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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 7, 2008 21:05:33 GMT -5
OOC: Crossposted from New Exhibit
Rodimus finally spots the fire engine and confirms its identity over the radio. Then, before the two can pass each other, he suddenly slams on his breaks, swings his back-end into a wide swerve, and then is rolling again, so that by the time Optimus catches up with him (assuming the other Prime didn't slow down thanks to Rodimus's maneuvering), they're both going in the same direction.
By this time they should be clear of the zoo and back out in the town.
"Right," he says once they are rolling side-by-side. "Next on the agenda, we had better... ah, didn't lose my tail, after all. That cop car's not ours, by the way. So that's next on the agenda. Left here," and then Rodimus takes the indicated left, turning sharply and just assuming both fire truck and cop car will follow.
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Barricade
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Knight of the Spastic Sword
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Post by Barricade on May 7, 2008 21:52:04 GMT -5
No, no that cop car is definitely not one of yours, Autobots. In fact, that cop car is about as lawful as an atom bomb at a Greenpeace rally.
That powerful, high performance engine howls as Barricade's tires slew around, traction finally biting in as he rapidly shifts bearing to follow after the paired red trucks racing off.
// Double-check the maps. Bearings and surprises, // he asks Frenzy, trusting his partner to have kept exquisite track of all that information. Barricade hates surprises. Unless he's the one springing them.
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Frenzy
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Fscking Bigjobs
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Post by Frenzy on May 7, 2008 22:03:02 GMT -5
"Yeah, yeah, checking." Frenzy tugs at the seatbelt holding him into place, then hits the eject button on Barricade's cd-player. Done with AC/DC, now for something a little faster.
The harsh strains of 'Riding with the Driver' fill the car. "We're at <coordinates>, heading <direction>. Pit trap if we take a right, buildings fall down if we take a left... Nothing much if we go straight."
---
Skippable.
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Optimus Prime
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Oh yeah? Well I don't know what that means!
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 7, 2008 22:24:55 GMT -5
Optimus is doing as best he can to travel alongside Rodimus, but wind resistance and general passenger care that comes from having a Dinosaur riding shotgun doesn't help.
"Bambi, think you and that hammer of yours can do something to shake up our pursuer a bit?"
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Post by Lynn Deanna Payne on May 7, 2008 22:42:08 GMT -5
Bambi has ridden in the back of plenty of pick-up trucks, so this isn't too terribly bad. She hunkers down into a sitting posture, tail swishing thoughtfully.
She comments, "Impersonating officer of law? That a crime."
Then Bambi giggles, a weird little sound like a growl crossed with a trill. She tilts her head to the side, considering the flame patterns on the new Prime curiously. Bambi inquires, "What flames mean?"
Culturally, flames can symbolise many things. Hers just symbolise that she wants to set someone on fire, but they're more practical that way.
Speaking of flames, she arches an optical ridge set over her forward-facing optics, predator's optics, and she replies, "Me not even need hammer to do that."
Usually, Bambi tries to not smash cop cars. They call out the SWAT teams if she does that, and there's an insurance nightmare, and her team mates have to come and get her out of the impound lot. It's a pain.
Now, however, there's a fanged grin on the bambiraptor's face. Optimus Prime will feel as if there has been a weight lifted from him, because she launches herself from his back, all sets of claws extended, and attempts to land on Barricade's hood and dig in with the sickle claws.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 7, 2008 23:20:24 GMT -5
"Uh, right. Just show me where the battle is, Rodimus. I might be inexperienced against Decepticons but I won't let anyone down."
Oh, dear. But you will, Optimus. You will let nearly everyone here down when they realize just how young and fresh and inexperienced you are. And it's not your fault, but you share the name and appearance of the biggest Autobot legend across the known realities.
And in reply to the fire truck’s assurance, Rodimus lies, voice steady and confident, "I'm sure you won't."
When the raptor asks about the flames, the Autobot second answers, voice dead-pan serious, "They make me go faster." But he realizes too late what she intends to try as a result of the other Prime's prompting.
"Bambi, wait!" Rodimus shouts as she leaps towards the enemy. Damn it all! He was planning to go left - even if the buildings didn't actually fall on Barricade, they'd block the street and cut them off. The problem isn't that Rodimus doubts his ability to take Barricade. It's that there's so many other things he wants to be dealing with.
But now he doesn't have much choice, because he can't leave Bambi behind. He spins into a transform, and by the time he's in robot mode he's already running, heading back towards their pursuit, massive feet clanging as they pound against metal road. Though he leaves his photon eliminator in subspace, his electroblasts are already powered up as he starts to move further to the right side of the oncoming vehicle, either to aim at Barricade from a different direction or to try to grab Bambi back into relative safety.
As it so happens, like damned near every Autobot on this planet, Rodimus Prime has the frequency to an Optimus Prime, and now, finally, he uses it. //Take his left. If you can find a way to pull her to safety, do it.//
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Barricade
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Post by Barricade on May 8, 2008 14:54:46 GMT -5
// Find me a route if they- // Barricade breaks off suddenly as a sleek grey and red missile launches herself straight at him from the back of the firetruck. Claws and spikes shoot out from his headlights, but not quick enough to catch the fiery little demon that's just landed on his hood. His engine howls with fury as those sharp claws catch and dig in to the metal of his exostructure.
So the little raptor wants a piece of him, does she? And the RV of doom wants the little one back, doesn't he? Well then, as an upstanding offer of the law, he should oblige the goody-two-shoes Prime, now shouldn't he?
Even if he does privately hope that the crazy little raptor won't be shaken loose - Frenzy has been needing the opportunity to really cut loose and have some fun since they'd arrived here, and Barricade is perfectly willing to eject Frenzy through his own windshield, if that's what it takes to get the little psycho into action. He really loves to see his partner at work.
Barricade guns his engine with a sadistic chuckle, steering straight for Rodimus Prime's legs. Think fast, Rodimus; do you really want her badly enough to risk flattening her in a collision?
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 8, 2008 17:06:15 GMT -5
How do all these strangers know his comm-link?
Blast it, he's been here five nano-cycles and already he's botching up plans. Optimus turns sharply, taking Barricade's left like Rodimus orders. He transforms into robot mode, standing up about as tall as Rodimus' shoulder.
His unextended axe is in his right hand. He draws his left arm up, as if he's about to fire an arm cannon like a Seeker, despite there being no gun there. However it all makes sense as a panel opens up, launching a grappler. It fires at Barricade, aiming for his extended headlight.
Assuming he connects, Optimus is going to yank as hard as he can to stop Barricade from running Rodimus down. If Barricade continues past, he's going to be dragged behind him, which is his intention.
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Post by Lynn Deanna Payne on May 8, 2008 17:55:01 GMT -5
Bambi knows Optimus Prime's commlink because he just gave it to her.
Her head swivels back at Rodimus Prime's call, and she throws up her forepaws, hissing in annoyance, "Bambi, smash cop car. Bambi, no smash cop car. Make up minds, Primes!"
The look back tells her that the cop car seems to be trying to run into Rodimus Prime, and Optimus Prime seems to be trying to play robo-cowboy with a Saleen. Bambi decides that despite there being all sorts of interesting and easily damaged things under a car's hood, the better position for her, at the moment, is back on top of Barricade's trunk.
Sparing a moment's envy for the little thing inside of Barricade that has even more cutting edges than she does, Bambi unlatches her claws and leaps for the boot, again hoping to sink her sickle claws into the cop car to keep her balance steady. She also cranes her head down and makes a grab at Barricade's muffler, trying to tear it clean off. It won't really do much damage to him, she is aware, mostly just make him noisier and less environmentally friendly, but perhaps it will hurt.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 8, 2008 19:11:19 GMT -5
Rodimus would point out that 'throw off pursuit' doesn't always mean smashing, but this is a Dinobot. To them, it does. He'll have to explain that to Optimus later. He's also not particularly worried about Barricade damaging him. He's more worried about Bambi getting flattened in the middle, because just because she's a Dinobot doesn't mean he can assume she has Dinobot armor.
Bambi's leap to Barricade's trunk means he doesn't have to worry about this anymore, so rather than dodging, he crouches and waits. Barricade will run into him, and probably take more damage than he will, or Barricade will swerve, and Rodimus will dive for him. Rodimus is ready, and the Prime has very good reflexes.
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Barricade
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Post by Barricade on May 8, 2008 22:50:57 GMT -5
An axe, how quaint. And a grappling line! Oh, now this can be fun, even if things are getting just a wee bit unbalanced - in the wrong direction - for Barricade's tastes. That grapple tangles in his extended ram bar and claws at the same moment that Bambi leaps for his trunk, leaving fresh slashes and even more gouges in his plating.
And now she's trying to rip off his muffler, while Rodimus prepares to meet him head on. He's got a split second to make a decision and alter his course before it's too late. In the end, there's really no decision at all.
The little hellion trying to munch on him can't grab his muffler if it isn't there anymore, Frenzy can take the impact better tucked safely in his compartment in Barricade's chest, and in secondary mode, Barricade cannot bring his cannon or his claws to bear. There's an instant of databurst to Frenzy, warning him, before the familiar slide and clack and whirr of servos and panels shifting sings a counterpoint to the howl of his engine as he launches into the air. Frenzy quickly shifts, as seemless as quicksilver, into the shielded compartment within Barricade's internals even as the dubious safety of the Saleen's passenger compartment evaporates around him. Red optics flare brightly in that horrible razor face, mouth twisted into a rictus of fury and savage glee. Pain is fleeting, but satisfaction... That is eternal.
Barricade doesn't bother tracking what the Raptor makes of his sudden transformation, because, all too soon, that bright yellow flame fills his field of vision. The line tangled in his claws pulls tight, and Barricade gives it a massive yank as he slams, claws outstretched, into Rodimus Prime with a feral scream.
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Optimus Prime
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Post by Optimus Prime on May 8, 2008 23:19:16 GMT -5
There are many old propoganda vids that Optimus has seen about Decepticons. The one he sees in front of him appears to be similar in how nightmarish they are portrayed. He's not about to let some scary face deter him, however. The yank from Barricade sends him plummeting torso-first to the ground. After stowing away his axe, Optimus quickly scrambles upright to a kneeling position. Using his right hand to hold his left arm, he tugs back on the cable enough to hold back the arm he's ensnared. That's one less limb he can wail against Rodimus, at least. "You got this one, Rodimus?" He calls out to his fellow Prime. Unfortunately, it's now that he hears about the spider that someone else is fighting on broadband. He's startled enough that he nearly slips his grip, but he holds on. For now.
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Post by Lynn Deanna Payne on May 9, 2008 0:44:10 GMT -5
Bambi jumps, as soon as Barricade's trajectory starts to go awry. She lands a distance away from the fray, tail acting as a counterbalance for her leap. Bambi turns and considers the situation, bringing up a foretalon to scratch the underside of her chin.
Compared to herself and Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime looks a little different, partially on proportions but also in his facial features. His optics lack the dark, kohl-like rim, for one thing, and his nose is quite odd. However, she could dismiss it at variance within a sample.
This Decepticon (and his little bladed passenger that she so envied) are something else entirely. Bambi is aware of variance within a species - dogs are a prime example, and given that her species seems to each have a discrete alternate mode, she would expect a great deal of variance within her people. Still, it nag at her as perhaps too much variance. Rodimus Prime might be the same as she and Optimus Prime, but the cop car and the silver guy look like a wholly different type of technology. She sniffs the air, trying to see if Rodimus Prime or the cop car smell different.
There is so much she doesn't know here! If only she'd gotten a peek under the cop car's hood.
Bambi takes a few steps back, lowering her head and weighing her options. Then she bounds forward and attempts to take a running leap onto Barricade's back. Are those claws feeling familiar yet, copper?
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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 9, 2008 11:44:13 GMT -5
For all that the immediate odds are not good for Barricade, he is accomplishing something very tactically significant by tying up Rodimus and preventing him from tending to other portions of the battlefield, a fact which is hurting the Autobots as a whole. However, time is running out for the Autobots, which means time is running out for Rodimus...
...which means his patience with distractions is already gone.
The Chosen One had been braced for impact with a cop car going full speed, and so impact with a robot instead does not push him back significantly. Claws that gouge out lines of bright orange and yellow paint barely scratch the tank-thick armor beneath, and Barricade's mad-animal howl does nothing to upset the look of grim determination on the face of one willing to do whatever it takes to finish this skirmish quickly so he can move on, even kill. There are no deaths that Rodimus does not regret, but he's learned to harden himself to the ones he must himself deliver long ago.
"I've got him," he tells Optimus as he brings his right fist towards his smaller opponent with force enough to flatten most Transformers, and enough that he may end up having to finish the strike and punching street should the blow miss (and if that happens, he'll put a sizable dent in the metal road).
The good news? He just wants to free himself up to deal with Other Things right now, whether it's through a knock-out or forced retreat. They'll be no cop-chasing today, provided the cop doesn't run off with the dinosaur!
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Barricade
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Post by Barricade on May 9, 2008 13:43:49 GMT -5
Hampered by the line tangling his arm and Optimus' weight holding him steady, and distracted by the Raptor pulling a Frenzy on him, Barricade can't quite twist himself out of the way, not enough to avoid most of that blow aimed at him by the frustrated and impatient Rodimus Prime.
He's going to be hurting when he wakes up - if he wakes up. At least Frenzy is safely tucked inside him and out of sight of the Autobots.
ooc: Barricade is unconscious via Rodimus. Whatever happens, happens. Skippable, if not out of thread.
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