capitalh | ROCK'EM SOCK'EM ROBOTS [BIG OPEN FIGHT LOG]

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ROCK'EM SOCK'EM ROBOTS [BIG OPEN FIGHT LOG]

Who: Signless, Robots, and YOU
Where: City Hall, and all over downtown LA.
When: April 14th
What: Signless bates the Cybetronians into having a big fight in downtown LA while attempting to get a valuable artifact. Earth civilians and superheroes are SUPER WELCOME to notice the fuss and try to stop the fighting/safe people from collateral damage.
Warnings: SUDDENLY ROBOT ULTRAVIOLENCE

Signless leaves himself, and the hammer, visible at first. He wants them to see him, to know that the battle is imminent - and with any luck, a conflict will start. He'll do his best to disappear and keep them hunting for him as as long as possible after he's initially been spotted. Maximum collateral damage is his goal.

It also helps that he's an empath. He'll be taking whatever opportunities he can to agitate people's emotions, whether it be anger, panic, or fear, in the attempt to make ever more chaos.

This is a party style log, meaning you can make you own threads and scenarios. Signless will be around with the hammer. LET'S MAKE THIS AS BIG OF A CLUSTERFUCK AS POSSIBLE, GUYS.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Starscream rolls his eyes, groaning dramatically. "Oh spare me your little morality lecture. If thousands of Decepticons choose to sacrifice their own lives to the cause that's hardly any decision of ours; that's just dedication, and their right, as your precious leader would be so eager to point out. So what lives could you be talking about, hmm?" He leans down prods her in the optic with one blaster. "Autobot lives? Are you going to try and tell me that it's immoral to take down an enemy on the battlefield? Or are you going to finally be honest with yourself and admit that you're just taking the death of your partner a bit more personally than you'd like, as if I gave any more of a scrap about snuffing her spark out than any of the others that I've taken."

Arcee's optics contract and dilate, flashing angrily. She feels anger rise in her spark at the mention of Jetset, at the cruel tone of Starscream's voice. Even now, down on the ground at gunpoint, Arcee won't just let him talk like that.

"I'm not talking about the battlefield, Starscream, I'm talking about the cruelty. Since when was poisoning our entire planet a moral way to fight a war?" Arcee's gaze shifts to the barrels of his blasters for a moment, then back to his face, optics narrowing. "And don't you dare pretend that what you did to Jetset wasn't cruel. I've never enjoyed taking a life, Starscream, but you -- you toyed with her!"

"Toyed with her?" Starscream snorts, raising an eyebrow. "Please, I did you a favor; I cut and ran and was kind enough to leave her alive enough for you to have a chance to save her. That isn't 'toying'. This, what I'm doing right now? This is toying." He grinds his heel down to illustrate the point. "See the difference?"

Alright, what he'd actually done was leave her alive to distract Arcee from pursuing him further, but he's working up to a point here: "Her demise is hardly my fault. Maybe if you'd been a little faster, gotten to her more quickly, her end might not have been quite so tragic."

Orion had been intending on trying to track these two down as soon as the combat started, but up till now he's been waylaid by Megatron. So when he manages to make it there, he's more than a little shocked to see how far it's gone, and to hear the things that Starscream is saying. He's gone into vehicle mode again so he could move faster, but now he returns to his base form in a roll of machinery, almost crumbling over his wounded knee in the process.

His optics are wide - he can't believe this.

"Stop this!" he shouts, pleading. "Please!"

Arcee hears Orion in her periphery, and so does Starscream -- he's momentarily distracted enough for Arcee to twist under him, shifting just enough to shove both of her feet into the backs of his legs and knock him off balance. She whirls to her feet, both blasters trained on Starscream.

"You left her to die!" Arcee's voice is edged with static, cracked with emotion she's been fighting to hold back. The cool, collected face of command she always wears into battle is lined with anger and frustration and hurt, made all the more raw by her last encounter with Starscream, with his taunting claims. It's been a long time since Jetset died, but it's as fresh in her memory banks as ever -- the echoing rush of Starscream's turbines as Jetset bled out the last of her energon on the battlefield, Arcee arriving moments too late to save her or stop him. Arcee advances on Starscream another step, knowing that Orion's begging them both to stop, but she can't let Starscream go. Not for Jetset, not for the Forge. "You played with her, Starscream. You didn't leave her there for me to save her -- you left her there to prove a point!"

Starscream lets out an extremely pathetic sounding yelp, slowly stepping back from Arcee as she advances. His mind races; Orion showing up was certainly unexpected and it presents all kinds of problems, but perhaps he can still make this work in his favor.

He cycles away his blasters and holds his hands up defensively, wings tilting back as he tries to ham up the gigantic coward act as much as possible. His words rush out, eyes wide and pleading. "Now now, there's no need to do anything irrational-- This is all ancient history, but look back at things from my perspective, it's hardly as though she was defenseless or unarmed and I had my back against the wall against an enemy combatant-- what would you have done differently?"

Orion is being ignored, that much is clear, and given the intensity of the situation he's not sure he has any right not to be. This has transcended the mission at hand, that much is clear, but he can't stand to see one bot he knows kill another. He limps forward a few steps, imploring them to listen to him.

"I don't know what has happened between you, but the Forge - this conflict - is meaningless! There is no Prime to wield it...neither side will be threatened!"

He's dubious of Starscream's sudden turn here - he had seen him only a few moments before, arrogant and cruel. But he isn't going to make judgements without the full picture.

"Please."

"Your back against the wall?" Arcee snarls, starting to respond to Starscream's pathetic attempt at backpedaling -- but then Orion's voice rings out again and Arcee's head jerks to look in his direction, feeling her spark clench in her chest again, though her blasters remain trained on Starscream.

"Orion, we can't let the Decepticons have the Forge! Think about it -- do you really think Megatron would be throwing his all into this if he didn't have a plan to use it somehow? He has the Matrix -- if he gets his hands on the Forge, what do you think he's going to do to us? To this planet? We tried to offer a peaceful resolution, an alternative to fighting, but he forced our hand on purpose, Orion! If we stand aside and let them take the Forge, we might as well be handing over the war, too!"

Arcee's leaving herself wide open for some good old fashioned claw shanking, but Starscream actually chooses to abstain in this case. He's committed to this lie now, to playing the victim here. It'll certainly make the Autobots look bad, and that alone makes the risk worth it.

Starscream laughs nervously, hands still held in front of him in a pathetic attempt at placating her. "Megatron does not have the matrix... the artifact was destroyed, he told me as much himself. What he does have is fears that you Autobots have successfully corrupted Orion back over to your side where he could potentially use it against us." He casts a pleading glance over at the bot in question.

Orion looks between them - he's conflicted, but at the moment he is mostly angry with Starscream's implications. Speaking as if he would be somehow "corrupted" as if he has no personal agency in the matter. Orion had feared that concept before, but now...it is no strange artifact guiding his choices, it is the words and actions of the bots around him.

"Then he is being foolish," Orion says, looking at Starscream. "I am no longer a Prime, and the only commands I will follow are my own."

"That's right," Arcee says fiercely, her gaze shifting back to Starscream. "If the Matrix really has been destroyed, then there's no one on this planet who could wield the Forge, and Megatron has nothing to fear from us. So either he's got some kind of other plan for the Forge in the works...or your boss hasn't been telling you everything."

Starscream splutters unhappily, looking highly offended. "Well we don't know how this whole prime exclusive function actually works, for all we know Orion might still be able to wield it! It's a dangerous chance to take, I'd say!"

Like seriously, that's the only explanation, how dare you suggest that Megatron doesn't tell him everything even though he damn well knows that's true already. Why the hell didn't he notice that didn't add up sooner?

Could he?

Orion had considered it, certainly, but had been quick to write it off. He didn't have the power of the Primes and certainly not the wisdom. To think of him being capable of wielding a weapon of Solus...

But what if he could?

The uncertainty shows on his face, but it is quick to be replaced with determination.

"Were I able to use the Forge I would not wield it against you. Either of you. That is my promise."

Arcee gives Starscream a grim smile, her confidence bolstered. Orion might still be in more or less neutral ground, but he's taking a stand. That's what counts here.

"You heard Orion. Neither he nor the Autobots are any threat to you with the Forge. So what's it gonna be, Starscream?"

He bristles, eyes narrowing. He doesn't quite drop the coward act like a sack of bricks (the transition is a bit more subtle than that), but he does undergo a noticeable change in demeanor. Man, he is sick as heck of getting into situations where he's forced to bargain over powerful artifacts with the enemy.

"Are you implying that you've given me some sort of new option here? Because allow me to clarify for you: Whether he 'promises' to use it or not changes nothing. You expect me to just nod and agree and let you take the damn thing, but you're wrong; I'm going after that forge, and you can either stand aside and let me finish my business with that troll, or continue to engage me in combat and put all of these poor humans at risk. That's the choice I'm giving you."

Could Megatron has a plan for the Forge? If Orion is the only one who can use it, it ceases to matter who actually picks it up. He's tempted to suggest that, all except the potential circumstance in which there is key information that he's missing.

Then mention of the troll suddenly catches his attention. Magdal's friend. It gives him pause.

"If the Forge is of use to no one, then we all have the options to simply leave. Do not play into the Empire's game, Commander Starscream. We all know that the Alternians are not doing this out of benevolance."

"Oh? And I suppose you're both going to speak on my behalf when I have to explain to Megatron how I deliberately let a known enemy of the Decepticons abscond with one of the powerful artifacts in Cybertronian history, in direct defiance of his orders?" He pauses to stare Orion down meaningfully, though he's not really waiting for an answer. "Besides which, I'm not doing this out of benevolence either. I've dealt with this one before, and this makes one time too many. He's slag as soon as I get ahold of him." An angry, cruel smirk quirks the corner of his mouth at the idea.

Edited 2014-06-25 18:03 (UTC)

Oh no. That troll is Magdal's friend...The one she is trying to help. I'd Starscream kills him...

"Wait - Commander starscream, please don't kill the troll, there are complicating factors-"

Starscream's expression grows indignant, and he cuts Orion off. "Pass. Any time spent listening explanations on why I should spare his miserable life is time I'm losing on tracking him down, so if you'll both excuse me-" He keeps looking at Orion but shoves past Arcee, determined to get clear enough for a take off.

"Not so fast, Starscream!"

She'll apologize to Orion later if she has to, but for now, Arcee can't let him get away, not now. Optics flashing with determination, she checks Starscream with her shoulder as he shoves past, hitting him at the waist with the full weight of her considerably smaller body.

Starscream only staggers off balance for a moment, but once he rights himself his eyes flash dangerously. "Let the records show that I tried to be reasonable about this," he growls in a way that's utterly devoid of remorse before sending another missile in her direction.

Reasonable -- right. But Arcee doesn't have the time or inclination to quip back, not when she has to practically cartwheel out of the way to avoid the missile. It connects with a few potted plants near city hall and sends them exploding in a burst of shattered pottery and scorched foliage, but Arcee's not watching the shrubbery -- just as soon as she's out of the way she's running for Starscream again, optics hard with fresh resolve, and she lifts her arm and fires off a few blaster rounds at his chest -- as easy of a target as Starscream ever makes.

Starscream yelps and scrambles to dodge to the side, returning with his own blaster fire as he does, but the evasion is not very well executed. He stumbles a bit off balance and struggles for a moment, trying to regain proper footing, glowering at Arcee with murderous intent.

"I told you I'd stop you if you tried to take the Forge, Starscream!"

Arcee doesn't give him much time to recover, lowering her blasters just enough to deliver a spinning kick to his chest, lashing out with the pent-up fury and frustration she's felt burning in her spark since she last ran into him.

Starscream squawks and goes tumbling head over heels backwards in an awkward mess of sharp wings and gangly limbs, unable to regain his balance in time.

He struggles back to his feet quickly, loudly cursing Arcee and sending another volley of shots in her direction.

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