(DONE) Ep. 1.5 - Mercy, that's Cold [Wheeljack]

[Deleted]

Set in the very early morning hours of Day 6, Week 2. The sun hasn't risen yet.

A hundred feet up from a wave-battered beach below, the cave opening whistled with the battering of sea-born winds. The island was isolated, somewhere off the coast of a tiny human nation. It would've fit snugly in the sprawling plains of Africa, and B-Dump would've preferred it there, too; the weather had been miserably cold. Rain had fallen, too, and the bottom of the Energon mine had flooded — he'd been sent to the quiet operation to help move the harvest. The vein on the island had been a tiny one; there was no use slogging around in ankle-high water that risked ruining electronics. They were done there, and had dug up enough Energon to last the Nemesis a month.

At least Earth's rain wasn't acidic, like back on Cybertron. The stormier seasons were hell on both finish and frame, sometimes eating holes in one's plates if the downpour was heavy enough. Water was easy to dry off, though smaller, tighter spaces could be a glitch to drain if enough got into them. B-Dump hadn't changed into his alt since first stepping foot on the island; he wasn't about to have his hopper become a small pond.

"It hasn't started again, though," a Vehicon said, carrying lighter cubes of fresh Energon underneath each arm. "Why not save yourself some trouble and change now, while the weather's good?"

"Because this place's weather, apparently, is more moody than Commander Starscream when he's off broodin'," B-Dump grunted. "Ya think you're fine, and then, it fraggin' comes back to give you the Pit's treatment. I ain't slaggin' around with an ocean in my hatch!"

The massive grounder rubbed the side of his head with two fingers. The weather was making his bad optic ache; he was holding all that he carried in his forks and under one arm. One servo had been left free solely to massage away another oncoming headache, which was not helping Buffalo Dump's mood. He wasn't looking forward to sliding down the steep, winding path the miners had dug downwards so that he could get the last of the Energon.

[Deleted]

The urge to go somewhere, anywhere else than the Omega base was an itch under Wheeljack's plating that he couldn't scratch and wouldn't go away no matter what. He'd had a good run, he stayed longer than he was expecting, hadn't really been intending to spend so much time there at all. But the crashlandings kept happening and Wheeljack's vision of this arrangement was nothing like the reality. With so many wrecks being dragged in, he didn't get much of a chance to leave the Omega base for long before the next one came in. There had been those few cycles he'd managed to escape and gets his aft to Africa...but that had only lasted so long till Rocket's podship had come crashing down. His freedom cut short, Wheeljack had only managed to get to one survey site before he'd returned back to base to finish dismantling Rocket's ship. Then all the projects he had started piling up, Miko's defence gear, Zoom-Zoom's acid gun, the sword he'd built for Fort Max...

In short, Wheeljack was feeling extremely agitated from staying still in one place for so long. Moreover that one place also being the same space that Optimus Prime was currently occupying. He'd dedicated a considerable amount of his time to the Omega base's service and now he wanted out. A break. A long one at that. The idea had been boiling away inside him since that visit to the medbay. Wheeljack needed space and time away from other Cybertronians so he could get his processor sorted out. That was a few thousand vorns worth of denial that he'd shaken up and unburied. His processor needed some clearing up and it just wasn't happening when Wheeljack constantly had people wanting to talk to him every other cycle or demanding that he fixed or repair either the base or their guns. The work kept his mind quiet but it also kept it busy. He needed to get his processor in gear then start making progress on Shockwave.

Unfortunately, Wheeljack still had a few projects left to finish before he could just up and leave. Until they were done, he wasn't going anywhere. That didn't mean he could get out and stretch his legs briefly.

Luckily, he knew just the thing that was guaranteed to improve his mood quickly.

The Wrecker kept watch over the Vehicons making their way down the side of a cliff, energon cubes in tow. He was far enough away that his white paintjob blended in where he perched amongst the sun bleached rocks. The cliff curved in a crescent, so while the Decepticons were further up along from him, the cliff had bended round enough that they were opposite.

A smirk was pulling at his scarred lip plates. The weather didn't bother him, even though he'd bridged at the end of the storm. Wheeljack had been stationed in some of the worst the universe had to offer and the cold and the rain was pretty mild compared to some of the places he'd been. It might be ridiculously early in the cycle...if you were operating on Earth time, that was and Wheeljack still didn't. The dark was merely another factor in keeping Wheeljack hidden. The little island came up a hit on his searches as a good spot for energon and he'd ground bridged here chasing up that lead. His initial plan was to simply scout out and survey the location, confirm that any Cons forces were about and the presence of energon. Log it with the Omega base and let them follow up on the lead themselves. But now that Wheeljack was here though, now that he was here and could see the Vehicons milling about, the plan had changed.

It was time for some exercise.

This was going to be fun.

[Deleted]

"Primus fraggin' the Pitspawn."

The sight before him was the icing on the cake of crawling down that blasted tunnel. He stared with disgust at the dregs of water at his feet, which swirled with the slick of Energon and miscellaneous chemicals. Water trickling and trailing down from the seams above, B-Dump's biolights glowed dimly in the dark, casting a red and orange sheen on the cave rock. They didn't offer much light, but it was enough that, along with the Cybertronian spectrum of vision and the emergency lighting installed, he could manage to see a bit better. Sparking in the corner with a split-open panel, an Energon drill sat still and lifeless, spitting showers of white to suddenly flash and startle the grounder.

"Ya said ya can't salvage none o' this?"

"No sir," said the Vehicon beside B-Dump. "The drill broke two days ago, and then the first storm rolled in. Its systems are completely down, and the cave floor becomes hazardous when there's enough rainfall. It sunk into the ground and hasn't stopped yet."

B-Dump let out a tense sigh, rubbing at the side of his head. "Well if this ain't slaggin' perfect," he rumbled, a harsh and pine-scented ex-vent hissing from his frame, "and if this cycle just ain't gettin' any better. Call it as a loss, we're done here — Primus knows this place ain't gonna be used again."

He loved the colour and variety Earth had to offer. The mix of hard and soft textures, of rolling hills and sharp mountains, of whispering forests and windy plains, was an incredible sight to his otherwise simple soul. Cybertron had been flat and monotone, grey as gunmetal by the time he'd been sparked; the war had only furthered its decay and destruction. Combined with how the life on Earth was hard, soft, round, angled, spare and plenty.... Never could B-Dump have imagined a world of such diversity. And benevolent diversity, too — as much as a pain the mud and filth could be, it supported "grass", Earth's natural covering which also fed its most basic land creatures.

All of that beauty and glory was promptly trumped by a glob of mud landing on his helm. B-Dump's good eye twitched, field flaring in irritation as he looked up. A thick, trailing drip of sludge from the stripped seams above had seen fit to start landing on him, chemical-laced dirt now dripping down his head in a cold, unpleasant trickle.

"...And make it fraggin' quick," the mech growled. "I ain't wantin' to stand here for much longer."

The Vehicons quickly obeyed. B-Dump might have been gentler and less...prone to violence than their other superiors, but he was big, and his field was snapping uncomfortably about his frame. They didn't want to see him mad.

[Deleted]

Little known fact: Wheeljack could be quiet when he wanted to.

Lethally quiet.

It didn't seem likely, the Wrecker was well known for his love of explosives and gung-ho attitude. And, you know, being a Wrecker in general. They weren't exactly known for silent operations. Things tended to be loud and messy when they were involved.

But Wheeljack?

That same agility and nimbleness that allowed him to practically fly through a battlefield also allowed him to move like a damn ghost when he wanted to. The Wrecker waited till most of the Vehicons had headed down into that opening he could see in the cliff face, probably the entrance to an energon mine. Patience wasn't exactly a trait one would associate with a Wrecker but he'd spent his time studying the narrow path, calculating an exit strategy. The terrain was going to be a bit difficult, Wheeljack wanted to be certain that he could make a quick exit in case he needed to abandon the mission. He also was trying to figure out which place would be the best spot to stick a grenade on his way out. The beach underneath the cave might be distant, but Wheeljack was pretty confident he'd be able to scale down the rock face, worse came to worse.

Plan in place, the Wrecker had ventured along the crescent curve of the cliff face. There was still one Vehicon standing at the top of the cliff, keeping watch on the two down on the path.

The beautiful thing about Vehicons is their pitifully limited attention span. They tended to focus one task at a time before they could move onto another. Wheeljack had managed to get close to the one standing near the cliff's edge. It was far enough away from the drop that the Wrecker felt quite comfortable casually hefting one blade and throwing it straight for the Vehicon's chest. The blade slid inside cleanly, slicing through its armour. It died quickly, quietly and without the chance to warn the others. By the time its body was slumping over, Wheeljack had caught up to it, catching its frame before it could clunk against the ground. He lowered it silently, pulling his blade clean with a spray of energon.

The Wrecker wandered up to the edge. He peered down at the narrow, twisted path awkwardly hewn into the rock. One of the Vehicons had disappeared from sight, had probably made it inside the tunnel. The other was almost directly beneath him.

Wheeljack shrugged.

He waited for the Vehicon to get close, then casually tipped himself forward and allowed himself to fall. The Wrecker flipped once, so he was pedes first, a blade drawn and angled straight down beneath him. The Vehicon never stood a chance. The Wrecker's blade split its head, then his weight crushed its frame beneath him. He straightened up leisurely, it had been quick and the wind and the waves would have drowned out the noise of its death. The smell of salt was strong in the air. He advanced quickly down the path to the rocky hole opened up in the cliff wall.

In the dark, there was only the moonlight to silhouette Wheeljack's imposing shape in the cave's entrance. A Vehicon was only a few feet away, dimly lit by the emergency lights overhead. It was facing away from him and walking down the tunnel but the Wrecker didn't move after it. He hefted his blade again and throw it, his aim as true as it was before. Casually, he walked up to the body, yanking the blade out.

He was in.

[Deleted]

If Buffalo Dump hadn't been so preoccupied with the flood, he might have struggled up the winding way back. He might have found the bodies, caught Wheeljack slaughtering his latest victim, sounded the alarm and got his Vehicons out of there. Fortress Maximus had taken only Watson's life, and that had been a surprise attack; Buffalo Dump had gained his attention long enough for the drones to flee.

From what he'd been told, they'd come back for him after a breem, and had brought others to help peel him off the ground. Maybe they were just following orders, but when he had snapped awake again, Knock Out cursing and shuffling around his insides to seal lines up...he'd felt it. The barest flicker of gratitude from an unknown field, and off to his left, one of the Vehicons who'd been with him. The drone had recently awakened, and the blip of emotion was weak, but it was acknowledged. B-Dump had nodded, the Vehicon had nodded, and Knock Out had asked what he was doing as the grunt walked away.

"Nothin'," had been the garbage mech's response, and his medic had left it at that. It hadn't been nothing — it had been an acknowledgement B-Dump had not yet seen, not yet felt, and it made him more certain. The waste-worker firmly laid his loyalties with the foot soldiers, the so-called "little guy" that was "disposable" on the battlefield, and that affirmation reminded him of what he was doing. Megatron was a bastard, dark-sparked as they came and as ruthless as a wild beast, but B-Dump wasn't. If he could protect his men from any slag thrown their way, then that was more than he felt Megatron would do — the gladiator was just another slave owner, his Decepticons branded property.

He walked into the flooded portion with a scowl on his face, called over to help pull out heavy containers from the water. They were filled with exceptionally large pieces of Energon crystal, too delicate and destructive to be cut down further in the mine. With a heaving vent, the waste-worker's forks were unsnapped and seizing a box, lifting the material over B-Dump's head. His back was to the entrance, trusted to the Vehicons that currently lay dead.

[Deleted]

Wheeljack leaned against the rocky wall and peered over the corner. The path had been fairly simple, there had been a few offshooting tunnels that had only lasted a couple of feet and didn't go anywhere. Other than that, just the rough tunnel cut through rock. He hadn't encountered any more Vehicons but now he had found them all, 5 drones gathered round one extremely large big mech as they struggled to pull energon and containers out from a flooded section.

The Wrecker tilted his head as he thought fast. Given how short the tunnel was, either there wasn't a lot of energon or they'd only just started up. The operation didn't look like he was going well, beyond them the Wrecker could see a dead energon drill. He couldn't see another one. His money was on the small energon deposit option.

Now it was a matter of figuring out how he was going to take them out. Or maybe Wheeljack didn't even need to bother. Just toss a grenade down there and let it all blow to slag. It might be wet, but energon tended to explode quite easily if given enough provocation and a grenade was definitely more than enough to set off a deadly chain reaction. He couldn't back out now and leave the mine, having killed 3 members of the Decepticon crew here, it wouldn't be long before their deaths were discovered and the alarm raised. Backup would be called and it was doubtful that even if Wheeljack called for some help, that they'd be able to recover the energon safely during a fight. So either Wheeljack managed to take down this group by himself or he could try to...and blow it all to bits if it didn't work out.

The Wrecker was okay with either option, confident in his ability to make a fast exit.

No matter what his first move was, soon as he made it all of the Decepticons would be alerted to his presence. With the energon around, it might be safer to rely on his blades, rather than his in-built cannons.

In the darkness, no one could see the wicked grin that curled those scarred lip-plates.

The Vehicon closest to the entrance might have caught glimpse of the pale shadow that jumped high, then off the wall, launching directly at it. By the time the drone looked up, Wheeljack had sliced the drone in half, something that the rest of the Decepticons in the tunnel probably couldn't miss. The Wrecker straightened up calmly, falling into a defensive stance that would let him dodge or reflect any gunfire headed his way. One down. Four Vehicons and one large mech to take on.

He could do this.

[Deleted]

A spray of plasma fire rocketed through the mine, shouts and cries of surprise ringing through B-Dump's audials. Without thinking, without question, he turned and did the same; a silvery figure ducked and prepared to counter. Buffalo Dump's head swam with a moment of pain, his field flaring in alarm as he tried to hit the white-tinged figure. His comms were alive with chatter from the drones.

::Front entrance guards aren't responding!::

::I can't contact Robin or Will either!::

::Sending a distress signal to the Nemesis now!::

Buffalo Dump grit his denta and ground them hard. Barreling towards whoever was at the entrance, the big mech yelled over his comms, ::Everyone out, NOW!:: before deploying his fork-tentacles with a roar. His jaws snapped together as he let out an ex-vent, stumbling because of the muck but otherwise able to keep his footing. Whoever the fragger was, they were going to pay — for ambushing his men, for making his headache worse, for throwing another Primus-awful wrench into the non-stop clusterfrag that had been that mine....

In the wash of anger that was creeping up on him, he did not notice that his Vehicons had stopped dead. They had begun to bolt towards the entrance, confused but otherwise obedient; Buffalo Dump was their superior and they had their orders. Megatron would probably have been disgusted, but it wasn't their place to argue with the biggest, angriest mech currently in the room. The glimpse of the intruder's fighting style, on the other hand —

B-Dump was aware of several terrified EMFs brushing up against his. He ducked as plasma fire came over his head and around him, haphazard and terrified as the Vehicons shot indiscriminately. A high-pitched cry explain everything in two words: "It's Wheeljack!"

And that single cry changed everything.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Buffalo Dump boomed in frustration, grabbing a fist-sized rock from nearby with an upwards heft. He flung it at the figure with little aim or care, meant partially to disorient and partially to vent some frustration. He didn't think he'd hit the intruder, but it was worth trying to at least throw the bastard off. "You're here for a fraggin' reason, ya little slag! Come over here, Primefragger!"

The fields of his men were strangled with surprise at the yell, as well as their commander's intent. Why was B-Dump having them charge one of the worst Autobots to run into? Why was his EMF suddenly filled with aggression-hate-pain, his troops seemingly ignored?

Buffalo Dump was gentle, but he wasn't perfect. When the sliver behind his optic was jabbing as it was, his temper tended to shorten. Combined with the fact that Wheeljack, one of the Autobots B-Dump hated with a passion rivaled only by Megatron's towards the Prime, was in the same room? He was close to throwing all logic aside, and focusing only on pounding the ever-loving slag out of the Wrecker.

//ooc//

SPOILER: Click to show

Blow-by-blow: Wheeljack is briefly fired at. B-Dump charges at Wheeljack to get his attention, ordering the Vehicons to flee. Vehicons cease retreating when they see it's Wheeljack, and start firing again. B-Dump gets mad and throws a rock at Wheeljack. Due to his eye bothering him, he can't see Wheeljack save for a whitish sort of silhouette, which is why he's ordering him to come closer.

[Deleted]

The hail of laser fire was met by Wheeljack's blades. He deflected a few shots, then dodged, and rolled to the side to avoid the others. His body was crouched low, coiled with lethal intent. The big mech started advancing towards him, the laserfire stopping briefly before the Vehicons started back up again with a vengeance and a cry of his name. Apparently the Wrecker was famous now around their circles. The big Con was an interesting one, those claws on his back gave him some additional dexterity and limbs to work with. Wheeljack chuckled lowly at the demand. The Vehicons didn't seem to be have a problem trying to shoot him so why was big and tall yelling at him to show himself unless-

Hmmm...the rock flung at him showed little precision, Wheeljack easily vaulted to the side out of his way. Perhaps the big guy had a problem with his vision. The Wrecker shrugged, quickly stowing both blades away and bringing his cannons out to bear. He'd retreated back a bit under the laser fire and at the big Decepticon's approach but he didn't intend to let a single Con slip out of the dead end he currently had them in, nicely surrounded by explosive energon. Nor did he intend to venture any closer to the energon he was still in half a mind to blow up. Why move in close to a possibly half blind bot when keeping one's distance worked far better? The large Decepticon had ventured far enough and was big enough a target that he felt confident bringing out his cannons and to start shooting. Either that'd keep him at bay or he'd get a good shot in and snuff out his spark. The agile Wrecker didn't stop moving, he dodged, ducked and somersaulted as he fired but he did not advanced further up the tunnel or back, holding his position.

A few bold Vehicons started venturing up towards him and Wheeljack raised one cannon and directed a spray of fire at them. The big mech's armour might be able to weather a few shots but Vehicon plating wouldn't stand a chance, one shot from his cannon would be enough to punch a hole in them.

"Sorry Con," he rumbled with dark amusement. "You're going to have it make it really worth my while."

The only thing he'd come here to do was kill a bunch of Decepticons and he could do that just fine from where he was. It was implied by Wheeljack's tone that he didn't think the Decepticon had anything the Wrecker cared enough for to make it personal.

OOC: Wheeljack stood around, deflected a few shots, dodged some others. Dodged the rock BD threw at him. He swapped over to his guns, moved a little bit backwards up the tunnel but is holding position. He's concentrating his shots at BD but he will fire at any Vehicons that try to sneak past, its up to you whether those shots will take 'em out. Personally, I don't mind if they miss while the Vehicons are a bit further back, but if the Vehicons do get too close, he will straight up shoot them.

[Deleted]

The garbage mech staggered back as he was hit. His armour stung and he grunted in pain, but he still stood despite the smoking circles on his arms, legs and a patch of torso. He had taken three rounds, a fourth nicking across his upper side; the rest slammed and fizzled away into the surrounding walls. A Vehicon yelped as a shot sliced across their arm, severing it and spraying Energon across a section of wall, and another gurgled as its head was filled with holes.

Buffalo Dump gave a growling, rumbling vent, the sound becoming a snarl as something hissed out from his mouth and plates. Clenching and unclenching his fists, the dagger-like claws on his fork-tentacles doing the same, B-Dump growled something foul. The words were deep enough in his vox that they ere mostly intelligible, angry Neocybex that boiled away into the sound of water still falling. He stomped forward, grabbed another rock with his fork-tentacles, and flung it; the Vehicons backed up behind him, still panicking.

There was only him between them and the Wrecker, and Buffalo Dump was advancing up the tunnel. Another stray rock was grabbed, aimed at Wheeljack's right side; B-Dump raised his gun and fired at Wheeljack's left. He stopped to rip a piece of stone from the tunnel's side, throwing it at Wheeljack's right, firing at the Autobrander's left. He'd throw three more random pieces of debris, alternating between left and right until he grabbed a fourth piece — this was thrown so that it go above Wheeljack, and hopefully land on top of his head. Whether or not that would happen had to be seen, as Buffalo Dump's depth perception was as shot as some of the drones behind him.

Even if it didn't, he'd still fill the air with a mad spray from his blaster, trying to disorient and catch the Wrecker with some sort of chaotic firing. A few of the emergency lights went out, victims of stray shots; B-Dump was thankful all the remaining Energon was at the mine's bottom.

//ooc//

SPOILER: Click to show

Blow-by-Blow: B-Dump advances up the tunnel, grabbing rocks and pulling off stones from the side of the tunnel to throw at Wheeljack. He throws left and right alternatively, trying to disorient the Wrecker as he continues to go forward. He tries to throw a rock so that it lands on top of Wheeljack's head, and as the rock is falling, he starts firing everywhere and anywhere around Wheeljack. He has suffered a hit from WJ's cannons to both his arms, and one has grazed his torso; two Vehicons behind B-Dump are dead, and a few lights have been blown out by B-Dump's blaster fire. There are greater patches of shadow now in the tunnel.

[Deleted]

Big and tall was refusing to fall. That was okay, only two Vehicons remained behind him. The Wrecker jumped to the side to dodge the first rock, then vaulted again to the side of the tunnel's wall to escape the next along with the accompanying burst of laser fire. His pedes connected with the wall for only a moment, then he kicked off just another came hurtling his way. Wheeljack landed in a half crouch, his optics narrowed, battle mask up, the big mech wasn't aiming very well. He was there for only a moment before he was off again, dodging out of the way but to the side the rock had been thrown. It had only taken the first few throws before Wheeljack had realised the pattern to the Decepticons moves. And laser fire flew faster than the boulders, so why not dodge the opposite way?

When the last rock flew through the air, meant for his head, Wheeljack straightened up calmly. Then he took few steps forward in a quick run and vaulted high, higher than the rock in a flip. Both pedes lashed out in a powerful kick, flinging the rock back the way it came. The Wrecker twisted and coiled, completing the flip and landing back on his pedes in a crouch, prepared to move immediately if necessary. Hopefully, he'd managed to smash the big Con back down with his own rock but Wheeljack was ready to continue fighting if necessary. His cannons thrummed as a shot charged in each barrel.

OOC: Wheeljack moved around like the jumpy bastard he is and dodged most of the rocks coming his way. Then he kicked the last one back at BD

[Deleted]

Buffalo Dump was useless when it came to hitting a moving target. The rock bounced painfully off his left shoulder and he swore; a little lower, and it might have ripped off a piece of fork-tentacle. The large dent in his plating stung as much as his optic did, and Buffalo Dump ground his denta hard enough to cause a crack. He rotated his shoulder as Wheeljack aimed his cannons, stomping forward with his blaster priming as well.

"Yer reputation is earned, Primefragger," Buffalo Dump spat. "Ya an'...Fortress Maximus, was it?"

He popped two blasts at Wheeljack, each aimed roughly at the Wrecker's hands. B-Dump tried his hardest to aim, but his HUD was glitching and spitting distance recognition errors at him. He was praying for a hit, but whether or not his optic and aiming functions would let him was an entirely different matter.

"Piece o' slag, he was," the great mech continued, firing off another series of shots. "Little glitch ain't calmed down a bit bein' an Autobrander, though — he's as much a bastard as some o' my own. Had a fit when I mentioned Garrus-9, bopped me right in the spark."

He rolled and cracked his neck, wincing at a shooting pain that flared down from his line of sight. A large splatter from above hit him square in the face, and he shook his head like a minitoron as his shutters blinked grit away.

"Can't get over the fact he was made a lil' prison glitch, he can't. Overlord took him and fragged him damn good, and now, he gets all fussy-wussy like a bitlet, 'cause he thought he was the big bad boss o' everyone. Well, he went and gone sucked payback's piston, now didn't he?"

//ooc//

SPOILER: Click to show

Blow-by-Blow: B-Dump was hit in the shoulder, and it's left a fist-sized dent that's about half a digit's length deep. He aimed and fired very sloppily at Wheeljack's hands, and then fired another burst.

[Deleted]

Wheeljack dove back to avoid the first few shots. The smirk that had been persistent behind his battle mask had slowly faded as Buffalo Dump spoke. The Wrecker's optics narrowed as he listened to the Decepticon. He'd heard something similar like this, an incident that had occurred a couple of cycles ago when Fort Max had been sent out to deal with one of the new arrivals. Gossip inevitably had its way of making the rounds about the Omega base, so while the two Bots involved may have not mentioned the incident to anyone other than the commanding officers, all it would take was one bot on monitor duty or a spook in the wrong place and suddenly everyone knew. Or the humans, the kids were surprisingly good at getting the higher ups to discuss things that they normally wouldn't share.

So the big Con had a problem with him and Fort Max. Specifically, it really sounded like he had something in for Fortress Maximus. Garrus 9 was a line most mecha understood they didn't cross and yet this Decepticon persisted. The Wrecker didn't doubt that Fort Max had endured far worse than the insults this one Decepticon was spewing, he'd survived Garrus and Overlord after all. Didn't mean Wheeljack wanted to hear it. Didn't have to hear it. He could snuff out this Con's spark so that Fort Max wouldn't have to deal with it, even though the Con really should be the warden's to kill. Normally Wheeljack wasn't one for fighting another mech's battles but this Decepticon really didn't seem worth leaving around for Fort Max to sort out. By all accounts, he'd gotten lucky and been let off yet seemed so eager to waste the life he'd been so narrowly granted a second chance at.

Wheeljack came to a stop after ducking back from the next round of shots. He returned a servo to normal, a grim smile twisting his lip plates as he calmly patted the grenade by his side. The Wrecker and the Decepticon had slowly ventured up the tunnel when the Decepticon had been throwing those rocks. As much as Wheeljack hadn't wanted to, he'd given ground. Now, he was glad for it. Because the Wrecker was deeply slagged off and suddenly didn't care all that much for the energon he'd come here to raid. It stopped looking like precious rations that the Bots could really do with and started looking like fuel for that fire the Wrecker was feeling all of a sudden. Far as Wheeljack was concerned, it could burn, all of it, with the Decepticons here as well.

"You seem to have something of a death wish, Con," Wheeljack seethed coldly as he languidly pulled the grenade from his side. "Lucky for you, I'm happy to oblige. So, here's a question for ya. How fast can you run?"

The Wrecker depressed the trigger. Then he wound his arm back and hurled it as far down the tunnel as it could go before he turned to run and escape from the mine. The grenade flew high and further down the tunnel, bouncing of a wall and landing with a clatter on the uneven rocks by the raw energon. There would be several long precious astroseconds before it went off, sending blue explosive fire that would triple in strength once it ignited the fuel nearby and would engulf the mine and anyone caught inside it.

Wheeljack was already hurtling up towards the exit. Whether Buffalo Dump could escape or not would depend on his actions in the next few moments.

[Deleted]

""Lucky for you, I'm happy to oblige. So, here's a question for ya. How fast can you run?"

Wheeljack wouldn't have even finished his sentence before Buffalo Dump came hurtling towards him. The garbage mech wasn't stupid; if the enemy was grabbing something from their side and aiming it for you, it was either a gun, an explosive or something else that meant to snuff him. He wasn't nearly as fast as the Wrecker, but he did his damn best to gain ground, transforming into his bulky alt as soon as the ground stopped sloping. A series of loud, frustrated honks echoed through the tunnel as B-Dump pealed out, sliding and nearly skidding off the cliff as he made a sharp turn.

The Vehicons were screaming over his comms as the explosive went off. Bright blue light and an earth-shattering roar sent debris flying towards the garbage mech, who managed to get away from the front of the mine an astroklik before. His comms were now filled with a similar roar and static, nearly deafening him for a moment before buzz from the Nemesis came in. Aerial support was coming in now, a few flight-moded drones asking what in the Pit was going on down there.

::Wrecker,:: was all Buffalo Dump could snarl back, still trying to get away from the mine before there was another explosion. They had mined all the raw Energon, sure, but it would be just his luck if there wasn't some hidden seam that had completely gone under their radar. The only thing he could consider good about the situation that Megatron wouldn't be his usual, fury-driven self when he heard about it.

The waste-worker was silent as he tore up the cliff to the top, wheels shakily bouncing over the rough-hewn stone of the natural trail.

//ooc// Making a getaway exit with B-Dump as fast as I think he can go. Let me know if this sounds too unreasonable.

SPOILER: Click to show

Blow-by-Blow: B-Dump starts running towards Wheeljack before the Wrecker finishes quipping. As soon as he gets to the part of the sloping tunnel that isn't at a steep angle and he can drive up, he transforms, gunning it to the mouth of the cave before transforming back. He skids, but manages to make a sharp turn and get away from the front of the mine. He is currently hauling aft up the trail that leads to the top, though just barely, as I imagine there's not much room if he tips over too much during a turn.

[Deleted]

The Wrecker had transformed only after a couple of steps backwards up the mine. Now, he watched with his rear view mirrors as the Decepticon peeled out on the slope behind him. The track was rough but Wheeljack was used to off-roading even though his alt didn't lend itself well to it. It was, Wheeljack figured, about to get rather crowded fast and he should probably be making a quick exit. He pinged the Omega base to have a ground bridge ready...but not to open it yet.

He wasn't done here.

The Con still owed him a spark.

Wheeljack's wheels tore over the top the top of the cliff. Then, he spun, transforming in one smooth motion and bringing his cannons round to bear. A shot thrummed and charged in each cannon before he started firing at the Decepticon just as the Con peaked the rise behind him.

Wreckers did not leave the job unfinished.

OOC: Wheeljack made it up to the top before BD did. Turned around and started firing soon as he did. He can flee at any moment as there's a ground bridge ready for him

[Deleted]

As soon as Buffalo Dump crested over the edge, he felt a sharp, searing pain in his front, preceded only by bursts of light. He yelled out a static-laced swear and transformed, the white cab folding back to become his back armour; the lights had been blown out, and were seared and dripping with Energon. The Decepticon stumbled from the momentum of skidding to a stop, still moving at around 60 MPH and trying to get his bearings. He dug his hands into the ground and slid, ripping them free so that one might become his blaster.

Shots grazed him throughout the while. One to his shoulder, another against his charred side, and one that hit him in the foot. Energon leaked from all his wounds, but it did not glow faintly in the rain — the light was clouded, and the colour was greyish green. Buffalo Dump hacked, spitting out a mouthful of the stuff as he wheezed through his vents, spraying plasma madly at the Wrecker and trying to hit him.

"Come...COME OVER HERE, YA COWARD!" B-Dump bellowed. "Fortress Maximus had the bearings to do it! Yer nothin' but a real jumpy bastard wit' a lot o' toys, aren'tcha! PISTONSUCKER!"

He transformed back into his vehicle mode and gunned towards Wheeljack. A spray of mud flew from his tires, the garbage truck honking angrily as it headed for the Wrecker; the sound combined with an angry yell to form an animalistic, bellowing sound. He began to deploy his forks, vaguely resembling a minitoron from the fighters' home planet, but did not put them down all the way.

//ooc//

SPOILER: Click to show

Blow-By-Blow: B-Dump has suffered numerous hits and grazes to his front and one to his foot, and the front lines on his cab are out. He is charging WJ in vehicle form, and is beginning to deploy his garbage truck forks. They're not in front of him yet, though.