born to be wild

[Hot Shot]

Had that light always been blinking like that..?

Hot Shot honestly couldn't remember. All he cared about at the moment was keeping the Con's away from communications and taking the system out so they couldn't all for back-up. True Wreckers supposedly never called for back-up, so he was going to make sure that the Vehicons got the very same treatment.

Taking down one final approaching Vehicon, the blue mech bashed on the console one final time before turning to give Wheeljack a grin. He highly enjoyed the praise, listening to the older mech's instructions as to what they needed to next.

..But then Wheeljack stopped, staring straight at that console.

"Huh..? I could've sworn that I.." Hot Shot turned, looking directly at that console and it's blinking lights, a voice emanating from the darned thing. He only looked at it in horror, slowly turning back to look at Wheeljack. Someone had done screwed up, and Hot Shot knew exactly who it had been. "Scrap.."

Primus, Ultra Magnus' training hadn't prepared him for a situation like this, and he honestly didn't know what the heck to do. If he hadn't already damaged the console, he might've been able to send a false message back saying all was cool.. provided this Starscream guy bought it to begin with.

Now he really felt bad.

There wasn't much time to react, as before long a jet flew in, transforming and gracing the two Wreckers with his presence. Hot Shot could only assume that this had been the Starscream guy who had messaged this mine's communications. What confused him even more was the fact that this guy knew Wheeljack's name. Hot Shot studied the Seeker for a brief moment, then turned to older mech.

"Wheeljack.. do you know this stiletto heeled bozo?"

[Deleted]

A wiser bot might’ve acknowledged just how deep of a southward turn this mission had suddenly taken upon seeing the blinking light of the distress beacon, but Wheeljack was rarely a wise bot. Depending on how long the signal had been broadcast, they might still have a chance to bail before the reinforcements arrived… but a Wrecker never ran from a fight, and ‘retreat’ was not a word that Wheeljack accepted into his vocabulary.

Hot Shot looked particularly alarmed. Having things go diodes up wasn’t something the kid knew how to cope with just yet, it looked like. Wheeljack grinned. “Things are really gonna get fun now.”

And things certainly did, for the Decepticon backup strolled in not a few kliks later. At the sight of the agitated seeker commander, Wheeljack leaned casually up against the communications hub - cocking an arm-cannon as he did so. “Hey, Screamer,” he drawled, looking Starscream up and down with a casual regard. “Took y’long enough. I’ve been blowin’ your mines for a while, I was startin’ t’think none of you Decepticreeps even cared.”

[Deleted]

Starscream pays little mind to the blue and orange fledgling at Wheeljack’s side, if any; he would probably be scrap after this encounter anyway. The SIC could not be bothered with knowing every little rusted recruit the Autobots had managed to dig up from distant galaxies.

Though he does snarl at the words, the white mech is not wrong. Wheeljack had been going on some futile vigilante quest of depriving Decepticons of resources to no avail. Wheeljack would be guaranteed termination before he finished blowing every single mine that Lord Megatron had ordered them to excavate. Furthermore, the Decepticons already have a huge stockpile back on the Nemesis, and so a few dry mines are hardly of concern.

He laughs harshly. “Well, a little Autobot with a death wish doesn’t usually warrant our attention.” Then, suddenly, the smile disappears, and the flier’s engine growls threateningly, “But now, you’re less a nuisance and more of a problem, so I’ve come to deal with you personally.”

The sound of his weapons system powering on dominates the empty air of the cavern. His vocaliser titters with barely contained glee: “If I remember anything about you, Wheeljack, it’s that you adore explosions—” not even a nanoklik longer does he wait to fire one of his forearm rockets towards Wheeljack’s peds.

@wheeljack , Hot Shot

[Hot Shot]

Hot Shot practically gaped at Wheeljack. The fun was just starting?! How was that even possible with the situation they were in now?! With the alarm now being sent out to the Decepticons, who knew just how many they were going to be attacked by.

Apparently.. it had just been the one.

Hot Shot kept a close optic on Starscream, only glancing to Wheeljack briefly as the elder Wrecker spoke. At least these two guys were keeping up the conversation, but it wasn't going to hold for much longer. Even as young as he was, he wasn't stupid. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the fighting resumed. The stiletto heeled one might not have been paying Hot Shot much attention, but maybe he could use that to his advantage.

The moment Starscream fired at Wheeljack, Hot Shot hopped backwards. "Incoming!"

As the blue mech landed on his peds, he lowered his visor and took aim at the seeker, opening fire with his two double-barrel blasters. "You're outnumbered, pal! You really think you can take the both of us down?"

[Deleted]

“Well, I’m honored by your personal attention, Screamer. You didn’t need t’come all this way for little ol’ me!” Being a bot with a particular love for danger (and the Cybertronian equivalent of an adrenaline junkie, most likely), the utterly peeved-off seeker hissing down at them only served to delight him even more. Wheeljack took special pleasure in noting how high and tense the Decepticon commander’s wings were.

He could have done without the rocket, though. Hot Shot gave a shout of warning and got his aft out of the way (which he was glad for; he wouldn't forgive himself if the kid got himself scrapped by something stupid like this), but Wheeljack reacted a klik too late, and the blast sent him flying straight into a wall. He hit it with a grunt and a thunk, and slid down to the floor with a low groan, where he took a moment to pant. After a moment, he spat out a mouthful of energon, and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Alright, then.” His battle mask snapped into place, and the Wrecker hauled himself to his feet. “You wanna dance, Screamer? Let’s dance.”

With that, Wheeljack launched himself at the seeker, blades singing.

[Deleted]

The spray of his rocket forces Wheeljack backwards, the crack of his chassis against the rocky cavern wall making his spark swell with giddy though albeit morbid satisfaction. Though, his delight is short-lived as the unnamed mech charges his weapons, and the smirk that had marked his faceplates dissipates. Optics widening at the incoming blaster fire, the jet pirouettes out of the way narrowly. The shots, however, are close enough that he’d felt the very edge of their burning energy singe his EM field.

His vocaliser emits a harsh bark of staticky laughter, crying out smugly, “I’d hardly say outnumbered, Autobot, when you can’t even aim!” In retaliation, he fires another rocket, this time directed at the younger Cybertronian.

In his peripheral, out of the cloud of dust, the white Wrecker rises. Starscream spits in irritation, whipping to face Wheeljack, very nearly rolling his eyes at his words. That exasperation doesn’t last too long as the other’s signature half-visor clicks over his intake, the sharp sound of his swords unsheathing; it’s replaced with a strangled sound of surprise as the first blade comes down before him. Hopping backwards, he avoids it, but the second slash is faster than he expects, and the seeker barely has time to put his arm up to block it.

The contact of the katana meeting his plating creates hot white sparks; hissing as the pain registers on his neural net alongside a trail of energon left in the sword’s wake, Starscream twists his arm in a circular motion to shake the weapon from his plating with an audial-splitting scraping noise. His vents cycle with effort, red optics glancing down to view the damage briefly. Having clipped him enough to make him bleed energon, the wound seeps in a thin, blue line down his servo.

His lip plates form a twitching grimace, engine thrumming with an indignant, continuous rumble. Starscream transforms his arms into his own energon blasters, his rockets having been spent; the red bio-lighting pulses in tandem with his elevated sparkbeat. He uses the thruster on his posterior to levitate briefly, firing several consecutive shots squarely at Wheeljack with a snarl.

@wheeljack , Hot Shot

[Hot Shot]

Aw scrap. Even with his heads up, the elder mech didn't completely dodge the attack from Starscream. "Wheeljack!" Hopefully he was alright, but he didn't have time to worry. He had a Seeker to deal with while Wheeljack gathered his barrings.

Even though Starscream had dodged his own shots, Hot Shot had to resist all urges to snort at the slender mech's comeback. Even if those shots of his didn't hit the target, how was that meant to change the fact that the guy was up against two Wreckers? Ok.. more like one and a half, but that had been besides the point. "You keep thinkin' that, Screamy!"

Hot Shot quickly reverted his blasters back to his hands as the Seeker fired another missile in his general direction. Optics widening ever so slightly, the youngster backflipped out of the way, but had still been caught up in the aftermath of the attack, sending him flying backwards and onto the ground. It took him a moment to gather himself, watching as Wheeljack flung himself towards Starscream.

Maybe now was a good opportunity to strike while the slender mech was distracted?

Switching to vehicle mode, the young Wrecker whipped around and sped as fast and as safely as he could past the duo, swinging himself back around to head back in their direction.

[Deleted]

The first strike missed by a good margin due to the seeker’s rather impressive reflexes, but the second did not. Wheeljack let out a triumphant sound as the blade caught Starscream’s arm plating with the tell-tale scree of metal against metal and a shower of sparks - and he can’t help but feel a petty, vicious sort of satisfaction in knowing he’d made the enemy bleed. He took similar pleasure in the furious indignation rolling off of Starscream in waves. “Hah!”

The Wrecker’s triumph was short-lived: before he knew it, Starscream’s arms morphed into two energon cannons, the muzzles aligned squarely with his chest, point-blank. ’Ah, frag,’ he thought to himself, but before he had a chance to get out of range, he was being blasted backward.

Though the shots didn’t pierce his thick plating protecting his spark, Wheeljack was certainly winded from his unfortunate close-range encounter. He reeled backwards with a snarl, clutching at the dark marks upon his chest. Out of the corner of his optic he spotted Hot Shot swinging around to attack Starscream from the side while he was still distracted. Best keep the seeker’s attention off of the kid, then.

“Is that the best you got, Screechy?” Wheeljack goaded hoarsely, waving one of his blades in Starscream’s direction.

[Deleted]

In the brief respite, Starscream sends the command to reload his rockets. A chamber in his arm plating holds extra ammunition; he can only hold three at once, but it would be more than enough to finish these rust heaps. Between Wheeljack’s volatile battle style and the rookie’s inept skill, he would venture to guess all it would take to beat the two is processor over brute strength.

He chuckles cruelly at the statement, the smell of singed armor registering with his olfactory sensors. “You Wreckers just don’t know when to quit! That cocky attitude doesn’t make up for your sloppy combat.” His vocaliser spits the words, and he notes the smoke rising from Wheeljack with a smug look in his optics. All that boasting, however, could not distract the silver mech long enough to keep him from noticing the furiously revving engine of the wrecker’s companion.

A last minute decision has the seeker arming his servos to fire another rocket just as the blue and orange rookie comes hurtling toward him at top speed. By the time firing algorithms are optimized, Hot Shot is at point blank range. He fires it at the grounder’s front bumper, the blast sending him back with a snarl; he easily catches himself in a mid-air pirouette, sliding backwards through the cave ground through a cloud of dust.

Red optics flash upward with a grin on his faceplates, scrutinizing laughter echoing through the cavern. “Can’t play with the big bots, can you?”

@wheeljack , Hot Shot

[Hot Shot]

As Hot Shot lunged at Starscream, he had every intention of landing a hit.  He wanted to try and take this guy down himself, but he had a feeling that he was gonna need Wheeljack in order to take this slender mech down.  Not his ideal move, but hey.  He liked Wheeljack enough to share a victory with him!  And it wasn't like he could just let Starscream kill the guy.

The young Wrecker transformed as he lunged towards Starscream, but it was during his transformation sequence that he'd been distracted.  He didn't see Screamer firing, and took a hit square in the chest, sending him flying back from whence he came with a yowl of his own.  Hitting the ground with a rather loud thud, he winced, glaring back at the all-too-graceful Decepticon.

Oh look~.  He was trying to demoralize him now.

Well.. he hadn't entirely been wrong.  Hot Shot was just was too stubborn to call it quits.

"Heh..  You're one to talk.  You can't.. even handle the both of us at the same time."  Hot Shot rested on the ground on his back, pushing himself up enough so that he could get a good look at Starscream.  A cocky grin stayed on his faceplates, even with how much he was hurting at the moment.

[Deleted]

“Sloppy?” Wheeljack snorted back indignantly, looking rather offended. He just had to keep Starscream occupied for a few more kliks until The Kid got the jump on him. “Screamy, we ain’t sloppy, we’re organized chaos. Ain’t our fault if y’can’t tell the difference!”

The moment Wheeljack realized that their little plan wasn’t going to work was the moment crimson eyes flicked sideways - and by then, it was too late. “Kid, look out!” He shouted, but by then Starscream was already firing, and Hot Shot tumbled backwards to land with a painful-sounding clang on the cave floor.

He knew that they were in trouble, but Wreckers didn’t call for backup, they called for cleanup, and so they’d have to find a way to salvage this. He must’ve been rustier than he’d thought! It was downright embarrassing for a Wrecker of his repute, really, and it was that thought that had Wheeljack heaving himself up to his feet with a snarl and launching himself forward towards Starscream. An idea flashed into his head, and when he came within grappling range of the seeker, he grabbed onto him, trying to wrestle him down- and while doing so, he stuck an explosive to his back, right between his wings.

“Fire in the hole!”