The Energon Pub

Ruins of the Crystal City - The Sculptor's Forum

Clench had not wasted time standing next to the Longshot, instead he had headed out into the ruins of Crystal City to scout for a proper spot to set up an assault. There wasn't much left of the city once renowned of its beauty but the city ruins would still hide him from the sensor sweep from an approaching shuttle without having to use energy inefficient external stealth equipment.

While scanning the area carefully against potential threats, Clench's couldn't avoid thinking about how the rest of the team would perform. Weirdwolf, Mindwipe and Skullcruncher would know their roles, the old Decepticon gave them little attention in his thoughts. If Silverstrike was as good as Mindwipe believed, she'd have no trouble finding the enemy vessel fast enough to allow the assault unit to reposition if it were to be required. Shrike seemed to be serious enough to do her job right no matter the cost, Clench could only hope the rookie was also able to babysit after Triggerhappy. If the nutjob would endanger the mission... he would deal with him.

The silver con femme deactivated her sword as Mindwipe touched her shoulder. The smile the hypnotist wore caused her to quirk an eyebrow. If she had been a creature of flesh her breath would have caught in her throat from the way he had said her name. He had never spoken to her in such a tone before. But then his next string of dialect surprised her. ~Shrike? ………… Shrike? …… He barely knew her. What kind of game was the Vampiric commando playing?~

She stared after him with her recon formatted optics. As he landed near Weirdwolf a slight narrowing and darkening of her brilliant blue orbs were the only sign of how she felt. She turned away just in time to see Clench head out. As she put her sword away she made a mental note of each team member’s position then took to the air. She did not transform just yet as the speed at which her altmode moved would waste fuel requiring her to turn tight circles in the air. With a high pitched whine the argent seeker activated each of her specialized sensor Thunderwing had built within her. Lastly she turned on her long range radar. It was meant for use in space but would suffice for what she required here.

Taking to a height most seekers avoided hovering at she turned to face the more active Autobot territory. Skullcruncher, Weirdwolf, Triggerhappy, Shrike, and the others were no more than tiny blips to her. Their “friendly” Decepticon signatures were ignored by the sensitive internal workings she had activated. The mirroresque angel was waiting for something bigger, something that wouldn’t avoid her detection so easily. The moment the ship was targeted she would signal the others and transform. Her best option was to dodge the enemy fire and kite them into position. This way Clench’s team and the two air support could take action. She hissed to herself as she hovered alone.

“Damn Thunderwing, for denying my long range weaponry.”

Though it was her own attitude and open insubordination in front of Megatron that had caused her father to decide to keep her without proper long range weaponry, he was also mistrustful of her and had taken measures to leave her unable to sustain any powerful lasers should she try to install them herself. It also made it much harder for her to function with the other seekers under Starscream’s command. She was well aware of Thunderwing’s distaste of her long time acquaintance with him. Over the vorns she had learned to improvise, and in order to survive she had no choice but to become the best at what she could do.

Uraya- Away from the Long Shot

Shrike rests peacefully in her launch position watching the skies, still feeling that odd sensation of warmed audio recievers. She spots Silverstrike starting her rounds looking much like the stars that dot the sky with her mirrored exterior, and flight exhaust.

Shrike's CPU is ablaze with battle plans and running scenario after scenario finding optimal paths based on a lot of guesswork, really. She has little to no data on the LSC, and has never seen an Autobot gun ship before, but that won't stop her.

Still, she dislikes the fact that there are simply to many variables. The Autobots, their ship, and her allies. Especially Triggerhappy who seems thoroughly chaotic.
Then again the chaos of war is always present, and combat rarely goes as planned for long. That's why she loves to adapt. Adapt, evolve, survive, fight. There's that obsessive line of thinking again. It's a bit annoying at times, but it doesn't cloud her judgment, or focus.

Still, as obsessive as she might feel, what's left to do? Drop her guard, and let the Autobots gain the advantage of initiative? Oh, they'll come. Sooner or later, and she -must- be ready. Unless the Autobots are going to land the shuttle themselves, and deploy into what's likely to be a hailstorm of firepower, she has to drop their shuttle somehow. And even if they did land themselves, she'll make sure they don't get to take off with any amount of ease.

'It's quiet. I hate quiet.

Time seems to crawl for her with only the glorious battle in her combat computer keeping her company for now, and eventually it'll be all too real. Never ending battle as scenarios replay, and replay with virtually every variation she can think of taking place. The longer the Autobots wait to attack, the more prepared she is.
Plans of fast, agile combat leaving numerous Autobots laying on the ground in cut up, blown up bits left to rue the day they thought themselves elite. Her fighting style, ever evolving, ever growing cobbled together from seeing arts performed, and what her hyperactive combat computer brews up dreams up a fast paced combat that is full of quick, agile, unorthodox movements, and some that are orthodox. She almost dares to fancy herself an exotic fighter. Someone who no one can prepare for without knowing how to fight like her, and as far as she knew, no one has that know-how because no one else has her form. Maybe she would never fight the same way twice. It's an easy thing to shift gears in combat to match the foe be they big, small, tall, strong, weak, fast, slow, heavily armored, or what have you.

Still, she is new to running with the big dogs. She has no idea how well she can battle anyone until she meets them. It's why she never ever wants to underestimate anyone, ever. And she hopes she had not overestimated the elite team she is working with. She would have faith in their abilities to see them through the battle, and maybe force the Autobots to do the retreating instead of the Decepticons.
It's all she asks that they have some self reliance, though she didn't seem to have a problem helping a 'con in need as she demonstrated in the taking of Tagan. It was tactically wise to keep another gun firing after all. Hopefully anyone she helps will never have the opportunity to return the favor. She plans to never need help. Then the memory of calling for backup in her first major campaign reminded her that she's not yet the super soldier she wants so much to be, and she's reminded just how weak the Autobots can be to have been ousted so easily.

An absurd thought crosses her mind. She wonders if anyone could relate to her on a level beyond the simple emblem that's worn by her comrades. It wasn't as simple a lust for combat. It's a desire to -perfect- combat as opposed to rely on the same tactics, and fighting like a drone. To be able to battle at all ranges of combat, including melee. Glorious melee where combat becomes the art of what a person can do with their body, or at least what they've been trained to do.

Bah! Why is she thinking this? She's never cared for anyone. Well, short of Thunderwing or some reason she may never fully grasp. A commander she had never seen in person until recently. Only a brief exchange and the sound of his voice loosing her like an arrow of destruction had been their interaction. She could only chalk it up to loyalty and the fact that he allowed her her chance at glory. It doesn't matter right now though.

Then there's Silverstrike. The only other female she has ever seen. Maybe some level of kinship runs through Shrike's mind. It's not as if the femmes of this planet are going extinct, or in any small numbers, but still, they seemed rare.

She could only figure that each and every Decepticon femme is a competent being. And that would make her wonder about female Autobots? What sort of bots were they? Would they be even half as dedicated to combat as Shrike is herself? Or were they all too demilitarized in the life before the war to ever match mettle with the born war machine that is Shrike??
She would very much like to meet one and find out. Maybe if she can stop the LSC from advancing on Tagan the Autobots will be forced to send another team, and among them will be a fine example of an Autobot female. Hope they don't disappoint.

Ruins of the Crystal City

"Wicked?"

Weirdwolf absorbed Mindwipe's bizarre statements about femmes. Ahh, as expected I it is! The hypnotist and the silver air warrior that had joined them at Tyrest had been spending an inordinate amount of time together lately. The tracker knew something of their relationship - or at least enough to know that Mindwipe was a sort of mentor to her, if he understood the situation correctly. But perhaps there was more to their relationship than Weirdwolf had seen firsthand. He had suspected as much, and now it seemed Mindwipe was confirming those suspicions himself.

"Femmes...no good are they in cases most," he cautioned. "Plotting, scheming, always. A femme...the energon angers. A distraction constant!"

The tracker leaned in closer to his nefarious comrade. He was curious to know just what was going on, in case it might impact their success in the battle to come. The enemy had not yet been sighted, but it was only a matter of time.

"Brother my...to me tell it! Silverstrike friend yours...with her going on what is?"

"Ha! Clearly, you have not spent nearly enough time around femmes...my brother," Mindwipe said in response to Weirdwolf's first comment. "Or perhaps...you have spent just enough time, yes?" the shrikebat responded to the tracker's second statement.

The question that folled provoked no quip, however. Instead, the hypnotist's faceplate twisted into a scowl as he attempted to find the answer. "Nothing!" he said at last. "Or...perhaps everything. Yes. I had thought perhaps...things between myself and and my Shining One had...changed."

"Yet every time I try to...ascertain where we stand, I make no progress. We are interrupted, or the femme in question is evasive and contradictory." His frustration with the situation was evident in his strangely lilting voice. "But it is...no matter now," he added with far more certainty. "I am through chasing her. Yes. Either she will come to me...or I am mistaken, and need think of it no more."

"But come now...Brother Weirdwolf. We have a battle to prepare for! Surely we can find more...entertaining topics to occupy our waiting time than the peculiarities of femmes! Yes!" The apostate's face took on a sinister smile. "I should very much like to see Kup again...in the coming conflict. Yes. The power plants of those older models lend their energon a rich, ferrous flavor that is...surprisingly satisfying. Yes."

Ruins of the Crystal City

Mindwipe's words had not quite set Weirdwolf at ease. Mind his clouded clearly by...with that femme an obsession! Still, the tracker had never known Mindwipe to behave anything but professionally and efficiently when it came time for Clench's unit to do what they did best - destroy Autobots. Until something indicated to Weirdwolf that Mindwipe's focus had been lost, he would make no judgment regarding Silverstrike's influence upon the hypnotist. Ironic it is...the manipulator manipulated!

"Yes...at Kup a second crack quite enjoyable would be!" Weirdwolf had not had the chance to tangle with the old Autobot in the raid on Nova Cronum, but he would certainly welcome it this time around. Most Autobots couldn't come near matching Weirdwolf in brute strength or nastiness, but Kup was closer than most, to be sure. "The Autobot wolf-mech...another around-go I would like as well! Lucky he was our meeting last."

The tracker gazed out at the horizon. He was curious if the two Decepticons in the air had yet spotted the Autobot craft, and so opened a comm channel.

>>"Silverstrike, Shrike...sign any yet of Autobots the?"<<

Uraya / Nova Cronum Border


Weirdwolf’s voice came calmly across her transmitters. She turned her body to look down at the tracker and his brother opening her end to tell the wolf alt con of her void of findings…. But as she turned her frontal long range systems hit in the direction of the Autobot base Nu in Nova Cronum a movement on the horizion caused her to freeze. Carefully she focused her long range space sensors on the blip. It was at first slightly frustrating as the equipment was designed for off world use. The ship came into focus, better than she expected. The dauntless was approaching them at a good click. The shining femme then opened her channel to the whole team.

>>Yes Wolf they approach now……… Clench, Sir the LSC approaches from the east leaving Nova Cronum. The Dauntless is moving well over mach 3 ……. Preparing to kite target into position.<<

The silver seeker transformed into her unique reconnaissance fighter alt mode, the light from countless stars reflecting deep within her hull. Her engines flared with an azure glow as they heated internally preparing her for movement. She gave one last scan to see where her comrades were before engaging her thrusters. Silver was on them faster than any average flier, but she was sure to keep her speed low. It was more important to be agile now than swift. Her path brought her dead even with the ship’s canopy allowing her to open fire upon the bridge but more importantly showering their visual ports with laser fire. Her weaponry wouldn’t even scratch the glass but it would certainly gain their attention. She pulled up at the last astrosecond, allowing the occupants of the ship a good view of her reflective chassis.

Silverstrike flipped, a move that would have made Starscream jealous, as she made her pass coming up behind the ship. She skillfully maneuvered herself around to the front once more, purposefully putting herself in weapons range. Her fuel pump pounded, the situation was far from easy and she was not adequately armored, for such a hit but….. she had done this many times before. Her assertiveness came from experience, she was not here to find glory or play the hero. She did not risk another transmission for fear of its detection; such a slip could give away her intensions. For now she would play the suicidal young seeker glory hound. She thought to herself Sometimes the seeker stereotype had its advantages… thanks Screamer.

Uraya- Away from the Long Shot

She replies in direct laser communications to Wierdwolf, >>Affirmative. The Autobot ship and Silverstrike are in sight, and the Autobot craft will be met with precision violence, and hopefully brought down during Silverstrike's kiting maneuvers. She sounds confident in herself to say the least, and not in an invincible idiot rookie way, but in a cold calculated tone that made it evident she has a plan.

The laser transmission to Wierdwolf would not come from the sky where he assumed Shrike would be, but from a well covered position where Shrike remained low redy to ambush before the ambush which may allow greater advantage to her mostly ground pounding allies as th Autobots might think the worst is over when Shrike's ambush happens, and hopefully she's under the radar of the Autobot craft, and hidden from their visual. More so if no one on the ship has seen Shrike before as her alt mode is pretty unique so they may not readily recognize her even if they saw her.

While Shrike is hard to see, the Decepticon forces may be able to see her transformed into her dart like flying alt mode, pointed skywards like some grand crimson missile ready to intercept the Autobot ship.
Her form looked to be reminiscent of Ramjet in terms of function with her wrist and foot blades making up the nose cone of the dart like craft meaning ramming is an option. Only her high powered energy rifle and her shield would be visible as an armament, but with Shrike, looks are deceiving, and they would see her go to work very soon.

Shrike would watch Silver begin kiting maneuvers, and Shrike prepares to attack. She begins calculating the possible trajectories of the ship's crash via her near prodigious combat computer, and seeks to locate the engines of the craft. That is her target of targets. The heart of the beast. Without the engines it is dead!

The Long Shot

Triggerhappy sat aboard the Longshot. Just sitting like a vegetable, completely unaware of what was going on around him, still only worried about the fact he couldn't talk. That is, until he overheard the rest of the group talking about being in position, at which point Triggerhappy shot up straight, transformed and headed out of the ship. Straight towards where Shrike was waiting, transforming directly above Shrike and landing with grace and precision beside her, which was most unlike Triggerhappy.

'Wait a minute.' Triggerhappy thought. 'I didn't just do that, well I didn't want to do that anyway, must be that slaggin Mindwipe, he must of messed me up, made me... not myself.'

"I apologise for my absence. At which point of the plan are we at?" Triggerhappy asked Shrike, without a single wise crack, simply getting straight to the point.

'Well, at least I can talk again' He thought. 'Or can I? That wasn't really me speaking was it? What's wrong with me!'

Uraya- Away from the Long Shot

Shrike remained in her alt mode, but speaks plainly to Triggerhappy since he was right by her. "I await Silverstrike's kiting maneuvers to bring the Autobot ship near. Then we shall ambush the craft with speed and violence, and focus on the engines to try and bring it down so the ground forces can help finish the job. I shall assault the belly of the craft using their radar silhouette as cover, I ask that you assault the spine of the craft as you see fit. This will make the odds of us shooting each other next to nil, and it shall divide their attention." In essence a classic pincer attack. "Further as with many flying craft, they tend to lack the means of shooting anything that isn't directly in front of them without missiles which can be dodged, or destroyed. Until then, I highly recommend you stay still, hidden, and quiet so we are not spotted visually, and remain low so their radar has a lower chance of detecting us." She spoke bluntly, and like she knew what she was doing. Hopefully, she did.

Ruins of the Crystal City - The Sculptor's Forum

Waiting was always difficult. It didn't separate rank and file from commanding officers and out of the whole Decepticon commando unit that had been sent out to ambush the Dauntless, Clench's wait was certainly the longest. To stay focused and calm while the others would engage the enemy and live through the thrill of the battle... it was almost intolerable. He yearned to be there, in the frontlines - cleaving through the ranks of the opposition, crushing them under his feet. Waiting was not his game but during his considerably long lifespan he had learned the rules of the game. He would keep his bloodlust to himself until it was time to unleash its whole devastating might upon his enemies.

With Silverstrike finally reporting a contact with the Lightning Strike Coalition, Clench could only smile within.

>>"Proceed."<<

Today he had to wait to be able to hit hard and fast from the shadows. But it would hardly be the whole battle ahead.

Shuttle Dauntless

Swoop had to admit, the shiny Decepticon sure was fast. 'Course, it looked like its wings were made outa foil. And either it couldn;t shoot for slag, or it was pathetically underarmed. Maybe both.

"Me Swoop got a Seeker on the scope, Boss-Bot. We're taking fire!" He took a quick look at his displays before continuing. "No damage. Hull's just soaking it up. Me got nothing else on the screen. Looks like it's a loner." He peered at the HUD again, taking a closer look at the data. "This 'Con looks like a recon model. Long range design. No telling if it's a scout from Polyhex or Tagan." The pterodactyl looked over his shoulder for a nano-klick.

"The Seeker's petro-rabbiting. What we gonna do about it, Grimlock? We goin' after it?"

Shuttle Dauntless

The flight to Uraya had been uneventful. Grimlock hadn’t expected to be anything else, but he could always hope for some action. He spent the time going over the latest intelligence reports he downloaded from Nova Cronum. The front had pretty much moved away from Uraya. It meant they would have to travel to see some action but it meant their headquarters should be relatively safe from attack. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but he could make it work.

The Dinobot commander looked up at the screen as Swoop spoke up. He didn’t recognize the seeker himself, but that didn’t mean much considering his long absence from the planet. Swoops assessment of it did seem accurate though as it was fast and its weapons weren’t that spectacular. It was a bit odd that a lone seeker like this would attack them. It could be a trap or it could just be some bored lone seeker. Either way it was action. It was time to show the Decepticons that he was back.

“Follow it Swoop.” He then spoke to the rest of the crew. “Battle alert, we taking this one down. Lock guns on target and open fire.”

Uraya- Away from the Long Shot

Shrike makes her move as the Autobots begin pursuit of Silver. Her thrusters come to life and she flies on an intercept course for the Dauntless only a meter from the ground or so, trying to stay below radar.
When she nears the point of interception she makes a sharp climb heading directly for the bottom of the ship hoping to stay in the shadow of the Autobot's own radar signature and remain hidden with that cover.

Shrike switches from her cruise mode to her assault mode during her sharp climb at at a precise angle aimed for the belly of the beast. The process of changing modes is a simple one. The nose of the cruise mode simply splits into 4 blade tipped limbs capable of grasping targets like a large hand. This change also reveals the 580mm beam cannon that is at the center of the 4 limbs like the beak of a squid at the center of it's tentacles. Shrike does not fire the beam cannon yet, though! With limited ammo, she must be certain of every shot with an obstacle like the armor of the Dauntless.

Like a disembodied talon of a giant bird of prey she seeks to sink the super heated armor cleaving blades of the 4 limbs into the lower hull of the ship behind the front of the wings, and hopefully behind any guns the Autobot ship and anchor herself there so she can do maximum damage at close range.

With luck, her attempt to latch onto the Dauntless will be a success, and the Autobots would never know what hit them until it was too late!

Shuttle Dauntless

"Acknowledged!" Swoop shouted to Grimlock. The pilot maneuvered the shuttle to pursue the fleeing Seeker. Accelerating, the Dauntless struggled to close the distance between it and its smaller, more agile prey.

"That's one fast 'Con," the bombardier commented. His voice was a mix of frustrated determination and begrudging respect. "But it already proved we got one things it doesn't...guns! Weapons are hot. Optimum range in twenty nano-klicks."

Shuttle Dauntless

Slag already was unfond of Swoop's piloting style after the flight from Iacon through acidstorms, and the rushed takeoff from Nova Cronum. The thought of actual combat manuvering at the hands of the smallest Dynobot wasn't something he was looking forward to. Better stop this quick before Swoop gets ideas about showing off.

"Come on, Swoop, it only one seeker! Can't be that hard!!" Slag hunted across the bridge dashboard, looking for weapons and testing buttons he couldn't figure out the functions of. After turning on and off the IR sensors 3 times and accidentally launching flares out the aft of the shuttle towards Shrike, he managed to find a turret-mounted autogun.

Pretty weedy, Swoops keeping all the good guns for himself, the glitch. Still, Slag grabbed the stick and began firing wild bursts at Silverstrike, using the stream of tracers to aim rather than the obvious targeting reticule beside the controls. Hardly an effective use of weaponry, but Slag counted the noise and recoil of the gun as signs of effectiveness as much as any hits scored.

OOC: Niether of those are truly serious attacks.

Uraya - Skies

Triggerhappy transformed and followed after Shrike in his aerial mode. Watching as the Dauntless opened fire at Silverstrike.
Watching the Dauntless's weapon as if Triggerhappy's own life depended on it, Triggerhappy took aim at it and opened fire. Scoring a couple of hits that chances are did no damage at all. Each time Triggerhappy took the data he received back from the attack, and carefully analysed it. Taking particular care to fire at different parts of the autogun, testing for where a weak spot could be found. Assuming it could be found...

Uraya - The Dauntless

"Ha! You Slag no have good aim. Me hit Decepticon more times if me were throwing rocks!" Sludge said to Slag, part joking, part trying to anger him. Although this seemed like the typical behaviour shown by the Dinoboots. There was actually some thought behind his quip. By angering Slag, Sludge hoped to improve the Dinobots aim, knowing how much Slag hated being mocked. Of course, Slag may just turn around and hit Sludge...
"Me Sludge show you how it done." And with that, Sludge got his own weapon out, holding it in one hand, and made a fist with the other. Turning towards the side of the Dauntless,Sludge raised his fist and was about to hit the ship when Ironhide cried out.

"Woah! Sludge, what are you doing!" Ironhide bellowed.

"Me Sludge make hole in ship for more to shoot out of. How else we hit Decepticon?"

Ironhide turned to a vacant autogun and pointed at it.
"With these." He replied. Watching as Sludge reluctantly headed over to the autogun and started firing at the Decepticon. Adopting pretty much the same method as Slag as he did so.

"That's more like it." Ironhide said, as he too headed over to an autogun and as he took aim, looked over to Kup. "Just like old times, right Kup?" Ironhide said smiling.

Shuttle Dauntless

Ah, finally some action, Snarl thought to himself as he headed over to an autogun. He grabbed the controls and took careful aim at the seeker. Unlike his Dinobot comrades Slag and Sludge, Snarl intended to make his shots count. Snarl opened fire on the shiny 'con with a barrage of laser blasts that seemed to annoy Silverstrike if nothing else. Some of his shots seemed to bounce off the seeker, causing little to no damage that Snarl could ascertain. Most of his shots missed Silver, but not because Snarl was a bad shot, but because the seeker was just too quick and agile.

"Me, Snarl, having tough time hitting seeker. It too fast." But Snarl refused to give up. The Dinobot continued firing as fast as he could, round after round. This is what he lived for. This is what he enjoyed doing more than anything. The heat of battle was his best friend, and Snarl would not give up until the seeker was a pile of melted scrap. "Die, Decepticon! DIE!!!"

Ruins of the Crystal City

As Silverstrike and Shrike began their attacks runs against the Lightning Strike Coalition's shuttle, Weirdwolf knew it was going to be only a short time before the Autobots were on the ground, one way or another. He made ready to receive them. A welcome warm receive shall they!

"Mindwipe brother my," he snarled cheerily, "hunting good may the Ultimate Warrior to you grant. Go I to encircle enemies ours."

With that, the tracker transformed into wolf-beast mode and loped off to find his ambush point within the Ruins.



Shuttle Dauntless

"Easy on the ammo, kid," Kup told Snarl as the Dynobot pumped round after round into the air above Uraya. "There might be more than two of 'em."

He glanced at a nearby scanner as the Lightning Strike Coalition's shuttle moved deeper into Uraya. There's gotta be more than two. The 'Cons aren't gonna waste their time and resources throwing two measly Seekers at an assault shuttle.

The fact that the scanners had not yet detected the others worried the old warhorse. I've got a bad feeling about this...



Tagan-Uraya Border

Rumbling along on six Cybertronium-belted tires, Roadblock's Pretender shell made excellent time as it roared into Uraya toward the location of Clench's team. Its powerful scanners watched as an Autobot assault shuttle - no doubt the shuttle carrying Grimlock and his Lightning Strike Coalition - was dogged by the two flyers that had been assigned to the Decepticon ambush team.

Can't wait ta try this mess 'gainst some real warriors...

The skies of Uraya

She watched the flares fly from the rear of the craft. Flares? Why? They look like anti-heat Seekers instead of signal flares. I shouldn't be giving them a missile lock warning as I'm not locked on. If they're such a super team of Autobots, it's certainly not an S.O.S. But I can't let them throw off my mission what ever their meaning. An articulation of a thruster and her shield side is presented to the flares, deflecting them away from her via her mild barrel roll as she closes in on the ship from below.

Her assault mode limbs spread as if to give the Dauntless a bite, then she sinks their super heated blades into the armor like a set of great fangs. Or perhaps like the talons of a bird of prey seeking to secure the victim for death.

She latches on keeping her shield facing the nose of the ship. They might be on to her, and unable to do anything about it for the time being besides lob flares at her. If they somehow manage to shoot at her, her shield will let her weather some of the assault, and hopefully buy her needed time to initiate phase two of her plan.

With three limbs securing her to the ship, the 4th begins cutting a 3ft-ish round hole in the hull under the engine area like a surgeon. It's not large enough for her to fit through, but she doesn't want to enter the ship, and even if she tried the engines are blocking the way. No she wants to shoot through the armor after capping the hole with her 580mm beam cannon.

As far as she's concerned, there's nothing the Autobots can do to stop her now short of landing, climbing out, and shooting at her even if she is detected some how (Though she may be wrong.). A detection likely from sound, by a damage report, or those IR Sensors might give her away if the heat of the engines don't help provide cover.
Even if they do land, she'll likely provide excellent decoy maneuvers as she plans to keep firing on their engines making sure they're disabled.

It's rare she gets to flex her versatility, and use a more stealth based plan. She savors this opportunity to show the Decepticons her meddle.

Hopefully her fellow femme could hold out against the assault of the ship until she completes her mission. There isn't much she can do to help Silver out without jeopardizing her own mission.

Ahead of Shuttle Dauntless

The Silver femme held her speed, allowing the dauntless to edge closer putting her in weapons range. Now was her time to “shine” so to speak.

~Let’s see what this pilot’s made of.~

Silver knew of very few pilots that could handle a ship well enough to keep up with her, one of those pilots had graduated with her from space flight academy. She highly doubted this autobot scraplet was anywhere near as good as Divebomb, but she would let him think he was.

Suddenly the Dauntless opened fire, the silver femme banked to avoid the ill-aimed blasts. She twirled like a dancer, her jet form flashing under the laser light. Her armor was no better than that of the average con and she would not be able to withstand a direct hit, but she needed to make the chase worthwhile. As she spun she purposely allowed one of the rounds to graze her. Causing her unique coating to smoke excessively, using this show of “smoke and mirrors” the argent femme began to feign injury. The grace of her flight exploded into an erratic and frantic pattern as she purposely let her distress signal blare allowing the dauntless to pick up its transmission. She had confidence her own team would figure out her signal was a decoy and not attempt to help her. Silverstrike slowed further and a ripple went through her coating as her hull changed to its flux state. Silently she prepared to use her custom crated engines.

The skies of Uraya

Realising his attack on the auto turret wasn't working, Triggerhappy reobserved his surroundings. Silverstrike was doing her job, as was Shrike, Triggerhappy however, was proving less effective in his attempts to down the ship. Triggerhappy flew over to where Shrike was and transformed into robot mode, making sure he kept his jets working at sufficient power to keep him on the ship, but not too much to overload them.

"Need any assistance?" Triggerhappy asked Shrike, every part of his body willing himself to throw in some snide remark about... well anything. But he couldn't.

The Dauntless

Ironhide watched, perplexed as the Decepticon who had been firing at the auto turrets broke off his attack. And flew away from the turret.

"Strange..." Ironhide said out loud as he swivelled the auto gun around to follow where the Decepticon had flown off to, and almost immediately wished that he hadn't. "Ah frag!" He cried out loud in frustration. "Guys, we've got a problem... or two rather. That femme we've been shooting at, she's the least of our worries, there's two more of them trying to take our engines out!"

Shuttle Dauntless - Bridge

"Slag got it! Slag got it!" Slag shouted as the Silver Seeker began to smoke. True, you would think that hitting it with solid shot wouldn't give an effect so like a laser burn, but Slag never really learned to appreciate the ins and outs of ballistics. The important thing was that he'd fired the most shots, so it was only logical that he'd made the hit.
With the ammo indicator turning from green to yellow, Slag kept up the volley of slugs, wishing the Seeker wasn't acting so erratically. Then Ironhide began shouting back into the Bridge. "What that you say Red? Me Slag no hear you over sound of Me Slag winning war."

The skies of Uraya- Latched to the belly of the Dauntless at the aft section below the engines

What a happy little surprise! Shut down sarcasm processor. TriggerHappy needs lessons in being a flyer! Annoyance peaked, her combat computer starts compiling various small scale scenarios, then she speaks.
"Idiot! You're blowing my cover!" She growls out vocally even in her alt mode. "Didn't you notice the Autobots -not- shooting at me while I damage their ship?" She feels like she's pointing out the obvious.
What kind of flyer doesn't know the basics of dogfighting? You get behind the enemy, you shoot them from behind. You tend to win that way.
After what felt like forever for Shrike, she speaks again an astrosecond later. "Make sure none of the Autobots, or turrets shoot at me while I destroy their engines! I don't care if you have to tear the turrets from the ship with your bare hands!"

I knew this one would be trouble. Almost makes me wish I were ambitious and sought promotions so I can speak out my plans. Augh, what am I talking about? I told him to hit the Autobot Gunship from above! Not to check up on me and see if I need help and blow my cover! Did I not tell him I would be using stealth?! We had a plan... If it isn't for the fact that she is busy she would have rolled her optics.

She finishes peeling away a chunk of armor from the Dauntless, then Shrike repositions herself on the hull until her beam cannon is covering the hole in the gunship's armor.

From Pit's heart, I stab at thee!!! she muses to herself as she vents some anger. It's all too late for you, Autobots! The Beam cannon starts a brief charge, whirring with increasing pitch. Energy seems to be sucked from the air as a crown of energy spines form around the emitter.

Even though 580mm Beam cannon is relatively small, being less than 3 ft in diameter, and no longer than her abdomen, it's packs a wallop! An 8 second duration beam some 10 feet wide with a range of 2 miles is produced by her armor destroying weapon every time it fires.
Still, it has a downside. Shrike only has 4 rounds of fire with this weapon, so you can bet your butt-plate she'll make good use of them!

Speaking of her making good use of them..

BaaaWWWWWUUUNNNNNNN!!!!!! The sound of the beam being unleashed overwhelms nearby audio receptors as she fires point blank into the mechanics of the engine using the full force of her 'bot obliterating artillery cannon!

She angles her shot after blasting the sag out of the engine directly in front of her using the 4 other seconds to try and slice into the rest of the engine machinery maximizing damage done to the entire section.

The beam cannon's 8 second roar is music to Shrike's audio receptors as the blast funnels into the Dauntless through the hole in the armor like a giant plasma drill, punishing the engines with huge amounts of ferocity!
There's little doubt that the beam cannon's blast can be felt across the ship, and the damage done can be seen on the top of the Autobot ship, if the beam doesn't erupt through the top of the Autobot craft altogether.

That same sound of her beam cannon as it fires is likely in the key of -death- to the Autobots, especially when the source is so close to their ship followed by the damage from the blast.

I love my job. she thinks to herself as she eagerly awaits the end result of her assault since despite her potent weapon, she doesn't know how much damage it'll do, but her mission was a success in getting to this point.
Shrike can only hope at least one engine was disabled due to the unprotected, point blank shot through the hole she cut through the armor. Maybe one shot would be all she needs to destroy their engines, but if not, she can always adjust her angle, and fire again!
I'll destroy them all!

As she waits, she watches 1 of the 4 bars on her HUD empties denoting 1 of her 4 beam cannon's rounds expended, and she waits for the next round to ready, and the emitter to cool, or to release herself from the Dauntless should it start going down so she isn't crushed as it smashes into Cybertron like a brick.

All the while her combat computer gathers data on everything that happens to use for future battles.


In the back of her mind, she hopes to prove Clench wrong about her. It was a slap at her pride as a professional when he said she lacked the firepower to down the Autobot ship. That basically meant she couldn't do it as far as most of the less tactical Decepticons went. That she is a gnat in front of the ship's advantages unable to think towards the weaknesses of the large ship. Maybe this would show she is not a 'con to be underestimated?
She might not have the firepower to down the massive craft in a slug fest of a dog fight, but she doesn't usually slug things out. She likes striking with precision, and maximizing her destruction as opposed to pummeling a target into submission like a brute, and here she is doing something unexpected, and crazy.

Speed, and Violence of action! Wreak chaos among the enemy! That's her methodology. She yearns to feel the thrill of seeing wide eyed bots praying to what ever god they held dear for a deux ex machina as they realize they had underestimated her and stared deactivation in her face because of it. That thrill is even better than killing.

She can imagine the chaos now.
Klaxons are likely sounding around the Autobots, red lights a plenty reading large scale damage to the aft of the ship, and less professional 'bots are in a panic, with oil, and coolant dribbling down their legs.

Oh yes, if she dented their morale with the sudden assault, all the better! They will fight with the fear that a phantom menace could strike at them again! Ah, what she won't give to see the looks on their faces as they realize that the Decepticons have someone intelligent on their side.

Unlike in peace time when her mind is seemingly ever consumed with acquiring more power, now her thoughts are in another gear, and her desires are altered as glory, and the success of her mission now lie ahead. A harvest of pleasure awaits reaping as battle lies ahead.

Hopefully her fellow femme can hold out against the assault of the ship until she completes her mission. There isn't much she can do to help Silver out without jeopardizing her own mission.
Even more hopes are in Shrike's mind. Chiefly that the Autobot ship will crash in a good position, the Autobots will loose morale allowing them to be crushed with more ease, and that Tagan Heights is a bit safer now.
Oh yeah, and that She'll gain some respect, and maybe some upgrades.

Shuttle Dauntless – Bridge

There was only one problem with being in command of a space vessel. You couldn’t exactly fire the guns from the captain’s chair. He was used to leading from the front, to smashing craniums with his troops. Sitting in a chair giving orders was something he just didn’t have the patience to do for long, not matter how comfortable and throne like the chair may be.

Grimlock stood up from his chair. “Keep trying to shoot down fliers. They trying to bring us down, but they not have firepower for it out right. They sniping and picking at us, too maneuverable for ship guns and too in close to target. Me going to take care of that.” The Dinobot commander walked off the bridge to the hatch on the side of the ship. He popped it open and carefully leaned out, one hand gripping the side of the hatch to keep him from falling out. He spotted Shrike smashing away at the ship with her guns.

Grimlock would have smiled if he could. This is just what he had been looking for. He produced his double barreled rifle and took aim at the Decepticon flier. With a steady hand despite the rapid movement of the ship, he opened fire with a barrage of plasma bolts at Shrike.