Ashes to Ashes, Rust to Rust

Oxide Dunes - Rust Seas

An accumulation of rust from millions of years of storms in a wide patch of land within the Rust Seas, the dunes are great, sweeping hills of pure red granular oxidation. Light-weight mechs typically won't have a problem, but the larger they are, the more they struggle to walk through the sand-like rust. It stretches on for miles before leveling out into the pale sienna surface metal of Cybertron's crust.

Contents: Air Raid

Whirl has arrived. Hun-Grrr has arrived.

The Two Headed Razor Drake twists and transforms, rising in the form of Hun-Grrr, leader of the Terrorcons!

Hun-Grrr soars over the Oxide Dunes, keeping a keen optic out for Autobot irritants. He glares back at Blast Off, less than thrilled to be reduced to playing bodyguard for a Combaticon. Hun-Grr was a Warboss, he was violence made manifest- guarding this paper mache flying machine was beneath him. "The sooner that Octopunch has his prize, the sooner our association can end, Combaticon!" He snarls, because the scene needs exposition.

With a disdainful shrug, Blast Off transforms into a space shuttle.

Space Shuttle  flies nearby, scoffing back at the Terrorcon leader. "That will suit me perfectly well. So what exactly are we looking for again?" Blast Off doesn't like being stuck with Hun-Grrr, either... though he's in a slightly better mood than he's been in the last several days- mostly because (thanks to Harrow) he FINALLY got to take a shower and clean himself up again after playing janitor to Horrorcons for too long.

"I'm pretty damn sure I saw a dragon," Raid insists, scoping the dunes from above. Every so often a rusty gust sends him tumbling and pitching. "WOO! Don't let your wimpy blades snap off!" he shouts at Whirl.

"Don't let your tiny wheels fall off when you go in for a landing," Whirl shouts back as he putters around some ways behind Air Raid. Helicopters don't go as fast as F-15s, but they are still way better in every other regard. "Wait, did you say dragon? Damn! I didn't know you Aerialbots were into hallucinogens. I think I respect you guys a little more now." Whirl transforms into a super cool helicopter!

Hun-Grrr clenches his fists. "Are you so simple a construct?! Hun-Grrr knows that we are searching for a large crate labeled 'SHARK TAIL 2' which Octopunch left in the dunes! It must be close- activate the homing beacon!" He sniffes, distracted for a moment by a flash of movement up ahead. "I am sure I saw an airplane and a helicopter..."

Space Shuttle  bristles. "Simple? This coming from someone who is more ruled by his fuel pump than his cerebro-cortex? .... and how am I supposed to know that? You just dragged me out here with no explanation... Pfft, very well, activating beacon." he mutters, "Terrorcons and their strange appetites..." Then he also picks up something ahead. "Turbo-turkeys! Ahhh- this day just improved."

"Tch whatever mech, you don't even have wheels," Air Raid catches a glint of Blast Off's now GLEAMING metal and shifts his attention. "...WELL WELL WELL! C'mon nutjob, lets pester some 'cons." Still a decent distance away, aiming is an afterthought as Raid fires a quick string of lasers in Hun-Grrr's direction.

Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle  sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle  strikes Hun-Grrr with his Laser attack!

"I don't need wheels, I got SKIIS!" Whirl would bobs side to side when he says this, trying to give Air Raid a better view of his totally awesome, superior helicopter skiis. He zooms in on the forms of Hun-Grrr and Blast Off when Air Raid starts goings crazy and shooting things. "Ohh, hey, I guess you're not on drugs after all. Eh, nevermind, you're not cool anymore." The photon cannon attached to his chasis powers up and shoots out some photons at Blast Off. Science!

Combat: Bell AH-1 Cobra  misses Space Shuttle  with his Powie Zowie attack! [Pulled -2]

"Autobots!" Hun-Grrr snarls in anger as he's shot by Air Raid. "Feast on their laser cores, Blast Off! Or I shall tear *your* cerebro-cortex from your skull!" The Terrorcon engages his thrusters and blasts towards Air Raid. "An Aerialbot! A limb of Superion will make an excellent addition to Hun-Grrr's collection!" But first, to get Raid on the ground where he could be properly feasted upon...

Combat: Hun-Grrr strikes F-15E Strike Eagle  with his Disable Shot attack! Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle  has been temporarily incapacitated.

Space Shuttle  watches the Autobots come at them. He can't resist: "Air Raid! You finally hit something! I think that's a new record!" Then Whirl shoots at him, and he breezes out of the way. "But your shooting is far more like I'd expect from your kind, Autofool." The shuttle adjusts wing elevons and dives down for a strafing run. "Oh look. A crazy helicoptor. For your information, I already KNOW a crazy helicoptor and he would outclass and outfight you anyday." Hun-Grr's comment just gets a moment of silence until, "Uh... yes, sure. "Feast on their laser cores". ...I can't wait." That is sarcasm, by the way.

Combat: Space Shuttle  strikes Bell AH-1 Cobra  with his Vortex > Whirl attack! [Pulled -6]

F-15E Strike Eagle  gets close enough to realize it's none other than a Terrorcon! Dragon with two heads, even better! "Hoooo, you guys can't be up to much good way out here," he sing-songs, sweeping low enough to kick up a plume of rust particles. "Hey shaddap!" is all Blast Off gets, but the snide comment distracts him enough to get him nailed by Hun-Grrr's stunnerific blast, which sends the black jet soaring straight for the ground. He collides with a dune in a spray of oxide.

Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle  takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack.

Bell AH-1 Cobra  guffaws mockingly at Blast Off's comments. "You're talking about Vortex, right? The one with the glue gun? Hahahahaha! Aaahahahaha! Give me a break! That guy SUCKS!" The Wrecker continues to laugh even while pieces of his hull are blown away by the Combaticon's bombardment. "You think HE'S crazier than ME? You REALLY think that!? BUDDY, I WILL SHOW YOU CRAZY!"

Whirl starts spinning around like a lunatic, every gun on his body firing at once. Grenades, lasers, some other stuff even he doesn't know.. it all goes flying in every direction as he whirls around like.. like some kind of crazy guy!

Combat: Bell AH-1 Cobra  sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Bell AH-1 Cobra 's Uncontrolled Strafing attack on Hun-Grrr goes wild! Combat: Bell AH-1 Cobra <Whirl> misses F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> with his Uncontrolled Strafing Area attack! Combat: Bell AH-1 Cobra <Whirl> strikes Space Shuttle <Blast Off> with his Uncontrolled Strafing Area attack! Combat: Bell AH-1 Cobra <Whirl>'s attack has slightly decreased your Courage. Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> strikes Hun-Grrr with his Laser attack!

Hun-Grrr is on Air Raid in an instant, transforming into his horrifying beast mode as he drops out of the sky! The Terrorcon looms over Air Raid, razorsharp teeth from each set of his jaws gleaming. "Now, Aerialbot..." his left head begins... "You will understand that to cross Hun-Grrr..." the second continues... "Is to meet death!" Both finish together. His right head lunges down to snap Air Raid into his jaws to eat him legs first!

With a thundering roar, Hun-Grr transforms into the fearsome and murderous bane of the Cybertron Underground, a Two Headed Razor Drake!

Combat: Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> strikes F-15E Strike Eagle <Air Raid> with his Appetizers! attack! [Pulled -1]

Space Shuttle <Blast Off> is indeed taken aback by Whirl's sudden aerial display as he out-Vortexes Vortex in the crazy department. The shuttle starts to huff at the helicopter for insulting his teammate, but doesn't have an opportunity to say anything much. While the Combaticon falters in confusion, Whirl's attack strikes his fuselage and a part of his vertical stablizer. Nooooo, there goes the beautiful and shiny finish he was just able to enjoy again! "You will pay for that insult, Whirl!" He might mean Vortex, but odds are he mostly means the insult to his (former) good looks. Blast Off circles around for another bombardment!

Combat: Space Shuttle <Blast Off> strikes Bell AH-1 Cobra <Whirl> with his That Polishing Job Took Me Hours Curse You attack! [Pulled -4]

Air Raid slowly comes to his senses, only to find HIS LEGS BEING EATEN. "AAAHHHOLY SLAG!" He dangles uselessly before spasming and reaching for his rifle. "Ow ow! GET OFF!" Fumbling with subspace, he jams the barrel against one of Hun-Grrr's snouts and unleases some crazy rotational force! "WHIRL! HELP ME YOU STUPID CHOPPER!"

Air Raid folds and compacts into his robot mode. Combat: Air Raid strikes Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> with his Torque Rifle attack!

Bell AH-1 Cobra <Whirl> finally stops spinning long enough to get bombarded by Blast Off again. It was worth it to mess up his paintjob though. Large panels of armor just barely hang onto his frame after the metaphorical dust settles, a few even falling off and crashing to the ground below. "Save you!?" the Wrecker shouts to Air Raid. "After what you said about my clamps?! ....Yeah, okay. But you owe me an apology! And maybe a couple bucks. And your most expensive items so I may break them WITH MY CLAMPS."

The helicopter ignores Blast Off for now, flying over to where Hun-Grrr is currently devouring his 'friend,' transforming in mid-air and falling towards the Terrorcon with his arms stretched out and his clamps clacking together. Whirl transforms into a crazy robot. Wreck and rule!

Combat: Whirl strikes Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> with his Clamp Madness attack!

Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> howls in pain as his snout is more or less blasted off by the Aerialbot, reacting by flinging Air Raid as far away as he can. "Foolish Autobot!" He left head screams in anger, "You've only earned a more horrific death in the stomach of Hun-Grrr!" The beast thunders in his direction. "I will digest your exo skeleton and fashion it into molten slag to kill your Wrecker friend with! Know that this will not end quickly for you! You will know suffering! Hun-Grrr will teach you pain! Hun-Grrr will...What?" The Terrorcon finally notices that he's been sinking into the rusty sands since he landed. "No! I will not be kept from my prey! I will not-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWR!" Hun-Grrr screams in defiance as Whirl attacks, struggling to mount some kind of defense against the crazy Wrecker. He lashes out at Whirl out of sheer panic, trapped between sinking and a crazy murder person!

Combat: Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> strikes Whirl with his random biting (Punch) attack!

Space Shuttle <Blast Off> flies down as Whirl distracts Hun-Grrr from devouring the Aerialbot. In the confusion he sees an opportunity to strike Air Raid and moves in to take advantage of it. Transforming, he almost lands on the ground, but, seeing Hun-Grr's difficulties, uses the rockets in his feet to hover just over the ground instead. Hmmm. While Air Raid is hopefully still disoriented, the Combaticon finds a boulder of rust debris, lifts it over his head, and hurls it towards the 'Bot!

Blast Off shifts into his battle-ready robot mode. Combat: Blast Off strikes Whirl with his Dust to Rust or maybe that's Rust to dust (Punch) attack!

Combat: Air Raid damages himself.

Air Raid is flung well across the landscape! He smashes face first into more dunes, parts of his own mangled leg ripping off. "Nnngh..." By the time he rights himself, Whirl is getting bitten, and even Raid's not enough of a douche to leave him, buuuut Blast Off gets to him first. With a giant boulder of debris. Which totally flattens his vertical stabilizers. "AGH! You FRAGGER!" Squirming out, he twists around, exchanges his rifle for his warbow and draws an arrow of high voltage. -Twing!-

Combat: Air Raid strikes Blast Off with his Voltramite Warbow attack! Combat: Air Raid's attack has damaged your Agility! Combat: That attack has slightly corrupted your Firepower systems!

"I WILL SLAY THE DRAGON!" Whirl hollers as he clamps the shit out of one of Hun-Grrr's faces. Unfortunately, Hun-Grrr has another one that starts biting at his own face. The horror!

"AaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!" Whirl flails his arms around as what passes for his face is crushed in the Terrorcon's jaws, sparking shooting everywhere. "I'm still better looking than you though!" He pulls his photon cannon off his back and slips it over one of his clamps before using it to blast a hole in the offending dragon head.

Combat: Whirl strikes Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> with his XxXdRAGONkIllerXxX attack!

Two Headed Razor Drake <Hun-Grrr> driven by bloodlust, Hun-Grrr eagerly goes in for a second- and final- chomp of Whirl's face to put the Wrecker down for good, and wraps his mouth around his photon cannon instead. There's a moment of uncomfortable eye contact between the two mechs and then Whirl pulls the trigger.

Hun-Grrr staggers backwards, transforming, and falling onto his back. His cannon subspaces in and he points it up at Whirl. The weapon hums to life and FIRES!

The Two Headed Razor Drake twists and transforms, rising in the form of Hun-Grrr, leader of the Terrorcons!

Combat: Hun-Grrr strikes Whirl with his Sonic Stun Gun attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Whirl's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Whirl's Agility. (Crippled)

Blast Off throws the boulder, but it leaves him vulnerable during the followthrough and Air Raid maximizes the opportunity for a little payback. The Aerialbot's shot strikes in just the wrong spot- Blast Off's legs, damaging some of the laser weaponry systems stored there and hitting part of the rockets in his feet. This knocks the Combaticon from his hovering position and onto his aft in the rust. "Augh!"

He snarls with disgust, raising himself up again- this time just standing on the ground. Fortunately, he's not as heavy as Hun-Grrr, so he doesn't sink in. But he iS getting rust all over his formerly shiny surface, and that is just annoying! The shuttleformer kicks a foot out, trying to shake some faltering flight systems into working again, and brings out his ionic blaster in the meantime. Time to do what he does best- shoot things! "Eloquent as always, I see... turbo-turkey. I will be flying momentarily, don't worry - but I have decided YOU are to be permanently grounded!" he aims for Raid's wings.

Combat: Blast Off strikes Air Raid with his Grounded attack!

Air Raid loves ions! He ioned the crap out of everyone not too long ago via Loadout. He does not love ions through his wings. There is a brief pause before the pain lights up his sensory grid, and he howls and writhes on the rusty sand for a lengthy moment. "Arrghh, DAMN YOU! I NEEDED THOSE!" Pulling a fist full of explosive arrows, he leans back and fires them straight into the air.

Combat: Air Raid strikes Whirl with his Grenade Arrow Strafe Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Whirl's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Whirl falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Air Raid strikes Hun-Grrr with his Grenade Arrow Strafe Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Hun-Grrr's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Air Raid misses Blast Off with his Grenade Arrow Strafe Area attack!

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

Whirl gets shot to pieces. Literally. Like, there are pieces of him flying all over the place, shooting off in every direction, even hitting everyone nearby in the face. He stumbles backwards, legs buckling underneath him though he doesn't fall completely. "I AM WHIRL!" he hollers, clamps held high in the air. "AND I HAVE NO KNOWN WEAKNESSES! AHAHAHAHAAHA!"

Just then, one of Air Raid's arrows hits him in the chest and explodes, completely demolishing the helicopter canopy that makes up his torso. He falls to the ground with a thud.

Hun-Grrr pulls himself to his feet once Whirl explodes, and picks up one of the Wrecker's legs before pointing at Blast Off. "Find the crate. Octopunch will have what he needs for Phase 2. I will put down the Aerialbot." Hun-Grrr turns towards Raid, still kind of sinking. "You will not forget this lesson. I am pain. I kill when I wish. And I. Am. Strong." He stalks towards the Aerialbot slowly, because he is an overconfident bad guy.

Combat: Hun-Grrr takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Air Raid ...decides it's best to LEG IT. He runs over, grabs what's left of Whirl by the ski and ruuuuuuns towards the distant silhouette of the Aegis. "Argh, c'mon c'mon, over here!"

Combat: Air Raid begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Blast Off

Despite his injuries, Blast Off's still comparitively quick reflexes enable him to leap out of the way and avoid Air Raid's attack. He considers Air Raid smugly. "No, I rather think you don't need them. You do such a poor job with those wings anyway." Looking back, he notices that Raid just KOed Whirl- and laughs! "Hah ha ha! First Skydive, now Whirl! I'd almost consider nominating you for Decepticon MVP..." he stops and take a step towards the Aerialbot. "But I'm afraid you're not likely to live long enough to enjoy such an honor, anyway." He raises the blaster again, leveling it at Air Raid's face. "You'll just have to add that to your long list of regrets, I suppose."

Then Hun-Grrr spoils his epic moment, and he looks back in annoyance. "Seriously? This turbo-turkey is MINE by rights! I've been needing to pluck his feathers for a looong time now. I should be the one to finish him off." Slag it, he NEEDS this victory. Maybe then Galvatron will remove his punishment....

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

Blast Off doesn't notice Air Raid taking off with Whirl because- y'know, distracted by Hun-Grrr.

Whirl leaves a trail of energon as Raid carries him away like a hero.. except he's the reason whirl is like this Hun-Grrr points to a nearby dune. "The beacon says it's here! Dig, Combaticon! DIG!" He shakes an angry fist. Blast Off looks back to where the Aerialbot is no longer at. What. He whirls back towards Hun-Grrr. "He got away!!!! THIS is what happens when you distract me from doing my job- my REAL job- destroying Autofools- not retrieving dinner scraps for Terrorcons!" He looks down at where the Terror-Con is pointing. "That looks... unhealthy. I have been assigned to the Horrorcons, Hun-Grrr... NOT to cleaning up after Terrorcons. If you want that, dig it up yourself!"

Hun-Grrr stares at Blast Off for a long moment. "This will not be forgotten, Combaticon. Leave, and Hun-Grrr shall retrieve the crate himself. However know this: That you will be alive when I finally pull you apart and begin to eat you."

Blast Off stares back, then huffs at the larger mech. Blitzwing sought to beat Blast Off, and he found it wasn't quite as easy as he had thought. Because- first you have to CATCH the Combaticon, and that's easier said than done. The egotistical shuttleformer says nothing, however, just giving a slight shrug before transforming and speeding away. Of course, one of these days his overconfidence is going to get him in serious trouble. But... not today.

Air Raid vanishes out of reality. Air Raid has left.