The Constructicons have landed! Well, Long Haul has, anyway. Scrapper can tend to himself. At the moment he is heading to the combat room since, with the task of building the thing-a-ma-bober done and about everything that needed hauling hauled, he has some free time. And when Long Haul gets free time, he likes to punch things!

Scrapper is simply passing through the hallway on his way to go from point A to point B. He's not paying much attention to what he'd doing and has a datapad in hand that details a peculiar concept known as 'quantum seatbelts'. It is this that holds his attention, and he reads over it with a terribly baffled expression, as if he simply cannot fathom what the slag is up with this. Not in a 'This is too complex for me,' way. In a 'What kind of screwed-up thought processes lead to this way?' way.

Airwolf, still burdened by armfuls of equipment, doesn't see Shockwave just yet. The hint of lime green in the ambient atmosphere, though, has indicated to her that there is one or more Constructicons present. Now to navigate around them without either dropping her equipment or bumping in to them. Normally, she'd make two trips, but it's a long, long ways to where she's going, and she only needs to carry this until she's outside and can use her cargo net.

Long Haul stops on his trip to the combat room when Airwolf passes with... an armful of stuff. Humph. And she doesn't ask him to help him carry it or ANYTHING. Very very strange, that. But still, it's a somewhat odd sight, so he asks, "Erm. Airwolf? Whaddaya' doin'?" As soon as the words are out he mentally kicks himself. Now she'll probably want him to help carry something.

Scrapper pauses and leans against a wall. He runs a finger along a line of text on the datapad, optic band narrowing with incredulity. The engineer pays about zero attention to everyone else. The write-up in the quantum seatbelts is far too screwed up to divert his attention elsewhere. It's like an engineering train-wreck, only less costly!

Some Decepticons would just walk on by and/or ignore Long Haul entirely, but Airwolf is a polite person. She sighs and pauses, finally setting down enough of the equipment that she can see Long Haul. Oh, and Scrapper, too. Inclining her head in greeting, she answers, "Just taking some scanners to place in the cavern system, in case unwanted visitors try to get to DHQ through them. The only entrance is from Dayside, so it's a long trip." And no, she doesn't ask for any help. This is bulky to be sure, but she's perfectly capable of carrying it.

Well, after awhile you come to expect certain behaviors from people, and Long Haul tends to expect people carrying something to make him carry it. He looks at Airwolf for a moment and then shrugs. "Eh. Okay." Scanner placement. Sounds dull. Not like anything that could possibly get him famous.

But if Long Haul placed scanners all around a base and then locked a bunch of Decepticons inside, and broadcasted the results, he could probably create a hit TV show and get famous that way. Fear the humble scanner.

Scrapper finally looks up, shovel twitching with vague surprise. Oh, there are people here? A bit hazily he comments, "Oh, hello. Scanners?"

Airwolf turns to Scrapper. Though she's not fond of the mech, she's polite even to those she dislikes. "Greetings, Scrapper. Yes, scanners to watch for infiltrations into the cavern system until such time as High Command authorizes personnel and resources to seal the entrances. Her crimson gaze becomes distant for a few moments, as she visualizes exactly where she would collapse the tunnels. Maybe she's not a demolitions expert, but she *is* an engineer.

"Oh. Your wantin' to collapse tunnels? How come you didn't tell us?" He looks over at Scrapper. "We, erm, kinda do stuff like that, sometimes." Then he looks back and shrugs. "Although that's way more Scavenger and Bonecrusher."

Scrapper saves what he was looking at and flicks off datapad. He glances over at Airwolf, actually listening to what she says this time, and then over at Long Haul. Idly, he notes, "And I just so happen to be High Command." And he never, ever gets saluted. Darnit.

Long Haul isn't going to start saluting Scrapper, either. Get over it.

Airwolf would have expected Galvatron or Cyclonus to have passed on the information to Scrapper, actually, because it's specific to his area of expertise. Looks like they were too busy to bother. Or too lazy. Or don't really care if the Autobots infiltrate their only source of energon and materials. As for saluting, she probably would if requested, but it seems that every commander prefers something different. "Yes, collapse tunnels," she answers Long Haul, who seems to have an attention deficiency disorder as regards anything besides destruction. To Scrapper, she affirms, "Yes, sir, you are."

No no no. It's not destruction that he's after. It's stuff that can get him FAMOUS. And for the record, he manages to focus for hours on end on an exceedingly dull that would drive most people bats. Which is probably why he has very little focus to spare when he's NOT doing that. He just shrugs again and looks to Scrapper to see if he wants to help Airwolf out on this. Sure, it's NOT likely to get him FAMOUS, but it's something to do, and it probably benefits the Empire more than beating up a drone would, so he wouldn't really MIND helping. But then, he's not the boss here.

Long Haul. Long Haul's not the boss here.

The paperwork probably got sunk with Trypticon, crushed with New Crystal City, or outright lost in the system. Scrapper's optic band brightens and he snaps the fingers of his free hand. "Then I can just sign off on that requisition, and we can see to getting that done." It's not like he has anything better to do here, now that the mass launcher is completed.

Airwolf peers at her scanners, now unneeded, then shrugs and picks them up again to return to Repair Bay. "Very well, sir. You've seen the maps and are aware of the possibility of giant leeches still in the caverns? The repellent should keep them off of us, but they are getting increasingly hungry... And the best place to collapse the tunnel is as yet undetermined. It's a long underground trip to reach this area from Dayside."

Well, that actually does sound vaguely interesting. Long Haul bounces back on what would be the balls of his feet had he been human as he crosses his arms across his grill. "Whelp. Okay. Sounds like a plan to me." Of course, it's not much of a plan, but then, Long Haul isn't much of a planner, so it doesn't take much to sound like a plan to him. The transporter just stands by and waits to be told to do something. It'll probably involve carrying.

Scrapper draws his hand to his chin thoughtfully and taps his datapad. He muses, "Well, perhaps we ought to take some precautions against those leeches, aside from the repellent. Maybe seal ourselves in clear bags that still leave enough room for movement? And given how long a journey it'll be, maybe we'll need snacks, too."

Airwolf gives the mech an odd look at the mention of plastic wrap and snacks. "The leeches are very quick, sir, so it might be better not to impair movement in the slightest." As for Long Haul, all he would need to bring is the explosives. She's assuming that the Constructicons know about such things. After all, they are the Constructicons, and they will never have to worry about inexperience leading to unfortunate accidents. "We will also have to be very careful not to be trapped down there, as help will be a while in reaching us."

Well, you'd THINK all the Constructicons would have at least some basic level of knowledge about such stuff, but apparently some of them got shafted when the stats and abilities for this place got handed out. But he has CARRIED explosives before, plenty of times, and is at least aware of the basic procedures there. He nods his head. "Erm. Okay. So we're gettin' started now?"

Scrapper sighs and glances around, as if wishing for a perfect solution to fall from the sky. "Portable forcefields would probably be the best, but those would be too hard to fab up and too energy-consumptive, anyway..." Leeches, snacks, leeches making snacks of them... "What if we took snacks for the leeches? So they wouldn't bother us. Poisoned snacks."

Airwolf points out gently, "They don't feed on us; the tiny leeches do. All they do is attack, rip open their prey, and infect them with the tiny leeches. I *hope* there are none at all down there right now, as we rarely see more than two in one place at a time. Oh, and if you *are* attacked, it's better not to resist. All they want is to infect you, and once that's done, they will break off. That leaves the tiny leeches inside you, yes, but they will be repelled and leave quickly. If you continue to fight, the leech will continue to rip into you."

"So let's just get started then, huh?" Long Haul says to forestall more goofy technical-hemming-and-hawing from Scrapper. "Where's the explosives and whatever we need, since we're not usin' them things," with this last statement Long Haul gestures to the stuff Airwolf is carrying. Yes, he's resigned himself to the fact that he'll have to carry something here but, well, it IS what he's built for, after all.

Scrapper looks downcast. What, no wacky plan? Oh, wait, they could wire up some Seeker-shells on remote control and send them ahead and see if they get attacked! Or they could just run. He sighs, "Oh, all right. Let's go get the explosives. And we had better take extra, just to be sure."

Airwolf turns and heads back to the Repair Bay to drop off her sensors. As for the explosives, she leaves that to the professionals. Too bad there are none present.

Airwolf moves outside to the Entrance Gates - DHQ.

Airwolf has left.

You move outside to the Entrance Gates - DHQ.

[travel spam of spam]

You move quite a ways through the irregular series of fractures in the granite, a distant roar becoming more and more evident.

Long Haul emerges from a crevice behind the waterfall.

Long Haul has arrived.

It's been a long, hard trek, and thankfully no giant leeches have been seen. Yet. The occasional tiny one, but not the large ones. Airwolf pauses by the waterfall and turns towards the following Constructicons. "Here's the section that I think is more suitable for collapse. According to the records, these leech-infested underground waterways flow in a circle, and the river that is the source runs very close to DHQ. I'd say that we are about five kilometers north of the fortress, and I wouldn't like the Autobots getting this far and drilling the rest of the way."

Airwolf adds, "I was assessing the river for use as a hydroelectric energy source, but there are simply too many leeches. Take care from here on, as getting wet will wash off the repellent."

Ugh. Well. That doesn't sound good.

Long Haul, in dump truck mode, just kind of sits there, because he's got a truck bed full of explosives and doesn't want to just dump THAT out hap-hazardly. "Ey. Yeah. Gotcha. And, erm, could someone help unload me? Doan' wanna just dump this stuff all over the ground."

Payloader (Scrapper) wonders what the slag he's just gotten himself into. And where the frag is Bonecrusher, for that matter? He'd be useful here. Or scrap, even Scavenger, to blither on about the implications of the rock strata above them. Scrapper glances around anxiously, shovel wiggling with worry. "...right. Well, we'll need to set this so it won't collapse anything valuable. And give me a minute, Long Haul."

The payloader unfolds into robotic form. His lower legs rotate away, revealing his upper legs. His arms come out from his side. His shovel flips onto his back. Finally, his head emerges from his torso, completing the transformation.

Airwolf defers to Scrapper's engineering knowledge for the best place to collapse the tunnels without bringing the entire bloody roof down on them. Oh, and to his demolitions knowledge, too. Such as it is. So, she stands ready to help unload Long Haul, trusting in Constructicon expertise. "Oh, and if the repellent *does* wear off, go quickly to the room with the mud. It's chemical composition is identical to the repellent."

Dump Truck <Long Haul> just... waits. The room with the mud? Where was that again? The transporter retraces his steps mentally and... oh. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yes, he does figure it out when he stops to think about it. His function IS transporter, after all, which means moving things from A to B, which means knowing HOW to get from A to B to begin with. "Gotcha," he answers as he waits, yes, PATIENTLY for the other two to unload his bed.

<Decepticon> Commander Shockwave says, "Commander Scrapper."

<Decepticon> Scrapper says, "Ah... I'm a bit busy at the moment. Is this urgent, Master Shockwave?"

<Decepticon> Commander Shockwave says, "I am having the project loaded onto my personal ship and will be leaving Charr forthwith. You may remain on Charr at your discretion. For the moment."

Scrapper generally leaves the blowing up of stuff to Bonecrusher. Or Devastator, if it comes to that. As a structural engineer, he's generally more concerned with how to make things not break than how to best break them. However, Scrapper does know how to find where things are likely to break, if only so that he can ensure that those components aren't unduly loaded. He paces over to Long Haul, staring at the ground as he walks, and carefully starts to unload him, pausing for a moment as comm chatter distracts him. "This calls for force diagrams. I assume you have dimensions of this structure?"

<Decepticon> Commander Shockwave says, "Further more."

Airwolf steps over to assist in the unloading, then pauses to retrieve a datapad from a side compartment. A quick tapping in of commands, then the appropriate schematics are displayed for Scrapper's edification. After that, she returns to unloading the explosives. It's not fun being stuck in alt mode, unless you can fly that way. And no, Scrapper's silly flying wing doesn't count.

<Decepticon> Commander Shockwave says, "When I address you, you will continue to rightfully assume that I have no care for how busy you may or may not be. Commander in title you may be, but the respect of Decepticon High Command you have yet to prove."

<Decepticon> Commander Shockwave says, "End communication."

Scrapper makes a blah-blah-blah gesture with one hand as he unloads Long Haul. Shockwave is obviously just jealous because he doesn't have a big purple wing. Scrapper glances over at the datapad and muses, "It is easy to find the weakest spot, but that might also collapse other, desired areas..."

Dump Truck <Long Haul> sputters in indignation at his brother's behalf, common sense kicking in only milliseconds before his triggering the radio himself. "Why that dirt- we do alla the hard work, an' THIS is how he treats us?" Of course, he was really only addressing Scrapper that way, but insult one Constructicon and you insult them all (well, unless it's a Constructicon doing the insulting, of course). "Dammit, Scrapper, you'd better find a way to show that stuck-up gun what-for!"

Airwolf was listening to the communication with a certain amount of disbelief. After all, Scrapper is of *equal* rank with Shockwave, and that was rather rude of of the Purple One, but then is that really a surprise? No, she is not fond of Shockwave after all of his treasonous attempts at taking over. She listens to Long Haul's complaints and actually agrees with him. MSE solidarity? No, just simple justice. "The waterways are unusuable anyway, Commander. The rest has value as possible mining sources, but nothing here."

Scrapper idly wonders if there is anyway to take out the hanger from here, hopefully with Shockwave still in it, and make it look like an accident. Alas, Scrapper is not a mad savant at explosives, so petty revenge must remain unsated. He finishes unloading the explosives and wheezes, "If the opportunity presents itself in proper fashion, Long Haul." Oh, indeed. "So what's your take on this? Setting the explosives, I mean."

An earthquake shakes the ground, followed a few seconds later by the ominous sound of rumbling, another reminder that Charr is a volcanically active planet.

Dump Truck <Long Haul> transforms and looks around. Looks down at the explosives. Looks up at Scrapper. Looks over at Airwolf. Looks around the cave. Looks back at Scrapper. Shrugs. "We put 'em somewhere an' get far away?" he asks. Hey, he's not Bonecrusher! Blowing things up is Bonecrusher's department.

Airwolf waits. This isn't her area of expertise, so it's all up to those Dashing Dudes in lime green. She's been down here before, several times, but still doesn't like it. Those slimy little leeches are disgusting. How girly of her. At least there are no giant leeches in sight.

Scrapper sighs, shrugs, and does a few last mental calculations. "All right. We'll place the explosives at the key weak points there, there, and there." He gestures to point out the spots. "We'll set the timers. We'll get the blast out of here." He mentally kicks himself over his unfortunate choice of wording and picks up some explosives.

Long Haul shrugs. "Sure, okay," he says, kneeling down to pick up several of the explosives. Not too many, though. Being a professional transporter means knowing when it's downright stupid to unbalance your load, and while he might do that with minor things, like, oh, delicate medical parts or what-have-you, big 'splodie things are another matter entirely.

Airwolf lets the big, strong mechs handle the explosives, since she rarely needs to herself. Instead, she assigns herself leech watching duty and keeps an optic on both upstream and downstream, with an occasional glance towards the crevice. The leeches' original lair was far, far back, near Dayside, but they've been known to wander, and as hungry as they are...

Scrapper's biggest worry was caving in the surface above and that such a cave in might harm surface things, but hey, if no one is objecting, he'll hold them to that. Avoiding the water, Scrapper makes his way to the first site he indicated, carefully sets up the explosive, and stares at it blankly. Okay, how does this work? After a moment of fiddling, he calls up the timer option. This reminds the engineer of something, and he calls out, "Set the timers for as long as they have. We'll want plenty of time to get out of here."

"Sure thing, Scrapper," Long Haul replies, taking a moment of concentration to remember how to do this. It's a good thing he doesn't have a mouth, or else everyone would see his lips move as he went over in his mind how to set the thing. Yes, he's a Constructicon, and his tech spec is 48. Don't ask me, I didn't set it up that way. Finally he reaches over and starts messing with the thing and...

BOOM!

No, just kidding. He doesn't blow himself up. He just sets the timer. Well, we can all hope, anyway.

Airwolf sees no leeches, thank Primus. Well, no large ones. There are plenty of small ones swimming in the water and slowly making their way ashore. They sense the presence of food, but in such small numbers and with the repellent still fully activated, they shouldn't be a problem. Everything is going well, it seems. Once this is collapsed, the Autobots won't be sneaking into DHQ from underground, like the leeches did years ago... She shudders, remembering the images of the dead garrison. They didn't die quickly...

Scrapper returns to the pile of explosives and selects another set. He heads off to next spot, still not feeling terribly great about all this. Nervously, he thinks aloud, "We ought to be done soon enough, and then we can... get out of here." Which will likely be even more thrilling than getting in here. Next time, Scrapper's going to get himself assigned to a sewer.

Long Haul moves from spot to the other, going to the ones directed by Scrapper in the same order that Scrapper pointed them out, staying careful to stay out of the water. Dying horribly beneath the depths of Charr because he went for an unplanned swim would not only upset his shipping schedules, but be a good way to ensure he NEVER gets famous. Well, not in a good way, anyway. More likely in a 'don't do what that dumb ol' Long Haul' did sort of way. So he is careful, considerably more careful then normal, as he sets his timers. This is not to say he doesn't make a mistake on the timer without realizing it, but at least he's TRYING.

Airwolf continues her sentry duty, occasionally walking to the edge of the water to listen, or a few paces inside the crevice to do the same. Secure in the knowledge that the Constructicons know what they're doing, she keeps herself busy in other ways, like... defensive measures back the way they came. This region, if cleared of leeches, could act as a secondary, backup base of operations. No, no. The Autobots know about it, so it can't be here. However, there are other cavern systems on Charr...

An earthquake shakes the ground, followed a few seconds later by the ominous sound of rumbling, another reminder that Charr is a volcanically active planet.

Scrapper finishes up with his final set of explosives and returns to the area where Airwolf is, waiting for Long Haul. He glances at the pile of unused explosives. Are they worth taking back? Nah, it's probably better to travel light, even if Long Haul would be the one carrying them. Scrapper shudders at the earthquake and advises, "Let's get out of here before the earthquakes set off the explosives for us."

Long Haul finishes his last one and nods, pleased enough that he doesn't have to carry any more explosives back with him. "All right," he says, trying not to sound TOO eager to get out of there. Still, some of the eagerness gets through, poor actor that Long Haul is. the Constructicon joins his brother and Airwolf. "I'm ready."

Airwolf turns away from the view of the waterfall on hearing Scrapper's words. "Yes, Commander. Though this is a fairly stable area, there are a lot of earthquakes. How much time do we have before detonation?" No hurry, really. Everything's fine. To herself, she murmurs a bit regretfully, "Interesting geological features, but too dangerous."

Scrapper grunts, "Good thing Scavenger's not here. He'd want to take it all home." Didn't Scrapper wish earlier that Scavenger *was* here? Ah, fickle Constructicon. Absently, he answers, "We should have about a metric hour."

Airwolf moves into the irregular series of fractures in the granite.

Airwolf has left.

You move quite a ways through the irregular series of fractures in the granite, the roar of the river slowly softening into silence.

While the tunnel was a long one, they were through it in well under five minutes. And here comes another earthquake. The ground shakes, the walls conduct that ominous rumbling, but... it's not going away; in fact, it's getting worse. Huge, gestalt-sized chunks of rock begin falling from above and shattering the obsidian bounders below, filling the air with shattered glass and the tinkle of glass against the remaining boulders, the walls, and the floor. The noise is deafening for a moment, enough to nearly overload audio sensors, to be followed by deathly silence. Er, that wasn't an earthquake, was it.

Long Haul lets loose a few creative swears about whoever designed those explosives, suggesting several rather disreputable building practices (let's hope they weren't part of Bonecrusher's stock, hmmm?) as the obsidian boulders crash against each other and shatter. He dives out of the way of a shard large enough to impale him (thank Primus for a recently upgraded agility system, yes?) and rolls next two one of the more intact boulders, trying to use it as partial cover. Still, he's unable to avoid taking some damage, as the sheer number and, in some case, size of chunks overwhelms his armor and covers him with multiple tiny cuts.

Airwolf wasn't expecting anything like this, and all she can think to do in the hail of boulders is to try to flatten herself against the side of the chamber. She throws an arm across her eyes to protect them from glass shrapnel and so doesn't see a falling boulder hit the floor with a tremendous crash, then bounce and roll towards her. When it hits, though, she definitely feels it. Only the fact that it was already slowing saves her from being crushed. Instead, the damned thing pins her against the wall she was using as a refuge, all but crushing her chest armour. Good thing she's made of Unicronian metal or that would have killed her immediately. At least it shields her from the rest of the flurry of boulders and whatnot. Ouch.

Death of obsidian butterflies? More like death of obsidian boulders. Scrapper is knocked flat on his face. Blanking on anything better to do, he rolls himself into a nearby ditch. Shards and stones cover over the ditch, trapping Scrapper down there, but he isn't quite crushed, although he does suffer a bit of blunt trauma and number of nasty cuts. A small whimper is all that escapes him and is probably muffled by his rubble tomb.

Long Haul waits for the shattering to cease, shielding his optic band as he does. When the last of the tinkly noises have faded away he looks up and around. Well, he's covered by all these shards, but they're not THAT heavy and he's pretty strong. It's only a minute's work to extricate himself. Then he looks around for the others. "Uhm... Scra-" Then he catches himself before the shout and considers that that MAY not be a good idea. OOoooo! Long Haul's thinking! Scary! Instead he activates his radio.

Long Haul tries to activate his radio, then. And finds that it doesn't work. "Oh, blast," he mutters, then shouts, "Yo! Scrapper! Airwolf! Where are ya?" This sets off a bit more tinkle-tinkling, but nothing that horrible, and it quiets again quickly.

Airwolf tries to push the oversize boulder away from her but finds that her arm isn't working like it should. And the fragging boulder is too big for her to move anyway. She doesn't shout either, but there's another reason for that. The quiet. "Here, Long Haul." She waits for a response from Scrapper, trying to recall where he was when the roof fell in on them.

Scrapper realises that he is Not Dead, this is a Good Thing, despite all the pain. Then he realises that he is trapped in a little ditch, covered over by bits over cavern, and this is a Very Bad Thing. Moreover, his radio does not seem to be working. Faintly, he hears the familiar holler of his brother. Scrapper calls back, "Under here!" It sets off the rubble above him, and it rushes down to fill in the few gaps around him. Blast! There'll be no digging himself out now. The engineer is well and truly stuck. Quietly, he starts sobbing.

Long Haul takes a moment to get his bearings and to locate the other two. Okay... Airwolf is against that wall, and Scrapper is stuck over there. And his radio isn't working, so he couldn't call Bonecrusher or Scavenger down here even if he wanted to. Dammit. "All right," he says, not loud enough to set off more tinkling, but hopefully loud enough to be heard. "I'll get you guys out... just may take a moment, 'kay?"

Airwolf gauges her own damage. The awkward position of that arm probably prevented her chest from being completely crushed, but it's not going to be of much use. The arm, that is. Her chest... she had the best chance of sending a message for help, but her radio's out of service. It's something simple, too, but there's no reaching it without opening her up, and that will take a lot more than a can opener. Nor will she be transforming any time soon, but at least she's in no danger of immediate death. Flight is probably possible, thank Primus. It's a long walk back to DHQ... "Attend to Commander Scrapper first, Long Haul. I'm fine for now."

An earthquake shakes the ground, followed a few seconds later by the ominous sound of rumbling, another reminder that Charr is a volcanically active planet.

Scrapper can't keep himself from shaking. Yeah, this will look great. "Here lies Scrapper, the structural engineer retarded enough to get killed doing his brother's job." Wait, that reminds him. This is all his brothers' fault! Bonecrusher and Scavenger's for not being here, and Long Haul's for actually being here. That realisation, however amusing, is cold comfort.

"Dammit!" Long Haul grumbles as he takes a moment to cover his head as more shards fall. But this one, fortunately, is not as bad as the last. "Uhm, yeah. Hang on, Scrapper," Long Haul says as he heads over to where his brother is, slipping a few times on the glass. Then he gets near where he heard the voice coming from and studies the situation. Okay, how to remove all those shards without, for example, accidentally impaling the being beneath them. And it's then that Long Haul realizes that there's more tinkling, and nothing that should be causing it... and it seems to be coming from one of the tunnels. The transporter turns slowly and looks. "Uhm... guys... hate to tell you, but I doan' think I'm alone out here. Sit tight, this may be a bit..." he says, actually managing to sound calm, but that would just be the overconfidence he occasionally suffers.

Scrapper reflects that, hey, he's gonna die in a ditch, hey, Airwolf is out there. And he starts to laugh hysterically. Muahahaha, this is just great! Scrapper vows, should he miraculously survive this, to never speculate about his future death again, even in idle jest. We'll see how long that lasts.

Airwolf catches the implication of that immediately and turns her head towards the tunnel, crimson optics narrowing as she peers in that direction. Not in sight yet, but it's fairly obvious what it should be. She has one arm free, and that's all. Not that she's of much use in a fight anyway... Wracking her memory for details on the leeches, she says very softly, "It may only slash and infest its victims. As long as you two applied the repellent, the small ones will not harm you. The large one, though, will continue to attack if you resist it." Do they have the self control to stand still and take that kind of punishment? Er, no. She could; they could not. "If you must attack it, beware of its speed and tenacity and aim your weapons at the inside of its mouth."

"Right," Long Haul mutters, calling his peashooter (a weapon that numerous people have told him he has no right to call 'Pathetic Laser') and kind of crouches a little. "Inna mouth, real fast." Well, and tenacious, but one thing Long Haul's capable of is tenacious. And he's used to fighting things much faster than he is, since, well, most people are. And then there are the times as Devastator, where every enemy is WAY faster and WAY smaller, but that's not just him. "Woah, scrap!" he shouts, but not for his brother. A few shots can be heard as the mech-sized leech comes for him fast.

Scrapper's crazed laughter fades, and he gets very, very quiet. He is a coward. Near death situations are really not his thing, and he doesn't enjoy thinking about them, but he never thought it would go like this. Defending one of his structures, perhaps, or in titanic combat as Devastator's foot, but this? Needled to death by glass shards and crushed from above by stone and likely devoured by leeches? Hah. Hah-hah. The fact that Long Haul and Airwolf may go down with the cavern, too, is not in the least mollifying. It's really all too much for Scrapper, and unconsciousness takes him.

Airwolf occupies herself, not with watching the reality show before her optics, or even with cheerleading for Long Haul, but with trying to maneuver her one free arm into a position where she can fire at the leech. Might buy Long Haul a moment or two. It'll take a while... Her thoughts are interrupted by that crazed laughter of Scrapper's. Dimming her optics momentarily, she tries to sense his condition, but it's further than a few paces away, out of her range.
================================= Decepticon =================================
Message: 2/10                      Posted        Author
Charr Mission                      Tue May 24    Airwolf
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During an expedition to Charr's cavern system to seal a tunnel classified as a security risk, the explosives we used detonated too soon - possibly due to earthquake activity - and collapsed part of the cavern on Scrapper, Long Haul, and myself. Scrapper and I were pinned down by the rubble, leaving only Long Haul free. One of Charr's giant leeches happened by, and Long Haul singlehandedly fought and defeated it. Afterwards, he transported us back to DHQ for repairs. Once I have recovered, I will return to that area of the cavern to verify the success of the mission.
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