Dynamic Duo: Headin' for the Swamps!

[Shrapnel]

//Bit holy, holy.// Or was that 'holey'?

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We can has timeskip to regrouping now?

[Skyfire]

"That's two of us, Evac. I'm an explorer, not an aerial assault ship. I'm not really built to take the kind of fire they can dish out, and I get carried away and dash into fights anyway" Skyfire says sheepishly.

"We'll be a bit slower heading back than we were coming out; there's enough holes in my hull that I can't safely go exo-atmospheric right now. How are you doing? Will you make it okay, or do you need some patches to hold you together until we get home?"

Skyfire climbed into the sky, accelerating east. True, he couldn't go suborbital, nor could he go faster than an SR-71 with this much battle damage dragging at him, but he could still manage a respectable supersonic speed. Fortunately, none of the Cons back there were high-speed jets.

---
Heading out-of-thread (except for Evac responses) and back to base.

[Evac]

"I'm a rescue worker. Got just enough firepower to punch through resistance... but nothing like what they had," Evac confesses.

He groans, but holds fast. "I'll be okay 'till we get back. Don't think I can transform though..."

[Wreckage]

OOC: Skip to regrouping is fine with me.

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Skyfire has departed with that gaudy cohort of his and without targeting Wreckage. A small boon. The Stryker finally slows, then stops once the roar of the Valkyrie's engines fades, leaving only the Decepticons' retreat and the slowly, tentatively returning noises of the swamp. He does not revert to primary mode just yet, however.

//We can stop here,// he declares, engine downshifting, //for a time.// This is as likely a point as any; the road widens a foot or two to accommodate ramps on either side that vanish into the mire and the gnarled branches overhead are particularly thick. Decent cover from any potential follow-up attack. Decent enough that Wreckage is willing to sacrifice visibility for it.

[Cannonball]

Cannonball slows to a stop behind Wreckage, transforming and taking a seat. He's blacker than normal, even on his gold parts. He hooks his thumb across his optic band, wiping off a layer of soot from the previous blast, along with left-over muck from falling in the swamp. "Eyyech..."

A huff, then he looks over at the Stryker. "Wot kinna damage did ye take, lad?"

[Shrapnel]

Decent enough cover is not great when their little convoy has been tracked the entire time. Leaves rustle, and there is a hard thunk as Shrapnel perches on Wreckage. He's even being nice enough to use his lifters to help support himself!

"Now what, what?"

[Wreckage]

Wreckage cannot look at Cannonball as if to ask are you blind? but he would if he could. Being immersed in the swamp and caught in a blast of combusting fuel may have left his white plating smeared with black where the mud did not drip off and dingey pale grey where the singe clings, but it does nothing to mask his damages. Instead, the Stryker rumbles in quiet discontent and ponders the wording of his answer, only to be interrupted by the landing of an Insecticon on his roof. Good, then. Shrapnel followed them.

//Now,// he begins in answer to his unexpected passenger's question. Shrapnel has managed to avoid lighting on his burns or his mangled front quarter, so Wreckage will excuse the uninvited contact – much as he dislikes it – this once. //We should move on. Try to retrieve other sensors. The Autobots must now know we are out here to check them.// The natural conclusion is that the Autobots will try to stop them as they attempted here. //Perhaps we will investigate this tower of yours some other time,// he concedes to Shrapnel. To Cannonball, he adds, //Do you disagree?//

[Cannonball]

The damages were black! And...uh...he looks all broken up in robot mode to Cannonball. Who's to say it's not similar in places in vehicle mode. Or something. That, and Wreckage didn't report on the damage report. For all Cannonball knows, it could count as a scratch to the other mech.

Using the radio, eh? Alright...they could be being followed for all they know, so... //I s'pose goin' after th' other sensors makes sense. Though I think we may be out-ran. Even if Skyfire does go back t' base for repairs to give us a 'ead-start on 'im, 'e could prolly beat us tae a greater majority. Shrapnel an m'self can fly, but nowhere near as quick.// Cannonball scratches his helm a bit. //Short version be that I agree, but question our effectiveness now that our objective is known by th' enemy.//

[Shrapnel]

"It will still be there when we get back, get back," Shrapnel reassures Wreckage. If it sounds like he's checked on that to make sure, well, he's a Balinese swamp demon. Sometimes things aren't there when you get back.

"They are Autobots. They will go repair their injuries first, first."

[Wreckage]

Wreckage is an odd mechanism; his vocal processors are too muffled in secondary mode to make talking the slightest bit efficient. So he resorts to the radio instead.

//Very well, Shrapnel,// murmurs the Stryker, engine idling noisily. //As for the Autobots… perhaps we should try to take whatever lead we can while they are busy seeing to their injured.// But such is simply Wreckage's way when a skirmish has been made and he expects further engagements. It has become combat. Press when there is an opening, take advantage of a situation while there is the capability. However, he has one – perhaps two? – teammates to consider. He might be overruled.

Nevertheless, he begins to gear up in preparation to move out.

[Cannonball]

//Seems like a plan tae me. Th' desert is closest. S'pose we kin nab th' sensors at th' plains on th' way back t' base... Maybe this time there'll be somethin' thar tae report. I doubt th' Autobots would be stupid enough to come that close t' our base.//

Cannonball stands, looking up at Shrapnel. "So, then, ye up tae comin' along t' th' desert, Shrapnel?"

[Shrapnel]

If Shrapnel knew how far away the desert sensors actually were from the swamp ones, he'd make rude comments about the definition of 'closest' being used here.

As it is, he simply transforms to beetle-mode and settles down on Wreckage. "Sure, sure."

[Wreckage]

//I will not ferry you the entire journey,// Wreckage warns Shrapnel as he starts rolling. If the Insecticon wants to roost, Cannonball can trade off perch duty now and again. Wreckage does not outright refuse, however, supposing that his temporary passenger might somehow travel even slower than he.

Or he might be lazy.

Whatever the case, he is a comrade with appreciable skills in battle – another set of weapons, another set of optics – and he is along for some of this extended assignment. Which will soon have them out of this blasted swamp and, even Wreckage hopes, to a fuelling station where there should be cover, and where taking the time to defragment and let recovery systems move into full swing would be more ideal.

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OOC: Timeskip, scene fade to new thread? Or some other option?