Scene: Rural area near New Yoik. Uh, New York. Different one than Longhaul, but same general type of stuff.
Timeline: Current.

It had been a long, long time for one solitary transformer to live, all but stranded in the deep cold of space. So long in fact, that the Autobot known as Rictus had almost considered voluntary stasis lock to relieve the wait.

But now the waiting is over. "We are here, we have found peace." Those had been the words he had heard, and there was no mistaking the source. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. Finally.

So now he was here, screaming through the night sky like a common asteroid, hoping to have found someplace that Autobots could call home. Whatever use he would be, but still, a home.

Falling to earth with a resounding crash, firing entry rockets at just the right time to avoid a neibouring building, Rictus cut a deep furrow into the earth, his entry shell splintering around him. And then, silence. Unlike the other landings of his compatriots, in Rictus' case, there was no giant beings striding forth from the crater, no triumphant rising. Not him.

Rictus crawled.

It was all he could do.

Hours passed, and Rictus crawled. He could call for assistance, he knew there were freinds here now, but he would not. He was too proud. But he was also lucky. Lucky, lucky old man.

A flash split the night for a split second, and the slow crawling form of Rictus was gone, the only evidence of his ever being there, a long grove carved in the soil. In his place, two identical red Toyota Hiluxes, identically worn down, flaking in paint and showing rust.

The one on the right moved forward, testing its engine, still functional. Lucky, lucky old man. And with that, Rictus transformed back to his robot form, for the first time in Vorns, standing tall.

"I can walk..." He muttered, amazed at his legs. "I CAN WALK!"

And with that, he made his way into the night, hoping his luck would hold, scanning the Autobot frequencies, for his friends.

OOC:

Name: Rictus
Alligence: Autobot
Function: Architect
Alt Mode: Toyota Hilux
Special Abilities: Highly sofisticated material analysis.

Profile: Rictus is an Autobot of some age, even by Transformer standards. And he considers himself blessed to still be functioning, yet he angrily declares a curse against his existance every day. Why? Because Rictus was unfortunate enough to be brought online with a defect in his spark. A disastorous one.

Rictus is cursed with a "Genetic" disorder, one in which his self repair mechanisims are beyond control. Any damage he sustains, through battle, accident, even the day to day wear and tear of his own metal grinding on metal, is an abnormal danger to Rictus. His own systems work against him, slowly turning the softer parts of his technatomy, his joints and organs, into the solid cybertronion metal of his "bones" and armour, eventually leading him to a life of pain, and disability, then death.

Fortunatly for him, it seems that landing on earth, the total reconfigurment needed for a new mode, in a new environment, has restored him to the state he once was. But it is only a matter of time before his curse kicks in once more.

On Cybertron, Rictus was an arcitect, a great builder, a creator of towers and art, homes and defense. Then the war came to a head, what could he do? What was a builder in the face of destroyers like Megatron. Especially a cripple. So he fled, he with several other Autobots who could not, or would not fight. They fled to set up a colony someplace else.

Many did not survive.

So Rictus was alone, stranded in space, untill Optimus sent out his announcement at the end of the movie, and well, we shall discover the rest.

Interstate, cruising towards the Big Apple.

"...what, just because I don't trust American engineering? Come on, they got power, but where's the finesse, the style?"

"What I'm saying, if you actually bothered to listen, is that there aren't many Japaneese supercars out here, and we don't want to attract too much attention Fusion."

"Hey come on, these Humans are big on globalisation now, you get things from all countries turning up everywhere. Personally, I think you're just jelous since you couldn't master that Dodge Viper form. You should really lose some weight, you know. Talk about not attracting attention when you're as big as that!"

A metallic sigh came over the private radio system in responce. "Alright, I'm sick of this conversation. But if you end up drawing too much attention, I will make you find a new form, you got that? We're undercover here."

"Okay DAD, sheesh!" exclaimed the younger voice in protest as it's owner, a black Nissan Skyline with golden wheels and undercar neons, roared down the highway at considerable speed. "I agreed to join you to keep you company bud, not to get a lecture!"

Behind the car, thundering along with a deafening roar as it tried to keep up with the smaller veichle, came a massive rig, painted a gleaming metallic black with mirrored chrome exhausts, grille and bumper, and towing a multi-deck car transporter trailer that gleamed in the same colors under the bright sun. The older, more reserved voice, sounding rather strained from irritation, replied with another sigh: "And I don't mean to lecture you either, but you're still young, Fusion. You need experience in situations like these."

"Last I checked you didn't have much experience of being marooned on an alien world lightyears from home with the Decepticons breathing down your tailpipe either 'Driver. Primo's pretty much the only one that can say that dude."

"You know what I mean." retorted Piledriver resignedly, mentally rolling his eyes at the responce. Fusion was young...perhaps too young to have been chosen for a mission like this, having only come online a few years ago...but he did show exceptional promise in his fighting technique and skill, and had great finesse in transformation too. Piledriver, as one of the most experienced soldiers in the band they were with (a special ops force similar to Prime's, sent out to look for the Allspark) had taken him under his wing, training and tutoring him in battle, so when it had been decided by the squad commander that Piledriver go to Earth in responce to Prime's communicae, it was only to be expected that Fusion would go along too. Driver didn't regret the decsision...Fusion was a good ally, and usually friendly and respectful, but he did have his moments.

"And don't make remarks on what you haven't tried either." he added to the car in front, changing the subject. "These American Humans are very good engineers...you'd know that if you so much as attempted to mimmic one of their cars. You could quite easily have taken something from the Dodge garage yourself, and I bet you would have liked it too."

"Meh, maybe." replied Fusion, sounding dissinterested. "This...'Spyline', or whatever they called it just caught my eye though. I like it's attitude."

"Yeah, enough to cross an eight lane freeway in broad daylight at rush hour. Your 'eye' is gonna get yourself killed one day."

"Hey, nobody saw me! I make a very good lamppost for when people can see me I'll have you know!"

"Whatever...let's just find Prime and get some orders." For a long moment the comm between the two went silent as they approached the NYC limits, but as they turned off the freeway, Piledriver spoke again. "Oh, and Fusion?"

"Huh?"

"Call me dad again and I'll punt you right back to Cybertron, ok?"

(OOC: w00t^^ Same characters as in the previous TF RP, but I changed Piledriver's name after realising his previous name (Shockwave) was already an official character.

Watch Piledriver be taken too now XD )

The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda seemed out of sorts with its surroundings. Typical highway fare this wasn't. Amid the ritzy and the rustbuckets, this car looked like it belonged in an autobody magazine or in a car show. Its headlights...tilted...in the direction of the arena as the boombox in its backseat played a good, hard, metal song. "Cut the tunes, Blaster, I think something's wrong...something just spoke our language. Right at the good verse, too." "No way! Two can play, Megas. I'll run it up the flagpole and see who salutes!"

The boombox shifted form, combining into the car's...well, no longer a car, but a good-sized robot in bright, gleaming red armor with flame detail and massive jump jets sprouting from its back as it leapt off the highway. The boombox-bot began broadcasting in Cybertronian frequencies, albeit speaking English. "Hey! Any Autobots near us? B....BIIIG Decepticon on the loose on our location! Megas and Blaster engaging! Repeat, anyone out there?" With Blaster broadcasting from inside his chestplate, Megas' hands morphed. One, the fingers straightened out and three slender barrels, the other, changed into a large, cannonlike appendage. Both of these opened fire on the massive Decepticon as Megas took off running, trying to lure it away...

Scene: Lower Orbit, Earth

The protoform slowed to a halt. One glowing, red eye scanning the white craft in front of it. The Decepticon known as Astrotrain knew it would be difficult, if not almost impossible to reach Earth's surface undetected in his present state. The last thing the astonauts ever saw was an exact copy of their own shuttle burn them away with plasma shots.

"This is the Copernicus. We're having engine trouble and are conducting an emergency descent." The shuttle pulled out of orbit and began gliding down towards Earth's surface...amid an unpredicted star shower. Touching down in the desert, Astrotrain would notice a freightliner smoking past.
Location: Houston, TX

News reports would indicate a series of explosions with lots of scrap metal in Texas, but the train that was supposed to be in the explosion, regardless of the bodies, regardless of the damage, made it to the station on time, no one noticing the new symbol emblazoned on the freighter's chassis. "This is Astrotrain. I have landed and am awaiting orders. In the name of Megatron!" came the broadcast to all the Decepticons in the area.

OOC
Name: Megas
Disguise Form: 1970 Plymouth barracuda convertible, red paint with flame detail on the front.
Role: Intel, similar to Jazz in function.
Weapons: Hand gatiling, heavy arm cannon, energy knife.
Special ability: Signal Control. Working with Blaster, he can jam signals or amplify others.
Allegiance: Autobot

Name: Blaster
Disguise Form: Modern large portable boombox with oversized speakers.
Role: Scout
Weapons: Sonic wave emitters. Capable of point-disruption (think the sound equivalent of plasma shot). Can do a sound burst in his transformed state which is an amplified version of the one apparently common to all Transformers in the movie.
Special Ability: Signal Control. When in stereo form and merged with Megas, he can jam or amplify various communication frequencies.
Allegiance: Autobot

Name: Astrotrain
Disguise Mode: Freight train engine with 3 cargo cars (will usually steal more to blend in).
Weapons: Heavy Plasma cannons, Rocket launchers.
Allegiance: Decepticon
EDIT: Gotcha Terg. I only used the shuttle itself to get him onto Earth. He's currently train-only. Also edited Blaster.

Hiding near bye, Deathstar watch the Autobots Piledriver and Fusion drive along. His black amour making it easier not to be seen in the shadows, the only thing that could give him away, is his white star mark, on his chest and the white streaks going along the sides of his arms.
"Fools, they don't even know their being watch!, as soon as they get a signal from Prime I will be able to lock on to his location, then will be able to report to Starscream"
As he watch the two, he question why the Autobots even cared, these beings where weak they can't even protect themsevles from each other!
But still why bother?
He then pondered for a bit till relizing what he was thinking.
"Gahhh what am I thinking, this stupid planet must be messing with me, I better report to Starscream before I have any more ideas"
"Starscream I have located two Autobots, waiting for them to signal Prime will be waiting for futher orders"
OOC:
Hope this is okay if I need to change anything please ask....

Name: Deathstar
Alligence: Decepticon
Weapons: Plasma Saber blade (is the colour of dark blue when active but most times black a gold) and his Plasma sniper rifle (Black and white).
Disguise Mode: Stealth Bomber
Special Abilities: Can locate anyone as long as their signal is broadcasting for over 35 seconds, and can also turn invisible for five minuets.

OOC Edit: Adding in the tech specs of these three characters.
Prowl
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 9
Speed: 7
Endurance: 9
Rank: 9
Courage: 9
Firepower: 4
Skill: 9

Skywarp
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 9
Endurance: 7
Rank: 5
Courage: 8
Firepower: 7
Skill: 7

Thundercracker
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 9
Endurance: 7
Rank: 5
Courage: 5
Firepower: 8
Skill: 7

New York City.
The police car drove lazily through the streets. It had only been a few days since he arrived on Earth, and he had made contact with Optimus Prime and the others. But for now, his mission was to just watch and observe for Decepticon activity.

Prowl was his name, and he is the Autobot's tactical adviser and strategist. He was briefed of the situation with Megatron and the All Spark, and knew his role well: Defend against the Decepticons, protect the All Spark, protect humanity.

He had spent the last few cycles searching through the internet, brushing himself up on Earth's history and it's languages, familiarizing himself with all of the aspects, so he could do his job to his fullest. And that's when the call would come through: A vehicle at a local destruction derby arena had gone loco.

Prowl would suddenly swerve in the middle of the street, activating his sirens, and before he could even think about accelerating, he received another message, although on a Cybertronian frequency.

Prowl quickly put the pedal to the metal, and kicked in the nitro as he sped off down the street. "Affirmative, Megas and Blaster. This is Autobot unit Prowl. I am converging on your current location. Keep the target Decepticon busy. I'll be there in a nano-click." His statement was clear and precise, as usual. Soon enough, he'd be able to see the arena as he approached it...

Somewhere in low orbit above North America...
Two objects glowed brightly in the night sky, thanks to the super-heated entry into the Earth's atmosphere. They spiraled, twisted, turned, seeming to try out do the other with acrobatic aerial stunts as they descended into Earth's atmosphere.

They would both crash into the ocean, away from civilization, miles away from land. But even then, they would not go unnoticed. An aircraft carrier slowly drifted upon their location.

As the aircraft carrier got closer, escorted by a cruiser, two bodies of metal flew straight up out of the water, their modes transfiguring and changing, transforming into that of two jets. One was blue, the other black and purple.

The twin terrors soon wreaked havoc upon the unsuspecting aircraft carrier and cruise ship, and they stood on the flaming wreckage of the aircraft carrier, as it was steadily sinking.

"Thundercracker reporting in to Starscream," one would say, sending the transmission over a Decepticon frequency. "Thundercracker reporting in to Starscream. We have arrived."

"Skywarp, too!" Added in the other, before being silenced by the blue one.

They didn't expect an answer, and so they flipped into the air and transformed, jetting off towards the coastline of the United States of America.

OOC:
Now, I've got a problem. I don't recall seeing Barricade die in the movie, nor his remains being dumped into the trench. Can someone enlighten me as to when he did bite the dust?

OOC: I edited my first post to include Barricade still being alive, after it was pointed out to me in the chat by some other TF fans (Craig and Crim). He was called to the final battle with the others, but strangely enough he didn't really appear after that, so we can only assume he did in fact survive. He is available as a group-controlled NPC. Ironically, I thought that Barricade was Prowl at first, at least until I saw the Decepticon symbol on him. 😛

Cy, glad you joined up, and it's neat to see Blaster being brought into the action, particularly since his abilities are well-used to help bring people into the situation, and seeing as how Frenzy was used in the movie. But I'm basing this RP off of the movie, where the Transformers could take on different forms (Frenzy's head being able to convert to a cell phone after his whole body had been a boombox, for example, or Bumblebee taking on the newer Camaro's form in the tunnel), but it looked like they could only maintain one disguise form at a time. I realize that I didn't state this in the opening post, and I do apologize for that, but I'd prefer that Triple-Changers or other multi-form Transformers be avoided for this RP.

That said, Astrotrain could still be used - after all, it was within the abilities of the Transformers in the movie to switch forms, as long as they are big enough to fill out the form. And it really was a brilliant tactic to destroy a potential problem and use it simultaneously to land on Earth. But by taking on the train form, he can't keep the shuttle mode. If you want to keep Astrotrain or if you would like to change to a different Decepticon idea now that I've told you this, it's fine with me either way.

Groovy, thanks for joining us as well; your character looks good, the only thing I might offer for a suggestion is to make some kind of limit on the signal power, for example, he can track any signal that goes on longer than a certain amount of time, say fifteen-to-thirty seconds. That way it still is powerful and gives him the ability to track signals, and makes it risky for the Autobots to give away their locations, but it also allows for more intense plot development (how much more exciting will the story be, after all, if Prime does contact the others, and everyone is holding their breath to see if he contacts them just long enough to be tracked down or not?). Other than that, looks interesting.

And welcome to everyone else who joined as well; your participation is appreciated.

General announcement, try to avoid characters who are Triple-Changers or have more forms than robot and one vehicle mode, or who are part of the teams that can combine together to form larger Transformers (Constructicons, for example); I'm willing to negotiate if there are a number of players who all want to play one member of a team and are willing to share control of the combined form, but it's too much to have one person control all of the characters of a particular combination team. For the most part, choose "regular" Transformers that only have one alt-form (that is, they can transform to robot from vehicle, or vice-versa); you can have a Transformer small enough to be a cell phone or PDA, so keep that in mind. If you want to choose a character who is somewhat more unusual (like a Dinobot or an Insecticon), PM me for approval on a case-by-case basis. Feel free to ask questions in PM or in OOC comments.

I'm willing to be flexible on these rules, but for the most part this is going to stay pretty close to what we saw in the movie as far as TF abilities go.

IC:
Scene: Monster truck arena in New York City

Rampage detected the shots being fired at him by the approaching Autobot, and though he wanted to continue the senseless destruction, he threw himself out of the way of the shots as he ducked behind part of the arena wall. He knew it would not provide enough cover to stop any more shots, but it was a visual screen to allow for a delay as his opponent tried to track him. Not to mention there were still humans in the stands.

Now if only I could get him close enough, I could settle this the way I really like, he said with a fierce robotic grin to himself; his shoulder blades whirred a few times at the thought of sending their serrated edges into Autobots. But at this range, he had only his shotgun cannon and a grenade launcher that would be effective.

"What, stopped shooting because you're afraid to hurt the humans?" he taunted before popping up to fire a return blast of his shotgun. "Or are you afraid of facing someone who isn't as small as you are?"

"At least I'm not afraid to fight face-to-face like a real Cybertronian!" came the rejoinder as Megas dodged the blast and fired with his gatling arm, catching Rampage with a few glancing shots.

"Urrgh! You'll pay for that, Autobot!" ranted Rampage as he ducked back down, and he lobbed a grenade from his launcher over the stands at where he calculated Megas would be. The shots he had taken were minimal, and Rampage was certainly tough enough that it would take a lot more to actually bring him down.

Scene: Nuclear Power Plant outside of New York City

An F-22 Falcon sped through the sky like a rocket, and though the holographic pilot in its front seat was completely emotionless, Starscream himself was pleased beyond measure as he received the transmissions from all of the Decepticons who had arrived.

"Excellent, Deathstar," he crooned as he leveled out over the tree-covered ground, facing the power plant miles ahead. "Track all Autobot transmissions and determine how many there are, but Prime remains your top priority. Follow the Autobots that you have found, and prepare to assist Rampage in the distraction."

After receiving an affirmative message, he switched channels. "Thundercracker, Sky Warp, join me at my position at once! I will require your assistance in helping to convert the lowly human power plant into our first Energon production site. We must move fast to get enough Energon for this operation to be worth it. For the glory of our fallen leader, Megatron! For the glory of the Decepticons!"

Switching off his communicator, he then addressed the blue-painted tape cassette deck that was attached to the console inside the cockpit. "Are you ready, Soundwave?"

"Beginning jamming sequence," droned the tape deck as a series of squawks and squeals came from its speakers. It was a combination tape deck/CD Player/DVD player, with a fold-up screen that showed the status of its hacking attempt. "All human communication signals are scrambled. They will not be able to send for help."

"Good. The others and I will deal with the plant's security, while you will infiltrate the facility and reprogram it for our needs."

"I live to serve," stated Soundwave, and suddenly Starscream ejected him out of the cockpit to drop down to the ground below, where Soundwave bounced on top of the canvas rear cover of a truck before transforming into his robot mode in midair and landing on the ground. His streamlined blue form quickly made its way into a collection of pipes at the edge of the facility.

Meanwhile, Starscream rained down a hail of bullets and missiles on the facility, enjoying the sweet satisfaction of his schemes going according to plan. After all, he had led the Decepticons for millenia while Megatron had slept in ice; who could possibly contend that Starscream was the better leader?

Megas caught a glimpse of the Decepticon before it jumped behind the wall; he had seen Rampage in action before on data files. He knew better than to get close to the thing. He also knew that most Decepticons were notoriously short-tempered. Raising his gatiling arm, he pot-shotted the grenade into exploding midair. Megas ran back a few feet, lifting off with his back jets and perching on top of an emptied section of arena, where he had a clearer view of Rampage. Yeah. did NOT want him getting too close. Two of Megas' tires, usually located inside his lower legs, dropped down to his heels, as though he was prepared to skate away if he needed to. "What's the matter? Your aim seems a little off today, Deceptichump!" Megas' other arm, the heavier cannon, fired, sending a hot, blue, concentrated plasma bolt screaming at Rampage.

Elsewhere...

Astrotrain silently pulled out of the railyard, its cars empty, hacking into the necessary switches and signals to give itself a clear path to New York, where the new leader awaited...

OOC: lolz k, just wanted to point this out about Triple-Changers, don't want it to affect the rules or anything, just wanted to bring it up, because it's an interesting fact. Shockwave appeared in the movie's game, and as a Triple-Changer. He died by Optimus' hands.

IC:
New York City
Prowl's tires brunt rubber along the highway as he dodged and swerved through traffic expertly, the arena approaching him on the horizon. He could see Megas in his perched position on the stadium, and he could see the streaking ball of plasma fly to other Decepticon.

"Megas!" Prowl said alarmingly, broadcasting the message to him, seeing as he was still a fair distance away, "try to refrain from using heavier attacks like that, especially with civilians around."

He'd swerve to a stop outside the arena, and he'd hear the large rumbling inside, and an explosion. That sounded like Rampage dodging. He'd mentally frown, and transformed on the spot, his body flipping up and over from a backflip as he came into his robotic form, and landed back down on the ground. He'd climb up the stadium as well, standing next to Megas.

"The calvary has arrive," he'd proclaim, and let his optics scan over who their adversary was. Data had pulled up a match. Rampage. He'd mentally frown again. It'd be lucky if the two of them could take out this Decepticon.

"'bout time you got here," Megas would say, before firing another blob of plasma down upon Rampage's position.

Prowl let the remark roll off his shoulders, as he scanned the area. Even Prime knew that Prowl was a skilled tactician, and had one the Autobots many battles. "You take the right, I'll flank to the left," he'd order, as he darted off along to the left, still keeping to the top of the arena.

In the skies above America...
Two F/A-18 Hornets thundered across the night sky at alarming speed. One blue, the pther purple and black.

"...Fallen leader?" Skywarp eventually muttered, sometime after Starscream's transmission had ended.

"That means Starscream's in charge," Thundercracker would reply.

Skywarp remained silent momentarily, before speaking up. "I had hoped to see our glorious leader one last time, but..." He trailed off.

"I do not like the idea of Starscream leading, either," Thundercracker tried to consolidate his partner. "But Lord Megatron's orders are Lord Megatron's orders. We must obey."

"Then... For the glory of the Decepticons!" Skywarp screeched, and the air around him fizzled and crackled with electricity. Thundercracker knew what was going on, and he remained particularly close, as they both blinked out of existence...

Only to appear a split-second later, in the night sky above outside New York. In the not-too-far distance, they could see the fighter-jet wreaking havoc upon the powerplant. They were completely helpless.

"Starscream, you're in our sights, we are approaching your location now," Thundercracker broadcasted, as his thrusters accelerated to maximum burn. Skywarp followed at the same speed.

OOC: Just a quick heads up. I'll be away from home from 8/10 to 8/12 at a convention, and won't have access to my computer. I apologize if this causes an inconvenience. -CK

EDIT: Back.

IC:
"Track all Autobot transmissions and determine how many there are, but Prime remains your top priority. Follow the Autobots that you have found, and prepare to assist Rampage in the distraction."
Reapeating in his head what Starscream had said, he then started sending a signal to Rampage carefully making sure that the two Autobots wouldn't be able to hear him...

"Rampage hows the situation over their, is all things going to plan?"
He waited for his reply.....

OOC: Interesting note, Spiner - although it now makes me wonder if Soundwave was ever introduced into the prequel comics or the games.

IC:
Scene: Monster truck arena battle, New York City
Rampage was already losing his temper as he faced off against two Autobot opponents; savage and deadly though he was, he was better suited for fighting in close and personal where his saw blades and shotgun could be used to maximum effectiveness. The Autobot who just arrived appeared to be well aware of this, for he and his companion were both circling around him for better shots. They also had the advantage of higher ground, which certainly wouldn't give him much of a chance to fight back...except with his grenade launcher...

"Rampage hows the situation over their, is all things going to plan?" came the transmission from Deathstar through the Decepticon frequency.

"No they aren't!" growled Rampage through the same channel, fierce though he had just thought of a plan that would give him a chance to fight back. "The Autobots are responding too quickly! Get your tin-plated tailpipe over here on the double!"

To buy himself time, Rampage fired two shotgun blasts at Megas to force the Autobot to take cover, then lobbed a grenade under the area where Megas had been standing on before launching another one, with a delay timer, into the stands where some humans were still stumbling over themselves to try to get away. The grenade under Megas' position along the wall exploded immediately, with an echoing boom that was shortly followed by the arena wall beginning to collapse. Meanwhile the other grenade, a time bomb that landed heavily in the middle of the pathetic human crowd, beeped loudly and its pitch and tempo heightened as it counted down.

"Only enough time to do one thing at a time, AutoBUTT!" shouted Rampage with a malignant robotic grin as he aimed another shot at Prowl with his shotgun, a certain malicious glee accompanied his triumph at creating such a conundrum so quickly for his two opponents. "Save the humans, or take me down! Now what'll it be?"

Scene: Power plant, New York City
With Thundercracker and Skywarp's help, the minimal defenses at the power plant were quickly overwhelmed by Starscream, who sent a stream of missiles spraying from his left-arm missile launcher after transforming to finish the job.

"Excellent work, fellow Decepticons," congratulated Starscream as the other jet-based Transformers landed nearby in their own robot modes. "Now quickly, while Soundwave is busy hacking the facility, we must prepare it for Energon production."

Under Starscream's careful direction, the three of them transformed parts of their bodies to combine together with the power plant's structure and reconstruct it. It would take nearly twenty minutes for this operation to be completed, and they would likely only have enough time to make enough Energon to load one Decepticon with it before escaping, but Starscream had calculated this strategy enough times to be sure that it would indeed work out to their advantage. Even a single load would be enough to supply the entire Decepticon forces for repairs and refueling, and after all, this was not the only place where Starscream had sent soldiers to gather Energon from...

Scene: Inside the power plant, New York City
Soundwave broke through the grating in the control room of the power plant, and before the human occupants realized what was going on, he swung down and shot two tapes out of his chest. One of them stayed in the air as it transformed into a robotic bird with twin laser cannons, while the other landed on the ground unrolled into a miniature savage Transformer hound.

"Laserbeak, Ravage, attack," ordered Soundwave as he raised the wide barrel of the gun attached to his arm, and he shot out discs that carved through the air at their human targets.

Though Laserbeak and Ravage were not much bigger than a typical human-produced keyboard in overall size, they were both ferocious and equipped with sharp biting parts as well as miniature weaponry that worked remarkably well to bring down the unprepared human workers. And Soundwave moved steadily through the chaos, assisting with a few well-placed shots but otherwise walking through the madness to the computer control console. Once he reached it, he jumped into the air and transformed into his multimedia player form, landing on the console with a headphone jack snaking out and plugging itself into the computer.

"Hacking sequence in progress," droned Soundwave as his screen flipped up, showing the system hack and the files that Soundwave was downloading and storing for analysis and use in future operations. It would take less time for him to complete his end of the mission than for the larger Decepticons outside to finish their work; such was Soundwave's skill.

OOC: I'm going to try to add more to the Middle East situation sometime in the next post or two; if anyone has other ideas for nice exotic locations for the Decepticons to strike at for the plot, I'm open to suggestions on that as well. The human militaries will probably start getting involved soon too, since it's clear that this is another alien threat - and it isn't clear who's on who's side to the humans.

Megas' intuition was right. Skating over to take cover, he barely had time to hear the sound as the floor gave out under him. Raising his gatiling arm, he fired off tiny energy shots to dissipate the rubble above him, then as a clearing opened above, fired his jets to take himself skyward. He knew he'd only have a split second advantage as he noticed Rampage wasn't paying attention to him at the moment; he raised his heavier blaster and fired off a plasma bolt destined for Rampage's neck joints. "Don't forget about me so soon..." he said barely above a whisper.

Elsewhere, news reports of trains being suddenly derailed were being reported across the country. What the news wasn't saying was that cars were being stolen, or that the "derailed" trains had giant, smoking holes in their chassis...

New York - Arena
Prowl let Megas take on the Decepticreep, ignoring the lumbering Decepticon for now. Rampage wasn't his concern, the ticking grenade was! In a display of acrobatics, he flipped off the top of the stadium, transforming in mid-air. Subtlety was not an option here. He landed on the ground, and accelerated, drove directly towards the grenade. Hopefully the people were smart enough to move.

He flipped out of transformation into a backflip, landing on the ground, and reached over a screaming woman to grab the grenade behind her. Nano-clicks were counting down. He postioned himself, and catapulted the grenade up into the sky, his optics locking onto the object and he brought up one of his weapons and opened fire upon the grenade, creating an explosion in the sky which seemed like fireworks.

Prowl looked over to his comrade, who was landing back down on the ground, and to the Decepticon, who had taken the shots but was still standing. "What does it take to bring this guy down?" Megas would ask, slightly annoyed that his shots hadn't put Rampage out of commission.

"Keep firing!" Prowl gave a shout, bringing up his own gun to fire at Rampage, if only to serve as a distraction, if anything. His firepower alone wouldn't be able to take down the Decepticon, and he knew it. They'd be needing Megas' heavier firepower more.

"You get the feeling we're being watched?"

If Fusion had had a face, he would have shot Driver one of the craziest, most sarcastic looks he could muster. "Dude...we're in a city, with hundreds of people on every single street, with two eyes to every single one of them..."

"I don't mean Humans." Piledriver went quiet for a moment, thinking, as the duo cruised down one of the wide city streets, dodging yellow taxis and other cars, before suddenly speaking up again. "Make a right Fusion."

"What, here? But it's an alley, I'll get dirt all over my tires...!"

"Just do as I say, I need to check something."

With a grunt of displeasure, the Skyline indicated to the right, turning off the road into a narrow back alley between two tall office buildings, followed by the large rig. The small confines of the alley were barely big enough to allow Piledriver through, but with some careful manuvering he managed to fit between the towering walls, and the two came to a stop some way away from the street, out of the way of prying eyes.

Instantly one of Piledriver's large exhausts seemed to collapse in on itself, twisting and reconfiguring as it climbed the side of his cab to perch on top in the form of a mini radar dish, immeadeately beginning to swing from side to side as it began to scan the area. "Maybe I'm paranoid, but it's better to be safe than sorry." he muttered as he examined the results. "If I can't find any more Cybertronian signals in the area we can move on, give me a sec."

Fusion didn't respond, instead just muttering to himself as he stared at the dirt and rubbish on the floor of the alley. Slowly Piledriver's scan continued...slowly, but very thoroughly...edging closer and closer towards where Deathstar was hiding...

IC:

"No they aren't!" came the reply from Rampage

"Ill be on my way!"Deathstar turn off the signal and turned back to where he been spying on the Autobots to find they were coming his way.

Great I don't have time to fight with them, but I can't leave with out find out where Prime is!, hmm.. I know...

He took out from a tracking device that had been hidden in a secet Compartment in his wrist. Then activating his stealth mode then he creep towards the one he guess was the younger one out of the two.

When he knew he was in range, not too far and not too close just a good another to throw with out making too much noise.
He then threw it at Fusion, then made a dash out of the alley way, not looking back. when he was out of the alley he jumped into the air and transform into his stealth bomber form and blasted of to aid Rampage.

"There!"

"Huh?"

"There is someone nearby! Moving away at high speed..."

"Which direction?" asked Fusion immediately, spinning his wheels in anticipation of action, but Piledriver sighed in resignation.

"No use, they're going upwards. Must have some kind of jet form, we'd never catch them."

"Decepticon?"

"No idea, but if he were on our side, why would he hide from us?"

"Good point. Anyway, he's gone now right?"

"Yeah, we may as well continue on and find Prime. Now that we know we have no tails it should be easier." Piledriver started his engine again and the duo set off down the alley, moving out into the city streets once again in their search for the Autobot leader, completely unaware of the small tracker now stuck to Fusion's front bumper...

OOC: Here's the characters I'll choose, if it's all right:

Name: DIRGE
Faction: DECEPTICON
Sub Group: SEEKER, CONEHEAD
Function: WARRIOR
Motto: 'DEATH COMES TO HE WHO CROSSES ME!'
Alt Mode: MODIFIED F-15 EAGLE JET

Profile: Leader of the 3 'Seeker' Decepticons, Dirge is a mournful, silent warrior reliant on - and consumed by - fear. While an expert at inflicting fear on others, Dirge is also prone to succumbing to fear. Dirge's effectiveness evaporates under situations where Dirge feels tht he is not in control.
In jet mode, Dirge has the ability to induce fear in other robots through his engines. The engines can emitt certain frequencies that cause disorientation and provoked fear in the Transformers' equivalent of the central nervous system. He also carries two air-to-air missiles and two automatic machine guns.

Name: THRUST
Faction: DECEPTICON
Sub Group: SEEKER, CONEHEAD
Function: WARRIOR
Motto: 'I'LL WASH MY ACTUATORS IN YOUR SPILLED LUBRICANT, WEAKLING!'
Alt Mode: MODIFIED F-15 EAGLE JET

Profile: The second 'Seeker,' Thrust wants you to know he's coming. The other Decepticons have learned there's no being sneaky when he's around. He's a loud-mouthed braggart who will claim victory before he's even taken the field. He tries to terrify and demoralize the enemy with loud rumbling roars from his engines and boasts from his vocal circuits. The truth is that Thrust is mostly bluster with little to back it up. Any sort of strong resistance can send him flying back the way he came.

Name: RAMJET
Faction: DECEPTICON
Sub Group: SEEKER, CONEHEAD
Function: WARRIOR
Motto: 'IF IT FLIES, CRASH IT!'
Alt Mode: MODIFIED F-15 EAGLE JET

Profile: The final 'Seeker,' Ramjet is an impulsive but brave warrior who enjoyes crashing into objects and enemies. He carries two cluster bombs and two automatic machine guns. Not giving much to thinking before acting, Ramjet often crashed into neutral objects, thus collecting new enemies. These crashes often take their toll on Ramjet's body by causing internal damage.

MOVIE LINKED: Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet were recruited as Decepticons under the leadership of Megatron in his war against the Autobots on Cybertron. When Megatron disapeared on Earth, they became soldiers under Starscream's command. They worked together in searching the galaxy for their missing leader, and the Allspark. While exploring Speed Planet, they heared Megatron was found, and headed to Earth, but were too late. Starscream met up with them on his journeys after the war.
Under Starscream's command, the 3 blended into Earth culture as jets, eagerly waiting the one day when they can strike!

IC:
Deathstar was now hovering above where Rampage was still in his stealth bomber form, his stealth mode had gone off a few moments ago, seeing the destruction below, it amazed him how easie it was, to do so much damge with just a few attacks.
"These humans are fortunate that these weakling Autobots are willing to risk their lives for them" he muttered to himself.
Then through of something then shook this through away.
"Grrr.....what is wrong with me a Decepticon doesn't think we orbay the command and nothing else!"
He then shouted. "For the glory of the Decepticons!" and he swooped down fireing upon, the two Autobots below.

OOC: Just letting you all know that I may not be able to post much in the next couple of weeks until I get my laptop and find a good wireless spot for it - so proceed ahead without me, I hope there's enough there now for you to work some plottage out with. You may use any of my characters as NPCs to react as you see fit.

EDIT: Let's get this ball rolling, folks!

IC:
Longhaul came further into New York City, his wheels spinning as he hurried along. "Slag, this form is much too cramped...ah, there's something suitable."

As he passed a tow truck, his body glowed as he reconfigured in mid-drive - and he was now a blue tow truck. "That's better. Now to meet up with Blaster and Megas."

He drove off, feeling mighty pleased with his new form.

Rampage was damaged and feeling rather harried by the two Autobots, but he couldn't help but grin ferociously as Deathstar's opening barrage forced the Autobots to take cover to avoid being hit. "Excellent work!" roared Rampage triumphantly as he fired a pair of shotgun blasts, then he dashed forward and transformed into his monster truck mode. "Now get ready to pick me up so we can join Starscream at the power plant! This diversion's over!"

Dodging shots from Megas and Prowl, Rampage threw himself into a roll and bounced up into the air, just in time to transform back to robot mode and catch onto Deathstar's wings as he flew past. Deathstar became noticeably slower, but he was able to ascend in altitude enough to pull out of range before Prowl and Megas could get close enough to calibrate for the new and unexpected target.

"Commander, this is Rampage; we are joining you at your position!"

Megas swore as he dove for cover, then watched the two get away. "Blaster, send out a signal that the arena's okay." He shifted into his car mode and with a blast of La Cucaracha from his horn and a squeal from his tires, was off like a land rocket after them, ramping at at least 90mph off an incline in the parking lot onto the freeway, following the stealth bomber with his eyes as he used his other sensors to navigate through the busy freeway, trying as best he could to follow under disguise mode as Blaster started sending encoded messages saying that the arena was OK and that Megas and he were following two huge Decepticons to who knows where.

IC:
Deathstar could just see that one of the Autobots was folowing them, and then he was starting to pick up a signal, expcert it was dericted to any autobot in pratical.
"Darn it that autobot is chasing us-"
He was quickly cut off as he had to quiclky move out of the way of a police helicopter.
"Why didn't you just fly right threw it!" growl Rampage who was still holding on to his wing.
"I don't really care about destroying everinthing in my path I just want to get out of here with little damage!"
He then activated his stealth mode and started head to where Starscream would be....

OOC: Hope this was okay...

OOC: No, that's perfectly fine; we can say that his invisibility power does extend to others, but he pretty much has to be touching them and the time limit might be shorter since he's expending more power to do it.

IC: It was impossible to trace exactly where Deathstar was headed now, though Megas tried to do so anyway. But after a few short minutes, it was clear that the chase was lost, and he waited for Prowl to arrive.

Prowl did catch up, but it wasn't just him - Longhaul showed up as well. "Hey, about time I caught up to you guys! I got Blaster's message, did we lose 'em?"

"No, not just yet. Rampage mentioned a power plant that Starscream was at, so that means Starscream is most likely behind this entire situation," explained Prowl. "The arena was a diversion from Starscream's real objective, the power plant."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's roll out to the power plant!"

"Negative, Megas," said Prowl. "Starscream is there. With Rampage and Deathstar, he's already evenly-matched to us, and he may have others there as well. We should proceed carefully with reinforcements."

"I'm more with Megas on this one, if we don't hurry Starscream'll get away with whatever it was he wanted to do!" put in Longhaul. "Besides, my specialty is long-range - we could get in just close enough to see what they're doing before we put the stops on their operation."

It looked like they would have to agree on a strategy; unless a tie-breaker could arrive?

OOC: I was wondering if it wasn't too late to bring another char into the story? sorry just needed to ask...

OOC: It's fine to add more characters if you feel like you want to, and can reasonably keep up with multiple characters. So yes, that's okay.

The tie-breaker came in loud and...incoherently...behind the group. "Doodoodoodoo-doodoo! SAVE 15% or more on PLANT insurance! Offer expires while you wait..." The voice trailed into beatboxing the Jeopardy theme before going quiet. Megas almost slammed his brakes at the voice behind him. It was strange to him, and probably the other Autobots. An enormous diesel rig pulled up behind them, bearing the Autobot symbol on its grill. Unlike the others, however, it was far from shiny, in ten kinds of disrepair. In addition to this, instead of a regular loading bed, it sported towing gear. In his own weird way, Wreck-Gar was opting for the power plant.

A FEW MONTHS AGO:
Optimus' message to the stars reached a cold, bleak world. The massive Autobot known as Wreck-Gar looked up,the voices he'd heard in the past had been nothing but old TV broadcasts from Earth, and admittedly, it'd messed up his speech patterns a little. He messed with his hand a little and watched with an amused smirk as the cannon shifted into three smaller cannons before his eyes. He stood up, going Protoform mode and shooting off towards the blue dot in the skies above.

Name: Wreck-Gar
Allegiance: Autobot
Role: Handyman/Inventor
Weapons: Variable. Wreck-Gar continually modifies himself one way or the other, so it's unpredictable what he'll produce as a weapon.
Transformed mode: Heavy wrecker, built to tow rigs.

(OOC: lol I was deliberately not getting involved with the arena scene since everyone else was, but nothing else is coming up instead )

"Hey, you get that?"

"Absolutely!" retorted Fusion as he picked up the message about the arena sent by Blaster. "The place is secure? Darn, sounds like we missed some action!"

"Triangulating position now." Driver muttered as he scanned the frequency the signal was coming in on. "Let's try and get there before they leave, otherwise we won't be able to find them again! I'll lead." His huge catapillar engine roaring, the big Autobot thundered alongside his smaller friend, pulling in front as they charged down the road.

"Hey bro, let me save power, I got a smaller reactor than you."

"Only if you can hit a moving target." Piledriver retorted. "We got no time to stop." Activating the hydraulics in his trailer, he allowed the ramps at the back of his transporter to drop towards the road, stopping less than an inch off the tarmac below. With a roar of his own tuned engine, Fusion lept forward up the ramp, hopping onto the long trailer and coming to a stop behind Driver's cab.

"There ya go, no trouble whatsoever." Driver muttered something about being lazy too quiet for his smaller friend to hear, but didn't reply.

-----

It didn't take the duo long to reach the arena, and as they pulled up in a side-street nearby to avoid the masses of police cars gathered, Driver swore. "Look at the state of the place! Have those blasted Deceptocons no consience at all???"

"Nuthin' we can do about it now man." Fusion muttered in responce, sounding somewhat more subdued than normal. "Check your scanners though, we gotta see if there's anybody still around here who can tell us what's going on!"

Driver was silent for a long moment, and it took another prompt from Fusion to draw him out of his reviere. With a short grunt he deployed his scanner once again, checking the area for Cybertronian signals, but as he did so, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the carnage of the arena. Despite being built for heavy combat and bing involved in plenty of skirmishes on other worlds before, he still valued all innocent life as sacred, and was truly appalled by the devastation...

IC:
Deathstar had now landed outside the power plant, letting Rampage get off he quickly transform into robot mode then looked around to see where Starscream was....

**********
Mean while back in New York....
"Great I miss all the action!" muttered a light cream coloured Jeep that had look like it had come out of a war zone, with it's many bents and deep cuts, it was park in one of the near bye streets near the Arena.
"If only I had just gotten here a few more sec's, well I'll just have to see if anyones around that could tell me what happen here?"
He didn't have a good enough scaner to scan the area for any Cybertronian signals so he would have to look.
"Sigh, I really do need to upgrade my scaner unit"
He drove slowly out from where he had been park and started driving down the street....

OCC:
Sorry that this isn't long he's his ref...

Name: Shotgun
Alligence: Autobot
Disguise Mode: A cream colour Jeep
Weapons: Plasma Rifle with grapling hook attach to it.
Profile: Shotgun actes noodie but is a well train soilder who has scene a fair lot of combat, he's got sevral deep cuts and scars from his prevouse battles, but gets serouis when it needs to, but most times he act alot like rookie.

Hope this is okay...

"I'm getting a signal."

"Us or them?"

"Not a clue. It's close though, possibly within visual range."

Fusion stared out over the mass of people that had gathered at the scene of the devastation, gawking at the mess that surrounded them. "Well if it's Decepticon and we tag him off we're here, we'll be looking at a bigger bloodbath than the initial fight caused."

Driver sounded deep in thought as he replied "Very right, but if it's Autobot, we can't afford to miss him, he may know where Prime is. Maybe there is a way..."

Focusing his communicator into the sky, he carefully angled his radar dish at one of the many communications satelites in orbit high above, and sent out a message, bouncing it through the satelite's system...a simple message: "Autobot or Decepticon?" Thanks to the relay and time lag of the message due to the distance, the target of the message, the unknowing Shotgun, probably wouldn't be able to trace it back to it's true source and so wouldn't know it came from so close to him...

IC:

"Autobot or Decepticon?"
"What?"
he suddenly looked around, then relizing it had just come from his scanner.
"It pick up a signal?, I'm surpise it could pick up any signal with all the human's signal things" he muttered to himself.
"Great I can't send a signal back, and I have no idea if their near or far"
He looked at the crowd of people in front of him, all going into the deraction of the Arena, wondering what had taken place their..

He then through about who sent the signal.
"They would have to be an Autobot" muttered Shotgun
"A Decepticon would rather attack than go asking if you were friend of foe so they would have to be near bye",he looked around he wouldn't be able to tell where they were with all these humans around, he could of droven right past them and he wouldn't of know.

he sighed, would he ever find any other Autobots? he was super regretting not coming to this planet with a not very good scaner unit, but he would just have to complain latter right now he needed to find who ever just transmited to him...

"Sigh this is going to be a long night?"
He said as he contuined driving along the street very close to where Piledriver and Fusion were....

After a moment's pause, Fusion spoke up again. "Any responce yet?"

"No." responded Driver slowly, sounding puzzled. "I would have thought he'd be able to triangulate the direction of the signal and send a message back the same way. Maybe he's Deceptocon after all, and trying to hide his position..."

"You keep scanning to try and locate him anyway." Fusion replied as he reversed off his companion's trailer. "I'll go see what info I can glean from the remains up ahead, maybe there's a signature of who's been here or something." His powerful engine rumbling a deep, throbbing note of thunder, he began to cruise forward out of the alley they were parked in, but as he reached the entrance he suddenly swerved to the side, slamming on his breaks, to avoid running slap bang into a cream colored Jeep driving past on the road beond! "Sheesh, these Humans need to look where they're going more often!" he spat, apparently not realising that it was him who should have given way...

"We've got enough to outnumber Starscream now if it's him and the two others, and an even match if he has someone else with him; however, I doubt he would be carrying out an operation on his own," stated Prowl. "But it looks like you're willing to take that risk. Let's roll out!"

"Go Speed Racer go!" exclaimed Wreck-Gar with enthusiasm.

The group started down the highway toward the power plant.

"So what's the plan once we get there?" asked Longhaul as he sidled up near Prowl. "Deathstar and Rampage will probably tell them about us, right?"

"Yes, but they may not be expecting such an immediate attack, and they only saw two of us," reasoned Prowl. "We may have the advantage of surprise. You, Longhaul, should probably hang back once we've reached your maximum weapon range; then you can provide us with fire support while the rest of us engage the Decepticons more closely. Target Starscream first if you see him, prioritize other targets as you see fit. Wreck-Gar and Megas, you're with me; try to suppress enemy fire and make sure to prioritize human safety, if there are any survivors."

Megas and Wreck-Gar acknowledged the plan, and they all approached the power plant...

"Excellent," said Starscream as he watched the proceedings. The energy-conversion device that they had jury-rigged out of the power plant was running smoothly, and already there was a pile of large crate-sized purplish energy cubes resting on the ground. Each cube glowed with its own light, refracted through crystalline translucent skin. "With this, we'll be able to fuel our troops and conquer this pathetic mudball, AND crush the Autobots at the same time."

"Commander Starscream, my sensors indicate that Deathstar and Rampage are coming toward us," droned Soundwave as he perched on his superior's shoulder. "It appears they are being pursued."

"How many?"

"Currently tracking four Autobot signatures."

Starscream schemed at this new development. "Get Ravage and Laserbeak disconnected from the power plant's sensor systems and have them return to you at once. Skywarp, Thundercracker, load as much Energon as you can carry onto Deathstar and Rampage, and then yourselves; Skywarp will get us all out of here before the Autobots can get into combat range."

"Destination?" asked Skywarp.

"We're headed to what the humans refer to as 'The Middle East.' Though it'll give the Autobots a chance to regroup, they'll never be able to reach us before we are finished over there."

Ic:
"Stupid humans don't know where their driving!" grumble Shotgun to himself he looked at the car that had alomst hit him.
Their was something about this human tranport that bug him, but he didn't know what, he decided he'll get out of way and carry on looking for any sign of any other Autobots unknowing that he was right infront of one....

The train pulled into an abandoned railyard in NYC. The destruction behind him surely a precursor to the havoc to come, one would swear the train was smiling. "This is Astrotrain. Have arrived. Awaiting orders."

"That's him!!!" exclaimed Piledriver suddenly, the shock evident in his voice, and Fusion began to cast his sensors around wildly.

"What, where?"

"That Jeep you nearly hit, you idiot! That was him!"

"You serious?" retorted Fusion, turning to stare down the street after the other machine, which had continued to drive off quietly.

"We have to keep watch on him! He's got to be a Decepticon if he didn't respond to our message." Driver continued as he started up his engine once again. "We can't let him know we're following him though, otherwise he'll probably attack us right here in the middle of the city!"

"I got a better idea bro!" Fusion responded, his wheels spinning as he skidded his body round in a cloud of smoke, setting off with a roar after the other vehicle. "No proud Decepticon in the world can resist a challenge. I'll draw him outside the city where there's no Humans, then we can take him safely and free from collateral damage, okay? Meet us there!"

"What???" Driver was about to say more, trying to order his younger ally to stop and come back, but it was too late...Fusion was already out of range.

As Shotgun pulled up at the trafficlights at the end of the street, a loud roar of an engine echoed from behind him as the powerful Japaneese sportscar pulled up alongside, black paintwork gleaming in the sun. "Hey freak!" Fusion called, punctuating his words with another massive rev of his machinery. "I know what you are bud, and I'm here to prove you scum aren't as powerful as you might think you are! Race to the city limits, one on one, you and me! Can you handle the heat, or do you not have the servos, huh?"

IC:
Shotgun had just stop at the traffic lights when he heard the roar of engines and then someone saying...
"Hey freak!"
"I know what you are bud, and I'm here to prove you scum aren't as powerful as you might think you are! Race to the city limits, one on one, you and me! Can you handle the heat, or do you not have the servos, huh?"
"What the frig, are you talking about!"
Man this human must be either crazy, or he's a decepticon, he must be, who else would be stupid enough to just dare you to a race...unless it's a human daring you to a drag race.... nah, it has to be a decepticon, after what he just said it's make senes for he nearly ramed into, not caring for the world around him...........wait a minute decepticon's don't dare anyone into races or any of that sort, unless they want something, like information, like they would get much, it must be a trap, they probably want the location of Prime unlucky for them I don't know where he is and even if I did I couldn't contact him any way.....but still, least I'm not the type whoes stupid enough to fall into those kind of traps...

He then looked back to the traffic lights and saw that they were at orange, he the then spoke back to the car that had challenge.
"Not going to work, today Decepticon scum!"
And just then the light turned green and Shotgun drove away making a right turn and then left down an alley way....

"Deceptiwhatnow???" Fusion responded, stunned, as Shotgun set off. That he certainly hadn't expected...the fool was calling HIM a Decepticon??? But that didn't make any sence...

So surprised by the responce, he completely failed to realise the lights he was waiting for were now green, and only thought to move when an irate taxi driver behind him sounded his horn. The Skyline quickly pulled off into the junction, darting down the alleyway after Shotgun as he went. There was something really fishy going on here...could it be he and Driver had been wrong about the other Cybertronian after all?

"Hey, hey you, wait up!" he called after the jeep as he began to follow...

(OOC: Sorry for the delay)

IC:

Great he's following now that we'll out of site of the humans I can now transform

He suddenly stop, in the middle of the alley way, he waited for a few seconds for Fusion to get closer before transforming into his robot form.

He flipt backwards, turning in mid jump in Fusion's dercation, he was the average size for a Cybertronian, his battle bents and scar's were more visable , one scar went across the face from right to left part of the scar was threw his left eye, making it hard to see. He was the same colour as he was in his jeep form, his green viser eyes were a light green the damage one was even paler.
On his shoulders near where his tyres were, was his Autobot signature and it was the same on both shoulders.

He then quickly brought out his red Plasma Rifle with the graddling hook attach to it, and pionted it at Fusion waiting for his next move.

OOC:
Sorry for changing it and I hope this doesn't cause any problems, if does then I'll change it back.

Oh heck! Fusion muttered to himself as the Jeep before him sudddenly seemed to dissintergrate, parts shifting and switching as Shotgun morphed. This could prove to be either very good or very bad, and if it turned out to be bad, there was gonna be major trouble!

Fusion activated his own transformation matrix too, and the Skyline seemed to leap up into the air as he adjusted, spinning end over end as bodywork compacted and machinery seemed to shrink. He landed in a crouch, ready at any moment to dart out of the way of an attack as he eyed the other robot with a penetrating gaze.

Fusion's natural form was small, very small for a Cybertronian, standing a mere ten feet all told. His frame was exceptionally thin and lanky, built for speed and mauverabillity rather than armour...his long legs, tipped with dinosaur-like claws, came together in a smoothly sculpted pelvis, before his body thinned to less than a foot across at the waist. Around the chest it widened again, two long, thin arms sprouting from broad shoulders, tipped with lengthy clawed fingers, two on each hand plus thumb, each no less than two feet long, looking somewhat disproportionate to the size of his body. His head was long and streamlined, a smooth, unbroken curve of metal with no visible eyes, rising to a long thin crest that stood out from the back of his head to a point around a foot in length. His entire metal exoskeleton was a dark, midnight black, with golden neon strips embedded in his skin, glowing brightly as he moved.

As Shotgun raised his weapon he ducked even lower, about to jump high into the air to dodge the fire, but before he could move he spotted the Autobot icon emblazened on the other bot's shoulders, and his metal lower jaw, hanging down from his smooth head like an afterthought that had been added later, dropped open. "Hey, hey hold it!" he shouted, raising a metal hand. "We're on the same team after all!"

IC:

He watch with his better eye as the other Transformer transformed, he was imprest but he didn't put his guard down, he was just about to shoot Fusion when.
"Hey, hey hold it!"
He watched as the smaller Transformer raise his metal hand to him.
"We're on the same team after all!"
"What?"
Slowly lowering his weapon but not too much encase it was a trick.
"What do you mean we'll on the same side?"

*********
Deathstar had change back into his stealth Bonber form and had now been loadered with the Energon cudes.
"I have as much as I can carrie, Starscream should I launch now?"

OOC:
Hope this is okay and I change my last post, if that is okay?

OOC: *Hops up and down like an over excited chihuahua* I wanna jooooooin!!

"I mean you aren't a Decepticon!" Fusion responded, long, curved metal claws on his feet twitching in anticipation of a swift retreat should the need arise. "We were wrong, we thought you were an enemy, but you aren't! We aren't either! We're just looking for Primo!"

Shotgun was regarding him coldly, but it was clear now that he wasn't going to immeadeately fire his weapon unless attacked, so Fusion relaxed slightly, straightening up and folding his arms across his chest in a curiously 'Human' mannerism. "We're part of Special Force Delta-Epsilon Two-Two-Four, under the command of Erruption. We were sent out to look for the Allspark too, but when our unit got Prime's message we were ordered to come here and contact him."

"Fusion, MOVE!!!" The shout from behind him momentarilly halted all conversation, and as Fusion span round, he stiffened in shock as he saw Piledriver roaring up behind him at top speed, charging towards the two figures like a tsunami! Apparently he hadn't noticed Shotgun was on their side, and had come to intervine and assist his smaller friend.

"Drive, wait!" retorted Fusion, shouting over the noise of the rig's huge engine, but it was already too late...even if Driver had heard him, he wouldn't be able to stop in time. Crouching down like a coiled spring, the small Autobot lept high up into the air as his comrade thundered past underneath him, storming towards the surprised Shotgun like a battering ram. Shotgun didn't look nearly as light and manuverable as him, and Fusion didn't favour his chances of dodging the powerful blow very highly. After that, how the other figure would react would be anyone's guess...!

OOC: Then join in!

IC:
With the arrival of Astrotrain in the area, Starscream had a new idea. "Wait, Deathstar," he ordered before activating his comm and contacting Astrotrain. "Astrotrain, arrive at these coordinates immediately. Prepare for Energon loading and make sure to find a suitable flight form for the trip to the Middle East."

Starscream turned to the others. "Pull back to the far end of the facility and bring the Energon cubes with you! We'll have to hold out here until Astrotrain arrives; we can fill him up with the cubes and leave ourselves free to cover his escape."

Longhaul pulled off to one side as they reached a hill right before the power plant complex. "I'll set up here for long-range support. D'you think they know we're coming?"

"I don't doubt it, but in all probability they will not be aware that we've been joined by more Autobots," said Prowl. "Keep comm silence until the battle commences; we don't want to tip them off too soon."

"Roger. Kick their tailpipes, eh?"

Longhaul's parts reconfigured as he transformed into his robot mode. His blue armor glinted in the sunlight as he knelt, raising his right arm up to align his forearm-mounted linear cannon with the matching shoulder gun, connecting them together and lining up the enhanced sights that gave him a view of the battlefield up ahead. He watched from this vantage point as the rest of the Autobots proceeded forward toward the base, and scanned the base area to check for targets and begin firing once he found his best opportunity.

But as he looked, he realized that the power plant looked empty. There was what looked like an Energon manufacturing facility jury-rigged out of the power plant, the same kind that surely the Autobots would have built somewhere on this mangy mudball of a planet, but it looked as if it had been abandoned. Had the Decepticons left already, sensing their approach? There wasn't a sign of them anywhere.

Then he saw the glint of sunlight against moving metal, and he saw Decepticons at the far end of the power plant, arranged ambush style in a semi-circle. The Autobots were heading right for them!

Longhaul hated to disobey the orders of a superior, but he saw no other choice as he opened the comm. "Autobots, it's an ambush!" He projected to them instantly what he saw, and he lobbed some shells to lay cover fire.

And thus the battle began.

"A wha?...!" Megas didn't stop moving forward, but folded up into his Robot mode, Blaster merged into his chest. Both hands were changed into cannon form, one heavy, one light gatiling.

Wreck-Gar, with a shout of "WELL, EXCUUUUUUSE ME, PRINCESS!" , leapt high into the air as he transformed, his face in a wry grin as his left hand was replaced with a red-hot chainsawlike appendage, and his right arm into...a right arm. Standing at about the same height as Prime himself, Wreck-Gar looked fairly patchwork, like he kept redeciding how his robot form wanted to look as he transformed, his arms mismatched in design as his legs, one foot clawed and the other a blunt, bootlike structure. About the only steady thing on him was his head, from which a metallic beard hung from his chin, and his eyes glowing a faint crimson.

Meanwhile...

Astrotrain smiled inside. "Understood. Astrotrain coming to position. Glory to the Decepticons!"

The train rolled by a nearby air base, scanning a cargo jet, the first one he could find.

Air traffic control was stunned as the C-17 Globemaster III rolled out onto the tarmac without clearance, then suddenly shot off the runway faster than a C-17 Globemaster III should ever be able to take off, even as Humvees rolled up for stopping the jet, only to hear its engines roar loudly...some of the troops swore they heard a mechanical cackle as the plane passed overhead.

OOC:
New form for Astrotrain: a black-and-white painted C-17 Globemaster III with the Decepticon symbol on the nose, disguised as graffiti troops would put on their planes.

Terg, Astrotrain can show up whenever you want him to.

IC:

"Oh frig"
Got to think fast Shotgun, or your road kill
Looking around quickly seeing if their was anywhere he could jump out of the way to, their was none.
Great now what do I do, let this guy, ramming?.....wait a minute I've got it
"Well if you can't stay up, you go down!"
Pointing his gun downwards, he blasted the ground beneath him, big enough for him to fall threw into the underground subway below.

"What the...???" Smoke filled the alleyway as Piledriver slammed on his brakes, massive wheels locking up with a deafening screech of rubber as he tried to stop before plunging into the hole Shotgun had dropped into, but it was too late, he was going way too fast. There was a loud CRASH as his cab lept out over the hole, slamming into the edge of the hole on the oppisite side, his grille and fender embedding itself in the concrete beond the hole.

And suddenly, he realised he was completely stuck! The wheels of his rig form were spinning in empty air over the hole, rendering him unable to move, and the fact that he had hit the other side of the hole so hard ment he was unable to drop down into the tunnel below either. And what was more, his robot form was far too big for this small alleyway, ruling out the possibillity of transforming out of the situation too!

And that Decepticon was right underneath him with a big nasty gun!

"Fusuion...help me out!" he called urgently, his mind racing. In truth, what could his small companion do? He wasn't strong enough to push or pull Driver's large frame backwards onto the ground again, and while he could possibly dive down past Driver into the hole to distract the other bot, he'd still be on his own, and Driver would still be stuck.

"Oh nice going bro, nice going!" retorted Fusion as he jumped up onto Driver's trailer and ran along to reach the roof of his cab. "This that 'high level battle training' you were telling me about before we set off? Works wonders, I never would have thought!"

Driver seemed about to reply, but Fusion continued before he could, talking quickly in the hope that Shotgun, still in the hole below the two, would overhear and accept the fact that the attack was a mistake. If he was their enemy now, then Driver was dead, end of. "And worst of all? He's on our side, Drive man! He's not a Decepticon, he's one of us! I was just talking to him before you came. You made a mistake in identification dude, majorly! Now you're just gonna have to pray that he's forgiving enough to push you from below while I pull your butt backwards, try and get you onto level ground again. I'm gonna let you reason with him tho, you're the one he'll be expecting an appology off...!"

Driver was listening silently to the speech, inwardly cringing as Fusion spoke, and as the smaller bot finished, he called down to Shotgun below him: "Hey, that true, what he just said?" A grave mistake indeed, but he had acted with the best intentions...surely nobody could blame him for that? At least, so he hoped...

IC:

Shotgun had seen what had happen above, he was slightly worreid about his attack falling down the hole, but he knew he had enough room down here to get out of the way.
Man am I lucky to have been able to pick up those tremors when I did, or their be a really big bent in me right now...
He couldn't tell what was going on up their now that there was a rig blocking his veiw, but he could he movment and the sound of Fusion's voice.
"And worst of all? He's on our side, Drive man! He's not a Decepticon, he's one of us! I was just talking to him before you came. You made a mistake in identification dude, majorly! Now you're just gonna have to pray that he's forgiving enough to push you from below while I pull your butt backwards, try and get you onto level ground again. I'm gonna let you reason with him tho, you're the one he'll be expecting an appology off...!"
It wasn't long after, did he hear the voice from the vesicle that tried to run him over.
"Hey, that true, what he just said?"
"Yep, and don't worry I'm a forgiving type, I can accept that you were only trying to help your friend here, and now I'm going to try and help you out of that little mess your in"
Shotgun had fallen down to the tracks, The hole was at least two meters above him, he had fallen down into one of the subways many tunnels so their went any humans.

He went to one of the walls, and started trying to climb it, his metal fist digging in to the hard concert, making loud rumbling sounds as he went, fortunatly the wall was strong enough to take this damage and the weight. He had reach the top when he heard the low distance rumble of one of the subway trains rolling down the tracks.

"Oh, gamma"

He quickly dug his metal legs in to the side of the wall, and positioning hime self in a like crouch position. Slowly with his arms out stretch and straightening his back, he clung to what was the remaing part of the ceiling with his left hand and with his right he started trying to push Piledriver out and hoping he'll be free before the train arrives.

"Lucky lucky lucky." chided Fusion as he stood up from his crouch on the long nose of Driver's cab where he had been listening for a responce from below. "Good job the guy is so good natured huh Drive?"

Piledriver made a mental note to remind the young upstart about propper protocol later, but for now he forced himself to stay quiet...now wasn't the time for arguments. Instead, he offered thanks to Shotgun in the hole below as Fusion once again ran down the legth of his trailer, jumping off to the floor and grabbing his rear bumper with is long, clawed fingers, beginning to pull the huge rig backwards with all his might. Slowly, with a grinding, rumbling noise, Driver's grille dislodged from the concrete edge of the hole oppisite, sending a small landslide of stone and dust into the tunnel below.

As his front end, jammed against the edge of the gap, came free however, his whole cab began to sway, and suddenly, Shotgun found himself carrying the entire weight of the rig's front end on his hand...!

IC:

The sudden weight of Piledriver being on shotguns back was too much, and he couldn't stay in the porsition he was in. He quickly releast his grip jump down and tried to dive out of the way, as Piledriver came crashing down to the subway floor. Shotgun felt the painfull pressure as his left leg was being crushed under the front of Pilediver.
Cringing at the pain Shotgun tried to get his leg free, but it was usless the weight of Piledriver was to great and the ever increasing pain was getting harder to ignor.

*********
Deathstar had unloaded his cargo, and had transform back into robot mode, and he didn't like waiting for this other Decepticon to show while the Autobot's got closer and closer.
"Starscream, I have a suggestion, why don't I got in stealth mode and find out how many Autobot's their are?"
Deathstar waited for Starscream's reply.

OOC:
Sorry for not posting, I've been really busy with school and stuff really sorry!

(OOC: Appologies for my delay too.)

"Woah!" exclaimed Fusion as he was suddenly dragged forward, his feet slipping from under him as Driver's large form collapsed into the hole below. "That can't be good!"

Piledriver winced at the crunch of metal and concrete as his front end landed squarely on Shotgun's leg. This was not going well at all, and his mind, spinning as fast as it could with possibillties and ways out of the situation, was for possibly the first time in his life, completely lost. There was nothing he could do in his situation, that was clear, yet what was also clear was that Shotgun would be unable to push him any more in that position, and Fusion was nowhere near strong enough to pull him up on his own. What was left was...?

"Transform!"

"You what???"

"Transoform!" Fusion had run to the edge of the hole again and was now looking down at the pinned Shotgun below. "It's the only way bro, you know that as well as I do!"

"I can't." Driver responded immeadeately. "Not nearly enough room. This alleyway is too small."

"You got a better idea? At least while you're in the process of transforming you may be able to prize yourself out of this mess."

"But I may end up damaging the buildings around us, Fusion...these Humans could get hurt!"

Before his companion could reply, however, both of the duo paused as a distinct, famous sound echoed down the tunnel below, one of the sounds that Shotgun had noticed earlier. The sound of a train's horn.

"Well it sounds to me like a whole lot of people will definitely be hurt if you do nothing, bro." Fusion responded, his voice suddenly sounding a lot more serious and less full of bravado than before. "Including yourself and our friend down there. You got two choices, and you gotta decide right now."

Had Driver been in his robot form already, he would have gritted his metal teeth in anger. Fusion was completely right...if that train hit him and the other Cybertronian, both of them would be either severely injured or dead, not to mention everybody in the train too. If he transformed, he may damage the buildings around him, but it was less likely they would fall down than that train crashing and everybody on board dying. There was no decision to make.

A loud clattering of metal filled the air as he activated his transformation matrix, his rig form disolving into a mass of spinning, whirling parts as he reconfigured. His trailer seemed to compact itself for a moment, before splitting into two and extending outwards to form huge, heavily armoured pillars of legs, each almost as wide as the rig itself, currently knelt down in a crouch formation on the concrete floor of the alley. The leverage his legs gave him allowed Driver to lift himself somewhat, and he immeadeately pulled his upper body back as it shifted, pulling himself out of the hole and lifting his weight off Shotgun's leg below.

As his body began to emerge from the melee of parts, however, it became clear just what he had been talking about with regard to being too big for the alley! Where Fusion was a small, agile machine built for speed, Piledriver was the oppisite...a heavy fighter, huge, strong, and heavily armoured. He stood a little over three storeys tall, with wide, powerful shoulders sporting no less than four massive arms sprouting from them. His body and chest were massive and heavily armoured, designed for taking extreme punishment, and his feet were wide and square, clearly functional for carrying his tremendous weight rather than asthetics. His entire body was the same dark black of his rig form, but with gleaming chrome highlights around his ankles, wrists and the base of his helmet-like head, and two long V-shaped stripes across his chest.

A chest which now pressed up against the wall of the nearby building as he quickly turned sidewways in the alley, his shoulders far too wide for the confined space. Even side-on his massive form was a little too large, his chest pressed up against one wall even as his back dug into the other, and a slight cracking sound of masonry became audible as his body fully formed, jamming him in like a wedge between the two large buildings on either side. Fortunately though, neither of them seemed to show any major structural faults from the pressure. Driver's head, a thick-set, heavily armoured affair with the recognisable heavily dipping brow of most Cybertronians, looked round somewhat hurredly at his predicament, before peering over his wide shoulder and looking down at the other two with glowing silver eyes. "Okay...this is not well thought out..."