost immediately, cutting him off. "*I* will be the judge of that trooper. Continue your analysis." And he pushes the gumby away, who scurries off.

Indeed, the workers are well aware, especially now, of how vicious Cyclonus can be if they don't meet his standards, so they are all working as hard as they can... and paying attention to little else.

Cyclonus turns to Boomslang as he says that, and nods. "Quite. But then, if you prefer the life of an 'Empty,' I would be glad to hurl you into orbit now until your fuel reserves are gone."

Idly rolling in the space a few hundred feet above the worksite, Fusillade puffs maneuvering rockets so the dark crust of the asteroid reflects in the dim starlight surrounding them. "Ooh, I call dibs on playing paddleball with any that do come up into orbit!"

Meanwhile, Landmine touches his shuttlecraft down on the far side of the asteroid, parking the thing down in crater- he wastes little time in climbing out the airlock- at which point he transforms to his vehicular mode, and drives over the uneven, low-gravity landscape as easily as he'd cruise down the highway- this is, quite literally, what he was made for! Slowly, he approaches the Decepticon activity- using his advanced sensor suite to analyze the asteroid...and the Decepticons on it!

Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode!

Fusillade has left.

Boomslang has left.

Cyclonus paces about the asteroid, hands clasped behind his back, looking dour and displeased. He hears some of the gumbies arguing over something, and one of them says, "No, shut up, we have to keep digging!" Then, suddenly, a blast of trapped gas sends them hurtling away from the asteroid, screaming. Cyclonus glances up, hears their cries begging for assistance, but is unmoved, and lets them drift away. "The price of carelessness," Cyclonus tells the other workers.

"Shoddy operation." Landmine murmurs to himself as he catches sight of the 'cons spiraling out into the darkness. Still...this is something he can use! And so, the guy transforms to his robot mode, and continues to creep around the mining site- he's not a spy by any means, but he has the advantage of knowing what the heck he's doing out in space! He crouches down behind a boulder and watches, no doubt trying to figure out just what the 'cons are getting into...

Rampage has arrived.

Cyclonus is approached by another gumby, who looks at him warily. "Um, sir? We... found something."

"Spit it out, soldier, I've more patience than Galvatron, but I am no more forgiving than he," Cyclonus says.

The gumby says, "Uh, well, since that last gas pocket opened up we got a little closer to the core, and... there's this material there. We managed to pick up part of it, and its mass is... well, it's incredible sir. If we were standing on Cybertron now, I don't think we'd be able to lift more than a chunk of it without some special machinery."

"Hm," Cyclonus says. "Gather as much of this material as you can. We will... take it back for further analysis."

Space-Buggy hmms, and taptaptaps at his chin. From his vantage point, he's able to read the display of an unattended console, gathering the results. "Hmmm. A neutron core?" he murmurs to himself...and finally shakes his head. Whatever it is, the 'cons shouldn't have it!

And so, Landmine creeps closer to the unattended console, and begins to put in a few commands- and somewhere, on the other side of the mining site, one of the drilling machines begins to whirr to life, digging down, down down...towards a gas pocket! It's surprising what happens when one doesn't pay enough attention to saftey regulations...

Another "gumby" near the gumby Cyclonus is talking to, turns out not to be a gumby. "So how far do we have to keep digging?" Rampage wonders.

Landmine transforms to his robot mode!

And of course, the results are entirely predictable. The machinery tears through the rock, popping open the gas pocket, which bursts open violently, flinging not just the gumbies into space, but Cyclonus himself, as well! And to think, he might have deigned to answer Rampage's question if not for that! "Wha--" is all he says instead as he tumbles away into the black.

Landmine gives a triumphant "Ha!" as his plan takes effect! "Right, now then..." and he punches in more commands- quite delibrately activating a lot of the mining equipment- and he immediatly pushes all the throttles into the red-zone, fully intending to burn out motors and break bits through misuse! "That should slow them down for a bit..." and he glances over his shoulder, waiting for his inevitable discovery- but how much damage can he do before then?

Rampage is also flung into the air by the blast! "Hey!" he shouts, "Now what do we do?"

Rodimus Prime arrives from Autobot Flagship < Orion Pax >.

Rodimus Prime has arrived.

Cyclonus snarls, "We go *back*," and promptly boots Rampage back towards the asteroid. Cyclonus himself quickly reverts to fighter mode, and returns to the asteroid in the blink of an eye. But once he sees that the asteroid has become a madhouse of malfunctioning machinery and exploding gas pockets, he does not land straight away. "Stop! Stop, you fools!" he cries, thinking that this is the gumbies' fault. So desperate is he to stop this, that he begins to fire on the mining equipment, blasting away drills, pile drivers, and mechanical arms of all sorts.

Landmine immediately ducks down as Cyclonus starts blasting away...but he soon lets out a relieved laugh as it becomes apparent he's not the target! "Oh, this is perfect!" he says- and transforms! In buggy mode, he speeds through the mining site, weaving between malfunctioning machinery and panicking gumbies- and, he fires off a few precise blasts with his mining laser- seeking to cut through rocks, supports, and anything else- perhaps to even start a cave in! Or maybe a cave-out, given the low gravity and pressurized gas..

Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode!

Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode!

Rampage yells as he's booted back towards the asteroid. He sees laser shots down by the excavation site and pulls out his weapon, aiming a few blasts at where he thinks it's coming from.

Combat: Rampage misses Space-Buggy with his PEW! (Grab) attack!


 * THEN*

Two of the bridge staff aboard the Orion Pax are monitoring their stations, which are showing constant orbital surveillance of Crystal City. One of the Autobot then seems to notice something.

"...hey, where'd Prime go?"

"He said he was going to check out that asteroid activity on the other side of the planet."

"But he can't fly in space...that means...oh dear Primus. Nobody will be safe."

% *NOW*

Rodimus' grip the shuttle controls firmly, a scowl on his features as he studies the asteroid drawing closer in the viewscreen in front of him. "I swear, you'd think I was letting out a bunch of rabid turbo-wolves with the way they act when I take a shuttle out."

The asteroid's been taking a horrible beating thanks to Landmine. Cracks are appearing all over its surface, and soon it seems that the whole damn thing will split open. Chunks break off and tumble away, and gumbies are scurrying about in terror.

"IDIOTS! YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS!" Cyclonus booms, and while he is sorely tempted to blast them, too, he is more rational than his leader and instead focuses on disabling the remaining mining machinery. He then spies Rampage shooting at... something? "RAMPAGE! What are you firing at? Are you trying to make the whole blasted rock go up?"

"Someone's down there shooting at stuff!" the Predacon retorts, "Probably an Autobot!"

"Whoa!" Landmine wheeeels around Rampage's laser blast- and he pops back up into robot mode, and breaks into a run! He glances over his shoulder to track the 'cons firing at him...only to *crash!* into one of the Decepticon workers! Oh dear.

"Uh, you!" he says, grabbing hold of the 'con before he's recognized, "Quick, you've got to go push that big red button over there before Cyclonus kills us all!" and he shoves the gumby on his way! Who KNOWS what trouble that'll cause?

Rodimus Prime's frown finally becomes less concerned about the Autobots that complain about his flying skills and more about the fact that the whole asteroid in front of him is starting to look like it's cracking all over. "What in the world...?" He eases off on the thrusters a bit, before turning them off entirely and allowing himself to drift towards the giant space rock instead. He has no idea were on the asteroid Landmine is, but he can certainly see signs of Decepticons in chaos.

Landmine transforms to his robot mode!

This new breed of Decepticon, it seems, is gullible on top of incompetent. "What!?" the gumby says. "But the red button will... damn, you're probably right!" And he hustles off to press it. And when he does... a large rocket strapped onto the surface of the asteroid flares to life, and begins to push the asteroid. It might have pushed the asteroid elsewhere at one point, but given how the asteroid's mass and attributes have changed so radically, it is now instead pushing the rock right towards Cybertron!

Cyclonus transforms and lands near this gumby, marching towards him. "Cyclonus, I... I hit the red button, like the guy said to--" But Cyclonus doesn't want to hear more out of him, and begins to strangle him. It is Rampage to whom he speaks, not the gumby. "DESTROY THE AUTOBOT, RAMPAGE," he growls as the gumby's neck is gradually crushed under his fingers, and then Cyclonus hurls the gumby at the triple suns of the system. "Let them take you, FOOL."

The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus!

Rampage transforms and chases after Landmine. "I'll get you for that, Autobot!" he snarls, firing his guns at the Autobot. "I'll teach you to trick a poor stupid gumby!" The irony of this statement is somehow lost on the Predacon.

Rampage collapses down into his Tiger mode.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > misses Landmine with his Gun-Ports attack!

Landmine's optics go wide as he sees the rocket flare to life. "Okay, that's NOT what I planned- ack!" and he ducks behind a pile of machinery as Rampage strafes him! And soon enough, Landmine emerges from his hiding spot- only now encased in his more durable (but no less spaceworthy) Pretender shell!

Landmine lowers his shoulder and attempts to barrel through Rampage in an effort to get at the rocket controls! "Outta my way, kitty! I've got work to do!"

Landmine encases himself in his Pretender armor!

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > strikes Robot Tiger < Rampage > with his Coming through! (Punch) attack!

Rodimus Prime blinks as he watches the huge thrusters ignite, then blinks again as he notices the -direction- that the asteroid is drifting in. "...you've -got- to be kidding me. Guess this isn't the time to be subtle!" Grabbing hold of the throttle control, he jams it all the way ahead, causing the small one-bot shuttle to lurch forward violently, a brilliant flare of thrusterfire erupting from the back as it rockets towards the asteroid. He's got to try and do something too if he can help it. He has no idea -what- just yet...he's making it up as he goes.

Isn't that how leaders usually do it?

It turns out that flinging the gumby away gave Cyclonus the opportunity to look up--and notice the Autobot shuttle approaching them. "More Autobots, here for the mysterious element, no doubt," Cyclonus snarls. "They shan't have it! Kill the saboteur, Rampage, I will deal with the reinforcements!" He transforms, roaring away from the doomed asteroid towards the shuttle, peppering it with shots, passing it, then coming back around to blast it in its engines. Pretty much standard operating procedure whenever Cyclonus spots a shuttle he wants to kill--and for good reason, since he's shot down so many.

Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode!

"ARGH!" the robot tiger roars, as Landmine charges into him. He's knocked backwards, but picks himself up and leaps at the pretender shell. "I'm going to peel through the chewy center and tear you apart!" the tiger snaps.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > misses Space Miner < Landmine > with his Mauling attack!

And today will be no exception to Cyclonus' fine record of downed shuttles, to be sure. Flames (in space!) erupt from the engine ports and in the cockpit, Rodimus is covered in a shower of sparks and alarm klaxons ringing all around him. Despite the chaos, he almost looks wistful. "...at least this time there's no one else here to complain."

The shuttle banks left, then right, then starts a slow roll end over end before it plummets down towards the asteroid...and towards the huge engine ports for that matter. A moment later, it makes contact with a bright flash, then a brilliant explosion as its drive system goes up in a catastrophic and very pyrotechnic display. One Autobot shuttle down.

And one Autobot Leader making landfall a moment later, having quite literally pushed himself out the airlock at the last second and touching down on the asteroid's surface with a heavy puff of space dust from his large feet, his rifle already in one hand, the other raising to shield his face from a few stray bits of debris raining down from his ruined ride. "Well as far as landings go, that wasn't my worst!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Landmine says- and as the tiger leaps at him, Landmine ducks down and grabs hold of one of Rampage's legs, and then moves to *fling!* him across the asteroid, taking advantage of such low gravity! He glances over at Rodimus as his shuttle crashes, and waves cheerily. "Welcome to the party, Rodimus! Fashionably late, I see..." and then he dashes across the asteroid to the control console with the big red button! "Gotta be an off switch around here SOMEWHERE..."

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > strikes Robot Tiger < Rampage > with his Fling! (Kick) attack!

Starfighter < Cyclonus > bellows, "PRIME," as soon as he sees which Autobot is on the asteroid that wasn't there a moment ago. "I see that the Autobots favored tactic of dumping their *garbage* out of shuttles before destruction has worked again! Pity for you, I prefer to *recycle.*" And he continues towards Prime, transforming and trying to tackle the Autobot leader before he causes more mayhem. Behind him, the asteroid's rockets go up in flames, and the asteroid begins to shudder dangerously. Is it about to rupture completely?

The space fighter's nosecone snaps back as its body flips upright. Arms and legs unfold from the wings and fuselage respectively, and a dour face emerges from the body, forming the robot mode of Cyclonus!

Combat: Cyclonus strikes Rodimus Prime with his Recycle Your FACE (Punch) attack!

Combat: Gained 1 energon.

"Yeah well, you know. I always like to take extra time to make a good entrance," Rodimus grunts, before turning to look towards the nearby mayhem. "Should I even -ask- if this place is going to stay together or if it's going to break up under our f..." He's driven back a moment later, Cyclonus' fist connecting with his chin and sending the Autobot leader stumbling against a nearby rock, rubbing his metal jaw for a few seconds. "Hrnnh...was that humor, Cyclonus? I didn't know you actually had it in you!" Suddenly going low, Rodimus throws his shoulder forward in a classic football-bodycheck in an attempt to send the Decepticon second careening up and over. "Then again hanging around Galvatron all day, I imagine you don't get to have an audience that appreciates a good joke very often, do you!?"

Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Cyclonus with his It's better than Blood Bowl! (Punch) attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Punch": A Level 1 MELEE attack.

Robot Tiger < Rampage > gets flung to the side and lands heavily. When he gets back up, he's angrier than ever. He charges at the Autobot, firing blasts from his guns again. "No, you don't!" he snaps.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > strikes Space Miner < Landmine > with his Disruptor attack!

Cyclonus spits, "More mockery than jest, Prime," as he shifts his body to the left and simply allows Rodimus to fly past him. Worse, Cyclonus aims a kick at his back, attempting to send Rodimus Prime hurtling off the rock with his own momentum and a little help on top of that. "Now perhaps you'll appreciate this little joke: What do you call an Autobot who can't fly in the middle of space? The answer: You don't call him anything. You simply let him drift off into oblivion, and forget him."

Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Cyclonus misses Rodimus Prime with his Kick attack!

Combat: Drained 2 energon.

Space Miner < Landmine > is peppered with laser fire- but thankfully, his shell protects him from the worst of it! He glances around at the chaos ensuing, and then brings up his Astro Blaster to return fire at Rampage! He doesn't pay much attention, however, as he's distracted by- "Rodimus!"

Upon seeing his commander tumble out into space, Landmine quickly grabs hold of a tow-cable, and then flings the hook out towards his commander. "Catch!"

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > strikes Robot Tiger < Rampage > with his Laser attack!

Rodimus Prime actually twists with the kick as it glances off of his side, but it's enough of a bump to send him off the asteroid and upwards, his feet coming free from the 'ground' for a split second. "Always keep your options open, Cyclonus!" Rodimus reaches out to snag the offered grappling hook from Landmine, tugging on it suddenly to send him hurtling -back- towards the rock, and back towards the Decepticon second in short order. "Like I choose option B when you're drifting into space...you improvise!"

Twisting around in mid-air, the Autobot Leader comes crashing down to send both feet hurtling for the middle of Cyclonus' chestplate in a flying dropkick!

Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Cyclonus with his Kick attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Kick": A Level 2 MELEE attack.

Robot Tiger < Rampage > is shot again! The angry Predacon leaps, claws outstretched. "I'm still going to rip you apart!" he says.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > strikes Space Miner < Landmine > with his claw (Punch) attack!

That kick would surely have knocked Cyclonus off had it connected, but he's no longer there by the time it does, having transformed and blasted away from the crumbling asteroid. "Perhaps, Rodimus, but you'll find it harder to improvise when the ground beneath you gives way to fiery devastation!" He begins to open fire, but strangely, it's not at Rodimus--rather, he appears to firing at the core of the asteroid, blasting away to its center. "Bear witness as I follow Galvatron's example: If I can't have it, no one can!"

Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode!

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 10 energon.

Space Miner < Landmine > oofs! The tiger careens into him, scratching at his armor plates- but Landmine soon shoves back- and then there's a *vwoom!* of his laser saber as he swings the weapon in a wide arc to fend Rampage off!

"Rodimus!" he calls out, "Follow me!" and as soon as he can break away from Rampage, he starts running away from the mining site!

Combat: Space Miner < Landmine > misses Robot Tiger < Rampage > with his Laser Saber attack!

Rodimus Prime half tumbles to one side as the ground begins to rumble around him as Cyclonus' blasts start boring into the space rock one after another. "So this is the part where you take your ball and go home in a huff, right? Typical for a Decepticon, I guess!" Stumbling to his feet, the Autobot leader starts to slowly move backwards in Landmine's direction, raising both arms before him and unleashing triple blasts from each forearm. "You like flying in space so well, Cyclonus, let's see how well you fly with your sensors scrambled!"

Combat: Rodimus Prime sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Starfighter < Cyclonus > with his Arm Blasters attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Arm Blasters": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack.

Robot Tiger < Rampage > fortunately is able to dodge the blast this time, and he pursues Landmine, nipping at his heels and trying to trip him with his forepaws. "Oh no, you're not getting away!" he says.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > strikes Space Miner < Landmine > with his have a nice TRIP? (Kick) attack!

Supposedly, it's easiest to hit a fast moving object when it's moving right towards you, but in this case Cyclonus's profile directly from the front is so narrow that he still makes for a difficult target, which Rodimus demonstrates as his shots come close but don't quite strike home. "Hm, I'd say I prefer my sensors poached, but perhaps that would be a bit too *human* of me," Cyclonus says dryly. "But then, I think I'd truly prefer to see you *well done.*" And his bomb bay doors open up, disgorging a multitude of orange bombs straight at the asteroid. Most of them miss the hole he bored into the asteroid, but one of them manages to slip through. Oh dear.

The results are catastrophic. The asteroid shudders like an enraged beast, and methane-fueled flames pour out of every crack in the rock. More gas pockets erupt and more Decepticon gumbies, what few are left, are sent screaming into space. This asteroid doesn't have long for this world.

Space Miner < Landmine > clatters down to the ground- only to pop up out of his shell- and he transforms again! "Right, wheels!" he says, even as his armor flashes away into subspace! Landmine speeds on, and swivels his turret around to snap off a concentrated blast of energy at Rampage, hoping to melt off some of the 'con's armor!

"C'mon Rodimus!" he calls out, "My shuttle's on the other side of the asteroid- we can make it if we hurry!"

Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode!

Combat: Space-Buggy sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Space-Buggy strikes Robot Tiger < Rampage > with his Mining Laser attack!

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > misses Space-Buggy with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > misses Rodimus Prime with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > strikes Robot Tiger < Rampage > with his Incendiary Bombs Area attack!

Combat: Drained 45 energon.

"Woah!" Rodimus exclaims as the literal ground underneath his feet seems to explode, then lift off as the asteroid starts to break up underneath him. This has two effects, one being that the ground is ripped up beneath him, the second being that Rodimus is once more being catapulted into space...though this time with more than a few chunks of asteroid in the process. "...okay Rodimus, think fast!" With that, he leaps from one chunk, to the next. "...move fast..." Then another. It's almost like a platforming video game as he leaps from rock to rock to rock, then suddenly....he runs completely out of rocks.

"...and improvise!" And improvise he does, as he takes the leap of faith towards the last bit of 'land' that's on the rapidly breaking up asteroid, and where Landmine is no doubt waiting for him. And between him and his target? Cyclonus himself, which the Autobot leader quite literally moves to kick off of, using his elbow to SMASH down at the starfighter's fuselage.

Combat: Rodimus Prime strikes Starfighter < Cyclonus > with his The Touch attack!

Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "The Touch": A Level 8 MELEE attack.

Combat: You took 24 damage.

Robot Tiger < Rampage > gets nailed by another attack from Landmine. He's about to retailate when he's absolutely devastated by an attack that came from Cyclonus. He collapses on the ground and twitches.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Landmine transforms to his robot mode!

Landmine springs back into robot mode and leaps into his little shuttle- only to glance after Rodimus and Cyclonus. "Hurry up!" he says, waving the commander in closer. "There's not much time before this thing turns to space dust- and takes us with it!"

Starfighter < Cyclonus > has quite a number done on him by the elbow, viciously spun around by the impact and tumbling over and over through space out of control. "Prime!--" Cyclonus yells, shortly before he bounces off a chunk of violently ejected rock, and continues to tumble away helplessly into space. "Currrse youuuuuu--"

The asteroid begins to buck in its death throes. Enough gas has escaped that you can actually hear the high-pitched SKREEEEEEEEEE of the escaping, burning gases.

Combat: Starfighter < Cyclonus > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Combat: Regained 10 energon.

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

Rodimus Prime tucks and rolls as he lands on the more solid chunk of 'land' left in front of him, though it too is starting to rapidly break up beneath him. "Don't wait for me!" He calls to Landmine, scooping up bits of electric cabling left over from all the destroyed equipment as he breaks into a dead run. "Fire it up and get it moving already!" Looping the cable overhead, he spins it like a lasso and suddenly gives it a toss, to wrap around one of the protruding 'fins' of the shuttle's design. One thing that's great about being a large robot is you don't have to worry about silly necessities like oxygen to breathe and pressurized cabins.

Starfighter < Cyclonus > seems to be out of the fight for now. Meanwhile, the asteroid continues to rage, giving one last violent heave before the inevitable happens! Rampage, fortunately for him, has the ground underneath him blasted off of the asteroid, and so will likely find himself alive when he recovers.

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

The Global Pose Tracker marks that Starfighter < Cyclonus > has 'skipped' his action for this round.

"Whatever you say!" And Landmine soon fires up the shuttlecraft, and takes off for saftey! He's not as good a pilot as Rodimus, but at least he has a far better track record when it comes to crashing shuttles! And as they zoom off, Landmine hmms, and taps the radio...

"While you're out there, think you could grab a sample of the rock? I'd like to take a look at it..."

Robot Tiger < Rampage > continues to lie there. A paw scrapes in front of him slowly and then stops.

Combat: Robot Tiger < Rampage > takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Rodimus Prime braces himself as the shuttle takes off, the cable lengthening out as it starts to draw taut rapidly, as he hears Landmine's request. "...oh sure, not like I'm doing anything else anyw...YURK!" And with that, he's abruptly jerked off of his feet, just as the ground explodes where he was a moment ago. With the cable wrapped tightly around his forearm, Rodimus somehow manages to snag a piece of drifting rock with his other hand, tucking it close to his body like a football as he hangs on for dear life.

While hazardous, his position -does- give him a rather spectacular view of the asteroid as it continues to blow up beneath him, as he pulls further and further away from it. "...yeah, -way- better than letting that thing crash down planetside."

It might seem to Rodimus that the rock he's carrying has vastly more mass than it ought to. It's even causing a considerable strain on his arm as the shuttle accelerates away. In any case, a mere split second after the Autobots make their escape, the asteroid goes up in an enormous fireball, sending streaks of flame and rock hurtling through space. It will probably make for a spectacular lightshow for anyone watching from the surface, but it's kind of terrifying this close up.