The Diego Diaries: Game (dd6 327)
-0-There
It rained down like thunder and not in a good way. The artillery being launched by the Supreme's little mechanisms was very high powered and were making their mark. Twenty-five Seekers had risen up to hover in the air, watching the mesa that was their fort disappear under explosions. They were so mesmerized for a moment that they didn't notice nine big kids rushing them. Swords swung through the air and half a dozen Seekers fell to the ground in two or three big fiery pieces. The others pulled straight upward. It was then that artillery shells began to fall onto the nine big kids.
Whether it was accidental or on purpose would be a much debated question in saloons all over Mars for some time. No one, however, would argue that it wasn't about the dumbest thing ever played in a game so far.
They burst and stung as they landed. At least, they stung in the sensibilities of the kids who turned to frown at their elders. Xantium who was leading the barrage laughed loudly as he preened with purpose for the benefit of Kappa who was grinning as she held her controller next to him. "MOVE IT, INFANTS! WE HAVE A BASE TO TAKE APART!"
Fireball who felt the burn, literally, glanced at his siblings. :I think the Supremes have earned a beating. All of them but Auntie Kappy:
They grinned and nodded. Then Quadrus looked at their elders from across the game. "WOLF PACK! COME TO ME!"
Eight kids grinned, then answered. "WE OBEY!"
Eight little mechanisms stopped their ducking, then turned toward Quadrus. Pulling both swords from their scabbards on their backs, they moved to make a spear shaped line, the point … Quadrus … gestured with one of his swords toward the base where their elders were watching with amusement. "FORM UP AND EXECUTE ALPHA-BETA-TWO-EIGHT-ONE!"
The little mechs swung their swords toward the ground, their points touching the earth. They then went through a small kata, one of three they programmed into their machines to unnerve the punters. Quadrus stepped forward, then turned his bot toward Prime who was watching with the rest of the crowd with intense interest. "ALL HAIL, OPTIMUS PRIME!" he said as the other eight echoed it. "ALL HAIL, CYBERTRON!" They hailed. "FOR HONOR! FOR INTEGRITY! FOR THE PEOPLE! FOR PRIMUS AND THE ONE!" It was then that they ran forward more swiftly than many would think possible with their swords over their helms straight for Green Fort and a good two dozen surprised mechs and one femme who loved them madly.
It was amazing how fast they ran across no mans land between the Pretty Ocean and Blue Lake. Almost as one, swords raised and their battle cries ringing, they leaped the river and landed on the tarmac in front of Fort Tall Dudes. With minimal swings of their swords in a clearly precise and determined formation, Supreme helms, arms and legs began to fly. Moving with recognizable form, with coordinated metrotitan precision, the nine kids demonstrated their quality.
There wasn't a veteran soldier watching, human or bot, that didn't feel all the feels: 1.) they wanted them in combat with them, 2) they were impressed by their precision even in tiny format and 3) they wanted them in combat with them.
The Supreme mechanisms who seemed mesmerized until the kids leaped over the river swung their artillery pieces around and tried to pull guns and swords in time but failed to do so. It was a slaughter. The bigger formats who knew their styles and abilities stepped their bots off the tarmac leaving the Supremes to be trounced. When they had disabled everyone but Kappa, they sliced and diced the artillery pieces.
"Auntie Kappy? You need to step off the board, please," Santee said as he turned to the female titan who all of them came to for a 'motherly' touch. "We don't want to hurt you."
"YOU HURT *US*!" Xantium said with fury. "KAPPY! *ANNIHILATE* THEM!"
"I will NOT harm children, Xee," Kappa said as she walked her little bot off the field. "Thank you, boys. I didn't want to harm you either."
"That's the point of the game," Beta said with a slight confusion as he glanced at the others. "Right? Isn't it the point of the game or am I missing something here."
"I think its the point of the game, Beta," Ty said around his belly laugh. "ALL HAIL THE TITANIC KIDS!"
All of them were hailed. Then they did their victory kata. Stepping on as many pieces parts of the Supreme slaggers as they could before leaving in triumph, they walked together off the game board to stand at the feet of their controllers. They were given a long and loud ovation.
Xantium in pretender format like the others frowned at the pieces lying there, then reached down to gather his up.
Edict waved his flag. "That isn't allowed, Xantium, not until after the intermission." He looked downfield. "Right, Vinn."
"You're right, Edict. Unhand those pieces parts, Xantium. You have to wait and personally, I don't think they have enough glue and tape to fix what's wrong with you."
Xantium dropped his botlet's pieces-lets with a frown as the entire crowd laughed loudly AT HIM, not WITH HIM.
"YOU GOT WHIPPED BY LITTLE KIDS!" -Every Wrecker at the game
"BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAA!" -Optimus and Rainmaker
"LOOK AT THE FRAGGERS POUT! TAKE THAT, XANTIUM! LIVE BY THE SWORD! DIE BY THE SWORD!" -Ty, speaking for the taller members of the extended family
There was no glee in Mudville. Poor Xee had just struck out. He glowered at the kids. "Wait until you see what I give you at Christmas Surprise, turncoats."
HUGE LAUGHTER and MOCKERY greeted that. Xee only frowned deeper, an amusing expression to most of the crowd including a much miffed but ultimately loudly laughing Omega.
Starscream grinned. "All hail the kids," he said as they looked around for another perch. Discounting the roof of the Temple because of the blasphemy aspect, they settled on the still empty Three Tower Fort in the middle of nowhere just southwest of the Canyon of Doom and northwest of the Mountains Where Cliffie Was Wedged as well as Camp Quack.
All hailed the kids.
The Seekers flew in and carefully landed until the entire enclosed area of the fort surrounded by razor wire was packed with Seekers nearly shoulder to shoulder in the overfilled space. Several climbed the towers and took up the turret guns while others arrayed themselves around the perimeter of the razor wire with their guns pointing out. It was cramped and the razor wire was supernaturally sharp so they were careful with limbs and other personables. It wouldn't do well to have to fly out of here in a hurry.
Rainmaker, Starscream and Harrier took command of one tower each, then grinned. "Bring it, slaggers," Rainmaker said with amusement.
Everyone on the board who could still move, crawl or will their subconscious malice that way: "Okay."
Huge frowns were had in Seekerville as everyone on the board that wasn't hiding, slaughtered and leaking their life forces away, trapped in a place with a Dinobot, wedged into a mountain which Buzzie was nonchalantly … not … trying to figure out how to retrieve Cliffie's sorry carcass, too chicken to join the game yet, or squatting on holy ground made their way toward the fort.
"Oh, frag," Harrier said with a grin. "This is going to be awful. Do you have pity on femmes? Kappa got pity."
"It depends, Harrier," Hardie said as he organized Blue Team. "Ask me if we get past the ogre and the underground fort."
HUGE laughter and a HUGER bug out.
-0-MCA
"This is getting to be insane. Did you see the dances that the titan kids did?" -reporter 1 on the panel
"That was a kata, the dance. My son has one at his karate lessons." -reporter 4 on the panel
"Those blades much be very sharp." -moderator on the panel
"We'll find out if the Seekers have to fly out of that fort very quickly. Someone told me that the razor wire could almost cut you just by looking at it."
"This is going to be good." -reporter 2 on the panel
Everyone on the panel nods.
-0-On the ground
Blue Team formed up and began to make their way east. They reached the bridge, crossed it after remembering the ogre/troll was in the bottom of the oil pit. Or was it the lake? No one really knew. No one really cared. They only worried about the raptor hole.
"If those slaggers come out of that hole, Appa, we're sacrificing you. Tell them your name. Maybe they won't eat you," Ironhide said as they trucked swiftly over the bridge.
"Something tells me that won't help. I can't quite put my digit on it but ..." Raptor said with a snicker. Glancing downward to the ground where a box holding something covered sat, Raptor grinned. He had secrets, too.
It was at that moment a fully refurbished but unpainted Prowl and Prime ran back onto the board. They were hooted and hollered … "Where's your pants, Prowl? You're naked!"
Prowl glowered at Raptor. "You're officially on the list, Raptor."
"Frag. You're on Prowl's Shit List, the most unpopular place to be on several worlds and planetoidal fragments." Turbine grinned. "I want to see how you die this time, Prowl. Chewed up by Utah raptors is novel in the extreme."
"I'm aware you're bonded to Raptor, Turbine," Prowl said. "But somehow I expected better from you."
HUGE riotous laughter.
Yellow Fort was thundering past the maze to flank the Seeker's new fort from the right. Blue Fort was going to take them head onward and Red Fort with their newly reformatted El Supremo and little frag buddy were going in on the left. If the N.E.S.T team had a sense of esprit d' corps, they would've boxed the Seekers in from the east and all would have been welded shut. They didn't. Neither did the Hu-An who were strategizing and laughing very loudly from the sidelines along with a number of others who were waiting their moment to emerge victoriously.
Which was when everyone else killed each other, of course.
Leader-1 and his faction were still stuck in Metroplex who stood next to his slightly taller robotic companion staring blankly ahead as it waited new orders.
Brown Team were sauntering slowly from the west, watching the entire show with amusement. They weren't in a hurry to get there because there was always that moment in a battle when things were winding down where you could go among the wounded and shoot them in the face.
That moment.
Free Rangers (of the North) sat on the hedge rows of two mazes watching the spectacle. They were determined to be there at the end so they could shoot each other, preferably in the back, then claim victory.
Drift and Springer were riding along behind Yellow Team as they came up from the south to cross the open spaces there for Starscream's Last Stand.
The Big Frames were planning cremations and in deep mourning over the Supremes (BWAHAHA!) so they stayed put. The titanic kids were watching Blue Team closely, ever ready to do battle for the Fam.
Teal Team was holding fire because they didn't care who won this round as long as they won the last one.
Oceania Team led by Beachcomber were getting a tan on the beach. Camp Cool was forgotten in the buzz to get Starscream's helm on a platter.
All was set for a Battle To End All Battles.
That's when the Yellow Team found the quicksand.
-0-Yellow Team
"YEOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" -all of them
Springer and Drift put on the brakes and missed sinking up to their necks in quicksand. Staring at the tableau of everyone on their team trapped in aspic, so to speak, they glanced at each other. "Bug out?" Drift asked.
Springer nodded, then both of them turned tail to go. They wouldn't go far. Grimlock was heading toward the underground hole and he was looking pissed.
They had nowhere to go that didn't hurt.
AND to make matters worse, no one could see where the troll/ogre was.
WHEELJACK!
Meanwhile, back in the quagmire, everyone who was Yellow Fort ... the Twins, Bluestreak, Smokey and his Appa, Smokescreen, Hot Rod, Sandstorm, and Neo were stuck up to their chins. Laret of Yellow Fort who was lagging due to the size and heft of her guns was the only one not to be stuck. She looked at the others. "WHAT DO I DO!?"
"Well, you can shoot Drift and Springer for ditching us," Sunny said with fury.
Laret who was so unnerved and distraught turned her little robot and did just that.
-0-TBC 4-13-18 edited 4-13-18