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Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Hardhead’s cranial unit snapped back as Skywarp’s laser ricocheted off of his dense forehead and went harmlessly into the ground behind him. The green mech’s HUD went static for an astrosecond before regaining clarity. He was a bit rattled by the blast, especially at such close range, but was no worse for wear much to the surprise of the Decepticon’s resident prankster. “You idiot ‘Cons keep forgetting that I’m called Hardhead for a reason!” The war veteran yelled up at his attacker as a slight smirk formed on his faceplate.

Grabbing a hold of the foot and leg that Skywarp had pressed against his chest plating, Hardhead yanked the appendage out from under the seeker, causing ‘Warp to tumble sideways and to the ground. The teleporter tried to fire off another shot, but it went wild and came no where near striking anything of importance. Letting go of the prankster’s leg, Hardhead then sat up into a kneeling position before reaching for Skywarp again, this time grabbing the seeker by his shoulder and pulling him close. “You’re pretty stupid to challenge me like that, Skywarp. Now, it’ll cost you!”

Hardhead then punched Skywarp once in the faceplate and a second time directly in the chest which shattered his F-22 mode’s cockpit and stunned the seeker long enough for the green mech to get to his feet. In the process, the veteran soldier managed to drag his victim up to a standing position, as well, before picking the limp seeker up and throwing him into a nearby building. The structure partially collapsed around ‘Warp as he came to a rest inside what used to be a human cafeteria. “Maybe that’ll teach you! Now, where the slag are my shatterblasters?”

As Hardhead began to search the area for his lost weapons, Skywarp pulled himself to his feet, trying to regain his composure before he was pummeled anymore by the huge Autobot he had unwisely picked a fight with. ‘Warp had only wanted to avenge the loss of Nightraven, but all he had accomplished was getting his own aft kicked by a much larger opponent. It had not been a wise or leadership-like move, but it was one that was typical of his inability to see the bigger picture without the proper guidance from others.

Stepping out of the gapping hole in the side of the building, Skywarp received Starscream’s response regarding back-up. The prankster gave no verbal reply and instead sent only a signal of acknowledgment to the Seeker Commander. ‘Warp felt a bit of relief knowing that at least now there would be a mech joining the fight that was a far better leader than he had been thus far. With Starscream arriving shortly, Skywarp could finally go back to doing what he did best, being a warrior and letting others worry about the details of the battle.

With his equilibrium stabilizing, Skywarp quickly returned his attention to the big green mech who had taken Nightraven out so early on in the mission. Even though Hardhead had easily tossed the seeker aside like a rag doll, ‘Warp didn’t want to give up on getting revenge just yet. However, the teleporter had to be smarter than before and actually attack the large warrior where he could actually do some real damage.

Seeing that Hardhead was now preoccupied with locating his shatterblasters, Skywarp made his move and instantly teleported behind the war veteran. The prankster aimed both of his arm-mounted lasers directly at the green mech’s upper back which had been damaged in the seeker's previous air strike. 'Warp hoped to take advantage of the breaches in the giant Autobot's thick armor and take him down for good.

Central Hub

Ironhide muttered a few choice words as he threw up his arms to protect him from the back was of Ramjet’s engines as he slipped by him. If these Cons just kept zipping around it wasn’t going to be much of a fight. He’d hoped that baiting them would have gotten them down to ground level, but if even Ramjet could figure out that trick then he didn’t think any of the other ones would fall for it.

The red Autobot kept his arms up as the conehead opened fire with his laser rifles. Being so high up his shots weren’t terribly accurate, mostly slamming into the ground around him. A few blasts caught him, but it wasn’t enough to do any real damage, although between this and catching some flames from Ramjet’s engines he was going to need a new paintjob. His armor was showing some nasty scorch marks, although remained mostly intact otherwise. He hadn’t just been given the name Ironhide, he had earned it.

The security mech’s attention was drawn to Hardhead and Skywarp fighting as Ramjet scrambled to dodge another Decepticon. It seemed like the other Autobot had things well in hand, and Ironhide couldn’t help but be a bit jealous. How the slag had he convinced Skywarp to come down and fight him up close and personal on the ground? He was going to have to ask him later what his secret was.

Ironhide saw his chance to jump into the fray when Skywarp aimed to shoot Hardhead in the back. Running at top speed the older Autobot lunged at the seeker, aiming to tackle him to the ground. “Just showin’ yer true colors there shootin’ a Bot in the back huh Skywarp? Lets see how ya do in a fight with a real pro who’s lookin’ right in the optics!”

*

Skies Above

Slipstream quickly darted around the clumsy form of Ramjet as the other seeker careened into her flight path. She bit down on the various insults and curses she was ready to hurtle at the other Decepticon. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about in this battle, one of her teammates came close to take her out due to his incompetence. She would just have to turn it to her advantage as best she could, as she did with all things. She began a series of acrobatic maneuvers are Slingshot swept back into the fray and opened fire on both of them. The shots from his mortar cannons rocked the more delicate seeker and she instantly knew what she had to do.

>>”Ramjet, that was a close call we had there, but I know what you can do to make us all forget about that incident. Go take out that pesky Autobot Slingshot who dares to shoot at me. You don’t want everyone to remember this battle for our near collision do you? You want them to remember when you put one of those Aerialbots on the ground permanently!”<<

Hopefully that would be enough to satisfy the idiot, she thought to herself. The femme now turned her attention back to her original target, the medic, since Skywarp had rejoined the fray with a vengeance. She would have smiled had she been in robot mode as she watched Ratchet run of to treat Warpath. It was a perfect opening. She swooped down low, transforming and landing on the ground a short distance behind Ratchet. She opened fire on the Autobot, hoping to take him out before he could turn around and do anything about it.

*

Hellion growled in frustration as Slingshot darted away from her. She wasn’t about to go chasing after the little Autobot. She was in the mood for destruction, not chasing. She adjusted her plummeting trajectory so that she would land on Hardhead. He was a much easier target, being big and green and slow moving. She let out a loud warcry as she opened fire with her machine guns as she drew closer to landing on the Autobot.

OOC: Please make sure you guys are using the correct weapons on your characters as it can make a big difference. Ramjet doesn't have null rays and Slingshot has mortar cannons in jet mode. Also make sure to bold the name of other player's characters in your posts. It really helps out the other players a lot.

Iranian Desert-- Central Hub

“Well well, now ain't that a sight to behold. Get a look at you Fearless leader. Getting all scared because some blue fender plated Deceptiscrape decided to turn up the decibel levels." He laughed as he shot over head of Silverbolt and locked his weapons on the two seekers. "Let me show you who the real pilot is. Maybe I'll sign your autograph book when I'm done."

Of all the mechs to push his buttons, Slingshot was the worst and while he wanted to reprimand his younger charge, he wasn’t in a position to do so. Silverbolt could feel the vibrations fading somewhat, whether through distance or by Dirge turning down the amperage he didn’t care. He had to get back into the fight. Narrowing his optics he forced himself to stand with his weapon in hand as ready for an attack as he could be.

His attention was drawn to the sky above and the ensuing duel between Aerialbot and Seeker. His optics flickered as every circuit in his being told him not to leave the ground but he leapt into the air and transformed before his fears could take a firmer hold. He wouldn’t be beaten like that, not while energon still flowed through him. Only once he was in the air did he reactivate his optics, it was a necessary evil for him to get airborne again. He refused to think about what had just happened to him and focused instead on winning the day. Under normal circumstances that meant the safety of his team and the other Autobots but now there was an added toll to collect. He had to be the one to take down Dirge, not just to prove to himself and the others he could be relied on but to show the Decepticons he couldn’t be kept from a fight.

You can do this. There’s nothing to fear. He repeated the mantra over and over to himself as he increased power to his engine and aimed to a point ahead of Dirge. From his vantage point the could easily the Seeker beginning his hunt for another victim. If the Seeker took out of his own because of his own weakness… Cursing his own limited vehicular form as well he forced himself to focus. The distance between him and the pair was greater than he liked so he maneuvered to a point where he’d have a better angle of intercept on Dirge and readied his electrostatic weapon.

>>Slingshot, you‘ve got one on your tail. On my mark bank hard to your left.<<

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Heh heh, about time that bugger cooled off, Warpath thought, though he would have gladly shouted it at Waspinator's now frozen form if he could.

Much to his relief, Ratchet arrived only a few astroseconds later. He could just barely understand what Ratchet was saying, something about pain and heat.

Go on and do it, doc', pain ain't nothin' to me!

When Ratchet injected the anti-venom, the warrior felt it immediately. Pain first shooting through his neck to his head and all over his body. The medic wasn't kidding, if Warpath had been standing the pain alone would have sent him crumbling in a heap to the ground.

RRRNG, SLAG THAT SMARTS!

After a few astroseconds the pain lessoned, which was soon followed by a burning sensation like Ratchet had said. Warpath resisted the urge to start up his cooling fans.

WOO, that's hot! Doctor's orders, gotta follow doctor's orders...

Despite what was going on inside, Warpath started to feel better. Systems that had started to go offline from the venom were coming back on. Though still weak, Warpath's internal repair systems started to kick in.

"Rr, B-BAM! Thank's d-doc', tha-at d-d-did that trrrick!, Warpath barely managed to say, his vocal components now barely functional, but still damaged.

Despite his still weakened state, Warpath didn't want to be out of the action any longer than he had to. As he slowly tried to get back to his feet, he noticed Slipstream firing at Ratchet

"L-LOOK OUT-T!", the warrior tried to warn as he pointed towards the attacking Decepticon.

OoC: Sorry, Dev. I g00fed up on that one! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Above the Central Hub

Ramjet flailing and screaming must have done something, for he and Slipstream didn't collide midair. Then he received her message over the comm. Apparently she wanted him to take out Slingshot, who's mortars had previously missed him, because she wanted no one to remember him and Slipstream almost colliding.

>>Why don't we, uh, both take him out? Together?<< Ramjet said as he transformed from his freefalling position and fell began to turn about to face Slingshot.

If Ramjet was anything, he wasn't good at talking to those he cared about. It was always awkward.

Ramjet then floored it, speeding directly into the path of Slingshot in hopes of slamming into him with his nosecone.

"Hey! I'll teach you a lesson about firing on a Femme! You have no manners whatsoever!" Ramjet bellowed, of course he was the one to talk, for he has no manners either.


*****

Central Hub - Under a Sand Dune

Waspinator felt the ice melt around him at much faster speeds, maybe he would be able to shake the ice off his wings? Nevertheless, he needed to get back to the battle and the ice was thin, making movement very possible, and now he was free from his icy bonds.

He began to dig his way up to the top of the dune, then leaped out from the top of the dune, expelling a spectacular display of sand and dust spraying in various directions, only to be blown out as if a sandstorm to obscure vision. Then the high pitch buzz of his wings kicked in as he transformed and hovered upward, scanning as far as he could to see where everything is in the miniature sandstorm he kicked up around him. He found the unmistakable shape of Warpath and Ratchet, and the latter bent over the former.

Waspinator felt a scowl come over his face as he aimed his stinger and his Ion Pistol at the duo. He faltered, what would be the better choice? Go up in the sky and take on a flier, or continue his assault on Warpath...?

He had to finish what he had started.

He aimed and fired a stinger at the form of Ratchet, and fired his Ion Pistol at Warpath. Hopefully the CMO can't self-medicate with obscured vision.

Starscream materialzed on the surface of the planet and he looked around observing a battle in progress. A scowl on his face as he opened up his com link.

>>"Decepticons. I have arrived to take charge of this battle. I require a situation report ASAP."<<

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Once the anti-venom was administered the symptoms that Ratchet warned Warpath about took hold almost immediately. The medic remained by the tankformer’s side until his systems started to regulate. Ratchet started to crack a slight smile when he noticed Warpath’s optics. There was a slight hint of worry in them before he cried out his warning.

The medic turned slightly to see Slipstream take aim and fire off a shot. The attempted to move out of the line of fire but he was caught in the right shoulder. The searing pain elicited a pain filled hiss from Ratchet. However he had no time to react as the femme continued with her volley. As the next shots blew past Ratchet dropped down on his abdomen and quickly rolled along the ground until he was on his back. The medical officer pulled his static laser gun and raised his upper body off the ground. Ratchet took aim at Slipstream, and let loose a volley of his own.

Unfortunately the medic wasn’t able to see if his shots even made it to the femme. It seemed that that annoying Insecticon decided to dig his way out of the sand and continue his assault on Warpath and him. Ratchet winced when a stinger fired by Waspinator hit the ground right next to his head.

“Holy slag!”

The CMO quickly scrambled to his feet and took a hold of Warpath’s arm and began to try and pull the tankformer out of the line of fire from the Insecticon’s ion pistol. At the same time he raised his weapon and squeezed off a few shots at the bug, and quickly moved to aim back at the seeker femme.

“This is slaggin’ ridiculous! The next time you get yourself into this kind of mess, Warpath, don’t call me! Oh, and, just so you know, I will no longer be accepting your insurance!!!”

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Skywarp cracked a slight smile as he aimed for Hardhead’s exposed back. Finally, retribution would belong to the seeker and there was nothing the green mech could do to stop it. Of course, it wasn’t that particular war veteran ‘Warp should’ve been worried about. Instead, he should’ve been more concerned with the red mech that was charging at him from the side, the one he wasn’t paying attention to. A mere astrosecond before the teleporter was able to take his shot, he felt the other Autobot slam into him and tackle the prankster to the ground.

Once on his back, Skywarp looked up to see Ironhide staring down at him, having just insinuated that the seeker was a coward for attempting to shoot Hardhead in the back. The teleporter didn’t really care what the old timer had to say. All he cared about was the fact that once again his effort at revenge had been thwarted. “Yes, let’s see how I do, Ironslag!” Skywarp spat back at his crimson attacker before disappearing from underneath him and then reappearing on top of a pile of rubble nearby. It was then that he received Starscream’s communique. ‘Warp was happy to hear that the Seeker Commander was taking charge of the situation like he had hoped. Now, at least the teleporter wouldn’t have to think so much. Opening a secured comm line, Skywarp gave a quick, whispered response:

>>”Commander Starscream, this is Skywarp. I’m currently engaged with the Autobot Ironhide deep inside the Central Hub. The rest of the team is scattered throughout the area and engaged in their own battles. I’m sending you what data I have, including Nightraven’s location.”<<

Once Skywarp was finished with his transmission, the prankster reset his sights on Ironhide and quickly leapt down from atop the rubble and directly towards the Autobot security chief below. With his arm guns blazing, 'Warp hoped to get the jump on the red mech and return the favor for the previous tackle.

*********

Hardhead grumbled under his breath as he became increasingly frustrated while trying to locate his lost shatterblasters. He had misplaced his two weapons when Skywarp previously attacked him in an air strike. The resultant explosions had not only sent the green warrior flying, but his blasters, as well. “Where the slag did they go!” The war veteran bellowed as he then caught sight of Ironhide tackling Skywarp who had somehow snuck up behind the green giant. “That fragger doesn’t know when to quit, does he?”

Finally, a gleam of silver caught Hardhead’s attention and he quickly moved towards the spot where he then bent over and pulled one of his weapons out from underneath a piece of debris. He quickly dusted it off and checked the shatterblaster over to make sure it was in satisfactory condition. “There you are,” he muttered to himself, happy with its appearance. “Now, where’s your brother at?”

Suddenly, a flurry of machine gun fire erupted around him from high above, several hits striking his shoulder armor as well as the ground around him. Hardhead looked straight up to see the fast approaching form of Hellion plummeting directly at him, screaming some kind of crazy war cry as she went. Unable to dodge or take aim with his one found weapon in time, the green mech had no choice but to bring his arms up to help block the berserker's aerial charge as his low dexterity could not compete with the seeker femme’s speed.

Hellion’s hit was solid and brutal, knocking Hardhead back down to the ground and pressing his heavy frame deep into the sand. He held on tight to his recovered shatterblaster, however, but once again he was unable to take aim as the femme had landed right on top of him and was too close to adequately shoot at. Instead, the veteran soldier used his weapon like a club and swung it up at the berserker’s cranial unit, hoping to knock her off of him and allow the green mech to get back up into a fighting stance against her.

>>”Commander Starscream, this is Skywarp. I’m currently engaged with the Autobot Ironhide deep inside the Central Hub. The rest of the team is scattered throughout the area and engaged in their own battles. I’m sending you what data I have, including Nightraven’s location.”<<

Starscream could hear the relief in Skywarp's voice. He was disappointed that Skywarp was not up to the task of leading a team into battle, but that was a matter that had to be dealt with once the fight was over. For now there were Autobots that had to be defeated. The Commander turned his gaze to Contemptor.

"I have to take to the sky and try and regain some semblance of control over this battle. I want you to move to support our troops currently engaging the enemy on the ground, do what you can to support Skywarp, Ironhide is a tough Autobot to handle and he will need whatever help he can get."

With a final nod Starscream looked up into the sky before he launched himself into the air and transformed, firing his engines to reach a high altitude and levelled out. He surveyed the battlefield to get a sense of what was going on and where everyone was located.

>>"Skywarp, I've sent Contemptor to support you. Coordinate as best you can to overwhelm him, teleport around him and hit him from multiple directions with your ranged weapons to keep him pinned in place as Contemptor uses his heavier weapons to finish him off. Slipstream, Waspinator once you have put down Ratchet I want Slipstream back in the air to aid us in knocking the Aerialbots out of the sky. Waspinator, you will move to support Hellion in taking down Hardhead. Dirge I want you to break away from the air battle to make a pass over the ground combat zone to rattle those Autobots with your engines. Everyone on the ground, brace yourselves for Dirge's run. Ramjet continue to engage Slingshot, but do remember you have ranged weapons as well and not just that glorified battering ram you use for a cranium. I'm also fully outfitted with cluster bombs, if any of you see an opening for an airstrike inform me immediately and I will move in for a pass. I'm on Silverbolt."<<

Starscream suddenly turned into a sharp dive, aiming right for the much large form of Silverbolt unleashing a pair of air to air missiles once he had a solid lock. He than opened fire with his lasers and null rays as he unleashed a blistering stream of fire on his target.

Iranian Desert - Bounce Arrival

Contemptor felt like he was going to regurgitate the contents of his intake tank. Bounce travel was never a good thing, as it always left a queasy feeling in all who used it. One could summise that, after repetitive use, it would almost be an afterthought when Bouncing was used. Composing himself, shaking his head slightly to clear the fog away from his neural processor, Contemptor stood tall above Starscream and started to scan the surrounding area.

He could care less about a lot of other Decepticons, but - and he might cite it as instinct - he instantly activated his weapon systems, the large plasma cannon filling the space between himself and Starscream. Contemptor could feel that Starscream was a bit miffed that the barrel of his gun almost clanged off his chestplate as it was swept from left to right, covering the area incase of any ambush.

Satisfied that all was well, Contemptor retraced his plasma cannon and folded his arm's over his chestplate as Starscream spoke into his communicator.

>>"Decepticons. I have arrived to take charge of this battle. I require a situation report ASAP."<<

There was silence for a few clicks until only a message that Starscream could hear. It must have been from one of the other seekers that were in the desert. The sounds of battle in the distance could be heard , and Contemptor gave a snarling smile. There were Autobots to destroy.

While the message was for Starscreams receptors only, Contemptor watched his optics, the subtle variences in light and angle betraying the seeker commander's emotions about what was unfolding in the battle only a short distance away. It was then that he turned to look up at Contemptor - who had cracked his fists together, and made his knuckles popped.

"I have to take to the sky and try and regain some semblance of control over this battle. I want you to move to support our troops currently engaging the enemy on the ground, do what you can to support Skywarp, Ironhide is a tough Autobot to handle and he will need whatever help he can get."

With a final nod towards him, Contemptor watched as Starscream took to the skies.

The large Decepticon turned and broke into a run over the sand before transforming into his Mack Truck mode, the large Bicentennial Long Liner began to thunder through the desert towards the battle. He opened a channel to Starscream as details and information began to scroll over his windscreens on the inside.

>>"Ironhide huh? Won't be too much trouble once I flatten him into tinfoil.. Just tell Skywarp not to get glitched up before I get there"<<

Contemptor sent a message to the prankster as he thundered through the sand, the yellow dust flying in plumes behind him as he made his way towards the battle.

>>"Hey prankster..."<< Contemptor's gravelly voice rattled >>"...Keep Ironhide's back towards me. I'm coming in for a hard strike, so let's make it count..."<<

The Mack truck shifted form slightly as the large impact bar's morphed around the front grille of the cab, turning it from large articulated transport truck, to heavily armed ram-raid vehicle. There was a breeze coming slowly, but it was enough to kick up sand into his windshield sensors, and it caused a nuisance. Contemptor's windsheild wipers to clear away the grains from his visual sensor panels, as larger plumes of snad and dust were being kicked up on the horizon, getting larger and larger as Contemptor approached the battle. Sure he was more built for road travel - but the simple modified wheels gave him more of a grip on the sand.

It was then that the open broadcast from Starscream filtered through.

>>"Skywarp, I've sent Contemptor to support you. Coordinate as best you can to overwhelm him, teleport around him and hit him from multiple directions with your ranged weapons to keep him pinned in place as Contemptor uses his heavier weapons to finish him off. Slipstream, Waspinator once you have put down Ratchet I want Slipstream back in the air to aid us in knocking the Aerialbots out of the sky. Waspinator, you will move to support Hellion in taking down Hardhead. Dirge I want you to break away from the air battle to make a pass over the ground combat zone to rattle those Autobots with your engines. Everyone on the ground, brace yourselves for Dirge's run. Ramjet continue to engage Slingshot, but do remember you have ranged weapons as well and not just that glorified battering ram you use for a cranium. I'm also fully outfitted with cluster bombs, if any of you see an opening for an airstrike inform me immediately and I will move in for a pass. I'm on Silverbolt."<<

Contemptor gave a cruel laugh and replied to Starscream's message

>>"The more autobots to break, the better the day gets!"<<

Contemptor drove up a heavily compacted mound of sand and came to a stop. He observed the tussell between Ironhide and Skywarp, and a way to the left of them, he could see one of the femme seekers divebombing a heavily armoured green mechanioid. Contemptor zoomed in on him, his internal database pulled up the file to reveal Hardhead. A tough Autobot, but one Contemptor would have to deal with later.

He gunned his oversized engine, the power torquing trhough his frame as he readied the charge into Ironhide.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Warpath's strength started coming back to him as Ratchet managed to move him out of the way of Waspinator's shot. At this point the side effects of the anti-venom were wearing off, and the Autobot warrior was mad. After being caught unaware and nearly taken out by the little bug-bot, now he had got the Autobot's number one medic in serious trouble.

"Lousy SLAGGIN' bug won't quit!", Warpath said, "Sorry about this, doc', but you're the only one who gives house calls."

The tank-bot wanted badly to take out the little no-name Insecticon, but there was more than one Decepticon trying to gun them down. Warpath could still see Slipstream, the femme that the warrior had just barely managed to warn Ratchet about. Payback could wait, right now it was all about survival.

"WHAM, hey Ratchet, you think it's time for her booster shot?", Warpath quiped.

Before the medic could answer, a loud boom came from Warpath's cannon as he fired an explosive shell at Slipstream.

Iranian Desert - Skies Above

"Ya right ya stinkin blue crop duster." Slingshot cursed back as the flood of fire erupted from Dirge's weapon battery. He dipped slightly here and there, and entered into a tight barrel roll before leveling off on a downward angle towards the nearest crop of desert rock. Angling his exhaust port to a sharp ninty degree angle, the Aerialbot proceeded to enter one of the deeper gullies of the combat zone.

He kept his turns tight and himself close to the gully walls, cursing each time a spray of rock scraped at his paint job. "Damn crop duster won't take the hint." He released a small bundle of chaff designed to scramble sensors, creating multiple readings and thus fouling potential target lock a few moments longer. Slingshot knew full well that his ploy wouldn't last for too long, a few seconds at best, but it gave him that much more amount of time to... "SCRAP!"

Another reading entered the duel zone. The energy signatures were immediately displayed to that of Ramjet.

"Oh lovely now I got a love sick puppycon on my aft." A burst of laser fire plunged against his wing leaving a elongated carbon scar on his left wing. He immediately darted to his right to avoid Dirge's concentrated fire, narrowly avoiding a rather nasty meeting with a large column of sandstone.

Banking heavily he reemerged back on a higher plane and snot out of the gully, a trail of smoke slowly being snuffed out as his structural integrity field worked to compensate for the damage. Now he had Dirge and Ramjet on his exhaust. "Hey fearless leader," Slingshot commed Silverbolt trying desperately to hide his frustration and almost panic from his voice. "If you aren't to terribly busy, I got me a crop duster and a store front children's ride on my six."

He received the irritated reply and decided to ignore the tone of voice. Silverbolt was now airborne and that meant slightly better odds. Shame the big bomber couldn't exactly turn on a dime and was rather useless in duels of this nature. Crap that means I'm going to get fragged. Geez, why couldn't have I been paired with Air Raid. At least he's got a fighter mode. "Alright I copy. But if you miss, I swear I am going to haunt you for the rest of your natural function cycles."

Slingshot dipped his injured wing and dove to the designated direction, drawing Dirge and Ramjet on the new path.

OoC: Marcus, Slingshot doesn't about the feelings Ramjet has for Slipstream...

Above the Central Hub

Ramjet sighed when he heard the order come in from Starscream apparently their "Leader" was giving out orders. Oh boy, someone's taking leadership quickly. It would have satisfied him if 'Screamer could spare a better order to attack someone else other than Slingshot, but alas, some mechs are more incompetent than the others. But the worst part about it was that he wasn't fighting by Slipstream's side.

>>I read you 'Oh glorious Leader', I'll continue doing whatever I'm doing,<< Ramjet said sarcastically through a line with Dirge, >>So, Dirge, looks like I'm on my own! No thanks to our 'Glorified leader'.<<

He stifled a groan as he missed Slingshot and narrowly missed a collision with a Sandstone pillar, just as the Aerialbot did.

He pulled out to the left, and fell into line diagonal from the Aerialbot.

"Hey," Ramjet bellowed, "We don't have to do this, you know! We could go and land and Pound your faceplate into the ground!"

Ramjet let out a hoarse laugh as he fell into line behind Slingshot and aimed, then fired his laser cannons rapidly at the Aerialbot.

*****

Central Hub

Waspinator made a growling sound at his irritation at his attacks missing Ratchet and Warpath, but he smiled in an odd, crooked way as Slipstream flew overhead, strafing the two on the ground.

But then he got the orders from Starscream, apparently, he wanted Waspinator to ignore Warpath, and just attack the CMO. Oh great! So he ticked off a red tank for seemingly no apparent reason and to top it off, he had to take out a medic.

No matter, orders are orders.

"Wazzpinator ATTACK!!" Waspinator let out a war cry as he charged forward, flying with a high pitch, disrupting sound as he fired a volley of stingers and ions at Ratchet and Warpath.

He spared the time to attack Warpath because he really found the tank to be a challenging opponent, and he felt it would justify attacking a practically unarmed Medic.

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Slipstream smirked as she successfully hit the medic. While she wasn’t as violent prone as so many other Decepticons she had to admit to taking some pleasure in inflicting some pain on the Autobots. That was probably an every day occurrence for many Decepticons but her duties often put her in more sophisticated situations with long term goals. The instant gratification of shooting an enemy was something to be savored for her.

Unfortunately that brief moment of savoring her victory, along with dodging fire from Ratchet, cost her as Slipstream did not notice Warpath’s recovery. Her only warning was the boom from his cannon as the Autobot fired at her. She desperately leapt out of the way, not having enough time to activate her transwarp drive to teleport out of the way. The shot barely missed her, but the explosion did catch her. She was knocked face first into the ground, shrapnel from the explosive punching into her light armor and eliciting a yelp of pain from her.

Groaning the seeker activated her drive and teleported some distance away to get clear of Warpath’s line of fire. A near miss had hurt her and a direct hit would do even worse. She let out a sigh as she received Starscream’s orders. Her taking out Ratchet, even with the idiot bug’s help, wasn’t too likely with Warpath protecting him. >>”Commander Starscream, the Autobot Warpath has recovered from his injuries and is protecting Ratchet. I have been wounded and I do not believe Waspinator or myself have the power to deal with him. I humbly ask for assistance sir.”<<

Slipstream slowly pulled herself to her feet. She was leaking some fluids from the various puncture wounds and had a fair share of dents but at least she could move around still. Hopefully she wouldn’t get thrown back into the fray like a simple grunt and end up coming out in pieces.

*

Hellion almost cackled in glee as she successfully slammed into Hardhead, driving the Autobot deep into the sand below. It wasn’t quite as good as smashing through the Autobot, but it was still a good hit. Obviously this Autobot was a tough one, which was fine with her. You could only take so much satisfaction from ending an Autobot quickly. A nice, long, grueling battle where she came out battered, but not broken, with the Autobot’s head would be ideal.

The seeker was knocked off of Hardhead by the improvised club hit to her cranium. Her receptors were ringing as she staggered away from the Autobot. With her hand she felt a sizable dent on the side of her head from the blow. She spat out a glob of fuel from her mouth and smiled. Yes, this was going to be an excellent fight, just what she was craving. She lunged back at the Autobot, her hands aimed to grab at his face and head and start tearing into him.

*

Ironhide was annoyed but not surprised when Skywarp vanished. The annoying little seeker was good with his teleporting, which meant that he would have to be on his toes for this fight. He took a quick look around for him and spotted the form of some large truck Decepticon he hadn’t seen before. It looked like they had brought in some reinforcements, and by the way he was just sitting there watching it looked like they were going to try and team up against him. Fine with him, the more cons the merrier.

He finally spotted Skywarp as he leapt down at him, guns blazing. He was ready for him. While he let his armor absorb the hits he activated his chemical emitters again. As the seeker dropped towards him he shot a spray of liquid nitrogen back at him. Even if he teleported away from that he was ready to keep on spraying around him until he got him. At the very least it was going to slow him down a bit, and maybe give Ironhide a nice opening to get another solid hit in on him.

Iranian Desert - Skies Above

Slingshot had been certainly been leading Dirge into a merry chase through flying low and through difficult terrain. It was hardly a hindrance to the seeker veteran though. During early days of Megatron's uprising the seekers had frequently been put through far more challenging drills by Starscream. Some had forgotten their lessons. Some had never pulled them through. Dirge however, had not forgotten. He had carefully cultivated an image on skilled and deadly warrior, often finished among the best as well. However, he had also meticulously worked to avoid getting too much attention from the other seekers or Starscream. He possessed no ambition to challenge Starscream's leadership, nor he wanted to deal with the sycophants that had followed the likes of Thundercracker and Skywarp everywhere in those early days. And through not revealing all of one's secrets at once, one was also able to possess an edge against the others if the situation so warranted. And often, Dirge's skill had been fatally underestimated.

Starscream's appearance changed his plans though. With Ramjet on Slingshot's tail and Starscream joining the battle and going after Silverbolt, breaking up from the dogfight as commanded was easy enough. It hardly meant he was happy with the order. He had had Slingshot in his sights and while the two Aerialbots had clearly been trying to pull him and Ramjet into a trap, he had been certain he could have avoided it. Not anymore. Now he had to endanger himself by making a pass over the ground based Autobots. An action out of his comfort zone. Making himself a possible target for the brunt of the Autobots forces in the battlefield did not sit well with his need of being in control. Yet, he obeyed.

>>"So, Dirge, looks like I'm on my own! No thanks to our 'Glorified leader'."<<

>>"Death makes no difference between a king and a fool. But in life the fool would be wise to obey his master 'less he yearns to be smitten by those that hold the power."<< Dirge replied back to his wing mate. His voice as mournful and wry as ever. How Ramjet would take his reply was to be seen. However, Dirge did hope that Ramjet would not make a fool of himself again.

For Dirge's relief, the Autobots were already preoccupied by various Decepticons, allowing the dark grey and blue seeker to make a low pass over the battlefield with his engines amplifying his song of terror to levels the grounded Autobots had thus far been able to avoid. This, time however - it was certain to at least momentarily distract even the bravest of the Autobots.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Starscream’s communique came through Skywarp’s comm line as the prankster leapt down at Ironhide, his arm lasers doing little but irritating the red mech. Ignoring the transmission for the moment in favor of remaining focused on his opponent, ‘Warp had but a single astrosecond to teleport out of the way of Ironhide’s liquid nitrogen. The black and purple seeker reappeared off to the side and opened fire again, but the Autobot war horse was ready for him and quickly adjusted his spray pattern towards the Decepticon jokester. Skywarp tried to dodge before vanishing once more, but he had not been in time to avoid being hit in the right wing with a dose of the ice cold chemical.

When Skywarp reappeared it was behind a half-collapsed wall that would hopefully provide some temporary cover for him. He took the opportunity to send a quick acknowledgement signal back to Starscream, as he didn’t want to incur the Seeker Commander’s wrath for ignoring him. He then checked his wing, the very end of which was completely frozen right down to the molecular level. His pain receptors registered the intense cold, but it was nothing he could not endure. As ‘Warp touched the now brittle area, the wing tip broke off in his hand, eliciting a rage-filled response.

“Frag it!” Skywarp grumbled as he threw the broken end into the sand. Thankfully, the majority of his right wing was still intact which would allow him to continue flying in his F-22 fighter mode if need be. However, he also knew that his maneuverability would be compromised as a result. ‘Warp shook his cranial unit in disgust, knowing that Nightraven would be disappointed in him. He now realized that Ironhide was no fool to the teleporter’s usual tricks and thus a new strategy would be needed if he was to get the upper hand here. As if on cue, that strategy then presented itself in the form of Contemptor, who commed the prankster with a distraction plan of his own. ‘Warp opened a secured channel back to the approaching Mack truck:

>>”Roger that, Contemptor. I’ll keep him busy on my end while you move in for the kill.”<<

Cutting his comm line, Skywarp then noticed Dirge’s approach and decided to take advantage of the blue seeker’s fear engine that appeared to be targeting the ground-based ‘Bots. Igniting his foot thrusters, ‘Warp flew up into the air above the protection of the wall where he remained in robot mode as his arm weapons immediately unleashed a volley of laser fire down at Ironhide. The prankster then quickly changed positions via teleportation to avoid any further run-ins with liquid nitrogen and repeated this maneuver numerous times, all the while trying not to stray more than 180 degrees in either direction. Between his attacks and Dirge’s fear engines, the prankster hoped to keep the red mech’s attention away from the looming Contemptor.

*********

Hardhead was pleased that the butt of his weapon had hit home, knocking the aggressive Hellion off of him. The berserker staggered backwards as her hand felt the side of her dented head. “Too bad your cranial unit’s not as hard as mine!” The green mech taunted as he pulled himself out of the sand and got back up to his feet. Behind him was a sizable, crater-like hole where his massive form had just been imbedded. Wow, is my aft really that big?

In all that was currently transpiring, his thoughts proved that Hardhead still had a sense of humor, even in the thick of battle. Bringing his one recovered shatterblaster up to bare, the war veteran then realized that his weapon had been damaged when he hit Hellion with it. “Ah, slaggit! Guess her head was harder than I thought,” the big Autobot muttered as he dropped the useless blaster to the desert sand.

Meanwhile, the aggressive femme had regained her composure and was preparing to retaliate. Hardhead readied himself to transform so that he could use his back-mounted cannon to strike at her first. Unfortunately, the sound of Dirge’s engines overhead caused the massive Autobot to stop before his transformation sequence had began as a sense of fear swept through him. The sensation lasted only a brief astrosecond, but it had been just enough time for the berserker to make her move towards the green mech, her hands outstretched and ready to rip his head right off.

Not again, Hardhead thought with a grunt as he brought his left arm up to block the femme seeker’s vicious attack. Her actuators dug into the armor plating on his forelimb, scratching it up like a ferocious cyber-cat. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” The seasoned soldier quipped as the power of her assault continued to surprise him and force him to take a few steps back. He then brought his other hand up and managed to grab Hellion by both wrists. Hardhead followed that up with a solid headbutt that he hoped would connect with her faceplate and force her to back away once more.

Iranian Desert-- Central Hub

Though he was flying and closing the distance thanks to Slingshot’s maneuvering Silverbolt knew he couldn’t maintain it for long. Readying his electrostatic weapon while ignoring his subordinate’s cocksure response. Don’t get your aft shot off hotshot. He trusted his fellow Aerialbot would follow his instincts and training, he wished he could be so certain of himself right then.

Focusing on the dark blue seeker he increased his speed as much as he could. He would only have a single shot at this and it had to be good. His targeting system was trying to lock on the fast moving jet when his own alarm signaled a weapons lock on him. Not yet. Just a little longer. The warning signal changed notifying him of a missile launch.

Grunting he fired his electrostatic weapon at Dirge then pivoted perpendicular to the ground in tie for a pair of missiles to streak past him. Just one more second… He didn’t have the chance to see who fired at him before laser blasts shot past him, a null ray clipped his tail taking control away from his rudder. It answered the question as to who was attacking him. A laser bolt grazed the top of his fuselage but a third struck his right wing full on.

Any hope he had of continuing to fly ended when he avoided the missiles. Between the damage sustained from his previous crash and his own fear it was done out of desperation and now he’d pay for that move. Instead of going down and being an easy target he transformed turning his back towards the ground so the sight wouldn’t make his freeze and fired back at Starscream.

“Come and get it Starscream. Megatron‘s waiting for you.” With any luck he could tie the Seeker commander up long enough to even the battlefield.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub - Big Rig Charging

Contemptor sat and waited it out for a moment. He knew Ironhide had turned and spotted him. After all, he was rather hard to hide as his enormous onyx, silver and grey form stuck out like a broken digit against the golden sands. Contemptor sneered inwardly as Ironhide had cast him a concerned stare. It wasnt a stare that could have been held long because Contemptor noticed that Skywarp had begun his assult again on the Autobot veteran, and was enough of an attention divert so that Contemptor could charge.

Gunning the massive engine, the Mack Truck thundered along the sand, the front grill forming into an even more sinister array of rambars as Contemptor thundered forwards in battlemode. Sand was thrown into the air as he ploughed through the arid wastland. bits of rock were crunched into powder as the metal rambars cracked them.

Inside the cab of the truck, the front windsheilds constantly ran different scans, multiple options and strategies zipping past in nanoclicks, all the while the image of Ironhide was clocked and constantly being analized by the large decepticon.

>>"Skywarp...I will be in combat range soon...keep that son of a glitch busy a moment longer!"<<

There was a bang as sand was thrown over the front of Contemptor's cab. Blasts from Hellion's weaponry churned up the ground nearby as she had engaged with the Autobot Hardhead as the large autobot had crashed into the ground, almost blocking Contemptor's path. A fine time for a near miss as Contemptor adjusted his path slightly, almost crushing Hardhead's hand - not that it would have been a bad thing mind you!

'Fragging berzerker seekers....no thought for their own safety, let alone other decepticons...'

It wasn't long now as Ironhide, preoccupied with Skywarp, came into view. The algorythms and stratagems were hurtling through at breakneck pace as Contemptor started to transform whilst moving at his top speed. There was a sinister drone that began to fill the air around Contemptor as battle was joined.

"Dirge..." Contemptor growled quietly as the doom-seeker thundered overhead "...I must stay focused. I can't...get...rattled..." As hardy as Contemptor was, even the most stalwart of warriors were affected by the droning shock of the cone-head's mournful engines.

The feeling passed as, at full speed, Contemptor transformed fully into his robot mode, and while he towered over the Autobot Veteran, the metal chain lash unfurled in his hands as he broke into a boosted run. Timing it right, he launched the barbed and hooked head of the chain lash at Ironhide's right arm. There was a tug on the chain in his hands as it wrapped round the arm of the Autobot Veteran.

Contemptor twisted his right wrist and wrapped the chain around his forearm as he closed the distance between himself and Ironhide and while extending his left arm, he opened his free hand and gripped the back of Ironhide's head. He gripped tightly, exerting his strength on the old veteran and spun.

Using the dual momentum of his charge and transformation, Contemptor hauled the chain and torqued around, slamming Ironhide's head into the ruined building that skywarp had previously used as cover as he ground the autobot's head into the rubble and the sand.

"Come on Autobot...Lets see how greased your gears actually are!" Contemptor snarled, more gravel and menace in his voice as he pulled his energon axe from its holding, the blade ignighting into life and smacking the pommel into Ironhide's right shoulder hard.

Contemptor screamed in Ironhide's audio receptor.

"COME ON AUTOBOT!!!!"

Central Hub

Ratchet watched as Warpath regained most of his strength and maneuverability and fired on Slipstream from his cannon. A conniving grin formed on the medic’s face as he watched the shell progress toward the femme seeker.

“I’d rather ask her out for a drink, but I have no qualms with you shooting her!”

With his attention somewhat distracted, Ratchet did not notice Waspinator, and frankly the CMO misjudged the Insecticon. By the time he heard the bug’s high pitched ‘battle cry’, Ratchet was hit by two stingers and a series of ions.

Ratchet let out a strangled cry of pain as the stingers and ions hit him hard. They were unexpected and the shock of suddenly receiving swells of agony caused the medic to drop to his hands and knees.

“Son of a….! That slaggin’ bug needs to be exterminated!”

Grunting and carefully lifting his upper body so that his hands were free, the medic grabbed his static laser gun and aimed it at the flying nuisance.

“I hope you like laser fire!”

Ratchet squeezed the trigger and let loose a barrage of weapon’s fire directed at Waspinator.

OOC: Baneblade, in the future your attacks have to be attempts. You don’t get to fling around other people’s characters without their permission. I’m going to take a few liberties in my post to get things sorted out and then from then on I want all attacks to be attempts and not automatically successful hits.

IC:

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Ironhide drew his laser rifle in annoyance as Skywarp began teleporting around again. The seeker was firing off shots at him but with his teleportation and Ironhide’s own dodging, as poor as it was, meant he wasn’t able to connect very often. The fact that he only teleported in an arc in front of him instead of appearing behind him was telling. The fact that he had seen some big Con waiting in the distance was telling as well. Ironhide wasn’t any sort of intellectual type, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on here. He was willing to play along though, as he was guessing the big truck Decepticon would want to get up close and personal, especially since he was a ground type.

Dirge’s fear engines didn’t have a big affect on the veteran warrior. He’d been in a lost worse situations then this, and it wasn’t the first time he’d heard Dirge going off. It caused him to be a bit anxious, but didn’t really interfere with his functioning. He could only hope it would be the same for the other Autobots.

Finally he could hear the roar of an engine coming at him. The engine changed, turning into heavy footfalls as Contemptor transformed. He had to wonder how stupid the Cons thought he was that a hulking Decepticon could just sneak up on him like that. Still, he was willing to let it play out if it got him in range to bust up a Con good.

The chain hooking onto his arm was a bit surprising. At least this Decepticon had something interesting up his sleeve. In the next instant his head was being slammed against the nearby bit of wrecked building. The Decepticon ground his face into it. Fortunately Ironhide had never really considered himself the pretty type so face damage didn’t bother him much. The hit on his shoulder did make a dent which was annoying. The con screaming in his audio receptor was the last bit he was willing to take.

“Shut yer yap ya overgrown junkheap!”

Ironhide snapped his head back, slamming it into Cotemptor’s face. At the same time he kicked back at the Decepticon with his right leg, catching him in the right knee. He was rewarded with the sound of crumpling metal as it hit the con and forced him back. Quickly getting his footing back the old Autobot grabbed a hold of the chain still hooked on him and used it against the reeling Con. He gave the chain a might heave, pulling Contemptor into that same bit of ruined wall. Taking the chain in his hands he snapped it in half, leaving him free from the Decepticons hold. “Yer just like any Con, all talk that ya can’t back up!”

*

In her berserker state Hellion didn’t even register Dirge’s fear effects. She continued her assault on Hardhead, trying to get at his face but was stymied by his blocking arm. She switched to punching at him only to have her wrists grabbed by the large Autobot. Snarling she lashed out with her legs, kicking the Autobot in the knees.

Then Hardhead delivered the headbutt to her face. Her vision exploded with stars as she staged backwards, the Autobot having released her. Her optics were cracked and fluid was dripping from her mouth and cuts on her face. She wanted to tear the Autobot apart, but he was handling her far too easily like this. If she couldn’t pound him with fists, then she would blow him up with her guns and explosives. Whatever it took to reduce this Autobot to rubble!

Hellion opened up with her machine guns as she backed up from Hardhead. She needed a little space for what she had in mind.

Central Hub

"BLAM HA HA!" Warpath laughed as he saw Slipstream teleport away, "Don't think that relationship woulda worked out anyway, Ratchet."

Between the heat of battle and the anti-venom finishing it's work, Warpath was feeling as good as new- well, almost. There was still a lot of bits and dents in his armor, not to mention a small hole in his faceplate from where Waspinator had stung him. But at least the tank-bot was feeling fully functional now.

Just then Warpath heard the now familiar buzzing of Waspinator. To the Autobot warrior it was more distracting and annoying instead of fear-inducing, but it did it's purpose. The warrior was too occupied with the noise to avoid the Insecticon's latest attack. The stingers and ions hit Warpath just the same as the medic, but with a slightly different outcome.

Though Warpath felt the pain through his receptors, but it didn't send him down. On the contrary, the bursts of pain he felt, combined with his now functional inner-mechanics, made the warrior feel more alive and determined. Slowly standing up in defiance of the buzzing Insecticon's attacks, the warrior loaded up a sonic charge into his cannon.

"Hey Ratchet!", Warpath shouted as he transformed into his alternate mode, "WHAM, I never did say tanks, ha ha ha!"

Now in his tank mode, Warpath took careful aim at Waspinator, and fired his sonic charge.

OoC: Sorry dev...got too eager to have a scrap i guess. won't let it happen again

IC:

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Contemptor had a sadistic smile across his face as he raised his energon axe up above Ironhide's head to strike down again, and as he did so that was when he was caught unawares by Ironhide. When he brought his arm down for the second strike, Ironhide had shot his head back. There was a thunk as Contemptor felt his optic crack under the impact from Ironhide's cranial unit.

The blow stunned Contemptor and he dropped his Energon axe into the sand, static filled up his vision as he struggled to shake off the interferance from the surprise blow. That was when he lost his balance and his pain receptors shot into life as Ironhide kicked him in the knee, and there was the sound of displacing metal. Contemptor felt his knee slip under the forceful kick from the autobot and fought to keep his balance.

Clearly he had underestimated Ironhide, as the veteran had outsmarted him. Using his own attack against him, Contemptor found himself crashing through the same ruined wall that he had planted Ironhide through earlier.

All he could hear amidst the sound of falling rubble, and the ringing in his audioreceptors, was the hoary steady stream of curses and irritation coming from the autobot veteran. Giving his body time to adjust from the surprise attack, Contemptor sat up and glared directly at Ironhide.

"All talk and no back up? You pegged the wrong Decepticon old timer!"

Contemptor lifted his hand to his face and lifted the slow trickle of energon from his optic and the corner of his mouth and licked it off the back of his hand. A dark smile crossed his features as he reached downand twisted his knee joint back.

Contemptor's optics burned furiously as the pain shot through him as he twisted his knee joint back to where it should be. It would mean a stint in the CR chamber after all this, but for now there was a fight to be in. All the while Contemptor never broke his steely cold stare on Ironhide as he limped to his feet.

"You're surprisingly spry for an old timer! I'll enjoy burying you and taking a trophy at the same time!"

Bracing his feet into the sand, and ignoring the pain in his knee joint, it was then that Contemptor's plasma cannon materialised along his arm, and just as it appeared, the barrell glowed white-hot as leathal gouts of plasma spewed forwards in Ironhide's direction.

Battle can do some crazy things to someone's thought process, and Contemptor - usually the ice-cold and methodical killer - threw caution to the wind, retracted his plasma cannon, and scooped up his Energon Axe and started to run as best he could, with his damaged knee, towards Ironhide.

"I don't need any fancy tricks to fight an Autobot face to face old timer!"

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Hardhead felt his cranial unit strike Hellion’s faceplate, forcing her back but not before she was able to deliver a swift kick to his knees. The large green mech stumbled backwards and fell down to one knee as his nerve receptors registered the intense pain in his joints. Her berserker rage was obviously in high gear and that meant her strength was augmented as a result. The war veteran would have to be careful of this one regardless of her sleeker frame. He quickly examined his knees and found them to be dented with a hairline crack in the left one, but both were still functional. The large Autobot would simply have to endure the discomfort as he had done on countless occasions in many different combat situations.

Before Hardhead had a chance to regain his standing, he came under machine gun fire from Hellion, who had apparently decided that close range fighting was not in her best interests. As round after round ricocheted off his thick armor, the green warrior had little choice but to transform into his Stryker vehicle mode. Hardhead then took aim with his 120mm laser-guided cannon and fired off several incendiary shells at the retreating berserker, while at the same time turning his scanners on the surrounding area in hopes of finding his other lost shatterblaster.

*********

Skywarp was happy that at least some of his erratic shots had connected with Ironhide, but that had not been his main goal during his rapid teleportation maneuvering. It had been to distract the old Autobot while Contemptor snuck up behind him. The prankster stopped teleporting and held his fire once the Mack truck had transformed and finally made his move against the aging warrior. ‘Warp watched with a slight smile on his faceplate as the initial engagement seemed to go in Contemptor’s favor as the large mech slammed Ironhide into a nearby wall utilizing his chain. However, the Autobot security chief quickly turned the tables on his attacker, retaliating with a reverse headbutt and a powerful blow to Contemptor's knee joint after which Ironhide used the Decepticon warrior's own chain against him.

“Unbelievable,” Skywarp muttered quietly to himself as he witnessed Contemptor being flung into the same half-destroyed wall he had just thrown Ironhide through moments before. How quickly things could change when you underestimate your opponent. Apparently, it would take the two of them continuing to work together in order to bring down this tough old ‘Bot and now that Contemptor was no longer in such close proximity to their prey, the prankster could safely make his move. However, ‘Warp first opened a secured comm line to his big companion:

>>Contemptor, I’m going to attack Ironhide from behind. Do what you can to strike at him from the front.”<<

Cutting his comm link, Skywarp quickly teleported in behind Ironhide while Contemptor managed to pull himself out of the rubble and fire off a few blasts from his plasma cannon. ‘Warp then followed that up with several carefully aimed shots from his arm-mounted lasers, hoping to catch the old war horse off guard as the prankster’s larger comrade charged in with his energon axe from the front.

Priority-3 transmission from Shockwave to Starscream

>>"Starscream--this is Military Operations Commander Shockwave. You are to provide immediate tactical information regarding the nature of your engagement and your assessment of the odds of success versus failure. Additional resources will be allotted or withdrawn based upon the results of your report."<<

Skies Above

Slingshot violently juked down to the deck before pulling up in a sweeping Yo Yo inverted turn. At the halfway apex point, the Aerialbot flier peeled off back into the storm of fire that was erupting from the surface, Ramjet still on his six. "Oh sure, you just had to go after the big boogie bot, didn't you fearless leader." He spiraled tightly to avoid a burst of fire from his pursuit.

He spat a curse at Silverbolt for failing to get his tail off his aft, instead going off on his own little adventure with Starscream. Once again he was on his own, being forced to show the lowly decepticon flier a thing or two about combat duels in the air. This wasn't Cybertron, wasn't Volgo VI, this was Earth. And here, Slingshot's alt form was one of the best produced.

Drawing Ramjet in a bit further, Slingshot snapped a neck breaking Split S turn and dove back into the canyon he had initially entered before. He loaded his mortar cannons with smoke cannisters and began to dart in between eroded spires. Each evasion was closer and closer to the rock faces of the canyon and spire. This was getting rediculous but at least he wasn't overly matched.

Finally he reached the desired distance between the end of the dried canyon and the rock walls. He fired the two cannisters towards the walls and let them explode, flooding the ancient riverbed with smoke.

He flew into the thick muck before snapping a sharp YoYo climb out approximately half way through. He only hoped that Ramjet was foolish enough to get too close to him before he pulled off that maneuver. If he was, Slingshot would be able to emerge on Ramjet's tail, if not, Slingshot was going to have to do even more fancy flying.

The Aerialbot loaded more chaff into his rear defensive launchers and live ammunition into his forward facing Mortar Cannons.