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Post by Nightshroud on Oct 10, 2023 1:18:07 GMT
Huh..? That wasn't Rampage's voice.
As the owner of the mysterious voice leaned down near her, Nightshroud's vision started to clear up a little. Everything was still distorted as she recovered from the shock, but the bot speaking to her indeed was not Rampage but instead a femme that she had never seen before. Unfocused optics did their best to gaze upon Fadeshift, struggling a bit as she processed her words. Frag it all why was it every time something like this happened, the first instinct of others was to come to her aid? Why couldn't they just let her be just once, but this time was slightly different. Though she did not trust this femme in the least, Nightshroud had no desire to offline and it was clear that Fadeshift had no interest in terminating her.
That was when the distorted visage of Rampage approached, mocking the crimson seeker for her weakness. She grunted in protest, but there was truth to the crab mech's words. Nightshroud couldn't even make a scratch on him, and he had damaged her this badly with a single strike. She really was weak, and had it not been for the electric shock messing with her systems she might have continued the fight even with a heavily damaged shoulder. She kept still as the two bots before her argued over the femme's interference in the fight, and apparently the femme was willing to defend Nightshroud. But why? She didn't know her and owed her absolutely nothing. Grunting once more, the HUD warnings one by one began to disappear aside from the urgent messages of the bleeding and damage reports. Slowly she began to regain strength, clenching her right servo a few times before she found the strength to push herself upright only to painfully whine before clutching her left shoulder. Vision finally restored, Nightshroud looked to the see the damage for herself.
Her shoulder was bleeding pretty badly with energon splattered onto her wing thankfully unscathed. Though covered by her servo, she could see that the damage to the shoulder had completely ripped through the Decepticon insignia and a good chunk of the armor was just plain gone. That was going to be a pain to have fixed, especially when she was the closest thing to a medic there was at the Compound.
If Starscream was even going to allow her to come back after this.. She remembered what happened with Soundwave, wings sinking low.
Still, this was as good a time as any to try and escape while Fadeshift had Rampage distracted. Groaning painfully, Nightshroud grabbed her scimitar and sheathed it before limping away. "I'm not.. about to let myself.. owe you.." It was pretty clear she was going to need help getting back to the base in her current state.
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Post by Rampage on Oct 23, 2023 17:01:27 GMT
Rampage stared down at Fadeshift incredulously. Was she serious? For a moment, the tank-crab stood silent, seeming trying to process exactly what this situation had become. Were all seekers this foolish? His processor really attempted to comprehend what Fadeshift was saying to him, to make sense of it all.
For once in his life, a genuine bellowing laugh escaped the massive mech, a reaction he couldn't stop himself from doing. It wasn't eerie or maniacal, no savoring of a life being crushed beneath his hands or reveling in the fear he had placed, but rather an unsettling, genuine laugh as if an old friend had told him the best joke he had ever heard. "That's rich, you should have been a comedian." Slowly, Rampage's laughter died down, wiping away a fake tear. "I didn't think the Decepticons had bleeding sparks still in their ranks, but its always rich to see. I don't give a flying slag about the factions femme, so take your dribble to someone who cares." Rampage told her bluntly, his tone now amused.
He wanted to be angry, furious even, but Fadeshift had tickled that rare funny joint he had hidden somewhere. "The Decepticons mean nothing to me, the Autobots mean nothing to me, and the humans...pests to be crushed beneath my heel." The cannibal stated, almost bored as he walked up to her. "And by all means seeker, take your best shot." Rampage reached back, allowing his axe to magnetize into place as he stepped closer towards the femme, practically looming over her. "I'll give you a free pass, maybe you'll be the one to go down who defeated the Unbeatable Rampage." He sneered, pointing right for his spark.
Though that side of him that was unhealthily fascinated by the concept of death was hopeful she might be successful.
Still, all the while Rampage taunted Fadeshift, his green optics never failed to still keep tabs on Nightshroud. Sure enough, the little femme had a grip on life enough to force herself up. He noted her wound, watching the energon drip on the ground and marking it at the back of his processor. If Fadeshift failed to have the bearings to actually harm him, or even try to attempt a move on his spark he could track her later. Plus the fact she was trying to leave told him there might be an outpost or base nearby...
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Post by Nightshroud on Oct 26, 2023 0:40:26 GMT
Nightshroud fought through the pain, the returning HUD warnings as she limped away leaving a small trail of energon that dripped from her shoulder. She needed to get away from Rampage, and she was going to abuse the opportunity that Fadeshift had given her to make her escape. She whined softly as she limped, desperate to find somewhere safe to go. She couldn't go back to the Compound bleeding like this. It wasn't the wound that she was worried about but rather the trail of energon. If Rampage didn't follow it, someone was bound to and that would lead to their small base being discovered.
And Nightshroud didn't want to put Starscream through any additional stress beyond what she was about to cause him.
She wanted to comm him, but she was afraid to. What was he going to say? How angry would he be at her for breaking the rules? The crimson seeker had definitely learned her lesson, but that wasn't to say the others would think she had. For all she knew, they'd think she was a liability.. a problem that needed to be removed all because she couldn't control the whirlwind of thoughts running through her processor at that moment. All because Starscream had forced her to go hide.. all because of whoever had tripped the early warning system.
Nightshroud attempted to use her afterburners to fly through the woods only for them to cut out after a few yards. The femme crash landed on the ground face first, resting on the ground both in frustration and pain. Her HUD continued to flash warnings now telling her that she'd only burnt through a lot of her power reserves in her attempt to use the thrusters to escape into the woods. If nothing else it left a small gap in the energon trail, but now there was just going to be a puddle of it to make up the difference where she lie. The femme whimpered, quickly losing the strength to get back up and continue fleeing. As her vision started glitching again, she knew there was only one thing she could do.
She was going to have to comm Starscream.
<<"Sire.. need help.. attacked.. need med kit.. sending coordinates..">>
Just barely managing to send her coordinates to her adoptive sire, Nightshroud slipped into unconsciousness. She would be alright provided she got medical treatment before long, but she just didn't have the energy to stay awake.
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Post by Fadeshift on Oct 26, 2023 8:30:53 GMT
Fadeshift felt a chill run down her spine at Rampage’s laughter, but she couldn’t concern herself with that at the moment. She now had the monumental challenge of fighting this tank-like mech before her. She knew his armor was thick and he was incredibly strong, so his attacks would be brutal. Then again, since Rampage worked solo he wouldn’t know of her or her abilities. This could be advantageous for Fadeshift. She stood her ground, quickly looking Rampage over for any obvious weak spots before replying, “Alright then.” With a quick squeeze of the trigger, Fadeshift let loose a barrage of missiles at Rampage, primarily aiming for his knees and his face.
As soon as she had fired off her missiles, she cloaked herself, not wanting to risk being out in the open of Rampage didn’t go down. Fadeshift looked behind her for Nightshroud, but she saw Nightshroud’s back slowly limping into the forest. Better for her that she’s out of the way she thought.
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Post by Rampage on Nov 1, 2023 1:57:36 GMT
Rampage noted to himself to worry about the young red seeker at a later time.
Instead, his full attention went back to this bleeding spark before him. She seemed to watch him, contemplating his words. Rampage wondered for a moment if Fadeshift would go through with her words or simply run away, either one of which he didn't care what she did. Given little else concerned him at the present, he was in no rush or hurry, welcoming her to take her time deciding until boredom would set in, then he might make the decision for her. But after a few minutes, she seemed to finally come to a decision.
The words had barely left her before she released a barrage of missiles, causing the crab-tank to snarl as the close range was enough to send him stumbling, the strike to his knees causing them to buckle and the weight of his frame causing the ground to shake slightly. He felt the pain, the chunks of his armor being torn from the missiles and his vision once more becoming blurred from cracked optic lenses. "Hahaha, now we're getting somewhere." He cackled maniacally, shaking his head as the smoke cleared and finding the red-violet seeker had disappeared. "Oooh, a cloaking type huh, been a while since I've dealt with a stealthy fighter." Rampage seemed more gleeful than worried, forcing himself to stand as the exposed and twisted armor slowly began to heal itself, wires, gears, mechanisms, all starting to pop and reform. "Well then, let us dance." He growled, beginning to swing his bare fists within his arms reach towards his hidden opponent.
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Post by Fadeshift on Nov 1, 2023 6:50:24 GMT
After she had fired her missiles and gone invisible, Fadeshift had moved back a few paces to be clear of Rampage's immediate reach. As the smoke cleared from the missile-attack, Fadeshift watched closely as Rampage was clearly wounded from the barrage. What took her by surprise, was how almost immediately the wounds began to close and heal as if nothing had happened. She knew the mech could take a hit, but this... This was something she had not accounted for. Now, she would have to adapt her strategy. Perhaps she should just try to do as much damage as possible and then take the opportunity to get the frag out of there while he repairs himself. She would buy the injured Nightshroud as much time as she could, in hopes Rampage wouldn't be able to track her afterwards. After all, Fadeshift didn't think Rampage could fly. At least... she hoped he couldn't.
She stood still and silent as she observed Rampage lashing out in an attempt to locate her. An interesting approach... she thought. Focusing her thoughts, Fadeshift took a breath before firing off more and more missiles at Rampage, circling him to hit him at multiple angles. If push came to shove, she was ready to transform and bombard him from the sky to have more advantage. Primus, that young seeker better not die after all of this...
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Post by Rampage on Nov 7, 2023 1:27:47 GMT
For a brief period the missiles seemed to stop, and after a number of swings Rampage found his fists hitting only air and branches, telling him his opponent was out of his reach. Had she taken the chance to slip away while he was momentarily blind? Or was she looking for another opening to strike? Whatever her next move, the crab-tank came to a stop as his armor gradually repaired itself only leaving behind scorch marks as tall tale signs he had been struck at all, keeping himself in a defensive pose as he looked and listened.
Before long though, more missiles began coming his way, causing Rampage to lift his arms to block his face. Even if the rest of his body took damage, he wanted to keep his head protected as much as possible even if that meant protecting his suppose-to-be vulnerable spark chamber. But even without his healing factor his chest armor was thick, able to take a fair bit of punishment, but add his arms and he gave it an additional layer. Disappointing in his opinion. But, neither did he want to leave himself blinded for a third time, taking the punishment of Fadeshift's barrage which he concluded she was moving about, the missiles coming from different angles. She was circling him, making it harder to predict where she would be with the addition of her camouflage abilities. "You got bite femme, I'll give you that." He growled softly, grunting as his legs once again buckled beneath him.
But, Rampage managed to catch himself enough to fall to only one knee, chunks of his armor flying from his frame and his healing factor for the moment slowing its progress. But, even a seeker had only so many missiles, and he wondered how long she would maintain the attack.
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Post by Fadeshift on Nov 8, 2023 12:34:06 GMT
After firing off her barrage of missiles, Fadeshift knew she was growing tired and running low on energon. She had never been one for prolonged combat, and was aware that Rampage, combined with his armor and healing factor, was currently more than she could handle. With this and her advantage of being invisible, Fadeshift knew her best option was to make a swift exit from combat. By this time, Nightshroud should have been able to make it a fair distance away, and surely Rampage would have difficulty tracking either of them for a short while as he fully healed.
With her energon levels depleting swiftly, Fadeshift made the choice of a tactical retreat. Transforming into her alt-mode, a fighter jet-like form, she warmed her engines quickly before taking off into the sky, the process cancelling out her cloaking ability and revealing her form. As much as Fadeshift would’ve wanted to finish a monstrous mech like Rampage off, she preferred to ensure her own life. She would try to recoups her own strength, and hope that little crimson seeker made it out okay.
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Post by Rampage on Nov 14, 2023 22:29:25 GMT
Eventually, Fadeshift's assault stopped, allowing Rampage a moment to lower his arms and take a breather. The missiles had done enough damage the pain was far more prominent to the massive mech, grunting softly when he attempted to move and feeling his healing factor working at a slower rate than normal. He'd definitely be feeling this for a few hours, something he didn't really mind to be honest. This still felt like nothing compared to what he had gone through, and yet her attack still failed for what he truly wanted.
Speaking of his opponent, Rampage tilted his head upwards as he heard the iconic shifting of plating and engines warming up. There he saw Fadeshift taking off in her jet form, causing him to scoff softly. A lot of bite, but not much substance, a waste of a warrior in his opinion. "How boring." He grumbled to himself, shaking his head slightly before he looked back down to where he had seen Nightshroud disappear. When the red seeker had stumbled off, she had been bleeding, meaning there was a trail he could follow once he had healed enough to move without it being too painful. Now that was of greater interest to him...
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Post by Starscream on Mar 20, 2024 0:12:30 GMT
As if things hadn't been stressful enough today for Starscream, they were about to get that much worse.
Quake's arrival had already been headache inducing as it was, but there was also the fact that Nightshroud had fled when he had specifically told her to stay hidden at the base before realizing that the banging at their doors wasn't a threat. The former air commander had understood the femme's need to get away for a bit, but he had missed the telling clue that she was starting to spiral even with her comm. It should have been clear, but with everything going on Starscream had missed it. Once things calmed down at the base, Starscream expected Nightshroud to return at any moment.
But she didn't.
Starscream wanted to give her a little more time, trusting that things were fine and that she would let him know when she was coming back. Surely she hadn't picked this very moment to abandon everything and flee, but before he knew it he did get that comm.. and he regretted not trying to reach out to her sooner. Starscream froze, optics widening as he listened as the crimson seeker weakly begged for help. Someone had hurt her. Someone had hurt his sparkling. Shaking both in anger and in fear, he rushed straight out of the Compound without a word to anyone around him. While he was paranoid about being spotted by the Autobots or Megatron, Nightshroud far outweighed all of that in that moment. Thank Primus she'd been able to give her coordinates to him.
<<"Skywarp, to me. NOW!">>
The second the femme showed he started his hasty demands, sending her the coordinates. "Take me there. Now. There's no time to explain." He didn't care if Skywarp liked it or not, but that didn't matter. The seeker needed to get to Nightshroud as quickly as he could, and Skywarp's teleportation would come in handy. He'd get there faster and wouldn't have to figure out how he was going to carry Nightshroud back without transforming. It only took a minute with the teleports for them to get to Nightshroud's coordinates as Starscream franticly looked around. It took a moment for him to finally spot her on the ground, rushing to her before carefully collecting the young femme in his arms. As he turned her over he saw the damage that had been done, and it only made him that much more anxious. "Nightshroud, you had better not go offline on me. I will not allow it! Take us back to the base, Skywarp."
And with a flash of light, they were gone.
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