Transformers: Steel Reign

[SirNitram]

"....Anyone hear that?" Overload said, blinking a bit at the distant sound of weapons fire. Suddenly, it sounded more serious than worrying about Repugnus. "...Hornet. Crimson. Get to the exit, lay low. If the coast is clear, watch for whoever comes and goes."

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike would bet ergs to full energon cubes he knew what was happening. Gridlock had decided against going quietly and some cocky Autobots had gotten their chassis in deep, hot slag. "I'm going to check it out." He broke into a lumbering run towards the sound of the fighting.

[LadyTevar]

Crimson did not like where this was going. " ... you think it's Gridlock..." she said flatly as Deathstrike headed for the firefight. She gave Stryke a worried glance, then looked to Hornet. "Com' on, Hornet. Do what Overload says."

She took a few strides down the hallway, heading for the main entrance.

[General Havoc]

Hornet froze as the unmistakable sounds of laser fire rang out. Before his stunned processor had a chance to react, Overload was already issuing orders to him and Crimson. Normally he might have protested, resenting being shoved away into a safe corner while the others did their thing, but something deep within his circuitry was telling him that this was bad... very bad... and that he might want to do as he was told for once.

Accordingly, when Crimson called to him, he nodded nervously and ran after her, sticking closer than he otherwise would have, as though the Ark were haunted and he feared being ambushed by ghosts.

[Dark Silver]

Gridlock strolled through the hall, a hail of laser fire behind him collapsed the ceiling, giving him some cover from the Autobot security forces who would follow. He was moving again, towards the hall, when Deathstrike appeared.

" 'lo Comrade. May I interest you in fresh Energon cube? No....pity."

The electron concussion rifle fired, a burst of what looked like lighting, 90,000 volts of pure electricity, crackled and arced at Deathstrike, surronding by the glow of the concussion rifle's energized sound.

[SirNitram]

Overload had transformed and followed Deathstrike, picking up speed. Few Decepticons had been able to resist the comet that he was on tracks; updated and armed with a new Decepticon-grade armour belt, he was a comet surging towards Gridlock.

"Comin' through!"

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike's armour was thick and multilayered. The bolt smashed into his left upper chest. The kinetic energy of the blasts impact cracked armour and the electron flow caused the section of the armour to briefly glowed red hot.

Deathstrike sneered at the strike and unleashed his own firepower. He sent a slicing beam of x-rays sweeping across the hall, intent on sweeping it across Gridlock's chest. He was about to unleash his follow up strike when Overload came bellowing up from behind.

The Decepticon leapt to the side, his strike aborted as he just managed to get out of Overload's way. "Slag!" he cursed in frustration. Give him open sky or the void any day rather than this crawling around in tunnels with stupid and rambunctious Autobots.

[Dark Silver]

Deathstrike was hit, and barely damaged. Gridlock's face seemed to light up, "Ah, finally challenge!"

Deathstrike's x-ray cannon flared up, sweeping across the hall, and Gridlock barely managed to move, as the blast struck his armored side. The armor held for a second, then slagged and blew apart with the hit, energy crackling, the smell of ozone and smoke rising from Gridlock's side. the Ionizing radiation damaged the circuits remaining in the immediate vicinity.

Overload's yell made Deathstrike jump to the side, and as Gridlock saw Overload rushing along. The turncoat barely had time to transform into his alt mode, opening fire with his pulse laser cannons and arc wielder at the incoming maglev, hoping the dozer blades would help deflect some of the impact.

[SirNitram]

The blow shook the Ark as Overload didn't slow down from the weaponsfire. The new armour belt absorbed it and radiated it outwards, as the maglev plowed into the transformed Russian 'bot. The impact might have been absorbed, but Overload had momentum to spare, ramming the other bot backwards down the hallway.

The two massive Autobots careened onwards, Overload shunting all energy to the maglev. "C'mon, Deathstrike, let's go fight where there's room!" He called backwards as he pushed Gridlock onward, absorbing weapons fire from the angry construction vehicle.

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike couldn't get a good shot in at the cojoined 'bots. Deathstrike rushed forward and grappled with Gridlock, tearing off weapon attachments and helped push him outside.

[Dark Silver]

Deathstrike and Overload were pushing back against Gridlock, as his tracks tried to dig into the metal decking of the Ark. Deathstrike ripped off one of the pulse laser cannons, and Gridlock replied by swinging the heavy lifting claw-bucket at Deathstrike's head.

Of course, he was still losing ground, as the mag-lev and the Decepticon pushed against him.

[LadyTevar]

The sound and vibration of the magtrain hitting the dozer echoed throughout the Ark ... followed by the grinding squealing moan of metallic treads trying vainly to find purchase on the Ark's deck plating.

And it was coming towards the main entrance.

"Hornet, Transform! Get outside and airborne!!" Crimson shouted, realizing that they were in the way. She suited actions to words, taking to her Alt-mode on the run and gunning her engine to top speed.

[SirNitram]

"You're hitting my new friend, Commie!" Overload roared as he downshifted, finding more traction and pushing power in lieu of speed. "You're locking horns with one of the Royal Marine's Own Siege Regiment, now!" Apparently, either the collision or the widespread melting from the battle of Fort Maximal had crossed a few circuits, or perhaps he had taken to the group who called him one of their war machines a bit more than most.

Overload transformed into robot mode, grabbing the bucket and wrenching at it as he rose up. "Now, I'm gonna have to mark a Red on with all the Jerries I got."

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike grabbed the claw-bucket by its arm and held it a meter away from his head. Then he twisted and shoved, forcing Gridlock back and ruining the bucket arm.

[General Havoc]

Hornet heard the crashing, grinding sounds as they approached the entrance to the Ark, but he did not make the semi-obvious connection that it would be unwise to remain where they were for long until Crimson shouted at him to get airborne. Unfortunately that was not something he could do instantly. He flew because of physics, not antigrav systems, and he could not exactly take off indoors without driving himself straight into a wall.

He shifted forms, but the melee was bearing down on him, and he had no time to take off properly even with afterburners. He had simply to fire his engine as hard as he could and HOPE that he was pointing the right way.

He was... sort of.

He careened down the hallway like a pinball, scraping against the walls and the ceiling several times before flying out the door, shifting back into a robot in mid-flight and tucking himself into a ball, just as Wheeljack had taught him to in case of imminent collision. He crashed into and through several large rock formations, before finally rolling to a stop against a large boulder, dented, scraped, shaken, his gyroscopic balance system spinning circles inside his head, but alive and intact.

He sat up, blinked a few times, and looked around to try and locate Crimson and the current location of the fight.

[B4UTRUST]

As the battle raged inside the Ark Slipstream was blissfully unaware, literally lost in the music in his head. Blasts rang out around him as he nimbly moved to the beat, mimicing the human style of dancing that went with the music.

His optics shut as he danced and strutted he spun and dipped, moving and grooving as the shots from both sides flared around him, barely missing him in most cases as he stepped between combatans unaware. When Overload came rumbling through like a bat out of hell he was likewise unknowing. He back stepped and spun right as Overload shot past him with less then a foot to spare.

Still moving to the music he wandered further into the Ark, blissfully ignorant of what had just happened.

[Charon]

Shellshock had followed after Crimson and Hornet, getting to the outside before either of them. The old warbot was at a dead run. He would be useless in such close quarters. But if the fight got into the open, then Shellshock would end it in no time.

Shellshock transformed into his alt-mode, his sensors coming fully online as his gun tracked back. "If he gets to be too much of a hassle, just throw him out brother. I am in position."

[LadyTevar]

Crimson came skidding to a halt beside Shellshock, transforming back to Bot. "Shellshock... I can take him down to stasislock." Her left hand was already glowing, the energon grenade taking shap. "But it will hit a 50m radius."

[Dark Silver]

The claw was ruined as Deathstrike twisted it, and as Gridlock transformed, the dozerblades collapsing against his chest as armor, as he brought the electron-concussion rifle up as be he could, half pointing it at Overload's shoulder.

Once the rifle was up, he fired, pouring a direct stream of firepower into the Autobot. Still, he was losing ground, quickly, as the two pushed him closer to the exit.

[Charon]

Shellshock's gun turned slightly to look at Crimson. His first thought was that this was beyond Stasislock now, but then he remembered that if they got a captive, that may give them some of the information they needed.

"You think I'm gonna let him get 50m close to me?" The giant artillery cannon seemed to chuckle. "I have targetting programing in me that would make Megatron green with envy, and has on numerous occasions turned him red with rage. I'll make sure he doesn't get close enough, you hit him with the grenade." Sensors picked up that Overload and Deathstrike were still engaging. "Even if you have to hit Overload and Deathstrike, better to get all three than miss Gridlock."

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike grabbed Gridlock's wrist and forced it off. The electron concussion beam momentarily struck Overload and was then forced up. "None of that," Deathstrike sneered. His other hand curled into a fist and smashed into Gridlock's chassis near the breach in his armour from Deathstrike's laser blast.

[General Havoc]

Spotting Crimson and Shellshock crouched near the entrance to the ark, Hornet tried to run over to them, but his balance was still completely in loops and he managed only half a dozen steps before he completely lost his balance and pancaked onto the ground. His gyroscope was spinning loops, and he could not even rise from the ground where he had fallen, nor avoid the several hundred tons of raging transformers that were barelling his way as fast as they could.

[SirNitram]

Armour penetration detected. Self repair activated. Main chassis integrity remaining at 99.1%. Analysis of tactical situation: Continue progress to wider area to allow reinforcements, and enhance Deathstrike maneuerability.

Overload's shoulder hurt like hell where the metal melted and ran for a moment, but Deathstrike had ensured it was a momentary blow. The ion pistol was in Overload's primary hand as his offhand struggled to keep the rebellious Commie-Bot's gun aimed away from both him and the Decepticon. The pistol was aimed at the least armoured portion of Gridlock's torso, what on a human would be called the crotch. It discharged.

[Marcao]

He was still contemplating possibilities and running scenarios when unusual sounds managed to make their way to his receptors. He blinked, a separate process initiated as the sounds were analyzed. His optics widened moments later, the data which was being presented being relatively conclusive. With a simple command the simulations he had been running ceased, as he made his way towards the source of the sounds. He moved purposefully, sensor systems brought fully online.

He made his way towards the source of the sounds. He eventually came across the form of Redzone, his entire head was missing. What in the name of Primus had happened? He pressed on. He eventually made contact with the source of the disturbance and stopped. He was not sure what to make of it. Gridlock seemed to be in an altercation with Overload, Shellshock, their new Decepticon ally and others. His optics shifted to wide view, catching sight of the entire situation. It was true that he did not know the exact nature of the situation

It was while he contemplated what exactly he was going to do that Hornet made his move. He was aware of the tiny autobot and his reputation for mischief amongst other things. He did the mathematics before he acted. He was not very maneuverable in robot form but he was a flyer. Transforming into his alt form inside the ark was ill advised and as such he settled on the more direct approach. The Ag network on his legs activated and propelled him forward at substantial speed. It was not a pretty flight but it did the job. As he approached the form of hornet his left arm shot out and tried to grab the tiny bot. Assuming he was successful he would take the bot and himself out of the way before he decided how to intervene. The memory of Redzone still lingered in his mind.

[LadyTevar]

Crimson was suitably impressed as a strange 'Bot snagged Hornet out of the line of fire. There was one less problem to worry about.

The grenade in her hand was fully charged, a quarter of her Energon reserves gone into making it. Calmly she attached the glowing orb to the end of her pistol. She would have one shot as DeathStrike and OverLoad pushed Gridlock into the open. If they had any circuits exposed, the chance of stasislock would be even higher. Even without, it would freeze them for a cycle or two.

She took up a firing stance, her left hand bracing her right as she took aim. As the trio of Bots emerged from the building, Crimson fired the grenade, dropping it perfectly at their feet before it blew in a flash of Energon and Concussion.