Chains Shark Goa Skystalker Starscream
Chains searches near the north end of the fields, not trusting too much to fancy equipment or reports on what came before so much as what his sensitive optics can pick up. He's part of scouting for a reason, after all.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 13! The total roll was 3. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 2! The total roll was 14.
Shark is searching with Chains, since it is a big area and two of them would make quicker work of it. "Give me a yell if you find anything!" he radios to the other Autobot.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 10. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 4! The total roll was 7.
Goa's making good use of the opportunity to stretch his legs. Little bit of déjà vu, traveling ahead of the group... but not too far, to his frustration. Maybe a bit further, then? He climbs a ruined set of bleachers for a better look.
+Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 8! The total roll was 18. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 3! The total roll was 13.
Starscream stretch his legs? NEVER! The Air Commander is hovering over the area, searching for signs of Trypticon's passage. Hopefully some giant footprints will be visible soon...
+Roll: Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 7! The total roll was 19. +Roll: Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 13.
Skystalker flies about like he's finally been set free after being imprisoned. The sleek black reverse winged star fighter doesn't stay in formation with Starscream, instead he rockets up high into the very cusp of Cybertron's atmosphere so he can feel the chill of space on his hull. "This might go faster if we split up rather than in formation unless you expect us to run into Autobot opposition," he radios to the other Decepticons.
Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 3! The total roll was 10. Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 5.
Chains moves on, following what trail they have, now starting to keep an eye out for any signs of other movement, along with his detective work. "Believe me, I'll let you know. For now, just keep up the sensor sweep," he calls back, heading to cover north and west.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 11! The total roll was 5. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 9! The total roll was 7.
Shark hmms as he sees where Chains is going, following the same trail. "Looks like we got to move west." he points out. "Lucky for us that thing is so big eh?" He laughs a bit.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and SUCCEEDS PERFECTLY! +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 12.
Goa thumbs his radio as he climbs down. "All quiet on the ground." He smirks skyward, then skates to the other side of the track to climb up and take in another perspective.
+Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 4! The total roll was 14. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 2.
Skystalker descends from his high position and moves to hover above Goa like the warden that Megatron has ordered him to be. With one set of sensors dedicated to keeping a missile lock on Goa he uses the rest of his sensory equipment to scan for that big doofus dino.
Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 2! The total roll was 15. Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 4! The total roll was 9.
Starscream doesn't see anything so far, but then again, this is a fairly large area. He moves towards where Skystalker and Goa are. Maybe they're closer to finding the trail than he is. There's no swath of destruction or footsteps where he is checking. But maybe over there...
Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 6! The total roll was 18. Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 13.
Chains moves west, and starts digging about for more. Finding what he's looking for, he moves over to help Shark finish scanning his area, applying two sets of optics to the last bit of the search.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 2! The total roll was 14. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 4! The total roll was 12.
Shark hmms as they move toward the west, continuing their search for where the beast moved. "This is almost too easy." he comments.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 9! The total roll was 2. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 12.
Goa spies a more-grungy-looking-than-normal ramp leading off to the west and hops down, transforming to take the route up to the freeways for a search-over. Not like the fliers can't keep up, after all. Though the mental image of Trypticon taking the roadways is ... comical ... "Hey, you guys checked over here?"
+Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 7! The total roll was 3. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 9.
Skystalker turns to fly a little higher. "We're never going to see anything down here. I don't get how the Autobots deal with such lack of elevation." He watches as Goa moves away and he in turn follows westward. "I can't believe Megatron has me babysitting," he mutters to no one in particular. "I'm going up to try and get a better vantage point," he tells Starscream, then adds, "How come no one thought to put a tracking device on that giant dunder-head?"
+Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 3! The total roll was 10. +Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 5.
Chains travels west, following what signs he can of passage, and a few energy signatures. He's good at this tracking thing, more or less built for it, even over rough terrain. They're making good time so far. Staying to pattern, he heads north, and starts sweeping west over the new area.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 12! The total roll was 4. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and SUCCEEDS PERFECTLY!
Starscream sighs. "We did put a tracking device on him. It must have malfunctioned," Starscream says. He is still following Skystalker, since the other Decepticon seems to be able to follow some kind of trail. For some reason Starscream had a processor-ache. Probably staying up too late preparing the control pack for Trypticon.
+Roll: Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 10! The total roll was 2. +Roll: Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 3! The total roll was 15.
Shark moves west with Chains, following the way-too-easy markings here on the freeway.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 3. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 6! The total roll was 17.
Goa navigates the over- and under-passes with ease, ever aware of Skystalker tailing him. "There's not a lot to get. How is it buzzing around in the air without any cover?" The grounder slows down upon hitting an upward grade, taking the time to scan the land below.
+Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 8! The total roll was 18. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 11.
Skystalker continues to move up higher into the sky, "I don't need cover... I just need to be far enough that weapons fire can't reach me and Cybertron's gravity well will do the rest." The black star fighter stations himself just at the rim of the planet's atmosphere. "My weapons are designed for long range combat. So distance means nothing and I have the high ground advantage... so to speak." The higher he goes the more of the planet he can cover with his scans.
+Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 5! The total roll was 8. +Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 12.
Starscream says, "Do you see any footprints yet?" Starscream calls ahead to the others. He's really frustrated right now, not finding that much sign of Trypticon right now."
+Roll: Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 0! The total roll was 12. +Roll: Starscream rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 7! The total roll was 5.
Chains is built for this, scouting and skirmishing and all. He moves north, and gets out ahead of Shark, noting the presence of the Decepticons. He holds up a hand, indicating to Shark to keep quiet, and moves behind cover, ceasing a lot of effort to find the trail, focusing instead on trailing the Decepticons and trying to figure out what they're up to, but if he happens to find more signs of their objective at the same time, so much the better.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 0! The total roll was 16. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 1! The total roll was 17.
Shark moves into the bypass area from the freeway, the path of the beast is very clear still. He nods toward the gesture from Chains, hiding behind cover as well until the 'Cons are clear. Once they are gone, he looks to see if the 'Cons may be following the same path they are... which would be total kismet.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 6! The total roll was 5. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 3! The total roll was 14.
Goa accelerates down from the bypass, in pursuit of Starscream's erratic flying. "No dinosaur tracks yet... but I think we're being followed." He decides to keep scanning in front, through the thin buildings ... for now.
+Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and BOTCHES! +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 5! The total roll was 5.
Skystalker turns towards the direction they just came from. "Oh yeah?" he says, just before he launches a fairly large missile at the road leading to their current position. He's fully intending on destroying that area and making it harder for the Autobots to follow.
+Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 5. +Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 5! The total roll was 18. +Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Power Stat and succeeds by 14! The total roll was 5.
Starscream groans. "Oh great," he says, "Well then, we should make sure they CAN'T follow. Then Skystalker obliges him in advance as he's speaking. "Good," he says. Then he notices a large hole in the ground in the distance. Not that far, but just over a rise in the ground. It looks about the size of a hole Trypticon could have fallen through. "Decepticons, follow me!" he says.
Chains loses the tracks, grumbling as his divided attention costs him. "Hey Shark, there's more'a them than of us. And they're right in the way. I say we put a stop to this fer now, an' just keep track of the cons. If they get off the trail, so much the better. If they don't, we at least get somethin' outta this, eh? But keep it down an keep yer head low. We don't wanna get spotted." At least explosions make it easier to track.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 5! The total roll was 11. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 2! The total roll was 18.
Shark hmms softly to Chains as they come out of hiding and he checks his scanners to see if he can spot the 'Cons on it. "We can do that, but I think they just went off my scanners. Check yours."
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 4! The total roll was 7. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 2! The total roll was 13.
Goa grumbles to himself, so involved in his scanning that he nearly plows through a shoddily erected fence. "This keeps up, I'm gonna have to weld on my own wings." His sensors complain as Starscream appears to dive below ground level...! The mech snaps out of it to transform and follow the jet down... must be a big hole if he's flying into it so readily.
Skystalker is pleased with the crater and rubble that his missile has created. He turns to observe the hole and decides that it’s far too small for his star fighter mode and so transforms and flies into the hole after the others, "Ok... the Autobots are still behind us. Lucky for us, they'll have to come down this hole if they plan to pursue us." He pauses then adds, "Goa come here and guard this hole... shoot anything and any one that peeks their nosey head in." He holds up his laser beam rifle. "Here use this if you want... its set on its highest power level so it should blow a hole into any Autobot."
Starscream heads down the hole without delay. He's anxious to get to Trypticon and have time to install the pack he has ready so that the big dino lug will be more controllable.
Chains heads for the sounds of the explosions, noting the damage. He considers the distance a moment, then gestures to Shark. "Ok, hang on, and we should be able to do this quick." he says, firing off his chain, trying to latch it to something on the other side so they can swing across. He may be small, but strength and agility are not shortcomings.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Agility Stat and succeeds by 13! The total roll was 4.
Shark nods and waits for Chains to secure his chain on the other side, then hangs onto the mech so they can swing on over to the other side. "What we do to track 'Cons." He laughs.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Agility Stat and succeeds by 9! The total roll was 5.
Goa looks over the rifle with some amount of confusion, but decides it's better not to look a gift gun in the barrel and accepts it with a salute to Skystalker. "Can't be that much different from grenades, no?" He finds an alcove in the twisted wall of the pit, and crouches out of sight, sensors primed for movement. As eager as he was to hunt Trypticon just a week ago ... "Maybe it's better to leave this one for the birds," he ponders aloud.
Skystalker turns to Starscream, "If you do not need me during your mission sir, I'll stay here with Goa to guard the entrance to make sure no one disturbs you." He turns to Goa. "Not exactly like a grenade. You don't want to throw it." He points to the barrel. "This is the dangerous end." Then he gestures to the trigger. "You pull this until whatever you don't like goes away." He smirks then looks at Goa with his beam rifle, unsure if giving someone like him such a dangerous weapon is a good idea.
Starscream nods. "Very well. I think I can handle things on this end." He flies to Trypticon and starts to try to get the slot in the back of the monstrosity's head open to install the circuit board.
+Roll: Starscream rolls against his Intelligence Stat and succeeds by 3! The total roll was 10. +Roll: Starscream rolls against his Dexterity Stat and succeeds by 3! The total roll was 13.
Chains heads for the area, trying to figure out where the 'Cons might have gone, careful to keep quiet and behind cover. Most would suspect that Autobots aren't as good at crossing gaps and the like - he's just built for just this kind of obstacle, but the 'Cons still got a good lead on them.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 8! The total roll was 8. +Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 3! The total roll was 19.
Shark lets go of Chains once they are on the other side safely. "Handy weapon you got there." He grins toothily, looking around to see no sign of the Cons, but maybe they can track them from here or at least continue following the track of Trypticon. "Hey over here," he gestures as he spots the markings left behind by the beast. Which lead right to a big hole.
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 10. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 5! The total roll was 6.
Goa just smiles at Skystalker, ignoring the instruction he's familiar with, but keeping a studious eye on the motions and gestures the mech makes, ideally to pick up the general gist of the weapon's use. He's not about to have his own weapon of irritation turned on him; if that means putting up with some patronizing from the seeker of the week, so be it.
Skystalker moves to the other side of Goa's position and finds a little nook for him. It's a good thing that he's such a small mech. It allows him to fit into small awkward spaces. He pulls his secondary weapon since Goa has his beam rifle. He hefts the rocket launcher onto his shoulder for better stability as the weapon is fed missiles from his weapon depository. "Shoot anything that moves Goa."
Starscream gets the slot open and begins installing. It's quick work, as he just slides the piece into place and plugs it in. Then he quickly closes the access port again. "Trypticon, rise and obey!" he says to the dino.
Chains moves up to the hole, and without hesitation, peeks down. He tries for stealth and all, since he suspects the Decepticons may be down there, but despite that, he's still not nearly as cautious as some might advise.
+Roll: Chains rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 4! The total roll was 12. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Intelligence Stat and fails by 0! The total roll was 15.
Shark follows Chains up to the hole, which isn't the smartest thing to be doing when it's possible the 'Cons are down there waiting on them. "How's it look?" he asks.
+Roll: Skystalker rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 0! The total roll was 13.
+Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 1! The total roll was 9. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Power Stat and succeeds by 11! The total roll was 2.
Goa stares upward, wary for movement. "Skystalker," he says, with nary a flinch in his attention, "Do you remember what Megatron said about me taking things literally?" He double checks that the rifle in his hands is aimed far away, eager to find an Autobot in its sights -- Even with a bad track record with humor, that one was too easy. Incidentally, it finds one.
Skystalker looks at Goa as he doesn't see anything himself, perhaps he's not in a proper position to see the hole's entrance. "What? If you see something, blast its frickin' head off! Shoot first ask questions later! You're a Decepticon warrior, act like it!"
Skystalker moves out of his little hole a bit to try and get a better look. He aims his missile launcher up to where he thinks the entrance is. He still can't see anything and sighs, "Please tell me you at least hit whatever it was you shot at. I'd hate think you're wasting my rifle's power core for nothing." Then he looks down the hole. "I wonder if Starscream is okay. What if Trypticon ate him?"
+Roll: Starscream rolls against his Intelligence Stat and succeeds by 10! The total roll was 3. +Roll: Starscream rolls against his Intelligence Stat and succeeds by 7! The total roll was 6.
Starscream is indeed okay, and the monstrous dino stirs and rrrrrs. It starts to stand up, since it had been in a semi-sitting position. "Now when those Autobots get here, DESTROY THEM!" he orders.
Chains hears sounds from below, and comes under fire, though he goes launching back away from the explosion, landing safely. "I don't think we're going to get past their firing line. I'd be all for a good scrap and all, but I think we're a day late and a few credits short. We should report this." When the cyclebot is the one voicing caution, it probably means things don't look good.
Shark follows right after Chains as the mech jumps back, the impact from Goa's attack hitting the edge where they once were standing. "That was close." he states. Then looking toward Chains he hmms, "We can radio it in and see what the Chain of Command has to say."
+Roll: Shark rolls against his Awareness Stat and succeeds by 6! The total roll was 5. +Roll: Shark rolls against his Agility Stat and succeeds by 7! The total roll was 7.
Goa snorts triumphantly and shifts on his feet as he hears the impact of his shot. "Permission to pursue?"
Skystalker looks at Goa and shakes his head, "Denied..." He turns his attention down the hole when he hears Trypticon's roar, "I'm all for destroying Autobots... however, they aren't our mission. In fact... stay here and guard the entrance in case they decide to come back for more. I'm going to go check on Starscream," he barks out quickly before flying down the hole further and heads towards the big oaf of a dino and he radios towards Starscream, "Seems like our mission was a success... Where to now?" Then he points to the hole. "Are we going to take Tryp back out through there? Want Goa and I to secure our position and chase away any Autobots in the area?"
Starscream says, "Let's just get Trypticon home. We can deal with the Autobots later." He realizes that Trypticon is a little slow, and perhaps vulnerable if he doesn't get him back to Polyhex pronto and give him a proper going-over. "Decepticons, pull out."
Chains frowns. "We need to report this, you go back, I'll find a sentry point. We were outnumbered and outgunned from the word go here. At least now we know, which was our primary mission. C'mon, let's move." he says, getting started back towards home territory.
Shark nods to that, "Yeah, you're right. Let's get back to base and put in the reports. They got to fix that thing before they can use it anyway." he points out, then follows Chains back to base.