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Post by Shrapnel on Apr 8, 2008 19:25:28 GMT -5
Shrapnel launched himself in the air and transformed as soon as Skyfire got in reasonable range. He's no jet, but that's caused people to underestimate him before.
Cannonball's radio for help, though, distracts the Insecticon from the task of chasing down Skyfire and chomping on his wings.
Two beams of purple light slash out from Shrapnel's antlers and lock onto the missiles. Immediately, they go zipping away from Cannonball.
What to do, what to do?
Shrapnel snickers and sends the missiles chasing after Skyfire.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Apr 8, 2008 20:32:27 GMT -5
Skyfire tracked his missiles in--
"Got one with lasers, hit Wreckage, and--SLAG!" Skyfire banked sharply and accelerated suddenly, sending anything not strapped down or braced skidding towards the back bay door--still closed, fortunately.
"He took control of my missiles!" Skyfire rockets thundered as he opened his throttle to leave the missiles far behind.
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Evac
Cadet
"Come with me if you want to live."
Posts: 34
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Post by Evac on Apr 9, 2008 12:23:55 GMT -5
Which includes Evac! WHUMP!
"Note to self," he mutters, "the captain has not turned off the seat belt sign..."
He shakes his head to clear it. "Anything I can do, Skyfire?"
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Wreckage
Major
One of the Quiet Ones
Posts: 554
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Post by Wreckage on Apr 10, 2008 18:14:38 GMT -5
Wreckage, still slightly unbalanced, is in the process of dragging himself free when he gets that strange, nagging sensation, the jangling at his sensors. Another Cybertronian – one from his Cybertron – is near. With Skyfire? That seems the only reasonable conclusion; he had not sensed anything prior to the shuttle's appearance. But who? Before he can even force his weapon mechanisms, thick with detritus, to swap out his guns for his swords, Shrapnel opens fire on the missiles– No, not weapons fire. He turns them back on their owner. What an interesting thing to see.
It does not, however, help Wreckage get loose of the swamp bottom. Immobilised, he is of no help in the fight; in spite of every servo in his body screaming to join the fray, he shuts it out, concentrating instead on forging his way back to solid footing. It is infuriatingly slow going even as hard as he pushes. Black muck and bits of plant matter seep from the crevices in his armour where they had settled and as he slogs past the hulk that was Blackout and rises slowly onto the roadway. Now, too, his damages are more evident, a wide swath on one leg seared coal-black and multiple gouges in one shoulder assembly and upper arm. The scowl on his face has more to do with the presence he felt for a moment than with his injuries.
Firing after Skyfire as the shuttle flies away, trying to escape his own missiles, would be a pointless waste of energy. Wreckage does not particularly care. He charges his cannon, shifts his weight back to level his aim, and looses a blast. He has no expectations that it will hit, but damn it, he feels better now.
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Apr 10, 2008 18:35:28 GMT -5
Cannonball is very happy to see the missiles going away from him, and informs Shrapnel of his glee: //Oi, thank ye lad. Tha's a big 'elp!//
He cuts his jets once over solid ground, skidding on his feet just a bit to drop the sensors (Carefully, mind you) and put his claw away. Time for a little payback! Or at least an attempt to - Cannonball isn't the best shot from a distance, and Skyfire's heading off fairly quick. Regardless, he fires several short bursts of laser fire from his gun-hand at the shuttle, and opens a local channel that everyone can hear. After all, a pirate isn't a pirate if they don't engage in some not-so-friendly banter with the enemy! //Oi, git on oot o' 'ere, ye traitorous bilge rat if'n ye know wot's good for ye!//
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Post by Shrapnel on Apr 13, 2008 17:50:28 GMT -5
Shrapnel is perfectly happy to keep the missiles chasing Skyfire until the jet is out-of-range and doesn't look like he'll be coming back.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Apr 13, 2008 19:22:10 GMT -5
Skyfire intends to come back. He pulled up sharply and over, looping into a dive from high altitude, shifting his aim to the pursuing missiles.
"Evac, I'm going to need your help to get this job done! The Insecticon can take control of my missiles, so I can't use them around him. Cannonball managed to protect two of the sensor arrays--he's fast on his feet, slaggit! I'm going to blow my two missiles that are in the air, make a pass with my proton cannon, then pull up just past them--I'll have my rear hatch open, so you can fly any time then. Got it?"
He fired his cannon down at the pursuing missiles, bright beams lancing through the air with a snap of heated air rapidly displaced, drowned out by the wail of his air brakes as he dove. Beams missed, converged... hit! First one, then the second missiles exploded into useless shards of seared metal.
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Evac
Cadet
"Come with me if you want to live."
Posts: 34
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Post by Evac on Apr 13, 2008 20:07:59 GMT -5
Dumb question, Evac reflects. Then again, he can be a little dense sometimes, just like anybody. But it's probably better when that doesn't happen under combat conditions.
"Understood," he says. "I'll be ready."
In fact, it's best if he gets ready immediately. Unlike several Transformers, Evac's not especially good at transforming on the fly. He's got a lot of different parts to get into their proper place and it takes time for his on-board systems to properly coordinate that. As such, it takes him slightly longer than most to transform, and he rarely transforms in mid-air or on the fly, if he can help it.
He falls forward, parts shifting and moving with mechanical precision, until a perfectly normal looking (albeit bristling with two missile launchers, two cannons, and an auto-gun in his nose) rescue helicopter. He gives his rotors and experimental whirl, and makes a small noise of satisfaction. When Skyfire is ready, so will he be.
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Wreckage
Major
One of the Quiet Ones
Posts: 554
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Post by Wreckage on Apr 15, 2008 10:23:18 GMT -5
Wreckage fixes a sidelong stare on Cannonball for a second or two. On one hand, the Stryker wants Skyfire to stick around and take the killing he deserves as someone who left the Decepticons for the Autobots. On the other hand, Wreckage has mud and twigs in his joints, a gnawed-on shoulder, and can look forward to spending more time in the swamp today. And he is standing a length or two from the dead body of a valued comrade in Lord Megatron's name. He feels strangely, unsettlingly petulant about these matters; he just wants to leave.
He quashes that feeling, however, stamping hard on the roadway to shake loose from his legs whatever globules of muck he can. The results are less than what he calls satisfactory, but they will have to do, and he gives both arms a vicious shake with similar results. He can do little from the ground – the usefulness of his temporary airborne secondary mode once again rears its head – as Skyfire comes screaming in, but he does what he can, arming his machine guns and opening fire.
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Apr 15, 2008 17:38:50 GMT -5
Unlike Wreckage, Cannonball would be happy for Skyfire to go away. Sure, he wants to knock some sense into him for betraying them, but there's a few problems.
One - Cannonball has something the scientist intends to destroy.
Two - Skyfire has better firepower.
Three - "Ah, bugger, he's turnin' back!" Cannonball catches the stare from Wreckage, and returns it. "Oi, I can't 'ave a bit o' witty banter wit' th' enemy?" Cannonball shakes his head, then focuses back on trying to shoot Skyfire. Big lug wouldn't know witty if it came up and bit him on the aft...
Several more shots, and a frustrated growl. "If only he'd bleedin' slow down...!"
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Post by Shrapnel on Apr 16, 2008 19:14:36 GMT -5
As the shuttle slows in the air, Shrapnel zips up and behind one wing. Closer, closer, just a little closer-
CHOMP.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Apr 16, 2008 19:56:59 GMT -5
As if some dark genie granted Cannonball's wish, Skyfire slowed down--and gave birth on the wing to Evac, opening his aft bay door to let the helicopter fly free. At the same time, he opened fire on the sensor arrays Cannonball was trying to protect--
Then--
"OWWWW!" Shrapnel chomped down on Skyfire's wing, tearing a large hole in the trailing edge. Some of Wreckage's fire peppered Skyfire's other wing, puncturing holes swiftly repaired in his self-sealing tanks.
Shrapnel's hole was not so easily sealed; fuel began to spray in a thin stream.
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Evac
Cadet
"Come with me if you want to live."
Posts: 34
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Post by Evac on Apr 16, 2008 21:20:02 GMT -5
Evac is in the air almost immediately, the steady whup-whup-whup of his rotors filling the air as he shoots out, then arcs back around. It was his fault Skyfire had been injured, and he knew it. If he'd been capable of transforming in the air, or simply capable of doing so at higher speeds, then he'd never have had to slow down enough to get munched by the Insecticon.
While his firepower is far from the highest of the Autobots, he's got so many different types of weapons that he more than makes up for it. Evac quickly targets Shrapnel, opening fire with the auto-gun built into his nose.
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Wreckage
Major
One of the Quiet Ones
Posts: 554
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Post by Wreckage on Apr 18, 2008 12:44:22 GMT -5
Wreckage does not care about pirate "wit".
"You sound surprised that he turned back," he growls at Cannonball, almost droll. Autobots have an aggravating tendency to not understand when they should leave, and to try proving themselves when taunted. Perhaps that little titbit, much like repartee sharper than a warning to flee, is not a part of pirate training.
Further sniping will have to wait; Skyfire lays down more cannon fire as he completes his turnaround and, amazingly, Cannonball is not the only one trying to protect those remaining sensor arrays. Keeping them out of Autobot hands and intact is part of the mission parameters and Wreckage remembers all too well. He ducks behind the pirate and scoops up the arrays – if Cannonball cannot remove himself from the line of fire quickly enough, on his own head be it – feet slamming and scraping raucously against the roadway. He spins, lifting his free arm and the attached machine gun to attach Skyfire once more, then freezes up briefly as the shuttle slows and he hears that sound.
Rotors. Familiar-sounding rotors; the heavy, six-bladed chop of a Pave-Low. His gaze darts briefly to the edges of the sky he can pick out through the tangled trees. Nothing. He even glances to that inert grey hulk just to cover all the bases. No, the sound is from above. Skyfire's disgorged passenger. Wreckage cannot help himself when his optics focus on the helicopter; he stares, expression slack before brow ridges draw in tight and optic shutters narrow. A twisted imitation of his dead comrade, a mockery, an insult to his memory. An Autobot. Wreckage feels a sudden, spark-jarring urge to kill. To maim and destroy without care for form or precision so much as ruining this thing and watching the worthless spark within it fade to nothing. He charges his cannon and lets loose the blast toward Evac without even realising the system commands.
After that, though, he stops, reining himself back in. There is a higher priority and Wreckage cannot afford to be so foolish as to think he can murder the orange Pave-Low and ensure he and Cannonball walk away with the sensors.
//…Retreat would be feasible,// he intones, firing away with one machine gun, much as that word makes his plating crawl. They have the sensors and a marked disadvantage on this ground against two airborne opponents unless Cannonball would like to step in where Wreckage cannot. They can come back to investigate Shrapnel's tower some other time. He can kill Evac some other time.
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Apr 20, 2008 1:34:45 GMT -5
Cannonball does not notice the similarities between Evac and Blackout, 'cause Evac hasn't transformed yet. Even if he did notice, it'd probably be a momentary back-and-forth gawking.
Either way. He turns to Wreckage a moment, shaking his head at himself while keeping up some gunfire. "Well, I didnae mind the turning back much, until 'e started firing on us!" Plus, he kinda broke the rules of pirating. One usually saves the majority of their taunting until they've gotten the loot back on their ship and are sailing off.
Plus, he didn't expect the scientist to fall for such jibes, or to turn around on his own missiles.
"Hey, wot're ye doin'? I kin take care of those m'se--OI!" Cannonball notes the swinging arm and ducks it in time, barely. "Watch it!" A scowl and a slight readjustment of placement - out of Wreckage's way- and he goes back to firing. Ooooh, hey, a helicopter! And moving slower than Skyfire? Awesome. Cannonball grins, mustering up a purple aura of energy, belting out "Cyber Key Power!" as the blue chip barrels out of the sky and plugs into his back. His body is filled with energy, and panels open to ratchet out his shoulder-guns. However, with the rush comes a very strange sensation, noted by Cannonball wobbling a bit. "Bloody 'ell, that don' feel right at all..." He shudders, then fires dual streams of laser energy up in the air as Wreckage fires off his own cannon. Noting the direction Wreckage shot in, the pirate adjusts his stance to cover the other side, hoping to pin the chopper.
After whether or not the shot hits, Cannonball relegates the guns to a standard semi-auto firing rate when his companion makes his suggestion. //As much as I be agreein', wot aboot Shrapnel? Not sure how Shockwave'll take it if'n we take off now to wind up losin' a comrade...//
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