Station Battle: Swerve, Wedge, and Synapse

[Dead End]

Dead End skids to a stop and turns around as the thin lava shatters behind him. Swerve is a hot-head, like Drag Strip or Motormaster. However, without four 'friends' like Drag Strip, or Motormaster's near invinicibility...

He transforms near the new crater and withdraws his pressure rifle from its hiding place as he strolls over to where Swerve is struggling to hold on to the brittle rim.

"Temper, temper! You really should work on that, but it probably won't matter now."

One quick pulse of super-high pressure air (rated at 40,000 psi) blows the rim to shards in Swerve's hands. The next shot is aimed at Swerve's face.

[Swerve]

Swerve is still scrabbling for a hold, feet scraping, lava rock cleaving away beneath them, as Dead End approaches. So this is what the slagger looks like. He's gonna remember that ugly mug.

"Temper?!" he growls, nearly slipping. If he could just reach a foot, even…! "I'll show you a temper when I tear out your crankshaft and beat you with it!"

The fingertips of his left hand fall just a few tantalising microns short of his goal when Dead End wipes out the only thing still holding him up. Swerve begins to drop, sharp ridges raking his chestplate and arms as he tries again for a hold and fails. A second blast wings just over his head; he feels a headlamp crack with the impact. Dead End gets a little smaller after that.

Looking back on this, Swerve won't mind the fall too much. The sudden stop at the end? Yeah, that hurt.

[SceneMod]

At first, nothing. Then, as the dial goes up and up, there's a... change in the air. It takes a moment for this change to be processed on the conscious level: it's a humming, incredibly low pitched, covering several frequencies at once. It appears to be emanating from the power plant itself. And it's getting louder...

As the strange humming increases, the flowers... calm. Their firing at the jets flying overhead becomes less and less frantic. And then, when the sound reaches its crescendo, they stop all together, still and harmless as ordinary plants for as long as the strange noise continues.

[Dead End]

At first, Dead End doesn't notice the loud noises, but he's busy. He fires off two quick shots of his concussion rifle at the gleaming figure down in the hole. Then he deliberately shoots the weakened edges, bringing piles of broken, eroded lava down on top of Swerve. Black sand dribbles into the hole; Dead End fires a few more times, until Swerve is completely lost to sight under the black rock.

"Pity. If Drag Strip were here, he could melt that rock down into a nice solid seal with his plasma blaster. Alas, he's not here, so this temporary measure will have to do. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get out of there--we'll probably needing some spare parts by the time this battle is over with, and you'll do."

The thunder of rockets intrudes on Dead End's perceptions; he shifts to car mode and scans with his radar. "Omega Supreme. Correction, we may not be needing much of anything at all in a short bit."

Dead End gingerly skirts the collapsed sinkhole and guns his engine, speeding back toward the mesa and various combatants on the road. Where in all this mess is Hook?

// Starscream, I have neutralized one Autobot, and am proceding toward the mesa for more targets. Have you any orders regarding Omega Supreme's arrival? //

Private to Hook: // Where in all this mess are you? //

[Hook]

[Private to Dead End]: //At the top of the road, at the edge of the mesa. Past Perceptor. Oh, yes, some other Autobot has just raced up to battle with Sky-Byte.//

It's so nice having the invulnerable fellow liking Hook. So very nice.

[Swerve]

The humming sound is loud, but strangely muffled at the bottom of the pit. Swerve freezes in the middle of picking himself up to listen, then cringes at the roar that follows. Cavalry? Is that what they call it now?

He doesn't have much chance to think on it, though. A sudden blast of air narrowly misses his shoulder and he rolls frantically to avoid the second.

"Augh! Slagsucker! Cheap, torqueless slagsucker!" he yells, then dives for his gun. He can at least try to shoot back!

But the sky falls on his head in a mountain of lava rock and sand and his world goes black. He doesn't scream – no time. Just time enough to get pinned. Plenty of time after to debate all the ways he'll take the guy apart when he gets the chance. He's about to hurl threats over the radio when a voice like the stuff of nightmares booms onto the airwaves and drowns out very much else.

[Dead End]

The logical place for everyone to be is converging on the power station. Perhaps Hook can get the defenses re-operational against Omega Supreme.

Dead End's engine roars as he charges straight for the mesa slope, disdaining the road--he transforms just before hitting the first pile of scree and flies up, hugging the mesa wall as he climbs.

---

OOC: And the Deadster departs this thread for the Build-Up also.

[Swerve]

OOC: Swerve will, much to his dismay, be sticking around here for a while yet. This post is for the sake of indicating he isn't just lying there idle under however much rock and dirt.

---

Move. Just a little, even. Move, slag it all!

Swerve's impromptu tomb isn't cooperating with him. There's sand in unmentionable places and he can feel tiny, sharp shards of the shattered rock slipping and digging into sensitive gaps under his 'backpack'. Frag him if he isn't still trying to squirm, to get an arm free to move. One's pinned under him, but the other isn't and he can at least move that hand. Lot of good it does him, though; he shifts a little of the rubble away and more slides in to replace it. He still keeps trying.

"Not… gonna make… spare… parts… outta me!" His arm budges a little, rocks moving grudgingly out of the way; he pulls one leg in just a bit. This might work after all.

Then a muffled groan of earth and rocks somewhere above, and things get heavier. That's a very sharp chunk of rock pressing against his hood, too. It still takes him a few minutes before he can bear to fire up his radio, and when he does, it's very grudgingly.

//Whenever somebody's got a free moment… some… help… would be… nice.//

[Wedge]

Wedge treks towards Swerve's position as quickly as he can, Synapse in shovel. The battle seems to be going on full blast and as he heads closer to it, he finally spots the loudly haled and speaking Omega Supreme. That....that's guy's huge! No where near Fort Max, but...wow. Wedge sucks in a breath at the awesome sight. There aren't many transformers in general that can get to that sort of height without combining. His thoughts of comparing the height of Landfill to the new giant are quickly quashed.

Upon arrival, Wedge slides Synapse out as gently as possible back into the sand, off to the side. Then he begins to dig. Push rock here, push rock there. Scoop, lift, dump, scoop, lift, dump. Kup sure knew how to pick his volunteers. He thrums lightly as he identifies the sediment he's moving. Hmm, lava rock and sand?

"Hey! Can you hear me down there?" calls Wedge loudly.

He thinks that he can see something not black down there, poking out of the sediment.

[Synapse]

The pain seems to be dying down to a all-encompassing throb, either that or his body and receptors are finally adjusting to it. It still hurts to move, but the wind is slightly soothing...that doesn't count the fine sand particles that get blasted along with it, scouring against his already damaged node. Omega Supreme's voice blasting over the radio makes him jerk which is followed by another sharp hiss. Heh...looks like the Constructicon has it coming to him now.

Synapse glares at Wedge as the bulldozer sets him down. The boy probably doesn't notice it through the visor. He shouldn't be so harsh, Wedge doesn't know the points of hanging around him. Still...hot-headed fool.

What are they doing now?

[Swerve]

Swerve can't quite hear you down here just yet, Wedge. A muffled sound that's probably a voice carries through to him, but the words aren't entirely clear. Something about 'down there'. There's much less weight on him, though. Swerve tries shifting his arm again; the movement is easier, but painful with sand and tiny bits of rock in the seams. Getting up… is iffy. Pushing up as best he can tells him there's still a large rock bearing down uncomfortably on his hood and windscreen.

He tries anyway, hissing and cursing as sharp pebbles crackle, caught in closing joints. It doesn't get him very far, but if that's Wedge up there, it's worth hoping he sees the shift of material.

//Get this stuff offa me!// he barks over shortwave, not keen on the idea of shouting and getting sand in his fuel intake along with all the other places it's found.

[Wedge]

Wedge flinches at the unexpected bark over his radio. "Alright, geez. Can't you feel that I'm doing that already?" he mutters. No thank you or anything it.

He clears away most of the sand and sediment up on top after a few more scoops of his shovel. That's when he sees the large slab. // Alright, one sec. I'm gonna lift this up now. // Wedge transforms and squats down in the large low-grade hole he's made and grasps and edge of the rock. "Hold steady down there!" With one great heave, he manages to lift up the edge of the stone. A quick shove and then he puts his shoulder into it...there! The rock crashes to the side. There are pluses to being in a construction group.

He thinks he sees something...but he's not quite sure. "Hello?"

[Synapse]

What's Wedge doing? Synapse watches as piles of black sand grow larger and larger all around him. It's painstakingly slow to turn himself back over onto his front, and when he does he regrets it as pressure is put onto his already abused windshield. Okay, okay, ease onto the elbows and get the weight literally off his chest...

Was that Swerve's voice over the shortwave?

[Swerve]

There is more noise, less weight on his back, a loud voice, then a burst of light and no more smothering pressure. Swerve bites back a curse and recalibrates his optics before pushing himself onto hands and knees, rocks clattering to either side, sand sifting off him in thin trails.

"…Thanks," he grunts. It's brusque, but at least he means it. He takes a moment to dig for his gun, then gets to his feet much, much more slowly than he wants. Joints are loaded with little rock shards and fine volcanic sand. Fragging Dead End.

Finally, he turns and glances up at the bright orange Autobot who dug him out. That's an ugly gash across his middle. Swerve feels a little vindicated seeing he isn't the only one who came out on the back end of the pack.

"Wedge, right?" Have we mentioned Swerve isn't the best at conversation?

[Wedge]

This guy looks...different. Looks like he transforms into some sort of ground vehicle, nothing like Wedge has ever come across on Earth. Maybe on Cybertron. Swerve has his own fair share of chips from this battle it seems as well.

"Yeah, Wedge," he says following the other's glance at his wound. "Ah, it looks worse than it is. It's gonna take forever to get this sand out of my cab." Hopefully, he'll get this chance. "C'mon, I've got to get Synapse back to some medics. We have any of those around here?" Without waiting for much of a response, Wedge turns and begins scrabbling up out of the hole he created. This is crazy. Planet hopping, alternate dimensions, crazy Decepticons, old Autobots. He doesn't even have his gun anymore! Where's Sideburn and his brothers to make a snide but reassuring comment? Where's Optimus Prime's strong presence?

Most of all: where's his team?

A sniff escapes from Wedge before he can stop it. "Ah! Stupid sand's getting everywhere." he half-way lies. No way he's going to let any one see him break. He's not a little kid! "Let's get going."

With that he transforms and a lightly battered orange bulldozer pulls out of the hole and trundles towards a rather battered Synapse.