Breaking News Update [video] ["Lights Out" plot post]

[legionnpcs]

[Apparently Shellee and Tammee - er, Gertix and Yil - have hit the ground running, because it's the day after they quit at Neutrino News and already they're set up in their new digs at Earthlive News, where they were hired by actual reporter Hannah Wells.]

[The two look different without their glam filters. Oh, sure they have a little makeup on, but their eyes are less enlarged and the flaws on their appearance are more visible. They also don't have a pink and blue glow anymore. And the fake smiles are gone. They have the serious and collected expressions of actual newscasters.]

[The words "Breaking News Update" scroll across the bottom of the screen. The video is a little static-ey, like there's interference, but apparently Earthlive News has invested in some heavy duty emergency signal-boosting tech.]

Gertrix: This is Gertrix Shur -

Yil: - and Yil Bak -

Gertrix: With a breaking news update from Earthlive News.

Yil: According to satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts from all over the UP, strange constructs are warping into orbit around multiple UP planets.

[Grainy video from a satellite shows strange structures floating around Braal, made of some unknown material. They're spiky and have eyes in the middle. The eyes are all directed towards the planet.]

Yil: So far, reports indicate that these constructs have been spotted around Earth, Colu, Braal, Rimbor, Titan, and Imsk, with more appearing as we speak. We'll continue listing new planets as this report goes on.

[New planets continue to be listed at the botton of the broadcast, scrolling across the screen: Daxam, Zuun, Talok IV...]

Gertrix: The nature and origin of the constructs are still unknown, but according to UPgov, they're thought to be related to the threat of Chronoblivion, as they appear to be emanating from the area of space where Chronoblivion has breached our universe. Efforts to communicate with the constructs seems to be unsuccessful, according to UPgov experts.

Yil: Unfortunately, intel about the constructs is thin due to widespread interference in long-range sensors and long-range communications between the Titanet Towers. Top UPgov scientists believe the constructs to potentially be responsible for the disruption. While communication between worlds is still possible, it's very limited.

Gertrix: [Listens to her earpiece.] This just in, UPgov has put into place a full state of emergency for all UP worlds. Authorities are advising all UP citizens to shelter in place, gather up emergency supplies within their homes, and to limit Titanet communications as much as possible so governments and law enforcement can have their vital communiques prioritized on Titanet networks.

[Click here for emergency information and links to official UPgov instructions.]

Yil: While communications are limited, the Science Police, Galactic Emergency Guard, and Legion of Superheroes are reported to now be in communication and will be dispatching to respond to the situation shortly. Authorities are advising UP citizens to remain calm and stay off the T-gate network and public thoroughfares, to avoid mass panic and allow law enforcement freedom of movement.

Gertrix: Here at Earthlive news we will continue broadcasting live to ensure the UP public is informed about ongoing news updates, as well as providing resources on emergency information, and information that will allow UP citizens to safely shelter in place.

[The news report goes on but by now UPgov and the Science Police have finally broken through the interference and managed to communicate with Legion World. Klaxons start blaring on Legion World and they don't have any more time to watch the broadcast.]

Comments

[auramatic]

[ the constant and deliberate calling of him by his old name is really starting to wear on drift, but this isn't the time or place to argue about it. later. if they all survive this, drift will set megatron straight on that matter later.

he feels the heat of the blast, definitely too close to comfort, and jumps back as megatron fires to get clear, landing with a neat backflip next to the decepticon. drift straightens up just in time to cleave his spark-powered sword through a tentacle swiping overhead. his optics are bright, alive with energy. ]

I wouldn't count me out just yet. [ he looks at the Big Fucking Gun. ] Where did you get that?

[paxpertyrannidem]

I made an acquaintance.

[Once Drift slices through the apparoaching tentacle, Megatron fluidly steps around so that they are standing back to back. A well-practiced postion to cover each other’s blind spots, though Drift had been firing guns the last time they used it.]

She was impressive, for a human.

[Some gunfire rains down on them from one of the small ships intermingling with the tentacles, and he positions himself to soak up most of the volley. The cannon powers up as Megatron takes aim, firing the beam towards the ship in question to turn it into a rather flashy explosion.]

[auramatic]

[ it's easy. it shouldn't be this easy, it's been thousands of years since they last fought together like this, but megatron steps back against him and something just clicks into place. there's a human saying about it that drift can't recall right now, but it feels, suddenly, like no time has passed at all, and it's a jarring feeling, one that takes him out of this place and to another for just a nanosecond, nothing but a flash, but megatron moves and drift moves with him on instinct. they always worked so well together in combat.

drift hates it, and that feeling is buried under the immediate need to move and act, but he hates it just a little bit, and more for the fact that he knows that for now, it's necessary. right now, it's to their benefit. ]

How did you convince a human to build you a weapon? [ he manages to sound surprised, skeptical, and, admittedly, a little in awe even while he swings at the incoming tentacles. he used to have guns, but his speed makes up for the melee range -- and the wide reach on the sword doesn't hurt. ] And who was she?

[ any human willing to build a gun that big for megatron is probably either extremely misguided or someone to watch out for. possibly both. ]

[paxpertyrannidem]

Ah, she noticed the weapon mounts on my arm were looking a tad lonely and took the initiative herself. One of the more practical members of this organic station, I’d say.

[The warm heat from the cannon grows the more it fires, and eventually Megatron lowers that arm to let it expel the strain of the systems and recover. The dimensional oscillation allowing those cannon blasts to rip through the tentacles hadn’t quite been perfected and could destabilize with overuse. If Drift looked, he might noticed some spatial weirdness occasionally splitting out of the barrel along with the blast.]

[If there was any reason to worry, though, Megatron didn’t seem to express it. He had a similar issue with the first fusion cannon he’d strapped to his arm. His first iteration of the weapon was newer tech stolen from the Senate - still couldn’t quite get the antimatter core to avoid getting pissy without a little cool down time.]

[He still has a free fist, however, and he uses it to punch through any non-tentacled Catastrophist ships that were unfortunate enough to get within his grasp.]

Incoming - to your left.

[auramatic]

[ drift looks alarmed at that information -- a human took initiative and decided to build megatron some brand-new, very explosive arm candy? yeah, drift's going to want to watch out for that one. but he doesn't have time to get into it now, even if a glance at the cannon gives him some very bad vibes.

he moves without hesitation, just like he always used to with megatron, and he lets himself just fall back into it instead of fighting it, because it's necessary and it's easier that way, so much easier. his voice rises in a wordless battlecry as he cleaves his sword down through the incoming tentacle, but there's more resistance this time, it takes more energy, crackling sparks flying off the blade. ]

Is it just me or are these things getting bigger?

[paxpertyrannidem]

[Megatron follows the familiar movement of the other Cybertronian, pleased with the ease with which Drift fell back into his role. Millennia of combat instinct could never fully be replaced, not in the heat of it when there was little time to second-guess what your spark knew what to do. For a Cybertronian so preternaturally good at violence, the only answer was to slip back into that fluid routine. Somewhere in Drift was still the Decepticon warrior he had fought with long ago.]

[The cannon powers on again as the Autobot lands from his recent strike. Fresh beams of energy leap from the barrel and detonate over approaching tendrils, but once the debris clears, he pauses.]

[The Decepticon’s optics narrow.]

It’s getting closer.

[auramatic]

[ he's right. drift feels a heavy sense of dread just looking at it, because while it can't do anything to hurt him or megatron, to everyone else here, it's a deadly threat. and things aren't getting any better -- the legionnaires are fighting, but they're not winning, falling further and further back. ]

We can't let it get any closer. We might not be able to stop it completely, but we might be able to help buy the others a little more time if we can slow it down. It can't hurt us -- but it can hurt them. [ he shifts, no longer at megatron's back but at his side. he glances at the Big Fucking Gun. ] Has that thing been at full power this whole time?