574/See Food Diet

See Food Diet
Date of Scene:	11 September 2014
Location:	Cybertron-2
Synopsis:	A distress beacon is coming from Cybertron. Union, Syndicate, and Confederate alike go to investigate, but find a horde of hungry Insecticons waiting for dinner.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 304, Blurr, 530, 541, 552, 560

---

Blurr has posed:
    The surface of Cybertron is dark, cold, and desolate, covered in dead pieces of what was once a thriving civilization. Cities lie in ruins, and the terrain is jagged and treacherous.

    Nothing has lived here for millenia, that is, except for the savage Swarm. The thrown away horde of failed Decepticon experiments had been set loose on the depleted world fairly recently, maybe 10 or so Earth years before the Unification. Which gives us even more reason to stay the slag -away- from this place...

    So what's Blurr doing here, then? Well he'd been sent to investigate a mysterious signal, but thanks to an unwanted stowaway, the ship had gotten devoured by the Swarm, and now the Autobot is stranded in the ruins of Helex. He may be fast, but there's just no way he's going to get past all of those deformed and ravenously hungry Insecticons prowling about the perimeter of the ruins, just waiting for something else alive to make a move so they can pounce and devour.

    He'd attempted to broadcast a beacon on a specific Autobot frequency, but for some reason there was too much interference--it wouldn't go through. Thus he was left with no choice but to use a broadband signal. Yes, just about anyone with any kind of detection ability would be able to pick up on it, even Decepticons and Feds, but it was a risk he would have to be willing to take. Hopefully, there'd be more Union or Autobot than Cofederacy...

Garen (530) has posed:
    Luckily, or unluckily, for Blurr, someone was nearby and did pick up on the transmission. It happened to be fellow infiltrator, Confederate member and Imperial Agent Garen. "Hmm....this should be good." He says. Bringing his ship, the x-70 Phantom in with it's stealth ability active, he finds a decent landing zone. He carefully made his way towards the ruins, stealth his watch-word.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Well Blurr was there when Marrik needed, and he wasn't going to let a little thin like no breathable atmosphere stop him from returning the favor. So here he was with his bike parked at a portal with a shinki sized pixie in motercycle leathers looking doubtfully at what looked like a rune covered plank of wood.

"It'll work." Marrik tried sounding confident as he slipped a deep red snarling clay mask over his head. Yellow marks glowed soft as its runes activated and he pulled on plain unadorned steel gauntlets and boots. They had no enchantments, but for the mask's spell to work he couldn't have unadorned skin. So he sat the plank of wood down and green runes glowed before he stepped on hesitently. "Look I don't like this either but the bike is an air breather." So with a final prayer to the powers that be Marrik crouched down on the magiked plank and willed it to go through the portal.

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Home.

It has been millenia since Soundwave had last seen his homeworld, and the mere sight of it outside a port window invokes both nostalgia and regret. However, grim apprehension takes firm hold almost immediately as he mentally prepares himself while running checks on his weaponry and systems. He knows what lurks on the all-but-dead world, but an emergency beacon from an Autobot of his universe is an opportunity too great to ignore.

The Decepticon disembarks from his small craft almost before it has time to settle its landing, striding alone across the ruined metallic ground with sure-footed purpose. His internal systems are already triangulating the beacon's origin, and it should not take him long.

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
It's a rare version of Cybertron that is more creepy than Black Arachnia likes to hang around in - but then, she's used to being the creepiest thing around, as a rule.

Still, for all that the Maximal spider acts like she doesn't need or care for allies, she can't really ignore an honest-to-Primus distress call - so she triangulates the coordinates, confirms the destination, and sets off through a warpgate, making her way to the desolation that used to be Blurr's native Cybertron.

A giant spider blends *right in* with the Swarm, doesn't she? And if any of them single her out as 'living' and tries to take a bite out of her, she'll just have to whip around and bite them right back.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    A location without much air is a serious problem, especially when there's a distress beacon about. But Marrik's going, and SOMEONE's in trouble... that means Shirou'd better go and see what's happening.

    So he's garbed up thanks to the Union armory. A one-size-fits-all-vacsuit - a thin, but tough outfit with a clear, reinforced helmet and hours of air to work with. It can seal itself when punctured, too, to some degree.

    That's object one. The other is an electric motorcycle! Electric, because combustion requires air and this thing doesn't.

    He bursts out of the warp gate right behind Black Arachnia, and sure, she's kind of creepy-looking, but that's not really a problem.

    "I hope we get there fast enough!" he calls over the radio.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had been one to explore she heard the place was dead, it was full of alien tech, even samples of the local alien alloys might help X-Com in its fight against hte mysteirous aliens attacking it's world. Also she might also be here to get some personal salvage she's suited up with a salvage rig it looks up and is clearly armed, she's brought a load of reaper rounds and some basic grenades she prays such will be enough. She's also riding on a fairly sleek motor cycle. She picks up the signal and pauses going to check it out, if something's alive here it might needed.

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr is hiding in the old safe house he'd found...thank Primus, because without it, he would have been eaten alive. Still, the supplies in there are running low, and they won't last forever. He'd need an extraction team, and soon. Thus the broadband signal.

    Watching the sensor arrays hopefully, he catches several blips approaching. Oh -great-, one of them is a Decepticon. Well he had to have expected to get a few bad hits, anyway. He opens a comm to the other Union elites who have decided to show up. <<Thanks for the assist. I just need an exit, the ruins are surrounded. Be careful though, they'll eat anything. And I mean -anything-.>>

    As the group approaches, they'll catch signs of why Blurr has been trapped in the ruins. The area is crawling with failed Insecticon experiments, all prowling about the perimeter in search of a meal a bit more nutritious than the pieces of debris that litter the metallic terrain. Out of everyone, though, Soundwave looks the most delicious. As the Decepticon approaches, a group of them turn toward him, their multiple optics glowing hungrily. They had already been alerted to the presence of others when the warpgate had activated, and from the way they're all looking, it won't be long before--

    And there they go. A beetle-shaped one with large mandibles is the first to spring, launching itself at the biggest guy, that being Soundwave, and attempting to sink its teeth into his leg. At least a dozen more are stampeding up behind it, apparently intending to follow suit. Would the Union help the Fed in this case, or make it worse for him? Or are they too concerned with their -own- well-being...

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen rounded a corner of the ruin and spots soundwave about to be jumped. Taking a knee, he quickly sights the beetle-shaped insecticon and fires a round from his rifle straight for it's head. "Did you insects really think I would let you eat an ally?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
The Swarm was a soulless mass of animalistic instinct. Literally, Marrik could feel not a soul, fragment of a soul, or even that mist that came from the Black Mages when he caused one to decay into rust. The whole watching the giant machine beast decay and rust distracted him from the fact if the board he road on hadn't included runes of safety forceably holding him upright and keeping the board level he would have fallen off as soon as it moved.

As it was however here was a man wearing a snarling red mask wearing a heavy brown cloak flying towards where Sparks was telling him the beacon should be. He was grateful for the mask because in addition to letting him breathe it was letting him hide how terrified he was. Flying was not his thing, and he was only managing this well because he owed a debt to Blurr, and he was raised to believe little things like being frightened out of your mind in an alien landscape with unbreathable air and giant metal bugs.

Speaking of, he saw a swarm stampeding at Soundwave. He didn't know the guy was a deception, and frankly wouldn't care. It was someone faced with the prospect of getting eaten alive. As he sped forward his hands spread. Threads only he could see raced from his outstretched hands, twisting and curving over and around anything in their way to try sinking into what he could of this swarm. It was, however, a fast moving gaggle of bugs and that many targets were hard to deal with, and they were moving so fast any up front that drop would simply get trampled. Still, he had to do something.

All this from an apparently silent human sized figure floating a dozen feet off the air spreading his hands wide.

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
So she's still blending in. That might be helpful.

Black Arachnia continues onwards, monitoring any signal traffic that seems to be going back and forth between members of the swarm - partly to see what sense, if any, she can make of it; partly with an eye to potentially hacking in and seeing if she can make them dance to her tune. The leap towards Soundwave has her particularly watching/'listening' to see if there's some kind of coordination among them apart from simply reacting to each other's actions.

Beyond that, though, she's heading for Blurr's shelter, and trying to figure out *why* they're staying on or outside of the perimeter. If she just barrels through she might find herself leading a bunch that she *doesn't* want following her.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets a singal from Blurr. <<Blurr?! And right wait what /eat/ anything?! Like a swarm of Locus that can eat ... metal....>>

The image on the cybercomm connection which Blurr anyone else with th means to see would have a Oh dear god what look on Kotone's face. She's still closing however now as she wondes about her bike damn it this is going to be bad, she does have those grenades however and she's got an idea, she'll set a time delay hopefully one of the things will /eat/ them. She's not affilated with the union directly and well watching /anyone/ getting eaten alive like that makes the ghost of her stomach church. She throws several of the grenades paying the bugs will try to /eat/ them or ignore them before they go off.

<<Fire in the hole...>>

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    And when Shirou makes it around a bend or two with Black Arachnia and catches sight of the distant swarm of Insecticon failures... he very quickly puts on the brakes. "Wha--" It would be enough to ask a human to get through ONE of those things. Hundreds or more?! Shirou's gaping, stomach sinking. This..... is hopeless. At least, with the force he can bring to bear. Even if he had Kusanagi's full power on his side, THAT is a bit much.

    "Erm... Do you have any ideas, Black Arachnia?" Worse, others are already taking action. especially Kotone over there!

    "wait--" He doesn't get a chance to finish that call. Grenades are thrown and... and now Shirou decides he'd better prepare. He'll need at least twenty seconds, maybe thirty, and that grenade has what, 4, 5?

    "Trace, on!"

    Apparently wearing a spacesuit doesn't interfere with his Projection. The form of Kusanagi no Tsurugi in all its ancient glory begins coaelscing in his grasp out of pure magical energy...

Soundwave (552) has posed:
There is no good way for a Cybertronian to mask themselves from a Swarm, Soundwave already knew this. In fact, he was fully expecting the nearest pack to turn on him the moment they picked him up -- but their animalistic intent gave him all the warning he needed. And when they did charge him, he was ready for them... though the assistance was as unexpected as it is welcome.

Garen's shot is punctuated by Soundwave stomping HARD on the Insecticon's metal carapace, the gatling-turret on his shoulder whirring to life as laser rounds fly towards the pack following in its wake. Marrik's magic also helps, though the Decepticon barely seems to notice the floating human's presence. He's a little too busy making sure he doesn't get swarmed -- quite literally, at that.

All radios beep on a universal broadband frequency, and one very simple word emits in Soundwave's unique vocal melotone: <<"-MOVE.-">>

Blurr has posed:
    Garen's shot strikes true, knocking a chunk out of the beetle-shaped frontliner's head. It screeches and lets go of Soundwave's leg before scurrying toward Garen instead. It doesn't get very far, however, as the Decepticon's ped comes crashing down onto its carapace, effectively crushing its back and sending splatters of energon and bits of Insecticon body flying in all directions.

    Soundwave's worries aren't over yet, however, as even more of them are incoming thanks to the commotion the others have caused. The entire horde that had been roaming the ruins seems to be bearing down on them now. Kotone's grenades explode, blowing up several more, Soundwave's shots punch holes in their numbers, and Marrik's magic seems to push the line back somewhat, but there's just -so- fragging many of them! They must have been in the hundreds, and they're getting a bit -too- close for comfort!

    Emiya had been able to go unnoticed by the savage Insecticons, that is until now. The magical energy attracts them, and a twisted grasshopper-fly-looking hybrid them lunges at him, lashing out with a large claw.

    Black Arachnia, on the other hand, is able to stay under their radar for now. Her scans would indicate that the Swarm are in fact not really coordinating at all. In that way they are not actually like wild animals, because wild animals typically at least have some sort of pecking order or organization to their groups. These have none at all. There is no structure to their numbers; no coordination, which means that she may be able to hack some of them and gain control of their actions. All they care for is to devour, and devour, and devour more. They have no greater purpose than this.

    Once the Inseticons have become preoccupied with the newcomers, Blurr finally ventures out of hiding to join in the battle. <<Uh, Kotone, good to see you.>> he answers the cyborg. <<And yeah, not just metal. Anything and everything.>> Oh, look that Decepticon was Soundwave. The speedster isn't -too- surprised to see him. Blasting away at something with wings and eight optics about to latch itself onto the Decepticon's neck, he pauses to taunt him a bit. "Hey there Soundwave, what are -you- doing here? Never thought you'd be interested in saving an Autobot."

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen narrows his eyes as he spots the insecticons, but listens and heads back towards the unionites. Of course, he turns back and fires to give Soundwave cover too. "You move as well! No one is left behind!"

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
While that's a very nice sword Shirou's conjured, it would be more of a shame if anything happened to *him* than to the sword ... and so the Maximal spider doubles back briefly, making sure none of the Swarm are about to come up behind him.

She also lays down some webbing - nice and sticky, with just enough Energon laced into it that a hungry Swarmbug might mistake it for a stray shard or puddle of sweet pure energy for the taking. If she can't co-opt the swarm wholesale she can at least start experimenting with how to reduce the immediate threat they pose ...

Black ARachnia is, however, paying an ample majority of her attention towards Blurr and the others. Not much point to trekking out here on a rescue mission of we have to call ANOTHER rescue mission in to rescue the first mission, right? ... and yes, that means the Confederates too. Never turn down enemy firepower when it's helping your side, after all.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Just as being human sized is land of giants had it's downsides it also had it's advantages. After all who notices the tiny thing in crazy battlefield? Marrik didn't mind being overlooked. <<"Plan, anyone, other than 'don't get eaten'?">> Faint traces of unease were in his voice as he spoke over the same frequency Soundwave used. This was a Dead land to him. Nothing to feed on and though he had fed deep enough to replenish himself he would have nothing to draw on here, so the inability to animate the swarm was no great loss. While a horde of zombies made great backup, it was magically expensive, so instead he pulled out a scroll and threw it into the swarm, so hopefully its detonation would keep them off balance, or at least- who was he kidding? These things seemed to not care for anything other than food. So more explosive scrolls were thrown before he urged the board he rode to go faster to keep from being separated.

Being small was an asset until he was spotted. After that their 'bury everything in bodies' tactic would serve to exhaust him. Better to stay around other people that seemed to keep their attention. There was only so much he could do, but it would be enough. It had to be.

Except magic seemed to draw more of the swarm out. Curses were uttered as Marrik's staff seemed to slide from somewhere up his sleeve into his hands. Its runes glowed as it twisted threads of power around its length. He threw a handful of seeds and when he pointed his staff at them surprisingly, impossibly, plants bloomed. At first they were little flowers barely poking out and nearly unable to stand upright with the thin purchase their roots had on the metal of Cybertron. Then an acorn sprouted and a towering oak shot up and just kept growing til it was huge even by cybertronian standards.

Why do this? Why waste magic making a tree grow? Towering would certainly be unique, and it would both be alive and by now it would be soaking in magic preventing its leaves from dropping, branches healthy, and trunk strong enough to withstand even these bugs slamming into it.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Nobody told him these things could sense magic, but realizing his mistake doesn't take long. "W-woahgh!" Shirou's still on the bike, and he revvs up the electric engine for EVERYTHING it's worth. This takes him skidding off to the side, but he's forced to ditch his ride and go stumbling and tumbling along the ground in the suit.

    Naturally, grunting and groaning through the roll.

    But then he's back up, and the thing's still after him. With another gasping noise he brings the still-forming kusanagi up to block--

    CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!

    partially formed it may be, but even the conceptual framework of a legendary sword is apparently enough to repel such a shoddy creation. The offending claw is repelled back. With any luck, the wind that's begun gathering around Kusanagi - drawing in whatever scraps of atmosphere there are to work with - is a terrific cutting force all its own!

    But even so.

    "Hrrghhfff---"

    That's one HUGE robot thing slamming all the mass of one of its limbs down at a tiny human. Shirou's sent flying AGAIN. Whumpf, wham, smash, all across the ground...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has one what she could to try to help Soundwave, she's more than a little shocked it worked. She thought she might mess them up enough for help the transformer who was getting swarmed ither way it worked however ther's too many. She stares for a moment and revees the engine on her bike.

"I don't think raid's going to work on these things..."

You'd need a multiped tank to deal with these things to be honest or combat hard suits. She does have the rifle whih she brings up and she firess off several bursts before shouldering it hopefully to train the thing she calls out to Shirou.

"Kid! We're two bit brownies to these things!"

She makes for him intending to give him a pick up.

"Come on ... get on..."

She'll stop once she gets to him.

"JUST HANG ON!"

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Soundwave starts falling back to officially join forces with the Unionites as well, offering a brief nod to the Chiss Imperial in acknowledgement. His shoulder-turret clicks and whirrs for a moment without firing anything, then launches missiles in a spread pattern to thin the incoming wave as much as reasonably possible.

Blurr's taunting is met with a low ominous-sounding hum, especially after the Autobot's shot causes shrapnel and oil to splash all over the back of the Decepticon's helm. "-Capture intended. Rescue --" He twists his torso slightly, firing his rifle beyond Blurr while maintaining fire in the same area with the shoulder-turret, "-- means to an end. Now, a moot point.-"

Shirou and Kotone's plight does not go unnoticed, and he uses Marrik's magical tree-growing as a distraction while he presses a button near his shoulder. "-Buzzsaw, eject! Operation: Overwatch!-" A gold-and-black microcassette launches as Soundwave's chestplate opens for a moment, the object twisting into a mechanical condor. Buzzsaw immediately swoops high into the sky before divebombing down towards the Insecticon menacing Shirou, the lasers on his back firing rapidly while maintaining a healthy distance.

Blurr has posed:
    Black Arachnia's energon-laced webs work like a charm. The malformed Insecticons flock towards them, thinking they're a nice easy snack, and her webs end up trapping as many as they can possibly hold. They flail and hiss, struggling to get free but fail to do so.

    The monstrosity after Emiya devours his bike once he leaves it on the ground before continuing after the human. But Shirou's weapon manages to slice the huge claw clean off! How could that be possible, he's tiny compared to it! Well, for one despite their sheer numbers these things appear to not be very durable at all. There was a reason Megatron had considered them -failed- experiments, and they'd been thrown out. As if to further confirm this, even Buzzsaw's weapons prove quite effective against them. The creature is shredded, its innards spilling onto the ground.

    "Capture?" Blurr laughs at Soundwave's answer as he whips his blaster around at a few more Insecticons, blowing one's head to bits while punching another into the ground. "So you actually thought you could -catch- me? Thought you were smarter than that."

    Marrik's tactic has a similar effect to Black Arachnia's. The sudden appearance of a giant tree brimming with energy...it's like a free buffet for the Swarm! They mob it, sinking their mandibles and teeth into the leaves and branches as the tear at the foliage viciously. Can Marrik keep it growing and replenishing itself for long enough? It won't be long before the entire local population will be coming for a share of the veggies...

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
"/ I think we're on to something here, /" Black Arachnia transmits to the others - using the same channel Soundwave did for the general poking earlier. "/ Between my webbing and that tree Marrik just grew, we can give these things enough to focus on that we can stroll back to the warpgate without any real trouble .../"

She's laying some more webbing down to help lure in the stragglers, trying to space it out along an area that spreads generally away from the path that the Union, at least, will need to take to get back to the warpgate they came in by. She's also making more liberal use of her electro-disruptor - because these things may be dumb robugs, but they MIGHT be smart enough to realize that the tasty deposits of energon-rich stickiness are being left behind by *her*. The less noticeable Black Arachnia is to the Swarm, in short, the better all the way around.

"/ I would say we can go as soon as everyone's ready, /" she adds. "/ Marrik, how long will that tree last after you stop focusing on it? /"

Marrik (541) has posed:
<<"Not sure how long I can keep their attention, but it's working. Get whike the getting's good.">> Marrik held his staff at the tree, dumping magic to keep it growing even as it was being consumed. He had worked for years to perfect this spell; to take Life gathered and put it to positive ends. Compared to the filth that was animating the dead he could not feel the least bit shame in how wonderful and /clean/ this magic seemed.

Yet he found himself wishing it had been a cedar tree instead, full to bursting with sap that needed only a spark to go up. As it stood though he focused on the tree growing even as he mentally went through what he had I'm his pockets to see what would work best as an ignition source before he completely ran out of magic, again.

On the up side he was so busy he forgot how terrifying it was to be off the ground.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Like hell am I dying to such a crappy robot!" Shirou blurts out, rising to his feet and glaring angrily at the maimed Insecticon just moments before Kotone arrives. Then.... LASERS! And the great robot collapses in a heap.

    Shirou doesn't think too much about hopping onto Kotone's bike, with his own devoured so readily. "Nobody told me this palce was home to giant hungry robots! Really, it's too crazy to expect. But someone needs rescue, we can't just run....! What's your plan?!" Although, hopefully, a escape route is doable with what Marrik and the otehrs are up to....

Garen (530) has posed:
5r    "If we can capture one or more, that would be beneficial. We are best seperating them. From what I saw, they are more aggressive in packs." Garen chimes in. He was watching quietly, taking pot shots when he could.

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Dark malice laces Soundwave's return taunt at Blurr: "-The Swarm nearly did.-"

He ceases fire as the insects become more drawn to Black Arachnia and Marrik's energy-based distractions than the band of unwilling temporary allies. He tilts his head back slightly, expanding his sensors' range to maximum to keep tabs on the Swarm packs in the immediate area. <<"-This way,-">> he broadcasts over the impromptu 'mission frequency', striding away from the distracted Swarm and back towards where the Unionites had appeared.

He makes a hand-motion to Buzzsaw, who swoops back around to keep an optic on Marrik and Black Arachnia's efforts, just in case. "-Not advised,-" he intones to Garen directly. "-Survival and extraction high-priority. However, further Insecticon incursions could provide opportunities.-"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is thankful for the support fire from Soundwaves comrade and replies to Shirou.

"I had no idea either the charts listed this palce as deserted and unclaimed. I guess those things are why no one's set up shop to stip this thing like an unlocked car. We need to one stifk together and fight take the rifle from my back, point and shoot at the thickest part of the swarm."

She's getting rteady to ride again and make for a breakout hopefully Shirou will go for the gun.

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr watches as Black Arachnia webs more Insecticons, and Marrik...causes a giant tree to grow out of the ground? In a place like this? Definitely weird, but this is the multiverse, after all. "Uh, okay whatever you're doing, keep it up, Marrik! Anyone have explosives? Big ones?" He usually does himself, but he'd used them all up in attempting to defend his ship from getting devoured, which had ultimately failed. The Autobot glances at Kotone, since she seemed to have grenades earlier. Hopefully she has something bigger? Or maybe she can string them together?

    In the meantime, more and more of the Swarm flock toward the giant tree, tearing into it faster and faster. Hopefully Marrik can keep it up...but once he stops sustaining it there's no doubt it won't last very long.

    After listening to the Union tactical band, Blurr gets the sense that he's going to need to be the one to set off a bomb if that's what's going to be necessary. "We don't have a lot of time! Marrik if there's a way to blow the thing do it now--otherwise I can detonate something while the rest of you make a run for the gate. Kotone, how many grenades do you have left?"

Garen (530) has posed:
    "I always pack some thermal detonators. Luckily for you, I have military-grade high explosives with me. I was on my way to do a bit of.....redocorating." He says, clearly meaning he was on a sabotage mission. He shakes his head. "No one left behind, even a unionite if I have to work with them. As long as I have a clear shot at a trigger mechanism or the explosive itself, I can detonate it."

Marrik (541) has posed:
It was both because of the practice that had gone into this spell and the feel of rightness that allowed Marrik to create an impossibly large and durable tree to act as target. The board he stood on floated high enough so he was able to see the tree and a sizeable chunk of the alien landscape that was Cybertron around it. As he held the staff in his left hand his right went to a pouch beneath his robes.

<<"Flee. All of you. Right now.">> Somehow, in spite of the fact he was high up enough the swarm looked the same size as normal bugs his voice was calm. Marrik's eyes glowed a fitful red and orange, making it look like fire filled the mask's eye sockets as a slender black spear was pulled from beneath his robes. <<"I'll be right behind you.">> He had no want or desire to end up dead on this barren place, and while the spear in his hands was something he normally wouldn't touch let alone use due to how unstable it was, it would be perfect for his needs right now.

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
Black Arachnia lays down a couple more splotches of energon-rich webbing as she skitters back towards Blurr ...

And doesn't really give him any warning before she leaps up and tries to latch onto the speedy Autobot's back. "Hope you don't mind giving me a ride, but *I* don't have wheels," she 'whispers' to him. "Just warn me before you transform, I'll let go and latch back on."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's still riding with Kotone, but all the while he's been focusing on completing his projection. In under a minute, Kusanagi's ready. The blade is a straightsword, but it has some weird spiky features and its craftsmanship is clearly very old styled as it lacks plenty of convenient features like a proper guard, and the pommel looks decisively lethal. It is in fact one solid piece of metal by most accounts. Despite being THE japanese sword of legend, it is very much NOT a katana.

    "If they get near, I'll handle them... but we should just leave and come back with a better plan!"

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Soundwave shakes his head slightly as he pauses. The increasing buzz of animalistic intent, though not nessisarily directed at the group nor himself specifically, is starting to grate on his mind due to sheer numbers. Keeping track of so many Swarm packs both mentally and via sensors is also proving to be quite the endeavor, on top of keeping up with conversations.

"-We do not have TIME to discuss. Our escape window is closing RAPIDLY.-" The temptation to telepathically influence the minds around him glimmers in the back of his mind, but the thought is dismissed just as quickly. He doesn't have the focus for something so trivial anyways. "-Set the charges as we move. But we must move NOW.-"

Meanwhile, Buzzsaw is still flying in Marrik's general airspace, though well clear of the necromancer for the moment. At least Insecticons can't reach them in the sky... or at least, such is the hope.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa pauses as he's going to use a sword? Okay this is turning into something of a Movieflicks that anything else at this point. She's just going to accept it and get ready to roll at this point. She's ready and she's going to follow after them at this point.

"let's get moving."

The engine kicks up and she's on her way at this point going to keep with the group.

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr takes in the situation. The tree, the Swarm, and the explosive spear. There's a -lot- of bugs on that tree. "Hold on, Marrik..."

    The Autobot nods to Garen and Soundwave. For once he agrees with the Decepticon. "Exactly, in fact everyone just give me whatever you have, anything explosive. I'll plant them on top of each other near the...uh, tree while the rest of you take off for the gate as fast as you can. They should create a chain reaction and hopefully it'll be strong enough to blow them all to microns. I -should- be able to get out of the blast radius fast enough. That said, uh...Black you might want to hitch a ride with someone else this time. Guess it's up to you, though."

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen nods and hands over a belt of thermal detonators and the high grade explosive he had. "I'll move ahead and make sure our way out is clear." He says, turning to take off. The one good thing about Cipher Agents, they could get around fast and quiet-like.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Maybe Marrik noticed Soundwave's drone, but most likely as soon as thing proved not violent he immediately discarded it as unimportant. He waited for an all clear before putting his plan into motion. He wasn't trying to hide, and as he rose in the air he drew on yet more power as he hefted the flawed spear. For a moment he looked along the charred length of its haft to the dull light coming off it's tip. It was a flawed design, but for his needs here it fit perfectly.

There was something they did not know. He had his own way home. Of course using it would mean his bike was exposed til he retrieved it, but it was well concealed so it should be safe. <<"Make it fast.">> There was a warning tone to his voice. He still had plenty of magic, but he didn't believe in cutting as thin to the bone as possible. <<Don't even bother with timers just dump everything and go Right Now.>>

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
"Unless Yamakawa's bike can carry a third passenger who probably weighs more than either of the first two," Black Arachnia points out to Blurr, "I think you're my best ride out of here in good time."

What, hitch a ride on Soundwave instead? Ha. Fat chance of that - she'll stick with the Autobot, thank you.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "You don't have to tell me twice!" Shirou barks, whilst tightening his grip with the other hand on Kotone's bike. He has NO desire to stick around in this hellhole with Blurr rescued...

    But he does spend a few moments sizing up Soundwave. His expression's pretty clear and readable, saying 'who the heck is that?'

    But then he catches sight of Marrik's spear, and promptly his face pales...

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Soundwave motions for those ready to go to follow him, his strides picking up into a run. Let the Autobot and human magician play hero for all he cares. He's ready to leave here at fastest speed, regardless of who else is ready to abandon this dead world in the process.

Buzzsaw would be quite insulted if Marrik had actually voiced his assumption that the gold-and-black condor is a 'drone'. But he didn't, so the bird stays on overwatch. He can catch up with Soundwave in no time.

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr quickly takes the bombs from Garen, nodding a brief thanks to the Chiss. He isn't exactly friends with the guy, but for now he's an asset. He chuckles slightly at Black Arachnia. "Yeah, I get it, you'd rather get blown up than ride with Soundwave. Makes sense!"

    Most of the Insecticons are still ripping away at the tree ravenously, while a few of them remain struggling against Black Arachnia's webs. The speedster darts over to the tree, planting Garen's bombs among its roots, then taking off again as fast as he can, alerting the Maximal spider when he transformed to speed toward the gate. Hopefully they're all too enamored with the energy-rich creation of Marrik's to notice him. As he darts away, he signals the necromancer,

    "Marrik, now!"

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
Precisely as planned, Black Arachnia lets go of Blurr's back as he starts transforming, latches back on as he finishes, and hangs on tight for the final drive to safety.

All according to plan, right?

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen was up ahead, clearing the path out of any insecticons that wanted to try and ambush.

Blurr has posed:
    The black spear flies, and impacts Garen's explosives, turning the giant tree into a blazing inferno that engulfs the majority of the Insecticons just before they manage to devour it entirely. Most of them are incinerated, while others are sent flying, while Blurr and the band of unlikely Union, Syndicate, and Confederate allies flee to the warpgate.

    When it's all over, only a few stragglers remain among the bits and pieces of the others who were disintegrated in the explosion, still caught in Black Arachnia's webs. They won't be going anywhere any time soon...