The Energon Pub

Autobase Tau - Brig

It looked at Mirage carefully despite being excited it would not give any information away by accident, it’s programming forbid it to reveal certain details unless there was a guaranteed outcome of success of his mission or the death of the listener, but still he wasn’t forbidden to talk about itself.

‘I am Stormfire’s guardian angel’ he said to Mirage, ‘I am his ultimate defence; I draw on a vast store of knowledge to protect him from all threats both Autobots and Decepticons. I had no emotions and I feel no pain unless I refuse to accomplish my goals, which defend Stormfire until this body runs out of power.’

‘I was never meant to be sentient but the knowledge I posses came with certain…traits that let me evolve a conscious mind, but also drove me to insanity, I can no longer tell friend from foe, my mind is to full of conflicting ideas, thus my mission has shifted to kill everyone around Stormfire to save him and them. the sonic blast did not damage Stormfire, but it dislodged a piece of me, I was no longer a pure force in his head, I was able to communicate and understand. That is as much as I can tell you with out you promising me something I’m afraid.’

‘It looked at Mirage wondering if he knew how closely he danced with oblivion.

[Autobase Tau - Medbay]

Strafe rolled his optics as Afterburner walked into the CR unit "Yeah, yeah I know; I know" he replied with a wave of his own. Technically he knew he should get some CR time too but seeing as how there didn't seem to be any left he decided a short wander couldn't do him too much harm...then again.

Strafe's paranoia caused him to pause; there could of course be any number of threats out there and he still wasn't too sure what happened to Stormfire yet...what if there were more cases like him out and about. Deciding it was best to wait for a little while Strafe fidgeted a little before waiting for a CR unit to become free.

Autobase Tau - Outside

"Hmm," Ultra Magnus muttered after receiving Freeway's message. It really was all he could do. The Throttlebot was right. Even though Freeway's way of saying it was on the insubordinate side, Ultra Magnus really had no other option if he didn't want to jeopardize what little chance they had left of catching Skyjack.

He's gone.

The thought rang through his head. He didn't want to admit it, but his gut told him there was no chance they could catch him. Maybe that's why he had slipped - some subconscious slip that made him break radio silence. Or maybe he was just losing his nerves.

So many things to repair. Runaway Decepticons. Mysteries unsolved. In a time where Tau needs a firm foundation, a leader can't slip and let everything crumble. Am I really meant to lead?

He shook his head. It had been his only movement the whole time he stood before the base's entrance. He put his doubt aside. Prime had left him in charge - that was enough.

But there was something else.

"Something doesn't feel right," he finally broke aloud. It was almost something instinctive. But he shook his head again. He walked through the entrance and made his way to the command center.

Autobase Tau - Command Center

Finally, when the doors closed behind him, Ultra Magnus sat down at his seat. He looked around at the monitors, half-hoping he had just missed something obvious explaining the Decepticon infiltrators' locations.

"Slag," he let out, a slip in his normally consistent manner.

He caught himself, though. He began looking at the damage reports again. In the midst of the hunt, he had forgotten, or rather been distracted from, all the work that had to be done.

This really is a mess.

Turning his chair away from the screens, he opened up a com-link.

>> Hot Rod, where are you? >>

Autobase Tau – Med Bay

With a broad smile and a nod in Arcee’s and Remington’s direction, Hot Rod was just about to comment to the two femmes when he received an unwanted, at least at this time, communiqué from Ultra Magnus.

With a slight sigh Hot Rod contacted his commander.

>>Oh, hey Magnus. I’m in the med bay with Arcee and Remington. What can I do ya for?<<

Autobase Tau - Brig

"To be perfectly honest..."

Mirage turned his back away from Stormfire, but kept one optic covertly attuned to the security cam-feed playing on the control panel near the main Brig door. If Stormfire moved, he would see it - not to mention sense it. A melee warrior like Mirage was hardly unaware of what happened behind his back.

"I'm not impressed. You managed to what, injure a couple of Technobots? Hardly a sterling example of mass destruction. Besides, what could I promise a being who isn't even quite sentient? If your mission is to protect Stormfire, you've not done a very good job. All you've done is landed him in a cell in an Autobot jail."

You did not respond particularly well to well-intentioned curiosity, so let us see how you enjoy being belittled, 'it.' Mirage waited to see what would happen next.

Tagan Heights ~ Heading South

"Yeah, I thought it was a bit of a long shot..." Roadbuster replied to Freeway "..But at this point I'll take anything I can get.." The Wrecker paused as he changed his attention to the tirade that Freeway sent to Ultra Magnus just before "... Look, I understand your frustration about the issue of radio silence, but go easy on Magnus, he's just been dropped into the middle of this whole mess that I'm mostly responsible for, so if you want to shout at anyone, shout at me, I'm better at ignoring stuff like that" Roadbuster joked, as he recieved a coded message from Trailbreaker, hinting at another sighting of Skyjack.

Sending an immediate return message, Roadbuster thanked the defensive straegist, and asked him to fill Ultra Magnus in on what was going on, before filling in the Throttlebots on the latest development "Ok you 3, Trailbreaker just forwarded on another possible sighting of Skyjack, it's not 100% accurate, but it's the best lead we've had for a while. Chase, start heading west, towards Uraya, I don't know what this 'Con is up to, but that's where the report said he was heading, so that's where we're going" Roadbuster finished, hoping that the latest report was a good one.

------------------------------------
Autobase Tau ~ Command Center

Receiving the return coded message from Roadbuster, Trailbreaker immediately headed towards where Ultra Magnus was sitting, looking slightly less composed than he usually was. "Magnus Sir, Roadbuster has asked me to pass on his apologies for Freeway's outburst and requested I fill you in on the situation. Currently, Roadbuster and the Throttlebots are heading in the direction of the most recent report suggesting a sighting of Skyjack, which happens to be somewhere in the west of the Tagan area. If anything happens, Roadbuster will radio in immediately..."

Pausing briefly as he leaned over and brought up the status of the base, Trailbreaker shifted his report to the repairs of the base "..The backup power is holding, and reports from the main power generators are saying that the area has been cleared up from the damage caused by the explosive charges set off by Skyjack, and the engineer crews are now setting to work repairing what they can, but for the time being, we'll have to remain on backup power.."

Looking directly at the City Commander, Trailbreaker smiled as he tried to lift the mood slightly "..It's not an ideal situation admittedly Magnus, but it's been worse in the past, don't let it get to you. Anything else I can help you with, or will that be all?"

Autobase Tau ~ Command Center

Magnus responded to Hot Rod.

>> I need you to report to the command center right away. >>

The city commander took in Trailbreaker's report. He sat still. The only signal he gave that he was still paying attention was a nod at the end. He looked up, loosening his fists and sitting back in his chair.

"Heh, mistakes warrant correction," chuckled Ultra Magnus, trying to lighten the mood a bit, too. Normally, he would have reprimanded Freeway, but right now he had to deal with more important matters.

"Thank you for the update, Trailbreaker," he said. "And thank you for the advice. But I'm a little more concerned with something else regarding the base."

Pressing some buttons on the right armrest of the chair, Ultra Magnus brought up a few screens and holo-images so that he and Trailbreaker could see. Some screens showed damage reports, while others showed exterior sites of the base.

"As you can see, we have a problem," said Ultra Magnus, with slightly comedic intentions. "Our defenses are pretty much shot. And on backup generators there is no way to power close to what we need, even if we shut down three-quarters of the systems. How long until we have full power?"

He paused, knowing the answer wasn't going to be good. But he had to do something.

"I need you to redirect the power from all of the resting quarters to the outermost defense systems bordering the base," Magnus said. "It's all we can spare, but that's better than nothing. Inform the Autobots in their quarters of the change beforehand. Is there anything else to report?"

Tagan Heights - Somewhere south-west of Autobase Tau

Skyjack paused for a moment, his frame pressed back into the shadow of some tower, where his dark coloration would help hide him from sight. He had been heading in a semi-westerly direction for a while now. If someone hadn't already spotted him going this way, then they likely never would.

He couldn't say for sure, but he also had the feeling that he was being watched. In his line of work though, a healthy sense of paranoia was a good thing. If he really was being watched, he couldn't tell from where, or by whom, so there was little he could do about it right now. Still, he would have to keep his optic peeled for any signs that someone really was following him.

Skyjack set off again. He couldn't sit still for too long, not while he was still in enemy territory. Now, he angled his course away from Uraya, heading south toward the Rust Sea. He just needed to make it to the shoreline, then he would be home free and could fly back to Koan.

Autobase Tau - Brig

‘It smiled inwardly, it was no stranger to what Mirage was trying to accomplish, however this was the first chance he’d ever had to answer back.

‘From the way I see it Mirage I’ve filled my mission with spectacular results, you see I don’t think that having Stormfire battle almost one on one with far superior Decepticon prototypes was a very good way to protect him. Their sudden retreat was even more disturbing, although Stormfire did manage to crack the armoured plating of one and hit another with several missiles, there was no way that any of them needed to retire, they’d managed to put close to twice, maybe even three times as many Autobots as themselves into states or near stasis lock. So I came up with a plan. I attacked two of the Technobots to bring everyone to me then had Stormfire miraculously regain control allowing you to escort him to debriefing, and I knew from here it was only a matter of time till I had him safe and sound in this nice cosy safe brig.’

It faced the camera that would be feeding his image to the monitor Mirage was watching

‘So tell me; how have I failed in my programming? I even spared the lives of those bots, mainly because Stormfire was also awake and recognised them as allies, still, part of my programming was to trust no-one.’

It thought that Mirage was becoming complacent, thinking he was safe behind these bars, that he held all the cards, it decided it needed to remind Mirage that it was very good at it’s job.

‘Besides if the brig becomes dangerous I can always do this.’

With one swift movement he activated his one of his lightning guns, his fist coursing with blue bolts of lightning, and placed his hand on the bars, letting the energy surge through the system, overloading the circuit causing it to shut down. It was not finished with just that, in a nanosecond his energy had overloaded the alarm system of the brig meaning no sound or signal would move through the base of his escape. He stepped out of the cell and activated his second lightning gun, using positive lightning energy to create bright white bolts in this hand, he then began to switch the lightning flow from his hands alternating between positive and negative lightning, which he knew would play havoc with Mirage’s tracking and audio sensors, just as it had done with all those before him. Stormfire’s past had given him ample tricks and weapons to use. Briefly he wondered if Mirage had specialist-tracking equipment, if so the effect would be more pronounced. He stood perfectly still showing he would not attack, besides Stormfire was trying to interfere to protect Mirage, an annoyance that did little to alter the situation.

‘Point made?’

Heading West, Taigen Heights

The Throttlebots turned west towards Uraya, "Don't worry I'll make fun of you when the time comes," Freeway said to Roadbuster, "Magnus is an experienced soldier and he is in command he should know far better than to continuously look over the shoulder of his subordinates especially when it can give away their position,"

Chase was about a mile ahead of his team mates now burning his way towards Uraya when he noticed something off to the South-West heading in a southerly direction, "I've spotted someone heading south a few miles ahead, I'm going to investigate," he was uncertain what Skyjack looked like but he reckoned he would find out soon enough. He changed direction in pursuit.

Autobase Tau ~ Command Center

If Trailbreaker could, he would have been grinning widely, however, he had to settle for a quiet chuckle as Ultra Magnus still tried to make light of the situation they were currently in, how the pair of them were managing to keep their spirits up was quite an achievement in it's own right, but there was much still to do. Watching on and listening as Magnus layed out his concerns, the Defensive Strategist wasted little time in executing the order to redirect power from one area of the base to where it was needed.

Moving back over to a nearby console, he first opened up a general commlink to the entire base.

>>To all Autobots currently within Autobase Tau, due to the current power restrictions, all general and private personnel quarters will be without power until further notice. Apologies for any inconveniences caused, but look at it this way, everyone is in the same position, that is all<<

Closing the commlink, Trailbreaker brought up the controls that dictated where the bases power went to, and tapped a few keys, watching as the level showing the power to the living quarters diminished, and those indicating which defenses were online slowly rose. Turning back to Ultra Magnus, Trailbreaker tried to put an estimate on the time it would take until full power was restored to the base.

"Well, we've got engineer teams working double shifts down there, some of them haven't had a recharge for ages, Inferno is also down there overseeing things and helping out as he always does. Rough estimates are at least a couple of vorns (OOC - Or whatever the Transformers eqivalent of hours is IC) before a substantial amount of the power generators are repaired, but I get the feeling that's a bit optimistic to be honest, not that I'll be saying that to anyone else.."

Trailbreaker paused as he looked at the City Commander out of the corner of his optic "..Should I tell you about the status of the Energon Refineries now, or should we save that for when we need a laugh?"

-----------------------------------------
Autobase Tau ~ Personnel Quarters

Just returning after a quick stint in CR, Jedishen entered his quarters and headed straight to retrieve his weapons. Opening the locker which stored his weapons, the Scout took the time to empty each weapon of any remaining ammo clips or power packs, leaving them next to Stormfire's weapons, before closing the locker and locking it up. Just as he was about to take a seat and begin work on fixing up the damage to his weapons recieved from the attack, the message informing everyone of the imminent shift in power in the base made it's way to Jedishen.

"Fantastic" He muttered to himself as the power was cut, leaving him in a darkened room. Collecting everything up, he made his way out of his quarters, trying to figure out somewhere quiet he could go to fix up his weapons "Medbay? No, too much going on. Storage? Maybe quiet, but power has probably already gone from there as well.." Jedishen thought to himself as he wandered along one of the emergency lighting lit corridors of the base, when it hit him that the Brig would still have power and was most likely devoid of anyone else.

Quickening up his pace to a jog, noting that his knee was still a bit sore, Jedishen headed off towards his home away from home.

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Tagan Heights ~ In Pursuit of Skyjack

Roadbuster had to agree with Freeway, Magnus should have known better, but the Wrecker was more than willing to allow the City Commander some leeway for his mistake, after all, who was he to judge others by their mistakes in view of his recent time in command. The Wrecker was just about to reply to Freeway's promise, when he recieved Chase's radio message that gave a jolt to his systems.

Could it really be Skyjack? Roadbuster hoped to Primus it was "Ok Chase, wait for.. Hey! I said, ah slaggit.." Roadbuster cursed as the eager Throttlebot charged off in the direction he'd picked up the suspicious figure moving in "..Alright, Freeway, Searchlight, you two head off after him, I'll catch up when I can. If it is Skyjack, don't directly engage him until I get there, now get going"

Outer Perimeter

Flying low and fast like the sleek, deadly hunters they were, scores of Sweep drones lashed across the shore of the Rust Sea and kept on going, a cloud of gray and blue locusts swarming over the silicon dunes toward the industrial heartland of Cybertron. As they shot beneath long-range radar, they selected their targets quickly and efficiently, neutralizing shore batteries and anti-air missile launchers with heat lasers and incendiary devices. Ripping across the city-state's borders, they soon came to Autobase Tau's Outer Perimeter, where its defenses became heavier and more of an obstacle to them.

Regardless, the lightning strike continued. Heat lasers flashed and incendiaries set the air ablaze as the Sweeps tore through the skies. Again, their targets were the weapons emplacements and other vital components of Tau's defensive measures.

In the midst of the Sweeps, a mysterious figure clad in black and purple armor hovered over the field, seemingly uncaring about the return fire exploding around him. All the more frightening for his disgustingly organic appearance, the figure struck out at the Autobot defenses with twin plasma blasters and a twin rust-bomb launcher, cutting a path through the Perimeter toward the base. All around him, Sweeps worked to widen the path for the Decepticon assault that was sure to follow.


Autobase Tau - Brig

"An impressive enough display," Mirage nodded, his arms still crossed and his back still to Stormfire. "Quite clever, using those electricity-based weapons to overload the energy bars. And I must say, the pyrotechnics were dazzling."

Slowly, Mirage turned around. "Yet, after all this, I'm not quite sure what the use of you is. It's all good and pleasant to ensure Stormfire's survival, but what is your larger goal? And what exactly do you want? Certainly I could furnish certain...opportunities to use your talents, but you seem to be a talent without a vision."

Before Mirage could continue, something seemed to shake the Autobase to its deep foundations. What in the...another saboteur? Another tremor. No. Not from inside. From outside.

"Well. It appears you may have an opportunity to protect Stormfire once again. However, if I may suggest...let him decide if that's necessary. There's little point in protecting him if he's not around to enjoy it, hmm?"

Perhaps I can play this game a little longer. But if we are indeed under attack...it will be a dangerous game at best.

Autobase Tau - Command Center

"Trailbreaker old friend, these days any time is a good time for a joke," Ultra Magnus smiled. "Go ahead and fill me in."

On the screens and images before them, the city commander noticed some recently activated weapons turn red. Holo-images began disappearing just as bright flashes appeared.

There's a pattern. They're attacking and moving in.

Magnus looked at Trailbreaker. He knew the defense strategist realized it, too. He clenched his right fist.

"The Decepticons are making their move," said Magnus. "We have to respond fast. If they're moving this quickly and knocking out all of these systems, then we have little hope just sitting here. Redirect all non-medical, brig, and command center power directly to the adjacent base systems."

"Now, Tau has some underground escape routes. Find the one that leads to the norther border of Tagan near Iacon and start gathering as many injured or other Autobots that will give us little combat support."

More screens flashed off. If the reports were correct, then the Decepticons were almost past the active defense systems.

"We don't have much time," said the commander. "Get as many ready to evacuate asap. Take some medics if you can to make sure they're stable. Don't worry about the Decepticons following you. They seem to be flyers from their strategy. The rest of the Autobots will stay here and fight. If we're lucky, we'll still be here. If not, I'll lead the retreat back to Iacon and meet the rest of you up there. Good luck."

Remembering several Autobots posted throughout Tagan, Magnus pulled up some screens to see their locations.

>> Hot Rod, Decepticons will attack us in a few breems, maybe less. I need you in the command center. Now. >>

Just stay calm.

>> Roadbuster, Freeway, Chase, Searchlight, forget those Decepticons you're hunting. We have an unidentified number of Decepticons inbound to base. They're making quick work of the perimeter systems, but we still don't have a decent estimate. Can you see or detect any or give us an idea of what's coming this way? Either way, just head back to the base right away. We're going to need your help. >>

Magnus now clenched his left fist and sat up.

>> Mirage, what's your status? I know you know we don't have much time. >>

Just one more thing: he had to inform Iacon. Magnus stood up before a screen with a channel to the hub capital.

Tau can't handle this. But if the Decepticons want a fight, they'll get one.

Tagan Heights ~ In Pursuit of Skyjack

"No, not now.." Roadbuster thought to himself as Ultra Magnus' order came through his Commlink. The Wrecker came to a full stop as he fought within himself. He knew his place was back at the base defending it from whatever the 'Cons had decided to send over, but there was still a part of him that wanted to ignore the City Commander's orders and continue pursuit of Skyjack. But his own selfish wants were never any match for his sense of duty to the Autobots, and Roadbuster knew what he had to do.

"Chase, Freeway, Searchlight, abort the pursuit, sounds like we're needed at another little party, I guess the little slaghead is gonna get lucky today..." Roadbuster began, transforming and looking off in the direction of Autobase Tau "...Magnus needs info on just what is attacking us, and we're in a position to do just that, lets go" As he waited for Chase to make his way back to his position, the Wrecker opened up a return commlink to Ultra Magnus.

[i]>>Understood Magnus, we're on our way. From our current position, I can offer you little in the form of intel as to what the 'Cons are attacking us with, but Chase should be able to pick something up soon, we'll let you know when, Roadbuster out>To all non-combat personnel, Autobase Tau is under attack by an unkown contingent of Decepticons, I have orders to lead a retreat to Iacon via the underground tunnel systems located underneath the Tagan Province. Those not of the fighting persuasion should make their way to the Medbay to help with the transporting of the injured and recovering. Time is short, so please do not delay, retreat will commence in approximately 5 breems, whether everyone is there or not, Trailbreaker out<<

Looking once more to Ultra Magnus, Trailbreaker closed off the commlink to the base and prepared to head out "Primus be with you Magnus, see you on the other side"

------------------------
Autobase Tau ~ Corridors

"What the.." Jedishen said to himself as he felt the shockwaves resonate through the base from the attack "Oh no, I'm not getting caught out twice in a row" He said to himself as he turned and began running back to his quarters.

Forcing the now powerless door open, the Scout ran to his locker and yanked it open, grabbing the various clips and power packs back up and slamming them one by one into his weapons, replacing each one to it's mountings as he went, until he came to Stormfire's weapons that lay propped up inside his locker. Looking at them for a second, Jedishen was unsure what to do with them, but as he stood there, another blast rocked the walls of the base, forcing him to make up his mind.

Grabbing the rifle and 2 sabers, Jedishen stuffed them into subspace before turning and heading out of the room, trying to figure out just where he should be "HQ should be a good place to start, might be able to find out exactly what it is that's coming for us" The Scout concluded before heading for the Command Center.

Autobase Tau - Medbay

It's hard to keep a good mech down, herder to keep a bad one, and if you wanted to keep a Technobot down then you had better pack yourself a lunch 'cause it's going to be a long day.

When the base shook Afterburner roused from the comatose like state, the CR chamber still at work on him, it hadn't finished but he was up to combat specs. "Lemme outta here.." he grwoled as he shook off the groggy chill, 'Warning: repairs 70% complete, termination of restoration cycle is discouraged.' chimed the automated system, "Two choices.. you're either gonna let me out or I'm gonna bust out. y'gotta chronoclick before I make it for ya." he retorted, warding away a probe that had come to mend a crack in his optical visor. It took the system half a chronoclick to withdraw all the probes and armatures, another to open the chamber door.

Stepping out amidst a fog of chill, Afterburner looked around, eyeing the sudden burst of activity, the hustle and bustle aswell as the tremor of battle outside, "I try and get some slaggin' down time and you jackafts let the friggen 'cons creep up our exhaust ports, can't you cracked cases keep this place together for a couple of cycles?" he muttered crossly, peering around, "Strafe!? Where the slag are ya, we've got work t'do!"

Autobase Tau - Brig

(OOC: did we leave Nosecone and Lightspeed outside the base during an NPC moment?)

‘I do have a purpose Mirage, if we survive this I may share it with you, but for now I bring you Stormfire!’

Optics returned to blue, teeth blunted and Stormfire came online fully aware of the situation.

‘It suggests that we track down Jedishen first, he has my weapons, he’s also given me his word, sworn on what he says are his six sparks that he will only fight if it is absolutely necessary’

Stormfire turned to Mirage and looked at him straight in the optics

‘Thank you for all your help, I think It likes you.’

Not waiting for Mirage, Stormfire took off for the command centre, he’d be able to locate Jedishen and get more info on the attack from there.

Autobase Tau: Medbay

"Strange..."

Arcee commented as absently as she could as Hot Rod appeared next to her, the cavalier Autobot having apparently tracked her down. The Fembot tried to look as uninterested as possible, seemingly finding more importance in her Datapad than in Hot Rod himself, something that wasn't easy.

For all his faults, for all his reckless nature, for all his immaturity at the worst possible times, he did, on the rare occasion, demonstrate that there was perhaps more to his Spark then he let on. There was, during these rare times, a glimmer of hope, that one day, that he really could be destined for greatness. Kup seemed to think it was true, sometimes Arcee believed him.

"...you seem to be in one piece, miracles will never cease".

Much to her annoyance Arcee was finding it increasingly difficult to not give Hot Rod her undivided attention. He was charming when he wanted to be after all, and charismatic, and he seemed to spend an awful lot of time trying to get her attention when there were more than a few other Fembots more than happy to offer it freely.

If only he wasn't such an insufferable Pinhead!!

Arcee quietly hoped Remington couldn't detect her internal conflict, she could only thank Primus that Berreta wasn't even active enough to take note herself. That was grief she didn't need, perhaps there was an upside to the other Fembot being in Stasis Lock after all.

"Well...now that you've found me..."

Arcee turned from her Datapad and looked Hot Rod in the optics, doing her utmost to look unimpressed.

"...perhaps you should try something more productive, like working maybe?"

Before she could comment further the alarms rang out, alerting the entire base to what could only be one thing. They were back, they always came back.

"Or perhaps that?"

Tagan Heights – Southern shoreline

The defenses along the shore were still smoking as various Autobots rushed to repair the damage inflicted on them by the Sweeps. Some of them knew all to well that they had only been hit by the first wave, the first lightning blow to soften them up for the much heavier one approaching. If they couldn’t stop the next wave, then who knew how far the Decepticons would penetrate into the city-state.

As they rushed about their work, a few Autobots spotted it in the distance. A lone object was approaching from the Rust Sea, quickly. A few stopped to stare, while others hurried back to their work with an even greater sense of urgency. They didn’t know what it was approaching, but they knew it could only be Decepticon in nature. Those who stopped to watch saw the object take form. It was almost snakelike in nature, colored purple and black, with an orange tip. Then they noticed that it led into the sea, that they were only seeing the tip of whatever it was. Before any of them could shout a further warning, the tail swept the shoreline, unleashing a torrent of electricity on the Autobots standing there. Circuits overloaded and melted and a few Autobots simply exploded under the power of the blast.

A few of the working defenses turned on it, pouring fire at the approaching Decepticon. They did little to slow it as it returned fire and drew closer to the shore until, finally, he had arrived. First the two gigantic purple claws emerged from the sea, followed by the head and the numerous legs. An array of guns appeared from the sea, mounted onto the giant’s body. A small arsenal of weaponry opened fire, with the massive claws clearing a path through the wreckage in front of him. Scorponok had arrived.

Behind the Decepticon general a veritable fleet of Decepticon landing craft approached. The ships ran aground on the coastline and landing ramps slammed down onto the ground with a loud clang. Scorponok raised a single claw, still in his scorpion mode. “FORWARD!!!” With a roar the Decepticon soldiers followed the command, disgorging from the landing craft and rushing to slaughter the few Autobots still left alive on the shore. The invasion had now truly begun.

Tagan Heights – Southern shoreline

The boarding ramp slammed to the ground, Quake had been firing from the sea as soon as the shore was in reach. Once the ramp slammed to the ground the thick metallic form of Quake was revealed. Quake's plasma cannon had smoke rushing from it. The Cybertronian tank rushed out of the transport vessel and onto the shore of the Tagan Heights. The loud noise of the tank's engines could be heard as it's tracks squashed the remains of fallen Autbot's on the shore. "DIE AUTOBOTS!" Quake exclaimed while he drove to the right of the massive Scorponok, firing his plasma cannon at any nearby Autobots. Quakes plasma cannon could turn at 360 degree's, hitting anything that came into view.

Quake continued firing plasma shells while following Scorponok up the beach. Quake continued to reign plasma shells down on any nearby Autobots.

Autobase Tau - Brig

"Quite a compliment...I suppose."

Mirage almost smiled as Stormfire made his remark about 'it' liking him. Stormfire seemed, at his laser core, a good sort. Somewhat naive, somewhat overly committed to the so-called Cause, but a good sort nonetheless. It would have been a shame to have to incapacitate him while he was under the control of 'it.' As the Autobot warrior dashed off to retrieve his weapons from Jedishen, he opened his commlink to answer Ultra Magnus.

>>"I just finished debriefing Stormfire regarding that incident outside the Autobase earlier," he said. [i]"Judging from the titanic rumbling that just shook the place to its foundations, I'd say you're spot on about us not having much time. I'm going topside to see which moon fell on us."
Southern Shoreline

Gunning its massive engine, the six-wheeled tank rumbled down the amphib transport's boarding ramp and splashed through the shallows to the shore of the Rust Sea where Scorponok and the others were already wreaking havoc on the Autobot defenders of the Tagan Heights. Cutting torches lining its razor-sharp dozer blade and sides flared to life with whitish-blue flames as it surged forward, plowing over one Autobot soldier before cutting another in two with its torches as it roared past the unfortunate victim.

Leaving broken bodies and scorched wreckage in its wake, the tank made a bee-line for Autobase Tau, where its master was already doing his best to lay waste to everything in his path.


Autobase Tau - Perimeter

Touching down on the ground at last, the purple and black figure sank its fingers into the armored curtain wall that surrounded Autobase Tau and tore it asunder with a roar. Stepping through the gap it had made, the figure retrieved its twin plasma blasters and twin rust-bomb launchers from subspace. An Autobot stepped up to oppose it and he mowed him down in a blaze of plasma before he even had a chance to fire. The horrifyingly organic-looking figure seemed unstoppable as it approached Tau, its horde of accompanying Sweep drones meting out destruction left and right.

"Autobots!" it roared. "Come out an' die!"

Autobase Tau - Perimeter

The massive tank known as Quake came to a stop in the area Roadblock was in after completely securing the destroyed beach head. "If they don't wanna come out! Blast em out!" Quake exclaimed. "Come on down AUTOBRATS!" Quake yelled out as his massive plasma cannon started to adjust to hit the base itself. Quake's plasma cannon fired as a spread of red shells entered the area, streaking across the sky, lighting the sky with a red dim light to it. In moments the red plasma shells, cracked into the side of Autobase Tau, causing the entire base to violently shake. Quake watched in the distance as a patch of black smoke started to build near Autobase Tau's medbay. Quake rotated his plasma cannon 10 degree's up and fired again. Anther patch of Autobase Tau had a crater blown straight into it as Quake's plasma shells released plasma in all directions upon impact.

"I got your number Autobots! I got all your numbers!" Quake exclaimed while he kept firing, nothing else than completely turning Autobase Tau into ruins would satisfy him. Blast after blast echoed from Quake's plasma cannon as he kept firing in a frenzy.

Tagan Heights, South of Autobase Tau

Chase didn't turn back once he heard the re-call. He was a scout so that was what he would do. He abandoned his pursuit of Skyjack and drove for the highest peak around. He had to transform and climb the last bit and when he reach the pinnacle he activated his radar. From up here it gave a good overview of the situation, he turned his attention to Roadbuster and the two other Throttlebots,

Autobase Tau - Perimeter

Motormaster had smashed through the landing ramp of his transport vessel before it had opened and was already rolling towards the Perimeter where the thick of the battle was rapidly moving to. Driving behind the first adequate cover he could find, the large Decepticon opened his cargo compartment doors, two of his three passengers immediately rushing out their rifles ready.

"Come on Drag Strip!" Wildrider shouted as he ran out and took a position and opened fire towards the Autobot defense positions. "Hurry up or you miss all the fun!"

"Oh slag it off you nutcase! I am going to kill the twice as many Autobots than you anyhow!" The yellow Stunticon smirked as he joined his friend and opened fire towards the Autobots.

"Oh yeah? We'll see that!" Wildrider snapped back and fired a salvo towards the nearest Autobots he spotted, cackling maniacially as his laser blasts cut his target down.

"Rise and shine ye miserable turboworm! It's killing time and I am not going to be delayed by a sorry excuse of Decepticon warrior!" Motormaster bellowed at the last of his passengers who didn't seem to be enthualistic as his brothers in arms in joining the fray.

"Feel the pressure, eh?! I bet ye do!" Motormaster laughed cruelly, activating his transformation protocols despite the safeguard system warning about his cargo hold not being empty yet.

"Are you out of your slaggin' mind?!" Breakdown roared as he jumped out of Motormaster's cargo hold in panic. "I could have been crushed there!"

"Mr. Obvious eh?!" Motormaster laughed, now in robot mode.

"Join the fight or I will slaggin' finish you off myself Breakdown!" The cruel Stunticon brute roared as he walked out of the cover with an energo-blade in one hand and atom-smasher rifle in another - apparently completely ignoring possible return fire by the Autobots.

"Attack! Kill them all!"

[ooc: NPCing the Stunticons without players a bit.]

Autobase Tau – Med Bay

Looking to Arcee with a slight smirk on his face as he finished his small talk with Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod was just about to apologize for the interruption when the alarms began to wail out an impending attack on the base. Looking from Arcee to Remington, Hot rod turned around and began to run toward the command center. The cavalier swiftly transformed form his robot form to his sleek vehicle mode in order to make up for some time.

>>Magnus! Where do you want me? I can get to the perimeter in no time flat.!<<

Autobase Tau - Command Center

"And with you too, Trailbreaker," Ultra Magnus let out.

Time's up.

He had been patient long enough. Unable to wait anymore, he cut off the holoscreens before him and walked out past the doors of the command center. Transforming, he took off. The adrenagon ran through his circuits. His instincts pushed him towards one direction: the south exit of the base, right into the heat of the battle.

But before he could get any further, he found himself surrounded by three Autobots: Hot Rod, Jedishen, and Stormfire. He transformed into robot mode again.

"Time's short," said Ultra Magnus. "The Decepticons are coming from the southern Tagan border. They've pretty much blitzed us from the air and ground. And they've laid a pretty good ambush down on us. If we're going to have any hope, it's through surprising them back."

He lifted his right arm and tilted it to the side. A holo-image appeared depicting two colored passageways in the base.

One of these will have to do.

"Two passages, two teams," the city commander said. "Hot Rod, you will lead half of the forces through the east tunnel. Take the fastest guys so we can distract them. And don't try to be heroes: we just need you to hold them off a bit so we can collectively fight them. I'll head through the west tunnel with some of the bigger guns. They'll be drawn in. In a little less than a breem, they'll get past our automated defense systems. They'll be in no-man's land there. Trailbreaker's redirected power to the systems nearest the base. Those are the strongest weapons we have, so they should distract the Decepticons a little. I'll need your squad to move in at this point. Mine will move too, but you'll need to take care of them while we get close enough to flank them."

Magnus took a deep breath.

"If things start getting too ugly, don't hesitate to retreat. Just give me a heads up. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Alright, get a move on. Jedishen, you're with me. Stormfire," he paused, though.

Can I trust him? No, there's no time.

"Stormfire, round up any air units we have. Those, those things that got us from the sky packed a punch. We'll need you guys to make sure they're distracted. We'll have enough problems on the ground. Don't move too soon, though."

"Hot Rod, the tunnels will lead straight south. They should come up a little past the southern edge of the base. Just take yours and go when you get my mark. Autobots, good luck."

With that, Ultra Magnus transformed and headed towards the western tunnel entrance. He opened a com-link to all Autobots within the base.

>> Attention all Autobots, prepare for battle. The lighter, faster 'bots meet Hot Rod at the east tunnel entrance. The big boys meet me at the west tunnel entrance. Move. >>

He activated two more com-links.

>> Thanks Chase, keep me posted. >>

>> Roadbuster, meet me at the exit of the western tunnel outside of the base. Be careful, though. >>

I hope it's enough.