“What if you just… turned it off?” Fester wonders.
The hive queen screeches and fires another glob of gel at Epsilon from her underside claws, and the arms on her sides begin to reel back and glow blue.
“The ship would likely go into space and risk killing a large number of individuals from your hive if they aren’t equipped to survive such conditions.” Zepar said, “But there is also the question of why this place automatically decided to target the ship to carry the sleeping occupants of this place.”
Epsilon tried to dodge again and attempted to shoot the blue glowing areas to try and not see what unpleasantness was being prepared by them.
Fester shrugs.
“I wouldn’t know,” he says. “When we found this place, the bridge was already online.”
Epsilon successfully evades the glob, and it splashes onto the hull.
One of the arms is shot, and the blue light flares and crackles. The queen shrieks in pain, slamming the limb on the other side onto the hull, sending out a weaker version of the energy shockwave attack she had demonstrated earlier.
Zepar looks for a control panel, “Well, let’s get the Space Bridge turned off for now and…” he paused, “are you sure we should let the ship go from the tractor beam?” he asked.
Epsilon tries to get Gronius inside the ship while the Queen is distracted by her injury.
“I know about as much as you do,” Fester says.
A nearby airlock was still open; it was the one that Alterion (@Toa_Vladin) also happened to be inside.
Zepar tries to deactivate the tractor beam.
Epsilon throws Gronius into the open airlock and secures himself to the hull in turret mode.
Zepar is successful. A notification appears on the console, informing Zepar and company that the ground bridge’s tractor beam was now offline.
@Toa_Vladin @meepinater @TheOnlyGuyWhoLikesMistika @ToaNoah_Wafflemeister @KAI_BORG @BlackBeltGamer98
Our heroes aboard Salvation feel a sharp jolt as the Fleetcarrier suddenly whips to the right.
“Captains!” Flyby exclaims from his station on the bridge, “We are moving again!”
“Yes!” ■■■■■■■■■■■■ hisses, clenching his fist. “Any idea how?”
“No time to question our good fortune,” Topside cuts in. “Flyby, take us above land, and try to shake off the queen.”
The hostile insecticon swarms were being dealt with with by Salvation’s newfound allies, but the hive queen still remained a threat, perched upon the ship’s bow and menacing the crew members that had gone out to face her.
Epsilon opened fire on her weapons systems.
Zepar looks to Fester, “Are you able to communicate with your Queen from here?” he asked.
“So much for a relaxing cruise…” Ace sighs
This gets the queen’s attention. Epsilon’s attack discourages her from trying to charge her shockwave ability, so she instead responds with launching two spark-seeking grenades at Epsilon from her back.
Fester shakes his head.
“No, I am not.”
Epsilon quickly shifts his focus onto the grenades, trying to blast them before they got too close.
The grenades explode a safe distance from Epsilon.
The Salvation flies out from the buzzing swarm of insecticons surrounding her, and the battle was now shifting decidedly in the favor of her crew. With support from the other insecticon hive, and the deactivation of the ground bridge, the hostile insecticons efforts to board the Fleetcarrier were now greatly hindered. If the queen was dispatched, it was likely that they would cease their attack all together.
Epsilon tries to get the Queen off the ship by, for lack of a better way of saying it, completely vomiting bullets like crazy at her to get her off the hull.
“Is there any way to get her to, at least, be open to negotiations?” Zepar asks Fester.
Sparks fly off the queen’s violet armor as Epsilon’s hailstorm of bullets aggravates her greatly. Enraged, she fires two of her six eye beams at the turret.
“Perhaps,” says Fester.
Epsilon partially transforms so he can keep the heat on her and walk around, more run but you get the point.
Zepar nods, “Let’s hear it.” he says, wanting to know what Fester had in mind.
The queen deactivates the eye beams and opens her mandibles, unleashing a crackling energon beam that scorches the hull as it races toward Epsilon.
“Hear what?” Fester asks.
“Your idea of how we can convince your Queen to listen.” Zepar said.
Epsilon just books it for cover, trying to not get vaporized by the giant freaking lazar beam.
Fester advises Zepar to seek compromise with the queen; if she couldn’t have Salvation, she’d need something else to satisfy her wish to save her hive.
The beam narrowly misses Epsilon, and soon dissipates. Panels on the back of her head open and begin to vent built-up heat from the weapon’s mechanisms.
Epsilon tries to shoot the vents to try and cause her systems to overheat via no venting capabilities.
“We have something that could serve as a temporary solution but I’d need the permission of my superiors to present it to your hive.” Zepar said.
Epsilon was unfortunately not in the right position to shoot the vents. His shots instead impact the queen’s face, which, to his credit, still serve to infuriate her. Another spark-seeking grenade is launched from her back.
“Well… get permission!” Fester advises.
Nearby were terminals showing that the ancient facility still had many insecticon specimens stored in stasis, and Forcep had collected many spark fragments and CNA samples from Salvation’s hive. Zepar certainly had his options.