The Hunt Beckons

Cobalt Plains

Brilliant blue in the bright, golden sunshine, these plains extend for as far as the optic can see, smooth and flat except for a wide crater to the north, another example of Unicron's power. The vivid coloration comes from the cobalt in the steel alloy of which these plains consist. The cobalt produces another effect as well... Charged by the immense power behind one of Unicron's eye beams, the cobalt alloy absorbed and retained part of that energy, magnetizing most of the plain. For those who travel here, both on the ground and in the air, it is not only a doubling in their mass from the pull of the magnetism, but it mildly disrupts their internal instrumentation as well.

The great expanse of the Cobalt Plains, extending for what seems like forever until met by Cybertron's horizon. The colors play tricks on the optics, flashing cyrulean blue and gold.. depending on which angle the mettalic ground is viewed at. And so we find our motley crew, the ones who find this planet to be their home sweet home. Currently, a hound unit of Insecticon drones are scouting the area on all fours.. pawing and scratching at the shiny metal flooring with claws, trying to catch a scent of a certain Seeker.

Overhead, storms seem to be brewing on the horizon.. dark red clouds mixed with splashes of purple; electric blue arcs play throughout. Juggernaut brings a hand to his head, craning to view the coming storm and what awaits on the plains. "Damn storm, gonna come through soon 'nough.. you layabouts better find SOMETHIN'!" he bellows, sending a kick into one of the Insecticon hound's backsides.

"I don't understand why Backfire is still alive to begin with, Spinister." Singe hangs from the landing rails of his Decepticon counterpart, who is currently circling the skies over the plains. "It's like having a Starscream crossed with Mr. Nebubean." The fabulous flamethrower is, of course, referring to the Nebulos physical comedy legend, famous for his wacky facial expressions and pratfalls until Zarak tore out his spine.

Spinister doesn't respond, but swings out to change angles for Hairsplitter, under the wing in sniper mode to scan for Backfire.

"Honestly, you think they'd have found something by now. We've been out here for hours." Scorn muses from her perch on one of Juggernaut's large shoulders, a leg languidly crossing over the other. She's rather lightweight, so hopefully she isn't a burden on the pillbug. And if she is? Well, he better deal with it. "What would he even be doing out here, anyway? There's essentially nothing this far out." Scorn sniffs in a condescending manner when speaking of Backfire, taking a moment to vainly study her sharp digits.

"Isn't that the point?" Kickback asks, bringing up the rear. "Things shift enough to cover a scent and it would appear to be the last place anyone would want to retreat to. Therefore, it's the perfect place for doing exactly that."

He eyes the mistreatment of the lower caste Insecticons. He doesn't particularly like that sort of thing, but he says nothing about it for the time being.

"Wait, you mean before or after he shot up that lab in Polyhex?" Juggernaut asks Singe, scratching his head-plate idly. A pack towards the right begins to huddle around a certain spot, low pitched wails accompanied by the occasional scratch into the planet's surface. The large behemoth stalks over towards them, doubly strained because of both the strange physiology here that feels like double gravity -and- his passenger on his shoulder.

"Mebbe that's why the dirty traitor is out here, then?" the Insecticon tough guy asides to Scorn, picking her up by the collar and setting her down on the ground beside him. "Looks like yer pack turned something up."

Meanwhile, Munch is jogging alongside Kickback with what appears to be an old spine from a dead Turbo-Fox in his mouth.

"The lab? Please. That Seeker should have been torn apart vorns ago." Singe calls back to Juggernaut as Spinister, noting the pack's activity, zooms ahead of the group towards their find, landing a few yards away in robot mode.

Kickback pats Munch affectionately - there's a drone he can get along with. He strolls along, letting the others talk, listening to them think, and scanning the horizon himself for anything out of the ordinary.

"Move aside, you disgusting little pieces of crap!" Singe's eyes glow with fire as he pushes through the drone pack...to see...?!?!?!?!

Scorn rolls her sholders to both Juggernaut and Kickback at their answers, turning attentions to Spinister a moment and offering the mech and his two Nebs a sharp smile. "By the way, it was so sweet of you to come out and help us, Spinister. Hopefully we'll find this idiot twice as fast now." Because honestly she didn't like being bothered to do stuff like this. "And I heard you ran into someone familiar the other day? You'll have to tell me all about that."

Antennas perk when the eager whines of the pack reach her however, Scorn raising a brow as Jugg walks over to meet them. Two unpleasant things happen then. She feels that bothersome double gravity, and Juggernaut manhandles her! She likely wouldn't object to the latter, but being in public means you need to keep up appearances. She hisses while being pulled off, huffing and dusting herself off once she's on her own two feet. "Hmph, yes well.. Let's have a look then, shall we?" She nudges the pack aside as she moves past them to crouch and study the ground where they're scratching.

"Outta way, mutt!" one of the larger Insectihounds calls out, bowling over Munch and towards the circled and excited pack. Their wails grow increasingly louder, almost working themselves into a frenzy by this point. The increased pawing, shoving, and scratching is sending small filaments and slivers up into the air.. glittering softly against the bright backdrop with the looming storm overhead now.

Juggernaut visibly sneers when Scorn lets out a hiss, even going so far to shove his large fore-arms into a fold around his chest. However, the excited pack soon gains his interest more than giving Scorn the 'b*tch, please' look. "Heh, yer prolly right on that account." he asides to Singe, grabbing a couple of the Insecticon drones and physically tossing them aside. "MAKE WAY!" the lummox booms out finally, the pack all whimpering and bowing their heads as they peel off.

What lies on the ground, is a putrid green stain on what was a normally shiny metallic ground.

The horizon Kickback scans would reveal little but the landscape of flatness, a crater farther north, and the impending storm that begins to crackle with electricity.

Spinister doesn't doesn't respond to Scorn, not that she'd be surprised by that. Singe scowls but doesn't respond, pretending to be super focused on the green stain. "So...He's having trouble controlling his bladder? Are we hunting Backfire or Viator?"

Hairsplitter runs a scanner over the stain for analysis.

Kickback rights Munch once the poor thing's tumbled by the others; he's settling into his usual position: 'that other guy in the background'. Now is prime time to watch the interplay of the other Decepticons and glean more information on their mental workings.

"What tha heck is a Viator?" Juggernaut asks aloud.

Oh ho ho, hello new clue. Scorn grins at the new discovery. "Ah, seems he's been through here after all.." Grabbing a bit of scrap pried up from the Insecticons' digging she scrapes up a bit of the stain, just to be safe if it's still active and is what she thinks it is. "Hm.." She hums in thoughts, antenna tips hovering around it since she doesn't have a nose. Noses are totally unthemely afterall. She's even tempted to taste it, but holds back for now and nods to the others. "Definitely Backfire. I'd know the smell of his blood anywhere. Some nasty stuff, to be honest. I always wondered how he doesn't melt from the inside out." A look is sent off into the distance, the femme squinting a little. "So he must be wounded then. Couldn't have gone too far.."

Hairsplitter nods in agreement with Scorn, but speaks up when she suggests he may be nearby... "Yeeeah....this sample is old, though. Several cycles. So.....yeeeah." He frowns, considering the amount of overtime this is costing.

Singe just mutters something about bugs.

"Is the stain a puddle or line?" Kickback asks.

Munch grins, dropping the turbo-fox spine and stands up. "Thanks, uhh.. Backkick right?" the smaller Insecticon asks, extending a hand to one of the original trio of bug troublemakers. You'd think they'd be legendary, right? Or is Munch that daft?

Nodding to Scorn, Juggernaut bends down to a crouch near the stain. "I think yer both right, though where this splatter pattern leads is anyone's guess." he asides about the strange clue. About facing, the Insecticon's foot crunches down on something.. it makes a distinct crystal grinding into metal sound.


 * crnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnch*

Spinister spinister straightens up for a moment. Both Nebs drop what they're doing and look his way. There's a moment of clear communication, like cats staring at each other, and the three transform with a running start. "Well I can't say I won't need to shower after being around you bugbots," Singe says with a wave, twisting into flamethrower mode, "But it's been a lovely morning! Things to see, rebels to murder!" Spinister transforms into an Apache Attack Helicopter! A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK HELICOPTER!

"Appears to be a puddle." Scorn notes to Kickback, handing down the scraped up bit of green energon for the Insectihounds to get a good scent off of. Too bad Prowl isn't here or he'd totally be able to use his calculation skills to determine which way Backfire went, just from the puddle. Spinister gets a minor glare as he just takes off with his Nebs, though a distinct sound has her pause with antennas perking and optics bright in surprise before she slowly places her forehead in her hand and mutters. "..Juggernaut. Did you just step on evidence? Please tell me you didn't."

Carefully turning his torso around, Juggernaut gives Scorn the 'did I do that' look and shrugs his shoulders. "Uhh, no?"

Scorn just sighs and pinches between her optics, as if stemming an oncoming headache. "Just.. lift your foot." Bit of a glare is sent to Jugg next before she moves to a knee next to his foot, just wanting him to lift it so she can collect whatever it is he just destroyed.

"Kickback, but close enough," the locust says to Munch. "You're welcome. Little guys have to stick together," he admonishes with a smile.

Eventually he walks over to THE STAIN (tm) and has a look at it. "Puddle... let's see...." he crouches lower to try to see it. "thicker in the center, or to one side..."

Lifting his foot by way of anti-gravs, Juggernaut attempts to stay as still as possible so Scorn can collect her sample. "Uhh, hurry before I destabilize.. this gravity sure ain't helpin'!" he bellows, already a bit wobbly in the air.

"Ah, Kickback. You were one of the.. ones, yeah? The first three?" Munch continues to make smalltalk, his gaze falling upon the scene at hand. Following his new bestest friend ever-er over, the tiny Insecticon sticks to the outer edge of the circle and kinda hangs.

The puddle is splayed out in a haphazard pattern, some of the content already running down cracks in the ground. It doesn't appear to have any discernable flashing signs as to where Backfire was headed.

Kickback hmms again, unable to determine anything from the puddle. Standing back up, his attentions go to Munch. "Yes, I was," he answers the other Insecticon. "With good fortune, the other two will return to us soon."

"Yes yes, just hold on a second." Scorn scoffs at Juggernaut, collecting what she can before quickly ducking out and standing upright before he crushes her. "Now, what'd you destroy..?" She looks down into her open palm, inspecting the crystaline bits, though a moment glance to Kickback is given alongside a faint smirk, "We'll get them back soon enough. We can't just leave them under the control of that horrid squid, afterall." She grimaces a little at the thought of the Quint, grunting softly and going back to inspecting.

Munch gives another smile, leaving the confines of the semi-circle and approaches Kickback. "What happened to them?" he inquires, trying his best to stay out of the way of the named Insecticons.

With her work done, Juggernaut wobbily floats another few meters before setting down again. "So uhh, what'd I step on?" he asks, drawing closer to Scorn and putting his mug near her open palm.

"They've been captured it seems. We kind of died, and then weren't dead anymore. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Seems to be a massive gap in my memory files," Kickback explains to Munch. He's paying attention to all the subtle details around the area, putting that Scouting capability of his to work.

".. Looks crystaline, and there's more of it... " He notes the glint along the metal ground. "Small trail, due north."

Well, not so much crystal and moreso glass. Covered in energon. She lofts a brow at this and 'sniffs' at it. "Something important, obviously." She retorts back to Juggernaut, pulling a little container from subspace and carefully deposits the glass along with the bigger bit beside her foot. They were on a clue hunt, so she had to bring evidence containers along just in case. "My guess is it's some of what he looted from that lab, but I'll have this analyzed when we get back, just in case." A look next to Kickback, then off in the direction he mentions, her lips pursing faintly. "Hm.. Have the drones pick up on it and follow. At least Backfire isn't making it too hard for us to notice him."

Clapping his hands and pointing north, Juggernaut orders the pack of Insectihounds to move out and follow the trail. "Yeah yeah, I heard ya." he asides to Scorn, "Femme commanders, am I right?" he nudges Kickback with an elbow before stalking after the pack.

Ahead of the group, an arc of lightning lances out from the skies and touches down with a brilliant display of weather's might. The effect is doubly felt, as the lightning touches the over-magnetized ground and arcs of electricity spark out across the ground in a ten foot radius. A couple of Insecticons jump back warily, fightened by the blast.. then redouble their hunt once Juggernaut's glare falls upon them. Apparently they're more afraid of his boot heel than they are the lightning storm. Clouds overhead begin to darken, the electricity changing from a playful crackle to near audio deafening. Suddenly, four more bolts of lightning are cast down from the heavens to the ground.


 * Kra-koooooooooom!


 * Kra-kooooooooooooom!!


 * Kra-koooooooooooooooom!!!


 * Kra-kooooooooooooooooooom!!!!

And like that, the pack is in full retreat.. despite Juggernaut's best efforts to keep them under control. "The storm is hittin' sooner than we spected, I'd say get yer samples and we need to get!" Juggernaut calls out, stomping back towards Scorn and Kickback.

Kickback skewly grins at Juggernaut as he's nudged, murmuring just loud enough for the big mech to year, "Not anymore." Ah, the benefits of prrrromotion.

With the approaching storm, the locust sets to work, scooping up both rancid energon and fragments of glass, storing them in a chest compartment that was recently emptied of a submachine gun's ammo pack.

"Time for us to take our leave," he says hurriedly, transforming into a grasshopper for speedy exit. Kickback's head turns 180 degrees as he falls backwards, arms splitting into two forearms, wings tucking back against his body and legs unfolding at the knees, transforming him into a Robot Grasshopper.

Storms. Why storms? Giant birds are one thing, but storms are just as unnerving to the mantis. The tingle in the air sets her a bit on edge, confident posture shifting faintly. The lightning strikes may make the hounds scatter, but Scorn only squares her jaw and takes a tiny step back, huffing quietly her distaste for this and nodding as Juggernaut comes back. "Mmf, right.. They'll find their way back to base, so let's go." With evidence secured between her and Kickback she snaps wings open and hovers, ready to take off after the others when they go.

Without waiting for her takeoff, Juggernaut tucks Scorn under one arm as he charges out of the area. "You trying ta stare Primus in the face?" he bellows, stomping south and picking up steam.. UNSTOPPABLE steam, that is.

Right on their heels, the clouds seem to come together and rain a chorus of lightning bolts that electrify the ground. A couple of wayward Insecticons were caught in the blasts, reducing them to burnt out husks after the multiple bolts did their trick.

 Kickback says, "Now I know why we need to replenish the swarm."

Scorn's optics fly wide when she finds herself snatched up, stiff as a board before she realizes what just happened, starting to wriggle soon after and hiss at Juggernaut threateningly. "Agh, let go of me, idiot!" And then she actually gets a proper look behind them, seeing the charred corpses of Insectihounds that litter their wake. Shit. "...Scratch that, keep running!" Now would be a /great/ time for Shrapnel to appear out of thin air! If they can't outrun this thing then you can bet she's just gonna start digging. Screw the surface, they'll be safe underground.

 The Juggernaut says, "If they were made with more 'n half a sense, we wouldn't need ta!"

 Scorn says, "Shut up and keep running!"

 Kickback says, "Yes, how *did* that happen?"

Kickback is clearing distance like no tomorrow, bounding away like an oversized rabbit wearing hydraulic-enhanced pogo sticks on its feet. Whether or not he cares if the other two make it away from the storm remains to be seen.