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At the coral reef


Rewind remembered something. Actually the archivist remembered everything, which was usually the problem, but for once he remembered something that was actually useful and pertinent to the situation they were in. At the battle of Omnicron Ceti 5, 273 vorns ago, Blitzwing had been neutralized by the flash of a magnesium explosion. Essentially, Blitzwing’s eyes were particularly sensitive to bright light, and bright light just happened to be one of the cassetobot’s specialties.

So, despite orders to the contrary, Rewind veered off from his mission to retrieve Hardhead, seizing on the rare opportunity for the librarian to take out what was likely the biggest threat on the battlefield. As the triple-changer’s artillery blast slowed Ramhorn’s charge and the rhino emerged smoking and charred from the other side, Rewind crossed into Blitzwing’s field of vision and discharged a blinding flare from his light matrix. Given the commando’s known vulnerability to such attacks, it was very likely that Blitzwing would be rendered completely blind.

***

Blitzwing’s taunts did little but further anger Ramhorn as he charged the commando. The cassetobot knew he wasn’t at his best here, but then again neither was anyone else, and yeah, it would probably take him a few steps to get up to full speed, but even here that was nearly 40 mph. Ramhorn knew his charge would be devastating, and relished the thought of getting to rip a chunk out of Blitzwing’s armored hide.

No, the taunts didn’t slow him, but the artillery shell did. The explosive shell burst around him, tearing up the ground and, even in this watery environment, causing his armor to smoke, but the explosives weren’t armor-piercing, and he was specifically designed to handle this kind of attack. The real problem was that the ground had been turned into a crater and his charge was broken.

Ramhorn pawed the ground in disgust and lowered his head for another charge when an incredibly bright flash of light went off behind him. Even though he wasn’t the quickest on the uptake, it didn’t take him long to realize Rewind was helping him out – it was a good thing the damned little librarian hadn’t gotten in his way, but Ramhorn could accept help that came in the form of a flash of light that would distract his opponent and give him a chance to rend the ‘con with his horn.

“You’ve had in now slaghead!” Ramhorn roared and charged once more, headed for a, hopefully, blinded Blitzwing.


Illusory Kelp Forest


Hound’s illusory forest would have probably stopped most ‘bots in their tracks. Despite knowing that it was probably Hound who had created it, they’d have been unable to find the little scout amidst all the kelp. Steeljaw, however, wasn’t most ‘bots. The tracker had no trouble discerning a path to Hound - he just followed his nose, and reached him in mere moments.

“Hound, it’s good to see you old friend,” Steeljaw said, emerging from the shadows and loping to the scout’s side. He wasted no further time on pleasantries, getting right down to business instead. “I see you’re wounded, but perhaps if you’d extend this illusion a bit further, then I can probably get the drop on Thundercracker, and between the two of us we might be able to drive him off.”


Ocean Floor - Near the Crash Site


Eject tried to dive clear as Skywarp teleported in and began spraying the area with projectiles, but wasn’t quite able to avoid them all. A shell tore through the armor on his calf, causing him to stumble as he rolled back to his feet and returned fire.

“Hey no fair calling a trick play like that,” he yelled as he focused his overload gun on the Seeker. The weapon wasn’t the most powerful in the world, it didn’t even do any permanent damage, but it ignored most armor, delivering a powerful stun charge to the targets’ electrical system.

***

As Eject dove one way to avoid Skywarp’s surprise attack, Blaster dove the other. Being much larger, the communications specialist took several hits to his symbiont’s one, but besides being bigger, Blaster was considerably tougher, and his armor held - for now anyway. He’d never stand a sustained barrage from the Seeker’s weaponry, but the few shots that winged him were easily turned aside.

Blaster rolled back to his feet separated from Eject by a good 60 degrees. He pivoted on his heels and charged Skywarp just as the cassetobot opened fire. With the angles being what they were, he left Eject plenty of room to shoot without risk of hitting him, at least until he closed and got a grip on Skywarp. His goal was to grapple with the seeker, since he knew that was the only way to negate the teleporter’s advantage.

“Warpy old buddy, you’ll have to do waaayyy better than that if you want to shut this Autobot up!” he proclaimed as he rushed Skywarp.


OOC: Okay Ironhide and Ramjet posts tomorrow – it’s way late and I need to get to bed.

Corridor

As the beatting of Frenzy's drums intensified, Brawn felt his entire frame reeling form the pain of the beatting drum. Worse, he detected no further sound, indicating his audo receptors had shorted out. He then felt somethign hit his front hood and incapacitate his engines. he looked down the hall and saw Starscream and Rumble coming down the hall. Indeed, the odds were greatly against him, especially with Starscream coming. Still, as Brawn transformed back into robot mode, he thought to himself. If he retreated now, he would only delay them losing. It was on him to hold the line. Normally, he'd fall back. No! Not this time. Prime wasn't there. Nor Perceptor or Prowl to restrain him. He needed to go all out. If he was going down, it would be in a fight. He felt Bumblebee would enjoy that story. If he was going into stasis lock, he was at least taking Starscream with him. He tensed himself as his exterior slowly began to show signs of wear form Frenzy's drums. Worse, his head narrowly avoided a direct hit from an armor piercing round, hitting the panneling of his body just beind his head.

"Urgh" he moaned, reeling from the pain. "No... way... am I...running from from this spaz!" he growled as he got up. He raised his arms, doing his best to ignore the pain, and lunged at Frenzy, looking to grab the cassette. He knew Frenzy was going to have to stop if he wanted to try and get away. Even better for Brawn, he'd make the Decepticons get a taste of their own medicine, wih Starscream closing in, he felt it necessary to use this little guy in some way. The time for traps had passed. It was time for his fists to do the work.

As he made his attack, he detected an incomming transmission from the Ark-19, form the Auotbot Lore-Lock he had no time for this. He simply opened up a reponse transmission to the Autobot. >>"Then get down here if you're gonna fight!"<<

Corridors Perpendicular to Bounce Pad

Jazz managed to overhear bits of Starscream's plans. Indeed, the Decepticon aerial commander was living up to his reputation of having a big mouth. Though he couldn't make out everything the seeker commander was babbling about, he was able to use certain keywords to peice together enough of Starscream's plan. It wasn't good.

It was then that Soundwave noticed his presence and Starscream and Rumble made their way down the corridor towards the Bounce Platform. Soundwave had opened fire. Jazz took a moment to allow the inital blasts to hit the wall before emerging and returning fire. Jazz had to wonder, "How does he do that?"

"Might wanna mute his mic Soundwave." he yelled in a suggestive manner to Soundwave as he attacked. "His yappin's gonna cause ya a messa trouble once you get back to ol'Megatron."

Still, Jazz felt it necessary to warn Prowl. If they failed. Prowl was going to need an escape plan.

>>"Jazz to Prowl. Might wanna rev up your caboose. Those Decepti-creeps sure are lookin' to make a gilatinous hole down here."<<

Storage Bay

Prowl recieved Jazz's warning. If things weren't looking so good, then it would be necessary to get away with what he could. He needed another way out with minimal resistance, but first, he needed an update in order to proceed.

He activated a comm to Ironhide. >>Prowl to Ironhide. What's your status?"<<

While he waited, he loaded more energon onto the cart.

Ark-19 Orbital Bounce Platform

Lore-lock had just finished putting up the most recent energon shipment when Brawn snapped back, >>"Then get down here if you're gonna fight!"<<

He wasted no time, setting a nano countdown on the transmitter he stepped on to the bounce pad and was on his way.

Shuttle Bounce Pad

Lore-lock landed in a absolute war zone. He could hear the chatter of weapons fire. Moreover he could see Smokescreen had been gnawed on by Ravage. He also heard Starscream rambling on about something. Above all of this Lore-lock heard an incessant pounding, "Frenzy must be near, nothing makes more noise than that little slag pile" the grey bot thought. With his weapon at the ready he made his way into the fray.

Inside Autobot Freighter – Orbital Bounce Chamber

Ravage snarled and lashed out with his claws as the net ensnared him. He growled in anger and frustration as he hit the ground entangled in the netting. He slashed and bit at it, trying to break out but having little success. It was another instance were his quadruped form was a distinct disadvantage.

The cassetticon was not ready to admit defeat. He was a true believer in the Decepticon cause, and to admit defeat like this just wasn’t in his nature. The mission would be completed whether he was in a net or not.

There was a mechanical click followed by a series of beeps coming from the twin bombs the saboteur always carried with him. His optics flashed as he looked up at Smokescreen. “You haven’t won Autobot. These bombs would be enough to destroy this ship even if it was empty. With all of the energon loaded on it….” The cassetticon bared his fangs at him. “I would start running if I were you Autobot.”

*

Corridor

Frenzy frowned as Brawn continued to march towards him. He focused his attack even more on the minibot, but he was a tough one. Frenzy kept pouring it on until Brawn slammed into him, tackling him to the ground. The cassetticon let out a loud grunt as he hit the ground, his attack abruptly cutting off.

“Hey! Get off a him you slaghead!” Rumble jumped on Brawn’s back and began punching and shooting the Autobot as best he could.

While the others had charged ahead Soundwave had stayed behind to continue exchanging fire with Jazz. He had no desire for the Autobot to gun them down while they were charging after Smokescreen and Brawn. The fact that he had gotten so close to them already was distressing. He had obviously gone radio silent to get this close to him. Only the fact that he knew there were other Autobots on board from earlier signals had kept him on alert listening for their approach.

He ducked away from some incoming fire from Jazz as he received a signal from Ravage. It seemed that the cassetticon had taken care of things himself. Hopefully Starscream would not be too annoyed at his thunder being stolen by Ravage. Of course he would likely take all of the credit for it either way. Now wasn’t a good time to be dwelling on such thoughts though. The bombs were activated and counting down to detonation. They would need to be some distance away to avoid damage.

The communications expert unleashed a volley of mini-rockets at Jazz before he jogged back to Starscream. “Ravage has deployed bombs. Recommend regrouping and evacuating immediately. Detonation will be considerable and adequate and destroying this vessel.”

Corridor

Brawn had managed to grab Frenzy, taking a hold of him by the neck and getting one good punch in before he felt something hop on his back. While he couldn't hear, it didn't take much to tell form the punches alone it was Rumble. As Rumble managed to get those punches in, Brawn grunted as he stood still holding Frenzy by the neck. The damage Rumble was doing was not substancial. Brawn had heard that despite Rumble's tough attitude, he was easy to push around when it came ot bigger robots. He had no time to deal with these two. He tried reaching for Rumble as the little bully took blasted him with his laser cannon. His systems warned him of the damage sustained to his armor from the rear, but Brawn had to keep going. He'd worry about his state of functionality after the fight.

Brawn determined that grabbing Rumble wouldn't be possible as he spun around, trying to force the little guy off. But he recalled something about momentum that Perceptor once babbled about. He had Frenzy in one hand, Rumble beatting away at his back. Two birds, one stone and he knew Rumble didn't have a good grip on him. Though Ruble was as tough as he came, he knew that if Rumble could endure what he was about to do, Frenzy probably wouldn't be as lucky. He lept up into the air, feeling gravity take him down while the momentum would send the lighter Rumble sailing up a little further. As soon as he landed, he flung Frenzy in the air and grabbed him by the arm while making a swinging motion in Rumble's direction.

"Batter-up shorty!" Brawn muttered to Rumble, as he swung Frenzy like a baseball bat, hoping to connect and send Rumble flying.

Corridor perpedicular to Bounce Pad

Jazz dove for cover as Soundwave's rockets came at him, hitting the wall behind him. Clearly this was a delay tactic as Soundwave made his way down the corridor. Jazz got up and made his pursuit, hearing Soundwave say something to Starscream about bombs. It couldn't have been one of the other cassettes. He would have encountered them already. He detected Brawn and Smokescreen nearby. Then he noted some activity coming from the Bounce pad. There was no time to inquire. If Starscream and Soundwave wanted out, they were going to have to earn it.

He turned the corner, he activated a net caster, readying two of the smaller. He targeted the first one at Soundwave and fired it. It sailed through the air, unwrapping as it headed for it's target. Jazz knew it would not hold long, but it could certainly slow Soundwave down, perhaps even forcing the two into a panic situation if there were bombs on the ship. He then targeted further down the hall, at Starscream and fired a second, hoping this could give Brawn a few more seconds to take out the twins and take it to Starscream.

He noticed Brawn behind them, taking a punishment as usual, but seemingly holding his own. He figured Brawn knew doing what he was doing was going to earn him a trip to the CR chmaber, though part of him wondered if Brawn might actually wake up in a good mood. Brawn was on a mission to avenge Bumblebee, and so far, he was doing quite a job.

Bridge

At the bridge, the glass to the bridge window began to crack further under the stress of water pressure.

In the Shadow of the Freighter

Ironhide stepped back as Hellion flailed blindly around and leapt upwards onto the top of the shuttle, well clear of the femme’s tortured shrieks and wild swings. The old ‘bot almost felt guilty about the way he’d taken her down… almost.

Ironhide used his new perch to survey the battlefield. He had at most a quarter-vorn before he had to be out of the water or risk systems failure, so he needed to make some quick decisions. It appeared their unexpected reinforcements, Blaster and his crew, had turned the tide of the battle, and they and Hound had the remaining ‘cons tied down. Of Shotblur there was still no sign.

“If that lil’ slagger ain’t in stasis lock when we get back to the Ark, ah swear ah’ll put him there myself,” the old mech muttered, still amazed at the newcomers utter uselessness in the battle. Ironhide was still trying to decide if he should head for the surface or just head inside the freighter to get out of the water when Prowl’s communiqué came through.

<<Ah’m about ready to pull us outta here Prowl,>> Ironhide replied. <<If you guys have the energon anyway, if not ah’ll head inside to help yuh out.>> Just as he clicked the channel closed to await Prowl’s reply, his security sensors went crazy.

Ironhide had an advanced sensor suite that was specifically designed to detect weapons and enemy personnel at range. It was essential for a security ‘bot, and had been detecting the presence of explosives inside the shuttle for a while now. That was to be expected since his guys were rigging the thing to blow, but what had set his sensors to jangling was that now some of the explosives were hot – on a countdown, and they were big – proton bombs with at least a 1 megaton yield!

<<Prowl! Belay that last order! Get yer guys clear now! You got active explosives on board that thing and they’re countin’ down to a big boom!>> He transmitted desperately, then switched over to the main command channel and sent a similar warning:

<<Autobots disengage and get clear, this whole area’s gonna go up!>>

Inside the crashed Freighter

Starscream looked over at Soundwave once he had announced that Ravage had already deployed bombs. For a brief moment he was irritated that the other Decepticon had gone a head with his own plan, however it was irrelevant given that it accomplished their goals faster. Also considering the Autobot resistance they had encountered it was likely the best option.

"Very good Soundwave, it seems I have underestimated your ingenuity. No matter, we have accomplished our goal here, the Autobots will not have enough time to capture the remaining energon, not with out sacrificing their own lives. Sound the withdrawal."

Starscream raised his weapons and began laying down heavy covering fire, allowing for Soundwave and his minions to begin falling back. He then keyed in his com link to the others fighting outside.

>>Decepticons, Soundwave has set the charges to blow the freighter. Time is short, begin fall back immediately. Engage Autobots only as necessary, but our window to escape the blast radius is very narrow. Now move!<<

He cut the com line and began falling back, firing to hold the Autobots back.

Autobot Freighter between Orbital Bounce Chamber and Corridor

Lore-lock heard the clicks and beeps coming from just behind him. Then he heard Ravage, “I would start running if I were you Autobot.” So the bot stuck his head round the corner and relayed the message to Brawn. Which allowed him to see the older mech take a swing at a cassetticon with another. "Nice Swing, now let's get some place safe. I'm not planning on joining the All Spark any time soon" Lore-lock also managed to get off a pop-shot at Starscream, just before Ironhide called for a total withdraw. He then went back into the bounce chamber proper.

Bounce Chamber

Lore-lock saw the bombs under Ravage and did some quick calculations. "Smokey, give me a hand with these, I wanna try and bounce the bombs to the far side of the moon."

Inside Autobot Freighter - Bounce Chamber

Smokescreen smiled when he saw his net ensnare Ravage as he had hoped it would. However, that smile quickly turned into a look of dread when he heard a click and several beeps from the two bombs that Ravage had just activated. Smokey backed away slightly at the sight of the powerful explosives as Lore-lock approached him and suggested bouncing the bombs into space. “Not a bad idea, Lore-lock. But, before we go sticking our hands near Ravage’s razor-sharp fangs, let me set the new destination into the bounce pad computer and make sure we still have enough auxiliary power left,” Smokey suggested, moving over to the control console.

Smokescreen attempted to enter in the coordinates when the console suddenly went dark. “What the...” The diversion expert muttered as he tried to bring anything up on the blackened display screen. “The controls are dead. We’ve lost power.” Smokey quickly removed the access panel at the console's base and was met with a series of sparks. “Slaggit! We’ve got a burn out! It could’ve been from Frenzy’s sonic waves earlier or just an overload in the wiring from overuse. It wasn’t in the best of shape to begin with. Either way, I can’t fix it, not before those bombs go off anyway.” Smokey stood up and looked over at Lore-lock. “Sorry, but the bounce pad’s useless now. We need to withdraw like Ironhide ordered.”

Corridor

Smokescreen went for the door and exited into the corridor where he was met with suppressive fire from Starscream. Keeping his head low, Smokey fired off a few shots at the retreating Seeker Commander, hoping he might hit him but not really expecting to. The diversion specialist then looked over at Brawn who was still toying with Rumble and Frenzy. “Come on, Brawn, quick playing with those two cassetticons! The ship’s gonna blow!”

Smokescreen then transformed and quickly sped down the hallway towards the storage room, avoiding laser blasts as he went. Once there, Smokey returned to robot mode and ducked inside where Prowl was still trying to gather as much energon as possible. “Prowl, we’ve got no more time! The bounce pad’s fried and is no good to us. We need to get out of here now!”

Ocean Floor – Crash Site

Skywarp watched as several of his rail gun rounds hit Blaster while only one managed to strike Eject, who was much smaller in size than the Autobot communications officer. Quickly, the cassettibot opened fire with his tiny weapons, hitting ‘Warp several times in the chest plate. “Puny Autobot! Your firepower is no match for me!”

Just as the distracted Skywarp was about to return fire, he noticed out of the corner of his optic that Blaster had made a much bolder move and was charging directly at him! The teleporter smiled as he disappeared from sight and immediately reappeared behind the charging Autobot. “Nice try, big mouth! You’ll have to be faster than that!” Skywarp raised his weapons but paused briefly when he received Starscream’s transmission to withdraw. Naturally! Just when I was beginning to have fun, ‘Warp thought as he returned his glare back to his target.

“Sorry Blaster! We’ll have to pick this up another time!” Skywarp shouted as he fired off a torpedo right at the Autobot’s back. 'Warp then headed as far away from the crash site as he could, not waiting to see if he hit Blaster or not. If the torpedo didn't take care of the famed "Voice", the inevitable blast wave from the exploding freighter surely would.

At the coral reef

Blitzwing grinned triumphantly as Ramhorn's charge was stopped short. It was especially pleasing to him as the Autobot had now even more difficult time in getting his speed up to point where his charge would be dangerous. Soon he'd get to sink his scimitar into the Autobot minicon and stop another Autobot for good during this confrontation. At least that was the plan. Until Rewind's flare took out his vision.

"Slaggin' Autotwerps! I'll rip out your optics for this!" He roared and did what most flying Decepticons would have done in a similar situation. He activated his anti-gravity thrusters and shot up towards the surface. He knew it was going to make him an easy target for a short while but considering the minicons attacking him had feeble firepower as it was, their attacks had minor chances of hurting him while he'd get out of their range to wait for his vision to return.

Of course, Starscream's message changed that plan as well. The ship below had been trigged to explode, it was time to leave the battlefield. "Another time Autobots!"
_____________________________________________

Meanwhile Thundercracker had kept firing at Hound's position. The illusion of kelp forest did make it more difficult to target the Autobot but he had his approximately position covered and by the looks of it his firepower was keeping Hound pinned down. However, there was no resolution to the situation as Starscream's orders came through.

Thundercracker had no intention of staying there to see the ship explode and thus he began to fall back as ordered. But not before firing a torpedo into the kelp forest where he had seen movement for the last time.

Bounce Chamber

Lore-lock nodded to Smokescreen as the diversion master reminded him of the robo pup's teeth. When the Bounce controls fried out Lore-lock's hope of saving the energon went with the functionality of the equipment. Not wanting to end up like those very same controls he sticks to Smokescreen's exhaust ports. They grey scout may not be good at diversions, but he could do what he could to help get the crew out, as smoothly as possible.

Corridor
I just hope we can save more of that precious energon He thought as he tried not to get hit by Starscream's wall of fire. When he got to Prowl, Lore-lock also transformed, but with his axe out. "I brought my can opener." He calmly tries to joke, but ready to swing at the bulk head to open a way out if need be.

Corridor

Rumble was seen hurtling off of Brawn’s back as the Autobot shook him off. He used his flight abilities to help stabilize himself, keeping him from slamming into the wall too hard. He had to quickly scramble out of the way as Brawn tried to clobber him with Frenzy. “Watch it ya big slaghead!”

Soundwave was a bit surprised at Starscream’s praise, particularly how he announced it to the other Decepticons. He didn’t have time to dwell on it though as the seeker began signaling a general withdraw from the battle. He was all in favor of leaving the Autobot laden craft, but first he had to retrieve his minions who all seemed to be having a rough time of things.

While Starscream provided covering fire Soundwave charged forward down the corridor. He spotted Brawn swinging Frenzy like a club. His visor flashed red before he took aim and fired his concussion gun at Brawn’s hand, causing him to release the cassetticon. He followed it up with a barrage of mini-rockets aimed at the minibot.

With Brawn occupied and Rumble moving to scoop up Frenzy it was time to rescue Ravage. Soundwave’s chest dropped open as another cassetticon launched out. “Laserbeak: Eject. Operation: Rescue.”

Laserbeak streaked down the corridor, swooping down at Ravage. The Decepticon’s talons latched on to the net entangling Ravage. Thrusters kicked it and Laserbeak pulled up. Between his efforts and Ravage’s continued slashing at the net the cassetticon was able to get free. Leaving his bombs behind he dashed back down the corridor, followed by Laserbeak. Both of them transformed and slid back into Soundwave’s chest.

Soundwave turned and ran back towards Starscream, Rumble following behind with the stasis locked Frenzy. Soundwave added his fire to that of the Seeker’s in an effort to drive Jazz back so they could exit the doomed ship.

*

In the Shadow of the Freighter

Hellion continued to roar and yell in anger and frustration as she clawed at her lead covered face. Bits of the metal and possibly her face fell away as she tried to get her damaged optics clear with only some success. She could finally make out some fractured, blurry images through her cracked optics. Unfortunately Ironhide was not in her limited line of sight.

She then received the signal to withdraw from Starscream. She roared in frustration at being denied any sort of vengeance against the Autobot. Not knowing where they were retreating to the seeker simply went up. At the very least that was one direction that would take her away from the doomed vessel.

Corridor

Brawn felt something his his arm, causing a forced reaction to let Frenzy go. He turned to see it was Soundwave, coming to the aid of his minions as he fired several concussion rockets at him. Brawn ducked, but this was clearly Soudnwaves intended goal. The rockets passed ove rhim, hitting the wall and exploding right behind him.

After a moment, he got up but even Laserbeak was not flying over him, with Ravage. Something was up. Briefy checing his arm's funcitonality, he noticed it was showing only minimal movement. He'd have torget it repaired once he got back. He then saw Smokescreen coming to him, saying something. Brawn could not tell what it was being said since Frenzy had incapacitated his audio receptors.

"What?" was his only reply. But he knew something was up. Only moments later did he recieve Ironhide's comm to evacuate. How did they get bombs off? No... that wasn't important. Getting out was priority.

Jazz, meanwhile, ducked back as he was met with covefire, taking a grazing to the front hood. It was time to escape, just as the Decepticons were doing. he ehaded for the Sotrage bay.

Brawn, menahwile, followed Smokescreen.

Storage

As the tohers arrived, Prowl nodded at Smokescreen's report.

"I recieved it as well." Prowl responded. "Everyone, get ready to swim, we're oging to use the storage bay doors to make our exit. We'll set one charge and blow it. We'll then swim to the surface as fast as we can. Hopefully, the shock of the blast will propell us further upwards."

"Sounds like a plan." Jazz said. "Just gotta keep in mind I set a few already."

"That will be fine Jazz." Prowl replied. "Somkescreen, you and Lore-lock quickly find something to keep this energon from floating out of this crate. We have to hope this thing will have enough bouyancy to float to the top. We'll detonate once everything is good. You have 1 minute!"

With that, Jazz ran over to the door and placed a charge. If all went well, the water woudl quickly flood the room and they could swim out.

"All set!" Jazz said as he ran back towards the group.

Bridge

The forward glass began to crack further under the force of the water pressue. And then.. it gave.

Form the outside, the massive pressure squeezed the forward hull, cushing it like an alluminum can, causing the ship to tilt forward.

Illusory Kelp Forest

"Steeljaw!!" Hound crawls towards the leonine Autobot, keeping low to avoid Thundercrackers fire. "Of all the 'Bots I thought I'd be talking to today, you were way down on the list!! Listen, we gotta..." Hound trailed off as the two of them recieved Ironhides message.

"Oh slag!!! Steeljaw, I need help moving Hardhead clear!! Grab his head and get going, maybe fire something to keep Thundercracker off our-!!" Hound was cut short by said Seekers final shot, as the torpedo lands a little behind the scouts, throwing up a massive cloud of sand!!

"AAaggh!!! No!! Hardhead...I can't see where the head got to!! I think it was knocked clear!!" Hound desperately starts deploying sensors to find it, mindful that the freighter could go up at any minute...

Storage Bay

Smokescreen felt a sense of relief once Brawn, Lore-lock and Jazz had all made it into the storage bay without getting slagged by the Decepticons. As the door to the hallway shut behind them, Smokey quickly activated the locking mechanism just in case the 'cons tried to follow. He then turned back towards the others. "I'm glad to see you guys are okay," the red and blue mech said to his teammates before listening to Prowl's plan of escape. There was also the issue of getting the crate of energon out of the ship safely without the cubes floating away once the water gushed into the freighter.

"No problem, Prowl. I'm on it!" Smokescreen responded as he quickly scanned the bay for what he needed. He soon found a lid that appeared to be the correct size and brought it over to the crate. The diversion expert then placed the metal cover on top and pressed down hard around the edges until it clicked into place. The accompanying hissing sound indicated that the container full of energon was now sealed and ready to go. "The energon's good to go, Prowl!"

Just then, Smokescreen felt a sudden shudder as the ship tilted forward, causing the energon crate to begin sliding across the bay. Smokey quickly grabbed the container with both hands and tried to hold on with all of his strength, but he was slowly starting to slide along with it. "Brawn, anyone, help me with this! The energon's not exactly lightweight!" The diversion expert singled out Brawn because he knew the minibot was the strongest mech in the room. However, help from anyone would do just fine at this point.

Storage

Lore-lock nodded to Prowl and was looking for a suitable cover when Smokey called for help. "I'm coming." The scout replied, as he rushed to the downhill side of the energon container. "This might hurt" He thought as he connected with the still sliding crate. Despite his added efforts the crate refused to stop moving.

"If it's this heavy dry, I hope we have a flotation device for when it gets wet in here. I really don't wanna have to leave this wonderful stuff behind."

Storage bay

As the ship tilted, Prowl began to slide. His sliding them turned into a tumble as he approached the all and ultiamtely collided wiht it. Fortunantly, Jazz had managed to set the charge with moments to spare. Various cubes fell beside them, hitting the wall as the ahip continued it's tilt, befoe stopping.

Jazz had taken a slightly longer fall as he hit the wall, cracking some of his exterior, but nothing to he couldn't walk off, or swim off in this particular case. But he saw the crate sliding towards the wall, which would make all that ahjrd work go to nothing if ti crashed.

While Brawn could not hear Smokescreen, insitnct told him he would be eneded as he hit the wall. He rolled over and lifted his legs to hold up the crate, but it was still heavy, even for him.

As Lore-lock came to help out and made his comment about hoping for a flotation device, Prowl felt the need to respond.

"I'm counting on bouyancy to take effect. We'll guide it out. If it does, we ride this thing to the surface! I'd rather risk an encoutner with the humans than watch us get blown out of the water. Additionally, this will subtract from the energy that will explode once those bombs go off, saving a little mor eof the sea bed. It's just ashame we didn't have a chance to use that Bounce Platform to get rid of them. Go ahead Jazz! Hit it!" he commended.

"I gottcha Prowl. Watch out gang, it's time'ta tear this joint a new blow-hole." he said, just before pressing the detonator.

There were several explosions throughout the ship, though relatively minor form Jazz's handywork, but the one they needed to explode came through as the depth charge blasted a hole through the bay doors. A massive ammount of water gushed in and began flooding the storage bay in no time. Addiitonally, the water pressure force the whole to open wider. It was working. Jazz decided he needed to inform Ironhide of their plan.

>>"Hey Ironhide! We'bout to take to boatride to heaven outta here. Tell Prime we'll need a way out once we hit the surface!"<<, he told Ironhide over the comm, as he was certain the old-tiemr was growing anxious over their status.

It didn't take long before the room itself began to flood, allowing the Autoboss to swim. Prowl grabbed Brawn and pulled him out of the way. The crate took a slight bounce but began moving. Depite it's weight, it showed some sign of bouyancy.

"Okay, now we jsut wait for this room to fill and we swim for it. Grab onto that crate!" Prowl said as he floated in the water.

Jazz grabbed onto the crate, expecitng the others to follow suit. Prowl grabbed it, as did Brawn.

Storage Bay

"Thanks guys!" Smokescreen shouted to Brawn and Lore-lock as they helped him to keep the energon crate from sliding out of control and crashing against the far wall. Unfortunately, unlike the crate, many of the Autobots in the room took a hard hit after sliding across the bay. Thankfully, no one suffered any permanent damage. Then Jazz gave the heads up and detonated the various charges he had planted throughout the ship, including the one attached to the outer bay doors. The explosion rocked the storage room, blowing a gaping hole in the side of the ship and allowing sea water to rush in.

As the storage bay began to quickly flood, Smokescreen could feel the crate becoming somewhat buoyant as it began to float in the water. This was good news as it would be easier for him and the others to steer the container in the right direction to get the energon outside. Prowl then shouted for everyone to grab a hold of the crate and wait for the room to completely flood. Once that happened they would all swim for it and hope to get clear of the freighter before it exploded. Since the diversion expert had never let go of the crate to begin with, he continued holding on to it and waited for the moment when they would all head out and make their way to the surface.

Corridors

Soundwave and Rumble began stumbling down the corridors as the ship began to twist and lurch as the hull was breached. Soundwave could hear water gushing into the vessel from multiple points. It was followed shortly thereafter by detonations across the vessel. They were too small to be Ravage’s explosives. They were either energon cubes or explosives set by the Autobots.

In any case it didn’t really matter. The hull of the ship was rapidly tearing and weakening. There was no point heading to the hatch now. They would simply make their own exit. He took Frenzy from Rumble, allowing the other cassetticon to work.

“Alright, everyone hold on ta something!” Rumble transformed his arms and began pounding on the wall. The vessel shook with the impacts and the wall quickly began to warp, bend and finally tear open.

Soundwave grabbed Rumble before he was swept away as the water pressure widened the tear. The corridor quickly filled with water as the communications officer moved towards the tear and widened it enough for him to slip through, presumably followed by Starscream. Soundwave and his minions quickly shot up through the water, making their way to the surface.

*

Storage Bay

As the ship lurched the energon cubes went tumbling. Some bounced harmlessly off of each other while others smashed into walls and detonated. Explosions began to surround the Autobots. Waiting for a steel crate to float all four of them up to the surface seemed like a recipe for their untimely demise.

(OOC: This is my IC way of telling you that there is no way that a steel crate filled with energon is going to be very buoyant at all, let alone enough to float so many transformers to the surface. Just get out of the ship and drive away on the ocean bottom.)

Ocean Floor

Krunix had been observing the entire time, updating telemetry and unit counts and sending instant updates to the Decepticons outside of the shuttle. He was in the process of trying to shift through the spectrums via his visor to help Thundercracker locate Hound when the order from inside the Shuttle came through. Krunix flipped over to all receiving Decepticons.

This is Krunix. You heard the boss. Disengage immediately. This means you, Hellion. Krunix chose a rally point near above ocean level, and sent the location to every Decepticon in the area Located optimum fallback point given everyone's current position and the size of the explosion. If you cannot get there under your own power, report in now, otherwise Starscream has issued orders and you're expected to follow them. Honestly, Krunix cared little that Starscream had been the one to give the order, or cared much for the Air Commander in general. The point was the order had been given in the mission, and it was time to follow through.

On top of the freighter



The clock was running, and Ironhide was nearly out of time. A red flashing timer had appeared in the corner of his vision, giving him a countdown until estimated seal failure. He had planned on surfacing and bouncing, but with the ‘cons bugging out and heading up, that would be like jumping from the proverbial frying pan right into the fire.

His only other option was to transform and roll for it. With his altered form, his head was, of course, retracted, so the compromised seal would be protected. He’d have been worse than useless in truck form in a fight underwater, but with the battle over, transforming was by far a better option.

The old mech leapt from his perch on top of the ship just as the doomed freighter began its death throes. An explosion rocked the vessel, followed by the staccato thumps of others as the energon began to cook off. Had Ironhide not received Jazz’s comm. moments before, he’d have been in a panic, as it was he was only slightly terrified. The worst part of being mission commander was the thought of his fellow Autobots, his buddies, being in danger. His first instinct was to protect them, he was a security bot after all, and sending them into the fray just ran counter to his programming. He wouldn’t be able to relax until everyone was safely back at the Ark.

He accelerated away from the ship, making a run to pick up Blaster and the wounded. He needed to get them clear – those proton bombs would be a big enough explosion, but when you added in the ship’s fuel supply and its’ cargo, there would be massive devastation.

>>Hound, drop yer illusions buddy. I’m in truck form and headed yer way. We gotta get Hardhead outta here. Blaster you and the little guys hop on too. We’re rollin’ out.<<


Illusory Kelp Forest


Steeljaw hadn’t the time to reply to Hound’s greeting when Thundercracker’s torpedo exploded sending the geyser of sand and rock into the water. Hound was momentarily panicked at the thought of losing Hardhead’s cranial unit, but Steeljaw was as cool as ever. Of course the fact that he still knew where to find Hardhead’s severed part made that a bit easier. Despite the lingering aroma of spent munitions and the millions of natural scents in the area, Steeljaw could still discern the leaking hydraulic fluid and energon coming from Hardhead’s cranium.

“Don’t worry old friend, I’ve got it,” Steeljaw remarked calmly, loping through the still swirling debris and returning with Hardhead’s head held firmly in his jaws. Talking was now out of the question, so he simply glanced at Hound and motioned with his nose towards Hardhead’s body, hoping the little scout would shoulder it and follow as he raced away from the freighter.

He’d ran no more than a few steps when Ironhide’s comm. signal came through, but despite the mission commander’s orders, he kept right on running. He knew Ironhide was faster than he was, and the others would catch up to him soon enough, but right now his priority was getting clear of the blast radius with at least part of a wounded comrade.


Ocean Floor – Crash Site


As Skywarp disappeared from in front of him, Blaster dove into a roll, expecting the teleporter’s inevitable blow to the back. Had he not reacted so quickly Skywarp’s torpedo would have surely caught him squarely, but instead it passed harmlessly over him and kept right on going out to sea.

He rolled on to his feet and came up facing the direction the shot had come from only to see Skywarp retreating. Blaster considered firing at the seeker’s dwindling form, but quickly discarded the idea. There were more pressing matters than taking potshots at fleeing Decepticons, namely the fact that the freighter they were so close to was about to blow up. He’d heard every comm. signal from both sides, so he was perhaps more aware of their current situation than anyone else on the field. He knew the ‘cons weren’t going to be a problem unless they disobeyed orders, so he had no qualms about turning his back on them and getting out.

“Back in the box Eject,” he commanded, opening his chest cavity and allowing the cassetobot to rejoin him. For once, Eject returned without comment, so Blaster was ready as Ironhide roared by. He grabbed hold of one of Ironhide’s pipes and swung himself into the truck-bed, transforming as he went to minimize both his size and weight.

”I really hope all those trees are holograms,” he commented as Ironhide barreled down on the kelp forest. The big mech didn’t slow at all, even as Ramhorn and Rewind joined him by leaping into the bed of his truck as he passed.

“You and me both,” Ironhide replied as he passed harmlessly through the first layer of kelp, closing in on Hound’s position.


Some distance from the battlefield



Ramjet had just gotten his railguns back online when Starscream’s orders came across his receiver. The seeker grimaced and launched himself skyward to join his fellow ‘cons who were also streaking away from the battlefield.

>>Brilliant battle-plan Starscream,<< he transmitted on the main battle-channel, knowing all the others would hear his comments.

Autobot Freighter – Storage Bay

Smokescreen braced himself as the ship rocked violently, sending energon cubes scattering across the bay. It didn’t take long before some of the cubes began colliding with the walls and exploding on impact. The situation had suddenly become very dangerous for the Autobots and, on top of that, the crate’s buoyancy had all but disappeared as the heavy container sunk down to the floor like a rock. Smokey struggled to move it, but was met with no success.

“It’s no use guys, this crate’s dead weight,” the diversion expert shouted over the surrounding explosions. “We need to get out of here now before we all end up a permanent part of the seabed.”

Smokescreen then let go of the crate and swam for the gaping hole in the bay doors. Once he was outside of the freighter, Smokey transformed to vehicle mode and sped away along the ocean floor, hoping to get clear of the blast radius.

*******

Skywarp received Krunix’s transmission and immediately ascended towards the surface alongside his fellow Decepticons. >>"Roger that, Krunix. I'm on my way now."<< 'Warp then accelerated and soon emerged from the waters of the Gulf, transforming to his F-22 Raptor mode and flying off to the rally point.

Lore-lock grumbled when the sea water stopped lifting the crate. Even though it might mean more weight he decided to go for it, and transform.

"Could one of you load some of them cubes into my limited cargo area? If we only save a few that's better than losing all." He said as the sea rushed in and began to cover all. "Unless of course someone else has a better idea."

Fading Kelp Forest

The relief when Steeljaw reported in almost overwhelmed Hound. The Autobot tracker had been just the mech for the job, and now Hound had to make a good account of himself as well. Straining against his injury, the scout turned off the illusion, transformed and reversed towards Hardheads torso. The cable line at his rear snaked out and wrapped itself around an arm, and then the 4x4 dug its wheels in and began to drag the immobile body. It wasn't easy, but with his special tires he was making some progress...Probably not enough with the rumble behind him growing.

>>Ironhide, transmitting my course to you. I can only move this big lug so far, I need another big lug to gimme a hand. I-is everyone else clear too?<<

Cargo Bay

Prowl, brawn, and Jazz all saw the crate begin to sink, much to their disappointment, and to make matters worse, the energon was beginning to explode. It would be only a matter of moments before it would begin a chain reaction. Lore-Lock have offered to carry some of it, however, they were already too late.

"Forget it! Let's get clear!" Prowl ordered as he began swimming out of the hole of the now filled storage bay.

Prowl exited first, followed by Jazz, and then Brawn. Though Brawn couldn't hear, it didn't take much for him to put two and two together as to what the strategist said. However, transforming would not do him much good.

>>"Jazz. My audio receptors were shorted by that little freak, Freny, and Starscream knocked out my engine. Mind if I hitch a ride?" he asked Jazz.<<

>>"Why not? Hop on!"<< Jazz said as they approached the ground. He transfomred and Brawn hopped on.

Prowl then transformed and drove off as fast as the water would let him. But he knew, they were about to take one wild ride.

>>"Get as far as you can and find cover! If not, then ascend and brace for impact!"<<

Jazz knew that with Brawn riding, they'd fall behind. He needed to find a spot where they could take cover while everything hit the fan. Luckily, he spotted an outcropping of rocks nearby and pulled behind there while the others progressed on. Jazz found a rather sizeable ditch from which they could hide, especially at such a close proximity. Brawn got off and Jazz transformed back into robot mode.

>>"Dive, Duck, and Cover!"<<, he told Brawn over the comm as he hit the .

Brawn, being the sturdier of the two, dropped to cover Jazz. It anyone was going to take the brunt of the blast that hit them, it was going to be him. It was better one Autobot be taken out of commission rather than two and he was alreayd in rough shape, and starting to fill with salt water. Least Jazz could haul him back if he went into Stasis Lock. He activated his emergency beacon so that if need be, they could be recovered by the other Autobots.

>>"[b]Ironhide, don't worry about us! Just get going!<<[/i], Brawn said to him over the comm.

Prowl, meanwhile, continued to make for the main outcropping of rocks and transformed back into robot mode to swim as he approached them. If he could reach the top, he would probably be safe. He took note of Brawn riding Jazz and suspected he suffered damage that possibly incapacitated his transformation cog or engine from the fight. He just hoped there would be plenty left to fix them both up once the worst was over. he managed to get over the rise and transformed bakc into car mode, speeding away, as fast as he could, in the direction the other Autobots were fleeing in.