Gem immediately unbuckles and rushes to the nearest battle station available to her and looks into the monitor to assess the situation. Several ideas start pouring into her mind before she even knows for sure if it is Decepticons (though she is 90% sure it's them), or what kind of ship, or anything, really.

But knowing better minds are at the helm... oh well. If she sees an opportunity, she's going to take it unless commanded otherwise. "C'mon, Teletraan 1... show me what's goin' on."

  Battle stations for the battle bots, for all their peaceful speeches Autobots are still very honest about being giant killbots.

 "I may need to break promises to not use lightning indoors at new record times, depending on if this goes how it usually goes."  Turbo, you say that like Autobots and Decepticons board eachother's ships constantly or something.

Well...  "Peace Stations" would just sound weird.  Also, there's a very good reason to prefer boarding the enemy ship over just blasting the enemy ship out of the sky: it's more cinematic on top of costing you gobs of energon, you'll be missing out on looting their fuel reserves if you blow them up.

So although the Arc's main laser cannon's capacitors are drained thanks to blasting a path through the surprise debris, its not that surprising that the Decepticon ship isn't firing on the Arc.  (It would be different if Starscream were in command.  The guy has no concept of energy conservation.)  Instead it's on an intercept course, probably soon to use a tractor beam to attempt to board.  Risky at these speeds, but nobody ever said Decepticons are safety-minded.

The point-defense cannons available to our Autobot heroes are still fully charged!  That said, it's a tossup whether these much smaller yield weapons have enough punch to actually prevent the Decepticons from attempting to board.  A good hit will leave a dent, at least.

Jazz coms, "Looks like they want to board.  Most likely the bridge.  Close-quarters specialists are invited up.  The rest of you, aim to disable their main weapons, but don't pass up a good chance at something else important."

Jumpjet opens fire!  "I'm no close-quarters fighter."

Gem says, "I'm no close-quarters fighter either." as she opens fire on what looks like it would be the main weapons. Those were her orders. Don't pass up a chance at something else important, though, has her pondering those ideas she had earlier. But things are moving too fast!

Gem is loathe to disable vital systems like navigation. And knowing decepticons, if she shot their nav, one or two cons might destroy the Autobot nav systems in retaliation before Megatron can even tell them how stupid that would be. So firing on navs is bad because it would draw attention to that idea. At least, until she is done trying to disable the cons' weapons.

But her other ideas involve magnetism, positioning, maybe even boarding the decepticon ship. Mirage's power would be great for that. Why did the cons attack instead of just follow? Would it be a good idea to let them know if they stop attacking, everyone benefits?

This and more is running through Gem's processor as she continues blasting enemy weaponry.

  Turbo Thunder doesn't exactly want to, but he gets the feeling hardly any bots will declare themselves close combatants until Perceptor has to come out here and start punching Decepticons from lack of assistance.

  "Right, on my way Jazz."

Jumpjet, Gem, and various other Autobots deal some serious damage to the Decepticon ship's weapons, though several of the Arc's cannons get destroyed in the slugfest!

Jazz's guess was right.  The Arc shudders when the Decepticon tractor beam locks onto the Arc's left side, and a boarding chute begins to deploy.  But speaking of Perceptor - He sees a perfect opportunity!  The explosion resulting from Gem's shot destroying one of the enemy cannons rips a hole in the hull that exposes a possible vector to the Decepticon ship's main fuel cell!  With split-second precision sniping, he nails the shot dead center, causing a huge explosion in the rear of the ship!

Unfortunately, the force of the explosion and the sudden uneven thrust on the tethered ship causes both ships to begin to spin around each other, pivoting on the tractor beam!  Turbo Thunder and the other reinforcements headed for the bridge are suddenly slammed against the wall from the centrifugal force!

"If we can just dislodge that tractor beam!"

"Only way to do that from here is to sack this section of the Arc's hull!  We could be sucked out into space!"

Though the Autobots in the hall with Turbo Thunder are ready to take that risk to save the ship, most aren't strong enough to overcome the G-forces and lift a blaster to shoot at the already over-burdened welds holding the hull onto the ship!  Brawn manages to raise his gun and fires!  But the gun's firepower isn't quite enough to break the welds!  Will Turbo Thunder use his lightning to finish the job?  Tune in next time!

(( Hoping the situation is narrated clearly enough.  I'm putting my own spin (pun intended) on the spot in the 1st ep where both the Autobots and Decepticons are suddenly faced with mysterious G-forces.  Though the Narrator is presuming Turbo Thunder will take the risky shot that'll give the 'Cons the boot and free the Arc, there's no obligation.  Plot will move on and no Autobots will die either way. ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:44, Thu 02 Apr 2020.

Gem holds on as the ship twirls about. "Ah! Woah nice shot..."

Gem may be a fangirl over the geniuses/nerds among the Autobots, but that doesn't mean she knows about their military value. She had no idea Perceptor is a sniper. Makes perfect sense, sure, but she still had no idea.

Thankfully, even with the massive forces weighing down on Gem, she can still see what is going on from the battle station perspective. But she is not strong enough to do much about it as she is effectively glued to her seat.

  The G forces are out of control.  One could even say, destabilized.  Wait, of course!  If Turbo Thunder reverses the polarity of his gyrodestabilizer missiles, they will be RE-stablize-ah this science stuff is taking too long.

  Turbo Thunder isn't in Star trek, so as the Narrator expected he (hopefully) solves the problem by shooting lightning in it's general direction.

Perceptor isn't that great at taking a compliment.  He rambles on in technobabble about how he should have been able to anticipate the effect that the explosion and resulting slingshot forces would put the ship in jeopardy.

Jumpjet is also pretty well pinned, and is cursing his earlier thoughts that Turbo Thunder was being too paranoid about how dangerous this voyage would turn out to be.  "On the bright side, I'm pretty sure that's the last working warp-capable ship the Decepticons have."

Unless you count Astrotrain.

Turbo Thunder's lightning does the trick!  The welds break apart, and the left side of the Ark is ripped off, sending the Decepticon ship wildly careening off in a wild spin like a deflating balloon.  As for the violent depressurization from the sudden loss of a wall between the Autobots in the hallway and the vacuum of space, it doesn't even come close to being enough to suck anyone out.  Something something angular momentum continuing even after spinning object no longer is tethered to out-of-control ship being orders of magnitude larger than depressurization forces,, robots don't need breathable air, etc.  Also, the heroes have plot armor.

Why super-advanced alien ships still have force feedback in the wheel is anybody's guess, but Prime is so cool he's able to dramatically wrestle control of the ship and stop the spin!  Cheers erupt throughout the Ark!

"Nice shot, Turbo Thunder!" Brawn commends.

"What a view!" someone else comments of the gaping hole in the side of the ship.

"We coulda been scrap and you're admiring the view?"

"Well done, everyone!" Prime coms the crew.

Jumpjet is OK and functional. "I'm going to check on the others, Jumpjet."

Gem hurries over to the breech in the hull and jaw-drops at the sight. She is thinking what ALL the bots near Turbo-Thunder voiced. Nice view and wow that was close. Hearing the one bot, she defends the other. "All things oft become beautiful after a near-oblivion experience. Especially things that were already beautiful."

Gem offers a hand-up to Turbo-Thunder, but is looking around at the others. "Did we lose anyone?"

  Turbo Thunder accepts the hand up because hey, easier than being too prideful for convenience. "Thanks, Gem.  A headcount is probably a good idea." What if a Decepticon would use the same kind of stupid plan he would of 'If I just act like I'm supposed to be here, they will think I'm a background extra until it is too late'?

   "I try not to think too hard about why aiming lightning works out better than aiming a gun" Well, that's mostly because your gun sucks even when you aim it well, Turbo Thunder.  "But at least I get to honestly claim 'that hole was like that when I got here'... Not it for fixing it before atmospheric reentry."

Jumpjet follows after Gem and also gawps at the damage.

"...Shoulda seen the other guy."

Not going to admit he's not sure why you'd need to fix the hole before landing.  Aren't you supposed to fix ships after landing back on Cybertron?

"Everyone please com your immediate supervisor so we can get a head count," Jazz announces, "After that we'll be patching up the ship.  If you're qualified for space walks and/or welding, expect some overtime."

Soon, it's reported that nobody died in the attack.  The Autobots cheer!  A quick repair montage follows.  Where did they get all those spare panels?
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:48, Wed 22 Apr 2020.

Gem eagerly volunteers as she is qualified and is eager to help out. "AM it for fixing!" Plus it will give her the chance to socialize with the mechanics. Maybe learn a thing or two during the experience. It is also an opportunity to enjoy the majesty of outer space. She is happy for the overtime, but works diligently to make sure the repairs are done ASAP, since the crew was informed the trek wouldn't be too long.

When the montage is over, Gem takes a break. As nice as it would be sing and dance, she just feels like relaxing right now. Never know when the next stressful thing will occur.

But in the back of her mind, she worries about the Decepticons. Did they meet oblivion? Will they meet a dark end of in-fighting over the resources left inside their ship? Or will they crash on the same world the Autobots are headed to?

As angry as Gem is about the cons... she is still sad for them. Jumpjet is proof that any of them could have gone a better way. And with that thought in mind, she smiles over to Jumpjet and Turbo Thunder and says, "Hey Jumpjet, Turbo Thunder. Just wanna say: You're good bots. I'm glad to be traveling with you both."

Worded that way because she was about to say "glad you're on MY side" but that would praise their badassery rather than their character.

OOC: It is an interesting fact that most Cybertronians don't exit atmo anymore. And with a war going on, those who came after the Golden Age just don't have the time to learn things like atmospheric properties. Sure, reentry isn't an issue on Cybertron, but as many travelers from the Golden Age know (such as Turbo Thunder), reentry can be an issue elsewhere. So props to Jumpjet on "uh... reentry-what?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:44, Wed 22 Apr 2020.

 Turbo Thunder is all set to let Gem deal with the results of her enthusiasm all by herself.  But then Jazz had to go and make it official he had to help.  Because everyone knows swimming car alt modes work just fine so long as you are already in space (Or maybe that's just him?).

  Still not as handy as it sounds, given most of the actual work is done in bot mode.  But it sure cuts down on lost tools because of lubricantfingers incidents.

  "Thanks, Gem.  Makes being away from home again less of a problem."

Hah!  Not qualified!  Even though Jumpjet's unique power is all about easily moving around while ignoring inertia.  Because he was never Autobot qualified.  Aaah, sweet R&R!  Another reason the Decepticons can't win.  Most of 'em are lazy.

"You should get out there and pitch in," Ironhide says, "You're made for this!"

"Um... but I was never qualified by your qualifiers."

"Don't drag your tailpipe on technicalities when there's important work to do!  I'm a qualifier.  And you qualified right off the assembly line.  So go show 'em how it's done!  If anyone complains about some dumb certificate at a time like this, they can take it up with me!"

Jumpjet reluctantly makes with the delivery of panels, ignoring space physics as effortlessly as Turbo Thunder, but still unnerved by the infinite cold black void of the Cosmos glaring at him with innumerable lifeless distant pinpoint burning eyes, after having indifferently swallowed up Mighty Megatron and the others without a sound.

Which means he's there for Gem's compliment.  Words he was really not expecting in his lifetime.

What am I supposed to do with that?  Can't say, "No I'm not" 'cause putting yourself down is Dead End levels of (oops!  Dead End doesn't exist yet!) stupid, even if it's true.

"You're a good bot."

It takes a moment for Jumpjet to realize Turbo Thunder's answer was way better.  "Um... Thanks.  What he said."

After the work is done, the boss bots compliment the workers on a job well done and encourage them to relax and have a little fun.

OOC: Thanks for the props!  n.n  Props to your face.

Gem giggles from Jumpjet's response. "No problem, you two. It's true."

With the repairs done and literal commands to get R&R, Gem does just that: rests. Though she makes sure her two buddies JJ and TT are resting with her. "Doesn't it feel nice? That sense of accomplishment. Having repaired some damage. Building." The opposite of what normally happens in this war. But she doesn't say that aloud. A little too sad to talk about when she just wants to relax and enjoy having accomplished something good.

  Most Autobots are wildly unqualified for half the things they are stuck doing anyways, but Turbo Thunder shouldn't mention that (for now).

  "Honestly, I've mostly forgotten what maintenance that doesn't involve something being fried or exploded first feels like."  Which certainly wasn't helped with his experiences with working as intended 'it's supposed to be struck by lightning!' mechanisms.  But those didn't have much middle ground between 'no need for maintenance' and 'oh dear'.

Having to do maintenance is a punishment!  At least that's the Decepticon attitude.  Which is part of why tinkerers like Shockwave, Soundwave, and Megatron, who'll spend entire cycles in the lab, are considered a bit unbalanced in the processor.  Starscream is capable, but he at least has sense enough to stay away from it when he can.  So these Autobots enjoy fixing things?  Yeah...

"Um.  Yeah sure.  R&R is better, though."

The Ark arrives at planet Earth, the science bots do some initial scanning, and everyone's invited to a meeting.

Prime explains the findings.  "The good news is that the planet is indeed rich in energy sources.  But there's a wrinkle.  There is a non-warp capable sentient native species, and from their broadcasts it is evident that many aren't exactly peaceful and less than trusting of outsiders.  Some, however, seem open to the idea of cooperative intelligent life outside their world, and chances are good they'd be willing to trade for energy.  Conveniently, they have many vehicles on their world about our size that we could disguise ourselves as in order to avoid drawing the attention of the more xenophobic elements should the need arise.

"I've chosen a landing zone for our shuttle craft that is a remote location inside a vast landmass of the planet they call 'Earth' in their most broadcast language.  Though other landmasses could arguably be better in some aspects, I believe this one to be the best balance of important elements such as speaking the most common language while still having plenty of energy to spare and plenty of space to hide.

"No one will be required to take a new alt-mode.  We are taking volunteers for joining the first contact task force.  Those who volunteer will of course need to undergo an alt-mode reconfiguration."

"I'll pass," Sunstreaker answers, "My alt mode is perfect as it is.  No need to downgrade to some backwater look."

Sideswipe laughs.  "Think so?  You haven't even glanced at the options.  I'll make my decision after I take a look at their vehicles."

(( OOC: Which unlike Bayformers is probably akin to undergoing major cosmetic surgery minus the long healing process that humans have to suffer through. ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:37, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

Gem says, "Omigosh! First contact!" and raises her hand. "MepleasePrime!"

She likes her alt mode. But she is sure she will find something from Earth that is close enough. Right?

"Er... Sideswipe has a point too. I'd love to see the options. But putting the alt-mode topic aside, is it possible to contact them remotely first before decisions on who will meet them in person are made?"

OOC: Wasn't sure how many in the TF universe are actually human-sized. According to TF history, the Cybertronians didn't develop the ability to transform until after they kicked the Quints off world, which means they were not initially designed to transform. Since the Quints designed Cybertronians as goods for various aliens, it would make sense that most aliens are actually the size of Cybertronians.

  "I'm not exactly up on primitive society infrastructure, but if they can't even attain warp how would they have energy resources worth using? Or is this to get access to their materials just conveniently laying around that we know how to get proper use out of?"  You turn your electricity into... still electricity? Huh.

  Oh, right. Primitive society means probably not much variety in their vehicles wouldn't it? Turbo Thunder is expecting to be disappointed by cubes with wheels.

  OOC: My preference is not branching into an alternate timeline for looking like the toy car my character is named after. Having to prepare for this kind of eventuality is one of the reasons my personal meta didn't bother with one of the Not Car looks that caught my eye. But Jumpjet's "Earth" look is a land speed record jet car, so I'm probably in the clear. 
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:54, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

"Um...  If I can get a jet mode, I'm in."

The silly looking car mode was to try and blend in with the Autobots without raising any questions about his former allegiance, but now that that's been handled, Jumpjet wants his wings back.

Options are shown to the those interested.  There's a huge variety of various tech that the Autobots can choose from.

"Hey, Perceptor!  This thing looks just like the alt mode you've already got!" Brawn points out.

"And these look just like Soundwave's minions," Wheeljack notices, "And this looks just like Turbo Thunder.  Uncanny."

Jumpjet is relieved when he fails to notice any vehicles that look like his existing alt-mode and chooses the Harrier Jet as his new alt-mode.

Ironhide notes Turbo Thunder's question and shrugs.  "Both.  It would be easy enough for the Decepticons to forcibly convert one of the Earth's many energy mining facilities to be up to Cybertronian standards.  For us, we just need to go one step further convince them to let us upgrade one or take over one that's abandoned.  Because the poor little guys don't know how get to the reserves that were just a little more out-of-reach at such places.  Heck, for the know-how to do that alone, they should be eager to help us out."

Prime answers Gem, "Road Rage has taken on radio first contact.  It was her wise suggestion that instead of immediately seeking out communicating with the leaders of our target major landmass known as 'The United States,' risking unwittingly breaking an important taboo in what we would consider friendly conversation, that we establish a rapport with members of the working class to learn of their customs.  She is speaking with a being named 'Sparkplug Witwicky' who is interested in our offer to show him how to improve the efficiency of his off-shore energy mining facility.  Negotiations are going well, and we should soon know enough to request permission to land without risking stepping on any feet."

(( So did Wheeljack mistake the Hot Wheels toy Turbo Thunder is based on as an actual vehicle?  Or is this a version of Earth where such a cool vehicle actually graces it's roads?  That's up to the player! ;) ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:15, Sat 02 May 2020.

Gem is relieved to hear that first contact via radio is already in the works.

She looks at JJ's new alt mode. "Ooo. Nice."

Gem looks to Turbo Thunder and says, "Even as far as we've come, Cybertronians are still developing new technology for better energy efficiency. Rewind that and you see the problem; inefficient use of energy and, in some cases, inability to even recognize certain resources as energy sources."

She taps away at a computer terminal and says, "Goodness. In fact, this planet is SO rich in energy resources, just a quick search is showing me a dozen different sources of energy and counting!"

Water, Fire, Steam, Wind, Electricity, Manual, Energy amplification machinery (which goes back to stone age stuff)... the list goes on. It is ironic, but Cybertronians are not familiar with creating sustainable fire. Or with using steam. Or a huge load of other things Earth has that Cybertron either doesn't have or lacks to the point of it simply not being worth using.

All these facts are setting in as Gem is learning this alongside the others (well, unless Perceptor already knew) "These people have such an abundance of things normally uncommon for us that they have found ways to harness power from things we have yet to try harnessing. If they had the efficiency we do... well they could win the war."

  Visit a civilized planet.  Still go out to the middle of nowhere to examine an energy platform.  We'd make a joke about 'Are the Decepticons hiring' except they'd probably be doing the exact same thing.

  "Well, that's convenient.  I'll keep that other car called the 'Alien' in mind if in case we need a double layer of hiding in plain sight."  Unless Gem's player beats him to it with another alt. Oh no, not that, anything but more cool robots.

  "Setting water on fire for power sounds made up if I wasn't already more familiar with steam vents than I'd really like." Look, Turbo, people can only have so many dangerous elements you can casually shrug off as a gimmick.  You came out ahead picking 'electricity' over 'heat'.  It's easier to run (swim) away from undersea eruptions than it is constant lightning, after all.

Time passes.  Several Autobots are reconfigured.  Data on how to speak English and various other Earth languages are passed around along with information on cultural mores, many of which show great similarity to Cybertronian.  Facial expressions, for example.  A smile means happy, a frown means unhappy, and so on.  Perceptor rambles about his theory that the organic "humanoid" civilizations the ancient Cybertronians were designed to serve likely sharing cultural similarities due to how DNA coding works.  So even though Earth was certainly not on the Quintesson customer list, it's to be expected that Earthlings are quite similar to Cybertronians.

"We should focus on land-based energy sources," Jumpjet comments, "In my experience, nothing good ever comes from water,"

Jazz interrupts, "Prime!  Emergency transmission from the Sparkplug energy mine!  The Decepticons are attacking!"

Prime takes a grim tone.  "They survived.  That they should land on this planet before we arrived...

"Leaders, assemble your squads!  We're going down there!  Prioritize protecting the Earthlings!"

Ironhide salutes and faces the three PCs.  "You're with me.  Let's go!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:16, Tue 19 May 2020.

Gem transforms and rolls out! Following Ironhide, of course. Which does mean driving a little slower than she's used to.

Gem hopes for poor Jumpjet's sake that the energy mine isn't one with lots of water. She is glad the decepticons didn't die a slow death in space... but is disturbed that they landed here. The little humans, for all their accomplishments, don't really stand much of a fighting chance from what she has learned of them so far.

One good thing, though. They got Ironhide. Dependable and able to make snap decisions, especially concerning how to engage Decepticons.

Even as she rolls alongside Ironhide, Gem asks, "How far is it? We have an ETA?"