[G1 RPG] Terminus: The Tempest (Protihex)

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[G1 RPG] Terminus: The Tempest (Protihex)

Post by zigzagger »

Even with a newly elected governor providing a potential rallying point, the people of Protihex have seen better days. In a matter of a few years, the neutral nation has gone from being strategically insignificant to becoming a pivitol frontline.

As the city-state's self-appointed defenders lick their wounds after sucessfully driving off Black Shadow's criminal organization, a new, far more dangerous enemy has arrived. The Imperials have chosen Protihex as the staging ground for their planet-wide invasion.

Can the new Combaticons and the crew of the Steelhaven hold the line long enough until help arrives?
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Post by zigzagger »

Combaticon Warehouse

Cerebros exited the storehouse and started towards the lot where his transtector was parked. The two small shuttles he had requested had arrived only moments earlier, the crew already moving down the boarding ramps and into the building.

"In there," Cerebros pointed to the large loading door behind him. "Handle with care. The prisoners will be brought down shortly."

"Sir," one of the crew officers dutifully replied.

---

As the headmaster turned away, his transtector now visible from where he stood, he was alerted to an incoming transmission from the Steelhaven.

"Yes, Ratchet?"

"Well?" he anxiously said. "Is the word given? You must know won't be able to simultaneously evacuate a city-state and repel an Imperial invasion for long, even with Onslaught's people working with us. And we don't know when - or if - Gigatron will come to our aide. It's time to call in Iacon."

"I know, Ratchet, I know," Cerebros sighed, stopping in front of the center "ramp" of his transtector. "Do it."

"Right away," Ratchet answered. "And you? What will you do?"

"I need to head Downtown, near the combat. Groove's office is there," Cerebros stated. "If we intend to evacuate an entire city-state, we may need him to rally the people."

Cerebros then leapt to the air, transformed into his "communications tower" mode, and linked into the port near the transtector's main ramp.

Fortress Maximus lit up to life, immediately converting from battlestation to cruiser. "You and Cog continue to hold the fort, and offer Onslaught any assistance if he requests it."

"We'll do that," Ratchet said. "Be careful out there."

----

Bridge, Steelhaven

As soon as the transmission ended, Ratchet accessed the control panel at the arm of the captain's chair.

"On the main monitor," he told the automated system. "Autobase, please. And mark it as urgent."

(OOC: Continued in the Iacon thread.)

_______________

Medbay, Steelhaven

"I'm almost finished here, but good point," Hoist told Stratus.

Hoist switched off his welding tool and looked down at Aero Blade.

"Now, Aero," Hoist said consolingly. "I want you to be as comfortable as possible. Are you sure you don't want me to switch on any circuit dampeners? I can keep it localized to the areas I'm working on."
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Post by Aero Blade »

Medbay, Steelhaven

Aero Blade made an annoyed sound, not looking at Hoist as the other Autobot spoke. It was clear he wasn't interested, but he also knew Stratus wouldn't let up on it either.

"Fine..." Aero Blade answered, the bitter tones evident in his response. Stratus seemed more thrilled, giving a relieved sigh as his partner relent.
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Post by Warcry »

Templar Heights

"I...I guess I'm with you two," Chopster told Road Hugger and Brawl, although he was petrified about the prospect of taking on the Imperials without Smolder at his side.
_______________________________

Streets

Onslaught listened to his troops report, then said, "Get here as soon as you can, Road Hugger. I'll ask the Autobots to send someone for Smolder."

He stopped talking for a few seconds as his turret swung around and blasted an Imperial scout who had been skulking through the ruins nearby, but he didn't slow down as he did it.

Opening to another channel, he put in a call to Cerebros. "Cerebros, this is Onslaught. I've got Road Hugger and Brawl here with me. Their team just had a run-in with Cryotek, of all people, and they need medical help. Can you send someone to their location? I'm piping you in with them right now."

As he got closer to the Imperials' landing zone, he was proud to see his Combaticons on the streets, getting civilians out of the line of fire while they set up defensive positions.

They're good soldiers, he thought to himself, fighting the good fight to protect their adopted home. It's just a shame that they're all going to die.
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Post by Blackjack »

Templar Heights

"Got it, boss. Brawl, Chopster, Crack Shot and myself will be going over to Uptown. We won't be much help in direct combat but we can do suppressing fire." Road Hugger told Onslaught, confirming the latter's order. "I am leaving Smolder in Servo's tender ministrations until you can get a medevac team down here."

Road Hugger bent down beside Cryotek's corpse while he waited for Onslaught's reply. The thought to try and dissect the criminal for weaponry they could use crossed his mind -- how cool would it be to have an ice gun? -- but Road Hugger shook his head, kicked the corpse on the stomach, and turned around.

"Combaticons, let's roll." Road Hugger said, transforming (rather noisily) into his vehicle mode, tires screeching and engine thrumming as he headed towards Uptown...

And possibly the last battle they'll ever see.

But Road Hugger was happy. All his Decepticon life, he never did anything that he felt was worth doing. Now, he was fighting. To save his planet. To save Cybertron itself from the Imperial vanguard. To save his race. Most of all... to save Protihex. His... home.
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Post by miked23 »

Templar Heights


Following Road Hugger’s lead Brawl transformed noisily and awkwardly into his tank mode. The ice inside his systems hadn’t completely thawed yet, making the process more difficult than it should have been.

When the transformation had completed he loudly revved his engines as he rolled not far behind Road Hugger with Crack Shot bringing up the rear.

______________________________

Servo had been listening in on the transmissions from Road Hugger and Onslaught. He looked over checking at Smoulder making sure his fellow Combaticon’s condition wasn’t getting any worse.

“Don’t worry help is on the way.” He said to an unconscious Smoulder knowing his comrade probably wasn’t well enough to hear him.
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Post by optimusskids »

Streets

Seeing the Combaticons warehouse was empty Slapdash transformed again and raced off looking for Onslaught.
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Post by Blackjack »

Templar Heights

"Well, Chopster? Hop in." Road Hugger told the Minicon, opening the driver's side of the door for the Minicon to climb in.
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Post by Warcry »

Templar Heights

Chopster climbed into Road Hugger's interior, taking extra care not to hack up the other Combaticon's upholstery with his axe-blade feet. He fidgeted nervously for a few seconds, trying in vain to reign in his nerves.

Finally, when the Minicon figured he'd be able to speak without his voice cracking, he asked, "Do you know what we're up against?"
_______________________________

Streets

Onslaught rolled to a stop just outside of visual range of the Imperial ships, with a handful of other Combaticons at his side.

"What's your ETA?" he asked Road Hugger. "And what direction are you approaching from?"

His mind was spinning, absolutely full of different tactics he could use to get the most out of what little resources he had here.

This...this is what I was built for. Strategy. Battlefield tactics. Combat. Not politics and leadership.
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Post by Blackjack »

Templar Heights

"We're approaching from Templar Heights, but we're taking the side roads. Going to, anyway. ETA about ten minutes." Road Hugger replied to Onslaught as he swerved towards a side road. "Brawl aside, the rest of us aren't built for endurance, and probably wouldn't do much good in the front lines. We'll probably take a sniping position, or do a hit-and-run, see if we can disorient the Imperials by flanking them."

Taking his voice off the commlink to talk to Chopster, Road Hugger said, "Imperials. We're up against Imperials. Lots of them. Pray we'll get out of this with all limbs attached."
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Post by optimusskids »

Templar Heights

Doublecross jogged up next to Onslaught.

"Any resources you require Sir? Between Us and Swindle we can probably find you most things."
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Post by Warcry »

Combaticon Field Bivouac, Uptown

"Contact me when you're two minutes out," Onslaught told Road Hugger. "I'll have orders for you then."

Hearing Doublecross's voice, Onslaught turned toward him.

"Honestly?" he said to the Monsterbot. "Right now, if there's anything we need we won't have time to get it. We'll have to make do with what we've got. But if you could take charge of getting ammunition stockpiles set up close to the front lines, I'd appreciate it. Swindle could do the job, sure, but I'd have to detail another set of eyes to keep him from stealing from us." Sighing, he amended, "Stealing more than the usual amount of Swindle-related theft that I budget into all of our operations, I mean."
_____________________________________

Templar Heights

Chopster gulped, as well as a robot without a digestive tract could manage.

"We're all going to die, aren't we?"
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Post by Blackjack »

Templar Heights

"Affirmative, boss. And... It's been an honour." Road Hugger told Onslaught, the a foreboding silence settled upon him as the click of communications being cut crackled noisily in his head.

Chopster's question cut through that silence. Road Hugger wanted to scoff at it, wanted to assure the Minicon, but decided against it.

Everyone needed to know what they were fighting for.

"Yes. Probably." Road Hugger said, his voice dry and deadpan. "But remember what we're fighting for. We are fighting to defend our homes, our planet. They are second-rate impersonators who invades only in the name on conquest. They are not as desperate as us, and desperate mechs are prone to crazy heroic feats."

Pause.

"Look, Minicon... there is a reason you stayed here on Cybertron. On Protihex. There is also a reason that I, a Decepticon that had the option of going back to the main forces, decided to stay. It's, simply put, hope. We hope for a better future where this bloody war doesn't have to continue. We have hope. We have spirit. And that is one advantage we have above them."

Pause.

"And... if all else fails... we have Fortress Maximus on our side."
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Post by Warcry »

Templar Heights

Chopster gulped again, but Road Hugger's words had had some effect. He still wasn't exactly calm, but he wasn't quavering with fear anymore, either.

"I'd be lying if I said that that was comforting," he told the other Decepticon. "And you're wrong about why I'm here. I didn't come to Protihex because I 'believed'. I came here so people would stop shooting at me." He sighed. "Still...if I have to die, I suppose there are worse things to die for."
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Post by optimusskids »

Combaticon Field Bivouac, Uptown


Doublecross nodded twice

"Conssssssider is done."
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Post by Blackjack »

Roads

"Me too." Road Hugger told Chopster. "Hyperdrive was too stupid to get it, but I picked this place because I was too tired to embroil myself in another Decepticon Civil War. When Hyperdrive picked up and left, I was sent at first to keep an eye out for him until the Civil War has ended. Now? Now I fight for a cause. Which is something I accepted instead of one that I was built to serve in."

Road Hugger swerved through an alley, the Imperial ships several blocks away. "How you holding up, Brawl?"
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Post by miked23 »

Roads

“I’m fine” Brawl replied to Road Hugger, his voice showing no signs of the opposite being true. He was still damaged pretty badly from the previous fight and his internal repair systems were having trouble kicking in. But he managed to hide any signs of weakness.

“I’m just looking forward to crushing some Imperials.” He said to Road Hugger.
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Post by Warcry »

Roads

Chopster's vocal circuits worked for a few seconds, but nothing came out of his mouth. Eventually he decided what he wanted to say...and then his words died in his mouth when he saw a pair of grey-green aircraft diving down toward them.

"Road Hugger, Brawl, watch out! Imperials!"
_______________________________________

Combaticon Field Bivouac, Uptown

"Thank you," Onslaught said to Doublecross. "And I'm sorry for what I said earlier. You had a good reason to go behind my back. I wish you'd trusted me, but I can understand why you didn't."
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Post by Blackjack »

Roads

"Damn it!" Chopster's warnings caused Road Hugger, already tense, to act on pure instinct and swerve aside. "Brawl, Crack Shot, ventilate these Decepticon wannabes!"

Road Hugger's Plasma Cannons slid out from the sides of his hood, and opened fire at the Imperials in the sky. "Chopster, you think you can powerlink with me? We need all the edge we can get."
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Post by optimusskids »

Combaticon Field Bivouac, Uptown

Doublecross nodded.

"maybe when thissss isss over we can ssstart afressssh."

He turned

"that ammunition will be yours."

~*~

Ironworks drove up to Onslaught and transformed

"Just to let you know that you have the full supportof the film industry. I brought some holoprojjectors you might find some use for."
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