The Diego Diaries: Face Off (literally) (dd6 595)
=0=Out there
"HARD A PORT!"
Pulsar bellowed his command as the deck crew jolted out of their surprise. Xantium had disappeared into the shimmering energy and the high volume of dust, ice particles and who knew what else. Just as the ship began to move away, an astonishing sight came out of the darkness ahead. Flying with his fist straight out like some kind of monstrous metallic Superman, Xantium Supreme was flashing forward to have a head on collision with the battle cruiser.
It was so surprising and astonishing that Pulsar and his crew paused long enough for Ironhide to grip the command chair for the collision. It was too late to turn around from it and even though two of Pulsar's battle shuttles reached the scene, they could offer no help. In fact, they barrel rolled to either side and disappeared themselves.
Ironhide gripped tightly to the chair, then laughed loudly. "HANG ON! COLLISION IMMINENT!" he cried out as the proximity klaxons began to sound.
"Collision imminent," a metallic voice called over the intercom. "Collision imminent. Brace for impact in nine … eight …"
At that moment everyone dived for a seat winching in just as Pulsar turned toward his own. He startled at the sight of Ironhide gripping the back of it, then Xantium's fist connected with the prow of his ship. The impact was incredible.
The forward view screen and port windows exploded into a million shards of flying glass as an enormous fist appeared to reach into the deck. Everything that was forward impacted, scrunched or exploded, then flew backwards into the bridge.
Ironhide had ducked down as he gripped, magnetizing his peds to the deck and his servos to the back of the heavy chair that was designed to stay in one place. It would shield him from most of the debris and as he did, Pulsar flew over the top of him along with the tech that was forward heading toward the back wall along with the gunmen that had guarded Ironhide to the bridge. He glanced over his shoulder to see them hit the back wall, fly forward as Zee jerked his fist around, then slam backward into it as Xantium pulled his fist back out.
Outside, a number of Autobots who'd let go of enemy ships they were riding floated in the debris field watching something they'd heard about but had never seen before. Supreme mechanisms seldom transformed to root mode in battle unless it was urban but it had been done in the past. It was happening now and there were no words for the sight of it among the Autobot mechs who were jonesing for a ride out of there.
Sunstreaker huddled behind a boulder with ice on it with the others as they watched. Xantium had punched the ship in the face burying his fist into the vessel's bow up to what humans would call their wrist. The ship had shuddered, then big chunks of it buckled, fell off or crumpled never again to be straight or useful.
Zee pulled his fist back out as he gripped the ship with his pincer arm, then struck it again. Down the hull toward midships, the ripple of his power could actually be seen. As it did the ports along both sides imploded then shattered outward, sending zillions of shards of transparent steel into the chaos around it. A huge crack appeared halfway down and out of it a number of mechs were jumping to float away as Xantium mauled their vessel.
Sunstreaker glanced back toward Xantium who had the ship in his grip and was shaking it back and forth. It was like a baby with a rattle as he gripped it and raged. There was no sound to this spectacle but the trumpeting of raging elephants would probably be a good soundtrack Sunny thought as he and the other three stared in stunned silence at the event unfolding before them.
=0=Inside
Ironhide slid down the deck to the elevator and when he got there pried the doors open to slip inside. He thought about dragging in as well Pulsar who was bouncing around most groggily but decided against it. Only someone with the power of a Supreme or titanic frame could deal with the phase sixers. They could rip them to shreds and have a chance of disabling them where he couldn't. All he needed now was for Pulsar to revive before he could disable him himself with Prime or Ratchet's aid.
The elevator was still working but when he arrived down below, the doors were stuck. He ripped them apart, then clambered out running toward the engine room and the exits that were there there that the engine room crews used when things got fragged. Most of those doors were open to space when he got there and the engine room was empty of worker bees. The roar of it indicated that it was going to go so he had to hurry. He thought about mining the engine, then grinned to himself. Given the shaking going on as he swayed in the nether regions of the doomed vessel, it was only a matter of time before Zee took care of it himself.
He walked and slid to a hatch opening, noting that the area around outside was filled with mechs fleeing the ship. He looked out, then stepped out turning on thrusters he rarely used as he headed away himself. Halfway to the first good hiding place he would find, Ironhide rolled over to slow and watch.
The ship was breaking up with huge chunks falling off, arcing electrical fire and flashes along with actual fuel fires that burst into sight, then died right away nearly immediately in the cold vacuum of space. There was a bunch of crew and many if not all of them were floating in space trying to put distance between themselves and the vessel. They were watching their ship die at the hands of someone who was most likely just a story to them, a fable told about the Golden Age.
Xantium gripped the mangled nose of the ship, then pushed his servos together as hard as he could, squeezing the sides together. The ship crunched into a crumpled mass, then the forward section in his grip finally broke free of the rest of the vessel. It floated off, then blew up with a mighty flash of fire and shrapnel. It peppered the crew floating about and Ironhide as well as everyone twisted and turned to miss the big stuff. Several kabooms later, the ship was a shattered mass of metallic and frozen liquid slag.
Xantium floated in space triumphant, then glanced around. :IRONHIDE! WHERE ARE YOU!?:
Ironhide laughed then headed toward the big mech. :Right here: he said.
Then the others, two sets of the most unlucky slaggers tuned in. :WE'RE OVER HERE!: Sunstreaker said as his group flew out heading toward the big mech along with the four other Autobots nearby.
The two shuttles from Pulsar's group had disappeared leaving everyone floating after spotting Xantium destroy the cruiser. The crew of the cruiser waved to the stragglers floating everywhere in fury as they left them behind. A few shot at the ships in their outrage at being abandoned. That was when they in their anger began to shoot at the eight Autobots heading for Xantium Supreme.
=0=Salton Sea
"I have a broken up message from Kup," Prowl said. "Xantium was shot, transformed into root mode and has …" Prowl paused a moment with the note in hand, then looked at Blaster. "Is this correct?"
Blaster grinned, then nodded. "It is."
Prowl stared at the note, then looked at the others. "He hugged one ship to death and he's currently punching another one in the face."
=0=Out there
:Keep up, infants: Jack said as he sped toward Zee with his guns blazing. Behind him, Raptor and Blackjack the Younger attended. They watched the ship die as Zee vented from their hiding place of a rock not that far away from Sunstreaker and his crew. It was relief making to see everyone was alive and relatively well. It was clean up now as the entire Autobot ship's crew flew into Pulsar's to shoot it out while Xantium reached into the piece of ship still in his servos to pull out those still left inside. He tossed them into the mass of teeming chaos nearby as he grabbed them, then threw the ship fragment to one side.
There had to be other prey around here, he thought, then he rolled over and flew onward to find it.
Behind him, the teeming mass of Autobots versus the battered, injured and severely fragged off former crew of Pulsar had it out together.
It was fortunate that other Autobot shuttles including one commanded by Steiner and another by Lissie showed up about the same time. The fight would be short lived.
=0=Pulsar
He floated in space, a severely damaged mechanism. He'd struggled with the giant hand of Xantium when he finally reached into the farthest areas of the bridge he held with his claw arm. Pulsar had given a few very hard raps to the mechanism as he fought to be free. It hadn't freed him but it certainly enraged the Supreme mechanism.
Zee had pulled Pulsar out, looked him in the face with a howling rage, then squeezed hard. When he was sufficiently satisfied that Pulsar's optics had bugged out far enough, he tossed him aside. There were others hiding from him inside including two who had managed to get the elevator doors opened, stepped in and fell into space.
He was marginally aware, Pulsar, that ships were there and they were gathering in his crew. He felt his own internal repair begin, something that phase six mechanisms had that were so far advanced over the average bot that they could recover from just about anything in a matter of orns. The only thing they couldn't repair was lose of limbs unless they had medical skills. If Xantium had pulled him apart, he would be a unsquished torso with astonishing power in three orns but no limbs to locomote. It was their Achilles heel.
Among (few) other things.
Their power was internally derived with a specialized and miniaturized reactor that gave them unlimited power to chase, self-repair or do their mayhem whereas other bots wouldn't survive. There was no distance or privation they couldn't overcome because of it and that was their great threat. Even a bot couldn't live long enough to outrun one on their tail. Pulsar felt himself pulling together but he knew given that a ship was moving closer that he wouldn't have time. He moved his arms but felt the breaks inside. He couldn't draw a weapon from subspace because of the damage. He was helpless, a feeling very unusual to him at the moment and if he could have moved his lips to bellow, he would have.
But he couldn't so he didn't.
A shuttle pulled up beside him, then a servo gripped his bent legs. :What do we have here? This looks like Pulsar: Steiner said with a grin. :Sunstreaker:
A mech appeared at the door, one a little worse for the wear. :That's him: Sunny said with grim satisfaction. Fragger was responsible for his current chipped and flaked condition.
:Shut him off: Steiner said as he hauled Pulsar upward to expose his back.
The last thing that Pulsar would remember for some time was the cold metallic hands of someone inputting a medical code then shutting him down. He fell into blessed oblivion immediately.
=0=Salton Sea
Prime sat in his command seat musing on the spectacle of Xantium Supreme playing chicken with a battle cruiser and 'punching it in the face' as it was so quaintly relayed.
Prowl walked to him, then leaned down to update him on the newest information. :You might want to know that they have Pulsar in custody. Apparently, Xantium squeezed him rather tightly when he was feeling around the bridge for Pulsar and his crew. He broke the ship in half, then rummaged with his servo for the crew inside the forward section:
Prime stared at Prowl, then grinned slightly. :That is a tactic. What about our missing crew?:
:We have Sunstreaker's vessel's crew, Ironhide and his elders showed up in time to shoot it out with Pulsar's crew as they floated in space. There's something about hitching a ride on two of Pulsar's cruisers … I'm sure its a tactic as well. I still have no word on Springer and the others but Xantium is looking for what's been quaintly described as 'fresh meat'."
Prime grinned. "I see. Please keep me updated on the others. I am assuming that the enemy crew is being picked up."
"You are correct," Prowl said with a grin.
Nearby, taking notes madly, the amma and appa of Jessine had their lead story: 'Supreme Mechanism Punches Battle Cruiser In The Face For The Win'.
=0=TBC 2-16-19 edited at last 2-18-19
NOTES! :D:D:D
Silverhornd chapter 594 . 6h ago
Question, Are the Supremes strong enough to pull the limbs off someone who is a phase six and the lady needs to come back to help.
ME: They are. Only the titanic ships can harm the sixers. A story on Metroplex shows him beating Sixshot to a pulp. He punches him with his fist into the ground multiple times and flattens him like a coke can. The last scenes are Sixshot twitching as he mends himself. :D:D:D Xantium could pull everything Pulsar has off and he can mend but he can't regrow limbs. They fear, if they can feel it, only these mechanisms.
Valentines Guest chapter 594 . Feb 15
Are there going to be any developments with Razorclaw when this Pulsar arc is over? Especially since he has those untraceable ships. Having tech that could infiltrate Autobot City with no one knowing and wreaking havoc or spying seems like a great advantage to me
ME: He is. That's recurring as he slowly gathers up good tech. He's not going to be stupid but strategic. He's on the list upcoming, he, Cassio Imperialis and Ominous. I love when these dudes try stuff. :D:D:D
leoness chapter 594 . Feb 15
hoooooooly crap that was epic visually.
ME: I wish I could make this story a movie. The movie in my head is so much fun. :D More to come. Zee is upset. ;)