| abstract
| - The molten river that flows through the mountains is close to the surface in the rolling hills here, exposure to the open atmosphere cooling it considerably. The surface is almost completely clogged up with cooled chunks of metal, and only occasionally is the dull red glow from an eddy of fully melted magma seen. At some time in the distant past, some cataclysmic event caused the river to overflow its banks, spreading ripples and swirls of metal in a fan-like pattern as far as the optic can see. Medium-sized, misshapen lumps mar the graceful swirls of the petrified flood. Perhaps a pack of turbo-wolves - or something else - couldn't escape it in time. Contents: Decepticon Outpost Obvious exits: East leads to Petrified Forest. South leads to Scrapyard. Spinister has arrived. Sandstorm has arrived. Sandstorm strides into view, looking for some excitement. Sandstorm transforms into his Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter mode. THEN Blades is delivering a PowerPoint presentation to... someone(s). "Based off incredibly shoddy intel from an escaped Decepticon prisoner dubbed 'Jailbird', there is a minimum security prison in Cuprahex. Security is bad. Getting out is easy. This means that getting in is *also* easy. We get in and release those prisoners? We cause a problem to the Decepticons, at a minimal expenditure of resources on our part." "Potential blowback: many prisoners could end up being killed by the guards in the confusion. Some of the prisoners might even be Autobot sympathizers. Some of the prisoners may make it out of Decepticon territory and cause problems in Autobot territory. On balance, though, I think this is worth doing, and..." Blades smiles. "It's a Decepticon prison. A Mayhem Attack Squad member might even show up." NOW Circled around by a molten river, one would need to be able to fly to escape this minimum security prison, but... most Decepticons *can* fly. Most Autobots can't. Blades tries to stay low in the air. He can feel the heat rising in waves. And with him is... THEN "We break them out. If they come break our shit, we break -them-." That was all the reasoning Sandstorm needed to apply to the matter. A break out of any sort would cause a logistical and security nightmare for the Decepticons as they had to try and devote time and soldiers away from the front lines to put these punks back in the slammer. Sometimes the smallest cuts are the deepest damage. Just ask the guy that uses knifefighting as a combat style. NOW Blades may be uncomfortable in the air, but Sandstorm was enthralled in it. Watch out for the thermal vents, he had warned the Protectobot, the sudden hot updrafts could knock an aircraft out of the sky if unprepared. And then he went and flew through a few of them himself, having a grand old time. The took 'low in the air' to buzz decidely dangerously close to those molten flows, nearly singing his pylons. After all, half the adventure was the trip getting there. THEN Spinister stands in the Director of Security's office in Cuprahex Minimum. "..." NOW Spinister walks the courtyard of Cuprahex Minimum, sans his Targetmaster team mates. "..." Spinister unfolds into his (terribly) MYSTERIOUS ROBOT MODE! Bell UH-1V Iroquois jinks up, avoiding a sputtering wave of molten metal. A few droplets hit his underside, hissing and burning. He reminds, "Remember, Sandstorm. You get the room off. I'll attract some attention!" The Huey pulls up and above the courtyard and transforms, looking to clock the nearest guard, who turns out to be... Bell UH-1V Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. And not have to blow himself up in the process this time. Though that is sometimes part of the fun. Either way Sandstorm breaks away from Blades as the later goes to start a ruckus, veering off to come around at a different approach. Both of them coming from the same direction would be a majorly dumb move, after all. ...who turns out to be Crashcourse, a Seeker with a very weak face. It's even in his techspecs. He drops easily, and without much sound. It's noise enough for Spinister, however, who freezes, listening carefully. And then steps into the shadows. Mysteriously. Combat: Spinister is no longer apparent in view! Blades doens't just stop at clocking Crashcourse in the face. He pulls a blade off his back and tries to quickly and quietly slit Crashcourse's neck open. Fuel loss alone will not kill a Transformer. Even complete decapitation alone won't kill a Transformer! HHowever, fuel loss plus a fast, hard shock can. He doesn't actually check to make sure that Crashcourse is down, though. Instead, he just attempts to lop off one of Crashcourse's hands and use that to open up the courtyard door. Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter continues to fly low to the ground as he circles around the complex to come from the backlot side instead, letting the residue heat of the molten flows mask the thermal signature of his engine and rotors whpping away. Should be a piece of cake with Blades drawing all the attention to the front courtyard. Just a little longer to get into range. The courtyard door opens. Spinister watches the courtyard door open from his hiding place. There's no real point in sounding the alarms- Spinister is the only Decepticon worth his spark in the facility. Blades briefly considers making an ashtray out of the hand, but he doesn't smoke. Merges with a fire truck and all. So he just chucks the hand, and the Protectobot stalks in, scanning left, right, and up. He looks more more guards and also for anything that looks promising in terms of a way of opening up the cells. Time for the fun to begin. Oh sure, Sandstorm could just fly up to the roof. But one, that's too obvious. Two, that's too -easy-. Three... there is no three, but you get the idea. As he finally nears the facility a second time the Wrecker tilts back, letting his rotor wash toss up a bit of metallic as and grit from the flows, letting his namesake ability create just enough obscurity to look like a passing bluster across the lava flows. By the time it's gone, so is the helicopter. Because Sandstorm is now clinging to the outside wall of the building, climbing his way up. Thank Primus this isn't nearly as tall as that building in Crystal City was. Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter transforms into his Sandstorm mode. A pair of 'Cons patrol into the courtyard. "I'm telling you, Throwdown, it's not like Crashcourse to just not report in." The yellow one with a clear aerial alt mode says, obviously worried. The Titan class called Throwdown just shrugs. "You obviously worry too much, Mach 10. If he's slagging off, Spinister throws him on the first Mayhem unit to Iacon." This does not comfort Mach 10. "Yeah but...what if we get recruited, too? He doesn't just recruit prisoners and screw ups, you know. Hey what's that body over there?" They head for Crashcourse and the doors, apparently not yet noticing Blades. Meanwhile, at the top of the building, the heavy gunner with an animal alt, Cat-apult, stretches. "I sure do love rooftop guard duty," he says to no one. Blades can both hear and see Throwdown and Mach 10. The mention of Spinister makes Blades perk up, on-edge. They don't seem to have noticed him yet, but he won't have the element for surprise for long. There's two of them and only one of him. He wonders - can his thin blades even penetrate a titan's thick armour? Blades makes a snap judgement. He rushes Mach 10, trying to sink a blade through the relatively fragile cockpit area and through, into his primary fuel pump. Hopefully Throwdown's reaction times are none too good... Sandstorm is just reaching for the edge of the rooftop when he pauses at hearing a voice. There's a guard up there? Well, damn. Guess this won't be boring after all! With a grunt Sandstorm grabs the edge and hoists himself up onto the ledge. "Don't get too comfortable yet!" In one fluid motion while the guard is likely responding in surprise he pulls one of his hidden blades out and flings it at Cat-apult's face. Hard to aim when you've got a knife in your optics. Cat-apult gets a knife in the center of his very surprised looking face. "RRRRRRRRREEEEEEEOW!" He screeches in surprise, and stumbles backward, wrestling with the knife, before falling off the side of the building, and into a backup generator in the courtyard, which explodes very loudly. "What was that?!" Throwdown charges towards the explosion to check things out. "Hrk!" Exclaims March 10 as Blades sinks some death into his lasercore. "...," thinks Spinister. Explosions mean alarms. They all go off. Blades doesn't take a moment to think about his beautiful, blind, dumb luck that Throwdown just ran off to check on the explosion. No, he just assumes that the explosion is Sandstorm's doing, and he presses back inside the door. There are unlocking mechanisms to find... Blades does pull any fire alarms that he can find, though, just to add to the panic. Taking out the generator wasn't part of the original plan, but hey, it blew up so who's complaining? Maybe it'll disable some of the electronic security if it doesn't have power. Sandstorm walks over to the center of the building, pulls out one of his Wrecker Special bombs, and sets it on the roof to deploy the anchors. A few punches to the keys and the timer lights up. Sandstorm makes a face when it automatically sets to three minutes. Way too long for someone to find it and disable it. He punches a few more commands, much more satisfied when it blinks a few times and goes to thirty seconds instead. Sandstorm hits the activator and turns to RUN for the edge of the rooftop, just so he can leap off just as the bomb blows and get a nice accent behind him of the explosion as he leaps to, relative, safety. Alarms, fire alarms, all sorts of alarms. Cons of various shapes and sizes start pouring out of doors throughout the facility. They're confused, and they're angry. No one seems to be sure who is in charge. But there is one thing that they can all be sure of: Sandstorm. Looks. Awesome. As the triplechanger makes his dramatic leap, a cassette sized Decepticon that sadly isn't a cassette points in a mix of awe and rage. "WRECKERRRR!" They all start shooting. The good news is that no one really seems to be noticing Blades. The other good news is that these guys suuuuuuuuuuck. These guys may be awful, but Blades is really enjoying murdering them, anyway. A little more challenge would be even better. This isn't quite sporting. Didn't they say Spinister was around? Ah, well, Blades puts one hand on the wall and starts running down the hallways, looking for some kind of central door control. They may shoot like Stormtroopers but that's a lot of lasers to be freefalling through and someone may be lucky enough to get to say he nicked a Wrecker with his shots and be the envy of the other gumbies. Sandstorm hits the ground with a crouch to absorb the landing, but he doesn't stay still. Even amongst the hail of laser fire he lunges forward, transforms, and barrels straight into the middle of the pack of Decepticons! "Com'n chumps, gotta catch me first!" If they don't just bounce off him in the first place. Sandstorm transforms into his Desert Patrol Vehicle mode. Spinister walks quietly down the hallway, following Blades at a fair distance. Outside, a wave of Decepticons crash into Sandstorm. THey're probably all getting punched in their dumb faces, but oots- here comes Throwdown. Somewhere between Roadbuster and Broadside, this guy could be a problem. Blades is not aware that Spinister is behind him. That's sort of the point of Spinister, not knowing that he is right there. This stupid place is turning out of be full of twisting hallways. It's like the architect who built it was just wildly incompetent? Alarms sound loudly, echoing in Blades's head. Lights flash, mostly red-lit. It's still unbearably hot. And he finds the minibar. They are out of Space Tequila. Sandstorm is having a hoot right now. This is the part of his job that he lives, the fight to get out alive. He fishtails after running roughshod over the guards, only to get sent reeling over sideways when Throwdown runs up to punt the buggy. That one might actually leave a mark. Ouch. "And I was worried there wouldn't be a challenge." Rolling back up into robot mode, Sandstorm charges headlong at Throwdown with an almost insane grin. Only to duck at the last moment as the big oaf swings at him, and then go to shiv his therma trench knife into the big thug's side. Desert Patrol Vehicle transforms into his Sandstorm mode. Combat: Suddenly, Spinister appears out of the blue! Spinister is on Blades the moment he hesitates. "..." The Targetmaster exclaims as he swings both of his palms inwards, i nan effort to smash into both sides of Blades' head. Outside, Throwdown is huge. Throwdown is tough. Throwdown has never been stabbed before. He staggers back, panic in his optics, staring in disbelief as Sandstorm. "I'mgonnadiei'mdonnadiei'mgonndadie..." He grasps at the wound, not sure what to do. Combat: Spinister strikes Blades with his Punch attack! Combat: Spinister (Spinister) used "Punch": A Level 1 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 4 damage. Blades's whole head is ringing as Spinister manages to cave in both sides of his helm. He takes a staggering step forward, and he grunts, "I ain't a Headmaster, creep." Because who else can it be? Blades whirls around, trying to slam an elbow into Spinister's midsection. He looks the other helicopter over critically, trying to remember how it is that Spinister transforms. Academic interest. Combat: Blades strikes Spinister with his Elbow (Punch) attack! Combat: Gained 1 energon. "Nah, you're not gonna die. Not if you'r buddies are smart enough to drag you out before your systems scramble from energon loss." Sandstorm fancilly spins his sandblaster as he draws it from subspace, then snaps his arm out to blast the first guard that tries to move in to help. "That is, if they can get to you." Spinister staggers backwards, though the blow doesn't slow him down too much. Instead he feints right and slams a button on the left wall. Further down the hallway, the laser defense grid begins activating. Beams of pure death hum into place, creating a wall that only an idiot that really wanted to die would try to walk into. And it's coming closer. Spinister gives Blades the briefest nod, and then sprints back the way they came. OUTSIDE: "I'll save you, Throwdown!" The cassette sized not a cassette dashes forward, because he's an idiot. This results in the comical sight of Sandstorm holding the small fry back just by grabbing his head with one hand like you see big guys do in the movies. "Aren't you a little short to be a security guard?" With the cassette-sized Con held at arms length literally, Sandstorm starts potshotting at the other guards still standing. Blades looks at the laser wall of death, and he goes chasing after Spinister, at least in part because Spinister is running the other direction away from the death wall. A blade in hand, Blades lunges at Spinister and tries to tackle him down to try to... dig into the back side of Spinister's pelvis and try to wrench off one of Spinister's helicopter mode firing platforms. This isn't a lethal blow in *any* respect. It's very unlike Blades. Combat: Blades strikes Spinister with his Rotor Blade attack! [Pulled -3] Combat: Spinister falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Drained 2 energon. WHAT? How did Blades know about Spinister's one weak spot? His FIRING PLATFORM? Blades didn't know at all! He actually just wanted to steal Spinister's weapons bracket mounts. Which he tries to do now, trying to slice them off to steal them. However, the death wall means that Blades is going to have to run and that he can't stay back to try to poke a hole in Spinister's lasercore. Meanwhile the courtyard has turned into an all out free-for-all. Some of the guards are eager to get noticed for at least trying to fight a Wrecker. Others are just too scared to do anything else but core instinct. Some of the Cons even punch the other Cons for getting in the way at their chance at glory. Sandstorm tosses the shrimpy mech into one guy, and clobbers another with a pistolwhip to the head with his sandblaster. He, on the other hand, is having the time of his life. Blades makes it back out to the courtyard, possibly with his ill-gotten goods, only to see that Sandstorm is having the time of his life. He declares, "You should have told me there was a party, but... I think it is time we were out of here!" He transforms and starts to wind up. Blades transforms into his Bell UH-1V Iroquois mode. Sandstorm glances over his shoulder at Blades' voice. "I hear ya." Followed by a grunt as someone manages to slug him in the face. Though the mech gets a knee to the midsection to make up for it, Sandstorm pushes away as the bloke topples over. "Sorry guys, playtime's over." Leaping into the air and transforming, Sandstorm stirrs up another blinding whirlwind of grit to cover their escape. Sandstorm transforms into his Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter mode. <hr>
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