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Post by Needlenose on Mar 30, 2011 14:45:37 GMT -5
As soon as they're all in and Mirage gives the word, Needlenose slams his fist against the control, triggering the door shut.
But did it close in time?
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Post by Spinister on Mar 31, 2011 13:10:55 GMT -5
Opening the first page of the next comic...
Of course they made it in time. This is a mini-series, and they need to fill out the rest of this issue!
Spinister, who is feeling very, very tired, peers out at the devastation.
He rasps, "More Sharkticons."
That would be a lot more. There's a blasted remnant of a laboratory, completely with a dead-looking Scientist caste attendant, and something like an abattoir off to the left, the hallway wall gone, and off to the right... Sharkticon holding pool, now with nothing keeping them down there.
At the end of the hallway, the wall gone, there is a tunnel. A subway tunnel.
The ceiling and floor held, more or less. Impressive!
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Post by Mirage on Mar 31, 2011 16:13:44 GMT -5
Mirage waits for Spinister to move, then takes a turn peering through the doors.
That's a lot of sushi, and not a quality bite in the lot.
"Well gentlemen," Mirage says as he steps back from the door, "Shall we show them that true predators are about more than tooth and claw?"
He readies his rifle, nodding at whomever is closer to the door controls.
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Post by Farlane/Faye Fairlane on Apr 2, 2011 22:30:52 GMT -5
“Oh, Sharkticons.” Farlane isn’t exactly a true predator. He’s pointy, sure, but that’s in a non-predatory way. So he just kind of ‘eeps’ when Mirage talks about predators because he’s a manly mech like that.
Which isn’t to say he can’t handle a gunfight. He just sort of prefers not to, and toothy things were scary. Didn’t everybody find toothy things scary? Well, they should because toothy things have a tendency towards eating faces and that was generally painful and bad. Damnit it, how did he get stuck here again?
Regardless of his own personal misgivings, Farlane lifts his gun and shrugs. There wasn’t really another way through was there? Just gotta blow some fish up. Big scary spiky toothy fish.
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Post by Needlenose on Apr 3, 2011 22:54:20 GMT -5
"Don't," Needlenose starts, holding up a hand, "get in front of me." He waits for the hallway to start to fill with Sharkicons, then locks the door open, transforms, and fires two rockets down the hallway, the most potent weapons he has available with his Nebulans left at home.
"But if you want to shoot around me, feel free!" he adds cheerfully. "Time for a fish fry!"
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Post by Spinister on Apr 4, 2011 8:20:35 GMT -5
Spinister tilts his head a little to the side. He doesn't really do the tooth and claw predator thing. Spinister doesn't want to eat or stuff the things he shoots. He just wants those things dead. That's the difference in perspective, though, between a noble who took up hunting for fun and a warrior who was designed to kill his own species from creation.
Spinister decides to be doorman. While he is fully confident in his ability to kill with his dinky little pistol, he wishes he had a flamethrower right now. That would be great. Note to self: drag Nebulans along on dates and ignore the whining.
Spinister decides to stay behind Needlenose and make sure no one shoots Needlenose in the back. He does, obligingly, shoot around him, though. That's one for Spinister and a lot for Needlenose's rockets!
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Post by Mirage on Apr 4, 2011 9:21:40 GMT -5
Mirage was brought online a hunter, so it could be argued that he was also designed by his creator to hunt his own. The difference perhaps is more in the timing of creation and in upbringing rather than design.
Of course, unlike Spinister, Mirage has a conscience. That is perhaps the biggest difference.
"Crude. Crude but effective," he says of Needlenose's rocket use. Mirage smile of grim approval contradicts his judgmental tone.
Mirage steps up close behind Needlenose, but not so close that he would impede the jet's transformation sequence. The noble lifts his rifle and begins to calmly pick his targets.
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Post by Farlane/Faye Fairlane on Apr 5, 2011 19:16:51 GMT -5
Farlane was originally built to to kill too, but he found he’d never particularly enjoyed it, or even found any satisfaction in completing his raison d'etre. War just happened to be a fact of life then though, and killing just happened to be a part of it. It was something he'd never really managed to escape no matter how far he'd gotten from Cybertron.
Whelp, the boys have got the gaps on either side of Needlenose. Farlane gets down on one knee behind the jet and starts shooting at the Sharkticon’s knees. Slow them down a bit, maybe.
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Post by Needlenose on Apr 5, 2011 21:15:59 GMT -5
"Some days, it's about knowing how to work what you have on-hand," Needlenose purrs as he begins to roll forward, remaining in jet mode.
"Staying in the elevator and letting ourselves get pinned down by the Sharkticons just won't do. That's not my last rocket, and if they get behind me, there are the jets... though you might not want to be behind me in that case. Either way, better to press forward than stand still."
Which means that for the moment, Needlenose is moving towards the enemy, providing a huge block, and not firing. On the other hand, if the others are doing their jobs and firing around him, not many of the Sharkticons, who tend not to use a lot of ranged weapons, should get close enough to start tearing at his already broken wings.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 6, 2011 10:49:49 GMT -5
So, if Spinister had been raised a pre-war noble...?
Well. Look at Needlenose. Breeding isn't everything.
Mirage has targets aplenty! Most of them fall for him. Some get up, like pithed fish that still swim. They rush at the Transformers, with slashing claws and gnashing teeth, with mace and macerating lasers.
Farlane, meanwhile, has Sharkticons just falling over, because he's kneecapping them. Other Sharkticons climb and trample over their still wriggling kin.
Spinister takes down a few himself, but he's going to need to reload, soon. Stupid pistol. As he pauses for the reload, one Sharkticon flanks behind and grabs him.
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Post by Mirage on Apr 9, 2011 23:48:27 GMT -5
Mirage also has to pause to reload. We don't see it happen on screen often, because really, the artists don't want to waste a panel on boring realistic stuff. Still, they'll take the time to draw it in when it adds to The Drama and Action.
Plus, folks tend to forget that Mirage's rifle shoots darts, not laser bursts.
A Sharkticon makes a grab for Mirage, and earns a crushed cranium for his efforts as Mirage hastily reverses his weapon and brings it down hard between the monster's eyes. Using the rifle-embedded-in-Sharkticon-head as a fulcrum, Mirage vaults over Needlenose, hoping to plant himself feet first into the Sharkticon accosting Spinister.
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Post by Farlane/Faye Fairlane on Apr 10, 2011 14:27:01 GMT -5
Farlane casts Spinister a startled glance when the guy gets nabbed by a Sharkticon- and then Mirage was leaping over there and being all heroic. When he turns back, he barely has a moment to blow a neat hole through one of the Sharkticon’s head. Quickly shoving the limp body down, he hops onto it and takes advantage of the higher vantage point to kill a few more.
“How many of these toothy bastards are there?” he utters, kicking one of said toothy bastards away with a pointy heeled foot and shooting it for a good measure.
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Post by Needlenose on Apr 10, 2011 20:44:58 GMT -5
"Spinister!" Needlenose shouts, but then Mirage charges to the rescue.
Don't think Needlenose will concern himself about settling any debts or anything like that, Mirage.
There are far too many Sharkticons coming, and Needlenose is not nearly maneuverable enough as a jet. He fires one last rocket into the masses, then transforms, knocking several off himself in the process. His wings, which were already damaged from the elevator crash, are now chewed and scratched by the monsters as well.
"This is getting us no where!" he observes as he starts to fire.
OOC: Multiple attacks ok'd by the one running the Sharkticons.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 11, 2011 11:45:44 GMT -5
If Mirage wants to play ninja and get this Sharkticon out of Spinister's face, that's fine by Spinister. Also, if Needlenose wants to clear a hole by firing a rocket into the masses, that's also fine with Spinister.
Spinister's just going to go charging down that hole at his best approximation of a run, firing to keep his path as clear as he can.
There are less Shakticons than there were before, at least! perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
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Post by Mirage on Apr 13, 2011 10:50:22 GMT -5
"Entirely too many!" Mirage answers Farlane's likely rhetorical question. The hunter moves forward with the others, continuing to pick off Sharkticons with his now-reloaded rifle. There are less, which is good, but even if they make it through....
"We're gaining ground, at least. Oof!"
A Sharkticon slams into Mirage, knocking the noble back and onto the floor. In typical Sharkticon fashion, the beasties commence to to pile upon him.
This could be bad.
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