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Post by Shrapnel on Apr 21, 2008 17:47:50 GMT -5
The spray of energon is hungrily sucked up by the Insecticon. "Delicious, delicious!"
He's had better, of course, but in this case, it was the chase and the catch that lent such a delicate potency to the fuel.
Of course, then the helicopter starts shooting at him. While he's gnawing on Skyfire's wing. Clearly, this was an Autobot that wasn't getting enough fire in his diet.
Snickering, Shrapnel wrenches loose a bit of Skyfire's wing and proceeds to dodge-scramble-fly over Skyfire's wings and back as best he can. As long as the helicopter wants to shoot like that...
Well, it made the bullet-holes in his back worth it.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Apr 21, 2008 19:13:39 GMT -5
"ARRGGGH!" Skyfire expressed his displeasure at having a chunk of wing ripped loose. He rolled, trying to dislodge Shrapnel from his back. Meanwhile, a thin spray of fuel continued to spew from Skyfire's damaged wing and settle all over the surrounding swamp.... and anyone in the swamp below him.
"Evac, get him off me!" Skyfire continued to roll and make short, sharp skidding turns from side-to-side, trying to send Shrapnel flying.
Needless to say, he wasn't making much progress shooting down Cannonball's sensor arrays.
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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 21, 2008 20:29:55 GMT -5
Blast it, Evac needs to step up is assault here...
Without getting shot up himself. Wreckage's blast grazes his tail, while the bullets bounce around his rotors, slowing him down. Cannonball's attacks, announced by the Cyber-Key calling, are more avoidable. Nothing like announcing what you're doing to help warn someone.
All the same, his flight is a little slower, a little more wobbily, when what he really needs is more agility. But saving Skyfire is what's important right now. He'll stay on course.
"Switching to heavier firepower now," he says. Immediately, the targeting rectangle that's overlaying his vision is replaced with a lightly glowing yellow box, one that quickly changes to red as he gets a target lock on Shrapnel. "Missiles away!"
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Wreckage
Major
One of the Quiet Ones
Posts: 554
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Post by Wreckage on Apr 23, 2008 16:48:42 GMT -5
What about Shrapnel?
//I do not suggest we leave him,// Wreckage answers coldly, optics flaring, as he tucks the arrays more firmly under his arm and carries on with his machine gun fire to distract Evac. However, he would like to avoid baring their strategy beforehand to the Autobots; shouting it out might prove counter-productive. He resorts to a low-power broadband transmission instead. //Shrapnel, we have been ordered to retreat from this engagement.// Wreckage is not entirely eager to admit this, but orders are orders, and his tone makes it clear that he includes the Insecticon in that "we".
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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 28, 2008 12:59:09 GMT -5
Ah, good, Wreckage agrees.
However, the new chopper is firing missiles at Shrapnel, so Cannonball joins Wreckage on the broadband. //An' I be 'opin' ye can pull that missile trick twice, lad, as ye've got a bunch on yer tail, an ah'm no sharpshooter...!//
That doesn't stop him from filling the air with laser fire in Evac's general direction, however.
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Post by Shrapnel on Apr 29, 2008 15:14:58 GMT -5
Skyfire has literally run out from under the Insecticon, the backwash of air and heat sending Shrapnel spinning. But there is a part of wing in his mouth, white as new bone and just as crunchy. Shrapnel holds on tight to his prize as he is tossed through the air.
Metal launches from the orange helicopter, metal quickly surrounded by a halo of fire.
More missiles! He likes these Autobots! They're tasty and dumb!
The Decepticons are less so, but they make up for it by being annoying and oddly accented. //Withdrawal is no good if they can chase, chase!//
Purple beams slash out from the tips of his antlers as Shrapnel once again seizes control of the pair of missiles. Two missiles, two targets; how convenient!
One is set loose to chase after Skyfire, while the other is directed towards Evac. Cripple the helicopter, and the mothership will take him back to the nest. Cripple the starship, and they will be stuck to harass the Insecticon.
//Go, go, go!//
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Apr 29, 2008 18:56:45 GMT -5
Shrapnel fell away from Skyfire (as previously attested), and Skyfire did a wing-over and swooped back toward the action--
In time to see Shrapnel take control of Evac's missiles. // Evac! Look out, he's controlling your missiles! //
--and there was one coming straight at Skyfire! The big white shuttle fired his proton cannon at the missile hurtling head on, proton beams slashing a colorful path through instantly heated and ionzed air--
Miss, miss, miss--hit! The missile exploded, showering flaming debris across the swamp--
Meanwhile, the beams that missed cut through the fine mist of highly flammable, explosive fuel that had settled over the swamp below--
Not to mention Cannonball's lasers burning through the same mist--
BOOM!
--- Note: the 'boom' is not a highly explosive, blow-you-to-bits kind of boom, it's a flash-fire of ignited fuel mist. Might be a bit hot, though.
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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 30, 2008 22:40:05 GMT -5
Growing increasingly more and more crippled under the assaults of Wreckage and Cannonball, it's a small miracle that Evac is able to detonate his own missile, chewing it up with machine-gun fire.
He's no stranger to armed conflict, but these Decepticons are several orders of magnitude more powerful than anything he's ever dealt with before. It's a miracle he's still in the air. One of his rotor blades, clipped by machine gun fire, had been completely snapped off, and while he can compensate... his flight is losing altitude.
And then the explosion. Propelled by physics and rotational forces rather than jets, the explosion and flames are much more devastating to him, knocking him around like a leaf in the wind.
//Can't... stay airborne...//
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Wreckage
Major
One of the Quiet Ones
Posts: 554
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Post by Wreckage on May 1, 2008 21:51:51 GMT -5
//I have not been firing on them simply to waste ammunition,// Wreckage informs Shrapnel, gaze flicking briefly to the Insecticon. His gunfire may have little effect on the faster, seemingly better-armoured Skyfire, but Evac is as good as a sitting duck in comparison. And such a lovely, easily-targeted shade of bright orange.
Hounding the hound's impostor has not entirely been in vain; Evac is faltering, failing in flight. If Wreckage delays just a little longer, he might have the opportunity to rip the spark casing from that Autobot's worthless body after all.
Then Shrapnel urges movement and before Wreckage can even finish shifting his weight into the pivot, the air itself explodes. Optical and olfactory shutters slam closed and Wreckage recoils reflexively even as the heat envelops him, prickling up paint along the sears and scores tracked across his armour. As it licks over the burns on his leg, he hisses and staggers back, ceasing fire rather than risk hitting Shrapnel. He hears Evac's engine straining and once he opens his optic shutters, he sees the helicopter flounder. He wants to attack; he needs to follow orders and retreat. He glowers at the dropping Pave-Low and snarls unhappily before turning away.
"You heard him," he rumbles to his piratical partner before performing a minor feat by pitching the sensor arrays into his troop compartment mid-transformation as he throws himself into secondary mode, tires already spinning.
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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 May 3, 2008 20:44:23 GMT -5
At the flash of exploding fuel, Cannonball tumbles back, and into the muck with a splash, going under for a moment. He soon resurfaces, sputtering, swearing, and screaming very unkind things about Skyfire's maternal constructor. Maybe filling up the air with some random weapons fire in the meantime, until Wreckage notes for them to withdraw. "Fine, fine. Th' big 'urnge buggah is down anyway. He wants to take on Skyfire, tha's 'is bid'ness."
Cannonball transforms, retracting his Cyber Key-activated guns and following Wreckage once he takes off.
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Post by Shrapnel on May 5, 2008 18:10:07 GMT -5
Shrapnel screeches as his swamp ignites! That was his home! His trees that were actually mildly disgusting to eat!
Lashing out, the Insecticon sends a barrage of energy blasts at Skyfire and Evac before diving down into the smoke rising from the conflagaration. Those two Decepticons still owe him, and he's not about to let them walk away without him.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on May 5, 2008 19:56:06 GMT -5
Skyfire winced as Shrapnel's zaps lashed his already sore wings and belly. Skyfire was definitely not better-armored than Evac; he was just bigger and had a great deal of non-vital space to soak up weapons fire. Every shot that hit him pierced and stung, but punching holes in his cargo bay wasn't going to stop him.
It would, however, stop him from going orbital. However, there were more immediate concerns--
The billow of flame startled Skyfire, but didn't worry him yet; his hull was heat-shielded for atmospheric re-entry, and he didn't plan to stick around. Evac was reeling under the Decepticon attacks; Skyfire didn't feel so good himself.
// Hold it steady, Evac! We're pulling out--NOW! //
Skyfire dove, opening his bow ramp wide and his aft ramp enough to let the slipstream blow through. He fired his cannon in the general direction of whoever was shooting at him--just to discourage them, really, but if he got lucky, well and good. He pulled up just so, enveloping Evac with his open bay--
---
Scooping of Evac by permission of player
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Evac
Cadet
"Come with me if you want to live."
Posts: 34
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Post by Evac on May 5, 2008 20:08:34 GMT -5
Evac is pretty much a flightless mess by the time he lands in Skyfire's bay, bouncing around a bit before actually managing to settle on his landing gear. His injuries are numerous and when he tries to transform, he gets only the painful experience of gears and parts grinding against each other futilely.
"Oh... by the Allspark..." he mutters, weakly. "I'm... sorry, Skyfire. Guess I'm not much good in a fight..."
His first true foray on this planet and he's made a right mess of things. Maybe he just doesn't have the aggressiveness needed to be a warrior. Maybe it would have been better if he'd never come here at all.
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Wreckage
Major
One of the Quiet Ones
Posts: 554
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Post by Wreckage on May 6, 2008 21:47:34 GMT -5
Wreckage expects Shrapnel to follow him and Cannonball out of the engagement area. He included the Insecticon in their retreat, after all. Wreckage might be a little odd that way, but unless Shrapnel proves otherwise, he counts as a fellow Decepticon as far as Wreckage is concerned.
//…Damage report,// he queries flatly of his erstwhile cohorts as he rolls along, a wide swath of one rear flank blackened and one side of his front end looking rather notably as if something has chewed on it. If his speed seems a little on the urgent side, perhaps his concern will be excused. Amidst all this black, he is the most glaring liability to his team and he knows it. Should Skyfire choose to pursue instead of seeing to his wounded compatriot, there will be some hasty shuffling of the line.
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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 May 7, 2008 10:59:26 GMT -5
Cannonball's engine rumbles as he follows behind Wreckage, swaying around potholes, or debris, or just bad sections of road.
//Nothin' disablin'. Just some singes from th' s'plosion, I figger.//
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