Scene #924: Crystaline Jungle Attack

Owner	Pose
Nox	The lifecrystal mentioned in the radio is visible miles away from the scene. A towering piece of what looks like pale blue quartz looms over the jungle landscape surrounding it, shimmering with faint iridescence even in the midday sun. The site mentioned over the radio is easy enough to find, simply by following the high pitched sound of saws and the creaking and crunching of felled trees, if not even more easily by the flocks of birds evacuating the area. Arriving in person finds that a narrow swathe of forest has been cleared out in the shape of a circle, in which some sort of hastily constructed towers stand at regular intervals. Each one is fairly small, and made with only the bare minimum amount of material, meant only to support an array of what look like fine lenses made of what might be tree sap aligned on top of each one. The jungle floor is crawling with lumbering, spider-like robots clad in steely grey shells and bearing circular saws on their front legs, large enough to stride over the underbrush with ease.
Optimus Prime	Optimus Prime hears the distress call and is quickly on the move. It doesn't take the semi long to get to the nearby site thanks to the portal technology of the Multiverse and the Prime doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Which those tires hit the dirt-grass, he keeps on trucking, even as his back end slides a bit from almost traction slip. He moves between the crystal growing trees and avoids running over anything of perhaps importance. As he then heads right over a hill. He transforms. His body reconfiguring itself in the flip of speed. As he comes back around, the rifle comes into hand and he takes aim at some of the smaller machines below. The green energy blasts blaze downward at the smaller working robots. Then when he lands, he tumble rolls up onto his feet, crystals crushing easily under the giant of a machine Those true blue optics gleaming ever as bright as the crystals around him and his battle-plate hiding the scowl on his face as he scans the area around him. He is sure one of his old mentors would have told him he should have waited for the rest of the Union! Perhaps some part of him even knows this to be true, but life was in danger here-- he would not do /nothing/ again.
Cheyanne	The land groans with every shudder of the unnatural shapes lumbering across it. Birds and beasts cry in upset as they are forced out of their once peaceful homes by the intrusion. The trees shriek as they are severed from the lifeblood of nature by whirling discs of destruction. Calls carried upon the wind's voice, though to most of the world the whispers are lost in the very currents that carry them. Save for one pair of ears they fall upon, as clear as day and sharp enough to snap the meditation state deep within the wilderness. Verdenant eyes flare open as if jolted from a deep nightmare, fingers raised to the passing cold wind as if trying to caress it, comfort those cries and reassure them assistance, and vengeance if need be, shall arrive in short order. Then their owner simply stands and with no more than a few short words to distant allies, strides away and into the depths of the very wilds surrounding, seeming to fade as if into a misty eve as she shifts to striding the elemental lines that connect all aspects of nature and life across the planes to hasten the trip. For a trip that can feel like an eternity no more than minutes pass. Another wind bellows through the jungle, but this one carrying cries of warning and forebodence upon those that do not herald it. A blip here, and rustle there, something stalks between the trees still standing. A sensor ghost, a refraction of light between the branches, yet never there still when looked upon. It's impossible to not know something or someone is there, but just as improbable to pinpoint where the presence stands amongst the remaining wilderness surrounding the site. Shielded by the nature she has come to protect the shaman lingers at the edges of preception, Cheyanne taking wary stock of the situation before she moves to make her intervention...
Serenity	Serenity was indeed nearby, and is coming in fast, riding a large bird. Large bird would be... understating it, actually. It has the appearance of a Roc, massive and easily carrying Serenity atop its back. It is also moving far, far faster than any biological bird has any right to. The massive raptor banks, a smudge of light in the air trailing its motion as Serenity guides it to circle at a distance, trying to get a better feel for these machines below, to find out exactly who or what is directing or controlling them. It would be much easier if she had a central point to attack.
Megatron	"Red and blue, primarily, with some silver." That is literally the worst thing one could say, when Lord Megatron is present and listening. As the Nemesis preps its space-bridging portal, he storms towards it with purpose. Not one comment is given the time of day by Megatron, as he has much one thing on his mind. It's time he finished his feud with Prime, one way or another. It's just as the bot says so often, one shall stand, and one shall fall. A portal opens up not far from where Optimus Prime stands, and a starship hurdles forth from the opening at mach 2 before G-difusers are kicked in. The Decepticon transforms mid-air before landing, and his violet-tinted optics stare up at the Autobot present. "YOU." This Optimus looks different, younger and more nimble, but that doesn't matter. All Megatron sees is his arch enemy, and the details are irrelevant besides one thing; This Optimus will /burn/ just like the rest of them, when Megatron is finished here. He lunges forth towards the Prime with the fury of a wild beast, sprinting like a linebacker as the Dark Energon empowered Decepticon leaps towards Optimus, blade unsheathed and slashing at him.
Nox	The drones picking apart the forest floor obviously aren't built for combat, because they explode into fragments of molten metal the moment Optimus opens fire on them. Though they turn to face him, fixing them with mono-optics, they do little more than record and broadcast the visual before being cut down; not being programmed to evade, or even especially fight back, as the couple that menace him with their saws have large, melted holes punched through them in short order. They don't even seem to notice Cheyanne, though whether that is due to her stealth, their cheap parts, or Optimus stealing the show, is unclear. Possibly all three. Serenity finds herself flying amidst a loose swarm of insects that slowly start to appear around her, not dense enough that any get close to her, and yet they seem to trail her quite deliberately, hovering around her and her roc at all angles. Suddenly, the forest canopy flares to life. A flash of bright teal light emenates from one of the towers, and resolves into a straight, wide beam of energy that cuts through the trees in its way by disintegrating them instantly. The beam precisely hits the lens array of the next tower, and is then refracted at a slight angle, bouncing it to the next tower. In short order the beam has been bent into a full circle around a square mile of jungle, and as the ends connect, the entire central portion of the circle is wiped clean as a the inner section of the circle fills in. From under the circle of blue light, something emerges. It distends at first, stretching like a membrane, before it ruptures into a scattering of blue motes. An utterly gargantuan, mechanical, multi-jointed leg wrenches itself free of the hole, stabbing into the jungle floor with a resounding thump. Another joins it, and then another and another, quickly numbering eight in total. Pistons whir and click as the spread-out legs haul whatever it is at their center upward, and then the unmistakable silhouette of a gigantic, lidded pocketwatch is lifted into the air, sitting vertically atop the legs like the body of a mantis. The entire structure must be a hundred meters tall at the very least, just as large as the crystal it stands next to. The casing pops open slightly, and another set of mechanical arms folds out; these ones tipped with what appear to be sets of giant needles, which the clock punches into the face of the lifecrystal.
Cheyanne	The unnoticed shaman flinches a moment, difficult to tell if it is from the swath of trees abruptly being struck down, or from the distortions of reality itself overhead. It is quite likely a combination of both, but its the latter that gets Cheyanne's undivided attention afterwards, eyes glowing beneath scowling striped brow at her holding back during Optimus' blitz proving correct in revealing a greater threat than the deforesting robots. In one deft motion rubble from the stripping of nature, stones and broken trees and even bits of the previously blasted robots, are swept off the jungle floor as if scooped in a massive unseen hand and then flung without restraint at the watch-machine putting points to the lifecrystal! Despite the widespread ruin of the area there is one grove of trees still standing at the fringe of the area, possibly protected by the guardian that stood watching amongst them. The trunks look too close together for one person to step between, yet it is from amongst them that the zebra-woman strides, one hand held out as the obvious source of the supernaturally propelled volley upon the watch-machine. "Your presence I cannot abide, lower your blades and step aside. Begone this land! If you do not heed..." The only motion she makes is thumping the end of her staff to the ground with the other hand, yet the tap resounds in a thunderous crack through the tattered jungle as supernatural energies spike around her. "The Elements shall make you leave!"
Soundwave	Soundwave knows that the Megatron active in the Multiverse does not hail from the same Cybertron as himself. However, this does not stop a chill running down his proverbial spine when he hears the tell-tale snarl over the radio frequency, and even his agents pause in their work for a moment. "...Boss?" Rumble asks, looking up at their 'keeper'. Soundwave stands still, visor flickering between yellow and red, then nods down to the red-and-black mech. "-I will assist.-" He points over to the red-and-black avian perched on his chair. "-Laserbeak, with me.-" Though the Decepticon bird squawks in protest, he obeys all the same and flaps over to perch on Soundwave's shoulder-turret. Only then does the navy-blue-and-white mech depart. Megatron's entrance and subsequent rage-fueled charge almost masks another portal opening, this one depositing the two Cybertron-2 Decepticons in the area. Laserbeak immediately takes flight, disappearing high in the sky and out of sight, clearly avoiding combat outright. Soundwave himself does not seem to care that he has been 'abandoned', perhaps because he never intended for his agent to join him in battle. He draws his rifle and carefully moves to where the two Cybertronian leaders have undoubtedly clashed by now, visor glowing solid red.
Serenity	Serenity did not have long to wait, did she? The swarm around her does vaguely worry her, but she doubts they'll follow for long, once she gets moving. Right this moment, the massive bird stops, hovering in midair despite not... actually beating its wings. She waits long enough for the bird to expel a pulse of roaring wind, blasting the insects in the air around the creature. By the time the mystical wind has calmed again, Serenity is not with the roc, which stays up there to observe. The woman has dropped off, falling headfirst toward the ground at high speed. 'Pact Imbuement, Angel of Sunset,' the woman says in a quiet, yet echoing voice. Wings sprout from her back as armor of chain and leather forms about her body, a bow appearing in her arms. The wings halt her descent with a single flap, allowing her to draw her bow and attempt to fire the summoned arrow of brilliant holy energy at one of the legs plunging toward the crystal. She doesn't know how strong this thing is, so she's not going to try attacking the center first.
Optimus Prime	Optimus takes notice as the other Union members show up, however when the beam of energy cuts through, he does a quick step back. All he can do now, is just observe as something of far larger in size rises up and then goes to attack the life crystal. His true blue optics flash brightly at what he is just staring at. However Nox players there cards well, cause though he knows what his objective needs to be-- it seems that such events will have to change for him. ".That is not good. We need too," just as he gets those words out, Megatron of the other universe shows up and roars out 'YOU'. "..hmm.." Optimus attention quickly shifts. The matrix within knowing something is /very/ wrong with this picture-- though what is beyond both of them. He has enough time to get it out over the radio-- at least a hint to the issue as Megatron is rushing at him with the dark blade. "Looks like I wont be able to help disable it.. but I'll be there as soon as I," His own energy axe igniting as his hand retracts inward and the orange energy axe glows with great deal of ferocity. As the dark blade comes down, Optimus goes to meet it dead on. The clash of dark energon and energon axe smash as their energy fields explode outward in brilliant color. Giving Optimus that last grunt of breath to finish his sentence to the Union, "Can!" He then goes to shove Megatron back using his enhanced strength from the Matrix and Optimus then takes a step back. Now his full attention is on Megatron... "So.. you are the Megatron of the other Cybertron. I wonder how much you two are alike.." He says calmly, before rushing right in. "..or how far apart you both are!" Optimus is very unaware of Soundwave's arrival...
Megatron	The dark energon coating Megatron's blade clashes with the blade Optimus projects. Curious, the one he's used to carries heated sabres, not an axe. It isn't important, what matters is Optimus Prime's head on a pike, even if this one isn't the same as his world's. "I would've waited an eternity for this, Optimus Prime." He growls, blade locked against blade. The Decepticon holds his ground and pushes, the blood of the Chaos Bringer fueling his actions as he tries to shove OPtimus off-balance. the arrival of SOundwave is noted, but all aggro on Megatron's end is focused on Optimus for the moment. "I'll crush you with my /bare hands!/" he roars, his knee smashing into Optimus' gut fiercely.
Soundwave	There are unspoken rules in a duel between Megatron and Optimus Prime, even if not officially announced as such. One of them is that no soldier, regardless of rank or allegiance, interferes nor assists unless it is clear who would be the victor otherwise. This is as much self-preservation as it is out of respect to the two leaders, and it is a rule Soundwave is keen to follow in this situation. The Decepticon does not make his presence known, electing instead to remain under cover while putting Megatron's tangible RAGE out of his mind. He kneels on one knee amongst the trees and aims his rifle, tracking the Prime through scope and sensor alike. He does not do anything that would give himself away easily, and he forgoes jamming the Prime's radio for now. If he is unnoticed, it would be better to stay that way.
Nox	The air is filled with the resounding clang of hundreds of heavy objects hitting thick metal as Cheyanne launches her first attack. Despite how enormous the walking watch is, it appears to be made of normal materials, meaning brass, tin, copper and gold, which should deform quite nicely when hit by strong impacts. For some strange reason however, the tree boughs smash to splinters, the rocks crumble to bits, and the steel shrapnel deforms like lead, leaving not a scratch on the exterior of the clock. Is it some kind of superscience material, or is there magic at work here? Though the legs look much less heavily armoured, and Serenity's arrow does indeed manage to melt the outer layer of their casing, they seem to have nothing inside of them. No pistons or motors or hydraulics. Just solid metal. The insects from before abandon the roc after they are knocked away by the wind, instead trailing after Serenity. Without the wind in her ears, she can hear them chirping; whining in strangely electronic tones. Of course, Nox is watching all of this through the eyes of his noxines. Besides, he can vaguely hear the muffled clanging from outside Horologium. Having assessed the situation thoroughly, the Xelor sets the siphons on auto, and then teleports from his control room out into the open air. For the moment, he appears to be ignoring Serenity, fizzling into existence a short distance in front of and above Cheyanne, having been the most obvious meddler who isn't currently occupied. "Hello, and pleased to make your acquaintance. I am called Nox, and I am in the middle of something very important. Your magic is most impressive, but I believe you'd be better off putting it to use elsewhere. You see, all these people meddling in my affairs like you are doing right now, have a history of getting hurt." He makes no outwardly aggressive gestures, merely remaining floating in the air with his hands behind his back. In the distance however, the shimmering surface of the lifecrystal starts to shift; the lights within it surging towards the points where the needles have made contact, and turning into coruscating arcs of cyan electricity that flicker up the giant clock's arms, letting off a steady, bass hum.
Optimus Prime	Megatron says his bit and Optimus doesn't reply right away. Instead their weapons lock once more and the Prime of Cybertron-2 stands his ground. His feet refusing to budge, though they do slide back ever so slightly. When Megatron goes to knee him, Prime at last retorts, "Or you will die trying!" Perhaps in some essence, he was thinking of his own Megatron-- the Megatron gladiator warrior that not only made him /who/ he is, but also taught him a great deal of lessons in betrayal as well. That Megatron-- that Megatron.. his fate.. ..his fate is left kept to the back parts of Prime's own mind. As Megatron moves to strike, Optimus pulls the energy axe away, allowing Megatron to strike air and maybe throw him off in equal. Prime steps back, before his fist retracts back out and with a roar. He swings a hard hook punch around. Those blue steel cybertronian knuckles looking to hook right into the side of Megatron's armored head piece. It was also in this very moment he catches glimpse of Soundwave... Soundwave may know it too. He has been spotted-- which means its only a matter of time now. Given that there history-- is equally about as long.
Megatron	Megatron tanks that punch like a champion, even as metal is rent and sparks fly along with purple tinted Energon leaking all over Prime's knuckle. THere's something very, VERY wrong with it, like it's been tainted with something that should not at all be. It's not exactly easy to tell what, given the circumstances beyond Cybertron-2, but the Matrix may provide answers later. Growling as he finds himself cleaving air just before Optimus attempts a little pugilistic plastic surgery, he's sent stumbling by the blow. This Optimus hits just as hard, if not more so than his own. It brings Megatron back to the ages his spent fighting with Optimus on Cybertron, during the twilight days of the war... And they energize him, practically. Megatron actually grins with feral delight, before he straight up tackles Optimus, aiming to bring him to the ground before pounding him savagely with his own two fists.
Cheyanne	Was that a roll of the eyes?... Yes, it was definately an eye roll from the striped shaman as Nox appears and makes his little 'insistance' that they leave them alone. While hardly disregarding the potential threat of the master of this sundery appearing, it's the expression of someone who has heard such threats from such aspiring dominators many a time and time again. Ending with a snort that flares her nostrils briefly in a quite equine fashion. "You strip this land for your own gain, you split its essence down and twain. Hear not the cry of what hath struck down? Standing now not on stable ground." Cheyanne raises her staff across her front, both the miasma glowing from her eyes and that consolidating between the horns atop her staff shifting from their usual glow to swirling mixes of fiery red and stoney granite colors. "Strength of Earth and Fire's Wrath, their judgement falls upon thy path!" She drops the staff to strike the head hard against the ground, and as the accumilated elemental energy discharges cracks glowing like hot embers from within angling away from the spot in jagged progress across the stripped down jungle floor. Though it's not until they come to pass below the mantis legged clock-machine that they split open with their full fury, sending gouts of fiery molten rock gysering from the depths of the earth at the construct from beneath it. After which Cheyanne raises the staff back to her. "If you expect us to just stand back, then you sir are the one that be out of wack."
Serenity	As Nox ignores her, Serenity in turn ignores the buzzing insects-things. That's unsurprising, since the massive bird swoops in again, beak snapping loudly to snatch at the little buzzing things. It doesn't swallow, just crushing them in its jaws. Then again it doesn't have a digestive system, being mainly solidified mana anyway. Serenity fires off a few more arrows toward the base of the legs, but they're largely 'cover fire' for her rapid diving approach, winging toward the lifecrystal. Her bow vanishes, the mystically-summoned weapon unneeded for now, and it is replaced by the long blade at her side whipping out and going into a guarding stance. She's going to try to dislodge a leg with the energy-absorbing blade, and 'parry' any incoming leg that tries to drain it again, while Cheyanne keeps the Xelor busy.
Nox	As the torrent of magma hits it from below, Horologium lists to one side; several of its legs lifting clear of the ground from the uneven pressure as all its weight shifts to one side. For a moment, it appears that the gigantic machine is about to topple over completely, however the four legs on its opposite side move one at a time to shift its center of balance, neatly and precisely. As the magma flow sputters out, Horologium crashes back down on all eight points, righting itself with impressive suspension for such a huge structure, though its undercarriage glows cherry red amidst a haze of heat as the metal has nearly begun to melt. It's definitely as if its exterior is experiencing less transfer of energy than actually goes into it. Odd. Serenity might be able to guess why, as her maedra's eyes indicate that the clock currently occupies an alternate timeframe from the rest of the world around it. The instant the roc crushes the first noxine in its beak, the little mechanical drone violently explodes in a roiling conflagration of blue fire, setting off a handful of other bugs nearby in a daisy chained detonation. Though the energy released is usntable enough to disintegrate a human on the spot, the glittering motes that fall from it sprout tiny saplings where they fall to earth. That's about all the warning Serenity gets before the remainder of the swarm barrels towards her, interrupting her attempts to defend the crystal by acting as suicide weapons, blowing up in the exact same way. "Ahaha, speaking in rhymes are we? How entertaining! It must take a lot of effort to come up with those on the spot! And your elementalism really isn't shabby at all! A cut above the usual 'heroic' types I get! But really, I must insist that you stop trying to damage the personal belongings I worked so hard to build." Moving one arm from behind his back, Nox extents his hand towards Cheyanne, revealing a glowing port in his palm. An artificial whine of discharging circuits preceeds a bolt of semi-translucent energy, impacting the ground at the shaman's feet, and then instantly expanding into a devastating distortion in spacetime; cratering the earth and pulverizing the surrounding stumps with the concussive energy of a thousand pound bomb.
Soundwave	Soundwave senses the momentary awareness as the Prime's blue optics meet his own red visor. So at least one knows. So be it. It is not enough to force him to move, nor does he lower his rifle or even reconsider his options. He is patient and confident in his course, and he will not fire the first shot. That 'honor' will need to go to Optimus Prime first. Instead, he redirects some of his sensors to analyze a strange Energon reading he keeps picking up from Megatron. There are superficial similarities to a variant of Energon from his world, one that supercharges a mech for a period of time, but it is markedly and almost completely different. Megatron certainly doesn't seem to be in any danger of burn-out, at least! Soundwave has never seen nor sensed the like before, and the analysis almost distracts him from the battle itself. Almost.
Optimus Prime	Optimus only takes a moment to note the dark energon on his knuckles-- how wrong it was, but he had bigger things to worry himself over. Like Megatron suddenly deciding to pounce as if he was some wild beast! Prime slides his foot back and Megatron goes to tackle, and hits! The sheer force slams Optimus down, but Prime rolls with the momentuem, tucking his feet under, even as Megatron's goes to slam his fist right into the side of Prime's helm, then the other slams into his face plate. It doesn't take long till the next strike knocks off his face-plate entirely, displaying that youthful Cybertronian face behind it with his teeth gritted tightly. "That was--" He curls his body slight, even as another punch comes in. "my lucky--" His legs then suddenly go to thrust Megatron right off, "FACEPLATE!" As soon has he kicks Megatron off. Optimus rolls over to rest on his knee and then with his rifle goes to open fire. Shot after shot. He barrages Megatron with the energy bolts. It may be overkill to those looking on-- but if this Megatron was like his own... ..It wouldn't be enough in the end. Also probably for Soundwave, he may get that air of someone of /old/ slightly raising up their head there through the whole Prime status. Though as he does open fire he contacts the Union, "Status report?"
Serenity	The Raptor of the East is Serenity's fastest summon, though he isn't showing that off particularly right now. Unfortunately he is also the /weakest/ of the summons, and the explosion blows off the raptor's beak and sends it flapping wildly away, burning and shedding feathers. A second later the giant bird vanishes, disintegrating into motes of light that shimmer and float toward Serenity to rejoin her. The Angel of Sunset is /not/ one of her weaker summons, though neither is it her strongest. She narrows her eyes at the clockwork monstrosity, but the incoming bugs need her attention. A quick slice with the shockblade sends a vacuum cut toward the swarm. Not to cut any of them, though any unfortunate enough to be directly in the path will be sliced, but to let the vacuum left in the wake of the slash disrupt the swarm's pattern. The remainder to erupt around her, but the wings fold around her body in a brief cucoon, sheltering her from the blast... mostly. Burned feathers drift down from the damaged appendages, and while they regenerate slowly, she's for the moment slowed in flight and not immediately able to summon another helper. Her tactical options are limited... except that Cheyanne is keeping Nox himself busy, affording her a moment of time. 'Pact Imbuement, Basilisk of Mount Trask,' she intones, her wings vanishing and forcing her to tumble down to the ground with a loud THOOM and crack the surface. By the time she lands, she's wearing a breastplate and carrying a shield and hammer... and any approaching insects are going to have to worry about petrification. Unfortunately the act of changing means she's kept 'busy' for several seconds.
Cheyanne	While she attempted to continue her assault on the clock-machine Cheyanne is not foolish enough to part her attention from Nox as well. She can sense the build-up of power, though it's the artificial sound accompanying it that makes her ears splay slightly. Not unexpected seeing the constructs already in use, but no less disconcerting considering how well she and technology are not always on cooperative terms. Both hands grip her totem staff when Nox unleashes his charge, channeling her own energies in defense through the focus. The distortion hits at her hooves and billows out, sparks and flares crackling angerly through the air as the two considerable forces collide, buffering against each other, vying for dominance. Until the imposition of opposites explodes violently. With enough force to throw Cheyanne backwards from the violent detonation, though she lands skidding backwards on her hooves aptly enough. A moment of stillness follows, the silence broken at first only by the faint jingling of jewlery and trinkets as she raises herself back to her proper stance. "Why should we when you would not do the same? Care not for this land, only your own gain. Tear it apart for more to break, wasteful and wanting in what you take." Her glowing eyes narrow, though their gaze seems to be... not off Nox, but like she's looking at something more and unseen than just her foe. "Though machinations stride the land in strife, revenge is called from the echos of life!" While the cutters tore down the trees they simply strode over the brush, and it's from that remaining foliage that the shaman's fury takes form. Clusters and clusters of twisting vines and thorny boughs erupt forth, taking form of vage appendages as they go entwining towards the clock-machine's limbs once more, while several others fling their composited forms at Nox himself. "The land itself for pentance calls! You will leave, or beneath it falls!"
Megatron	Faceplate- Megatron blinks just as he sees Optimus's rather...youthful visage. It's surreal, seeing the face of what used to be a friend thousands if not millions of years ago like this. Funny how a records clerk, assuming this Optimus is /anything/ like Megatron's world's own, in terms of background. That has to wait, however, as Megatron is clocked across the face by an enraged Auto- Wait a minute. "...oh. THis is going to be juicy." Megatron chuckles, rubbing his now very sore jaw for a moment after stumbling back a good few feet. Popping his neck, he stares at the unusually aggressive Prime before he lunges back again, breaking off to return fire on Optimus while advancing towards him, Fusion cannon blasting away at the Autobot leader. "You fight with such savagery, I'd have made a /fine/ ally out of you, Optimus!" Megatron cackles, twisting the knife verbally as it were.
Nox	The noxines are small and light enough that the vacuum hurls them out of the way pretty effectively, sending the swarm into dizzying loops and spirals through the air as they struggle to reconverge with their limited flight power. As the wind dies down, they surge back after Serenity, forming a cohesive snake of glittering silver insects that barrels towards her with the full intention of making direct contact before exploding. As they reach her however, they begin to drop to the floor, making tinkling little clinks as they pile on top of each other, halted completely by the basilisk's power. The spherical, formely glass, abdomens of each one pulse with blue light, faintly visible through the thin stone encasing them. The giant vines coiling around Horologium's legs catch hold, securing the giant machine's source of mobility tight and fast. With its upper arms still embedded in the crystal however, it isn't about to be stopped just from being tied up. The steady thrum of massive amounts of power being drained away still fills the air, and anyone from a position of significant height can see the green horizon starting to shrink. From the furthest edges of the oasis, the forest rapidly starts to turn brown; leaves falling from trees like a fast-forwarded autumn. The ones that go for Nox also meet their target as well, wrapping tight around his limbs, though any attempts to crush them make it abundantly clear that there is no flesh or bone beneath his armour. The second victory doesn't last long. In the same way Nox had arrived, he flickers out from inside the mass of vines, reappearing dangerously close to Cheyanne in a haze of blue static. Saving his counterpoint for after, he takes advantage of the moment of surprise the maneuver should afford him and swings a jackhammer punch for her gut, setting off another decompression of local space on contact; less powerful than the first due to its lack of charging, but striking at point blank, which he assumes is inside of Cheyanne's barrier. "Yes, yes, nature is precious, the earth is innocent, preserve the environment. Has it occurred to you that maybe I've heard this before? I know that it definitely hasn't ocurred to you that there isn't any waste going on here at all. My work here will do worlds more good than this meaningless patch of forest ever did for anyone."
Optimus Prime	Optimus Prime quickly rolls out of the way of the Cannon blasts and then goes to leap off to one direction, springing to one hand, and rolling himself in such a manner as he gives off a shots. One of Megatron's own comes deadly close and the sheer force actually knocks the Prime off his feet. The blast wake slams him through a few of the crystal trees which is /NOT/ where he wants to be. But when you are giants in the playground, no matter how careful you are... Optimus goes to stand back up and his true blue optics lock on Megatron's own. He spits a bit of energon off to the side from the earlier face impacts. "Funny story about that Megatron, but you should ask Soundwave about it... I'm not in a sharing mood right now!" The Autobot Commander voices as he roars and then charges foreward. His optics blazing brightly, as another cannon shot slams him in the side, tearing away his armor, he doesn't stop though. Instead he comes right in, leaps into the air and with his hands grappled together. He goes to bring his whole body weight and strength down right for Megatron's main firing shoulder.
Cheyanne	As they are summoned from her own control of the elements Cheyanne has a certain accute awareness of what the overgrowths would be perceiving if they had senses of their own. That there is nothing beneath the armour does not escape her notice. Nor the fact that there is suddenly nothing at all within their grasp when Nox extradites himself from it. It's literally split-seconds between then and now, but the perception is scant enough time for her to react. Just as he reappears next to her Cheyanne half-twists to the side, using her staff to parry his fist away from her midsection. She can do little about the decompression though and the proximity still buffers her with the release of force. "Spare me the vage bettering of many justifying the expense of a few. There is no balance in such exchange and the end result is always the same." The zebra woman pushes herself away a step, subtle shift in her stand planting one hoof firmly to the ground. "Alas, for as oft as I could repeat myself, the likes of such never understand. For times such as this I fear, there is only one language your kind understand." An Nox gets an up close and personal demonstration of the fact that Cheyanne is -not- your 'squishy' type of caster when she abruptly spins around on that braced stance, the spiral bringing her other hoof whipping a roundhouse kick for Nox's head. He has however forced her attention to remain on him, and as such while the overgrowth entangling the machine's legs does not recede, it does not do much besides what it already is as she can't spare the focus to guide it farther. But there's still the hope that Serenity can take advantage of the situation...
Serenity	The Basilisk Imbuement is great for defense, possibly the best or second best of her Pacts, but it leaves Serenity landbound. This isn't as much of an oversight as it could be, it turns out, though it does delay her. She stares for a few precious heartbeats of time at the draining arms above, while making her plan. The hammer is tucked away for the time being while the little Maedra starts to /move/, much faster than the armored form would indicate. She's not a blur of motion or anything, but it doesn't appear to hinder her much. The vines on the legs provide pleny of footholds for her to leap up on, and bound back and forth to elevate her height toward the upper arms, scaling the Horologium and relying on her incredible defenses to protect her from any anti-personel abilities it may have. Her objective is the upper set of legs, not the center of it. Even without her special eyesight, she can guess that the middle is far too protected to punch through in time.
Megatron	"Aggressive, very much so!" Megatron observes, evading another blast of ion fire before he feels a couple punching him in the gut. Ow. OW. That definitely got his attention alright, and he fights through the pain despite a good couple of smoking holes in his armor right now giving reason for him to back off. Dark Energon bleeds from his exposed internal circuitry, and he powers through it regardless. "It's not very Primelike, to be so angry all the time...lest you become no better than the very thing you swore to defeat." Another blast and another, before MEgatron opts to close the distance, running towards OPtimus with his arm punching at the Autobot. Prime's strike hits him on the cannon arm, damaging several internal cables and the shoulder joint badly. It elicits a roar of pain from Megatron, but the Decepticon still keeps going as he ignores his dislocated limb, the other arm lashing out to grab at Optimus for a slam to the ground.
Soundwave	Soundwave's attention fully returns to the fight as soon as ranged weaponry gets involved, though so far no blast from either leader has gotten him -- yet. His red visor flickers as Prime mentions him by name, perhaps a verbal hint that he has not been forgotten so easily, but he still remains in his current place. The damages taken by both has not gone unnoticed, and Soundwave devotes a small amount of processor power to triaging Megatron's damages up to this point that he has seen. Perhaps an unnecessary measure, but it never hurts to be prepared. ...And now he has that song playing at the back of his mind. Curse Earthen culture...
Nox	"Hmmm, not bad. Not bad at all." Nox remarks at Cheyanne having survived with minimal damage, tilting his head with a little squeak of metal. "I see we've run out of patience and run out of rhymes however! Ahaha! If the concept of a greater good is really too complex for you to grasp however, I don't believe there's much use in talking to you. It's always the same with naturalist types. Anything beyond the bounds of their perfect little forest is evil, and the whole world is divided into either nature or manufacture. Disappointing." The hoof to the side of the head catches him off guard, making a resounding clang as it strikes his helmet and throwing off a couple of sparks. That might have actually fractured his skull, or perhaps even snapped his neck, had he one, but the xelor zaps out of thin air the moment the blow strikes him, reappearing directly above the shaman. "Elemental control of fire, earth, and some degree of life energies. I'm assuming wind and water rounds out that . . . mmmm, let's call it 'classic', portfolio?" Clutching his left hand into a fist, a rotating disc of overlapping clockwork holography springs to life over his forearm. Opening his right hand, the air sizzles with a steady crackle of static energy. Invisible to the shaman, time has accelerated the vibration of the air molecules around her to a dangerous extent, shedding valence electrons in seconds. The moment before the reaction overflows, the world subtly pulses blue around her, fading swiftly with seemingly no special effect. The split second after, the air above her explodes into a column of high intensity ionized plasma, shooting down at her in a rapidfire series of columns tracing an intricate pattern over the ground; leaving craters of molten glass where the barrage strikes. As soon as she tries to move, she'll realize that the time used to accelerate the atmosphere was stolen from her, leaving her body dramatically slowed down. The majority of the noxines seem to have been taken out by the basilisk, leaving Serenity freely able to climb Horologium's legs without incident. The machine deploys no personal means of self defense, which is odd to see, but stems from the fact that it is in dire need of the energy to power them in the first place. Energy which it seems to be recovering in spades from the lifecrystal. From her vantage point, she can now more easily see the rapidly retreating line of green in the distance as the jungle withers at a gradually increasing pace.
Serenity	Serenity's plan is pretty simple. It has to be. She's pretty good at tactics and leading troops, but when it comes to magic and gadgetry? Not so great. She has enough experience from her many, many years of adventuring to know that some stuff messes with weird gizmos though... and she's going to try 'some stuff' right now. Namely the maedra leaps up, clinging to the side of the hull, and swaps her shield for her hammer. "Hmm. I'm not sure if this will even work on something of this strength, Basilisk," she says aloud. The creature inside her may be able to answer. It might not. It certainly does not do so audibly, though she tilts her head as if listening for a moment. Whatever. She starts banging on the base of the nearest life-sucking limb with the hammer. This is the most concentrated petrification attempt she can give, and she's not sure if it will even work. Even if it does, it probably won't last more than a few minutes. She's betting that turning the joints to stone will screw up energy siphoning. And if the petrification fails, she's never run into something that she can't break by whacking it with a hammer enough times.
Optimus Prime	Megatron gets a hold of him and slams him into the ground. Prime stares him down, his teeth clenched those optics narrowed like daggers. "You don't know /me/, and that is your biggest mistake, Megatron." Or maybe he does-- at least he knows what a Prime /should/ be and yes, he knows-- he knows he failing it hard right now. The verbal knife comment earlier, all this now. The poor timing of this battle in a desperate situation. A situation that if two other Union members were not here for... Stack after stack. Pile after pile. Not to even forget that other problems that weigh down on him. All of it, like steam finding those weak points and just slowly-- very slowly-- warping the very pipes within his own mental struggle. Optimus reaches up and tries to pry Megatron off him. A battle perhaps between the matrix of Cybertron-2 versus a dark ominous presence that does not even exist in their own world (( Though I checked at this moment, could be changed later, cause COMICS )). "..But while I am not being no Prime.. /You/ are not a Gladiator." Wha..? Prime then shoves upward on one side and goes to actually slam his own feet against one of Megatron's legs to try and knock him over. If this works, he will roll over the Decepticon leader. Reach then to hold down his throat with one hand and raise up his fist with the other. Yet for all his anger-- for all his wrath. He hesitates in that moment. /THIS/ is not his Megatron and /THIS/ could become just like /THEN/. Another mistake. Another one--- Megatron may just have an opening in that hesitation...
Megatron	"Tch." Megatron might have a difficult time getting this Prime to sway, but it doesn't matter. The attack to his legs leaves Megatron stumbled, but only for a moment as he allows the attack to bring him low. He cackles at Optimus when he feels the blow fail in striking, giving that shark's smile he's so infamous for. "You're still so /weak./" And with that, Megatron's good arm reaches up to grab at Prime's head, before slamming him to the ground. "While this has been...exhillirating, I find that the moment has passed for us both." he says, grabbing Optimus by the neck and SQUEEZING. Can one choke a Cybertronian? Do they even need air? One way to find out.
Optimus Prime	Megatron takes full advantage and Optimus gets knocked right back down. Then Megatron is /chocking/ him. Now-- Cybertronians don't technically breath, but there is some very vital lines within the neck air, much like for humans. Needless to say, those are painful and causes Prime to grit his teeth in some pain. As Megatron holds him there. Prime's fingers slide along the ground. His finger tips edging closer to his own rifle. Once his finger can hook it, he stares at Megatron with one optic open. "..weak..is...questionable.." He manages to get out, before jamming that rifle's barrel right into the good arm Megatron had left and pulling the trigger. Brutal. Yes. But he did learn from the master of Brutality.
Cheyanne	After the sensation from the entanglement Cheyanne is unsurprised to find the lack of a skull to rattle within that helmet from her kick, bringing hoof back to the ground afterwards. Unfortunately the lack of corporeal being beneath the metal and technology renders most of her non-magical offensive choices null to the situation. "Division only exists because of those who take with nothing given back for it. Failure to grasp that lesser does not mean unnecessary..." The distortion of time is beyond her familiarity, but the alteration to the air around her is clear to Cheyanne's perception. Unfortunately there is little that awareness does for her in this case when that thing is turned into a sheering cascade of energized covalence pummeling through the disruption of chronological spacial claritey. When it's all said and done glassy craters have been beaten into the ground from the intensity, smokey fumes churning skyward as the remains cool down just as quickly. A blistering assault, one that few normal beings would be able to withstand. Yet the sound of glass crackling as its pushed against tingles through the cooling air as Cheyanne shoves her staff to the ground and uses it to push herself back onto her hooves. Some of that smokey residue is clearly coming off of her, but burns and beating has not yet deterred her determination.... which makes it somewhat eerie when she actually chuckles faintly. "Alas, no solution to the theological side things to be found, is there? If only it were so easy..." One doesn't need specific senses to feel it, the sudden surgance of supernatural energy through the shaman is practically palable in its own right. Nox may of surmrised Cheyanne's 'portfolio' correctly, but that isn't just one or two forces channeling through her. Five elements are at her call, and this time it is all five that surge through their emissary at once. Visible miasma crackles in swirls of red, grey, blue, yellow and green churning together, until she reachs out to clamp her hand around the forces forming before her. It can still be seen shining between her fingers, the rays shimmering through the shades until they all become a single, nearly blinding whiteness of light as the elemental forces are compressed into coherence tighter and tighter. What happens when you synergy five types of energy together... In constrat to the chanting and debating before, her words are uttered in no more than a whisper as she splays her fingers and releases the seemingly tiny yet volatile mote towards Nox. "..Five into one and thou be undone.." And that's when that consolidating force is turned loose, not of the component elements but of a unified eruption of force from the seemingly small foci, an explosion of the purest Primal energy directed at whatever the hell it is Nox really is.
Megatron	The arm is blasted clean off, with Dark Energon and mech fluid spraying all over from the stump. Megatron lets out a grunt, and it's clear that definitely hurt like a bitch whether or not Megatron's the squeally type, which he isn't. Instead, he just glares into Prime's soul, practically, before he calls in an assist. Air fighters from above take potshots with vulcan and laser fire at Optimus, careful to avoid hitting Megatron. Air cover is here, and the Decepticon takes the hint for once. "About time he made himself useful for once." he growls, before lashing out to boot Optimus right off of him. A ground bridge opens up for Megatron when he frees himself, closing just before Prime can pursue. Even then, he'd find himself with several Decepticons aiming blasters. The portal closes, and Megatron just glares at the Vehicons posted at the Nemesis's hangar. "What are /you/ all staring at? BACK TO YOUR POSTS." barks the Decepticon leader. Even wounded like this, one arm GONE and the other limp, Megatron commands utter loyalty. This is going to make repairs interesting, relaying information towards Knock-Out.
Soundwave	It seems Megatron has his own retreat well in-hand, well enough that Soundwave does not technically need to interfere even now. However, with the duel 'decided' and concluded, it is better to drive the Prime away instead of allowing him to join his Union comrades against Nox. As Megatron's Decepticons lay down cover-fire to cover their leader's retreat, Soundwave opens fire with his rifle, aiming to return the favor for the damages done, shoulder-servo for shoulder-servo if possible. At the same time, his systems and speakers spool up in preparation to jam communications or continue combat if required.
Nox	It's pretty much as Serenity expects. Every hit with her hammer imparts less energy on the clock's arms than it should. The rest of it disappears into the same nebulous space that thrust goes during time dilation caused by special relativity. Horologium's parts are all dilated in time in the exact same manner, meaning that each application of force occurs, for it, for less time than it actually has. This has roughly the same effect on the petrification too, causing the stone to spread far slower than it should. The metal however, isn't entirely immune. Slowly but surely, the brass gears begin to freeze over with solid rock, and one by one, the needles attached to that arm begin to go dull and silent. The rate of deforestation, predictably, halves, but the advancing wall of dead foliage is still creeping closer, having already cut down two thirds of the local jungle, and coming closer and closer to the settlements within it. "You're correct. You won't find any words that will persuade me to stop, no matter how much you want them. I've spent 200 years working towards this, and I won't let a setback like unification throw me off. I'll gather as much energy as I need, and I won't shed a single tear for whatever or whoever used to own it, because I have a very, very good reason." Visualizing the flow of energy going into Cheyanne's spell, Nox is easily able to tell that she's channeling the full extent of her powers, and so rather than pressing the attack, he prepares to brace for it and let her tire herself out. Crouching down in midair behind the disc over his forearm, the holography expands into a glowing, clockwork-themed shield, interposing itself between him and the seemingly innocuous mote of light. The shield holds against the initial explosion; blinding light blazing through the trasparent sections and painting Nox in stark black and white. As the blast unfolds, the hands of the barrier rapidly swivel across each numeral in sequence, indicating the expenditure of energy as it holds back the attack. In the end, it seems Nox hadn't put enough juice into it, as the gears shatter one by one, and the last of the fivefold elemental assault throws him violently away; a metal comet leaving a trail of smoke before impacting the ground in a puff of scorched dirt. Cheyanne has precisely two seconds to try and confirm her victory before she is met head on with a counter attack of similar scale to her own. A boiling column of blue-white fire, roaring in a deafening, electronic screech, blasts across the landscape as a lightning fast inferno, towering over her in size. The moment it impacts, the barely contained energy self-reacts, annihilating the area around it in an explosion so intense that it leaves a ghastly cyan mushroom cloud in its wake. As the smoke clears, Nox becomes visible at the other end of the beam, armour cracked and blackened, with ripped and tattered bandages blowing in the wind; the striking silhouette of the sword Zenith in his hand, pointed along the path of his attack. "A nice try, but you'll have to do much more than that if you want to get rid of me for good."
Optimus Prime	The shots come and Prime has to roll away from them. He gets up to his feet and fires back at some of the Vehicons as the fly over head. Though now standing up and not distracted by Megatron he can see off in the distance. The jungle--- the withering of the plants. "...No.." The other members of the union. Their mission. Slag it all! As Optimus then goes to move he suddenly fines two shots impacting him dead in the shoulders which causes him to stagger back. Then he can hear the radio jamming as everything goes silent. "Soundwave. Even when the other is down, you go to stand next to another. Just why do you even /care/ about this one?"
Soundwave	Soundwave's red visor burns as he steps out from what remains of the forest, rifle still raised and aimed at the Prime. There is no hesitation, not in his stance, his footsteps... nor his voice. "-Must you even ask?-" His melotone is deeper than usual, full of menace and barely-checked fury. "-Would you ignore the plight of an Autobot not of our world?-" His head tilts to the side slightly, a mocking gleam in his visor to match the cant. "-That may be a poor example. /You/ just might.-" The speakers in his shins crackle in feedback as his shoulder-turret spins ominously. "-As for me.-" His free hand rests on his hip, fingertips touching one of the buttons on his pelvis. "-You will never understand.-" The sudden roar of audio feedback almost drowns out his words, a chaotic sonic scream meant to overwhelm and overload the Prime's systems.
Serenity	Serenity narrows her eyes. This is working, but not fast enough. It's bought her time, that's all. But time is a precious resource, because she can feel her energies have built up enough for another summon. The Raptor and Angel are out, they're still recovering. The bear is too slow. Three of her other ones focus on life draining, just the opposite of what she wants. And Leviathan would be out of his element. That leaves the Phoenix, who can heal, or... Serenity pauses her assault and looks upward. Well, it can't hurt to try. 'Pact Summon, STAHLDRACHEN!' she cries out, shouting to the heavens. An eruption of blazing yellow light soars from her body into the sky, shaping itself into a form, a winged and clawed form of massive size. When the light fades, the dragon is swooping down already, opening its mouth in a rumbling roar that quakes the nearby trees. With that roar comes a dual attack. A crackling lance of lightning blasts downward, tearing toward the Horologium with all the power of that lancing electricity. But the real assault is the sonic blast that follows on its tails, making a two-pronged assault on the mechanics of the fortress to try to disrupt it. Serenity herself leaps from her perch to use the Basilisk's great weight to attempt to kick the clock hands backward. Sure, it's not like it would reverse time on a normal clock, but she figures things are weird enough right now it can't hurt to try.
Optimus Prime	Soundwave answers Prime's question and Prime gives a mild huff. Yeah-- ok-- that made sense. This was Soundwave after all. "You know as well has I do that I /would not/ turn my back on anyone. Not even you Soundwave." Prime then goes to step forward raising up his rifle. "..and maybe in time I will.. but for right now..." Right now-- his optics go slightly wide as he realizes that Soundwave-- is being Soundwave. The Sonic scream came and Optimus almost dropped to a knee and hand as the screech hit him. The very world around him seeming to shake. He gritted his teeth in pain and even as he tried to raise up his rifle to fire. He couldn't get a good focus point to fire at. So he does the next best thing... Optimus lunges right for Soundwave, attempting to /cut off/ the sound, by knocking the Decepticon over and before those very sonic waves can do more harm then good to the area!
Cheyanne	It would be foolish to even think that had finished the fight. No, not with the way Nox has been able to counter or diffuse everything else. Though at least he didn't entirely stop the assault, but his defense did take some of the oomph out of it. Affording him plenty of effort to return in kind. While she does not know what form such counterattack will take, knowing that it is inevitable to come does give her some small room to at least try and adapt, as hard as it is to keep ahead of someone that clearly has some sort of temporal manipulation on his side. Knowing the return strike is unavoidable and her own reserves are dwindling, instead of drawing on her own magic she pulls one of the charms from her belt and throws it at her hooves on the ground. Energy crackles out around in, briefly flickering an intricate array of runic patterns, and then surging up around her in a field of protective force. Just barely before the blunt of Nox's return attack slams into it, filling the air once more with the scream of two opposing forces not entirely of the tangible realm resisting against each other. But as this was a prepared charm and not drawn from Cheyanne's own magics there is no way it can resist against the entire brunt of the assault, submersing in the resulting explosion as sickly energies plume into the air. At the center the barrier can still be seen darkened by the surrounding bright energy, until it finally shatters with an audible screech and a massive discharge of smoke and dust billows outward from the violent expendature. Smoldering bits of rubble clatter to the ground around the breakpoint of the attack as the smoke churns into the air, parting as Cheyanne grunts and slumps to one knee, both hands on her staff to brace herself from collapsing entirely. "Tch. No, to destroy would make me no better... But." She huffs, and starts to push herself back to standing. "As peculiar as this has been, not -everything- is about you." Prime is still detained. Serenity is making her gambit move. "And I am willing to give some to get in return..." One can only presume she's talking about the slow but steady crumbling of other parts of the jungle, happening because she's had to focus on contending with Nox instead of aiding with the construct consistantly. But if it proves to be anything will soon be seen. It was the time to act, the time for everything risked or nothing gained at all. Instead of striking back at Nox, knowing full well she's going to be leaving herself open again, Cheyanne instead extends what remains of her energy back through her natural ties. She reachs for the vines and overgrowth still entangled around the construct's legs, and as Serenity and her summon make their strike, she grabs with all the power she has left to spare and pulls. Pulls in one direction, trying to get it just enough off the center of balance at the other attacks striking it, even if not destroying it, will knock it away from that crystal before any farther harm to the surrounding lands has to be sacrificed.
Soundwave	Soundwave resists the urge to chuckle, even though it's highly likely none would hear him anyways. Autobot propoganda used to claim that his sole enjoyment in life is torturing Autobots to death. 'Autobot screams are music to my ears', or some slag like that. But he does have to admit, it is rather cathartic at this moment. As the Prime attempts a rather clumsy charge, Soundwave merely sidesteps out of the Autobot's stumbling path and opens a little more distance between them. He doesn't cease the sonics, however, instead constantly adjusting the pitch so Optimus can't get used to the noise being at a steady tone. He adds insult to injury by firing a cluster of lasers from his shoulder-turret, though admittedly low-powered.
Optimus Prime	The sonic keeps Optimus from getting the upper hand he needs, but this one proves that Soundwave has learned from his past errors when deal with the Autobot Commander. Given him just an inch-- and he'll take a mile.. if not throw you just as far. Eventually though Optimus drops his rifle and just goes down on his knees. The sheer vibrations within his systems, the static pain, and just sheer twisting the sonics are causing is starting to strain everything he has. Though even on his knees, he tries to pull himself back up, he tries to fight it. Only to eventually fall over at last and lay there. ...was he actually knocked out? ...or was he just playing 'stasis-lock'? At least Soundwave didn't get to hear Prime scream and hey, Nox wont may not have to worry about the Cybertronian getting in the way!
Nox	"Not about me? Hah! What do you mean this isn't about me? The entire /world/ and I have a history with each other, which makes this little act of violence against the earth a personal scene which you are intruding on! You're wasting valuable seconds of /my/ time, intefering in /my/ private matters! And why? Because you like trees? Because you revere life that is with some sort of religious significance, isntead of that which was alive and that which might be alive years from now? A short sighted fixation on the present rather than the past and future, from someone who chose to study the earth and trees rather than the cosmos. How surprising." Despite his appreciation for Cheyanne's talents, Nox does not at all sound as if he is about to entertain any kind of scolding. He levels the point of his sword at the shaman once again; his tabard starting to blow in a sudden vacuum that congeals at its tip. Motes of light begin to collect in the windstream, spiralling around one another before unifying into a single, steadily intensifying point. Right before he releases what should be a final blow however, he turns just in time to see Serenity's dragon assault his fortress with the sound and fury of an ocean thunderstorm, battering against its meticulously engraved face with the force of a hurricane. Normally, even that wouldn't be enough to move Horologium from its place once entranched, but its footing is swiftly pulled out from underneath it by the previously ignored vines. Slowly, by almost inperceptible degrees, the great machine tilts, and then begins to topple. At the last second, Nox redirects his energies, aiming a razor thin beam of light at the nearest portal tower, which bounces from lens to lens until the dimensional hole is jump started back into existence; just in time to catch the falling clockwork monolith, which disappears from view with a great, blinding flash. Nox looks to the skies towards Serenity, and then turns his head back towards Cheyane in grim, ticking increments; fixing her with his hollow, glowing stare. In the space she might expect and admonishment, he instead flashes off a jarring teleport, winding up directly behind her in less than the blink of an eye in such a position to attempt ramming his sword through her back. "Once I'm finished, none of this will even matter. Even /microscopic/ minds like yours will be able to see that; if you even remember." With those echoing words spoken directly into her ear, he disappears.
Cheyanne	There's several long terse seconds of just silence as Cheyanne waits, not certain if this is another timey-wimey trick or not... Until she is certain that Nox is not coming back this time. That's when she practically slumps against her staff supporting her, sucking in several deep breaths to try and recompose herself. But in being battered, burned and belittled the normally impassive shaman was, for once, actually showing her age. A reminder of why more often she was the wise sage and advisor than the venturing hero on the forefront of things. "Aching, panting, groaning and amiss. I'm getting too damn old for this."
Serenity	Serenity is ON the giant construct, but she doesn't actually want to go deep into enemy territory. She leaps off, reaching up to let Stahldrachen grab her arm and sweep her down to a more reasonable altitude. The dragon isn't as fast as Raptor, but it will do for when she needs to get going. The Basilisk armor fades away, and Serenity shakes out her hair with a sigh. "Hmn. The enemies here are tougher than Sector 17's. I'll see what I can do about the forest using Phoenix. It won't be able to recover everything, or even most of it, but it's something to start with."
Soundwave	Soundwave watches the Prime fall, but does not approach. He knows far better than that, and he'd rather not have something nasty happen -- such as getting his head all-but blown off. He trusts Optimus less than he trusts Starscream, and that's saying a LOT. He pauses for a moment as his attention diverts to his radio, then he rests his rifle on his shoulder as the sonics from his speakers die out entirely. The deed is done, and he has accomplished what he set out to do. Servo for servo, Energon for Energon -- all is settled for now. "-You will not die yet, Prime,-" he intones, almost to himself. "-Not here. Not now.-" He lifts his head as he puts away his rifle, transmitting on a private frequency before jumping into the air and transforming into his microcassette-recorder alt-mode. Laserbeak swoops in and snatches him in mid-air, making best speed away from the area so they can call a portal from relative safety.