Terminus: The Tempest (Protihex)

[Blackjack]

Roads

"Right. No ejector seats this time?" Detour asked Acid Storm, although his tone was in no way light-hearted. He glanced at the section of the city where the Combaticon forces are fighting the main bulk of the Imperials. "This is it, then..."
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"No particular reason, I guess." Repugnus told Onslaught. "It's just that, I don't fancy hanging around the Decepticons and the Autobots have all but disowned me. Only few knew I still work for the Autobots, but you know what? They placed a Scraplet bomb in my head. So I guess I'm not feeling all too happy about either faction right now..."

Repugnus bisected an Imperial across the waist, charged forwards and headbutted a second Imperial with his head, then beheaded said Imperial with his mandibles. As the head lolled away Repugnus spat a fireball that engulfed a third Imperial.

"Ah, this is the life!"
_______________________________________

Hyperdrive continued to charge headlong into the fray, oblivious to any damages he was receiving.
_______________________________________

-The gall of this Pretender... no, he's trying to bait me. I will not stoop so low as to bite his bait.-

"You may deny it all you want, Thunderwing, but I showed you mercy ten years ago in Scorponok's brig, after you were used and discarded by Unicron and the Chaos Matrix like the peon you are. Even the Autobot Matrix saw you weak and used you as a peon. The Autobot Matrix!" Sixshot growled. "But then, your memory was always bad, was it? You never could remember all three of your humiliating defeats."

Sixshot transformed into his cannon mode, took aim and opened fire at Thunderwing.

Despite his bluster, Sixshot knew he couldn't take on Thunderwing himself.... where was Spinister?
 

[Warcry]

Roads

Acid Storm chuckled at Detour's quip. "I figured I'd be nicer this time," he told his friend as he taxied to a stop on the tarmac away from the fight. "Be careful, OK? We didn't come here just to get killed."
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Onslaught blasted an Imperial infantrymech with his wrist gun before he responded to Repugnus.

"I'm in no position to turn anyone away," he told the Monsterbot, "and frankly, Protihex could use every extra hand it can get. Besides, I have a feeling real estate prices around here are going to tank once we're done clearing out the Imperials, much to Swindle's chagrin. If you're looking for a place to stay, I could think of worse. But we won't protect you if you draw down the ire of Prime, Megatron or Gigatron on you, either."
_______________________________________

Thunderwing transformed to space cruiser mode and rocketed into the sky, evading Sixshot's blasts even as he returned fire with his electrostatic rifles.

"Hmmm...I'm afraid you still don't ring a bell. I'm afraid you simply must understand, a mech in my position meets so many of you common folk that I just can't keep you all straight. After all, it's not as if you're people or anything. If you were your scurrilous lies might carry some weight."
_______________________________________

Spinister continued to hover in the distance, waiting for Thunderwing to become more fully engaged with Sixshot before he joined the fight.
 

[Blackjack]

Roads

"Yup. Same to you." Detour told Acid Storm as he hopped off the Seeker's cockpit. "Thanks. I'll buy you a drink if we both survive this."

Detour transformed and shot away. "Road Hugger, I'm on the map. Where are you?"
_______________________________________

"Home in on my signal." Road Hugger told Detour. "We can't do much, not with me wounded and you being, well, tiny, but we can screw them up real good."

He hefted Chopster and fired off a few rounds at the Imperial armada below.

Thunderwing took to the air, and Road Hugger instinctively stopped firing, optics wide. "Not him." Clicking open his communicator, he called Detour, "Detour, this is worse than we thought. Thunderwing is here!" Road Hugger's voice is very obviously tinged with terror.

And why wouldn't it? Thunderwing was his creator. Anyone who could create something could easily destroy it.
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Good enough. Spinister and Sixshot will assume I died in battle or hid away, and I don't think I'm high on their priority. This can't be the only Imperial force they sent, right, Onslaught?" Repugnus headbutted another Imperial, transformed into robot mode, launched a barrage of venom blasts, before swirling into beast mode again.

"I've already brought the ire of them all. Bring on Unicron!"
_______________________________________

"While your scurrilous denials do not mean a thing to me!" Sixshot growled as he transformed into jet mode and launched himself towards Thunderwing. "I will make you eat those words as you beg for mercy beneath my feet!"

Should have never let him survive. Should have never done that. Stupid, stupid Sixshot. Stupid Gigatron for ordering me to spare him.

The electrostatic rifles slammed onto Sixshot's exostructure but bounced off without so much of an effect as blackening his thick armour. Sixshot launched several missiles at Thunderwing when he got close enough, then transformed into beast mode, using his momentum from his jet mode to try and land onto Thunderwing, claws snikt-ing as they unfurled.
 

[Subs]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Submarauder, now sheaved in his montrous Pretender shell, was fully engaged with the Imperial troops as he hacked and slashed through the enemy ranks.

After decapitating yet another foot soldier the Pretender turned to see a squad of imperials trying to outflank Hyperdrive.

"Hay, Hypes, try watching your back!" Submarauder shouted as he drove his sword through the squad leader's back.
 

[Blackjack]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Hyperdrive whirled around and flashed Submarauder a slasher smile. "Thanks, Subs. Enjoying the battle?" Hyperdrive pulled one of the many bazookas strapped onto his back, took aim and launched it at a particularly large Imperial tank.

"We need to hold them back from the power plants around here. Not that I care about Protihex, but a big explosion by a stray bullet will kill us all."

Hyperdrive glanced up as Thunderwing took into the air to engage Sixshot. "Well, I'll be... that's me daddy!"
 

[Warcry]

Roads

"Sounds like a plan."

Acid Storm answered Detour and blasted back up into the air, then looped around and found Needlenose.

"So, Targetmaster...how do you want to handle this?"

"Damned if I know," Needlenose told him. "Shoot anyone in green?"

"I'm personally offended by that," Acid Storm said flatly.

"Present company accepted obviously."

"You're really ruining the image I've got in my head of the Mayhem Attack Squad, you know."

"Yeah," Needlenose admitted. "I get that a lot."
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Onslaught chuckled. "I admire your enthusiasm, but speaking as someone who got to fight Unicron last time I have to say 'no'."

He blasted another Imperial, then asked Repugnus, "But what are you going to do here?"
_______________________________________

"Oh, I think not," Thunderwing corkscrewed to avoid Sixshot's incoming fire, then touched off his afterburners and blasted away from the falling beast. "If my words are so meaningless to you, I wonder why you've gotten so...angry, hmm? Perhaps I've touched a nerve and you're too proud to admit it?"

As he spoke, a cloud of corrosive gas started to emit from the hoses that ran around his fuselage, dying the sky between himself and Sixshot an angry, sickly green.
 

[optimusskids]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Crankcase pulled up.

"More ammo from Doublecross some holoprojectors from the tridee guys and Repugnus, Doublecross says he's found you a Skullsplitter 2.

Crankcase transformed and tossed a monstrous sword / spiked meleee weapon towards Repugnus



~*~

Beastbox replaced his cannon pack with a BFG he aimed it at the Imperials before aiming it at Onslaught's back and firing before firing again at Repugnus' back.

Roads

Pounce materalised near Acid Storm.

He grinned showing his fangs

"Never give them what they expect keeps mechs off balance. Hows it going Pointy, been living it up with the Tridee stars?"
 

[Blackjack]

Rooftop

"Well, that ain't good." Detour told Road Hugger flatly as he hopped up from the drain he had used as a makeshift ladder.

"You don't sound scared, brother. Funny. Usually you're the one wanting to retreat, Drive will go manic and want to plow into the battle, Jack calculates all the risks and I'm the one sane man trying to hold the team together." Road Hugger told Detour as he raised Chopster and gunned down another Imperial jet.

"Gimme some credit, Huggy. I know what to run away from, and what not to run away from."

"Why does everybody call me Huggy?"

"You go with a name with 'hug' in it and everybody will ignore the rest of your name." Detour said with a smirk as he pulled out his pinprick lasers. "Question is, what can we even do against daddy-o?"

"No idea. Hey, how'd you get so big anyway?"

"Upgrade time. Hyperdrive's big as well. I'd expect you to notice that sooner, Detour."

"Defend thyself from perceived insults before commenting on others, is great philosophy, Huggy."

"Hey, Chopster, any idea what to do?" Road Hugger asked his rifle. "This isn't getting us anywhere."
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Not fair." Repugnus told Onslaught. "Lemme ask ya, did ya die when fighting the Great Horned One?"

Repugnus headbutted another Imperial and slashed a second one across the throat, before shoving the corpse onto the line of fire of another enemy.... they look all the same to Repugnus. "Oh, about the same thing you guys do. Beat up anyone who causes trouble."

Crankcase tossed the Skullsplitter II at Repugnus, and his optics and face widened in a grin. That crazy dragon does know him the best...

Repugnus swung the massive spiked blade and decapacitated an Imperial. "Doublecross is here, Blue?" One of the few people Repugnus considered as a friend (or rather, friends). And more conveniently, one of the few who could get in touch with Grotusque and get him the hell out of this mess... "I'm going to bounce off to find him, I-"

Beastbox's fire slammed near Repugnus' back -- too close for comfort -- "Hey, Kong! That better not be aimed at me." Repugnus hissed.
_______________________________________

"Eat this, Daddy dearest." Hyperdrive aimed his bazooka up at Thunderwing (who hopefully would be preoccupied with Sixshot to care about the menials below) and fired.
_______________________________________

Sixshot transformed into his giant space gun mode when his claws failed to rend metal, hover-engines stopping his fall almost instantaneously. "We don't have nerves, dolt."

Sixshot swiveled around and opened fire, a concentrated stream of energy, coupled with his hypersonic cannons, towards the cloud and hopefully Thunderwing.
 

[Warcry]

Roads

Needlenose scoffed. "Hardly," he told Pounce. "Spinister's been keeping my busy, just like you. Now, are we gonna kill some Imps, or are you planning on, uh, pussyfooting around? Eh?"

Acid Storm groaned at the horrible pun, then jetted away, strafing a collection of ground-based Imperials. "You're really ruining that mental image," he reiterated. "If Bludgeon was here you'd have him in tears. If he had eyes, I suppose."
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Unicron? No, we survived that. It was the Quintessons that caused us more trouble."

Onslaught was blasted to the ground by Beastbox's fire. "What in the hell!" he bellowed as he pushed himself up and turned to face the cassette. "What are you playing at?"
_______________________________________

Thunderwing didn't need to evade Hyperdrive's rocket because it's armour was corroded through by the gas he'd released and it detonated several dozen metres away from him. He did anyway, though, and a few seconds later he was very glad he did as Sixshot's blasts cut through his previous location.

"It's a figure of speech, cretin. If you like, we can take a break from fighting while you look that up?"

Of course, he put the lie to his words very quickly when he raked Sixshot's position with laser fire.
_______________________________________

Rooftop

"You're the boss," Chopster told Road Hugger. "Me, my first instinct would be 'run away'. Which is probably when I'm the one who turns into a weapon."

He paused to think for a second, then said, "Maybe we should start targeting their officers? Do you see any Imperials out there with some extra splashes of paint on them?"
 

[Blackjack]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Bah." Hyperdrive cursed as his rocket was dissolved. "Leave it to him to use some wacky..."

Hyperdrive's next words did not come out, as several Imperials jumped him. Roaring, Hyperdrive began rending onto the troopers with his bare hands. "You want some? Get some!"
_______________________________________

Sixshot twirled forwards and folded into his jet mode in a well-practiced move. "Typical. You glorify yourself as a noble yet you debase yourself in the speech of filthy fleshbags."

Sixshot launched more hypersonic blasts at Thunderwing. It's a good thing he has been practicing for aerial maneuvers...
_______________________________________

Rooftop

Road Hugger and Detour looked at each other and shrugged. "When did you get yourself a Mini-Con partner, you dunce?" Detour asked, then turned to Chopster. "Hi, I'm Detour."

"He's on loan." Road Hugger told his patrol-mate. "Best idea I've heard so far, so let's do it." Road Hugger took aim with Chopster and began scanning the crowd for anything out of the sea of green and white. He recognized so many familiar faces amongst the crowds. His fellow Combaticons... Crankstart and Terradive and everybody else... Onslaught... Beastbox... Doublecross... those movie maker guys... Repugnus... Repugnus?

"Huggy, I forgot to tell you-"

"I see it. We have more backup, apparently." Gigatron's forces, Road Hugger thought. Needlenose, Spinister, Sixshot, Crankcase, Submarauder... the Mayhem Attack Squad is here! And- "Hyperdrive is here too." Road Hugger chuckled. "Somebody tell Blackjack to take the next plane here, we'll reform the Patrol."

Road Hugger took aim at a differently-coloured Imperial, a black coloured jet, and opened fire with Chopster.
 

[optimusskids]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Beastbox fired at Onslaught and Repugnus again.

"Me fed up of being bottom of heap. Thunderwing promise to make me Commander Beastbox."

Crankcase dived forward aiming to push Repugnus out of the way.

Roads

Pounce grinned

"Sure Needle I get the point, smallest butchers bill buys the first round."

Pounce transformed and hefted his twin rocket launchers.
 

[Blackjack]

Commander Field Bivouac

Repugnus went limp as Crankcase pushed him, carrying both of them away from Beastbox's fire. Well, apparently not all Decepticons are that bad, Repugnus told himself. While he did feel grateful, he didn't show it.

"Blue, cover my back! I'mma gonna turn this Donkey Kong into minced gorilla steak." Transforming into beast mode, Repugnus snarled as he charged like a rabid animal towards Beastbox.
 

[Warcry]

Roads

Needlenose scoffed. "Just so long as we both get out of here alive, Pounce, I'll be happy to buy you a round."

He fired a burst of proton missiles down into a crowd of Imperial ground troops.

"But for the record, you're not going to outscore me!"
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Heh. If you were a person I'd almost be bothered by your slander," Thunderwing scoffed at Sixshot. He corkscrewed to avoid the sixchanger's blasts, then returned fire with his lasers.

"But as it is, you're just a minor distraction until a real enemy shows up."
_______________________________________

This time Onslaught was ready, and he parried Beastbox's shots with his shield.

"You know...normally I'd try to convince you that the Imperials were going to backstab you and that you really shouldn't betray us," he told the cassette.

Then he charged, trying to clobber Beastbox with his shield.

"But today I think I'm just going to kill you and be done with it."
_______________________________________

Rooftop

"I'm Chopster," the Minicon announced to Detour as Road Hugger fired him. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. Now, if you'd be kind enough to start killing Imperials for us..."
 

[optimusskids]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

Beastbox laughed as he rose on his hover jets retreating away from the charging Decepticons

"me know something you not know. Information is power"

Beastbox began to playback the screams and cries of all the victims he'd interrogated.

"me know that on this site used to be factory."


Roads

Pounce grinned

"Challenge accepted now lets wreak some mayhem."

Pounce fired his missile launchers at some stray Imperials.
 

[Blackjack]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"A real enemy?" Sixshot took the lasers in stride, as they burnt into his durable exostructure. "Tch."

Sixshot unfurled into his giant gun mode and opened fire at Thunderwing again. "Come on. What classifies as your nemesis is Nightbeat, a second-rate Autobot detective. He fragging humiliated you and stole your cyclone cannon!"

Where the frag are you, Spinister?
_______________________________________

"Bravo, Onslaught!" Repugnus hissed as he charged forwards. "That outlook, I can admire in a mech." He spat out a fireball towards Beastbox. "Imma gonna tear you into fillet, little monkey!"

He laughed as Beastbox played the cries and screams. "You think that works on us? None of here are any stranger to torture, Decepticon, Combaticon or traitor Autobot."
_______________________________________

Rooftop

"Yeah. Pleasure's all mine." Detour told Chopster. He raised his pinprick lasers and fired into the fray. "This isn't much of a sniper weapon, though."

"Onslaught, this is Road Hugger. I'm with Chopster and a... Decepticon Micromaster. A friend of mine." How odd it felt for Road Hugger not to consider himself as a Decepticon any longer. But he ignored Detour's questioning look. "Where do you need us?"

"I leave you for a month and you stop being a Decepticon?"

"Meh, now is not a time." Road Hugger muttered as he fired at another Imperial commander.
 

[optimusskids]

Combaticon Field Bivouac


Beastbox laughed


"me only use as distraction. Factory has basement.

He fired into the ground in front of and to the left and right of the charging Onslaught and Repugnus. Hoping to drop them intothe basement.
 

[Warcry]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Good for you," Onslaught told Beastbox contemptuously. "But I know something you don't, too. Do you want to know what it is?"

He struggled to keep his footing as the cassette blasted the ground below him, doing his best to drag himself away from the newly-created sinkhole.

"I...uh...I have air support, you idiot!"

Half a second after he spoke, Acid Storm and Needlenose screamed down from the sky with their energy weapons blazing, strafing Beastbox's general position.

"Traitors count double!" Needlenose called back to Pounce as they attacked.

Onslaught didn't reply to Road Hugger right away -- he was too busy trying to keep himself from sliding any further down.
_______________________________________

"It's so adorable how you think you can bait me," Thunderwing told Sixshot. "Sixchanger, the likes of you don't have the intelligence to even hold a parlay with an aristocrat, let alone get a rise out of one."

He split apart in the face of Sixshot's gun-mode attack, his inner robot flying off in a different direction while the shell weathered the sixchanger's supposedly world-shattering firepower with Imperial- and Matrix-enhanced ease...mostly. It glowed with the heat and several chunks of it flew off, but the damage -- which should have knocked it from the sky, but all rights -- was relatively minor.

"Now, now...if you're going to play rough, we're just going to have to see how well you do fighting two against one, won't w--agh!"

The inner robot pulled up suddenly, it's right wing smoking from the particle beam barrage it had just flown into.

"No," Spinister told him. "We're going to see how you like it. Sixshot, destroy the shell. And stop the witty banter. He's only trying to throw you off of your game."
_______________________________________

Autobot shuttle

"Autobots, transform and roll out!"

Ultra Magnus transformed to car carrier mode and drove off, at the head of a convoy of the Autobots best -- Well, best available, he admitted to himself -- troops. Smokescreen fell into position just behind him, as did Cobalt and half a dozen other Secret Intelligence Service field agents.
 

[optimusskids]

Combaticon Biouvac

Beastbox reeled as a shot impacted his chest and yards of magnetic tape began to unspool.

Despite his injury he still possesed animal cunning he wrapped a powerful arm around Crankcase's neck and using a combination of his thrusters and his free arm began to pull himself up the ruins of the factory chimmney heading for it's jagged top tape unspooling behind him.
 

[Blackjack]

Combaticon Field Bivouac

"Aaaa-"

Repugnus fell straight down into the basement at Beastbox's assault, landing on his side. He felt more than heard the crunch as the armour crumpled under the impact.

Repugnus shook his head and leapt back onto all four feet (well, two feet and two schyte claws, anyway). He growled when Beastbox attacked Crankcase — he didn't like the Triggercon by principle, but Crankcase had been... civil with him.

Bounding along, Repugnus leapt with his powerful hind legs towards the ruins and scramble up like some sort of nightmarish cockroach, schytes easily finding purchase in the rubble.

"Let him go, Donkey Kong!"
______________________

"What the hell."

Sixshot knew Thunderwing was powerful — he's certainly felt the receiving end of the Pretender's power before — but seeing his weapon mode's blast impact onto Thunderwing's shell and only cause minor damage, instead of blowing a hole straight through it...

This is bad. The Matrix... the Decepticon Matrix...

"Right, Spinister. I'm sorry." Sixshot growled. As his gun-mode cannons recharged, Sixshot unfurled into his sixth alternate mode, something he seldom used — the Wingwolf. "The hunt is on."

With a roar, Sixshot's afterburners activated and he shot towards Thunderwing's shell, hypersonic cannons firing to keep it busy, while his claws and teeth are extended, ready to sink into the shell.
______________________

Autobot shuttle

Arcee folded into her hover-car mode, zipping along and easily keeping in pace with Ultra Magnus.

From the Dinobot shuttle, Swoop opened the hatch. "Dinobots transform!" Making good on his orders, Swoop unfurled into his pteranodon mode, soaring above the Autobot convoy.

"Wreck and rule!" Whirl flew out of the Wrecker's shuttle backwards, incendiary missiles clicking into place. "Wreckers, our target today is Thunderwing. Everything else we leave to the Dinobots!"

"In your dreams, flyboy. Thunderwing is ours." Swoop told Whirl good-naturedly.
 

[Chip1123]

Topspin jumped out of the Wrecker shuttle, already looking for his first target.

Ironfist jumped out and landed on the ground, taking an imperial by surprise. He opened up, and downed the soldier before he could fire back.

Highbrow flew out of the Autobot shuttle, intent on joining the fray in the air.