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The Killzone

WheelBar was much closer the battle after having to walk all the way...^_^; As a matter-of-fact, he figured he was right in the middle of the mess considering all the times he was almost blown to bits...

He readied his pistol to fight, all fear draining as he ran forward to join his comrades. But...

An explosion rocked his circuts, it had only been a little ways from him. A gernade had hit its mark. An Autobot flew back onto the ground, right next to Wheelbar, nearly dead.

"Slag! This can't be good!" WheelBar swore to himself as he bent down to check the codition of the solider. He didn't know much about tech, but he could tell that his fellow autobot was not going to make it if he didn't get medical attention fast...

He slid his pistol away and carefully lifted the downed transformer. He could see a medical center up a little north of him. "hang on...just hang on" he nodded down to the Autobot; ready to make a run for it. "I'll get you there..."

(OOC: I brought Stormshadow up to date by PM.)

IC: Rapture smiled at seeing her old friend Thundercracker. "Better," she said.

"I owe you a story. We got the same order every other Squadron in the area did, to meet up with Starscream's Squadron." Contempt was obvious on her face as she spoke the Air Commander's name. "We left were hit on route by an Autobot ambush. We lost over half the squadron to those cowardly vermin in under one hundred astroseconds!" Her fists curled in fury as she spoke, then fell to her sides. "Gallows, he..."

Her voice broke. The femme felt the tears coming up again. She swallowed them back down. Thundy would understand. He knew she liked to keep her feelings carefully controlled. When she continued her voice was steady, if still sad. "Gallows ordered me to lead the survivors to the Rally point. He took on the Autobots by himself. I tried to argue, but you know how arguments with Choker always go." She smiled a bit at the memory of her lover's stubbornness. It didn't last.

"He told me he needed me to get the Squadron to safety. I couldn't say no to that, as much as I wanted to. We were soldiers first and lovers second. So I took the others and bugged out."

"Once I got the others to the Rally Point I went back for him. By the time I got back the Autobots were gone and Gallows was dead." She didn't try to stop the tears this time. "His body had been cut almost in half. There were blast marks all over him. And that holoimage I gave him was gone. I couldn't find it anywhere! He always had it on him." Her tears slowed as sadness gave way to a cold fury.

"I think his killer took it! The thought of some filthy Autobot touching it, seeing it!" She focused on Thundercracker intently. "When this mission is over I'm going to find Gallow's killer. I didn't get a clear look at them when they hit us, but it had to have been their leader, if he beat Choker. I'll do some digging. Bide my time. And when I find him, he will be destroyed!"

Her passion spent, she visibly calmed. "So that's what happened, Thundy. It hurts right now. A lot. But we're not the only ones who lost somebody in the siege. We have a lot to do," she said, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. "And I can't think of anyone I'd rather have watching my back."

Killzone

Springer introduced himself first. Sub-Zero gave him a friendly nod, his auds had picked up the slight crackling of his movements but he did not mention it. Archangel bent over the injured autobot, already quick into his work. He introduced himself and asked if sub-Zero was injured. The bot sniffed the air, the smell of enemies was fading but the stench of death over ran the killzone causing Sub-Zero to quickly off line his extra olfactory sensors. His optics pulsed slowly.

To Archangel he said,
“No my injuries are petty, I can see you have enough to do here.” He paused looking at the medic’s busied hands, impressed that Archangel had noticed he was slightly damaged, since he himself had not noticed until the medic mentioned it.
“I don’t know this soldier’s name, I found him after a large blast went off. I escaped without serious damage thanks to my small alt mode size, but the visuals …… I plan to erase them.”

He stared at the oil soaked ground. He always seemed to miss out on the action or arrive just in time to be the witness to disaster. Earlier he had heard the jet engines but did not investigate, for one the injured bot had hindered his movement and two he had no orders to scout out anything, so his priority remained of saving the Unknown Soldier’s life. Thankfully he had come this far and hoped the young medic would be able to work his magic on this fellow Autobot. Suddenly he realized except for the present company, he had not seen any other Autobots since the fray had stopped.

He looked over at Springer, “Is there anyone else in the area besides us?”
His auditory sensors scanned even as he spoke for any hint of an injured bot or a voice calling for help, recently he found his rewiring caused his body to act more on “instinct” like programming rather than cognitive orders. This programming oddity did not sit well with him either he hoped to eventually have it repaired or removed.

PolyHex

Rampage had been mulling about since the convoy got back and he really couldn't be bothered about going on some kind of rescue mission; that meant nothing to him really. Since most of his damamges were easily fixed he made his way instead to Onslaught; hoping to get something to do. The pscopathic predacon couldn't find any of his own team-mates anyhow so he was a little lost what to do. Unsurprisingly Rampage was still in his cybertronian tiger form as it was much easier to him to manuver in anyhow.

It took him a decent while but finnally he managed to find his way to the temporary city commander without too much of an incident.

((OOC: I didn't know that the fighting had mostly stopped in my last post...sorry ^_^; PS: I made Wheelbar run into the injured Autobot only because most of the action (almost all) is of the medical type))

The Killzone


WheelBar approached the Medical center, the Autobot fading...

He rushed in, almost running into another Autobot (Springer)

"S-sorry!" WheelBar stumbled. he gathered himself. "Please! You've got to help this solider! He's hurt bad!"

PolyHex- Medbay

Scramble's optics flickered back online once her chest plating was replaced. Glancing down at it, it had yet to be painted and was a cool steel gray color, but it would do for now.

Waving one drone off that had approached with her usual blue and purple paint colors she shook her head and stayed seated for a moment. Thoughts of her dead lover Kekil still fresh in her head drew a soft sigh from her. Keying up her general comlink without really looking to see if anyone else was in the Medbay right now...

>This is Combat Medic Scramble to Commander Onslaught. I'll reporting to you in 200 AstroSeconds.>

With that she rose off the tabl and onto her feet moving towards the exit to make her way to the commanders location for her reassignment and new orders.

----
PolyHex Command Tower

Ruination was finally stopped and told to wait, that his request to see the Commander for instructions would be passed along, and that he could go any further. Some garbage about security and risks. If he could have spat he would have as he stood there waiting. He noted the Predacon Rampage seemed to be doing the same thing.

"Bah at least you got to rip more than two Autobots up." He mummbled angerily.

Polyhex- Personnel Quarters
Rapture checked her chronometer, judging that the other memebers of the Task Force should be fully repaiered by now. "Come on, Thundy. The others are probably on their feet. We should go see Commander Onslaught. As much as I want a few more breems to catch up with you, I don't want to keep my new CO waiting on my fist day as Squadron Leader!" She turned to leave, motioning for Thundercracker to follow. She opened a channel to the Task Force as they walked.



That done, Rapture and Thundercracker headed straight for the control room. They arrived just in time to see Scramble walk in from the other direction.

Good, she thought. If Scramble is here the others must be right behind. Noticing Scramble's mismatched plating and paint; the blue femme couldn't help but smile as she sent her smaller counterpart a nod of greeting.

Rapture urned he attention to the City Commander's imposing form. As she addressed Onslaught her words were as crisp and formal as the salute that preceded them. "Rapture reporting, Sir. I have contacted the others, and those not already present should be here any astrosecond."

Polyhex

"Let's make this quick. Slag but I miss Shockwave already," Warthog mutters loud enough to hear.

Warthog makes his slow, plodding way to the command center, roughly tossing drones out of his way with his 3-fingered hands. He looks around, taking in the room. Scramble and Rapture already stand there, and the massive flyer snorts gruffly.

"Nice paint job," he grunts to Scramble, his tone so gruff that its impossible to tell if it is a friendly joke or a disparaging remark. His red and black swirled paint is colored dark red by the overhead lighting as he looks at Onslaught, unimpressed by the Decepticon commander's bulk, scarcely more than his own. Nonchalant, he salutes the Combaticon leader.

"Warthog reporting for duty as ordered."

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Repair Bay

Dead End looked up at Warthog glumly as the other Decepticon speculated as to their likely future. The sullen Stunticon wouldn't put it past Onslaught to order them up against that Guardian just as soon as they'd finished refueling, ceasefire or no ceasefire. He was a Combaticon, wasn't he? Had "combat" built right into his designation, and everything. And, for all his vaunted strategy, was probably about as subtle as a photon charge right in the faceplate.

"Maybe if we're lucky the giant will vaporize us quickly," Dead End speculated, tone as hopeless as ever. "That's the way aerial 'support' sees us ground troops: distractions and cannon fodder. We keep the enemy's targeting reticules on us, then they swoop in and take all the glory." Shaking his cranial unit, the militantly morose Decepticon settled his chassis down on a nearby box of spare parts and produced a scrap of synthetic fabric from his interior.

"Not that it matters, anyway. We're all of us bound for the scrap heap--and soon--if the war keeps going the way it has." He began scrubbing at the layer of grime caked onto his armor plating. If he were heading for that great big smelter in the sky, then he at least wanted to leave behind a presentable wreck. The transmission from Rapture, however, gave him pause.

"Record time," he noted with a touch of irony. "At this rate, I'll be too busy to notice when my circuits finally give out." Rising to his feet, Dead End began his reluctant march to the control room.

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Command Center

Rapture made her return to the control room far more expeditiously than Onslaught would have anticipated--not that he was in any way inclined to object. The key to victory was seizing the initiative, after all; the Autobots had effectively ceded that most vital element to them in their failure to press their advantage, and speed would be essential if the Decepticons remaining in Polyhex were to effectively capitalize upon that oversight. Speed and subtlety.

Ruination and Rampage had both appeared to find their way to the command center, as well, though neither had been specifically summoned. That was of no great significance, however, as Onslaught had desired an opportunity to appraise the status of his troops firsthand. Neither had been assigned to the new task force, but the Combaticon was confident that he could put their respective talents to some constructive use.

Onslaught did not return the Seeker's salute this time, or Warthog's, for that matter, as his attention was quickly absorbed once more in contemplating the holo-map of the occupied portions of Polyhex. He did, however, manage an absentminded reply. "Very good, Rapture. As soon as your team is assembled, I will brief you on your first operation."

---Command Center---

Scramble nodded to her comrades as they entered and a assembled. A small chuckle coming out at Dead Ends seemingly hopeless personality. Shaking her head she forgot to toss Warthog the sour look she was intending to give him for his comment on her paint job.

Her head turned sharply as Onslaught began to speak, crossing her arms over her chest she tilted her head and awaited the mission he was about give them. Optics solely on the Combaticon commander, nor at least temporary commander of the city itself it would seem.

---Command Center---

Ruination merely brooded, he wasn't foolish enough to try and bully a commander especially a seasoned one. So as it was the Large Decepticon would merely wait his turn, mummbling a bit to himself as the eyed the group of the Decepticons that had been assembled, ruby optics glancing at Rampage again breifly.

Shockwave's Tower

Warthog chuckled only internally at Dead End, noting the clean patches on teh Stunticon's armor. His ego smarted harshly from the depressed warrior's earlier remarks about air support--was he not designed for Close Ground Support himself? He was more closely linked to the groundpounders than to the Seekers. Nevermind. No sense losing any circuits over a whiny Stunticon. Especially when Warthog had to agree with Dead End wholeheartedly.

"I guess we still need Heap," he rumbled to Dead End, crossing his arms. "Look at this bunch. A depressive, two vets and two fems. Some picnic this is gonna be. Guess we need 'cracker for the uplift.""

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Command Center

Rampage still didn't see any reason to transform so instead he stood there his mechanical tail swings from side to side lazily; the urge to just rip stuff apart was a little subdued for now by the previous battle. So he meerly watched Onslaught give out his orders hoping that he wouldn't have to do something too boring; after all without any other predacons around he was rather bored.

Rampage glanced over at Ruination growling quietly. He didn't really trust anyone especially large tank mechs.

Command Center

After a busy schedule of dodging his repair cycle and checking on the DefenseNet for Polyhex's automated security systems, Heap walks slowly into the Command Center, holding a large, bulky data screen in his hand, "I've finished a cursory evalutation of functioning Security systems," he says to no one in particular, taking a second to work a kink out of his shoulder joint, the socket crackling each time he rolls his appendage.


((OOC: sorry for the delay; I was visiting my grandmother, and had no access to the net. sorry again))

Polyhex- Command Center

Though Thundercracker's silence concerned her, Rapture knew better than to press her introspective friend. He would share his thoughts when he was ready. The femme officer turned her attention to Commander Onslaught.

"All present and accounted for, Commander. Please proceed at your convenience."

(ooc: I would like to try to coordinate the Task Force via IM or IRC. If members are interested, please PM or IM me regarding where and when.)

Bunker 23 - Medical Facilities

It wasn't long until First Aid had brought Forte into the facilities and medics were repairing her battered form. She had fallen into stasis lock just as they were leaving the battlegrounds, but the bots made sure there wasn't a chance of her coming out of it during major repairs.

Killzone

The heavily damaged form of Dogfight grew larger as Brewer sped to the downed young bot. Once he finally reached him, basic mechanical arms crawled out of the trunk of Brewer's jeep mode and hauled Dogfight onto him. "Don't worry. I'll get you to a safe place soon."

A transport vehicle soon drove up, opening its hatch and letting out a pair of rescue medics such as Brewer. They ran over, taking Dogfight out of Brewer's rear seats, "It's ok, Brewer. We'll take him to the Facilities. You keep finding more bots."

"Thanks, guys. See you back at the bunker!" Once the unconcious bot was loaded onto the transport vehicle, he drove off to check on Archangel and his patients. "Archangel!" He noticed that another bot - Sub Zero had joined the three. "There's a trasport not far off. They should be here soon. Need any help?" Brewer transformed during his sentence and stood within the group.

Polyhex - Shockwave's Tower (Command Center)

Having left the Medical Bay a moment after the others, Astrotrain was similarly behind them in proceeding to he Command Center. Fortunately, it appeared the briefing proper had not begun. The large Decepticon took a quick inventory of who was present as he walked into the room with his long strides. Some of the Decepticons he did not recognize, but a few of the older ones were quite familiar to him. And of course, he recognized Onslaught. Giving a cursory salute to the ranking mechanoid, the Triplechanger joined the other Decepticons.

"Military transport Astrotrain reporting for duty," he told Onslaught. With any luck, he would get a piece of whatever action was being doled out by the calculating commander.

Killzone

Brewer rolled in just after Sub-Zero had uttered the question to Springer. What timeing this guy had! Sub-Zero Grinned. Brewer mentioned the transport, and Sub-Zero turned to him.

"Just give me directions on what to do and I'll assist too. I may look small but I can carry quite a bit."

It was one of his special functions, useally he carried loads of ammo or energon, that required a rig, but he was able to transport them himself, and his small alt mode slipped in and out of the front line unnoticed. A perfect assignment for the beastbot.

_______________________________________________

Polyhex - Command Center


Blitzwing stomped into the command center royally eirked. He had been forgotten and left in the killzone. The Purple triplechanger had flown back on his own. His red optics flashed with anger, but suddenly went soft when he became aware he was in the company of superiors. He had not realized a meeting had been called, his com had been dammaged and some orders seemed to miss him. He looked over at the group, his gaze settleing on the other triplechanger Astrotrain, before remembering his rank and saluting his superiors.
Silently he stood waiting to see what would happen.

(OOC: I'm not 100% back, but I'll be able to keep things going for my characters. And I'll take, limited, command of Thrall in HH's absence)

Killzone - Outer Polyhex Perimeters

Thrall turned around to see a face he never thought he would see again.
"Havok! Ol' buddy!" Thrall respectfully dropped the two dead Decepticons on the ground and gave his old comrade a warm welcome.
At the same moment Bane reemerged from his little surveilence-run and transformed right in front of the pair with his pitch black mantle whirling around his body as he changed form.
"They are retreating" he notified Thrall and gazed at Havok
"And welcome back." the black-painted Corrupticon said with a cold, almost monotone voice. No question that Bane was pleased about Havok's return, but he never showed anything that would look like an emotion.

Killzone

Silverbolt's transmission pleased Juggernaut. He was more than happy to leave this deathtrap and return to Nova Cronum to lick their wounds. Ofcourse his pride demanded from him to not feel like this, but the truth was that the Decepticon forces, lead by the Corrupticons, had decimated his own forces quite a bit. About 45% of his troops had either been damaged or killed in the assault.. and that was far from acceptable. He probably had to answer for this to Prime, and Fortress Maximus when he awoke from stasislock.

"You heard him, pull back to Nova Cronum and get some medical or recreational treatment" Jugger's gaze stopped at the small fembot, Forte. The berserker-rage of this one had cost him one of his friends and lietenants (Dogfight). Luckily it was not as dire as it looked like, but that shouldn't keep him away from straightening this particular soldier. But now was not the time. She would get a reprimande, and perhaps even a small punishment, from Maximus or Prime later on.


Polyhex

Quantum arrived back from the lines with his own squadron behind him. This battle had been devestating for the Decepticons, and especially the lacking efforts of the airforces. He felt he could have done more than he did and helped the other squadron leaders to mobilize the airforces and coordinate them better. Whatever bothered him he did not show it. To do so might have a negative effect on the morale of the troops.

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Command Center

"Very good, Astrotrain," Onslaught rumbled, his attention still not entirely upon the other occupants of control room, which was quickly becoming a great deal more crowded than usual. "So pleased to see you suffered no terminal damage during the recent hostilities. Heap, if you've anything new to contribute to the analyses already performed, then by all means upload them into the central computer core." He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of a nearby computer terminal, then fell quiet again for a moment.

Soon, however, the Combaticon's optics shifted from the holo-display to the soldiers awaiting his orders. Perhaps their situation was not quite so dire as preliminary reports had estimated; aside from the members of the medical convoy, there were several other capable Decepticon warriors present, including two versatile Triplechangers. Regaining the ground they had lost would still be no simple feat, of course, but the assets at his disposal might just be up to the challenge. Under his direction, naturally.

"Now, Rapture," said Onslaught, "I believe we are ready to begin." He gestured, and the detailed holo-display inverted, to give the troops a proper view. "As you can see here, the outer defenses of Polyhex are in utter shambles. Our inner defensive perimeter fared somewhat better, and I have assigned the bulk of the city's support units to repairing and reinforcing this line."

Onslaught tapped a few keys on the command throne's built-in console, bringing the wandering red blip of the reactivated Guardian sharply into focus. "Restoring the enitrety of our outermost fortifications and weapons emplacements to even a nominal level of functionality is impossible due to the presence of the Autobot giant. However, diagnostic data indicates that the batteries at Cluster 1499," he pointed to a flashing strongpoint near what had previously been the frontline, "and Cluster 0987 could be brought back online. While hardly an impenetrable bulwark, they would--with a few minor refits--give the Autobots a very unpleasant surprise should they return, or in the event we are ordered to engage the Guardian."

The Killzone

Archangel just nodded in response to Sub-Zero's reply, noting that he would try and remember to have a word with him about erasing visuals at a later date, while continuing with his work to get the injured 'Bot fit enough for transport. As Brewer returned with the news of transports nearing their position, Archangel looked up to see Wheelbar make his entrance somewhat dramatically, bringing yet another patient to the now quickly growing group.

"Now that you mention it Brewer..." Archangel began in response to the S&R Specialist's inquiry "..You could help our new guest there with his problem" The medic finished, nodding his head towards Wheelbar and the injured 'Bot he had just dropped on the ground "..Get him stable enough to be put on the transport, I don't know about everyone else, but I'm quite looking forward to getting back to Base and out of this Primus forsaken place"

------------------------------
Killzone ~ Outer Polyhex Perimeters

Havok returned the warm welcome of Thrall with a similarly warm welcome of his own, well, warm by Havok's standards anyway, and no soonder had he been greeted by one long time comrade, than another appeared in his usual manner. Seemingly from nowhere, Bane transformed from his imposing two-headed alt mode, into his equally imposing robot mode, and also greeted Havok as warmly as he could "Thanks, it's good to be back.." Havok replied, while looking out over the Killzone "..I only wish that my return could be under better circumstances..."

The Killzone

"Heh, there's your answer," Springer said to Sub-Zero as Wheelbar ran into him. He turned to the somewhat frantic Autobot. "Got a little too excited there, didn't you? Don't worry, like Archangel just said, let's get him stable enough so we can get out of here. I've pretty much gone on all the rides in this park, anyways."

He looked up at Archangel.

"Remind me to tell Prime you need a raise," the triplechanger chuckled. He now looked at Brewer. "Nice to see the party is getting bigger. How long will it take to the transport on foot. Archangel, do you need any more help with taking 'bots?"

Shockwaves Tower Command Center.

Scramble tilted her head as her optics followed the blips on the holo-display. Idlely she nodded as Commander Onslaught spoke. Her right hand moving to rub over her left forearm compartment that housed a few of her emergency medical tools.

Questions of course already brewed in her head, but she would hold them. Either for after the breifing was over or for her team leader afterwards.

----

Shockwaves Tower. Command Center.

Ruination waited. As Onslaught made mention of the guardian, the large heavy assualt decepticon growled. His crimson visor brightening in anger. He stared intently at that one blip on the Holo-Display before turning his head again to peer at the other assembled decepticons. Unsure as to who is or isn't going on whatever assignment Onslaught was talking about. He figured, he would get his orders soon enough.

The Killzone

Wheelbar had realized that he was getting a little too excited, the rush of his first battle was hard to deal with.

Wheelbar nodded back to Springer "Uh...yes. Sorry sir. Incidentally, I was supposed to be grouped up with a team earlier but my transport was shot down. Do you know where most of the rookie Autobots are grouped out in the battlefield?[/b]

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex- Command Center

Rapture's optics scanned over the data before her. She carefully absorbed every grid and line before stepping up to a computer terminal. Tapping out a few instructions, a series of pale red lines overlayed the map display. They appeared to be a record of the Giant Guardian's path.

"As I suspected," the midnight blue femme said to herself, seemingly pleased with the result. She turned to face the entire group. "I have input the records of the Guardian's path to the map display. As you can see, the Giant's route is far from random." She indicated the way the red lines on the map seemed almost like a single contiguous line. "I would say that this "Omega Supreme" is engaged in an extremely methodical sweep of our territory. It seems to deviate from this path only to investigate our activity. Most likely it is searching for signs that we are rearming or preparing a counterstrike." The display altered, peeling away layers of the Guardian's recorded movements. "Notice how the frequency of such deviations peaked during our Search and Rescue Ops, and gradually decreased to present levels after the convoy reached the city."

Rapture punched a key on the console, highlighting Clusters 1499 and 0987. "I would draw your attention to the dangerous proximity between the aforementioned Clusters and Omega's patrol. I can therefore conclude that any aerial approach to the emplacements there would likely attract the Giant's attention. It is obvious to have any reasonable chance of success we must act when the Giant is at its furthest from our destinations. This gives us a window of opportunity no longer than three to four megacycles at most. The window next opens in 1.8 megacycles."

"To summarize, I believe we have three options for our approach. An aerial approach would be the fastest, but as I said earlier I think that is the most dangerous choice." Bringing up a view of the tunnels running beneath the area, the Squadron Leader pointed to a major artery. "We could travel by way of the tunnels, but telemetry regarding their post-battle condition is spotty at best. Even if we could find a way through, it might collapse on us." The tunnel map vanished, returning the display to its previous setting. "Finally there is an over land approach. It's slower than flying, but the debris fields would give us sufficient cover to minimize our exposure. It also keeps us under radar. In short, I think over land is our best bet."

As Rapture concluded, her optics swept over the Task Force and the other Decepticons present. "Those are my recommendations, Commander. Decepticons! If you have any suggestions to offer, now is the time."

Shockwave's Tower - Command Center

Carefully studying the data for a few astroseconds, Astrotrain nodded slowly. In his role as a military transport there was little of Cybertron's geography he did not know well and even intimately, and a major city-state like Polyhex was familiar to him as the back of his hand actuator.

"Those tunnels were dicey in a lot of places even before the battle," the Triplechanger agreed. "Scheduled maintenance fell off during the Great Shutdown and a lot of those supports only had a five-hundred-vorn designed life expectancy. With a Guardian stomping around overhead, I wouldn't want to be down there."

He looked at the data a moment longer before speaking more.

"The above-ground monorail lines of Polyhex are in surprisingly good condition," he commented. "And I know the lines through this area. There are several we could take to get to the Clusters we want to repair, and using them would make it a Pit of a lot easier to get the equipment and materials we need there."

Astrotrain was referring to himself and his Cybertronian train mode. With his immense strength and cargo capacity, it would be a matter of protoform's play for him to manage the transport duties on this particular mission.

"Not to mention I can get you there a lot faster and quieter than you'd get there on foot or by air."