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| - Alleyways - Tarn Many of the alleyways in Tarn are immaculately clean, but the police force cannot catch every vandal, so there are the occasional few buildings completely coated in graffiti. Bright, stylized Cybertronian lettering with obscure symbols light up dim walkways, most of the art having an anti-Autobot bent. Decepticon symbolism is rampant, mostly just the insignia, though sometimes there is a reoccurring purple jet or bird image trailing a stream of stars. It's grim, it's dank, it's the deepest darkest corner of the Tarn alleyways, and the mech on the run has been rather sloppy about covering his trail. Autobots have been following Fray's map for several days, but it's tonight they discover some bodies of the TPD officers assisting in the search. It's rather gruesome deaths for the mechs. Several of them have appeared to be electrocuted to death, others ripped apart by chains, parts strewn across the alleys. Energon mingles with the pools of water. It's a narrow maze, every corner pitch black and perfect for an ambush, but so far it's been painfully quiet, the group so far away from Central Tarn that only distant sirens can reach them. Swoop transforms into his Robot Pteranodon mode. Robot Pteranodon is hunting. It is what he offered to do, and what he said he would do, and successfully do, and what he is doing right now, and...well, all of that sort of stuff. The bodies don't bother him in the way that it might bother others, but that's far from the point. He is busy looking them over, trying to assess what killed them, how they died, what might be done to avoid such a fate. Dropping down from his perch, he digs through the pieces and is quick to get his tracking on, looking for footsteps, signs of movement, someone leaving the area... He'll let others deal with the mess. There is still a threat out there right now. One he is more than eager to deal with personally. Hound has arrived. Arcee has been assisting in the search whenever her schedule permits, and on this particular cycle, she is on the ground making her way through the alleys when she ducks through a few narrow passages and locates the carnage. Her immediate reaction is to stifle a scream, because the reflex to do that is still with her despite being battle-hardened for millions of years. She stares skyward for a long moment, not saying anything, not radioing anyone. Swoop eventually shows up, and she says nothing as he picks through the carnage, because she knows he's doing it in order to pick up tracking information. Hound straightens up after inspecting one of those bodies, and... he is much more affected than Swoop is. But he doesn't let it make him fall to pieces... no, if anything, the horror of what he witnesses only strengthens his resolve to find the killer and bring them to justice. The Autobot tracker is here to do just that... to track this criminal down. He looks to Arcee. "Orders, Ma'am?" Crusade arrives from the Central Tarn to the north. Crusade has arrived. Footsteps smeared in energon lead down a few more alleys but eventually vanish. Every now and then a bright beam from a patrol ship search light illuminates the walkways. Could explain why Sterling hasn't tried to fly his way out of the city. Swoop may pick up on a faint muffled yelp a few buildings over, and Hound can detect some slight movement with his sensors in the same direction. Robot Pteranodon snaps his attention towards the noise and is off without a moment of hesitation. If the others so wish, they can follow. After all, the large dinobot is not exactly easy to miss if someone is trying to follow. He does, at the very least, practice a bit of tact and sneakiness as he gets nearer the source of the noise, keeping skyward to skim the buildingtops as he surveys the alleys below for the cause of the noise. "This all seems...fairly fresh," Arcee says, still not giving it much of a glance. But Hound's arrival calms her down a bit. "Just follow the carnage, it would seem like the trail's getting warmer." Hound highly tuned senses pick up some movement, and he focuses on that direction. He gives Arcee a respectful nod. "Yes, ma'am." He's fairly military, especially when on a serious mission like this. "I'll follow him, track him down, and make him answer to this, if he is responsible." The green Autobot proceeds to head towards Swoop's location- and the movement he picked up. Crusade was totally here all along, he was just really quiet! He steps lightly after Hound, staying quiet, glancing about in search of more clues and possible dangers. As Hound draws nearer, the vague images in his sensors become more clear. A figure is hastily trying to flee. It abruptly pauses and aims something skywards - Swoop is being stealthy enough to avoid getting shot, but the figure can still pick up on the rooftop activity. They'll come upon a TPD officer sprawled in the alleyway, presumably the source of that muffled yelp. It looks like he's been pinned to the ground, run right through with a lengthy trench knife through the chest. He's not quite dead yet, however. There's the sharp sound of a rifle blasting some masonry from the trim of a building. "I know you're up there!" The voice echoes through every path, though it's obviously very close. Each body along the trail was attended to, some calls were made to emergency medical.. other for posthumous rites and services. Each corpse a grim reminder of the weight of the situation, each life lost a desperate cry for justice, each Cybertronian gone signaled another light extinguished in the universe. Quickly making his way along the beaten path, Blurr races into view with the usual light blue after-image in his wake. The usual happy and upbeat demeanor is replaced by a stern gaze and fixed mouth. For one prone to rambling on and on.. and on, he is unusually quiet. Only when the not-quite dead TPD officer reaches his optics does some semblance of emotion wash over Blurr's face, he almost instantly races over. "Officer officer officer can you hear me you are going to be alright I am Blurr of the Autobots my allies and I are here to assist in whatever capacity we can I'm alerting emergency medical services right now can you tell us anything that could help us capture your attacker??" Robot Pteranodon watches the side of the building explode as it is shot, and turns his optics groundward at the yell sent his way. Well then... "Maybe him not be surprised, then, when Swoop come say 'hi'." There is something to be said about Dinobots and hesitation. Namely, there is none. He rolls, folding his wings to dive into the alley and plummet like a giant ptero-missile at the figure that shot at him. Sterling has arrived. Arcee does her best to follow Swoop and Hound through the maze of alleyways, but she's no expert tracker, so she has to rely a lot on following their signals. When she sees the freshly-wounded officer and hears the sounds of weapons fire, she draws her own laser-pistol out of subspace -- in case there's more than one assailant. Combat: Robot Pteranodon sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Robot Pteranodon strikes Sterling with his No hard feelings...hahahah. Yeah right. BAM! (Ram) attack! [Pulled -1] Crusade hurries over to the downed officer and crouches by his side, reaching over to remove the trench knife. "Sir? Are you okay?" He looks up, unable to remember if anyone with medical training is nearby. "Can someone help me here?" Hound glances to Crusade and tries to give him a quick, encouraging smile, then returns to work. He picks up on the figure. "I've got someone up ahead... He's armed and dangerous...." As evidenced by the injured police officer they come across. Hound pauses to look down on the mech, frowning. He hesitates, not wanting to leave the injured officer, but Blurr appears. "Blurr... you'll look after him, right?" With that situation seemingly at hand, he refocuses on assisting Swoop. The Jeep starts making his way towards the noise and chaos- signs of a Dinobot, and signs of a fight. His job is to be the Scout, after all. He clambers up towards Sterling, and when he spots him, already engaged in a fight with Swoop, he raises his weapon. "Stop! Drop your weapons. If you don't, I will shoot." He's going to give the mech a chance to surrender first, though he doubts he'll take it. But Hound's a bit of an optimist, and anyway, giving people a chance is what *Prime* would have done. Combat: Hound sets his defense level to Guarded. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Hound has 'skipped' his action for this round. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Crusade has 'skipped' his action for this round. Right next to Crusade, the whole time, Blurr is busily inspecting the wound as best his optics can.. maybe he should have attended that voluntary combat medic course Pincher had offered a couple vorns ago. With Hound's half pleading half order and Crusade's plea.. the Autobot courier nods solemnly. "I can see the injury but not where he's having trouble communicating because he's online but my preliminary sensors show he's losing energy levels fast we HAVE to do something before he flatlines!!" the cobalt speedster yells out, attempting to pry the chest-plate off the wounded officer. Stockade, as his ID badge points out, is unconcious but alive. Can our two Autobots keep him that way?? Combat: Blurr compares his Strength to 60: Success! Stockade's grip on the knife that's piercing him finally falls away as he flickers into unconsciousness. Crusade is successful at removing it, and Blurr pries the chestplate right off, but energon continues to gush from Stockade's lips. Naturally Sterling isn't pleased by Swoop's bombardment. He's knocked off his feet, rifle going off to blast another sizable chunk of metal from a building. Shrapnel rains down over both of them as he struggles to right himself, only to be met with Hound. He actually musters a smirk. "Well don't you fraggers feel proud of yourselves!" Sterling gestures mockingly with his hands. "You'll all be the heroes YET AGAIN, while we try and fail to protect the citizens that hate us! I'm so glad I could be of service!" He doesn't drop his rifle, but he's not firing just yet. Crusade stares at Blurr, his doorwings fluttering up and down. He blinks a few times, his hand still clutched tightly around the trench knife's handle. "Uh..." His doorwings flutter again, and the look of confusion on his features grows. "I'm sorry, sir... what did you want me to do again?" "So what kind of a 'hero' does that make -you-, Sterling? I don't think you're in much of a position to judge anything at the moment. Also...you're coming with us. You've done more than enough. It's time for your atrocities to come to an end," Arcee says, aiming her pistols in Sterling's direction. Robot Pteranodon transforms into his Robot mode. Swoop lands and transforms, narrowing his optics at Sterling as he draws his blade to level it at the rogue mech. "Swoop think that stupid excuse." He grins faintly and holds his pose. "Swoop think maybe him drop weapon, so Swoop not have excuse to make him drop weapon. Swoop see what him do to others, good others, and Swoop not impressed. Think if him want help Tarn, him not act like them Decepticons." He steps in to grab Sterling by the armor plating near his neck to draw him in closer for raw intimidation factor. Combat: Swoop strikes Sterling with his GET OVER HERE! (Grab) attack! "He's got energon coming from his chest energon from his optic sockets energon from his mouth if we stop it running out of his mouth it surges from his optics if we cover his optics it gushes out the chest if we attend to the chest his brain module will bleed out so if we try to stop any of the three that leaves us nowhere that's where!!" Blurr hurriedly explains to Crusade, his arms a dizzying display of effort. With chest plate peeled back, perhaps Crusade can manage to get a good look at the laser-core and what's wrong!! Crusade leans away ever so slightly from Blurr. To say that he's a little overwhelmed would be an understatement! "Umm..." He turns his attention back towards the fallen officer, checking on his laser core. Combat: Crusade compares his Accuracy to 60: Success! Hound keeps his weapon trained on Sterling, still frowning. "Let us talk, then. I don't want to fight you if I don't have to. And maybe you have some valid greivances. But maiming and killing others is not the way to make change, or make a point. Now, drop your weapon." He frowns some more as Swoop grabs the mech, but... well, at least Swoop didn't *attack* him. And if he can just keep a hold on him, then they've got him, and he won't be able to hurt anyone else. Arcee doesn't seem particularly concerned with Swoop...putting a slight hurt on Sterling. She absolutely doesn't want any torturing or killing going on here -- but she's willing to overlook a little bit of Dinobot horseplay if the mission gets accomplished in the process. Hound, on the other hand...Hound is strictly by the book. Sterling openly glares at Arcee and Hound and thrusts his finger. "You know NOTHING. And I'm not going to sit here and spell things out for you- erk!" Swoop yanks him forward, and while the Dinobot is pretty damn intimidating, Sterling seems fairly hardened to things. It was a valiant effort to keep the situation from getting violent on the Autobots' part, but sadly Sterling isn't having it. He slings a fistful of disc-like devices that roll across the ground before settling. Electricity abruptly branches from each pod, partially electrifying the ground as Sterling tries to wrestle out of Swoop's grip. Combat: Sterling sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Sterling strikes Arcee with his Pulse Pods Area attack! Combat: You took 16 damage. Combat: Sterling misses Hound with his Pulse Pods Area attack! Combat: Sterling strikes Swoop with his Pulse Pods Area attack! Crusade is able to peer beyond the leaking fuel pump, the gushes of energon pumping out in full force attempting to supply it to Stockade's damaged frame, low and behold.. the laser-core! The housing for the Cybertronian's essence has a hairline fracture running up from the bottom joint and into the middle. The exposed core is sparking dangerously!! "You did it you did it you did it wait what did you do why is there soooo much energon leaking out why hasn't anyone arrived to help yet please tell me you know what you're looking at Crusade this mech's life depends on it!!" Blurr doesn't help Crusade's nerves by piling on more responsibilities. In the meantime, nurse Blurr attempts to wipe up most of the energon leaked across the frame and other exposed innards.. no one would like that core to ignite and blow them all sky high!! Combat: Blurr compares his Agility to 60: Success! "What?! Aw, /frag/!! Heads UP!!" It's a bit late for Arcee herself to evade the pod, so it gives her an audible and visible shock and sends her careening down the alleyway, skidding to a stop. "Don't lose him!!" She staggers to her feet, then tries to help out Swoop with come quick telemetry data on the perp. Combat: Arcee takes extra time to assist Swoop's next attack. Swoop looks at the device, then back at Sterling as he charges headlong into whatever blast it seems to ignite. A blast that is really quite solid at tearing into the weaker armor coating this particular Dinobot... So he's not Grimlock! Give the guy a break! Still, he answers straight up by following through with his prior threat by slashing out with his sword. "Good! Swoop like this way better. Think maybe him break silly mech and make him apologize to all others him hurt." Combat: Swoop strikes Sterling with his Fiery Poker of +2 Burninating! attack! Combat: Secondary Damage! Hound's highly tuned senses are suddenly aware of some massive electricity starting to charge up from Sterling, but before he can warn the others the corrupt cop has already unleashed an assault. Hound manages to dodge out of the way in time, somehow, then sighs. Welp, so much for a peacable solution. "You give us no choice, then." He tried. Now he tries to stop this mech before he can hurt someone again. The Jeep fires his turret gun at Sterling. Combat: Hound sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Hound strikes Sterling with his I tried reasoning with you attack! Combat: Critical Hit! Blurr is most definitely not helping! Crusade's hands are twitching just as much as his doorwings are - nervousness is getting the better of him. He doesn't even know what he's supposed to be doing, so he guesses. "I need to stop the leaks, right? And... um... what else?" Sterling can't dodge the blazing sword in time, and gets a nice gash right across his chest. Hound nails him hard enough to make him stagger, and his piercing optics level on the tracker menacingly. "You can just wait your turn!" Swoop seems to be the biggest threat here for now, so that's who he's advancing on, electro-baton drawn from subspace. "All of you are going to join Stockade here shortly!" he nearly laughs, bringing the electrified weapon down on Swoop's shoulder. Combat: Sterling strikes Swoop with his Electro-Baton attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Swoop's Agility! (Crippled) Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Aggressive. Suddenly, Stockade's almost lifeless body begins tremoring slowly until suddenly he's rocking non-stop on the streets of the alleyway. His arms flail uncontrolably, legs kicking out in spasms, the core in the center of his chest bounces around hap-hazardly as the TPD officer convulses. "You're asking me I don't know what to do I'm a courier literally my function is to pick things up from one place and drop them off in another how am I supposed to know how to seize a core crack aren't you the warrior haven't you done anything like this before maybe you could try asking on channel if the doctors are too busy to bring themselves to the patient maybe you should bring the patient's condition to them on the broadband I'm going to try to keep him from seizuring you better figure this out quick because energon is spilling everywhere now!!" Blurr does his best to keep Stockade's form stable, grabbing at his arms and attempting to pin his legs under a knee. Combat: Blurr compares his Strength to 70: Success! Once Arcee sees Sterling's attention has concentrated more on Swoop, she moves down the alleyway closer toward him with her pistols blazing hot. She doesn't much like risking terminating him -- even if he IS one of the nastier dirtbags they've managed to flush out of this city -- but they just can't afford to lose this guy now, because they may not get a second opportunity to bring him in. And so it goes. Combat: Arcee strikes Sterling with her Dual Heavy Blaster Pistols attack! Combat: Critical Hit! "Awk!" Crusade yelps in surprise, almost kicking the officer away from him. "I didn't do that, did I? Did I make it worse? Is he going to be okay?" He does take Blurr's advice, though - or at least, the parts of it that he heard. Swoop gets blasted by electricity, and that's never pleasant. He stows the sword in subspace, transforming to get some of his more potent weapons to bear as he charges into Sterling, using wings and body alike to help corral him in place. He's definitely not about to let him run on him, and certainly has a bone to pick... But first things first. More fire. Because he is really not liking this guy, and that electricity was a very painful experience he would like to repay in full. No more talking. No more taunts. He's just out to make this mech's life miserable. Swoop transforms into his Robot Pteranodon mode. Combat: Robot Pteranodon strikes Sterling with his This was a Mortal Kombat fatality for a reason! attack! Hound waits for the others to land some strikes, then grits his dentae and steps up for another shot... this time from his missile launcher. He's with the others on this one, now- they cannot allow this mech to escape and hurt more people... since he's already made it quite clear he'll leave a trail of bodies in his wake. Combat: Hound strikes Sterling with his I prefer peace- but I am a military Jeep after all. attack! Sterling is thrown off guard when Arcee hits him with something that smarts oh so bad. He bites back a scream, and one knee buckles. "You GLITCH! You're going to pay /dearly/ for-" Yet again, Swoop interrupts him by setting him ablaze this time. His cries are drowned out by the sound of fire melting his armor, but he's not out just yet. Hound does some decent damage with his missile, prompting the now severely injured fugitive to draw a pair of chains from subspace and sling them at whatever he can reach - which happens to be Arcee. Serious voltage lances from the chains, lighting up the alleyways. Combat: Sterling misses Arcee with his Electrified Chains attack! Arcee darts ahead to gracefully transform into her pink Cybertronian Tech Car, enging purring, ready to go! Robot Pteranodon transforms again as the chains come out, reaching up to grab Sterling once more and bodily slam him to the ground to keep those weapons from going near anyone else that might not appreciate them getting swung their way. See? He's good at that. And really, grappling is one of those fine arts that is best left to ... promiscuous use of heavy slamming tactics that have little to do with grappling and more to do with outright wrestling. Robot Pteranodon transforms into his Robot mode. Combat: Swoop strikes Sterling with his Swoop call this one Grimlock SMASH! (Smash) attack! Combat: Sterling falls to the ground, unconscious. Pink Saturn Sky leaps backwards as Sterling snaps a searing, sparking chain in her direction, and it *just* misses contact with her leg. She's forced to transform in order to gain enough speed to backpedal properly...hitting it into reverse to save her systems from another serious shock, just as Swoop goes in for the body slam. "<< Oh yes, way to *go*... >>" She sounds...very relieved. And grateful. "<< Alright, excellent work...I'm just going to check the area really quick, make sure we have a way out of here. We have a protest going on north of here so we may just need to pick a different route. >>" Hound frowns as Sterling tries to attack Arcee with chains, and the Jeeps' had enough of this. Now it's his turn to attempt to stop the criminal form further attacks- try to immobilize him. But Swoop gets to him first and- well, that's that, it looks like. He lets out a small sigh of relief. "Well... looks like he's not hurting anyone else." The Jeep turns to Arcee. "Did you need me to scout out that protest? See what's up? Or scout out another route?" Sterling's optics widen as Swoop smashes him into the ground. His charred armor crumples under the force, and he's finally knocked offline, succumbing to the collective damage. He will not be pleased when he wakes. <> Stockade's automated diagnostic systems report aloud, being broadcasted through his external speakers. Blurr pratically spazzes out himself, still struggling to keep the Tarn officer still and stable. "You need to seal the crack you heard Torque I can't do it and if you don't then this guy is a goner for sure come on Crusade you can do it!!" Combat: Blurr compares his Strength to 80: Failure :(Crusade makes a flustered, alarmed noise as he digs around in his subspace compartment for anything he can use as a sealant. After a moment, he takes out a roll of what looks like duct tape, but properly sized for Cybertronian hands, and starts trying to patch up the leak with it. Unable to keep Stockade held down securely, Blurr is bucked off the officer's body and into a wall. "Crusade you need to do it do it now before it gets any worse!!" the speedster calls out to the nervous Autobot new mech. "<< The priority right now is to get Sterling the heck out of here. Hound, if you want to go see what the protest's about, go right ahead, >>" Arcee says as she drives back into the alleyway toward Swoop and Sterling. "<< I think the sooner we can get out of here, the better. >>" Combat: Crusade compares his Agility to 80: Success! Swoop pins Sterling beneath his frame, reaching for those chains that had been swung earlier . Pulling the renegade mech's arms behind his back, he uses the chains to 'shackle' Sterling, checking to make sure there is plenty holding him in place... He then pulls out his thermal sword, sliding it towards Hound. "Tell them use this to help seal things! Cau...cot...cater...catrize...whatever them call it." He looks at Arcee. "Swoop can move him Sterling, think them need help with hurt mech." The pink Cybertronian tech car splits apart to reveal Autobot Warrior Arcee! She's ready to kick aft! <> Stockade's body goes limp again, lying peacefully on the street. While he's not out of the woods completely, he sure has a helluva better chance now than he did two clicks ago. Arcee transforms and approaches Swoop. "Right, well --" She hears the automated message from where the other Bots are working hard to save Stockade's life, and she frowns. "I'm not sure if that was 'good', or 'bad'...hopefully the mech has a chance. I think under the circumstances...we did great. We got our mech. And he's dangerous. For the time being, let's put him in a containment field at Iacon Hospital. That way, he can get the treatment he needs, then Prowl can figure out what he wants done with him and he won't be a problem for anyone else." Hound nods to Arcee. "On it, Ma'am." He blinks as Swoop slides the sword his way, bending down to grab it. The Jeep hefts it up, having to put a little "muscle" into it (given that he's not a Dinobot, after all). "Heh..." He looks at Arcee, then back to the Dinobot. "Alright. Thanks!" So he proceeds down and back towards Crusade and Blurr, taking a moment to look at their progress. "Looks like you mechs did a good job here." He smiles at Blurr and Crusade. "See? I knew you could do it!" Then he places the sword down. "Here, use this to cauterize the wound, if you think that would help." Swoop transforms to cart off Sterling. "Help them injured, Swoop take him Sterling to Iacon." And in Iacon there will be a Swoop staring him down and making sure there's no 'problems' with his detainment. Crusade lets out a relieved sigh and grins wearily at the other bots. He waves off the sword, and starts trying to lift Stockade up. "I don't want to accidentally hurt him, sir. Could someone help me move him?" Getting up from off the wall Stockade bucked him into, Blurr quickly moves over to give Crusade a hand. "You did a great job Crusade I always knew you had it in you just glad we could save his spark I mean capturing Sterling was great and all too guys it's just really something to save a life rather than take one for a change." "Thank you both so much, I mean it. I'm sorry if I sounded kind of stressed on the radio," Arcee tells Crusade and Blurr, "But it's because I was...stressed. You did the best you could, and I think that deserves some recognition." Crusade's doorwings flutter again. He beams, practically glowing with pride. "I'm just glad he'll make it, ma'am. Did everything go okay out there?" Hound grins at Crusade and Blurr, then nods to Arcee as he heads off again to scout some things out. "It got hectic," Arcee admits to Crusade, looking a bit damaged in parts of her armor. "But we got him. That creep will have to answer for everything he's done. All these lives he's hurt...he'll need to answer for all of it. Maybe we couldn't save all of them, but I feel like justice has been served on some level."
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