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.

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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.

Arcee's optics are hard, set with determination, and she lands neatly and keeps after him, dodging all but a few of his blaster shots -- a couple hit her in the shoulder, glancing off her arm, but she doesn't let it slow her down, driving her fists into his plating relentlessly. Every time he stumbles, she takes two steps forward -- she knocks him back and runs doggedly right back to close the distance, optics ablaze.

"I've had enough of you, Starscream," she snarls, her voice hard but thick with timeworn grief. She remembers Jetset, remembers her careless, giddy laugh and curious optics, the way they'd light up when she said but I've got a plan, the way they'd dimmed in vacant fright as the last light of her spark died out, snuffed on the battlefield. Arcee remembers like she hasn't let herself in years, the fading echo of Starscream's wicked laugh.

"This is for Jetset!"

Her voice rings out, angry and hurt, as she hurls herself at him. The last kick she delivers to Starscream's chest has all of her weight behind it, her foot connecting with the join of plating just below his Decepticon badge, and even with her smaller size the full force of her body is enough to send him flying wildly.

Through his reeling processor, Starscream manages to wonder just why the hell this Autobot was taking the whole Jetset thing so personally, as if there weren't a thousand other Cybertronians on both sides that were snuffed that day.

He won't come to any conclusion on that today though. The fact is, this is a nearly incomprehensible subject for him, because he is far too much of a shit to have anyone in his life that he cares about that deeply.

It's a distracting thought: he's so indignant about being singled out that he can't recover and try to strike back, and the last kick actually sends him reeling backwards through the air to crash into something very large and very metal that definitely wasn't there a moment ago.

It's Megatron. It is Megatron and he looks pissed beyond belief. Orion made him mad, and Legion made him madder, and just, wow, he is SO mad. One of his optics is damaged, the right one, and the way it's still sparking slightly only serves to make him seem more incensed.

"Starscream," he says, in the kind of tone of voice you might use after lifting up your foot to see what you've just stepped in and finding that the stuff on the bottom of your shoe is what you were pessimistically expecting to be there – but if you were the kind of person whose reaction to this discovery would be an earnest vow to end all dogs. He doesn't even haul the hapless jet to his feet, just pushes him aside to face the Autobots himself.

He bares his fangs in a sneer as he takes in both the current Autobot commander and what's left of the old one. "So this is who you've chosen to side with, Orion? Are you aware she broke her promise to keep the vulnerable natives out of the way of our dangerous conflict?" His piercing red gaze focuses on Arcee, and he narrows his optics. "What would Optimus Prime think, I wonder?"

Starscream struggles back to his feet, incensed with rage up until he realizes what, or rather who it is that he just hit, at which point he lets out a pathetic sounding startled squeak and shrinks back. He glances at Arcee and Orion with the intent of giving them both a nice smug 'oh shit you're in trouble now' smirk, but it falls way off the mark due to how overwhelmingly frightened and embarrassed of himself he looks.

Technically he should have nothing to fear; he followed Megatron's orders to the letter, after all. But while the Decepticon leader is generally a foul tempered bloke on a regular basis, Starscream can still only remember seeing Megatron this pissed off a handful of times prior to this, and none of those times had ended well for anyone involved. It occurs to him that maybe he should do his job as an advisor and try to defuse the situation, or at least fill Megatron in a bit (really, he'd pay good Shanix to stick around and watch him scrap the two wheeler after all that), but when he tries to speak up, no words come. Just a bunch of wordless stammering, because deep down he knows there really isn't anything he can say, at this point.

Orion has mostly just been trying to keep up with these two, and then Starscream gets bodily thrown, he's busy limping along after them until Megatron directly addresses him. He pauses in his step, optics widening as he scrambles for answers. He knows it's more complicated than Megatron is making it sound - he saw how it started between Starscream and Arcee - but in the moment...

...and with the way he last spoke to Megatron...

He's really got nothing. He is just entirely overwhelmed by this. He can't even manage a contrary glare or a denying statement, he just stares at Megatron, speechless and somehow defeated.

"Optimus Prime would know that you're not above forcing our hand so that we're left with no choice!"

One look at Orion and Arcee knows he's not up for this fight -- how could he be? Megatron's done nothing but confuse him, mess with his head. He's divided, torn -- she gets that. But this isn't his fight, anyway. Megatron's the one who ensured that it came to this, that there'd be a fight -- she knows he couldn't possibly have expected them to sit idly by, not with so much at stake. Megatron's responsible for this whole mess. He's the one who took the Matrix, who lied to Orion -- nothing less than she'd expect from the leader of the Decepticons, but she's still angry about it. He'd confused and misled Orion in such a deeply fundamental and intimate way that she feels her spark burn with anger over it, and as she sprints forward to meet Megatron, optics blazing even as she looks up at a bot easily twice her size and then some, she knows that in this moment, there's no room in her spark for forgiving Megatron.

The words have hardly left her vocalizer before she fires on him, electric blue blaster shots flying through the air. She doesn't intend to give him even the slightest bit of slack in this fight. She knows, even as she charges for him, that she's no match for Megatron. But she's too angry now, too down to the wire -- she has to do something.

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