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Post by Conway on Jan 22, 2012 22:49:29 GMT -5
He starts, much slower with out Jack hauling him, towards the current battle center. " I should go fight with Torque." He doesn't know what he'll be able to do, but it's not right, sitting it out while Torque is fighting.
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 22, 2012 22:52:14 GMT -5
"What!" Jack stares at him, his hand dropping from Road's arm when its clear he can't hold on for much longer without things being a lot weirder. "Torque?! Road, you're a prime-forsaken Decepticon! He can take care of his own ass plate!"
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Post by Conway on Jan 22, 2012 23:28:01 GMT -5
Jack's words halt him. He's right. It would be weird wouldn't it? for an injured con to go in to help? An Torque certainly doesn't need saving. He's the one that does the saving, he's always saving Road's ass, always has. He should be allowed to owe him back up at least. "Yeah I am a Decepticon." and he turns his head to quirk a smile back at Jack. "One that saves little Autobots though, right?"
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 23, 2012 22:22:40 GMT -5
Jack stared at him through the grit and dust that clouded the air from the impacts of heavy artillery slamming into the ground disturbingly nearby.
"Oh, fuck you," he says, utterly exasperated, as he shoves Road. "You'll be scrap before you get there. Which way is it?"
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Post by Conway on Jan 23, 2012 23:18:27 GMT -5
Road gave Jack a look like he was dense, pointing out to were a large shadow was forming in the distance, a body of smaller metal vehicles coming together into a larger fighting unit. Human fighter units were circling over head, already rocking the beast with missile fire. "Combaticons you think? Or Menasaur team?"
He started in that direction but it was clear he wasn't getting there anytime soon. He couldn't even seem to pick up to a run now.
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 24, 2012 0:00:45 GMT -5
"Combaticons," Jack breathed. Watching the combiner teams really stopped processors and servos in their tracks. It was immense. It was impossible. The huge monsters towered well over even the largest of the large, over even Megatron, with a sheer presence that managed to distract from even his charisma. Great shadows cut and swerved through the sand, the human planes gnats to the giant swatting at them.
Even the extended battle seemed to pause in its chaos. Units all around were turning, sparing a moment to acknowledge what was happening before fire arms and swords and laser fire dragged back attention. The opportune took the moment to strike; the escaping, a moment to run.
A small dark shape, darting across the sands, the time to /move/. As Jack moved with Road towards the giants fighting--wait, wasn't that a bad idea?--there was a rustle not too far from them, as someone small threw themselves in the faint lull over a nearby hillock. He twisted as he vaulted, his eyes suddenly arrestedby the great shapes of metal cutting into the sky.
Powershot's processors whirred at high speed, his heart breaking at lacking a decent external imaging device, as he nearly skidded right into them.
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Post by Conway on Jan 24, 2012 0:37:36 GMT -5
It is certainly intense. Road seems to take energy from seeing the beast rise, a little more speed to his steps, fans kicking up in the anticipated excitement for battle. But then he's halted, a shape flying into his vision, he automatically blares his ID signal DECEPTICON! DECEPTICON! to avoid friendly fire. But then he sees just what he's got. He gives a dumbfounded look like a confused dog at the little Autobot. Really, the guy is damn lucky that when he crashes into Cons, it;s cons that don't want him dead. "Powershot?" His processor automatically starts shifting priorities off of Torque and onto Powershot, someone close enough to protect and in his mind, more needing of the protection.
And that's all good and well, because he did in fact...just give away their position. The familiar whistle in the air jolts him, pushes what precious little fuel he can't afford to burn into moving his legs. He gives Jack a shove in the right direction and grabs at Shots upper arm to drag him up, then into what is little more than a ditch. He pushed the little bot under him, hoping his twisted armor can at least protect them somewhat.
Lucky for the three of them This human had poor aim, he'd fired prematurely, purely reacting to the sudden ring of a detected con on his system. The ground rumbled badly, they were pelted with debris, and the explosion left Roads audio's ringing. "Fuck," he ground out.
and as he was recovering just from the shock of that, a transmission from Torque. Airships in coming fall back, stay under cover. And from Barricade. All units fall back , stay away from from Bruticus unit. He'll be drawing fire.
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 24, 2012 21:57:48 GMT -5
Powershot skids, his processors shot, and then suddenly the world just moves from under him. He's grabbed, and Road's lucky he's so distracted; sub-routines kick in immediately for ways to strike out and wriggle free, but are slowed by how much of him is focused on the view. He fights for it, trying to twist his head to keep his eyes on it, but the determined weight of Road crushes him rather effectively.
Dirt clogs his intake and it kicks back, sending Shot into a cough as he tried to spare enough thought for what the hell just happened. His shoulder bangs into Road's chest as the broadcast ID filters through delayed processing centers.
DECEPTICON
ROADRASH
He barely notices Jack.
Jack had started to shout, about five different things completely wrong with this picture at the same time, until a narrow band broadcast hits him too. FALL BACK, FALL BACK, scream the battle codes, but all he can do is coil close to the ground and curse.
"Fuck you!" he screeches at Road. "Fuck, fuck--we gotta get outta here--"
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Post by Conway on Jan 25, 2012 0:50:51 GMT -5
He starts to shift and uncurl from his defensive position slowly, not even bothering to respond to Jack's screeching, he doesn't have the energy for it and the bombardment of the FALL BACK broadcast his making his already shaken processors ache worse.
Once he feels he can safely get his legs under him He drags Powershot up out of the ditch with him. "You okay?" and as an after thought he adds what Powershot might not be picking up (he can't e sure of course, those little bots tends to get the info they need regardless of who it's incripted to) "Decepticon order to fall back."
He releases the smaller bot once they both have their feet, and pauses to look regretfully back at the now to dangerous battle field. Bruticus was even faltering under the human attack now and behind the broad relay of retreat orders he'd been privy to a constant stream of curses and complaints from Torque. Old man liked to complain. He hesitated in his turn back towards home...the base( and boy how he hoped they still owned it when he got there) when the curses of complaint turned to something a bit more serious. Gun ships had already arrived and were opening fire on Bruticus and the surrounding area, the beast was falling apart not just back into the original components but those to pieces as well. Explosions were rocking the distance.
It was bad certainly but not a surprising part of warfare, they'd be lucky if the combaticons survived...if they did they'd certainly be in critical condition, but being the unit they were, as long as the spark could be maintained they could be migrated to a new shell. So it wasn't hopeless for them, and Road really had no reason to care for them, of any of the combiners he really only got on with Dragstrip and barely.
But he stood frozen, eyes wide, watching Bruticus go up in flames. Torque's broadcast had cut out and he couldn't get it back. Maybe the explosions had just scrabbled his processors, maybe it'd forced him to switch off to a new frequency. So Road began to broadcast openly, requesting Torque. 'Torque answer. Torque reply. Supply new codes.' Nothing. Afraid, he tried to ping him. A permanent and personal link that Torque had granted his student by some miracle. To be used for emergencies only, he had told him, not for when your drunk and want a ride or other such nonsense. He was pinging deadspace, not even a rebound off a closed mind. Just. Nothing. He dropped, ass hitting the dirt. His open broadcast was becoming more desperate as the connotation of the dead ping was becoming clear to him. "Torque! TORQUE! TORQUE! ANSWER ME!" He wasn't vocalizing to match the cries but the blank face of shock was starting to tighten, intakes struggling through clenched teeth as he bombarded to airwaves.
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 27, 2012 23:20:16 GMT -5
Powershot barely responded to Road's inquiries. He was dragged to his feet without protest, because it gave him a better view of the carnage playing out right in front of them. Oh, what he would not give--perhaps an unneeded digit, maybe a foot--to be in the shadow of that beast as it rose and as it fell. The art of the beast falling to pieces, such literal pieces, blazoned across his sensors. Even at this distance, the scale was hard to truly capture in the mind. They had to be at least a mile away, and it was a mile too close and a mile too far.
Bruticus went up in flames, and his sensors nearly offlined as he widened his eyes and pressed the images deep into his memory. The slow way it toppled. The way the bombers swooped low, small birds winning as they harrassed an elephant.
His attention jerked to the side as Road suddenly dropped to the dirt, and the look on Road's face went through him in a cold, quick jab. The blankness, slowly broken in cracks and fissures of a growing, desperate panic. He'd never seen that look on Road's face before. Before now, he could not have even imagined something so raw fighting its way to a face that always faked a smile, if nothing else. Maybe Road never knew he knew he faked them, but this was pure honesty and tore at his heart. He could only catch snippits and garbled snatches of the messages filling the air with static.
Bits of code. Torque's call sign, as the Autobots had on file from his brother's hacking. Bits of what had to be distress blips. The blast of Torque's name. His eyes widened, and he set a small hand on Road's shoulder. "What? Road--what--"
Jack meanwhile crouched in the dirt, forgotten entirely as he tried to heave himself up after being pelted with primus knew what in the aftermath of the explosion. He barely caught half of what was going on--the decepitcon air waves were full of the demand to fall back, fall back. The most embaressing and terrible of signs, used only in desperation, less because of pride and more because they all knew what it would be like in Megatron's shadow afterward.
He did not suffer living cowards. He preferred dead ones.
"Fuck it, Road," Jack said, grabbing for the idiot's arm. "Move your can, or you'll be just as dead! Leave it!"
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Post by Conway on Jan 27, 2012 23:53:01 GMT -5
Road was blind to the destruction before them, frantically searching only for Torque on the airwaves even after some part of him knows what he doesn't want to believe.
He only tenses under Powershot's touch, not answering him. He couldn't vocalize an explanation if he tried. And then Jack came, first he tried to ignore him but...how dare he try to tell him that, what did he know!? He jerked his arm away violently but seems to loose his energy almost immediately, just sitting dejectedly in the sand. "Just leave me here."
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 28, 2012 0:11:15 GMT -5
Both bots simply stared.
Jack had expected an angry flurry. A fist at the very least homing in on the target of Jack's face. Instead Road just collapses, a broken piece of machinery to be left as one more body on this battlefield.
"No!" The fierce, angry reply startles everyone, because it comes out of Powershot's mouth. He digs his fingers into the crook of plating by Road's neck, a tender place even on holoform bodies. "Come on, Road. You don't give up!"
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Post by Conway on Jan 28, 2012 0:33:32 GMT -5
Road jerks away from the small pain, automatically angry. But his sneer drops when the small fury almost turns on Powershot. He pauses, looks ahead again, and slowly un-easily gets to his feet. "I wo-...it's fine."
He's shaky, broken down mentally and physically. Regardless of unsteady legs he starts walking. Towards Bruticus.
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Post by gryfeathr on Jan 28, 2012 0:37:34 GMT -5
The way that fury drains away, instant, before the idea of being afraid can even flash further than the first few gateways of logic in Powershot's processors, disarms him. He's come to trust Road, somewhere between the dust of the fighting rings and the dark of an autobot cell.
He doesn't realize entirely what that means when Road shuts that infamous violent urge down so sharply, and climbs unsteadily to his feet. He can't say anything at all, struck by the way Road's so damn broken and shaking and walking, all the same.
Its odd, the way the world seems to tip.
Jack stares at Road and throws up his hands. The aftermath of Bruticus has calmed the fighting, a shock so great an entire battlefield stops to turn its eyes to it, but it won't stay that way.
"You idiot!" His insults are simple as Jack starts forward, and grabs at Road's arm again. He has no chance in a game of strength to strength, but Road's nearly falling to pieces. "You fucker, they said to retreat!"
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Post by Conway on Jan 28, 2012 0:56:47 GMT -5
He'll ignore Jack's words but he can't ignore the contact. He's on the border of off-lining. The pull unbalances him and his attempt to correct it topple him. Back into the dirt he goes, fingers curling into the dirt in frustration.
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