[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Death Valley Dumpster Fire [Skywarp, Hot Rod, Closed]

[Deleted]

Ep. 3 | Week 3 - Day 4 PM
Location: Rhyolite, Death Valley

Skywarp, Hot Rod

---

Urghhhhh.

Why was everything so boringgggggggg?

Things had very quickly gotten dull upon Skywarp’s fateful return (arrival?) to Blackridge. Blackhold. Black-whatever the name was hole in the god-damn ground- because really? The entire Decepticon force on Earth- in earth? Stupid. Needs must and all that jazz he supposed- didn’t mean he had to like it. No siree. Barely a day and the flier had felt the tell-tale itch of going absolutely stir-crazy underground, and with a quick check-in to prevent anyone’s whining when he returned, he was off. Cruising deep blue skies and twirling through cloud banks until that too started to get old.

At that point, he was in the middle of nowhere with no-one to pester as far as the optic could see. Nothing to see either- the sun had burned down and baked the ground beneath during the day with not a cloud or a tree to stop it, the heat rising now as day became night. After a quick glance over his radars that wouldn’t count for much even if they had pinged with something, Skywarp was quick to abandon flying altogether. With a familiar click and ratcheting, he transformed into root and hung in the air by the power of his heel thrusters- just long enough to cast an optic down. The mech snickered, and with a wiggle of his wings let himself plummet backwards, eventually spinning head-first to the ground.

Skywarp whooped in utter glee, falling another few seconds before he spun once more and-

~zip~

-warped.

He caught himself on his thrusters and broke his fall just enough to get the maximum impact with the least damage, the purple light of his vortex flashing across the hill below. With a dull thud, dust rose in a cloud around him.

“Now that was something at least.” Skywarp snickered, waving away the dust- to no effect- as he rose from his half-crouch, hands moving to his hips as he observed the… frankly quite lack-luster landscape around him. Nothing but dirt, rocks, and a few odd shrubberies. Boring at night, probably very boring and hot during the day. He scuffed the ground with a pede, scattering rocks down the side of the hill he’d landed on and sending up another cloud of dust. A light caught his optic and drew his attention further down the hill, where dark blotches of some sort of settlement nestled in the valley. He couldn’t quite make out what was lit- it didn’t look like any kind of lamp he’d ever seen before and glowed orange.

Curiosity piqued, the seeker set out to investigate. Halfway to the town and a couple minutes later he got bored of walking and simply-

~zip~

-warped to the edge of the buildings, vortex-purple momentarily flashing across weathered wood and dilapidated frames. He walked the rest of the way, coming to a stop in front of… some sort of light… thing.
It was smaller then he’d thought from afar, and after poking one to no effect but to tip it over after some resistance he huffed. Was there really nothing to do on this dirt ball planet? Right here, and now anyway… he’d spent months entertaining himself after all. But that required people to mess with, and there was quite literally no one around.

Urgh.

Back to square one, then. Skywarp eyed the light-installation-thingamajigger, then cast a thoughtful optic to the town and the hill beyond that. An idea started to form, a smirk splitting across the mech's faceplate. They'd be good for something, perfect actually. He snickered dastardly, reaching into the subspace at his side to grab the blaster he kept there.
Time for some pot-shot fun.

[Hot Rod]

     Everyone was now on strict watch rules since the incident with Ratchet. Everyone was being watched and checked on and he'd heard there may have been new rules being implemented by the likes of their 'Great Eecurity Jesus'. Who knew, really. Hot Rod sure didn't- didn't mean he liked it, though. Heightened security meant any attempts to even breathe were being watched and it suffocated him in ways that reminded him of exactly why he enjoyed being outside more than indoors. It was something to be said when the lack of four walls of your own space made you feel encaged. 

     Lately, the watch party was a bit different. Zappy never came out of the safety of his four walled office so it couldn't be him, nor could it be Stiff Pants Mono since he seemed to like to make a point that his law was kissed by Primus himself or whatever. No, this new one was out and about all the time, lurking in the shadows and haunting him at every turn just out of view- just enough to know the stalker was there but not be identified. His frame crawled. Between Prowl's grounding and the feeling of being watched constantly, Hot Rod's mood had taken a very sour turn to the point where he made a point to flip the bird at the spots where he knew there were cameras. Sometimes he went so far as to climb on objects so he could reach the cameras to be extra sure that the friendly little gesture was seen by Red Alert. To say he was irritated with the entire situation was more than just a small ripple on a white water rapid.

     Hot Rod had been feeling an itch to run since being told he wasn't allowed to leave the base anymore. The little training session with Bee had given him enough of a taste of the outside again after days being cooped up to finally just take the chance and go, consequences be damned. He knew it was dangerous, especially after hearing what had happened to Ratchet, and while he did care, there was a part of him that also didn't. 

    As of right now, the part that didn't had won the coin toss and he had taken to the open road. 

    Ratchet had gone out on his own, but he was a much slower vehicle in comparison to him. Unlike the others, he'd been created with the sole intention of being a hit and run player, with emphasis on getting the hell outta dodge once the shot had been taken. He wasn't a combatant- he laid traps and set explosives then got out as fast as his four wheels could take him so he wasn't loaded down with an arsenal of weapons that would only weigh him down. He just had his two fists, his built in firepower and his... well... literal fire power. All else fails, take them all down. If he ran across MECH out here, they'd have to catch him first and after out running the best of the best? They'd have a hard time. 

     With a loud revv of his engine, Hot Rod took off down the main highway of the dusty trail going at least three times the posted speed limit- or at least he thought, since he hadn't even bothered to see what the numbers read. Whatever it was, he was definitely cruising at a speed that would have given Prowl an aneurism from sheer twisted anger.

     That thought was enough to distract him to where he almost barely noticed the first pop shot itself, but the sudden explosion of a short circuited breaker that sent sparks flying from a now unlit statue did snap him back to reality. He threw his brakes which sent him into a a sideways slide across the highway, causing his rear wheels to dig in with an orchestral of screams and burn across the asphalt to leave impressions and singe marks behind. When he finally came to a stop he just sat there in the dark, having had enough sense to turn off hish headlights to make himself more difficult to see- unable to do anything about the small orange haze that radiated off his frame like a glowstick besides move. Once he did it dissipated into the wind, and Hot Rod drove forward to see what had caused the odd decoration to suddenly malfunction.

     For once he was cautious and kept himself in alt mode, knowing that if there was danger afoot he could get away faster with four wheels than he could with two clunky feet. He approached and slowed, the heat once more radiating from his shell and rolling down the length of the vehicle like tinted smoke.

[Deleted]

Skywarp cackled in glee, watching down the sights of his gun as the weird figure-statue-sculpture thing popped and went up in a glorious fountain of sparks. He’d first started aiming at random things around the… installation, mostly to keep the statues themselves until he got really bored. Saving the best ‘til last, and all that. A rock here. A tuft of grass there, seeing how close he could shave a shot over the head of one; all fun things! Until he couldn’t hold off any longer and just shot the furthestmost statue, just to see what it would do.
He was not disappointed.

Clocking the distant screech of tires, but not making much of it due in (large) part to inattention but also because well, they were on a planet rife with squishies, Skywarp’s wings twitched.
He’d flown over a few roads on his way there anyway, and even perched on his little dusty hill a mile or so from the decrepit shacks parading as a town- it didn’t surprise him that he could hear a reckless driver or several.

But to keep shooting or nah? That is the question. The seeker cast an absent gaze around at the barren landscape around him, the only real source of light being a city over a few more hills on the horizon. Claws tapped idly at his side as he considered the dome of orangey light pollution, thoughts briefly turning to what kind of destruction he could sow over there. They were quickly shot down in a huff however- after all he was only out for a quick distraction and his trine, Starscream would wing him alive for doing something so blazon. Another day, maybe.

Which left him with- oh?
As Skywarp’s attention swung back to the little valley before him, swamped in darkness but for the odd yellow patches cast by the statues- he thought he’d seen. Had-? That… hadn’t been there before? Right? Or had it?
Optical lenses adjusting as they could for the night, and straining to properly make out the- ah. There! A weird haze had appeared just at the corner behind the installations, at first hard to make out but growing marginally brighter as he focused on it. Its edges were undefined, and he couldn’t do much but guess to its size at his current distance.

A grin grew on Skywarp’s faceplate, wings perked as he watched this new development with growing curiosity. Maybe this trip wasn’t such a lost cause after all- this likely wouldn’t take too long. He could investigate this weird glowy-thing and be back before anyone noticed he was gone, almost certainly. The purple mech cast a quick glance down at the ghost town, searching for a spot that could both cover him and provide a good view of the statues. He huffed a quiet snicker when he found such a place behind one of the bigger buildings, about half-way through the town and a respectable distance from whatever ‘The Haze’ was-

~zip~

He landed in the alley between what had once been a saloon and the bank, dust rising in a soft poof under his feet. Skywarp barely thought twice- or much at all really- about the telling purple flash of his exit-vortex. Instead he quickly checked the remaining couple rounds in his blaster and snuck over, half-hunched, to peer around the edge of the saloon in hopes of getting a better view of this ‘Haze’.

[Hot Rod]

     Hot Rod errored on the side of caution considering he didn't know what had caused the weird statue to explode and it wouldn't be good for him if a Decepticon was able to sneak up on him cause he just went strolling on site without a clear idea of what he was actually getting himself into. As he drove alongside the structure he sat there just idling and inspecting, while giving the area a once over scan.

     Oddly, he felt like he was being watched. He couldn't see anything, though, and his scanners weren't detecting-

     Beep

     A ping hit his scanners and he focused ahead towards the town looking if he could see where it was coming from. He spotted the tail end of a purple flash and his scanners surrounded the lingering smoke from it in a bright square that warned him something was there. He couldn't see between the two buildings, but it didn't take an idiot to figure out that no human had made that weird flash of light.

     Beep beep beep

     The square narrowed in size and pinpointed around a helm that was peering in his direction. He didn't wait to see who it was- he just had to get around for cover. Throwing his tires in reverse and kicking his engine into high gears, dirt and dust from the desert under him kicking up at the sudden violent upturn, he screeched into a hard reverse then turned the wheels hard to the left to pull in behind a building just across the way from the statues. Once he had cover he stopped and transformed, taking a knee as he raised a servo to his audial to comm back to base...

     ... and stopped.

     Maybe... maybe he had an opportunity presenting himself. A chance to do something to prove himself a worthwhile member of the team. He'd been treated like a kid his entire time since joining the Autobots, told that he couldn't do anything. Sure, he may have lacked combat experience but how hard could a single Decepticon be? That was all he had seen. Clearly he'd been spotted so there was no way they wouldn't have all been on him if there had been more, right? The other Autobots could take out a single opponent, so how hard could it be? If he pulled this off they'd have to acknowledge that he wasn't just another useless pretty face with flashy colors and nothing worthwhile to keep around. No more jokes.

     He pulled his servo away and formed a fist to keep his servos free of the shots he'd probably be firing. His visor dropped and he pressed his back against the building and waited for some sound to indicate if his would be opponent was moving or just hanging around and waiting as well.

[Deleted]

Ah Scrap!

Skywarp ducked back into the alley as the ‘Haze’, revealed to be some weirdo-car thing, screeched off behind a building. The Seeker would’ve continued wondering just what it the pits had given him away and called it a night- had it not been for a faint, but very distinct ratcheting of an engaging transformation sequence. It dawned on him then that no, it wasn’t just any old hazy, weirdo-car thing. Oh no no, it was a Cybertronian weirdo-car thing, and that very likely meant it was an Autobot. And they were still here. The purple jet’s grin only grew wider, as any complaints of how boring the night had been so far were very quickly forgotten.

This was going to be fun, but how was he going to go about it? The good ol’ warp in and out- taking a shot to draw them out? A flyby? He ran through the options, taking into consideration that he’d already done… 3? 4? Jumps tonight, and for once- the energy readout displayed on his HUD wasn’t completely ignored. He’d save that for later then, to add some spice if things got dull.

He slowly peered out into the abandoned town again, across what had once been the main street, eyeing where the glowing bot had veered away. Even if he wanted to, Skywarp had to concede he couldn’t actually warp in’n’out even if he'd wanted too. He hadn’t seen exactly where they had gone, and didn’t know the area well enough to wing it. Which was a little annoying, granted, but if anything it just made the party last longer. Anything he could do to draw out returning to base was a win.

So shooting it was then.

It seemed likely that glow-whoever would’ve taken cover behind one of the buildings at the far edge of town, so Skywarp picked the furthest one’s furthest window, aimed, and fired. The sound of splintering wood was absolutely awesome, and there was now a sizable, smoking hole through the decrepit structure’s corner. The whole thing seemed a bad breeze away from collapsing.
Almost giddy with excitement, the Seeker didn't wait around and quickly ducked the opposite way back down his alley, moving to the next one over- and a bit closer- to his query. From here he’d hopefully have a better view, if and when glow-bot moved.
Lines thrumming with anticipation and wings held back at an angle to reduce their target surface, Skywarp perched half-hunched in his new spot- waiting to see what they’d do gleefully.

[Hot Rod]

    Hot Rod ducked down when he heard the sound of a weapon being fired instead of moving since he couldn't just look around and take a peek to see where it had come from. The building beside him was struck, the force from the through and through shot sending glass and wood chunks flying behind the beam of light before it finally dissipated a couple miles off. He looked around the building to see where it had come from but his scanners were evidently useless as the dust cloud that had rose up masked much of the area. Blind and still hearing the sound from the blast echoing in his audials, he just took a couple pop shots in the hopeful direction at the row of buildings across from him, sweeping through two that were next to each other. Halting his fire, he darted behind the building that had just been shot in hopes that the would be attacker wouldn't try for the same spot twice and waste ammo after knowing they hadn't hit anything.

    He crouched down just to the side of the gaping hole and looked through it, looking for some sign of the other Cybertronian but coming up empty. Now he was getting frustrated. He could hear faint sounds of shuffling across the way but he couldn't figure out where it was nor could he see. With his back now pressed against the back of the building, he grumbled to himself and looked up at the sky.

    Here went nothing.

    "HEY!" Hot Rod shouted as loud as he could. "Didn't your rejected trash can of a leader teach you how to AIM? Or are ya just as mindless clone like those Vehicons ya'll keep throwing out like rejected candy flavors?!"

    Throw an insult, hope for the best. Theoretically, if he could just get a response maybe he could pinpoint the location using audial cues. At least, that's what he hoped for since his two other options weren't really useful at the moment. The dust had to settle before he could properly use his scanners. Of all times for him to not want to have a veil of cover, it was when it was working against him.

[Deleted]

Skywarp ducked back a step at the answering barrage, cackles hidden behind the sound of imploding wood and shattering glass. It was more on reflex than anything, the shots weren’t even that close- and if anything, they confirmed where his target was… or had been.

The purple Seeker had been prepared to wait and watch further, probably shoot at the building again and collapse it entirely in a bigger cloud of dust- but then. Then...

THEN... the Auto-glow freak actually shouted at him! It took a second for him to process it, completely blind-sided. He’d expected silent and boring- that he’d have to be the one throwing the insults to rile up who/whatever Auto-dull had come out to play.
But no!! What a development! He was almost impressed! His wings flicked, grin growing wide into something borderline-feral, with far too much tooth to be anything kind.

Despite the dust that had been kicked up, and the echo ringing throughout the shallow valley- Skywarp was fairly certain the shouts had come from around that same building. Curious. Dumb- but curious. Why give away your spot without even trying to hide?

Skywarp, of course, did not understand the irony of proceeding to do essentially exactly the same.
“HA, need a mirror autobutt!? Who taught you, Opti-scrap!? At least vehicons can hit somethin’ after the third shot, ‘specially if it lights up like a self-deployed target!”

The Seeker lined up another shot as he shouted, aiming where he thought the closest window of that same building was. It would be a little off, sure, but he wanted to drive the glow-stick out- for now. He pulled the trigger, ducking back to cover with a flutter of wings, another shower of wood and glass raining down as the shot echoed. He had to reload, taking a few precious seconds to do so while keeping his helm low, audials and scanners primed for any sign of movement.

There was a low groan, then a sudden splintering CRASH of timber snapping and shattering under the strain- the whole front half of the poor, hole-ridden, dilapidated building collapsing into a heap at the abuse. The ground shuddered a bit under-pede, and a shockwave-cloud of dust rose in the aftermath, kicking up even more visual interference and debris around the town.
Skywarp was almost sad he didn’t get to see it in all its glory, hidden behind his own- still-standing (might he just say)- structure.

“HOW’S THAT FOR SHOOTING?!”

Of course, the cover was moot at this point. His cackles echoed almost as well as the gunshot had.

[Hot Rod]

( Permission of actions granted by Agri to keep the thread moving along. no point in drawing it out by hot rod playing hopscotch across the rooftops XD )

     "I learned it all on my own! Didn't learn shit from Optimus or the Autobots, ya snot nosed piece of-!"

     Hot Rod heard the shot and ducked, covering his helm with his servos as it hit the building and went through again, sending the sound of splintering wood flying around him again and kicking up more dust. Maybe his ploy to go to the spot he'd already shot may have worked if he hadn't basically given away his location but it was too late to change his tactic now. Now he needed to think of something else to do, because he had a Decepticon with a loaded weapon possibly locked on his location and ready to fire on him again if he tried to run for another building. He had come up with-

     The train of thought trickled off when he heard something else coming from the same building he'd taken cover behind. The sound of groaning splintering wood wasn't from another shot, but rather the result of the previous one. He listened to it give way and surrender to the abuse it had sustained, the front separating from the rest of the building. When it landed, a huge wave of dust and debris kicked up in the form of a large cloud, masking the immediate area in the thick mixture that was enough to even make Hot Rod cover his mouth and cough. Unable to see, he had to rely on his hearing to figure out where his opponent was.

     Luckily for him, said opposition was a mouthy son of a bitch who didn't know when to shut up and finish off his target. He kept on yacking as the building kept making sounds that it was on a way to a full scale collapse. As the roof began to cave in, it started a domino effect with the rest of the structure. The sides began to give out, the left tilting out and landing on the next building as the second floor fell through to the first. With all that noise being made, Hot Rod used that chance to mask his transformation and started to drive, only to hang a quick U turn and drive right up the slanted side to the roof of the neighboring building just in time for it to buckle under its own weight and collapse. 

     If that Decepticon thought for a second that he would actually be complimented on his shooting? Think again. Not by a long shot. Even if he had been an insurgent against both sides, he wasn't going to pay a compliment to someone who clearly didn't deserve it. Especially when he was pretty much giving Hot Rod all the pinpointing he needed to identify where his target was.

     He spun his wheels as he kicked himself into full speed ahead across the length of the roof and jumped it, landing with a heavy thud on the building across the way. Figuring that he needed to act fast in case the sound was heard and the other mech got suspicious ( which it may or may have not been considering that the Decepticon was STILL laughing ), he turned his vehicle sideways and drove full speed across the other rooftops, jumping from one to the next until he finally came close to where the source of the sound was. Then he leapt off and transformed to land in front of Skywarp with his back to him.

     "LOUSY SHOT!" 

     The sound of what could only describe as an explosion came as Hot Rod's frame lit up like a torch and he twisted around, hurling a fist of fire right towards the faceplate of the Seeker.

[Deleted]

“Huh-” What was that soun-

Skywarp had a split second to process the sudden appearance of bright orange rocketing to a stop before him, before the mech all but erupted with a roar of flame. WhatintheFUCK. Heat rolled off the Autobot, washing over the Seeker- particularly searing against his wings. Optics reeling from overexposure to the explosion’s initial, brilliant flash, he almost caught Hot Rod's fist with his face.
Instead protocols and cable-memory took over. His empty fist shot up and torso twisted to the side, wings wrenching back, down and away. His left forearm plating caught and pushed Hot Rod’s extended arm away- sizzling upon contact.
Of course, upon later reflection, deflecting a flaming punch isn’t… the soundest of ideas.

“AH!! FU-” Instead of closing in and throwing his own, like he would usually do, Skywarp- pain all but exploding down his arm- got the hell out of dodge-

~zip~

-aiming for a half-klick distance up the hill

behind the ghost town in a flash of frantic purple. Just to get away because it was HOT. Primus DAMN. Skywarp’s feet hit the ground roughly, and he spun to face the fireball that’d taken him by surprise, staggering. His forearm burned, and his vents sputtered for fresh air after the absolute sweltering he’d just faced. If he looked, he'd see the bubbled-crispy-black paint, deformed where his fore-armour beneath had started to melt.

“-ck.” He grit his teeth, the scorching pain in his arm enough to impede movement- if make it completely scrapping useless- but not enough to overwhelm his sensor grid. By the pits, it would take more to knock him down for the count.

It still hurt like a-
“Son of a GLITCH!!” 

Despite the entire front of him feeling like he’d just done a barrel-roll over the business end of a volcano, he’d managed to keep hold of his gun. It was one of those things you learned early or died forgetting- for those without integrated weapons, anyway.
Guns were boring, and he wanted to have some fun- but this stupid Autobutt decided to make it a fire-fight!! Who was he to refuse? If you couldn’t punch something you shot it. A little shakier this time, Skywarp aimed and fired on the Autobot- intending to use any of the residual shock of his disappearance against his opponent.

“Fry your circuits with exhaust like that bomb-brain!? Should get your processor checked!!” Damn did his arm sting. Don’t-think-about-it-Don’t-think-about-it-Don’t-think-about-it- he had a fight to win. His HUD warping-readout displayed some slightly concerning numbers- he didn’t have the fuel for anything to crazy, so he had to stay out of Fire-Slug-McGee’s reach. Which sucked. He wanted to punch something, and hadn't wanted to jump if he could help it… On the other servo though.
A grin split his face, despite the wince of pain brought on by a jostle of his arm.

He’d wanted interesting- and by scrap, did he get it!

[Hot Rod]

The intention to catch the other by surprise had gone according to 'plan'. Though he had expected him to block, part of him hoped that he didn't just so he could put a nice mark on the Seeker's face and hopefully shut him up. The shouting he heard AFTER contact was made only had him wishing more that he could have melted his mouth shut. Well, beggers couldn't be chosers. He was just happy with himself that he'd managed to land a direct hit on a SEEKER. That would be a badge of achievement he would wear around Autobot base and no amount of Prowl's berating would take that boost to his ego away from him. Zilch. This was his flag to fly.

Even as the other darted away up the hill to gain whatever high ground in an evident quick retreat the little exchange between them didn't stop. He knew the other had to be hurting something awful since his flaming fist had made direct contact with the metal armor of his arm. It hadn't been the shot he was going for but if it took at least one of his opponents arms out of commission during this scuffle then he wouldn't complain. At least that was the one good thing to come out of purple mech running his mouth.

"This bomb brain fried your arm, Zappy! Should get that checked out cause I can smell the stench all the way down here!" There was a moment taken as he caught his breath. "Actually, nevermind! I'm pretty sure that's just the leftover stink from your ass!" If that Seeker was going to make smart remarks about exhaust then he'd just shoot one of his own into the air.

The rush of adrenaline had him distracted long enough for his HUD to remind him that he was still a walking fireball so he quickly extinguished himself and his large shoulder vents snapped open to circulate out the hot air that had gathered within his frame. While he took the time to depressurize and stare at his mark across the way his processor finally clicked that something about the other's sudden departure from his previous spot hadn't been entirely normal. At first he thought the Seeker had just turned on his thrusters and got the hell out of there since the type were pretty well known for their sudden bursts of speed, but no- that had been something entirely different. He hadn't just flown out of there- he had vanished from one spot and appeared in another.

Once the hissing from his vents stopped and his biolights returned to normal, the speedster turned to face the Seeker entirely, two steps required to catch himself mid stumble and ease himself into a crouch. Taking note of the sudden heaviness in his legs, he checked on his energon levels and visibly frowned. He was running dangerously low on energon. In his rush to get out of base as quickly as he could he had left without even checking his fuel levels and had already been driving for a while before he had used his outlier ability. Honestly he couldn't even remember last time he had consumed anything, so he must have been already pretty low before this point. Inwardly he cursed as he forced himself to stand back up, brushing off his small moment as he rolled his shoulders back to keep himself upright as straight as he could be to hopefully trick the other into thinking it was nothing more than a brief second of recovery.

If the other teleported, maybe he was an outlier as well? The chances were small, but Hot Rod had to figure using that as a way of moving had to do something to his energon consumption as well. Could he be running low? If the other didn't run off to lick his wounds, he'd had to take his chances and see if he could trick the other into using that ability more in hopes he could wear him down. The other option was just to shoot it out in an old Western showdown style to see who went down first.

No way was he going to call for help. Hot Rod's pride wouldn't allow him to have this chance to defeat a Con taken away from him, especially after all shit he'd been put through and had to listen to since joining. This was his chance to prove he wasn't useless. He'd walk away from this victorious or die trying.

[Deleted]

“What this?!” Skywarp waved his arm before him in show, wincing as the movement sent another jolt of pain up through his shoulder. In a quieter voice and through grit teeth he hissed an ‘ouch’, before continuing on, obnoxiously loud across the desert night-
“It’s only a mesh wound Sparky, don’t let that hot air get to your helm!”

His arm, immobile and resting at his side somewhat uselessly begged to differ- but anywho. Options options- what to do? It was common knowledge that transforming when injured could make a simple wound much, much worse, but a normal shootout was so boring.

“And the only thing that stinks here is your aim, ya orange bastard!”

There was a brief moment of confusion when the mech stumbled and crouched- Skywarp raking through his processor, trying to recall if he’d managed to hit the other or do something to garner such a reaction. Frustratingly- no, he couldn’t recall ever landing a shot on him (autobutt 1, Warp 0, but not for long bucko). So why…? His warp-system HUD caught his eye, still up and running alongside battle protocols, its shortened readout flashing a !Low Fuel! Warning.
Bursting into flames wasn’t a normal autobot thing- unless they’d gotten their own version of Shockwave and loosened their ethical belts a little- which was laughably unlikely. Whatever this mech had, well, fire needed something to burn, and unless he was packing jet fuel that meant he was literally burning through Energon…

A smirk split across his faceplate, as the nature of this fight dawned on him. Last mech standing won, and the race was on. Before Flame-brain could get too recovered- Skywarp fired two shots in quick succession, aiming either to hit limbs or miss by a wing-tip entirely. Which was intentional! They were only a distraction, as Skywarp immediately kicked up his heel-thrusters and shot up into the sky, intending to close the distance between them once more and get up and personal. Was it completely stupid? Yes- but this time ‘Warp knew the mech could explode. So. That was worth something. Plus! Skywarp was banking on the surprise- after all, no mech in their right mind would fist fight a bomb- no one would expect it, least of all the bomb!

While the move was sloppier than he would have liked, his injured arm impeding the smoothness and still hurting like scrap, battle-high and adrenaline kept him going. If all went according to plan, Skywarp would kill his thrusters and fall, pede first almost atop Hot Rod- intent on landing a falling-kick square to the other’s chest.[font

[Hot Rod]

     "Your face tells all you flying purple potato! I'm surprised you made it as a Con, cause you SUCK at lying!"

     This was the perfect time to recite the reasons why Hot Rod found himself in this rather screwed positon:

     For one, he hadn't refueled before leaving base and he had burned through what he had in his tanks by his lengthy drive. Paired up with the sudden eruption he'd just gone through for the show of it as well as the strain on his tanks already, Hot Rod was definitely looking pretty bad off. He could only hope that his little showboating would keep the other at bay and he would be smart enough to just high tail it out of there at risk of being set on fire again. He'd be fine if he just transformed and drove back to base but too much activity and a risk of flaming up again would definitely put him worse for wear.

     The following actions made him realize he was far more screwed than he had given himself credit for. The shots that came his way were short bursts, barely enough to cause that much damage and easily enough for someone who was in a better state to get out of the way but Hot Rod wasn't that lucky. He twisted to the side and stumbled, just in time to avoid a full on hit but not enough to dodge entirely and the burning sensation from the singe mark left behind on the front of his chest from the graze of the second shot told him he was best to not be hit directly with those.

     He would have made another smart ass remark about the other not knowing how to aim, but a noise drowned out his thoughts and he looked up in the direction of it- just in time to see the thrusters cut out and the Seeker hurling pede first right towards him. He didn't have the chance to dodge in time, so he did the one thing he could- mostly on instinct at this point- to defend himself.

     Flames erupted from his frame just after the impact that sent him flying backwards and to the ground, sliding along the ground on his back still lit up. When he finally stopped moving he laid there and stared at the sky as his HUD flashed with various warning messages. 

     'System standby initiating in 10...'

     Should he try to reach out for help? Maybe he could send a message to base. Tell them he needed some assistance? They'd know he was out here but they would probably find out anyway.

     6...
     5...

     Sucking it up, he sent a short burst SOS call to base with his location. With his luck there wouldn't be anyone at the console and no one would pick up.

     2...
     1...

     System standby initiated. 

     The flames died down as his frame went limp and optics dimmed down as his main systems shut down to conserve what little energy he had left. His audials turned off first, which was the freakiest thing to experience. There he was, laying on the ground, unable to move or hear and could only see what was straight ahead of him. A literal sitting duck.

     He couldn't see shit but- "You smell even worse up close. The melted metal is an upgraded smell compared to that low-grade shit fuel you're burning through.."

     Then his optics shuttered and it all went dark.

[Deleted]

....What- … What’s a potato?

There was a heavy SCREE and CLANG as pede met armour, the sound and thudding crash of impact satisfying as fuck in that milisecond- until flames exploded outward and forced Skywarp back- "AH!" -again. This time he used his thrusters to skate a hasty retreat away and back down to earth- heat flaring against his front once more, fire licking at his pedes enough to scorch something fierce. Not as bad as his arm was, but he sure as scrap felt it.

“Ack!” That’s right- the mech was a walking fireball. Yep. Potato? What the hell’s a Potato? The ground was closer than expected, and he stumbled upon landing with a thud and an ‘oof’, hitting the dirt and immediately going down on one knee.

“Wha-” He ground out, fans kicking up and whirring in an effort to cycle fresh cool air back into his systems. Skywarp wobbled a bit getting back up to his pedes, the one used to kick the mech stinging as he did. It took him a couple tries to get back on his pedes this time. Exhaustion was starting to weigh on him too, his HUD flashing yet another !Low fuel! in his face (it was dismissed with a huff).
“-Wha’ the fuck did'ya just call me?”

…

When there was no answer however, Skywarp’s attention was drawn from wondering over the marvelous organic mess of carbs known to locals as the Potato back to his downed opponent. Who had yet to… get up? Or move at all really, from where he’d hit dirt a little ways off.
“Ya hear me, flame-brain!?” He hollered over, optics narrowing in confusion.

The flier’s frame stiffened when the fire along the other’s chassis flickered, only to relax almost immediately when the flames- y’know, rather than exploding again- dimmed and died. The orange bastard still didn’t move. Had he run out of gas?
A smirk split across Skywarp’s faceplate, wings sweeping up and flicking proudly at this preemptive victory. With confidence that was wholly unearned nor wise, the seeker took a step and a half forward. He peered at the orange and yellow mech on the ground with an almost sadistic gleam to his crimson gaze.
“Hey- spit fire-”

"You smell even worse up close. The melted metal is an upgraded smell compared to that low-grade shit fuel you're burning through.."

Well. That proved the firebug was still alive.

“Shit fuel my aft, I won our lil game o’ chicken dumbaft.” Skywarp could recognize the tell-tale signs of a forced-stasis well enough, having been on the receiving end of such a shut-down on many-an-occasion. He hummed, waiting another moment or so- who knew really, it wasn’t long- before getting impatient and walking the rest of the way over to the Autobot’s smoking crater. Clearly the mech’s frame was still hot… he prodded the grounder’s shoulder with the fore of his pede, confirming that fact (and that he was, indeed out cold... uh, warm?) and quickly retreating another couple of steps back, away from the heat and with a tad bit more to regret.

What now though. It would be such a shame to waste such a fine fight- the mech was still alive after all! He couldn’t just……

Oh. Mmm.

“Mmmmmmmmm.” Skywarp went to tap a couple fingers against his chin in thought, almost using his injured arm before a sudden flare of pain impeded that move and he switched hands. His wings twitched, brows furrowing in a momentary grimace.

“Welp. Better to ask forgiveness.” He’d heard that saying somewhere before, he couldn’t remember why or where, in what situation- but they were words to live by. He’d probably heard it from a vehicon in all honesty… maybe an eradicon? He still didn’t know what the difference was between the two-. Oh! Wait, it could’ve been Thunder- ah well. Skywarp shrugged, rolling his shoulders with a lazy flick of the wing- expression falling back into a blasé smirk.

He glanced over at the Autobutt- the air above him still twisting and warping with heat shimmers. In another little bit then- and so, mind made up, Skywarp waited. He cast an eye over his HUD readouts, already inputting the destination he had in mind for he and his captive into his warp-systems. It was going to be ridiculously tight, he’d be lucky if he didn’t end up in forced-stasis himself, carrying so much extra weight with him in such a state.

....

…

And so- Skywarp waited. For all of a minute and a half, possibly two, generously. It would be fineeee, he reasoned. The complete and utter drain on his reserves would be so worth it- plus, there was Energon where he was going, he could refuel… before he got too dizzy to walk and face-planted somewhere.
Psht. It would be fineeeeee.

The seeker walked back over to Sparky, smirking even as he hefted the other up by the crook of his arms and strained under the dead weight and sheer heat rolling off his frame.

“Jeez, and I thought TC was heavy.” Skywarp muttered through grit teeth, fans whirring up again. His HUD pinged half-frantic warnings, but apt at it as he was, the seeker expertly ignored them. He had to move fast, least the exhaustion and impending battle-high crash leave him a crumpled, pained mess in the ground too.

“Ok fataft, hold on tight-” Skywarp chuckled at his own joke, gripping onto his captive tightly as he engaged his warp-systems. There was a somewhat concerning, eerily echoing hiss in the air, and the seeker felt a sudden wave of dizziness (oh he was going to pay of this one) before-

~zzt-z-zip~

-they were gone in a flash of bright purple.

Leaving nothing but scorched earth and a quiet desert night behind.

[Jetfire]

Thoom...

THOOM...!

THOOM!!!

Nearly a kilometer above the ground, three sudden bursts of sound heralded the arrival of one very specific Seeker. Like an exceptionally happy particle, Jetfire shot out of the airborne Groundbridge at full speed, quickly decelerating as he was greeted with the tranquil night sky of Earth. While it was nothing less than picturesque, the Air Captain was currently screaming through the desert night on a more urgent mission. Only a few minutes prior, Omega had received a rather curt and unexpected distress call from within this valley. As far as ops was aware, no Autobots were on mission anywhere near the SOS. It very well might've been a rather straightforward trap, which was why Jetfire was more than happy to volunteer his speed and firepower for the job.

::"Base this is Jetfire, on-site now."::

He banked to the left as he blew past the location attached to the transmission, intending to perform a full aerial recon sweep before daring to venture down to the planet's surface. It was a full minute of flying before he found himself satisfied. Everything was quiet, peaceful, and as it should be; obviously ignoring the volume of his thrusters.

::"Initial recon shows no signs of life. Airspace is clear of hostiles. Hold one, going in for a landing. Standby...."::

With one final turn, Jetfire began to reign in his airspeed in earnest, picking the side of what was likely a small hill to land on. He'd first set out ready for anything, though now he was slightly annoyed that the situation wasn't already laid out for him fully. Traditionally, he'd have found some hapless Autobot, wounded and outgunned, facing down a legion of very angry and inarticulate Decepticons. But here? Here, there was nothing. Almost nothing.

Something had caught his optic and prompted to investigate. He had come to rest above the ground in a gentle hover, still residing in his altmode, before rectifying that with a quick modeshift. Jetfire came to stand atop the hill with a relatively light step, his maneuvering thrusters permitting him to make a very surgical landing.

::"Not much to look at here, base, but I--..... hold one."::

There were a few signs of action, alright. A few signs of energy weapons fire, a few scuffles in the dry dirt below, but the large impact skid was what really drew Jetfire's attention. He carefully walked his way over toward it, taking great pains not to disturb any artifacts from the original event, as he might've done given his size. The Seeker came to squat beside what he believed to be the final resting place of B, who he believed to have been fighting A. Jetfire cast his gaze toward the starting point of the skid, pointing his servo straight at it, then traced the journey.

One set of footprints, bit messy, then.... blown backward, apparently. The burns along the ground were awfully interesting, perhaps the key, even. Jetfire went ahead and flattened his hand, and dug out a small sample of the charred earth. It wasn't searing hot by any means, but it was still warm to the touch. Whatever had been done here had been done recently, prompting a slight frown from beneath the Air Captain's face-shield.

Another point of interest was the lack of exploded or melted 'Bot anywhere around. Judging by the extent of the burns along the ground, whatever did this had to have been one exceptionally high-temperature weapon. Those types of munitions tended to leave a very big, messy mess after they were done. But, aside from the burns, there was nothing else here.

Very curious...

He stood up at last, letting the acrid soil fall between his servos. Shifting his facemask down, Jetfire raised two fingers to his audial, firing long range comms back up again.

::"Jetfire to base, apologies for the wait. I believe I've completed my initial recon... though I'm afraid to say there's not as much as we'd hoped. Site's vacant... but there are definitely signs of a brief skirmish between... I believe at least two individuals. Skirmish appears to have ended not long before I arrived. I believe I'm standing right where it ended. I--"::

Two.

Two sets.

He had very nearly missed it, the second set of tracks toward leading toward the blast mark. If he'd landed on the opposite side of the skid, he might've just stepped over them completely.

::"Hold one."::

::"Skirmish appears to have ended right where I'm standing, one long impact skid, scorched the earth beneath it. These might've been wings pressed against the ground, but they'd be awfully small for a seeker's. I've also got a second set of tracks leading to the end of the skid, but that's it. They stop here. Someone, presumably our distressed Autobot, lost the fight... then at least one attacker comes and approaches them... and then... then that's it. They're both gone. No signs of lost limbs or plating, so they left in one piece."::

As much as he enjoyed a good mystery, he.... oh, he couldn't lie to himself. He enjoyed mysteries, and this happened to be one.

::"Advising we flag this location for a scan with some more robust equipment, as soon as possible, that is. Over."::

Mystery time.